A&W is giving out free root beer floats on Friday, June 19th to celebrate their 90th anniversary. Free floats given from 2-8pm. Small floats only; one per customer. Participation varies. Call ahead.

Also, on Father’s Day (this Sunday, June 21), A&W will offer 90-cent Papa Burgers.

Yum. I’m all down with free stuff.

Kentucky Grilled Chicken Two-Piece Meal Coupon

Get two pieces of grilled chicken, two individual sides and a biscuit. Limited Time Download.
Coupon download available from 9 a.m. CDT on May 5, 2009, to 11:59 p.m. CDT on May 6, 2009. Coupon is redeemable at participating KFC® locations in the United States from May 5, 2009 to May 19, 2009—excluding Mother’s Day, May 10, 20099.

Go to unthinkfc.com to get the coupon!!

I love using my Iron Skillets. I have a slew of them, including multiple skillets, a pot, griddles… When seasoned right, they are just as good as the pricey non-stick skillets (better, I would argue). The one I used in the pictures below was the first pan I purchased when Frank and I moved into our apartment; it is about 19 years old, seasoned the old-fashioned way. It is by far my favorite pan.

You are not supposed to wash your iron skillets with soap, though, just hot water and towel or stove-heat dry. So for those times where you want to make something messy (like my extra cheesy scrambled eggs), and forget to wash the pan until the next day, you need a little more than water and a scrub. You know what you use?

Salt.

Yes, salt. Simple table salt seems to work best, although I’ve used my kosher and rock salt, too.

(Click any for larger view)

The offending skillet.

Salt. Look ma – no chemicals!!!

I generally use about a tablespoon or less.

Less than a minute of elbow grease…

A little rinse with some hot water.

Good as new!!

I was doing a little surfing and came across this:

A woman is stuck in the mud and the man is trying to fix the situation by grabbing sticks to help pull her out, etc. The woman is crying out and the man is desperately trying to rescue her. After all, this is man’s instinct – to rescue, to fix. Finally, the woman yells: “I just want you to jump in the mud with me!!!” Women want our men to crawl into that ugly mud pit and sympathize with us. Isn’t it true? – from Learning to be a Wife

It reminds me of an article or book I’ve read, advice or tip I heard on television… I’m not too sure what the source was. It just sunk in my mental reserve that men like to “fix” things. I guess I’m kind of man-ly in that way, as I’m an action-type person. I’ve had to learn to quiet my own head a bit when people are telling me about an issue in their lives, instead of always being in action-mode (like I need to do for PTO or at work, etc.).

Simply listening, is helping. Quite often the person who is doing the talking just needs to talk, to tell someone, or to work things out themselves as they speak to a listening ear.

Bless my wonderful husband who has gotten so very good at simply listening and not always fixing. Granted, he’s had a lot of experience, especially through some of our difficult times the past couple years (and my ability to “talk it out” on a near daily – sometimes hourly – basis). I am very thankful for that.

Happy Birthday Little Freaks!!!

10 years old today when I went into pre-mature labor, waking up to bleeding. I wish I could put a sentimental chain of photos from birth and their struggle in the NICU to toddler-hood and their 10-year-old selves. But I don’t have time. I’d get around to it sometime in the summer, maybe. But I remember. I remember eating the Dove Chocolates outside of the hospital, praying to bring them home someday. Praying that the systemic infection Sal contracted a few days into his life would be knocked off by the anti-biotics. Cringing every vein from head to toe kept blowing on his tiny body. I remember coming one day and his head was shaved on the side to allow for a needle to be placed. Finally a central line was put in. It worked. He came home the same day as Franny.

They looked different, a bit more sickly. I worried they’d never recover. Frank and I prayed and cried. And did it some more. I had taken for granted that I had three “normal” deliveries and was able to scoop my babies up and bring them home right away. I never thought that it would have been different this time. But it was.

And now they are ten. Sal has outgrown Franny by 40 pounds. They look strikingly different. In the same class since 1st grade, and very good buddies (while being very different people).

Mom and dad took us out for dinner last night, and then the boys got to open their gifts.

Lightsabers, money and a video game.

Franny enjoys money. And saves it. Poor Sal spends it much quicker.

I made cake in a hurry yesterday, since our dinner was impromptu. Jack’s Chocolate Mayonaise Cake, which has become a staple in our home. (I’ll have to re-post that recipe… it got buried in my archives)

One candle for each decade.

Happy Birthday, boys!! I love you.

I wasn’t sure I’d be able to put a decent dinner on the table tonight. Since my evening consisted of dropping off 3 boys at youth wrestling, then picking the oldest one up from high school wrestling, transporting him to soccer clear on the other side of town, waiting the hour and a half for practice to be finished, then driving home, I couldn’t figure where dinner preparations would come in.

I had just submitted to the realization that it might just be a pizza night (again) when I remembered the pork chops in the fridge.

Crockpot. Pork chops. Stuffing. I had all three.

