Confessions of an Addict

My name is Megan & I am a pancake addict.

♥ Flapjack

♥ Battercake

♥ Flannel-Cake

♥ Flap Cake

♥ Griddlecake

♥ Hotcake

Whatever name you put to it, I ♥ them.

Not just any old pancakes...MY pancakes.

I don't mean to brag, but seriously, yum!

I started making these made from scratch pancakes in Jr. High & from then through getting married, I made them probably twice a week.

Not for breakfast either. For dinner!

I made these a couple nights ago & now that I am forced to talk about them & look at the pictures, my mouth is salivating.

My sister makes some delicious buttermilk pancakes, & for a while I was making that recipe.

They never turned out very well. I can't make them like she can.

So I went back to my trusty recipe & man alive was I missing out.

Now I can't stop thinking about them & I am glad Jordan likes them enough for dinner at least once a week.

My love for them has even gone as far as to think up a name for a future pancake house:

♦ ♦ ♦ Griddle Me This ♦ ♦ ♦

What do you think?!?

Pancake Song

Mix a pancake,

Stir a pancake,

Pop it in the pan.

Fry the pancake,

Toss the pancake,

Catch it if you can.

- - Christina Rossetti

Mama Said

Mama said there'd be days like this
"They'll be days like this," my Mama said.
(Mama said, Mama said)
Mama said they'll be days like this
"They'll be days like this," my Mama said.
Jordan & I, both, kind of had one of those days. His day = frustration with not knowing exactly how he can be the most helpful at work.
My day = being disappointed because of the thoughtlessness of people. (Mama said, Mama said, hey, hey.)
Don't you worry. (Mama said, Mama said, hey, hey.)

Don't you worry, now.These grumpy faces made me feel better. Especially this one...

Life Is Like A Box of Chocolates

We spent the weekend in San Antonio, Texas.

It was beautiful & green. We stayed at a Bed & Breakfast called The Gardenia Inn. The entire house was so charming. We loved our room. Here is the bathroom - we did not know how we felt about having just a bathtub, but it was actually pretty fun to do something different than hop into a plain old shower.The porch was easily accessible with this floor to ceiling length window, just slide the window up & step out...so neat! Way better than the obvious door.I want a house just like this one [if I can't just have this one]. It was perfect & had so much character.

The cute couple who owns the B & B were friendly & hospitable. They also made delicious breakfast.I already want to plan a trip back to this place. It won my ♥ .The Riverwalk was just a 15 minute walk away. What an inventive use of a river. The Riverwalk was enchanting & I could imagine myself walking along the canals of Venice. Seriously. The river was below the noisy hustle & bustle of the city streets. It is a world of its own.There were tons of these guys swimming around. She really wanted us to share our dinner.There were bridges & tunnels incorporated throughout the entire area for people to easily get to where they need to go. We took a boat tour of the river & learned some neat historic facts about the city. It also helped us to get our bearings, it was easy to get turned around in this place. As nice as it was to stroll around I only had one complaint...it was really humid (even the locals said it was unusually humid) & it made walking all over town pretty tough. It did not stop us though, there was just too much to see. When we decided to enter into reality again we went up the stairs, down the alley, across the street, & ran into this Historic War Memorial...The Alamo.

Fact: Did you know there is a city ordinance that limits how tall hotels or other buildings can be around the Alamo??? No building can be built tall enough to cast a shadow on a war memorial site.

On our way back home we stopped by The Japanese Tea Gardens. I know what you are thinking...the sign says Chinese. Interesting story...the gardens were designed by a Japanese immigrant in 1915. Then after WWII the city changed the name to The Chinese Sunken Garden. In 1983 they changed it back to its original name [they just haven't changed the sign].The tea gardens were built to disguise what otherwise would have been a useless space. In the 1800's limestone was discovered in the area.

This location was the limestone quarry that provided all of the limestone for the State Capital building in Austin.Instead of having a big empty hole, they created the sunken gardens. What an incredible idea - turn something old & used & turn it into something unique & beautiful.

We had a fabulous time & cannot wait to go back.

So why is life like a box of chocolates?!?

Cause "you never know what you're gonna get!"

We went to San Antonio, Texas this weekend & I felt like I was in:

1. Texas - rich with Southern hospitality

2. Venice - the city of love

3. Japan - full of history & culture

P.S. If you are ever in the San Antonio area go to the Tip Top Diner & get yourself some Banana Cream Pie...words cannot even describe.

Cravings

I have had a lot of spare time recently.
I occupy my time with things like:

*laying out

*baking

*working out

*cooking

*annoying close relatives [mostly Elyce] with my phone calls because I need somebody to talk to or I will lose my sanity

*cleaning

*blogging

I have started cooking a lot this week especially.

It has occupied so much of my time that today I was sick of it & decided to give myself a day off. After all, there are plenty of leftovers to feed an army. Jordan wanted to go out rather than experience the exciting aspect of leftovers. Over the weekend we tried to go to

Chuy's Fine Tex Mex

- - it was a one & a half hour wait - - No Thank You!!!
We thought we would give it another try tonight. Our thought process was: It's a Wednesday night so it won't be as busy as a Friday night. I guess we were somewhat right, still a half hour wait, but that just confirmed the rumors that this place must be really tasty.
Since being in Austin, I have been kind of disappointed in where we have gone to eat (excluding The Salt Lick). I have wanted to find that place that I go home & dream about [or write a blog post about]. Someplace I can take family out to when they come to visit & will ensure they will be back. Found it!

