Before I get to our dinner, let me interject . . .
I felt like a young bride on my drive in to work this morning. I was listening to a classical radio station and they played this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ra9znj8tmU I found my way to work despite my travel back in time to my walk down the aisle as that tune spilled through the church. Made my dress, made my veil . . . . . . .
Back to Dinner by Alphabet – B.
We had so much fun last week with our new ‘out of the rut’ dinner idea that we decided to try it again. When I picked up Goodnight from school, I reminded her that is was ‘B’ night. We went straight to the grocery store to see what we could find. She went to the far side of the store because that’s where Deli Dude works and she knew he would give her a cookie. I started in the produce aisle.
When we got to the checkout counter, the gal who checked us out last week saw us coming. She gasped out loud, “Oh my gosh! Is it ‘B’ night?” Then she had to explain to another checkout girl what was going on. Then the second checkout girl had to look through what she had already bagged to see if she could guess the menu. Honestly!!! She took everything out, laid it on the counter and had to have a second look. Too funny!
Here’s what was in the bag:
1 Bartlett pear
1 Banana
1 Bunch of Broccoli
1 Butternut squash
1 Bag of Blackberries
1 lb of Beef tips
1 Box of Barley
1 Blueberry Streusel mix
Goodnight was on deck for the baking, so I had her read the Box of Blueberry streusel mix. The package showed muffins, but she made the mix into a Bundt cake instead. It’s a good way to keep her moving into more complicated things in the kitchen.
Everything else was easy to figure out how to put together, with a few ‘B’ ingredients from home.
So Dinner by Alphabet – B went as follows:
Salad Course:
Broccoli and Bartlett Slaw with Blackberry Balsamic Vinaigrette and a few Bran Buds sprinkled on top for crunch. (Sorry, croutons start with ‘C’.)
Main Course:
Beef tips with Brown Gravy
Barley
Boiled Buttered Butternut
Dessert:
Blueberry Streusel Bundt Cake
Banana Smoothie for Goodnight
Bush Tea for Gram (Can you guess what series of books by Alexander McCall Smith influenced me?)
Beautiful, Basic, Bounty! B was easy and delicious. So many possibilities, but we only had to come up with one dinner. I spent $18.00 at the store, have leftovers, didn’t even need to cook all the barley, broccoli, or butternut so will do something wholesome with those later.
We had a great time in the kitchen. Goodnight loves it when I ask her to bake. When we have more time (for the clean-up) I let her follow recipes, but since it was a work/school night, I had no problem resorting to a mix. We don’t eat dessert very often in any given week, so it’s fun for her to look forward to when we do. And even more fun if she’s made it.
I did the dishes while Goodnight did her homework. Even though there are only two of us, we still managed to dirty quite a few things.
Then after the dishes were done and put away, I worked her math problems to see if she got them all right. Sorry Goodnight – try again on these two problems right here . . . . . “Oh!!! HEXagon! x6, then?”
“Yes dear.”
We chatted a while and before long it was time for those magic words . . . “Goodnight, Gram.”
Then I had time to sit down and knit a mitten. It’s the second in a pair of bright orange mittens that Goodnight can give to her Kintergarten buddy for Valentine’s Day. Her K-buddy will love them because they match the one’s I just knit for Goodnight. Little kids like that. Goodnight is a good 6th grade buddy to her. No need for a mitten photo here. They’re just orange.
“Thumbs in the thumb place, fingers all together. This is the song we sing in mitten weather.” Anyone remember that from your youth???? Or is my youth too old?
I decided to try and enjoy the snow. Looks like it will be around a while. After all, I’m a knitter and I wear more hand-knit things in this kind of weather than any other time of the year. Here’s a favorite of mine. It’s perfectly round, but if one knits something round, folds it not exactly in half, it can have a nice drape to it. This shawl has armholes and a button closure. The shorter part of the folded over section looks like a large collar. It’s quite cuddly. It would be MORE cuddly at home on my couch with a good book . . . . but I digress.


























