Weekend of Food

Our week went so fast, I can't even begin to imagine where it went. We had Thanksgiving at our neighbors house and then left early Friday morning to go visit Hermit Crab in College Town. We ate our way through the weekend......
Plenty of wine at Thanksgiving-I nodded off at the dinner table and woke up to people laughing at me!

Lots of yummy food-first round of turkey, spuds, cranberries, roll and popcorn salad

Margarita's are a good way to start lunch

Dude's Mahi Mahi burritos

Dude and Drama Queen tried to spruce up the salsa to make it photo worthy

Drama Queen had chicken burritos

Cinnamon rolls

Dude's Muffaletta sandwich

Drama Queen and I had pulled pork sandwiches

It was a pretty nice weekend all in all. Drama Queen got sick and cranky in a hurry and put a damper on Saturday. Hermit Crab is settled into her life in college and seemed a little perturbed that we disturbed it. I think this is the realization settling in that she is gone for good. She has already announced that she thinks she is going to make her home in College Town once she graduates and is tossing around the idea for next year that she will stay up there during the summer and be an RA while working at school. Even though she will be home for three weeks over winter break and plans to come home and do field work again this summer, it won't ever be the same. Kind of broke my heart a little. Don't know that I'm quite ready for these changes. Now I know why you don't get an instruction manual with kids-if we knew the heartbreak, we would probably never have them!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is gearing up for the upcoming holiday, whatever you celebrate. I have to find time to dig that tree out of storage and see if Tofu destroys it.......

If there is booze in it, it must be good

I love pecan pie. I don't like many desserts (thank goodness or I'd have even more of a weight problem) but I love pecan pie. After a couple of pumpkin recipes I thought I deserved to make a treat for work that I liked. I took bits and pieces of different recipes and tried this. The pictures suck as I had to sneak my small digital camera into work and snap the photos on the table. They don't do it justice.

Pecan Bourbon Pie

1 pie crust, either homemade or store bought

2/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup melted butter

3 TBSP brown sugar

1 cup corn syrup

3 eggs

2 TBSP bourbon

1 cup pecans, slightly broken

Place pie crust in pie plate. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat all ingredients except pecans in a bowl by hand. Stir in pecans. Pour into crust and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until set. My pecans got a little brown so I should have covered the pie with some foil for the first 10 to 15 minutes, but it was still pretty darn tasty!

I want to wish each and every one of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. May it be filled with love, food, laughter and those you love.

Our nephew deploys tomorrow to Kuwait. We are thankful we have such a brave and selfless man. God Speed Riley. Keep your head down, your eyes open and thoughts of your wife waiting back here for you. We love you!

We're on a roll now

One day at work I had brought in a cooking magazine and Bob (I've spoken of him many times- I spoil him almost as much as my own husband) saw a pumpkin roll and asked if I could make one of those. I said I would but couldn't find the magazine again. Hmmm, might be time to go through and recycle some. To my delight, Monica at Lick the Bowl Good had posted a pumpkin recipe and had a link to other pumpkin recipes and I found her pumpkin roll. This is my first attempt at a cake roll. I thought aesthetically it didn't look too pretty, but I had 4 people ask if I would make it again. Monica-how do I get it to be not so.....damp? It was a moist cake, but really damp on top too. Your picture looks like a nice DRY top cake. I know the powdered sugar was part of the culprit, but dang it was wet! Probably me just be a newbie at this.

Pumpkin Roll by Monica H. at Lick the Bowl Good

1/4 cup powdered sugar
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves (I used nutmeg-no cloves in house)
1/4 tsp. salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin, not pie mix)

FILLING:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
6 TBSP butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
extra powdered sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 15x10 jelly roll pan. Line with wax paper and grease and flour wax paper. Generously sprinkle cotton dish towel with powdered sugar. Use like a flour sack type towel so no grooves or fibers get into the cake. Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Beat in pumpkin the stir in dry ingredients. Spread evenly in pan and bake 13 to 15 minutes, until the top springs back when touched. Loosen cake and immediately turn out onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off wax paper and roll up in towel, starting on short end. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely. When cake is cooled, make filling. Beat the cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla in a bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake, taking care to not crack it. Spread with filling, wrap in plastic wrap and store in fridge at least one hour. When serving, sprinkle with additional powdered sugar if desired.