Seriously the best tortilla chips - EVER!!! Perfect in every way. Our food was finger lickin' good. Different than Arizona Mexican food, but equally as yummy.I was glad Jordan offered to go out for the night. I needed to get out. I have been cooped up all week. It has been overcast & rainy all week, thus, ruining my routine of working out & then basking in the beautiful sunshine.
I am definitely looking forward to this weekend. We will be temporarily relocating to San Antonio to stay at this cute Bed & Breakfast

that has gotten excellent reviews. I look forward to touring The Alamo, shopping Riverwalk, & maybe even going to the San Antonio Zoo [do you have any idea how much I ♥ going to the zoo!?!]

P.S. Since I taunted you all with pictures of food this entire post I thought I would leave you with a recipe for these...Caramel Apple Muffins

Perfect for breakfast (& does not require a bowl - - you know, if you have a hard time finding bowls around your place, like me).

{How Bizarre}

Why am I eating my oatmeal from this measuring cup?!?

Because...the corporate housing we are staying in [for free, so I cannot complain too much] came "Fully Furnished."

Or did it?!?
~ 4 bowls ~ 4 plates ~ 4 forks ~ 4 spoons ~
They did not take my husband into account. Well, maybe they did not take me into account, it is his internship after all.
You see, Jordan is a cereal addict.
A bowl of cereal first thing in the morning & a bowl to finish off his day right before going to bed...everyday.
I cannot understand this practice.
I hate cereal.
How can he not get sick of it? The world [I] may never know.
So I am eating my breakfast from a Pyrex dish. Eh, [insert shoulder shrug] it still tastes the same.
Moving on...Do you like my pantry?
I grew up with the World's Largest Pantry, seriously, I did. My mom designed the house to have a XXX-Large place to store food. Which, honestly, was a really nice thing. No stressing over where to put all that food storage. Anyway, I grew up thinking this obnoxious size of a pantry was normal. So I find it a little bizarre that apartments come with little or no, in this case, places to store food. Oh, well [insert another shoulder shrug] the food is stored, just not very conveniently.
These things are slight quirks, peculiarities, small irritations.
Overall, I ♥ our apartment.
~ It is free
~ The washer & dryer are brand new & can actually hold large amounts of laundry
~ It is quite roomy
~ It is clean
~ It smells good
~ There is a nook for the computer (see picture below)
~ The kitchen has an island, providing adequate counter space (see picture below)
The only thing it is truly missing...my cereal loving husband from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

{ I would take Lucy & the beach too }

The Local Park

Where I come from a park is more of a retention basin to collect run-off water than it is a park.

It is watered by irrigation with a tree scattered here or there. Good for a nice game of wiffle ball. Some of these so called "parks" have playground equipment & a basketball court, which make them a nice place to meet with friends & family.

That is what I was expecting to find when we entered "park" into our navigation & zig-zagged our way to the closest park. I was NOT expecting this...Now I am confused on what constitutes a park. Is this what a park should look like or is what I described above what a park should look like? Who knows?

This park was definitely charming.
There was a very small dirt path winding through the grove of trees. A large field was located in one corner of the park & in the middle of the field was this bench.I wonder how l o n g it has been there.
I like to think it was built in the late 1960's when it was dedicated to the Great MLK, & has been well preserved since [probably not], but I don't know about that either.
Then along the side of the field was this rustic birdhouse [I want one].We had a pleasant walk around the park, but I cannot imagine a game of wiffle ball going on here. I wonder if all the parks in Austin are like this one.

30 Percent Chance of Rain

During dinner tonight, we were listening to the local news. The weatherman predicted 30% chance of rain.

Jordan says, "30% - Ha! It's not gonna rain."

I reply, "Jordan, maybe 30% means something different in places other than Arizona."

He agreed.

We grew up knowing 30% chance for showers meant - no rain. Also, that unless it was actually raining outside, the weatherman/woman never know, well, anything. [That sounds harsh.]

Apparently 30% chance of rain in Austin, Texas, means it is not only going to rain, it is going to pour down huge raindrops creating large puddles all over the roads. The storm we experienced tonight is probably an average little ol' storm for Texans, but for Arizonans it was as large as storms get. There was a seriously un-cool amount of thunder & lightning - I am not a fan. Jordan can attest that I act like a dog stranded outside during a thunderstorm, I cower with every blast of light & sound.

The storm made for a beautiful drive before it really started to come down.

That is right, we decided to venture out into the storm. The 30% chance of rain did not scare us (that's because it hadn't started until we left the safety of our home). We were on a mission. I had heard Round Rock (located just to the north of Austin) held the #1 Donut in the whole state of Texas & naturally I needed to know what all the fuss was about.

Good thing Jordan replaced the wiper blades on the car before we left Arizona because we needed them tonight. I thought for sure we were going to die, but we eventually made it to our destination & the prize my friends...

The #1 Donut in Texas: Round Rock Donuts "Original Glazed Donut"

The donuts are actually orange.
They are quite delicious - thankfully after risking death for them. We definitely needed a glass of milk to complete the experience. Next time.
Come visit us & we will take you there - just not if there is a 30% chance of rain.