So, it snowed here today. Sort of. I mean, there were some flakes that fell from the sky, and occasionally they came down fast enough that we looked at them and said, “Oh, that’s pretty,” but in terms of anything that would enable us to make snowballs or snowmen or snow angels or snow creatures of any variety at all – well, um, NO.

But we had such a great day. Alex, our sweet neighbor B. (she’s not just four – she’s four AND A HALF) and I went for a huuuuuge walk, and the two young’uns ran up and rolled down every single hill. We had a blast. It was just one of those times when the gray weather was our friend, and it was hands-down my favorite day of 2010.

(Yes, I know that 2010 is only seven days old, but still. Big fun. I would share pictures except that I didn’t take any because our camera battery was dead. You’ll just have to trust me.)

Now earlier this week I was all set to make a bunch of tailgating food for tonight’s game, but when I started reading through your comments on yesterday’s post, I got a great idea from Gina. She mentioned that she was making sliders, and that immediately struck me as something David would love. So I shifted strategies, went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon, cooked everything late this afternoon, and may I just say? The sliders? HUGE BIG GIGANTOR HIT.

I had about a half a bag of frozen rolls leftover from Christmas (I prefer Rhodes, but this was some other kind), and this afternoon I put the rolls on cookie sheets so they could thaw and rise. I seasoned about a pound and a half of ground chuck, and after I mixed it up I made 12 small patties, then covered them and put them back in the refrigerator.

And since I recognize that reading a step-by-step, pictureless rundown of how I made sliders is only slightly more exciting than if I were to read you an instruction manual about food processor assembly, I’ll just cut to the chase and make a list of everything I put out on the counter for slider assemblage.

– sliced rolls
– hamburger patties (adorably small-ish)
– ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard
– Provolone (oh wait – I forgot to put out the Provolone, but I’ll still leave it on the list because it would have been delicious)
– Ranch dressing (made from the little Hidden Valley packet)
– grilled onions (I used 1/2 sweet onion)
– bacon (I cut six slices in half, then fried them)
– sandwich stacker pickles (cut in half)
– salsa (this brand is our current favorite, and MY WORD it’s tasty)
– avocado (I don’t really have anything else to say about the avocado, but I seem to be on a roll with the parenthetical additions, so I thought I’d write something extra in the interest of consistency)

So there was all of that stuff, and then I made homemade French fries (the kind where I put about two inches of oil in a Dutch oven on the stove and then COOK UP SOME SLICED TATERS), and I think it was one of my fellas’ favorite meals ever. D loved being able to fix different kinds of burgers, and I loved that I found a new way to use frozen rolls. Alex loved that we had hamburger patties AND bacon. He’s sort of a fan of meat.

Okay – I need to give the game my full attention. Bama’s up 24-21 with three minutes left, and they just recovered a fumble on UT’s three yard line. So clearly it’s time to do some yelling because remember, I THINK THE PLAYERS INSIDE THE TV CAN HEAR ME.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

And for at least the next three minutes: Roll Tide.

Edited to add: today is the last day to enter the $500 L’Bel Paris giveaway – don’t forget to enter!