As I am typing the instructions it occurred to me that I think I forgot to flour the greased wax paper. Could that have caused the top to get so sticky?

I think for my first attempt it turned out pretty good. It can only get better the more often I try.

Thanks Monica for a great recipe and for my baking gift that arrived on Saturday-I can't wait to put it to good use!

Pumpkin Nut Bread

On Thursday night, well more like in the wee hours of Friday, I made a pumpkin roll that I found on Monica's site Lick the Bowl Good. It was the first jelly-type roll cake I have made. My first attempt had it's ups and downs, but it was good. I will probably put that post up tomorrow. However, I had left over pumpkin puree from the roll, so I also made a loaf of pumpkin nut bread. The natives were on a feeding frenzy. I literally walked to the table and they pounced: what is it? Do we need forks? Who has some plates? Get a knife for the butter. I had it sliced into 12 pieces-8 were gone in the first 5 minutes. This one is a winner folks.

Pumpkin Nut Bread (from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cloves (I used nutmeg)
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree or canned pumpkin (not pie mix one)
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup raisins-I didn't use as no one in my house likes them

In large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, baking soda and cloves. Set aside. In another large bowl, combine and beat brown sugar and shortening until well combined. Add pumpkin and milk and mix well. Add flour mixture to sugar-pumpkin mixture, mixing well. Stir in nuts (and raisins if using). Pour into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 to 60 minutes and a wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto wire rack to completely cool.

I wrapped my loaf in foil and stored in fridge for 2 days.

They were begging for more.

Midnight snack

I have had Dude home for both our nights off this week which doesn't happen often. If he can find overtime at work, he is there pumping out the cereal. No overtime this week as most of the plant is going down next week for the holiday. Since it is our short week, we took Wednesday off as vacation and Thursday is our holiday so we have a full week off and have to use only one vacation day-score! I will be busy baking for the church bake sale and to bring treats up to our daughter. Last night I made dinner around 6 and that is pretty early for us to eat since we normally eat at work between 7:30 and 8:30. We just hung out in the house together watching TV and lounging. Tried to go to sleep around midnight and turned TV back on at 2. Caught "The Man with One Red Shoe". I love Tom Hanks, but that was a dumb movie! We had no snacks in the house, so he made a roast beef sandwich from our dinner. Tonight I had a plan for our midnight snack-smoked sausage and potatoes.

Dude stuck his beer in the photo-thought it would class it up a bit!

I just sliced up the smoked ring sausage and browned it off in the pan. Then I removed it to a plate to hold it while I fried up the potatoes. Once the spuds were brown, I added the sausage back in to warm up.

It was delightful!

Tofu was looking for some handouts. Check out her eyes-it looks like her left on is fully eye lined and her right one only has eye liner around part of it. And she doesn't have an eye booger-that is her marking by her eye. I keep trying to wipe it away for her.

A Day Late and A Buck Ninety Eight short

Dave over at My Year on the Grill (yeah, I still can't figure out that linking thing-I'm hopeless!) had posted two days ago about another person who thought we should post our kitchens and do it as a yearly post. I didn't see the post until last night since I worked Monday and Tuesday. Honestly, after seeing other people's kitchens, I have a LOT of kitchen envy. We remodeled our kitchen 13 years ago. We have a traditional split level house from 1979. It was awful when we moved in in 1990. Orange carpet, dark woodwork, I won't even tell you about the mirrored wallpaper in the bedroom and the gold angel oil dripping lamp in the entryway. The kitchen was the worst. It was U-shaped with cheap cupboards, a brown dimpled counter top, and the cabinets were the kind dropped from the ceiling so you could put things on top to display-and get totally gross with dust and cooking grime. It also had the cupboard over the peninsula so I had to duck to see everyone at the kitchen table. After we sold a street rod we took the money and did a remodel. We are looking to do an update now. I loved my counter tops 13 years ago, but they are doing nothing for me now. I want some type of solid surface with a tile back splash for counters. I want a new sink and appliances. I love the floor and my cabinets still, but am going to update the hardware on cabinets and get a new ceiling fan and light fixture. I would love to get some hanging pendant lights over the island, but haven't found an electrician yet.

