Happy Memorial Day

I hope you all have a great extended weekend!  Memorial Day, along with Independence Day, are some of my favorite holidays, because there are no obligations other than enjoying time with family. And the weekend's events oftentimes include gathering with people you love around a grill, which is my fave.

However, whatever you do this Memorial Day, try not to forget to actually remember what the holiday is truly about. We are so blessed to live in such a great nation. Let's give thanks to the One who gives all good things for the veterans who fought, especially those who have lost their lives, to defend what we take for granted every day. Those who really paid the price for our freedom..

With that being said, do you have any awesome plans for the trio of days off? Brad's working all weekend (overtime, holiday pay is hard to pass up), but my dad is coming down to spend the weekend with us! I'm so excited. I'm confident we'll have a Hill Ridge cookout in the street. Bring it on. Are you traveling and/or throwing open that grill, too?

There Goes the Neighborhood

So, we're officially taking over. We totally own this place. From the street, it looks like a nice, friendly subdivision, that Mt. View Community. But if you go to the end of the neighborhood and turn onto Hill Ridge Drive, the last street on the right, you'll enter into our territory. We call it the Hill Ridge Hood. There are 5 houses on this street. The first one doesn't really count, because it's on the corner. The second one is currently empty and up for sale/rent. Then there's our house. Directly across from us is Charles and Emily. Next door to them is Kris and Emily. After that, the street dead ends. The 3 of us together (technically 6 of us, but you know, 3 couples) are completely taking over the street.

I never imagined that we would love this set up so much, but we totally do. It's awesome. We seriously wake up and can't believe that this is our real life. We're always in our front yards hanging out with each other. It all started when the boys began helping each other with the landscaping. Then we just realized how great it was to be spending time in our "common area" - the street. Nobody ever drives by; there's no reason to come that far on the street unless you're coming to one of our houses. So, pretty much, we own it.

What are boys going to do when they have both sides of an entire end of a street to themselves? Well purchase and set up a basketball goal, of course. We wondered how long it would take until they got a group toy, and it was apparently barely one month. They even drew free throw lines and 3 point lines with sidewalk chalk. (I think after the last rain, they replaced it with an "around the world" setup.) We girls sit out there and cheer for our husbands as they dunk on the lowered hoop and play "street ball," mercilessly fouling each other. A few times, basketball has turned into a full-contact sport with body checks and tackling people out of bounds. When there's no grown-up around to enforce rules, I guess the boys can play as scrappy as they'd like.

Since we practically own the street, we've begun cooking out on the sidewalk all the time. Everybody brings their own meat and we share baked beans and potato salad and drinks. The beverage of choice is most definitely the red kool-ade Kris graciously provides. (Seriously, we're kids.) We've been known to grill steaks, pork chops, even salmon, but my all-time favorite will always be hamburgers and (Nathan's brand) hot dogs. Yum. I could do it every single weekend. In fact, we basically do. We have cooked out in the street every weekend in April. And if the rain holds out tonight, we'll round out an entire month with some more summer festivities around the grill. My fingers are crossed.

One of the best things about living so close to your best friends, is that you can always act like kids and goof off and never have to worry about keeping your cool-guy image. You should have seen the pandemonium erupt when the ice cream guy drove by. Complete chaos, I tell ya. I hope we never grow up...

See that BobCat we're posing with? That's kind of a good example to tie the weekly cook outs and the random, child-like activities together. There's this place in town called Art Pancake's Rent-All. Since we moved in, the boys have concocted extravagant schemes involving Mr. Pancake. They've discussed renting cherry pickers to simply race down the street. They've considered renting a bounce house, because "hey, why not?" They've planned to rent a little train ride to wind tracks around our houses and see how fast we can ride the train around before we get sick. Seriously, Art Pancake is brought up so often, that the girls have literally counted how many times he's mentioned in any given conversation. He has become an honorary member of the Hill Ridge Crew.

Well, I'm somewhat obsessed with awesome CraigsList deals (as evidenced by all the great finds residing in our home, right now) and have been scouring the ads to find a good picnic table for our area. If we're going to be having weekly cookouts and random pizza parties in the street, we need a better method for gathering than hauling card tables and camping chairs outside all the time. Luckily, we have that empty lot next to us that is completely surrounded by our three houses and is too small to ever build upon. It's the perfect area for us to commandeer as our very own common ground. If only there wasn't that eyesore of a rock pile that was dumped there years ago by the builders, smack dab in the middle of the lot. Well, needless to say, I found a smoking hot deal for a picnic table, and it was the perfect opportunity to finally, officially introduce Art Pancake to the Hill Ridge Crew. And this is what you get when you combine his Rent-All with our Hood...

They decided to relocate the rocks to the end of the road where it abruptly stops. It not only adds some uniformity and closure to the street, but it also serves as a blockage to keep the basketball from rolling into the woods. Win-win.

