A Recipe Entry?

Broiled Lambchop

It was a day, like any other day. Stephen was about to watch Arthur on PBS; A cartoon which has really grown on me over the last few years. I was in the office under a pile of paper work I had to do for the husband when I heard the Arthur theme song begin. I said to myself, "I'll go in there and keep my lil' man company and watch Arthur with him." I gathered the ton of paperwork I'll never finish, and went down the hall. I breathed in the aroma that filled the air. It smelled of rosemary and garlic. Mmm, the roast is really smelling good. It'll be done in about 45 minutes. I decided to bake it in an oven bag today. Easy cleanup.

Stephen saw me enter the room with my paperwork, stood to his little feet, clapped his hands and smiled. Happy mama is joining him to watch 'our' favorite show. It was my lucky day! One of my favorite Arthur episodes! D.W. tricks the tooth fairy! Whoohoo!

Just about the time D.W. was saying something sarcastic to Arthur about how she planned to trick the tooth fairy, I found a $75.00 error, in our favor! ...Sweet!...::sniff:: Hmm, that roast is smelling 'funny.'  maybe I shouldn't have used the oven bag. I hear the oven door slam. "STEPHEN!! Stay away from the oven! It's hot! Mama is making a roast. I know it smells good, but you have to leave it alone and wait till supper!"  The boy would not walk away and kept reaching out to touch the stove, then he'd jump up and down, and clap his hands at me. "Stephen, I said, NO!"  I better check that roast, it's beginning to stink!  I  opened the door to the oven and there was poor lambchop, in flames! Laying flat on her back on the bottom burner, her leg was on fire, and her back was smoking. Stephen is pitching a fit as if he's saying, "DO SOMETHING!" I reach in with my bare hands [stupid] grabbed her and threw her in the sink. I splashed her with water. The sight was awful, the kitchen stunk to high-heaven, the smoke alarm was NOT going off. [I guess it only does that when I make toast] Stephen was turning around in circles and making noises I'd never heard him make before.  God bless him, he thought he'd killed Lamby. I compared his emotions to the time I closed the refrigerator door on my kitten when I was little. Traumatized.

Just like that, poor lamby had suffered yet, another injury. God love her little fuzzy heart! Take a good look. She was a gift from my mama when Stephen was a baby, eleven years ago. Soon after we got her, the dog took a liking to her and chewed her ears off. She's been thrown out of the car. Stephen's daddy came within an inch of his life dodging cars to save her that time on highway 280. She's been thrown into the ceiling fan and zoomed across the room too many times to count. She's been drooled on. Chewed on. Cried on. Puked on. Crapped on. And finally, set on fire. How much more can she endure? Sadly, I can relate to that feeling. Except, I haven't been set on fire or thrown out into Highway 280 traffic yet. I did get a rather large bump on my head from the ceiling fan once. I was dusting it and Stephen wondered what would happen if he flipped the switch on.

To tell you the truth, I think I'm about as attached to lambchop as Stephen is. I feel that she understands me. I sure do understand her.  I've been known to sleep with her when I was sick with my mystery illness and Stephen was in school. ...And, I can't believe I just said that. I've held her tight as I cried tears for Stephen. She's been there every step of the way. That is why I couldn't trash her. I couldn't salvage all of her leg, for it was melted so badly. I cut away all I could from the melted stuffing, found an old baby sock of Stephen's [see, I've always said, you never know when you'll need them] and made her a new leg. Stephen paced the livingroom floor as I performed surgery. Now she looks like she's wearing a cast of some sort. Stephen doesn't mind. He's just happy to have her back in his arms again.

Just before bedtime, he put her in the microwave and turned it on. I guess he was curious how that would turn out.

Like I said, it was a day like any other day...

Boys!

note: he couldn't even keep his little hands off of her long enough for me to take a picture of the burns on her back. I had to snap it quick!