Happy Labor Day (it's not the end of summer)

I'm not a Union worker, but I do enjoy Labor Day. The extra day off is always filled with some activity. Today was no different. We (Mom, Dad, Bill, Amy, Adam and I) watched the last Whitecaps game. It was the clincher between the Fort Wayne Tincaps and the Whitecaps as to who would continue into the playoffs. It also just so happened that the Cool Cats were singing the National Anthem.

The Cool Cats did a wonderful job! I'm so proud that Quota helps them and gives them opportunities that they might not otherwise have (we had nothing to do with them singing the National Anthem).

The Whitecaps, on the other hand, did not seem to really want to make it to the playoffs. We left after the 7th inning and the score was 3-1. Amy sent me a text at the top of the 9th, it was 5-2. They're the AAA Tigers team. If you're not keeping up with the Tigers, Bill and I stayed up to watch them beat the White Sox 18-2 last night. Holy cow! So the Whitecaps didn't win (the final score was 7-2), but the Tigers seem to be doing okay. For a Detroit team (that's another blog for another day).

We often forget, especially with the weather that swept through overnight, that summer is not over. It's not over until September 23rd, so while we enjoyed some 60 degree weather today with the smells of autumn in the air, we must remind ourselves that it's not over yet.

euchre with the parents

This is going to be an interesting post. Why? You ask, because we're currently playing euchre. As in, I'm sitting at the table with my laptop on my, er lap, typing away. While the cards are shuffled and dealt around me. It's already taken me two rounds to type this much (I just took a trick with a Queen).

I've blogged about euchre before. If you can find the post, you win a prize!

Oh wait, no you won't. I just forgot for a moment that I'm not Pioneer Woman and I don't give things away. Because I'm poorer than she is. If I could give something away I would. No, wait don't leave. I'll give you a free dinner. There. That's a good prize (and I mean it. You just have to come here or invite us to wherever you are and I'll cook).

Bill fixed his big breakfast and it was, as usual, delicious. After that we played a round of euchre. It's Mom and me vs. Dad and Bill. The men won two out of three rounds this afternoon. Currently Mom and I are up one round and we're in the middle of the second (and the score is 6-5). I'm getting yelled at because this is only slightly distracting. So go google euchre if you don't know what it is and if you do, I know you understand.

pork, beans, and corn

Dinner was fantastic. Bill made his ribs. The ones where he gets up at 6:30a and makes a dry rub. The ones where he makes homemade sauce (say it with a Jersey accent, saw - ss). The ones that taste divine. They're amazing.

I made homemade baked beans (a recipe given to me by Shannon). I adjusted it tonight and it worked. A can of lima beans (the only way Bill and I will eat them), kidney beans, and butter beans. The recipe calls for a can of pork and beans. But I decided why not just try a can of northern beans? It works and there are still plenty of beans (oh my goodness there are beans leftover). I didn't adjust the sauce I made, and even thought it wasn't thick like a pork and beans out of a can, it was still good.

The corn on the cob was delicious. And none of us had anything to do with that other than knowing which stand has the best corn at the Farmer's Market and Mom helping me husk it.

And that was dinner. We're too stuffed to do anything now. Although it appears that storms are springing up all around us. The Tigers game just got rained out. The Notre Dame game got rained out. No rain here. Not yet anyway. Weather Man Bill has given us his predictions (that's my Bill, not the news Bill. And my Bill has done a better job than any of the other weather people on the news). We shall see what the weather actually brings.

up to our "ears" in corn

I know, clever right? I thought of it while Mom and I were cooking the corn. We bought three baker's dozen ears, saved seven ears to eat and froze the rest.

Twenty-two cups of corn. All scraped off the cob and frozen into creaminess. Yum.

I like corn.

Remember that blog about a deep freezer? Now we really need one. Mom also froze some peaches. And we stocked up on bread for some apparent reason. So the freezer, it is full. Don't worry, we are headed out to buy some ice cream. It's just what we need. It'll go straight into our bellies, no need to bring it home and put it in the freezer (plus it'll be on cones, so that would make it quite challenging to put in the freezer).

At any rate, we are set on corn for the winter. Yum! Corn dip, corn cakes, corn lasagna (it's actually really yummy), corn casserole, just corn, corn chowder... I think those are all my corn recipes. I think... I will try to remember to blog about them when I make them.

how to get out of cleaning the bathroom

Insist that gloves must be worn to protect your delicate hands.

Discover that gloves sold in your area are all sized for giants and that your mom can buy them for you in her local store.

Wait for mom to buy them, use them.

Get holes in gloves.

Gloves are no longer doing their job of protecting your skin, therefore you cannot clean the bathroom until you get new gloves.

See? Isn't that easy? (Of course it would just be easier if they sold size small gloves in our stores here, yet they do not.)