You would have thought that it was Christmas morning by how excited the boys were to operate heavy machinery. Brad wisely advised that they all wear boots so they look legit when they meet the famous Art Pancake and so he would take them seriously. (After all, "this is just the beginning of a long lasting, very important relationship. They want to leave the right impression.") Notice the only boots Charles had available. Nashville. Love it.

They each took turns playing with their big boy toy. Look how cute they are.

They were very productive. It's amazing what 3 big kids can do when they have a big machine and no grown up around to tell them to be careful. Charles even transferred some of the dirt behind his fence to the empty lot in an effort to level both areas out. Brad picked up the super cheap picnic table today. I can't wait to get it in place and initiate it with a hot dog, some potato chips, and red kool-ade.

Oh, and just because Emily is 10 months pregnant (Did you know that 40 weeks is really 10 months? Why do they always only say 9??), that doesn't mean that we didn't take advantage of the terrific photo op that was the BobCat!

Can you believe this is our life? Living with your best friends is the best situation ever. In the whole world. For real, it's like we're on a movie. Nobody has it this good. I can't believe how blessed we are.

Bee-tee-double-you, if you want to look at tons more pictures of the boys being boys, check out the Hill Ridge Crew Photo Album. I bet you'll laugh.

Grilled Pizza

There is little food that Brad and I enjoy more than pizza. Any pizza, really: delivery, cardboard-frozen, frozen that doesn't taste like frozen, eat-in, buffet, Totino's party pizza, deep-dish, thin-crust, hand-tossed, plain, the works, etc, etc.

A long time ago, my older brother, TJ, told us about how he and his family like to grill pizza. Well, it's no secret that Brad loves to dominate his Weber, so it wasn't long until he mastered the grilled pizza recipe.

Recently, there was no better way to celebrate Labor Day than joining friends and gathering around a grill and a pizza pie! Brad and I crashed Charles and Emily's house along with Chris, our friend from church, and their next door neighbor.

So, let me tell you how it's done. (You know it has to be so easy, or we wouldn't do it so often.) Buy some of that pre-made pizza crust. (Like I said, easy.) Use a basting brush and cover the topping-side with olive oil. Cook it top-down on the grill for a few minutes until it's toasty. If you're using a gas grill, it doesn't really matter how you do that. If you're using a charcoal grill, you don't want the crust directly over the flames. Oh, and be careful how many hickory chips you add to the fire. They're a great idea, but one time, we used so much that our pizzas tasted like straight-up wood smoke.

Next, turn it over, spread olive oil over the bottom and then set it on something that can get greasy so that you can put the toppings on the already-toasted side. Of course, you'll need some pizza sauce, but let me tell you, a little goes a long way. One can easily spreads over two crusts with plenty left over.

Then, add your first layer of mozzarella cheese, followed by any toppings you desire. Get creative! We always have pepperoni, like to add diced tomatoes, do pineapples when I get my way, and have even done a "supreme" with peppers and onions before. You can also add a few Italian seasonings to the top for some good taste and pretty pizza. When you're done with the toppings, cover it a second time with cheese to keep it all in. Brad is very strict about not "center loading" the pizza, so be sure to get the toppings and cheese all the way out to the crust!

When you're pleased with the creation, just stick it on the grill, close the lid, and wait. The cheese will melt perfectly. Be careful not to make the toppings so thick that the crust burns before your toppings are warm, though. Periodically, open the lid, check the meltiness and the bottom of the crust to see how golden it's getting. When it all feels warm enough to be good to eat, take it off, slice it up, and enjoy!

See? I told you it was so easy. And it's fun, too. We don't have any kids, but I'm sure they would love piling those pepperonis high! For an appetizer, you can do like we did and have some great garlic cheese bread. We did not make this on the grill, as well, but it can be done. However, we did add the cheese ourselves, so we still felt pretty culinary about it.

What's your favorite pizza? What's your favorite recipe for the grill? Is it easy enough for even me to handle??

Tiki Party

This past Friday, Charles and Emily hosted a Tiki Party in their back yard. Everybody donned the complimentary leis, munched on grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and sipped our Southern Sweet Tea through festive umbrella straws, surrounded by the glow of the tiki torches.

After the kids nearly injured themselves on the hammock, they played with bubbles and sidewalk chalk until night fell. Once the sun went down, the girls all huddled around citronella candles (not salmonella candles, Heather) and wrapped themselves in blankets while the boys slaved over a hot stove fire to produce some Grade A s'mores. It was a terrific evening spending time with friends, both old and new. Thanks, Charles and Em!

Complete Tiki Party Photo Album

Long Time No Post

I think, for the first time since the foundation of my blog, I have gone 10 days straight without posting a single thing. Whoa. That's a whole week, and then some. What in the world is up with that? Well, I'm embarrassed to admit that I don't really have a good reason.

