Where there's smoke. . .

We just returned from a fabulous month long vacation. . . We saw Mt Rushmore. . .

Spent an afternoon exploring Custer's Battlefield . . .


Spent a week in SunRiver with my entire family - biking, rafting, swimming, eating, eating, eating ( you get the picture ) - the perfect vacation!


My husband pitching in a family kick ball game. . .

Floating the river. . . . Really, it was an amazing vacation. . .

A day at the Oregon Coast - does it get any more perfect?

And then we came home. . . I wish I could tell you that after four weeks off, I was invigorated, motivated and energized. I wasn't. All I could do was dream about (you guessed it) vacation. . . I spent two days moping and then today woke up determined (notice, I am still not using words like motivated) to get back in gear. I had been serving my family grilled cheese and soup (out of a can) and keeping the house clean enough to prevent a visit from social services. Today, today, was going to be different. I cleaned the house, went to work for a few hours ( Ugh!) and worked out. I even had a menu plan! I was going to serve a yummy salad, homemade bread and grilled fish - a far cry from soup in a can. . .

As I was preparing dinner, I took a break and went out to visit with Lance ( you know the one that NEVER stops working?). He was working out in our garage - insulating - a terrible job. This is after he spent a full day at school. I thought he was looking a little tired and began to feel a few misgivings about my meal of salad and fish (and homemade bread). So I went back into the house, determined to redeem my meal. I went where all desperate cooks should go when looking for a good recipe: www.thepioneerwoman.com, and found the perfect recipe: blackberry cobbler. **The pictures on PW's sight are absolutely mouth-watering.

While vacationing, I had also picked berries (shocking, I know) . . . I was going to make my husband marionberry cobbler.

Here is the salad I served for dinner - a yummy combination: fresh lettuce, beets and hardboiled eggs. Served with a mayo dressing - even Lance gobbled it up. As I watched him eat, I relaxed, maybe my dinner would impress after all ( not a huge leap after canned tomato soup).

Half-way through dinner, I got up to check the cobbler ( I was keeping it as a surprise for Lance) and this is what I found: (seriously)



I almost started to cry ( and not just from the smoke). . . . . The cobber had run over the pan. I couldn't take a picture of my oven - it was too terrible.


Go ahead, compare this to the PW picture. I know, they look NOTHING alike. . . .


I told my kids they had to do the dishes ( I was feeling a little testy) . . . Tommi tried to find survival gear. Yes, my kitchen really is this smokey - this is with ALL the windows open. I finally took pity on them and finished the dishes myself. I did cry this time. . . In fact, my eyes are still burning.

As I was blindly finishing up the kitchen, my kids called. . . there were seven bucks (deer not dollars) in our neighbor's yard. . . I went running out with the camera - those of you who know me well, know that deer do not normally excite me, but I was looking for ANY excuse to escape my house. . . I was able to get a picture before the wind blew the smell on my clothes their way and they ran off. . .

Lesson learned: Always keep chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream in the freezer. . .

**Disclaimer: I am sure that PW's cobbler was as wonderful as it looked. I made the mistake of putting mine in a pan that looked exactly like hers, but was obviously a completely different size.