What did we do with our holiday weekend?  What did we NOT do?  It started with a solo-Momma night!  I found myself driving north, ALONE, listening to 80’s music with a dozen donuts, a tupperware full of Chocolate Hail (recipe below), 3 bottles of wine, and my favorite pillow.  That can only mean one thing: my college housemate reunion!  The Bethels (all 6 of us, can you believe it?) had a rare night together at Cindy’s new beeee-youoooo-tiful home.  Gorgeous.  I could move into her closet and she’d never find me.  She might catch me when I sneak out for donuts!

After falling asleep at 4 am, I rushed home early to get The Fam ready for the Indy 500 Festival Parade.  Other than the blazing heat, it was AWESOME.  We had top-notch bleacher seats, half in the shade, and right on the road. Don’t laugh at me, but I think I’ve cried out of sheer Indiana pride at every 500 event I’ve ever attended.  The entire month of May is fantastic in Indianapolis.

Onto my hometown, where we forgot all about the heat with some of Grandma’s popsicles and sprinklers:

And of course, Memorial Day just isn’t a holiday until Kelly rides around with chocolate on her face:

And we spend time with Uncle Rex:

And of course, go pontooning with the fishing poles:

All in all, it was a very good weekend.  I also had time to repurpose an old bookshelf for the girls’ playroom.  I’ll post it should I ever get the paint off my hands.  Never paint with nail polish on…note to self.  The Chocolate Hail is a recipe from a coworker of Greg’s, and Sara and I named it Chocolate Hail the first time we made it.  We calls ’em as we sees ’em.  I’m allergic to chocolate, but I hear this recipe is divine.

Chocolate Hail:

2 packages of Oreo Double Stuff (that’s 72 cookies, if you like to be exact)

2 tubs of cream cheese (24 oz, again, if you are a recipe follower, such as myself)

2-3 packages of chocolate bark (some call it candy coating…I think that equals 42 oz, give or take a few).  I can almost do it in 2 packages, but not quite…so I go with 3 and have leftover chocolate.  Spread it on the counter, and when it dries, it can be curled up and used to decorate the tops of cakes and cupcakes.  I hate to throw away food!

Crunch up the cookies.  Smaller than 1/2 inch, but not into dust.  Think of getting them to “crumbles”.  Mix them in a bowl with the cream cheese (I like the tubs because it’s already softened).  I haven’t tried whipped cream cheese with this…I might try that next.

Drop  them onto cookie sheets, shaped like balls, about tablespoon size.  I’ve made them golf ball size, and everyone says it’s too big.  They are too rich to be larger than candy.  Freeze them.  Critical step…they must be hard as rocks for this recipe to work.

Melt the chocolate bark (I put mine in a cake pan, break up the chunks, stir it every 10 minutes at 200 degrees until its melted).  I wouldn’t get chips or any other kind of chocolate.  First, it would be too rich.  Second, it’s a pain to melt.

I pour the chocolate into a bowl, and use 2 wooden spoons to submerge the frozen Oreo balls into the chocolate.  Do this very quickly, or the cookie will melt and crumble.  Put it back onto the cookie sheet.  It will harden quickly.  We keep ours in the fridge, but anyplace fairly cool will work.  They seem to disappear wherever I take them.