Context is Everything

So, the smells in my house today were divine!  From early morning on, Dale was one busy bee in the kitchen.  He made me a lovely Mother's Day breakfast, a simple lunch, and then set off on dinner and dessert preparations.

The end result for dinner was a meal of delicious grilled chicken and pesto sandwiches on homemade French bread.  The bread was brushed with garlic, layered with grilled chicken, pesto, cheese, and tomatoes.  As if the sandwiches weren't perfect, he paired it with grilled asparagus and fresh mango.  It really was the perfect summery meal.

After scarfing down all that he could, Daniel declared, "It's times like this when you want a vomitorium in your house so you can throw it all up and start over."

Now, there are so many directions one could go with that statement.  To begin with, it concerns me that my son thinks of the word vomitorium and that he used it in a sentence.

Upon hearing the statement, Dale declared that context is everything as he might have been quite offended by the same statement had it not been followed by "so I can throw it all up and start over."

Just a little food for thought!

Oh, and I failed to mention that dessert was a magnificent serving of homemade chocolate mousse that was to die for!  

Thanks family for a grand day - I loved it!!!

Cinco de Mayo Celebration

My only real connection to Cinco de Mayo is that I spent some time living in Puebla, Mexico during a study abroad experience in college.  It's not actually Mexico's independence day as many suppose, but it commemorates a victory over the French in a battle near Puebla.  It's not even a national holiday in Mexico, but we Americans have decided it's a fun day to celebrate.  And I'm always game for a multi-cultural celebration!  Some choose to use it as an opportunity to drink tequila or something, but around here, it's much more about good old fashioned fun and good food.

After Colleen showed me a great recipe making the rounds on the internet, I decided to make some pinata cookies for my family.  These were time-consuming little treats to make, but sometimes that's what it takes for some fun.  We didn't have a donkey cookie cutter, but the pig was cute as were the fish, the stars, and the boot.


We had a delicious, very colorful meal of fish tacos with fresh mangoes on the side.  The meal itself was fun even before the pinatas!




For some reason, Cheyenne's interpretation of Cinco de Mayo meant dressing up with a "Mexican" skirt, cowgirl boots, and spurs.  The outfit made me smile.  And for ambience she added a string of lights made of horses and cowgirl hats.  To complete the mood, we discovered the Pandora Cinco de Mayo station.  We were set!



After dishes and some time to digest food, we got to the fun pinata party.  Our family was joined by a couple of Daniel's friends as they had all just finished watching a movie about zombies.  What better way to top off the evening than with a candy-filled cookie!

Apparently we only shot video of this event, so it may have to be uploaded later when Dale is awake, but it was a fun time.

We tried a miniature Louisville slugger  bat with a hanging cookie, but that just threw the pinata across the room.  But it was great when we figured out we could just give it one good whack on a plate and it would free up the candy.  Everyone dove in for the treats just like they're supposed to.  How can you not love a cookie filled with M&M's??

I'm not sure if I'll take the time to do it again any time soon, but it was fun this time around!