There are many out there who remember the television series 24. We were so hooked on it that we used to have dinner parties with friends at the beginning and end of the season so that the show became quite a huge tradition of watching this great show with close friends so that when we got together, it certainly gave us much more to talk about than the latest doctor visit. As you remember, each hour of 24 was marked with a tragic happening that could only be saved by one man…..Jack. Each hour was so jam packed with the CTU task force trying to “rescue” certain folks or trying to figure out plots which would destroy the world. Well, this weekend was our own little 24 show. It has been a while since we babysit for a 4 year old for over a few hours. All I can say is that we are ready to call in Jack. Each hour, I felt so lucky if I could come up with a chore that Noah could help with. His mom had told me that Noah loves to “help” so I thought of the chores which take me the longest, thinking that this might help me gain some time to cook (or even just brush my teeth.) if precious little Noah could go dust, water plants, or vacuum. maybe I could at least get the bed made or toast a piece of bread without having to go change the TV channel, turn on the bathroom light or come see the 357th bird he was drawing. How can one four year old, drain you? By the end of our 24 hour assignment, I felt like I was my own CTU task force, but reinforcements nor Jack ever came.
On Friday evening we even considered going to both the 4 and 5:30 Good Friday service since the church was having the nursery open for kids 5 and under.
On Saturday, we broke a promise to ourselves that we had made years ago that we would never, never go near another Chuck E Cheese, EVER! We stayed for 2 hours. Then at lunch, the cute little hostess at Chick Fila finally had the courage to come tell us that they needed our table after we had sat there for over an hour. We told her she had mistaken us for the people before us and that we had just arrived. Truth be told, we were still searching for Noah’s shoes in the play area that he had taken off the minute we arrived and didn’t remember where he put them. I told Randy that I was not going to climb up the tunnel slide to retrieve the shoes! This time it was his turn to do that. Besides, last time I got stuck and the manager had to come rescue me from the tunnel. That incident reminded me of the slogan “a moment on the lips is forever on the hips” and why it should be my motto.
I love grandkids as much as the next Nana, but I’m thinking that we might have just discovered the idea behind Martin Luther King’s famous quote by the end of our 24 saga. As we drove away from dropping off precious little Noah (and yes, we did wait until his parents were home to do that although we were tempted at one point to just give him some Benadryl for a possible runny nose and sit him in front of a 4 hour movie at his house to wait for his parents to come home. Instead we bribed him with Baskin Robbins every Saturday for the rest of his sweet angelic little life if he would just let us lay down for 15 minutes!), I looked over at Randy who “put the petal to the metal” as he began the famous speech, “free at last, free at last, thank God we are free at last.” I just wonder how many grandkids MLK had kept the day before that famous speech?
Are you like me and the minute you see a recipe which you are dying to try, but instantly decide that you will change up a few things? It was no different when I saw the picture of this amazing looking cake. Today, I decided that it will be our Easter Dessert, but since kids are involved in eating it, I am going to make it a chocolate cake, instead of vanilla. But…what better flavor combinations than chocolate, raspberry and peanut butter? So go wild with different flavors. Don’t be afraid to substitute flavor combinations. After all, don’t you think that was how sushi was probably discovered? They took a dead raw fish and combined it with rice and bean sprouts and they had a food everyone went goo goo over. So you never know if you might be the next baker or cook which invents a new winning food.
A new friend who is my neighbor brought me this recipe. Her grandmother use to make it and she said it is just delicious and perfect for those spring and summer luncheons or just dessert when you are sitting out on the front porch enjoying the summer breeze. As soon as I read the recipe, I ran (well, actually I drove) to the store and bought peaches and orange jello and it is now sitting in my fridge, just waiting to be sliced onto a plate for our enjoyment. Seeing it sit there this afternoon, I couldn’t stand it, so I took a spoon and went in for the taste. It is so refreshing and so light, it is just a great recipe to cool you down after a barbecue or heavy dinner. Thanks so much Patti for sharing it. Think Dreamcicle! in a pie!
Chocolate Castles 