Pumpkinzilla and his Mighty Harem

Pumpkinzilla and his mighty harem awaited me last night when I got home from work. Brandishing weapons and pointing fingers at their dusty dry soil. Without delay, I marched down to the basement (yes, there are basements in California) and switched the veg garden over to daily watering. We'll see if that helps with the mood in the garden. Meanwhile, the snap peas are finally blooming so there is hope of sweet snappiness in our future.

And, while we're on the topic of moods, this weekend will be the first time we're dragging out the smoker for summer festivities and it appears to have revived hubby's lost soul that has been buried beneath work piles. These naughty piles have been standing between hubby and his beloved hobby of meat smoking -- something that is eagerly anticipated by all that know and love him. And also by our neighbors. And their kids. And my friend's husbands. And my cousins college baseball team who we've never met. And anyone who's ever tasted real Kansas City style bbq and has the unfortunate luck to live in Northern California where there is scary little of the good smokey stuff to be had.

For those of you who haven't had the luck to meet up with the farest of meats, here is a portrait:



For those of us that forget what Blissed Out Hubby looks like:



Blissed Out Finny isn't far behind, since there's precious little I love to do more than gather my favorite peeps into the garden and stuff them full of delicious food. So I buy love with food? You wanna make something of it?

Here is me last weekend trying to buy Hubby's love with food:



How do we know it's love? Because that heart shaped Le Creuset (wedding gift) was filled with homemade macaroni and cheese. Why is that love? Because it was approximately 90 degrees on Saturday and, while making the M+C it was about 200 degrees in my kitchen. But when I made mention of trying the homemade M+C recipe from Cook's Illustrated and hubby's eyes snapped out of the thousand yard stare (a result of the naughty work piles), I didn't dare disappoint. I sweated through my apron while stirring my cauldron of cheesy goodness, but I didn't disappoint.

So love looks like this? That's fine. Right? :



I'll be off to the butcher for some handsome meats shortly since we'll need to start salting, milking (believe me, you don't want to know and it ain't kosher) and smoking the entrees to kick off our summer bbq series. And so I can continue bribing my family and friends with the best our backyard bbq has to offer. Oh, and fudgey.

It's no wonder I'm not making much headway on resolution #2. Resolution update to come soon.