Boneless chops went in the bottom of the crock pot (you could do bone-in, but when they get tender, the bones tend to get lost in the mix, so be careful). And 8-serving canister of Stovetop poured over, with 2 cups of water on top of that. I mixed it a tiny bit to wet the stuffing, put the lid on and set the crockpot on high, hoping all would work out well and dandy.

Four hours later, it was done. And yummy. We had a side of broccoli and some applesauce to round it off. Very good, and very easy meal.

It has been a few days since my last post. Here is what I’ve been up to over the past week (and mostly weekend):

Got my hair relaxed last week. I’ve had a bit of trouble getting decent photographic documentation of this. Still working on…

Watched my oldest son win his bracket in the JV Big 8 wrestling. His coach would like him to wrestle Varsity next weekend.

Watched the twins play their first game of indoor.

Packed up the boys and went grocery shopping… spent (ugh) $500 in two places (Woodmans and Sam’s). I was not really prepared to shop, but it needed to be done. The boys were pleased, seeing as we’ve had a very bare fridge for a while now. They were wonderful, though, helping me load groceries and carry them in. I didn’t have to carry one bag in the house. Not one, bless their hearts.

All that shopping and I forgot Sal’s humble request (for Super Bowl munching): nacho cheese. We stopped off at Walmart on the way home. I needed deodorant, too, so the boys ran off to get the nacho cheese and I picked out deodorant for myself and one of the boys.

I took a nice, long walk with Frank.

We watched half of the Super Bowl at home, and then finished watching it at a friend’s house.

Heard that Punxsutawney Phil did indeed see his shadow. More winter, which is fine, I hope it brings snow.

Made some Butterscotch Pudding – tasted fine to me, but the real test will be my husband who loves Butterscotch Pudding.

And now I’m going to tackle the task of straightening my hair, which is kind of fun as the novelty of relaxed hair has not worn off yet. But that can be a whole ‘nother post.

Have a happy Monday.

In doing some websurfing, I came across Homemaker’s Cottage and a blog post about procrastination, which inspired me to post a bit on my organizational plans. I say “plans” instead of “practices” because I need to improve on what I have.

Every year I buy a calendar/organizer to carry with me in my purse. But not every year do I utilize it to its full potential mostly out of laziness/procrastination. The past couple years I purchased a Tiempo Mio organizer from Borders.

It is one that has monthly and weekly calendars. I use the monthly one more than I use the weekly one. My aim is to take advantage of the note-taking space available to me by using the weekly section for lists, notes and goals. The only thing I don’t like about the Tiempo Mio organizers is that they don’t come with a pocket folder. So I’ve had to make my own.

I took some heavier stock and pasted it to the back of one of the 2008 pages. Then I took a piece of scrap-booking paper and with a few sheets of 2008 pages held together with the stock (cut to size), put the scrap-booking paper on top (cut to size), glued it to the top page and stuck it all together with some packaging tape. I cut a piece of of the stock to about half-size, taped it on the front and voila. A pocket. It isn’t pretty, but it is functional. I get a LOT of use out of my taped-and-glued pocket.

A friend of mine made this drink for me last year. It is very tasty. You take a wine glass, put a shot of whiskey in it, add a cup of hot coffee, mix in a couple lumps of sugar (or not); stir. Top with freshly whipped cream, a sprinkle of sugar, and freshly grated nutmeg. I like a little cinnamon, too.

Very yummy.

On Christmas Eve I got all of my cookies wrapped and ready to be delivered. I wrapped almost 100 little baggies filled with goodies. The fudge, I put in waxed paper instead of baggies. I underestimated how much I had made and the gift bags were overflowing.

I didn’t get a picture of the gift bags before they left the house. I had a lot of fun baking those cookies, trying a few new recipes and whipping up some old favorites. I think I might have added a few pounds to my midsection in the process, though.

My family loves brownies (especially warm ones with ice-cream), and I simply have not, in all my years, found a made-from-scratch recipe that renders a good brownie. I like them chewy. I end up settling for boxed brownies all the time. They are good, but I prefer to make them myself (from scratch) I like to eat the sides and the corners because they are the chewiest pieces. Most recipes I’ve tried either taste nothing like brownies, or they are too cake-like.

On a whim I decided to try a recipe from the Hershey’s site titled, Hershey’s Best Brownies.  The family, always the brownie critics, gave them a thumbs up – which is a step in the right direction. As far as flavor goes, they were delicious. I’m still working a bit on the chewy part (they were given out as gifts and I didn’t have a real chance to “test” them) and will make them again to try. But for the most part, this is a recipe I can work with. If I can find a brownie recipe that I can make from scratch and not have to buy a box for, I’ll be happy.

HERSHEY’S Best Brownies

Ingredients:
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine
* 2 cups sugar
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 4 eggs
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa or HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chopped nuts(optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 13×9x2-inch baking pan.

2. Place butter in large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 2 to 2-1/2 minutes or until melted. Stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well with spoon after each addition. Add cocoa; beat until well blended. Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Pour batter into prepared pan.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Frost if desired. Cut into bars. About 36 brownies.