We remodeled into an L-shape with a freestanding island now. Walking into the kitchen this is what you see. I love the window over the sink, I just wish it was a bit lower to enjoy more of the view. We had shelves put in next to the window for knick knacks and pictures.

These were my Mom's. I have received many of her kitchen goodies over the years. My eldest sister does not like to cook and doesn't really care for clutter. My other sister loves to cook, but isn't into old stuff. Me-I like the old stuff. Ties us to another time and place. These are hor dourve holders. The holes you see are to hold appetizers on a toothpick.

I like the stacked microwave over the stove. It is so convenient when cooking if I have to warm cream for potatoes, or melt butter or warm veggies. No extra steps. We are hoping to upgrade to the dual-fuel stove in March after we get our bonus. This stove has served us well for the past 15 years. I have worn all the writing off of the knobs! There is a lazy Susan to the right of the stove on the bottom that holds all my baking supplies and the corner cabinet over my stand mixer holds bowls, tools and all the chocolate I hide from my kids!

We have an eat in kitchen-no formal room for us. I hate this table. It is awful to say, but I do. When I met my hubby he was in the process of buying his parents house from them as they were retiring to the lake for the summer and Florida for the winter. He bought the house and all the furnishings. The chairs are trashed from dogs chewing and kids bouncing and I hate a round table. I want a nice square table. Once our oldest graduates from college, she gets the table (she loves it) and I'm buying a new one! My cookbooks sit on the two shelves at the end of the L. Need about 4 more shelves to hold them all.

The island holds all my pans and bake ware. I wish we could have put in a bigger one, but due to door opening requirements, this was as big as we could go. The curtains you see over the two windows were my grandmother's-another little piece of the past in my home.

Our friend built this cabinet for us. It houses our china, deep fryer, holiday dishes and stemware. It has small lights in the upper part so it puts off a nice glow in the evening. We are looking into a small HDTV to replace my old one as all I can get is satellite in the kitchen. We don't have cable out in the country so we have a big dish and we can't get our local stations on it, so I can't watch the news or check out the local weather in the kitchen anymore after the digital conversion. But you can see Paula's arm!
This is what is going on in my back yard for a couple days. Million dollar tractors rolling around through the corn and half a dozen trucks pulling through to collect.

That is my kitchen in a nutshell. Sorry I'm late with my post :-)

I'm going to take some new pictures and repost. As I looked through this I saw how bad they looked once uploaded. It looks much better than this-too grainy.

Caramel Apple Pie

I'm back from my weekend shopping trip and had a fabulous time! Besides spending all day with my BFF from high school, I was also able to meet my cousin and one of his friends for lunch and cocktail as they were shopping at Mall of America also. I finished shopping for Drama Queen, I am about 90 percent done with Hermit Crab, and I need just a few things for Dude. After I post, I'm off to order some car things for him. He is so hard to shop for!



I said that I would be posting a pumpkin roll and a bourbon pecan pie, and I will soon, but I didn't have enough pecans and I had already been to town and didn't feel like making another trip for just some nuts. My friend Scott from work had brought me a bag of Harrelson apples so I found the recipe that was a big hit at a family party about a year and a half ago. It is from Ree Drummond-The Pioneer Woman. I changed it a bit to comply with requests from the family from the first time I made it. In it's original form it was delightful, I just tried to make it fit into my family's tastes a little more.




Caramel Apple Pie
(I think she calls it Scrumptious Apple Pie?)



