Columbus, Cheese, and Corvettes...

...I left you all at 6:30 am in the previous blog..
After a few more Caillou episodes and feeding the kids breakfast, I began my 2nd dish: Cheesy Wontons...which, quite frankly, I was nervous about.


I've never made them and I didn't know if making them ahead of time (like 8 hours ahead of time) was going to work out in my favor. 

But I DID NOT want to be frying while the guests were arriving....so where does that leave me??


Inner monologue question: "Would they heat up in the toaster oven well enough? Do I even know how to fold a wonton? Would the cheese leak out?


Sigh.Deep Breath, More Coffee.
As my father in law often says: "Columbus took a chance"


So here I am. Making cheesey wontons. AT 7:45 a.m.


Ingredients (sit down because I don't want you to faint from this exhaustive list)


1) Wonton Wrappers--purchased at Vons...for about $2.50
2) A block of pepperjack cheese
3) Vegetable oil  to fry them in (atleast 4 cups)




Step One: Cube cheese and place in center of wrapper (actually, I cubed about 1/2 a block on Friday night, so I wouldn't have to cube them Saturday morning)  Size of cube you ask?  about 3/4 inch...ish.

 a

Step 2: Wet the wonton bottom and right side "a backwards L" with your finger dipped in water and fold top left corner down to bottom left:

Step 3: top right corner down to bottom right corner like this:

Step 4: last corner brought down to bottom right like this:

AND VOILA! A WONTON! 

Now, I made about 6-8 at a time and fried them in vegetable oil for about 4 minutes (until they were golden) :

Then I let them drain on a plate lined with a paper towel:

Then, I made the "dipping sauce"..come on, what would be better than dipping cheesy wontons into a sweat and sour cheese dip?

Wonton dipping sauce

1 8z block of cream cheese, room temp

1/3 bottle store bought sweet and sour sauce.

Mix together. 

That's it.

Easy-Peasey as my kids say.

Warm Wontons up in toaster oven right before serving!

THESE WERE A HIT!!!! SOOOO super easy and CAN be made a head of time....

And now, for the 3rd part of the story:

I "ask" Brent to take the kids out during the party.

Ok, so INSISTED he take the kids away during the party. He agreed.

....But now, It's getting to be a little later in the morning and I'm stressing. I still have the Asian Avacado Salsa to make and to grill the flank steak and my house looks like a tornado touched down.

What? Me? Stress?  --i know it's hard to believe.

It's that control freak inside of me that creeps out

What can I say? I like to have the house cleaned, food prepped/made, and a glass of wine in my hand as the guests arrive. 

Is that too much to ask? 

It's the only way I actually can enjoy myself.

Brent at this point senses the anxiety and decides he'll take the kids out to lunch and then to the zoo.

So I pack them up with a snack bag for the zoo and off they go!

About  an hour later. I get this photo via text message

Inner Monologue: "Where the HELL is he? The food looks...well, like they are intently eating it!!!

Text to Brent: What restaurant are you at?

No text back. Figures.

About 1.5 later, this photo arrives via text:

Inner Monologue: "Balloons too?And does Grant have SWORD balloons at that? Oh man, they are SOOO loving Brent right now"..... Will Gwen still INSIST on having me put her to bed? 

Sniff. Sniff

Text to Brent: WHERE are you???

No Text Back. Why? Why does he NOT write me back??

And then the creme de la creme of  photos that arrived during the day:

With the following text attached:  "At elephants. Trying to work this off"

Inner Monologue: "DEAR GOD! Look at Gwen and that MONSTER of a shake? float? is that GREEN that I see in the liquid stuffed with 2 pounds of vanilla ice cream??  He's the favorite parent FOR SURE after THIS DAY!!!


Come to find out...after he arrived home...he took them to the Corvette Diner in San Diego prior to the zoo.


What's The Corvette Diner you ask?? This is how their website describes it =


  "Rock n’ Roll, burgers and shakes rule at the Corvette Diner! A 50′s throw-back, with sassy waitresses in poodle skirts and bouffant hair-dos. It’s more than just a place to eat, it’s a destination" 




All that = Kids Haven  


I have to admit, I was a bit jealous I didn't get to experience the excitement of watching the kids in the Corvette Diner...


Grant's exact words when I asked if he liked the restaurant later that evening were:


"Mom, I want to eat there every day." 


Me to Grant: "Did you have fun with daddy today"


Grant: "I had THE BEST day ever"


Chimes Gwen: "Ever, Ever, Ever"


Inner Monologue: Well, my cheesy wontons were damn good and I bet the Corvette Diner didn't serve anything CLOSE to that."


...and I know you are wondering..Yes, Yes... Gwen, did, in fact, ask for Brent to "rock her and tuck her in" before bed.


Pour wine.