To be honest, work has slowed down so significantly with the conclusion of tax season, that it has resulted in tons of extra free time on my hands. You'd think that the spare time would result in endless blog posts; I would, too, but apparently not. What has actually occurred, is I have gotten so efficient at distracting myself with various things to stay awake busy, that I have consequently distracted myself from my own blog on accident. Shame, shame.

But really, you haven't been missing out on much. Life's been pretty slow around the Mehaffey Manor lately. I've picked up the Harry Potter series again. (For the third time. Or is it the fourth?) The 6th movie comes out this summer, and I need a refresher, not to mention needing to prepare myself for actually viewing some of the most intense plot points in the whole Potter storyline. Brad and I always go to the midnight showing of the HP movies. We've never missed one, and I'm so very anxious for this next installment. (No, we do not dress up, much to my dismay. I'm lucky enough to even get my husband to come along!) But, if I go in there cold turkey without already having stepped back into the wizarding world, I may need to be wheeled out of the movie theater at the end of this chapter in the story, on a gurney. By all means, let's prevent yet another embarrassing theater moment.

Other than that, we've just been grilling out a lot. Weber has become a regular member of our family. Throughout our marriage, Brad and I have somehow survived without cooking. We eat out some, eat at friends' houses, and live on a steady diet of cereal, chicken strips, fish sticks, corn dogs, and mac 'n cheese. However, since Weber has joined us, our menu has drastically upgraded! We've been luxuriously dining on hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken (of all kinds), pork chops, pizza (home made, on the grill - so good!), and this weekend, Brad even tackled ribs!! We are some seriously high rollers now.

I never knew how spoiled I'd get just by having a grill. I also never knew how willing I'd be to cook if somebody else took care of the hard part - deciding what to cook! With Brad choosing the meal, and then handling the main course, it's much easier for me to whip up some side dishes. With our ribs, we had corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, corn bread, and even a delicious cherry cobbler dessert! Whoa! Even I'm impressed with that complete meal! If you know us at all, I know you are, too!

So, that's about all that's going on around here. I'll try to do better in the future about not getting so distracted that I forget to keep in touch with the blogosphere. Thanks for your patience.

Cookout of the Century

To celebrate the first Saturday after Tax Season, Brad and I had a group of friends over for a cookout. We're always looking for an excuse to give ol' Weber a workout, and we've been needing to show off our new house for a while, now. So we invited a few of our friends that we love lots, but don't get to see as often as we'd like over in order to kill two birds with one stone.

Even though it was a little challenging for Brad to leave the lid on the grill instead of continually checking on the meat, the boys cooked the hamburgers (er, cheeseburgers) and hot dogs to perfection. Much thanks goes to his friends who offered the encouragement and support to be patient, that he needed in order to accomplish this tricky task.

We all littered our back yard with camping chairs as we lounged and visited over the greatest cookout ever - complete with the main meat items and all the toppings, as well as baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, mac 'n cheese, and chips and dip along with Southern Sweet Tea, pink lemonade, and Ko Koler. (That's Southern for Coca Cola, for you Yankees.)

It's still early enough in the season that no bugs bugged us, and the weather was perfect, even though the weatherman forecasted some rain that evening. Once the sun went down, we did need to whip out a few blankets for all of us cold-natured girls, however.

But the small chill in the air didn't stop us from enjoying Adam's incredible milkshakes! He made regular vanilla and chocolate and then wow'd us with Reeses and Snickers variations. Talk about Yum! The perfect way to finalize a perfect cookout.

Oh, and look at the adorable kids that we got to play with all evening. Love them so much! Also, look at Emily's future baby!! So excited about the Big News! Yahoo!

Complete Cookout of the Century Photo Album

Introducing Weber

Brad's parents were in town Easter weekend as they were making their journey back up to Indiana from their visit in Florida. As they stopped through, they bought Brad and me a grill as a housewarming gift. As you can see by those flames, he really does help keep our house (er, patio) nice and warm.

To break him in, we grilled some kabobs with Don & Elaine, Matthew & Heather, and Alex & Amber. How fun! I've never made any kind of kabob before, and we had a great time assembling them. I did get one (giant) splinter from the skewer, but it was totally worth it when I experienced the savory taste of chicken and pork and peppers and onions and mushrooms and tomatoes all grilled to perfection. Yuummmm...

While the boys were outside "being men," Heather was inside making a wonderful Dirt Cake dessert. It's her mom's signature recipe, and it's incredible. Thank goodness we had a dish that was (barely) big enough to contain the whole batch.

The guys got distracted by the tree in the backyard. They couldn't resist challenging each other to climb to the top. Brad won, by the way. Alex didn't get any higher than the trunk. I guess even men need to act like boys every once in a while.

I believe it was a successful inaugural cook out. The first of many, I'm sure. (Sidenote: Every meal at home since then has been cooked on the grill. Brad hasn't quite mastered the culenary art, yet. But he's determined to keep trying!)