the pretend embassy

we celebrated honey's 91st birthday on saturday after colton's basketball game.

one of my favorite stories to listen to her tell is about how,  when she was a little girl, she would spend every summer at her grandma's house, out in the country.  blackberry cobbler is still her favorite desert because that is what my great, great grandma fannie would make for her when she was a little girl.

so...i thought that i would try my hand at cobbler making...knowing full well that it would never compare to her grandma's...but i still thought it would be special for her.  and she deserves nothing more than to feel special and celebrated.  and you know me.  i never shy away from a reason to celebrate.

i searched high and low for a traditional cobbler recipe.

first, you take 2 1/2 cups of fresh blackberries (washed and patted dry) and combine them in a bowl with a cup of sugar.

i am of the philosophy that if a cup of sugar is good...then a cup and a half is better.

let the berries and sugar sit for 20 minutes...or until a fruit syrup forms.

pre-heat the oven to 375.

in a medium bowl...mix a cup of flour; 2 tsp of baking powder; 1/2 tsp of salt; and 1 cup of milk.

add 1/2 cup (1 stick) of melted butter to dough mixture and whisk.

look at this woman washing my dishes.  this makes cooking a lot easier, i've decided.

pour the dough mixture into an ungreased 8 inch baking dish.

add the berry mixture on top of that.

bake at 375 for 45 to 55 minutes.

i added sugar on the top for the last 10 minutes of baking.

serve warm with either fresh cream, whipped cream, or ice cream.

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here is the birthday girl getting irritated at me for making her pause to snap a picture before she took the first bite.

she loved it.  and she felt special and celebrated...which is so important to do for the people we love.  i'm convinced...you will never regret taking the time to find out what makes a loved one feel cared for and going the extra mile to make that happen.  sometimes it's the littlest thing that makes a person feel loved.

totally worth it.  every time.

****

since chad was still out of the country, we took a break from hosting a superbowl party this year.  usually i would be totally depressed to not have any plans on superbowl sunday...but i was pretty satisfied with how today went down.

i did discover that we have christmas pencils mingling around with the valentine's pencils...which is disturbing...but...let's just stay focused on the positive.

i was visited by my very favorite animal this afternoon.  she dressed up like a deer.  how exciting is that?

i'm not gonna lie about getting a tad bit excited when madonna started in on like a prayer during the half time show.  there may have been dancing.  and singing.

by all us girls.

chad was invited to watch the superbowl at the US Embassy in ukraine.  i really just can't even wrap my mind around that.  i mean...on the one hand...i'm thinking "oh how cool...that's so great...a once in a lifetime opportunity...yay for you..."

but...on the other...i'm thinking "seriously????  how is it fair that you are off flitting around the globe being treated like a freaking dignitary????  and why can these things not happen when i am with you???  oh...that's right...I'M NEVER WITH YOU!!!!  hey kids...lets pretend that we are watching the game at an embassy and that i am royalty that has been invited in.  k???  it will be fun."

we did have fun though...

in our pretend embassy.

we jumped on the couch when the giants scored; we danced to madonna; we laughed...loudly...at the m & m commercial and had the option to rewind if we wanted.  we ate pizza and folded laundry and played "let's count your ribs" until all four of them were giggling to the point of squealing.

do they do any of those things at the real embassy?

i think not.

that's only allowed at the pretend embassy.