Wordless Wednesday - It's Spring - Finally!

It's Spring time (finally!) so that means the grass needs to be cut. And thank goodness its dry enough to do that. Its been pretty wet here you know.

However my favorite part of cutting the grass this time was that Clayton got to participate. Can you tell this was his first experience with fresh cut grass? And yes it went into his mouth.

Enjoy your Wordless Wednesday with a few words; I couldn't help myself. ~ mrs. c

Hunk of Meat Monday - My love for Tri-Tip!!

If only we could smell and taste the computer screen.

Today would be the day to have a scratch and sniff computer screen because above is a picture of a California favorite - the Tri-Tip Roast. Grilled to perfection over a combination of wood and charcoal in this instance and covered in our favorite seasoning, Susie Q's.

The Tri-Tip roast is synonymous with California. According to the California Beef Council, in the early 1800s, the cattle industry was the foundation of California’s economy. Every spring, Santa Maria Valley rancheros would gather to help each other brand their cattle.The host would prepare a Spanish style barbecue for his vaqueros (America’s first cowboys) after a long day of work.The beef was barbecued over a red oak fire and served with Pinquinto beans, bread and salsa.

In the 1950s, Bob Schutz a meat cutter from California’s Central Coast, began using one of the muscles from the bottom sirloin and prepared it Santa Maria style. He recognized that using all of the bottom sirloin for stew meat or ground beef as had been tradition, might be a waste of a good cut. Schutz called his new cut a “tri-tip” because of its triangular shape.

If I can't have a medium rare rib-eye steak than a medium-rare piece of tri-tip from the center and one of the crisp and salt ends off the roast will work for me. The tri-tip roast is reasonably priced and feeds a whole family usually with a few leftovers for sandwiches the next day.

I'm hungry just thinking about it!! What's your favorite cut of beef?

Thanks for reading. ~mrs. c

Mommy Tip Monday!

Being a first time mom means learning things the hard way sometimes. But not all the time. Most of the time the lessons are downright funny. While this tip is not funny and a few type A personalities might find it kinda tacky, but it works for me. Maybe it will work for you too.

The Scene: Dinner

The Food: Rice

Rice Fact - Butte County's #1 Ag Commodity

The Problem: picking the sticky mess up off of the floor after dinner since it never stays on the high chair tray. 

The solution: Wait till morning to clean up the rice because what was sticky the night before is now dried and sweeps or vacuums up nicely. Wahlah! 

The Alternative: Get a dog.

Now Cheerios, those are a different dilemma. Little Man decided to help me clean these up by eating them. It's the least he could do since he is the reason they are on the floor.

So what's your favorite Mommy Tip?