1 refrigerate pie crust
6 to 7 cups cored, peeled and sliced tart apples
Juice of half a lemon
1/2 cup sugar
4 TBSP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking spice-not in original recipe
1 tsp. cinnamon-not in original recipe
Crumb Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1-1/2 sticks butter, slightly soft
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping *her recipe calls for 1/2 a jar, and also 1/2 cup of pecans


Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour, salt, baking spice and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside. For crumb topping, cut butter into flour. Add brown sugar and oats. Place pie crust in pie tin. Pour in apple mixture. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the top of apples.
Place pie protector (or tin foil strips) over crust and bake for 25 minutes. Remove protector/tin foil and bake for another 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 minutes and then drizzle with caramel topping.



I didn't add walnuts this time since Bob will probably want some tomorrow night at work and he doesn't like nuts (he is spoiled) and I don't use as much caramel topping as Ree does as my family thought it overwhelmed the pie to much. All they tasted was caramel and not the apples. I also used the spices to make it taste more like an apple pie.

I also made a pan of bars for Drama Queen. She likes regular apple pie-well, mainly she likes the crust, but since this has a crisp-like topping, she may try it as she likes apple crisp. To appease her in case she doesn't want to try it or doesn't like it, I made one of favorite bars.

Peanut Butter M & M Bars

1 package dry peanut butter cookie mix (I used Betty Crocker)
1 egg
1 TBSP water
3 TBSP oil
1/3 cup M & M's

Stir together cookie mix, egg, water and oil until combined. Stir in candy until dispersed well in the dough. Pat into a brownie pan (10x8). Bake at 350 degrees F. for 22 minutes.

Ahhh, nothing like the smell of peanut butter baking!

I probably won't see you until towards the end of the week since this starts our long week at work. I am off to find some of my favorite bar recipes as we are having a bake sale/craft sale and luncheon at our church the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. There is a huge tree farm about 4 miles south of our church and many people travel from the Twin Cities to come get trees. We offer them a place to grab some good lunch, pick up some treats and a place to 'powder their nose'. Since we are going to visit Hermit Crab that weekend, I need to have my treats ready to go beforehand. My neighbor, who is hosting us for Turkey Day, offered to bring in my stuff as she is working the sale. I love a good bake sale.......

Wine, it's whats for dinner

I have just a quick post today. I'm off to have a nice hot bath, do a little reading and try and get some sleep so I can spend tomorrow with my BFF Liz doing our Christmas shopping. I was talking about my awesome NuWave oven at work and one of our single guy friends there had said he was looking into one. I told him that I had purchased mine at Kohl's and that I had received another coupon so I could pick him up one. On my way to the Mall of America, I'll be making a side trip to pick him up one.

I know liquor laws are different in every state. Here in Minnesota you cannot buy anything but 3.2 in grocery stores, and no liquor stores are open here on Sundays. I always seem to be jonesing for a beer or some wine on a Sunday when the beer fridge is empty. Now that summer is over, I usually trade beer for wine. Our local liquor stores will give you a 15% discount if you buy 12 bottles. I went in and stocked up and $104.86 later, I walked out with 13 bottles. To be honest, I have stated before that we usually drink cheaper wine, $10 to 14 a bottle. They had a couple on sale that I have never tried and they still gave me the discount!

Today I tried Torrontes by Alamos. It is from Argentina. The notes on the back said it was citrus and peach flavors with some jasmine blossoms and herbs. On first sip, I didn't like. It is pretty dry. I like sweet, juicy wines. I gave another sip and it had a little smokiness to it, but you know, it came across kind of like a Gerwurtz only dry. I think it would be great with some turkey, some small appetizers like a crab puff or cheese and cracker. I have never tried a wine from Argentina before, so I will need to check out the rest of the selection and see what I can find.

Off to a bubble bath, the latest bon appetit and some Food Network. Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I will see you next week with a Bourbon Pecan tart and a Pumpkin roll!

