Buns in the Oven

You may have visited this site recently and wondered why I'm too lazy to scribble a few words about my day on the internet, when obviously I'm home on fall break and probably have lots of free time on my hands. Well contrary to your (and my own) visions of lots of free time and lazy days, I've been having so many adventures that I haven't had time to document them! But I have time now. So I'm going to break my break into sections, and post them here all at once. Try not to freak out.

Excerpt #1 from Fall Break, Night on the Town (Thursday evening):

So Thursday night I went out on the town with my lovely cousin. After we'd hit all the strip joints, left the disco club, and paid Pablo...

Ok, no, actually we went to Panera Bread, where I met Emily's boyfriend from Boyce, we went Halloween shopping, and then went out for coffee before visiting with our grandma. So I guess I'll tell you about that, even though my other story might have been more exciting...

So I met Emily's boyfriend. I've already reported back to the family, but I'll say it here too: I thoroughly approve. He was very friendly, sweet and polite, and very attentive to Emily. I like him a lot (and this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I think he can get me discounts at one of my favorite restaurants/he gave me free raspberry Jones), and I guess Emily does too, which is really all that matters anyway.

In other news, my cousin, Emily, has bought a car. It's a very pretty car, a bright red Jeep, with decent gas mileage, lots of room, very safe. I know the real reason she bought it though: it has Toosh Toasters! The driver and passenger-side seat have built in seat warmers! Now, with the push of a button, our buns can be gently roasted while our appendages shiver. I tried them myself, they're wonderful, and I can think of many less sensible reasons to buy a car. I'd like to get some toosh toasters myself, in fact.

One story about the toosh toasters that I simply must share (I have permission):
My cousin was out with her friend in the new car. They'd both just run through the cold rain (it's been raining here all week) and were soaked through. Emily says she was so cold couldn't feel anything when they climbed into the car and started driving. After a few minutes, she found out she could feel something; a wet warmth spreading across the lower half of her body. Emily looked at her friend, who was on the phone, in horror. She had her suspicions about that wet warmth, which, in her numb state, she had no way to confirm or deny. (keep in mind, as Emily tells me this story, she's reenacting with facial expressions and interrupting herself with fits of laughter) It was only when she saw the light on the seat warmers that she understood how she'd been fooled. Her friend give her a questioning look, to which my cousin replies "oh, nothing." For a long moment there, she thought for sure she'd peed her pants. Toosh toasters strike again!

I'm totally getting a car with toosh toasters, by the way. Forget brakes and bumper and all this nonsense. I just want to keep my buns in the oven.

Excerpt #2, Campbellsville (Thursday morning/afternoon):
We thought we were sneaking up on her, so she wouldn't have time to put together a complicated meal. We should have known better than to try and catch Nana off her guard though. Mom and I went down to Campbellsville to visit relatives this week. When me got to my Nana's house, hot on the heels of "come 'ere you, give me a hug," "I've missed you so much," and "So you like it, then?" came "want some potato soup?" followed closely by green beans, and dutch apple pie. It was all delicious, of course. Then came the family stories and the sizing up (Apparently I'm still pretty, though I need to eat more :-) ). We also visited my Papo, he's doing very well, all things considered. We gave him a Nascar book, and he made us laugh. He seemed in good spirits. It was a nice diversion. Also, driving through the country was absolutely gorgeous, the leaves are glorious this year.

Different kinds of brown/gold that I observed on the way to Campbellsville:
-pure Au gold, like those flecks in the souvenir water tubes that you hold up to catch the light
-roasted-marshmallow brown, (warm, golden, and perfect)
-mulled-cider brown, with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg
-creek-bank mud brown
-pumpkin pie orangish brown
-algae-pond muddy brown

It was one of those days where it couldn't decide whether to rip open and dump storms, or shine, so parts of the sky were this ominous moody blue, but everything was streaked with distinct bands of light that would touch down on the treetops and tops of hills to bring out the bright colors. Some patches of road were dripping with gold, while in others the shadows were so dark there were almost purple.

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Pie baking tips from Nana (only to be attempted once you've mastered all variations of the "stick o' butter, cup o' sugar, can o' beer" technique):
- To get a crumble crust pie, like a dutch apple pie, to cook perfectly in the center without burning the edges of the crust, take an aluminum pie dish and cut a circle in the center, so that you have the sides of the dish and then a 1-2 in rim around, and place that over the pie while it's in the oven.
- For a moist, smooth cheesecake with no cracks in the top, prepare a water bath for the dish to sit in while it's baking. To do this, fill an outside dish with water, then place your pie dish in the water dish before putting it in the oven. This spreads the heat to cook gently and evenly. It's also a good way to cook custards, and other desserts with an egg base. It works best if your pie dish is ceramic, not metal.

It seems like everyone in my family has their special recipe. There's Martha's carrot cake, Bob's Thanksgiving stuffing, Cathy's Christmas cinnamon rolls, Emily's Derby pie, Grammy's peanut butter blossoms, Dad's almond/mushroom green beans...even Daniel's already becoming known for his delicious banana bread! I wonder, sometimes, what my recipe will be. When my cousins, who are already getting far too old far too fast, start popping out babies, and their little darlings say 'Aunt Erin (does that sound clumsy to you? It does to me. Auntie Erin, maybe? Or maybe just Erin, cause I'm a cool aunt), Aunt Erin, won't you make _____!' what will I make? I think I will go on a quest, not for fame, fortune, or favor, but for my own personal recipe. I'll find a recipe that makes the people who know me smile and say 'nobody makes ____ like Erin!' And they'll be right. Now I just need to find guinea pigs....

Mom: (upon seeing a cow) Moooo!
Me: Coooooow!
Mom: (upon seeing a donkey) Oh, look at the donkeys.
Me: Are you gonna make a donkey noise?
Mom: (grinnning) heeee-haaaaw!
Me: Donkey! (laughing)
Mom: I just hope I don't see a pig....

(WTF: Since we were little, my family's played a car game where the first person to see a cow has to say "Moooo" before anyone else, and everyone else in the car has to say "Cooooow!" I think my dad started it. It was very entertaining when I was seven, and I gotta say, it hasn't lost its charm yet.

Since I posted this quote, Daniel has informed me that it's not really that funny. What do you think?)

Also:
-Riley keeps trying to give me toilet kisses.
-Dad's forgotten our (not-so-secret) finger wiggle handshake. He must be retrained.