It's My Life

My MIL (Mother-in-law) called us New Year's Morning and inquires if I would be willing to help her make homemade tamales. I figured taking down the old Christmas Trees could wait and we agree to head over. This is my first real tamale lesson. When we arrive, she was elbow deep in Masa. (Gringo translation: Masa = Dough.) Nana told me the Masa should be the consistency of frosting. She was not sure if we ever got to that point.  I could not tell the difference! My next job was to prepare the hojas. (Gringo translation: corn leaves.) We soaked them in water and removed any hairs that might have been stuck to the hojas.   Nana had made the mole and the pork the day before. So with finished Masa and clean hojas, we were ready to begin assembling the tamale.  I learned you want an even thin layer of masa on the smooth side of the hojas. If you put it on the rough side of the hojas the tamale will stick to the hojas after cooking. I preferred to use ...

Today was the day The Boy thought would surely never come. Or at least it seemed so far away when school broke in June for the summer. But the clock pauses for no one and today at six a.m. alarms were ringing in my house. Today, while The Boy showered and primped (oh yes, boys primp too!) I prepared him some breakfast. We did our final mother/son talk about drugs, alcohol, mean kids, good attitudes, and making his momma proud. After that, I forced him to take the traditional first day of school photo. Then he walked out the door, heading to a new bus stop. Then I choked back so many tears! Today, my son entered his Freshman year of high school. Gone is the handsome, little boy who I walked into kindergarten. Gone is the middle schooler. As with most everything else, when I am sad/stressed/happy/mad/tired I threw myself into making something. Today....MARSHMALLOW POPS. Both The Boy and The Short Chic love marshmallows.  I think they are one of their favorite foods. Smear...

Kids love cake! I love cake! Who doesn't like cake? The Boy likes cake but does not like frosting (weirdo!) The glorious thing about this recipe is that you can have your cake any way you like it and it is the perfect size that you do not feel guilty about having some cake. A girlfriend of mine told me about this super easy cake recipe. It was so easy and yummy I wanted to share it! As with any recipe, you start by gathering up your needed supplies. This is easy. Three things. You want to start with a simple, one step Angel Food Cake Mix from a box. Second you need a second cake mix. Any flavor will work. I had a simple white cake on hand so I used it. Third, and last, you need a large air tight container. The next step is to mix the two cake mixes together. I used a large mixing bowl and a wooden spoon. Next you take 1/4 of cup of the mixture and add 3 tablespoons of water to it in a coffee cup. Mix it up well. Microwave it for 1 minute. Easy enough that your you...