Attack of the Peppercorns!

Don't you get excited when you know you are making something that will be delicious.  That's how my evening started out--Fettuccine Carbonara--yum!

I've made this recipe before and it was awesome!   Surely I could duplicate that previous experience, BUT it was not meant to be:

First came the burnt bacon--who burns bacon!?! Yet there was a bigger calamity to come.

We ran out of peppercorns a couple weeks ago.  Fortunately, my husband comes home from the dollar store last week with a frugal find--peppercorns, with a grinder, only $1!

Pesky Peppercorns

As I finished my beautiful recipe, I thought I'd just finish it off with a quick sprinkle of pepper.  But that dratted cheap peppercorn grinder foiled me--the top popped right off as I was grinding!

No problem--I scooped all of the peppercorns out and saved the day!--if only.

We all sat down, blessed the food, and started eating our beautiful meal.  Suddenly, my husband started hacking...severely coughing, wheezing---and it began--attack of the peppercorns.

Our Delicious Meal

I was next--teary eyed gasping--help--water!!! 

Those pesky little corns (some of them very small) had weaseled their way into every nook and cranny of my magical recipe.

Thankfully, my kids were spared as they weren't too excited about eating the pasta after that--so dinner was salad and a store bought roll, which, luckily, is one step fancier than the previous night's dinner of cottage cheese and fruit cocktail.

Grumpy Mom Goal of the Day: Make something delectable for dinner tonight, without peppercorns.