SSFL Drinks the Kool-Aid

Hoo man, we barely squeezed in May's Super Social Food and Makeup League, but we finally made it happen and it involved fried chicken on top of a pile of nachos.

To START the meal.

There was also OTHER STUFF.

And some GELATO.

We have reached the point in our makeup-challenge game at which I think "This shiny red eyeliner Regan gave me is not making me look insane enough, I should probably add a lot of yellow eyeshadow to it."

Even more distressing, we have reached the point where we both show up and say "I actually think this looks pretty good."

So maybe we have gotten really good at makeup application or bold in our tastes or lazy about our challenge items or possibly Regan and I do not get enough attention in our daily lives.

Anyway. I also hustled to Make What I Wanna Make just a liiiiiiiiittle bit more: Thai-Scented Asparagus Soup and Baked Egg Boats. Wanted to make them then, want to make them still, will want to make them in the future.

Erica's Book Corner! Relax--I haven't started reading again, you know I gave myself an assignment that I failed to complete several months ago which means I probably just won't do any reading in 2015, wish I were kidding but I'm not--this is a children's book note instead. Remember when I read Little House on the Prairie and it wasn't exactly what I remembered? Like, I kept wanting Ma Ingalls to go lie down for a while and really think about her life choices? Well, I've been reading Farmer Boy with Anna and THIS IS THE ONE I WANTED, THIS IS ALL THE GOOD STUFF. The vague ideas I had been carrying around about Ma Ingalls were really about Ma Wilder, a bona fide getting-things-done machine in bell sleeves. She makes eight thousand pancakes a day and says things like "Be ye hurt?" and wears big swoopy dresses and didn't marry a pioneering maniac who kept trying to adventure-kill the whole family. It's the best. Maybe June should be Farmer Boy month.

I've been pretty busy with candle stuff, but it's fine, I haven't really noticed the girls acting like they need attention or anything.

Slowly I become one with the mud

Ahhh, looks like Make What I Wanna Make May is drawing to a close. Soon June will be here and I will be legally required to install a new blog theme. It was fun while it lasted, though! What did I wanna make this weekend? 

Tomato Basil Peach Skewers…

…for a Memorial Day cookout that we did not end up attending due to, uh, some weather.

Hard to grasp it without a dry-weather reference, but just know that usually that picnic table is significantly less submerged.

At least we finally have an answer to the question, "Which corn stalk is the heartiest?"

For the record, I spent most of the scary, tornado-warning-y part of the storm carefully constructing skewers, so we also finally have an answer to the question, "Would Erica be at all helpful in an emergency?" (Tosses handful of pointy wooden sticks into tornado.)

In between devastating storms we managed to explore the Zilker Faerie Trail before it closed for the season. We searched high and (mostly) low for those suckers.

I let the girls figure out which direction we should be going.

Seems like the trip was worthwhile, since I'm pretty sure Anna spotted one.

Maybe something donut-scented

Okay, back to making things that I wanna make and right now I wanna make….colors! My theme is colors. NO MONOCHROMATICISM IN THIS HOUSE, I'M TAKING A STAND.

First, Greek Chickpea Salad. 1) Open a can 2) Chop a couple of things 3) Feel incredibly virtuous despite eating giant cubes of cheese for dinner:

4) Watch Child 1 and Child 2, who will only eat olives and chickpeas, respectively, Jack Sprat this thing 5) Eat their cheese too.

Next, Bánh Mì-Inspired Breakfast Sandwiches.

I don't really have to sell you on this one, do I? Did you read what it was called?

We are certainly eating the rainbow around here these days! We know that brightly colored foods are an indicator of different vitamins, especially when selecting donuts.

Hey moms! Did your children give you a really terrible Mother's Day present? Groupon's got your back.

CANDLE NEWS: Custom orders are up and running! Send me your requests, no matter how intensely specific, and I will do my best.

Also, my plan was to release a new summer scent every Friday this month in order to appease the Angry Summer Sun. It is currently 64 degrees and drizzling, which means that my modest offerings are working beyond my wildest imagination. If this continues, I will probably have to release a new summer scent weekly throughout the entire summer, and possibly until the end of time. Now accepting suggestions.

Older, wiser, fuller

I had a birthday! So I went to a cheese shop! I am experiencing some lingering birthday laziness as well as a child who has repeatedly vomited on the couch this morning, so I'm pretty much just going to show you pictures!

My fountain of youth.

I'm actually not at all surprised that Ivy already has fully formed opinions regarding charcuterie.

Pretending to be…cows? I'm going with cows.

Haha Anna that's cute PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH MOMMY'S BIRTHDAY BAGUETTE 

Dan labeled all the cheeses for me and I pretended to carefully note what I was shoveling into my mouth.

Dessert! Don't worry, it's dairy free, I'm not crazy.

So when I said all that was for my birthday I was lying, it was the day before my birthday. My actual birthday was a beautiful plate of spaghetti and a REAL homemade cake, the kind of cake that prompts questions such as "Is this cake flour expired?" and "Can I substitute Chambord for kirsch?"

My theory is that the intensity of effort melted the whipped cream.

We all enjoyed ourselves very much.

Myself, and the treating thereof

First, a programming note: Make What I Wanna Make May was a fantastic idea and I am a genius.

So what did I wanna make this time?

Well, candles, mostly.

But other things, too. Like No-Grocery-Trip Taco Salad:

Way to step up, Freezer Chorizo!

And According To My Mother-In-Law It's National Chocolate Chip Day Cookies:

Good looking out, Pat!

I also returned to one of the greatest cookbooks I have ever cradled lovingly in my arms, Melissa Clark's In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite. Ever since I made this olive oil granola and served it with ricotta cheese last winter, I have thought of it longingly. "I wish I had some of that right now," I would think. "If only I were solely responsible for buying groceries and feeding myself."

And, I thought, while we're elbows-deep in a proper cookbook, why not make something fancy? Like Figgy Piggy Drumsticks and Thighs but with cherries instead of figs because that's all I can find and I'm pretty sure one sweet/expensive fruit is as good as another?

LOOK AT THESE FANCY TIMES I AM HAVING RIGHT NOW

We also made a pizza run. Some of us were more cautious about this mission than others.

SIDENOTE TO REGAN: I think I've figured out a way for us to get our money back.

Looks like June will be "Entirely New Wardrobe Month"

Welcome back to Make What I Wanna Make May! What did I wanna make?

Chicken fried steak, CLEARLY.

Hello there, Responsibility Sprouts.

This plate was so appealing I was getting jostled by other photographers.

What else did I wanna make? My children prepare a feast for me.

Their love for me is so great that the labor is a joy, rather than a burden to them.

Anyway, I got a pretty swell pancake out of the deal.

And none of that was even for Mother's Day proper! Sunday itself involved enough baked goods for a mid-size office.

Seriously though, look at this.

All of these pictures were taken after I was too full to eat any more.

Thanks Dan and Bribery Bakery! Starting to suspect I am being bribed into never wearing pants again, though.

Eight months into the school year, we are finally settling into our personal style.

This is actually just a very dignified take on "Crazy Hat Day." I'm pretty sure that, given those parameters,  Ivy would try to wear a live opossum on her head.