Los Porchs

Here's a fun fact:  an out-of-state fishing license in Wisconsin is over-the-top expensive. This is the first year that I've purchased a license, since Momma Bear & Dad are on such a nice little lake, it seemed necessary.  Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I bought it because I had a lot of fun fishing, but was insulted that I have now officially become a FIB. We arrived up north late Thursday evening (technically Friday morning) and were exhausted but thankful to have avoided most of the holiday traffic.  Had a quiet morning and went into town to do some grocery shopping and stopped to pick up the aforementioned fishing license.  Porch & I journeyed with Mom to Wabeno to do some shopping at the thrift store and found some new places.  Porch found a great new hat and I am convinced he looks like Earlie from Squidbillies (see below). Spent the day hanging out with Mom & Dad and headed to Beaver's for their fish fry.  Jake & Katie arrived arou

As we prepare for a weekend away with our LaCrosse friends & their two young children, I began thinking that maybe the quickie meals were where it was at -- I proceeded to scour Pinterest (in the name of teamwork) for recipes that I could make & share during our trip. Breakfast (as made by Porch) features Egg in a Hole in the Toast; we say the entire phrase every single time.  No cheating.  Though sometimes it sounds more like "egginaholeindatoast."  Regardless, Porch is more or less the breakfast guru in this casa & I simply bought the standard ingredients knowing full well that he'll impress. Lunch shall be Pepperoni Un-Pizza.  Think monkey bread but as a savory choice rather than a sweet finish.  The concept is to take small balls of pizza dough (I bought the tube because it'll be easier to travel with; I don't care how you come to have pizza dough), flatten 'em, put a slice of pepperoni and a small cube of mozzarella (again, I bought string

Sometimes I suspect this could be considered cheating -- but I don't care.  I had a ridiculous day at work and when I got home, I really just wanted to cook it out.  I really think that if you start with something easy (read: pre-made) and add to it, you just can't fail.  Last night, Porch and I agreed that tonight we'd tackle the pork chops in the freezer and I picked up this beauty right here at Jewel-Osco yesterday on my way home. Hey, Kraft in no way paid me to say such good things about this little gem, but if they wanted to.... I mean... So I already  knew this was waiting for me; I had taken out the pork chops last night but (of COURSE), they weren't completely defrosted.  I plopped them into some hot water for a quick minute & got to work.  The kit itself calls for just throwing your chicken/pork/fish into the bag and shaking.  I, however, disagreed and followed this recipe instead: Whatcha need -- Fresh Take Cheddar Jack & Bacon kit (though

I'm all about quick & easy because when I get home from work, the last thing I really want to do is spend forever cooking -- I'm looking for the quickest path to the couch.  So here it is, tonight's amazing creation.  I'd say the 20 minute investment more than paid off.  I've been known to whip this up in double fashion and freeze one portion of it for another night, when I'm feeling particularly Laazzzy (Like that capital L?  You should). Not too shabby for a quick & dirty Wednesday night dinner! Here's what you need -- 1 lb pasta 1/2 C butter 2 C heavy whipping cream 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 C Parmesan cheese 1/3 C pesto 1 lb shrimp I like to vary the kind of pasta we use.  Let me be clear, while I appreciate those of you who are willing to sit home and de-vein, peel, and cook your own shrimp, I have about 20 minutes of my life allotted for dinner prep and therefore I have grown to love the frozen precooked shrimp.  If you have tim