Fires, Burns, and Burn Out

When we were newlyweds, we wanted to have my in laws over for dinner. 

Our classic meal to impress was steak, baked potatoes, salad and garlic bread.  

I very rarely burn myself but I burned the stuffing out of my finger while I was cooking. 

Isn't that always the way? 

Bill said of the evening, "Katie put out cloth napkins. My dad didn't know what to do with it." 

Maybe they were so preoccupied with the cloth napkins they didn't notice the ice on my finger. 

Fire

We went to a friend's lake house last weekend.

We had a wonderful time. 

The views were amazing.

We sat around a firepit on Saturday night and told silly "scary" stories. 

It was the best. 

Sunday morning I woke up so stuffy. By Monday night, I was convinced I had a sinus infection. 

I made plans to hunker down so I wouldn't get anyone sick for Thanksgiving. 

This happened to me once before in the same area of Texas. That time I blamed my resent flu shot but I must be allergic to pine. 

I will never sit by pine logs burning again.

I could finally breathe again on Thursday afternoon.

Hot Toddy
1 Tablespoon whiskey (The cheaper the better)
1 teaspoon honey
1/8 teaspoon lemon juice
Microwave for about 13 seconds
Make faces as you sip it. 

Burns

Friday night I decided to make one of our new favorite meals - egg rolls and pot sticker salad with Asian Sesame dressing. 

You can find pot stickers in your freezer section (hopefully)

They need to be boiled for a few minutes and then browned in a pan. 

I decided to try to deep fry them a little to see if they would cook little more consistently. 

In typical Katie Mansfield fashion, I forgot that I'd turned on the burner. 

I added the pot stickers and the oil spattered all over me. 

I didn't need to sit at the table with ice on my arm, face and ring finger but "ouch." 

Try this meal. Let me know if you do. 

Burn Out

We cleaned out the garage on Saturday so we could bring the trees down from the attic. 

We took a full load to the thrift store which is always a great feeling. 

When we got back we pulled the trees and garland all down. 

I got to work. 

I set up the big tree. 

I plugged it in.

Jumping Jack Frost, if 80% of the tree wasn't burned out. 

I decided to restring it after swallowing a mouth full of disappointment. 

I started with the top section and things went pretty well. 

It took about an hour to do the top two sections. 

Since this tree was going to get some spray paint "flocking" I switched it up and started on the bottom. 

After about a half hour of scratched hands and extreme frustration I yelled, "That's it!"

Long suffering and very patient Bill exited the office and asked if I would like to go get a new tree. 

  I swallowed another helping of disappointment and a few tears and hopped into the car. 

I'll show off our new flocked and beautiful tree soon.

There you have it. 

I hope you're having a fabulous Monday.
Katie