Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity.

Keeping within the Domestic Diety theme of the week, I got up early this morning and got a head start on preparing tonight’s supper.

Now that you’re back upright after falling on the floor, shall I continue?

Earl does most of the grocery shopping for our happy little household. He likes to go to the big supermarket that’s reasonably close to us (it’s called Hannafords), put on his iPod and buy the necessities for the week. I usually drop a fair number of hints of what I’d like so that I can get in on the Emeril game and he obliges. This past Sunday I mentioned that it might be fun to fire up the crockpot again and get into autumn mode. He picked up the necessary ingredients for a couple nights of crockpot fun.

Tonight we are having pork tenderloin with carrots, potatoes and celery. He picked up this little seasoning packet that made the whole process so easier. Just slice, dice, cut, add water and spices and set the crockpot to auto-shift. Even a fool like myself can do it.

I much prefer having to put out the extra effort to do things this way rather than finding some microwave-able frozen dinner, pulling back the cellophane and punching in “5-0-0” on the keypad and hoping for something good to come out of it. I’ve mentioned before that though I grew up with the Radarange/microwave, I don’t really trust it and they’re going to find that it’s bad for you any time now.

I’m looking forward to tonight’s crockpot dinner. I’m so giddy I could hug the crockpot itself.

Now I think I’ve gone a little overboard.

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Originally uploaded by macwarriorny.

Being on call this weekend has given me some well needed extra time around the house. I’ve kicked my “domestic god” into high and can say with great triumph that right now the hamper, washer and dryer are all empty. That gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling

I also took the opportunity to get back into baking mode. There’s something about the fall winds that sing “cheesecake! pies! cookies!” to me so naturally I had to indulge myself. In a way, it was Earl’s fault. He made a delicious homemade chicken soup in the crockpot this morning so I felt compelled to follow up with dessert. Hence, chocolate chip cookies.

Whenever I bake I’m reminded of my paternal grandmother. She was a good ol’ “farm wife” in that she baked her own bread, cookies and pies, made her own stews, soups and sauces and lots of other stuff as well, canned vegetables every fall, sewed her own dresses and held down a part-time job with the family business all at the same time. My grandmother was a fabulous cook. As a kid I used to go next door to her house after school to enjoy some milk and cookies. She would take time out of her schedule to watch ‘Bewitched’ and ‘I Dream of Jeannie’ reruns with me, sometimes doing the ironing or folding laundry while doing so. Looking back, it seemed like she baked every day. We continued to eat her cookies from the freezer for several months after her death. Earl never met my grandmother, but he did have the opportunity to have some of her cookies. After she passed away I found some of her recipes, pulled them out, copied them all down and the put them back where I found them. Using her recipes while baking is keeping her legacy alive.

As adults, my sister and I have said that we were lucky in that we have diverse grandmothers. While my aforementioned grandma could bake with the best of them, our maternal grandmother wasn’t big in baking, but she could grow plants and vegetables and she could knit, sew and crochet with the best of them. Need a doily to cover Arkansas? Need an afghan to cover up your car? Not a problem, she could whip both up in a week.

I made 4 1/2 dozen cookies today. But unlike my grandmother’s cookies, these won’t be around long enough to freeze. Bon appetit!