The day has arrived.
Today, my first baby–Grad, first in the family to finish college–walks across the stage to receive her master’s in English.
Lunch is in the oven. It’s a make-ahead, pull-out-of-the-fridge-and-bake breakfast casserole. We’ve had it several times and it’s delicious!
Tip : Add extra cinnamon and go light on the sugar for a perfect balance of sweetness.
As soon as the casserole comes out, the tomatoes for the salsa go in to roast, then the pizza sticks, and finally the surprise dessert.
Meanwhile, we’re starting the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Bites by Smile Sandwich.
The first dilemma for the day: How to get the peanut butter spread on the banana slices.
My solution: Heating it up and piping it.
And, that kind of worked. But Fire doesn’t have the strength to squeeze the PB out. Next idea…
My NEW solution: Heating up the PB and spooning it onto the bananas.
Once they are all topped with PB, the PB on the first one is cool enough to place the bananas on top without any banana slices sliding off–especially if the bananas are sliced straight. (Not pictured: Hero helping me spoon on the PB.)
Note: If you have a tea spoon (for tea), it’s the perfect size for this.
Now the tomatoes are roasted and ready, along with all the other ingredients, to go in the blender and become Tomato Jalapeño Salsa from Mexican Please.
Done–and into the fridge that’s going! Good job Baker.
Next up, the Cheesy Pepperoni Pizza Sticks found at I Wash, You Dry. Chef is making these right now.
The dough we bought was very tough to roll out and shaped like a round pizza instead of a rectangle. Baker is actually working with Chef to try and help him figure out how to shape it so he can cut out 10 rectangles. I’m not going to interfere with them when they are cooperating.
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Chef ended up stretching it by hand into a large oval, cutting the oval into ten pieces, and then stretching it some more to fit around the stuffing. This was supposed to be our quick and easy snack. I’m just glad they are F I N A L L Y assembled and in the oven.
Next time: Homemade dough!
The dessert is being made by Baker and is her gift to Grad for graduation.
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The pizza sticks are out of the oven. Immediately, I can see that they could have used more butter topping and that they should cook for longer. But we are out of time. Good thing pizza is such a favorite among the kids. They aren’t even likely to even notice the pizza sticks aren’t perfect.
Meanwhile, with dessert in the oven, it’s time to make Very Simple Guacamole by Eating on a Dime. After all, the ceremony is starting soon.
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And we’re done. Time to wake up Dad and have him set up the computer.
The salsa, chips, and gauc are set out; the pizza sticks and marinara are set out; the banana bites are in the fridge. It’s time to sit and watch Grad receive her diploma.
Yay, yay, yay.
*Tears*
I just saw my baby walk across the stage! So proud. She’s worked so hard. First gen!
It just got loud here with everyone cheering and clapping.
(Watching the graduation on live stream for Baby and Hero and Fire and Aqua–all of whom have Sensory Processing Disorder [SPD] and don’t do well in crowds.)
Did you also want to see the finished banana bites? We *might* have eaten them so fast I didn’t get pictures before they were almost gone. (Don’t worry. We are saving some for Grad and her boyfriend.)
They are amazing! Baby approves. Bananas and PB are, after all, in his top 5 favorite foods, and who doesn’t like chocolate? It’s not that I’m questioning if you’re human or alien if you don’t…
Final thoughts on the snacks:
- The guac was very good. Everyone who eats guac raved about it.
- The salsa lacked a bite and tasted off to me. I’m going to try another recipe as I had the same thoughts the last time we made this one.
- The banana bites were another favorite. Everyone loved them. Even the dark chocolate worked for non-dark chocolate people.
- The pizza bites would work better with a homemade dough, more butter and/or seasoning in the dough, and cooked a little longer. We will try those again.
And just like that, another chapter is started. Grad’s not done with school, but she’s done with school at UTSA. She’s done with school in Texas. She’s done with school while living at home.
“Do we still have to listen to that?” Fire wants to know as the ceremony plays in the background and we start the clean up so we can make Grad a delicious dinner.
So congratulations to everyone graduating or who supported a graduate this year. We celebrate with you.
And we salute you, grads!
10 Texas Transplants 