I have an idea. Let’s make that whole “Attack Site” thing The Thing of Which We Shall Not Speak (TToWWSNS), okay? Onward!
I have a question. Should I be eating polenta? My grocery store is starting to carry “exciting” flavors, and I really don’t know what polenta is, but if the packaging looks sort of artsy and the words Mushroom Onion are right there in front of me, well, let’s just say I’m feeling a bit of temptation. The only thing that makes me put the polenta back on the shelf is the fact that holding it reminds me of holding pork sausage. I hold pork sausage only once each year. On Christmas morning. When I make this.
I have another question. Does anyone else detest the mornings as much as I do? It seems that our mornings are filled with kids yelling and screaming and pushing one another, and I let all of these things slowly fill me up until steam pours out of my ears and I feel as if I might sneak off into the bedroom and put my fist through a wall. This morning on the way to school, I (loudly) taught the girls about The Golden Rule. And I know how ridiculous I sounded, but I decided to NOT yell and scream about their behaviors and ugh! something about the importance of Teaching Moments, and gheez. I came home from drop off and made the biggest, most unstable pinto bean burrito you can imagine, and then I went to the vet clinic and picked up Ramona, who had a bit of a peeing issue on Monday, and now here I sit with a cat on my lap and a banana in my hand.
Me: Meredith, do you want Harper to push YOU down?
Meredith: No.
Me: Then you shouldn’t push Harper down.
Meredith: Mommy, I really don’t think Harper is strong enough to push me down.
Me: Burritoburritoburritoburritoburrito…
I’m wearing handknit socks today, and they go a little something like this:
Also, don’t forget the Febreze Giveaway! (It occurred during TToWWSNS, and I don’t want you to miss it!)
Finally, I’m doing NaBloPoMo in November. Are you?
Oh! Have you visited Offbeat Mama? Because I love it. So much. ‘ ‘ ‘text/javascript’>
Polenta is made with corn meal, and it is delicious. You can serve it with marinara sauce and yum! I think it’s pretty versatile too. I’m a fan.
Love the SOCKS! I finished another hat today (crochetcrochetcrochetcrochet). Did you make those or was it Ms. Tempe?
Jen–I made them. It took me two years to go from Start to Finish, but I made them. (I now have something like four pairs of socks that I have made for myself. Tempe has something like 4,382 pairs.)
Love the socks! They look comfy!
Oh you knitting goddess, you! I have to take lessons before I snag the required skills for such gorgeousness. I would never wear shoes…
I’m going to wing it and try NaBloPoMo again. I enjoy it every year and hope this time I have something worth writing about for 30 days straight!
Love your socks ferociously. Also, mornings at my house blow, suck, and make annoying whistling noises through their teeth. I think they also chew with their mouth open, but I try not to look. They disgust me that much.
I can’t eat polenta because it sounds like placenta to me. That is all.
I can’t eat polenta, because I know it’s meant to be peasant food and therefore cheap, but they made it all noncy and packaged and not cheap, so I know it is conning me but I can never get round to looking for the peasant stuff.
So.
Mornings. Not shouting is just saintly. How did you manage this exactly?
Yep the pushing and the yelling. It makes you want to push and yell.
And Meredith, you might want to consider that sometimes those little ones that can’t push you over just bite you instead.
My not particularly amusing feeling about polenta is that it is sort of icky. Plus, if you’re eating any processed foods, there’s a TON of hidden corn in your diet already, so how about quinoa? Or some other fancy grain? Quinoa is fun to say, and cute too!
I cannot stop chuckling over how literal Meredith is. Watch out for her; she’s a clever clever girl and will find the loop hole every time!
You should definitely be eating polenta, but not that weird extruded stuff in the tube (does anyone else remember cheese in a tube like that when they were kids? There was a plastic valve on the side it would squeeze out of in little strings? Just me? Before cheese in a can came out?).
You can make it yourself with some course cornmeal and milk, water, or broth. Then stir in some parmesan. My favorite then is to pour it into a baking dish and cover it with sauce, Italian sausage, and some cheese. Bake until the sauce is bubbly. It’s the PERFECT autumn/winter supper.
Here’s the basic recipe: (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Creamy-Polenta-236987), although you can buy quick cooking polenta, or cook it in the microwave so there’s less stirring and risk for burning.
You can also make it and pour it into a pan to slice and fry up later (like those tubes).
And I will admit that my mother won’t eat polenta because she grew up on a farm and they ate it for breakfast. Except they called it “corn meal mush” and she says when she left the farm she decided she never had to eat mush again.
Polenta is way yummy, but I agree that at least the plain version of the tubed stuff does not well-represent the product. On the other hand, my grocery store *used* to carry a fancy-schmancy version — something I think involving cheese and seasoned mushrooms, and boy howdy was it ever delicious!
But the from-scratch stuff really can’t be beat. Chicken with artichokes served over soft creamy polenta in which some mascarpone cheese has been incorporated? Definitely the stuff from which food orgasms result!
(As in “Oh. So. Good!” moaning. come on people. You all have food orgasms, right??)
I say “yes” – YES, I say, to the polenta.
The rest of it IS ALL TOO MUCH FOR ME.
Polenta=good. But don’t pay top dollar for the sausage-tube kind. I make it from scratch and like make it a little more “soupy” and call it my poor-man’s risotto. Here’s a recipe I like:
http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/pumpkin-polenta-with-grilled-vegetables-and-sausage/
Hope you’re not one of those people who have violent feelings about Rachael Ray…
What yarn is that? It’s lurverly for autumn.
Hey! Ho! Let’s go!
Now that that’s out of my system, I must say those are gorgeous socks! I also have a love affair with polenta, but I am embarassed to admit that I buy the tube-y kind (cuz I’m lazy and didn’t realize it was “peasant food” until I read that comment thread). I put it in lasagna in place of noodles.
No opinion on the polenta. I lurve your socks though!
Why in the name of all that is good and holy in this fickle unfair world do you only make that sausage monstrosity of insane goodness once a year? Do you only love your family once a year? Is that it?
I say yes to polenta, both the fancy kind and the kind in the tube. (If you use the tube kind, you can make this, which is fast and easy: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Polenta-Pie-with-Cheese-and-Tomato-Sauce-234993 )
The sloppy homemade kind is good with spinach and a poached egg on top.
Polenta is tasty. I had a post about it when I participated in Weekend Cookbook Challenge. You should try some. You can bake it. Fry it up. It’s ground cornmeal essentially. Tasty stuff.
http://foodiechickie.blogspot.com/2005/06/cornmeal-is-very-versatile-ingredient.html
So glad you turned out not to be an attack site.
YES I am going to do NaBlPoMo. Can we be friends?
Polenta’s alright but I wouldn’t get carried away.