At What Point...

do you stop telling someone EXACTLY how to do something, and just go with general instructions?
I put a frozen roast into the microwave this morning, to thaw just enough to get the absorbent pad off of it before cooking. Dan saw it in the microwave, and asked if he could get it on to cook.
I said sure.
He has watched me dozens of times.
Or so I thought.

So I first discover, ten minutes into the cooking... the slow cooker is turned on, but not plugged in. Funny how that affects the cooking, not having any power. So it got plugged in. The leftover coffee and onion soup mix were already in, as we always do it.

After a couple of hours, I went and turned the roast over... and discovered the absorbent pad still stuck to it.

It wasn't as bad as the time a few weeks ago, when Ben boiled several in with the chicken. This one didn't dissolve into the broth. I peeled it away and inspected... we could still proceed with the cooking. I asked Dan why he hadn't removed the pad. Apparently, I had never told him to do so.
So, Moms out there: When you are teaching your children to cook, don't neglect telling them the 'obvious', at least the first few times through a recipe. Dan HAD "seen me" cook the pad before. Or so he thought. He had seen me leave one on a roast that I had not first microwaved to loosen the pad. He didn't see me remove it as soon as it has loosened enough to do so.
Oops.
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Ben decided that for his birthday, we are having fajitas for supper. Ben is not much into sweets. He seldom eats cake, and almost never has ice cream. I asked him what he wanted for a "birthday cake". He suggested maybe glazed doughnuts.
Then, the scent of the candle we got at Oops! made me think : Ben loves rice krispy marshmallow treats. I suggested those, and the decision was made. Fajitas, rice krispy treats, and jalapeno poppers.

List in hand, I head off through the rain to the store.

After hunting all over the store, checking the freezer section three times, then checking fresh produce, I found the store had ONE jalapeno.
So I enlisted the aid of a store manager. He knew right where the frozen jalapeno poppers were located.
No wonder I failed to see them... they were far back on one of the top freezer case shelves, and I am a bit vertically challenged. He handed me a box.

In bold letters across the front, it says "Three Cheese Jalapeno Poppers".

For $3.09! Gee Whiz if it wasn't a special birthday request I would not of bought them.
I went ahead and got TWO boxes, so everyone could have at least ONE.

We got home, and I was telling Ben how expensive these were. As I was putting the box away, I realized it must have a lot of packaging or these were three very heavy jalapenos. I read the back of the box. Serving size: Three peppers. Number of servings per box: Three.

Huh?

I looked on the front of the box. In huge letters: THREE CHEESE JALAPENO POPPERS!

Finally it dawns on me!
"THREE CHEESE, Jalapeno Poppers"

Duh.
Not THREE, cheese jalapeno poppers.

Did I start this post wondering about my kids culinary skills?

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Still laughing at myself.
Eighteen pepper poppers ought to be enough for everyone for sure.