....stuff I did or thought or bought or cooked today

Well the ladies and their token hubby are well on their way across the Atlantic. I know this because Shirley's husband, Pete, coached my husband in how to find a live satellite feed of their airplane!!!! It is like a drawing, not a real picture, but still! I told him they were stalking those missionaries. Freaky. The mission team should arrive in Johannesburg tonight. Then they will make their way tomorrow to Quelimane, Mozambique to run some women's conferences for the women there.

I went to Walmart today....all by myself. No kids with me to beg me to buy things. So I bought stuff for me....heh heh. I had birthday money left and bought a nice new exercise outfit for myself....black capri exercise pants and a lime green v-neck t-shirt. It's awfully cute and was only $12 for the whole shebang. I will be cute at Curves now. The ladies there will be shocked. And they will wonder what happened to that woman in the dumping '80's style brown sweat pants and huge baggy shirt that in a very faded way says, "To my H llfl g r" across it.

As far as I can figure, I was in Walmart for almost 2 hours, by myself even. I wanted to make little greasy tacos for dinner....they kind you make with soft corn tortillas, chicken filling and lots of grease. I don't know why I go to Curves and then fix little greasy tacos for my family, but that is not the point right now....try to stay focused ok? Anyway.....

My friend Joann posted about chicken taco secrets a couple weeks ago, so I was going to follow her advice. She got her advice from her mother in law, who she lovingly calls the Tamale General. She thinks the secret to very crunchy, yummy tacos is using LARD instead of oil to fry them in. I have never bought lard.....ever. I have always seen it there on the shelf by the shortening and loathed it from afar. I have seen it on recipes I've made, but I always substitute canola oil or shortening.

So today I was really going to buy a small bright blue container of lard.....just to see if it really is so different and wonderful. But a very nicely dressed Asian couple were beside me. They had a handbasket (not cart) full of healthy little one or two serving items. I had a cart full of gallons of shampoo, dog clippers, hair dye and some produce for the tacos. I suddenly felt like the elephant in the room, everyone's eyes on me, trying to take in what i would choose from the oil section! I could NOT bring myself to pick up or even glance at the LARD. I found myself quickly grabbing the Crisco vegetable oil and darting away.....away from the thing that might have given me a name like The Taco Queen or something. (okay on second thought, I don't think I could handle being a Taco Queen)

The tacos were half crunchy and half kind of soggy. I got better at timing them toward the middle of the process.

And now I need a shower. I'm a greasy little taco queen. ehn