Making 10 year olds eat.

So Michael's been with us just over a week now, and it's been awesome! But also rough on the poor kid (he misses his family, you can't blame him). Anyway i guess part of this "home sickness" was that he wasn't eating things (or so my family says). Of course they were trying to feed him normal Pappas residence food, which mostly consists of beef stew and shepherds pie (because Phil loves them). And you know what? No dice. No shit right? Who wants to eat that heaviness when it's 100 bazillion degrees outside? No one (well, Phil Pappas). Anyway I took the direct approach, and was like, "What do you like to eat, kid?" and the answer was basically fried meat (preferably breaded) and sugar, which is probably the most unhealthy diet of all time, so of course it's the answer. So i was all, "Can you meAt me half way?" and then this flash mob busted out of no where and started jamming to that song (Also i just want to point out that the spelling/grammar/whatever error was on purpose this time, because i get a ton of shit for that (I'm not naming any names)). So basically we made baked breaded chicken breasts, hmmm hmmm hmmmmmmmm.

But i'm going to take a little interlude here to tell you what's been going on in my life, just in case you were curious (who isn't?). So basically I got a flat tire on the way to work last week at 4am, which was awesome.  So i'm trying to change it on the side of a busy highway, and i know your thinking to yourself, "Hey, why don't you just get one of those spray can thingys that re-inflate tires?" and the answer is: duh. Of course i have one. You don't think the biggest klutz in the world has one?? duh... But when a shark attacks your car on a busy highway and wrips it to shreds you're gonna have to bust out the donut. Also my tires have to be as annoying as humanly possibly and one of the nuts (just one) needs this special adapted socket to come off that get's stuck in the crow bar thing and is basically a nightmare. aNYwho, my car had to go to the shop, is the point of this story. Also a little backstory: Sometimes when it's really hot out, i press the brakes all the way, and the car stops, then moves again. I brought this up to Nanc, who was all, "Whatever Laur, it's always done that. Learn how to drive a car." (slightly ad-libbed... but just slightly).  So then the car goes to the shop, and they're all, "Yeah, that's a problem." and an expensive one. So my parent's are basically like, "Buy another car." Which is awesome because, "NEW" CAR! but also sucks because now i will for sure never be able to move out of their house. Anyway, chicken...

 Prepare ingredients:

Let kid help you:

Distract with water balloons as you bake instead of fry.

Prepare beverages: 

And Wah-la!

And you know what? He ate the whole fucking thing. What a champ. I was so happy i gave him a paper bag to play with.

The End.

Not your everyday mac and cheese.

Hey guys! I hijacked my blog back for a sec, Hooray!!! So today my cousin Michael (whose probably the smartest 10 year old alive) and i are cook'n up a storm.

 Hey Guys I'm MIke/ Michael and today me and my cousin are making mac and cheese but not normal should i say we made it Top chef style (Bam!)  

I Just walked into the kichen to find my cousin cutting bacon with scissors WTF! (Watch the language there buddy.) The mac and cheese or it's  real name Truffle and cognac Cream Macaroni and cheese.This "meal" is Made with, 1 cup cognac, 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 shallot (minced), 6 roasted garlic cloves, minced. 1 tablespoon sherry, 6oz of black truffles (that's right baby!!), 4 cups heavy cream, 2tsp minced fresh organo and 2tsp thyme leaves (from the garden) 6oz parm cheese, 2tsp chipotle tabasco sauce, salt and pepper, 1lb pasta alle dente, 8oz fontina, 2cups seasoned croutons. 

  So we didn't have black truffles, but my mom had a tube of black truffle paste on hand (because who doesn't?) so we used that instead. Not exactly sky high classy, but pretty freak'n classy none the less. Also it's delicious (Freak'n tasty!). Of course we didn't have any pasta in the house though, so i had to go to the grocery store for a third time today because apparently i heart them.  So yeah, we put all the ingredients together, and stuff. 

Grate that cheese! A big lump of cheese fell on my foot.

 I did the knife work today, but Michael is totally skilled (I'm pretty good.). He was too busy waiting on the hot tub fill (Dad thinks he fixed it, only time will tell). 

 Waiting is the hardest part. So then he was like, hey can you show me how to cap bottles?

He's got that Pappas determination. Hard but fun. Anyway this made him like the happiest person in the world so please, waste as many 5cent caps as you want.  I'm not afraid... to take a stand... Everybody! come take my hand. We'll walk this road together, through the storm. Whatever weather, cold or warm... (he's walking around the room singing.)

Herbs!

There's something about those Svoli and shirts. They hate them. So anyway my dad was like: "Hey, that's good, but some bacon in it! And Mikey was like, "Can we??" Yes.

That is good look'n mac and cheese!

Dig in (Phil)!

Anyway this was delicious. True that. Now it's time for me to go to bed. What? Why? Cause i have to wake up at 3:30. Yeah, but already? It's, like, not even 8. Don't judge me. Hey, thanks for the blog help! You oBviously needed it. Thanks.

Part III: Part Deux

LK here, from LP's computer so our f's are good to go today (yeeeessssssss.). You may be thinking to yourself at this very moment, "Part III? What happened to Part II?" That's a great question! The answer to your question is simple: we are on Narnian time. (Sorry, I just read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series.)

