Ordinary Life

The recipe seemed easy enough:  Mix a can of corn and a can of creamed corn Scoop into rounds and freeze Dip frozen rounds in batter Fry Enjoy corn nuggets at home instead of in our default restaurant. I thought it was SO simple, I could imporvise a little. I tossed in some red pepper flakes and shredded cheddar. I think the cheddar would be my recipe's undoing in the end.  Dipping nuggets in batter. A thicker batter may have made a difference:  Things started out well:  Promising looking nuggets:  A combination of thawing and cheese strands extending past the "batter barrier" led many nuggets to spread... our overall result was something like Scrambled Corn Nugget Fritters...  *BOUNUS* Let's talk about deep fried foods and your arteries... 

We have a picky princess in our house. Here are the things she will gladly eat: Potato Chips Peanut Butter Chocolate Spread Chocolate Chips Ketchup Strawberries Milk (I realize milk is not food, she insists otherwise)  ~*~ Here are the things she will sometimes eat: Raisins Yogurt (preferably with rainbow sprinkles)  Pizza Crust French Fries Bananas Dry Cereal (preferably with rainbow marshmallows)   ~Notice the sugar trend?  We are working on it, and until something catches on, we're getting creative ;)  Food fun we've recently had:  FryPop She only ate the ketchup. Ketchup Cat Meant to encourage fry consumption, she asked for a bigger cat.  MinnieMouse Cream I realize that the below picture is of ice cream, but it had been a milk only day, despite the Jell-o and bananas we offered from the buffet @ Ichiban. I was aiming at a few more calories by this point.  She watched the mouse melt as she finished off her milk. 

Just picture taking fun while we wait for firework time: 

A few evenings back, we took our dinner by the pool :  Riley models dollar store couture... bathing suit, goggles, & water toys- all a buck each.    To see her all decked out, you may never guess she prefers sitting on the steps or clinging to my suit straps... 

Independence Day was a beautiful day for a picnic on the beach:  Beach  Baby (there, on the sand)  Boogie Boardin' Dude: And Dudette:  Pigskin Passers: Team Boogie:  Castle Building (& kicking) & God Bless Freedom of Press:

Of course there were the fried things I told you about earlier .  (way, way, way earlier at this point) Then there were these other, mostly pre-packaged fried things that we haven't yet discussed.  Jalapeno Poppers and Cheese Filled Pretzel bites.  Appetizing...no? (NO)  Some 'DIY' corn pup nuggets:  Before: Post Oven: And also, Chili Cheese Oven Fries: Not to mention some salsa & chips that accompanied us to the shore: Current Favorite Salsa: (CHIPS & DIP-the original moveable feast) And then there were the mini Cherry YumYum pies. The food with the story attached. (You knew there had to be one, right?) You see, I always think about MeeMaw Brewer around Independence Day. Cherry YumYum was one of her signature dishes and one of our last family gatherings with her was a July 4th. Now, while Aundree was indeed a beloved family member, by the time I joined the family she was  almost completely bats (no offense, MeeMaw... it's okay, we loved you st...