Lack of Togetherness + Weekend Cooking

One might think that after three weeks of being home from college, a person might have all of her stuff together. You know, her schedule worked out, her routine down. Well, one would be wrong. The Creole Belle, self-proclaimed organizer, scheduler, and all-around together girl, has yet to get a grip on her life for the summer. Maybe I've contracted an odd mutation of senioritis. Maybe the the very New Orlean-ese combination of heat and humidity is slowly making me lose my mind.

Or maybe it's because I jumped straight into a five day a week, 8 to 4 job (which is really more like a 7 to 5 job with the trafficky commute) only a single day after returning home from school.

Uh-huh. It's probably this one.

Now that I have self-diagnosed, I can attempt to remedy the problem, but finding down time now is just a tad difficult with my schedule. I may just have to wait for my July 4th week break.

But here's a quick recap of the week, for all two of you who like to occasionally check up on me during the summer.

Ummm...everyday seems the same. I should probably post more regularly in order to actually remember what goes on. What a curious concept.

I started working out again, strained a hamstring, went to a baseball game, trimmed my hair, saw The Proposal on Friday, and cooked and cooked and cooked all weekend.

I slept in until 9 a.m. on Saturday (I know, I just wasted the whole day and, believe me, someone has already given me plenty of grief over it) and I cooked for girl's night. We had a Mexican theme and I made sangria, rice, beans, and spiced chocolate sauce and toasted coconut for sundaes. Girl's night was just barrels of fun and I now have a sudden and fairly intense interest in toasted coconut and key lime pie. The toasted coconut is so super easy and I want to put on everything. Ice cream. Belgian waffles. Blueberries. French toast. Salad. Guacamole. Actually, not really guacamole.

All you do for the toasted coconut is spread some flaked coconut on a baking sheet, bake at 350℉ for 12 or so minutes, and stir every 3 or 4 minutes. See, nothing to it.

On Sunday, I cooked even more. I snacked on fresh-picked blueberries all day while I prepared black beans with lime, pork chops with a peach and red-onion relish, and grilled corn. Exciting news about the pork and the corn—I grilled them. Yes, my first real grilling experience. All by my onesie. My daddy, who had such faith in my first-time grilling skills, sat inside by the window, with me and the grill in full view, poised to rush to my aid should I begin screeching for help. However, there was no charred food or bursts of fire or any such nonsense that I expected would occur.

I feel like I cooked all weekend, which I sort of did, but I loved every second of it. It was marvelous, glorious, and all-around good fun. I don't know what I'll do back in Savannah without my KitchenAid and juicer and chef's knife and tongs and other kitchen favorites. I expect there will be some separation anxiety.