Our Family Beginnings

On Thursday, Jezebel.com picked up a story that Vintage Ads had posted.

I sent this over to the dear husband, who replied, “Sunday Morning. Our kitchen. This is happening. Be prepared.” Bacon embedded in pancakes? Our friends were inviting themselves over for brunch and hoping to taste the possible gustatory excess and certain taste bud happiness that would occur.

We went to our local supermarket, and first debated whether or not to get the maple smoked bacon, or just the straight up standard bacon. In the end we decided that the standard Smithfield bacon would be a good starter, we wanted to be purists.

After the bacon cooked down, we put the bacon on a paper lined plate to drain a bit. We also wiped down the griddle, saving a bit of bacon grease to cook the pancakes. For the pancakes, we used our favorite cookbook: America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Seriously, everything in this thing is amazing.

Once the bacon was dryish, we put it back on the griddle in preparation for the main event. Wrapping that deliciously crispy bacon in batter. To be fair, our batter isn’t as fine as the Aunt Jemima, so it doesn’t drizzle as pretty, but it makes a tasty pancake, so don’t fret.

We could have flipped them a smidge earlier, but oh, they looked so good anyway.

Finally, time to plate the tasty breakfast.

Meanwhile, Fred wanted to see what all the fuss was about. He was quite interested in the amazing smell coming from the kitchen.

What would he think of the flavor combination?

Oh yes, it’s definitely a hit. Our man cleaned his plate, as did we.

And yes, we get the irony of the lite pancake syrup. Usually we use the high-test stuff, but this was the only Aunt Jemima we had in the house…

We’ve had a lot to celebrate this year, and this holiday season was no exception. However, V did get in a fight with a table and lost (it wasn’t even a sharp table!) and I seem to have gotten a stomach bug. As a result, we’re both a little off today. However, in his quest for exploration, he stumbled upon something that made me cackle with laughter. That made him laugh and do it some more, and as a result, I can share it with you.

But to get it in under the wire, while I am thankful for a great many things this year, I am most thankful for this:

Hell yeah, I drew it!

It’s hard when you’re pondering parenthood and many of your friends are not.  Now granted, a far greater share of my friends have children since I founded this blog.  But like the girl scout song, make new friends but keep the old and all that.  My friend who shares my passion for this guy, and runs the site with me, has been traveling for work this year.  At best, she’s been in town one weekend a month.

She rules though, right after she left last time, she asked if Mr. Badger and I would be free for the Saturday she would next be in town.  Even without kids or a significant other, she knows that lining up babysitting can be a bitch, and she wanted to make sure we’d be able to come out if we needed.  In the end, we couldn’t get a babysitter, but she didn’t care.

We had a nice time at this bar which now considers itself a gastropub, and picked up as if we hang out daily.  Granted we chat via IM most days, so that’s not too far fetched, but it was nice all the same.  She wanted to introduce us to her platonic male pal who thought that Mr. Badger and I were an urban legend.  Even little V got in on the action, insisting on holding the menu.

From Baby 6.8 & 6.13

She rolls with things, she gets that we may take a little longer to get places, and that I can’t just drop and see a movie anymore, but that we’re still us. We still love a great cocktail and shooting the shit. We’re still the Badgers. My perfect moment came when the morning after our dinner she sent a thank you email, just because. How great is that? Friends certainly help you when you’re down, but bottom line, friends make you smile.

Yeah yeah, I did the quickie photoshopping, but it was totally his idea.  Thanks hon, at least if I am going to hell, I know you’re flying the plane.