Sharing the Tippens Humor with Brussels Sprouts

Missy, here. I'm sorry my post is late. My aunt passed away Thursday, and I spent the evening on the phone with my parents. My Aunt Mary Ann was my dad's baby sister. Out of 12 kids, there are only two left now--my dad and his younger brother. Life is so precious. I hope we can all appreciate it.

So today, to celebrate life, I thought I'd share some humor over…

Brussels Sprouts.

I love them. But they are a vegetable most hated in the Tippens household. In fact, the only thing more hated is celery. I love that, too. I guess I'm an anomaly.

I may be an anomaly, but I'm also persistent. I've been determined that if my family will just TRY Brussels sprouts, they'll grow to love them. :) Especially if they're fresh and cooked in some yummy way.

So after watching what looked to be a delicious recipe on the Food Network, I bought a bag at the grocery store. I smiled as I tucked them in the fridge. I would have VICTORY this time and prove them all wrong!

The next morning, I opened the refrigerator and found this…

Yes, my husband is a real comedian. :) :)

So I finally gave up on the marvelous recipe (which included BACON, by the way, so it was THEIR LOSS). And then I decided for a different method.

Sneakiness.

I decided to hide the sprouts among other vegetables and roasted them (rubs hands together evilly).

I chopped/sliced this locally grown special kind of sweet potato (I'm sorry I can't remember the name of it), and zucchini, and portobello mushrooms...

And added sliced Baby Dutch yellow potatoes. I mean, who would notice a tiny green martian head (what we called them sometimes as kids) mixed in with fancy potatoes??

I coated it all with olive oil, sprinkled with seasoning salt and roasted at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.

I gave it a stir to do my best camouflage job and served. And immediately heard, "Is this those Brussels sprouts??!!"

Well, I guess a mom/wife can't be sneaky enough to hide them. They have a pretty distinctive look. Oh, well. At least one person in this family has good taste! :)

Do you like martian heads?

Missy

Grilled Brussel Sprouts

Talk about prosaic!

My buds are off to Atlanta, schmoozing and partying at RWA 2013 and what am I doing?

Writing about brussel sprouts.

DO NOT MOCK ME.  It's really not nice to do because maybe my brussel sprouts are every bit as good as a writers' conference... great restaurants... Atlanta, a city ripe with history and great baseball... and my buds are there, Seekervillagers, gathering. Toasting. Laughing. (Note that my attempts at self-comfort are LAME.... )

But here's the thing: Grilled Brussels are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

I'm not kiddin' youse, I'm not joshin', I'm 100% sincere!  (Bear in mind I won sales awards in my day, therefore taking anything I say with a grain of salt is highly recommended.)

I started with some infused olive oil I bought at one of those cute olive oil/vinegar shops that our mothers would have laughed at...

But regular olive oil would be fine and dandy!

Then I sprinkled one of Dave's favorite seasonings, heavy on black pepper....

and grilled over medium-high heat, rolling them around every couple of minutes.

I did discover that if they're BIG sprouts, they take longer. I like them a little better done, and this batch had sprouts-on-steroids, you know MUSCLE-BOUND BRUSSEL SPROUTS, so I should have given them a little longer.

I didn't because I was so starving to death! (melodramatic, par for the course around here).... And here's a pic of our picket fence project, aka: how to keep teenage girls busy and creative in July!!!!

And behind the house, back in the hollow, is a room.....  Peeks at the new family room courtesy of Bob Dean Remodeling, #SO EXCITED!!!!

First, here is what is left of the laundry room:

Talk about rustic appeal, right????  :)

This old window is staying forever because I love it:

The side windows open as "doors", swinging back. This used to be a kitchen window in this 159 year-old house!

So that wall-papered and boarded up wall is the new entry into the family room.... And here is the room with walls, windows, roof, insulation, beams... Do you love those prairie windows????  I do!

And the swamp beyond is home to my peepers, frogs, snakes, birds, critters of all kinds. I'm hoping for visual science lessons from inside as needed!

And this is 'Lijah, cooking:

While "Z-Z" drives off to rescue people in his big, black truck:

I'd let that little hero rescue me anytime!!!

So the construction zone continues, but SO EXCITING!!!!!

Dancing in upstate!