April 1 - April 7: The Day I Did It...Again.

Oh if it were only a 2 week late April Fool's joke! No such luck, friends. Let that post smash-up continue...

Apr 1 - You know, it's funny; when you're young, you don't really think you'll grow up and voluntarily hang out with your family. Can I just say how blessed I feel that this is true for both my natural family and my married family? We spent the afternoon eating lunch and watching brit coms with Husband's sister, her husband and their kissable baby. Later in the day, we continued the fam love on the other side, celebrating my beautiful sister-in-law's birthday, which, unrelated, included playing with the tiniest, cutest puppy ever (only cause its not learning to potty train at my house). As usual, I ate far too much, laughed til it hurt, and said more than a handful of "thank yous" for all of the above.

Apr 2 - I don't have very many claims to fame, but I am very proud of and thankful for a handful of friendships that have stood the test of time. Two lovely ladies in particular have kept me giggling since before we were in Kindergarten. For years, we have intermittently banded together for travel adventures. We decided to get together for dinner to plan out this year's trip. This meeting was, of course, comprised of about 10% planning, 60% laughing and 30% delicious food, coffee and cake (oh, and 2 different patios. We get around). Can't wait for our Hill Country getaway!

Apr 3 - It is no secret to those that know me, I haven't exactly been known as athletic for the majority of my life. Ok, really, like the first 24 years. As such, I surprise myself with how blocked into that role I still am, but its mostly me who does the blocking. Imagine my surprise when I actually (almost) won a game of bowling! The surprise wasn't so much my score (still pretty sucky), but that no one was surprised that I wasn't the worst one. It's the little things! The bowling trip was to celebrate the birthdays in our small group. Bowling with lasers and black lights: appropriate birthday celebrations for ages 8-80 (though I'd suggest you guard both end of that spectrum against the music video selections...interesting)

Apr 4 - Women of the world, I know you'll understand me when I say this. I am thankful for medical advancements and screening procedures that keep us safe from preventable cancers. But....annual exams...I hate them. Possibly invented by the devil himself. Or men. Probably men. The upside: the drive into work passes a Starbucks and a Chick Fil-a. This idea was also invented by men. I'm sure mothers everywhere rejoice over this caffeine refill station adjacent to the only guiltless fast food option for their chicken-nugget-addict kids. I digress. Bible study that evening, where I saw once again the beauty of that scarlet thread gently stitched from Genesis to Revelation. It's one big, beautiful story, y'all!

Apr 5 - Another day highlighting my innate act to over-commit. Another day to remind me why I own a restaurant. It started with a simple pie for my coworkers. Then I thought, well gee, they really need something savory too...enter Farmer's Pie, a delicious creation involving a crust of hashbrowns, filled with sauteed onions, bacon, cheese, eggs and cream. I think I should rename it Fat Farmers Pie. THEN I thought, well what about the vegetarians?? Why, homemade biscuits and raspberry butter of course! My poor kitchen. My lucky coworkers. All went well except the biscuits...as soon as the dough came together, I just l knew they weren't going to work out. But I already made the butter, so, back to the mixer I went, whipping up a batch of whole wheat buttermilk and cinnamon scones. Note to self: this much cooking should be done at the restaurant. Where there's a paid dishwasher, who isn't me.

Apr 6 - What a good Friday it was! Having an unplanned half-day off work is such a rarity that I usually don't know what to do with myself when it occurs. Today, though, I chose to head to my happy place. After my cooking and baking marathon the previous morning, I had an itch that only organization could scratch. My spice cabinets were a royal mess. I say royal because, seriously, they should've been wearing crowns for King and Queen of Disarray. So, as usual, I headed to the container store for inspiration, then to Dollar Tree for my cheap-o self to actually buy stuff. My cabinets handed in their crowns for a jaunt through the fields of Organization Heaven, as they look perfectly lovely. Husband came hone soon after this project wrapped up and we headed to the yard for a little green thumbing. Tired does not even begin to describe my state when this day wrapped. Lucky for me, it ended with a plate full of Babe's Chicken and the subsequent food coma, which made it all worthwhile.

Apr 7 - Easter is the one time of year that I spend time lavishly over cakes. Every other time of the year, pie and cobbler rule my kitchen. But Easter goes to the cake. This year, it went to two: strawberry coconut cupcakes and Lemon Orange Chiffon Cake. Naturally, two cakes = two days of baking. I started on this Saturday with the cupcakes. Y'all. You can't even know how good these were. Topped them with dyed coconut to look like grass and candy eggs. Pagan Easter deliciousness, as Husband likes to call it. The remainder of the day involved lots of Easter pie ( for the shop) and was bookended by the beginnings of my lemon chiffon cake. In my glamorous way, I fell asleep on the couch under a bath towel. The rest of the cake (leveling, icing, all that jazz) would just have to wait til Sunday. That bath towel was cozy.

Love & Messy Kitchens,
K