sexy in the kitchen

check him out! 

my husband does many a wonderful thing for his family but there are a few things he doesn't do and cooking is one of those things.  so this ... this was an exciting moment.

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we had a really spectacular day yesterday.  we met with the family early in the morning to walk 3.1 miles on behalf of little gage and the american heart association.  

after our walk, 2 hours later (gavin pace), we headed over to the frisbee golf park for a bbq.  the weather was perfect, the company was delightful and the food, yummy.

let me tell you something, if you make melissa's pumpkin bars for people, not only will they eat them, they will always, and i mean always, ask you for the recipe.   thanks for the recipe melissa!

pumpkin bars

4 eggs

1 2/3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

2 cups pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

2 tsp soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 cups flour

sift together dry ingredients (except sugar) in a small bowl and set aside.  in a medium bowl, mix eggs, oil, pumpkin and sugar until fluffy.   fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients until well combined.  pour mixture onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 350 (preheated).

cream cheese frosting

1 stick unsalted butter (8 Tbsp), room temp

8 oz regular cream cheese, room temp

2 2/3 cups powder sugar

1 tsp vanilla

mix together!  spread on cooled bars.

makes 24 bars.

***

after we ate most of the pumpkin bars and hung out for hours at the park we headed home to recover from all the excitement.  for me, this meant doing dishes which resulted in a very long and painful laceration on my thumb. ouch.  see, several years ago i bought a pampered chef mandolin but i hadn't ever used it until yesterday morning.  actually, jake used it.  he cut up cucumbers for me and we were in such a rush to arrive on time for the walk, we threw the dirty dishes in the sink and ran out.  as i washed the dishes later on, i picked up the blade part with the washrag and started to wash it.  the blade cut through the rag and through my skin.  it hurt and brooklyn said "this is like the 9th time you've cut yourself" (true).

anyway, lucky for me i married jake and he was sort of willing to step in and finish the dishes.  i sat on the couch and milked my injury.  dinner still needed to be made and i've been secretly wishing he enjoyed cooking so we might have something to do together when our kids grow up and move out.  so i challenged him.  i said "i challenge you to make homemade pizza" and i said this with a you know what the reward is kind of wink.  basic stuff.  he's pretty dang easy to bribe.  

he took my challenge and he took it seriously.  he even busted out his ipod and earphones for some inspirational background music.  he held up the flour and asked me if it was yeast.  he warmed the mixer bowl in the oven, a technique new to me.  

overall, his pizza was a success. i only had to bail him out once and he even kneaded the dough on his own.

this is monumental people. i proposed a weekly "dad's homemade pizza night" but i'm not sure if he took the bribe.  maybe if the stakes were high enough?

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