I don't know EVERYthing

Have you ever cracked a coconut?  I took another pre-dinner trip to the grocery store ('cause I'm a slow learner), and guess what we came home with?  Yep, a coconut!  I have never bought one, so I couldn't say no.  (I had a friend over this weekend, and she'd never cut a watermelon or cantaloupe!  I think she's used her good looks to get out of it!! heehee)  When I have the kids asking for anything in the produce section, my rule is yes.  (Rule 34: Say yes to any produce, FYI)  I always admit when I've never had something (well, not fresh).  I had to tell them I had no idea how to get it open!  They just begged, and said to google it!  How do they know these terms?  And how do they know to use it as a verb?  I agreed, so tonight I googled, and learned.

We tried method #1, but Ha! that was hard.  So we combined method 2 and 4: we poked a hole in the weakest eye, drained the "milk" (really just clear dirty water), then after the taps with the knife on the "equator" didn't work, we put it in a big ziploc, went out front, and thumped it's equator on the brick steps,then on the corner of the house.  When the top popped off, out came the juice-I was not prepared!  It filled the bag, and came out the hole (they forget to mention that the brick smashing against the bag and hard, hairy nut (made myself laugh!) rips holes in the bag.  So, Mary Claire ran to get a big bowl, we drained off the fluid, and progress!

Then, you either scrape hard, or you bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.  We chose the latter, and then you use a spoon to pop the meat off the skin!

Only thing is...it tastes gross.  I'm all prepared for a big bunch of that stuff you buy in a bag or can..Mmmm..or get inside Mounds bars.  Well, get your ugly face ready...it's nothing like that.  And: why do they call it coconut milk?  Yep, that's a manufactured product-creamed coconut and SuGaR!  So, Clay googled how to sweeten it.  I was so tired by then, I called it quits.  I'll let you know how it goes (or if it improves the taste).


In other exciting news..we had a friend to play (forgot to take a picture-I cleaned more today!), and while we were eating lunch, we had a visitor...

What do we call him?  Well, sometimes I admit I'm not-so-good at (coconut opening or) naming brown furry strange animals!  I think it's a ground hog-we had one last year, but it was much bigger.  So this is either a small groundhog-only about 12" tall-or a gopher.  I'm too tired to google it (heehee), I'll save it for the kids to examine.  (But did you notice my totally cool ferns-growing in the ground!?  They were even green in the icy winter!  I know-cool!)  So he put his super-long toes/nails up on the window and looked in a couple of windows, he checked out the deck (tried to climb the cedar siding on the back), crawled up under the grill cover to explore the grill (eat drippings out of it), and made sure to keep the kids coming back for more!  I don't know who would win in a free-for-all: all the wild cats around here, or the long-toed-brown-thing.  That could be quite a show!  I'll save it for July Fourth action.  To go with the super-yummy smores I'm planning! : )


P.S.  Because I am just not tired yet, or need to pour out EVERY thing in my head: I did (re)apply to grad school, and they waived the $40 since I've already been, but I found out that my hours I completed 10+ years ago will not count towards a degree.  So, I'd have to take those very same classes again.  Yes, seriously.  I also got all into it, and signed up for the Miller Analogy Test, bought a ($30) practice test online (and already started taking it!) before I found out about the hours.  Not all areas of study require the MAT, so I wasted some time and money.  I've totally done worse before, so I'm okay.  Now, I guess it frees me up to get a different degree.  Hmm..what to study.. Or is this God's way of telling me maybe I should wait?
P.P.S.  I'm going to Branson tomorrow and Saturday!  Shopping, night-time swimming, and sun!  ('cause I love alliteration)