What happens when you tell your dad that you’ll be traveling home for a visit and will be there in time for dinner?

Well, in my case…he would expect my family to show up around noon. But in reality, we wouldn’t show up until 6ish. Oops.

This has certainly been a problem before. I have learned to be very specific about what I mean when I say “dinner” to my dad who lives in Kansas.

I grew up calling the noon meal dinner and the evening meal supper.  When I got married and moved to Nebraska, it seemed that most people called the noon meal lunch and the evening meal dinner. Therefore I defied the loving teaching I had been raised with my entire first 21 years of life and converted to become an evening time dinner eater. Why, I haven’t eaten supper in years. Oh, except for the last time I went to Kansas. I suppose then I had supper several nights in a row.

Maybe it’s a family thing. Maybe it’s regional. But what I want to know today is…

When do you eat dinner? Lunchtime or evening time? Ever showed up to someone’s house for dinner at the wrong part of the day?!

I like my sweets. I wish I didn’t.

Even though most of the treats I eat are made with the good stuff (whole wheat flour/natural sugars), I still have to be really careful that I don’t eat too many sweets.

Because I LOVE them.

My husband, on the other hand would rather eat seconds or thirds of our main dish than to finish his meal off with something sweet. Often, he’ll say, “Well….I’m gonna have me some dessert” while he reaches over to scoop another spoonful of enchiladas onto his plate.

The boys gave him a Snicker bar with almonds for Christmas. He still hasn’t eaten it. I think he’s saving it for a special occasion. Like next Christmas perhaps? I would have eaten mine before I finished opening my stocking stuffers. Nothing says Christmas morning like a mom with nougat stuck to her chin.

Kristy’s comment on my Butterscotch Bar post got me to thinking. She wrote:  “Okay, here’s a good afternoon snack for my kiddos (and me!) to munch on! Can’t wait to try them.  I REALLY like the fact that you seem to have a sweet tooth, like me!!”

So yeah, I have a sweet tooth. A mouth full of ’em actually.

How about you? Are you a desserty kinda person…or would you rather skip the sweets and have another round of the main course?

Tonight was pizza night at our house. 

I usually make pizza using this recipe, but tonight I was more in the mood for a thicker crust, so I made a yeast dough.

And of course, pictured above is just one of the pizzas but really I had to make three pizzas to fill us all. (I just picked the prettiest one for the picture.) 

Three pizzas did fill us all but most everyone needed more food two hours later. That’s how it works around here. Wow, these kids can eat.

We like making our pizzas with a variety of toppings. Some with “just cheese”. Some with cheese and turkey pepperoni. Some with cheese, turkey pepperoni and black olives. Some with cheese, turkey pepperoni, black olives, mushrooms and green peppers.

Pretty tasty. 

Ooh, and my favorite ingredient? I like using white cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella. It gives the pizza SUCH good flavor!

So what’s your favorite kind of pizza? Do you like making pizza yourself? If not, where do you like to get your pizza?

Is anyone now hungry for pizza? Sorry about that. If you come on by, I think I might have a couple leftover slices.

Shew! I’ve been cooking and baking and baking and cooking for hours.

And washing a ton of dishes.

About this cooking and baking (and dish washing) marathon I will say two things:

1. I love it.
2. I’m tired.

I’m glad I planned my entire weekend around this marathon. I got a TON of work done today and still have a long way to go. Will I get it all done and still be able to experiment with homemade ketchup? I’ll let you know. 

I’ll let you know if I can still type by Monday. And form complete thoughts. And remember what day it is.

I may actually still be standing at my big freezer with the door open (and my fingers freezing off) trying to figure out where to put all the fruit of my labor. Good problem to have, but wearing gloves for such an activity is advisable.

Anyway, let’s go back to the “I love it” part.

I really do love it. This morning before we left for our home school P.E. time, I started getting out all the ingredients I’d need so I’d be ready to start cooking when I got  home. I got SO excited about the fact that I was going to come home and cook and bake all afternoon that I just got giddy! 

Is it crazy that someone would get so excited about brown rice, chocolate chips and tomato sauce? Well, not altogether, but you know…all laid out on the counter waiting to be made into various yummy dishes?

Later as I was getting the cookies mixed up and into the oven all I could think of was, “I love baking best.” Then, as I was mixing up Cheesy Beef and Rice I was thinking, “I love cooking best.”

But you can’t love both things best, so now I’m trying to figure out which I like best…cooking or baking.

They are practically the same except that baking involves more flour and baking powder and mixing and kneading and often times it involves chocolate. Score one for baking.

Cooking involves meat and veggies and potatoes and rice and spices and creating dishes that nourish your family and make them happy. Score one for cooking.

I think I like them both the same. They are both my favorite.  I can’t help it. I’ve made up my mind.

So…which do you like better? Cooking…or Baking?

I’ll be telling you more about how I used to be “The Coupon Queen”, but first…let’s have a friendly little debate shall we?

I say that the word “coupon” is pronounced KYOOPON.

And I think I’m right.

But my husband says that the word is pronounced KOOPON.

And he thinks he’s right.

What with all the tragedy and hurt in the world, this is one issue that we apparently still feel is important enough to take up a portion of our time, energy and conversation. 

I finally looked the word up in the dictionary, and turns out…we’re both right. Both pronunciations are in there. Huh.

No matter, it’s continued to be a running “argument” for years. The kids get a huge kick out of listening to it.

Matt (surprised to see an item we wouldn’t normally buy):  “Hey, that looks good. Did you have a KOOPON for it?”

Laura:  “No I didn’t, but I did have a KYOOPON. Got us a pretty good deal.”

I am of the humble opinion that if I’m the one taking the time and making the effort to use the KYOOPON and saving us money with the KYOOPONS, then I am a little bit more right than he is. 

Regardless of who is more right (that would be me), I don’t know WHAT happened to me this week, but TWICE I said it wrong. Wrong I tell you. 

We had loved trying the V8 V-Fusion a few weeks ago and I found a KYOOPON for another bottle. So I splurged, used the KYOOPON and bought us another variety to try. 

The kids were so excited, Matt was so excited, I was so excited.

I poured a little into six glasses, one for each of us and we had it with our meal. I happily shared that I’d bought the treat because I had a KOOPON.

Asa (our oldest son, and the one who has the gift to ALWAYS catch mistakes) (and point them out) said, “Mom! Did you just say KOOPON?”

“No, of course not! I would never say that. I said KYOOPON. I bought it because I had a KYOOPON,”  I said firmly.

And then Justus (who often appears not to be listening, but usually IS listening) piped in with, “No Mom. I’m pretty sure you really said KOOPON.”

Matt was just sitting there with a smirk. “Yes, as a matter of fact, you did say KOOPON. Finally you said it right.”

I shook my head (and maybe threw a pea at someone who was smirking) and we carried on with our meal.

A few minutes later, Elias  randomly asked if we could have bacon sandwiches soon. I said, “Sure…I actually got some turkey bacon at the store yesterday with a KOOPON.”

And everyone burst out laughing.

I don’t really think bacon sandwiches are that funny, but whatever.

“Mom, you said KOOPON again.” (Asa, of course)

“For REAL? I said KOOPON?”

Matt (same smirky grin):  “Yep. KOO-PON.”

Bah. Just another example of me saying something and my family not hearing me correctly. Story of my life.

Or, maybe it is in fact that I’ve been around enough people who pronounce it KOOPON that I’m starting to say it wrong now. I’ve got to get my act together.

So…your turn to chime in. Which way do you say “coupon”?

KOOPON or KYOOPON?

(If you pronounce it KOOPON, I promise I won’t throw peas at you.)