Crave Wednesday: Garlic Fries

I hope you guys had a peaceful Mother's Day - whether you spent it with your mom, whether you're a mom yourself, or whether you spent the day avoiding all things "mother" because of the pain it causes.

We started the day by meeting Thatmom for breakfast.

Breakfast was great, and Thatbaby spent most of it on Thatmom's lap, eating her fruit, and ignoring his own breakfast until moments before we were about to leave.

After breakfast, we bid goodbye to Thatmom and headed out to do my mother's day request.  I had wanted to go blueberry picking for ages, but always seemed to miss blueberry season.   This year, when Thatboy asked what I wanted to do for Mother's Day I did a quick check and found that the Temecula Berry Farm opened the weekend before and requested we go.

Each boy got a bucket and Thatboy and I shared one, since I spent most of the time helping the boys fill theirs.  Although blueberry picking is perfect for little hands.

Thatkid requested the biggest bucket they had, and did a pretty good job of filling it.

But Thatkid is 5.5, I wasn't surprised he would do such a great job.  I was really surprised that Thatbaby did as well as he did.  The two main rules he followed were to only pick the blue blueberries, and to not eat as he picked.

We ended up picking 6 pints of blueberries.  And after we were done, we rinsed off a pint and ate it right then and there.  So we were down to 5 before we even left!

I noticed that the exit for the Temecula Berry Farm was also the exit for downtown Temecula.  Where my favorite brewery was located.  Typically our trips to Temecula are to visit the wineries, so we don't stop for beer.  But this seemed like the perfect day to make a request to stop.  The boys were more than happy to oblige.  Especially when they find out it involved pizza.

We came home and I played with the boys in the backyard while Thatboy cleaned the house and made dinner plans - a fancy French restaurant which was far from kid friendly.  The boys did okay, and the food was good, but I was relieved when dinner was over.  Places like that are so much more enjoyable without kids.  With kids, I'm much happier in a place that serves pizza.  Or burgers and fries.  Although, you don't have to go out to enjoy either.  Burgers and fries at home is a great way to go when you have small children.  Sometimes it's more relaxing to be in the comfort of your own home.  And you can elevate your fries by simply adding some cheese and garlic.  Because who needs a fancy French restaurant when you can have fancy French fries?

Garlic Fries (From Cooking Light)

4 tsp vegetable oil

3/4 tsp salt

3 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick strips

cooking spray

2 Tbsp butter

8 garlic cloves, minced

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley

2 Tsbp grated fresh Parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 400.  Combine first oil, salt, and potatoes in a ziplock bag, tossing to coat.  Arrange on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 50 minutes, turning after 20.
2.  Melt butter and garlic in a large, nonstick skillet over low heat.
3.  Add potatoes, parsley, and cheese to pan, tossing to coat.