On The Verge

For the past hour, the arch of my foot feels like it is on the verge of getting a charley horse. I keep bracing myself every time it starts. Then nothing, it goes away. I almost wish I would just get the dumb thing, be done with it so I am not walking around in constant fear. Ok, oooh, there it goes again. Maybe I don't want to get one.

I made a new recipe for dinner. I was tired of the same old same old. I made tamale pie. First off, it is cheap. Secondly, I love tamales, so a dish with a tamale like crust (or bottom, because wouldn't a crust be, uh, crusty?) sounded good to me.

The kids kept coming into the kitchen trying to guess what I was making. The ground beef with taco seasoning made them all think tacos. The pot of cornmeal mush had them all confused. The box of brownies I left out when looking for the cornmeal added to the confusion along with 4 packs of my emergency mashed potatoes. They were hovering about, looking over my shoulder, peeking into the pots and pans, anything for a clue as to what I was making and whether they would actually want to eat it. I finally told them all it was a surprise and that none of us had ever had it. Then I shooed them out of the kitchen so I could finish it up.

As I took it out of the oven, they all came running. "Will you tell us now?". I told them tamale pie. They seemed relieved as I pulled it out and put it on the counter. I'm sure part of it's appeal was the cheese I had smothered the top with. It didn't call for cheese, but you can't go wrong with adding cheese to most mexican dishes, in my opinion. I cut them all a slice and served it up with sour cream. They loved it. They want to know when I am making it again.

Hmmm, considering it is cheap, easy and well liked, probably pretty soon.