OK, so today LP, cousin Chloe and I went on a tremendous hike. This is epic. And while this does wrap up my guest blogging sessions (for now, until I completely take over, mwa hahaha), you still have the real part 2 to look forward to. So I will tell you this: Chloe's not bad for an 18-year-old. She's actually much cooler than most 27-year-olds, (I mean, I almost love her), but anyway (She does love me, she said so earlier but won't put it in writing). I got to LP's house fairly early in the morning and upon meeting Chloe she immediately sprayed me with bug spray, which, as we'll get to later, was completely essential. Thanks, Chloe. (Anytime Muffin). Here I am putting on my hiking shoes:

So we embarked on our adventure...an hour long drive to Bearfort Mountain, in Hewitt, NJ. I have no idea where Hewitt actually is, but it's in northern NJ somewhere (North of Wayne.). We had a great drive, except Chloe probably (definitely) has the worst taste in music, which, honestly...I don't even remember the name of the song that was playing when she was like, "Oh! I LOVE this song!" (it's "home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros) and it was like about gold miners trying to settle the west or something (it really was terrible.). Point is, if you ever meet Chloe, don't let her control the iPod. Ever. So anyway...

We get to this place, and I've been here once before, and I love it. It's a 6 mile hike, but it feels like 47 miles because you're constantly up and down, rock climbing and stuff. It's amazing. Let it be known that I, at times, have the bladder of an infant, or senior citizen (really, she takes two sips, and it's over.), and so right when we got there, of course, I had to pee. So I have to pee in the woods, no big deal, right? Okay, so I go off the path a little bit and LP and Chloe are on look out, and I'm peeing and LP is belting "Life Is A Highway" at the top of her lungs (why wouldn't I?), and then I hear voices. So I'm like, No, of course they would have told me if someone was coming. And then in midstream I actually see people. I see them. Then I hear, "I got some bad news for you..." There were people coming (and i was literally dying, because of COurse! of course.). Luckily I was done, and we were off. Also, there is no photographic proof that any of this actually happened, even better.

So we finally start walking, we're all amped up and ready to go, and we get up the first kind of hill and Chloe says, "Um, am I the only one who's out of breath right now?" She wasn't. It was excruciating (also i was totally drinking water and carrying three 1.5 liter bottles and our picnic, and they just dashed off and left me! I was like the fat kid.). And I felt bad, because I knew, having done this before, that it was only going to get worse. A lot worse. So we kept hiking and LP was like, saying some dumb shit, I don't even know. Like hiking with Rain Man, I would imagine (thanks.) (My favorite quote of the day was when Lauren said to LP "you're hiking like Reign Man"). We hiked for about an hour and a half before we finally got to one of the gems of this hike: Surprise Lake. Surprise! (there's a lake.) There were people there, hogging the best viewpoint. What assholes. They did eventually take a picture of the three of us, so...I guess they weren't terrible. But maybe they were. Who knows. 

The best part of this hike is a little bit up from Surprise Lake, you hike even further up the mountain, and there are the most spectacular views. This is where we stopped to lunch, an amazing quinoa (please don't be an idiot when you go to your local grocery store...it's pronounced: keen-wah) salad with spinach and squash. LP can give you the details. (white truffle oil, and shit.) And then for dessert, there were these zucchini blah blah blah cupcakes with a ginger frosting (courtesy of Chloe (the frosting))...awesome! See, when LP and I started hiking some months ago, in the bitter cold, she was like, "Oh, I'll make us a picnic!" and then it was kind of an (un)spoken rule that she would continue to do this. Well, she didn't (ok, occationally i don't have time. My bad, heaven forbid we have to go to a restaurant after.). So even though I really enjoyed that sandwich in the freezing cold in that park in February, we've had some sub par lunches since then (seriously? there have been at least three picnics since then, just sayin'...). Just saying.

(Side note: I'm typing on LP's desk and she has all these little tapes for a tape recorder, and I feel like I want to play them and listen to her words of wisdom. They're probably totally amazing, especially if she was drunk whilst recording.)


So! Lunch was great, except for one thing...one tiny, little thing: a lady (almost) topless sunbathing on the top of a rock right where we ate lunch. Gross. Totally gross. Then Chloe took her shirt off (no picture, she's barely legal, folks (haHA!)), so it was kind of even except Chloe's not disgusting like this lady was. (to be fair, i'm a youthful, physically fit 18 year old, and this woman was in her mid thirties, with rolls the size of chicken breasts all down her stomach and I was just in comparison, I was doin alright).

I was actually looking like that, hand over my eyes...this was not staged. Anyway. We took off right after eating, because this lady was loudly speaking on her cell phone in a different language (IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, IS THERE NO ESCAPE?!) and I didn't want to wait too long so that we weren't completely dragging ass. So we start walking again, and listen...I'm not bragging here at all, but my calves are like...kind of epic a little bit. I mean seriously (she's 0bSessed with them).

Okay but come on...they're nice.


This hike lasted about 3 hours...it felt like 14, I will say that, especially the last third of it when Chloe was like, "Are we just going around in circles?? I swear we've seen this rock before." It was really a great day though, and very awesome hike, and when we got back we were all dirty and hot. When I went to pee (again, of course (after twice in the woods)) I swear I found a tick in my underwear. The worst part is that I'm not sure where it ended up. But! I got to try some of LP's walnut brown ale (AWESOME!) and then this watermelon cocktail with 100 (2) different kinds of alcohol (grilled watermelon coctail with tequila, jalapeno simple syrup, and (a lot of) watermelon vodka) that was also delicious. Side note: LP's cousin, Chloe's brother, Michael, (age 10), is amazing (true).

I mean seriously, do you just love this kid. He's so much smarter than me. All in all, a tremendous day...a lot was said, a lot was learned, so just remember, kids: when it comes to matters of love, always, always follow your heart. Until then, a bad boy who plays lacrosse will do (go #29!!).