More from my NuWave oven

Let's hope I don't get in trouble for posting a picture from NuWave! I have to honestly say that I have been impressed with my oven. I have done 4 meals and a dessert in it so far. It is a counter top appliance that cooks with conduction, convection and infrared heat. I cooked one thing from a frozen state like they tell you that you can and it turned out great. I did check it with the thermometer before serving it, and it was perfect. This week I made a whole chicken stuffed with onion and lemons and sprinkled poultry seasoning on the skin. It was so juicy and moist, I couldn't believe it. I made the lemon bars for work. They required a little more work than my oven would, but it was easy to put foil on and take foil off. The co-workers said they were just as good as my regular bars. I have a roast I am going to make tomorrow so we will see how that turns out.

Have a fun weekend planned. Going Christmas shopping with my BFF from high school. We do an annual trip every November. We shop all day, treat ourselves to a nice meal and stay in a hotel. We are skipping the hotel this year due to our respective finances, but plan on starting our trip at IKEA, then going to the Mall of America for a day of shopping, food and maybe the comedy club.

We found out today that our youngest is suffering from an anxiety disorder and they have put her on some meds. I know teenage girls can be moody and lippy and bitchy (heck, I was a teenage girl once), but sometimes Drama Queen goes way off the deep end. Unfortunately for her, I suffer from it also as does her grandmother and her now deceased great-grandmother. I sought treatment but my Mom and Grandma never did. I'm not a big proponent of throwing pills at people so they feel better, but having freaked out on the freeway more than once which ended in violent crying and vomiting, I know that this will help her. Oh, and my nephew is being deployed to Kuwait in a couple weeks. Pretty soon I'll be back on the Xanex! Just a day in the life, just a day. So my header holds true-it was a bottle of Prosecco tonight!

Pumpkin Bars

I decided to use my regular pumpkin bar recipe for my first batch of puree. I had found a pumpkin roll recipe in a magazine that garnered a lot of attention from some co-workers, but for the life of me, I can't find the magazine. I looked through 10 and can't find it. I was perusing other blogs and Monica at Lick the Bowl Good posted her puree the same day I did mine, and in her post she has a recipe for a pumpkin roll! That will be coming up in a week or so when Bob gets back to work from deer hunting.

Pumpkin Bars

2 cups pumpkin puree

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup salad (vegetable) oil

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg

Combine sugar, oil and eggs. Sift in dry ingredients and thoroughly combine. Stir in pumpkin. Spray jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees F. When cool, top with your favorite cream cheese frosting.

You can substitute a can of pumpkin filling (not pie mix) as this is what the original recipe calls for. I think I got this from my grandma as it is an old recipe card, but to be honest, I have seen the same recipe in 3 of my cookbooks (I looked for pumpkin rolls in those too) with a little variation on spices and some have baking soda in them. It must be a tried and true recipe! I also baked mine in a 9x13 pan as I don't like to take frosted bars to work in a pan with no lid as the frosting will stick to foil or plastic wrap. I also used a commercial (canned) frosting as we don't always have room in the fridge at work for pans of treats so it had to sit on the counter and that could spell disaster with cream cheese.

Tofu kept me company at 4 in the morning when I was baking bars. She wasn't much help as you can see.

Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater

Insomnia sucks. Plain and simple. I have been dealing with it for years and the doc prescribed a drug that I am suppose to use 'when you can't turn your brain off, Tami'. That is what she actually said. I sleep pretty good on the days I work-I'm just so exhausted I just fall into bed when we get home. It is those days that I am off that cause the most problem. I had 3 hours of sleep the last two nights (well, days actually). I'm not a woman who can function on that little sleep anymore. How did I do it when the kids were small? I must be getting soft in my old age. When it is 4 AM and you can't fall asleep, strange things run through your mind.
1. Will my eyelashes turn grey also?
2. Why does the cat stare at me when I use the bathroom? What is going through her mind?
3. How can I fashion a makeshift hottub out of cow trough and an air hose?
4. Is that blinking light in the sky really a satellite or a spaceship like my Mom suspects?

Yeah, good times.

What does this have to do with pumpkins you ask? Nothing really, other than I have been trolling blogs and food sites looking for some uses for my pureed pumpkin I just made.

Quick story. Took my Mom out a week ago for lunch and some browsing. Went to a really fun kitchen store in the quaint town of Stillwater. I was drooling over the Le Creuset cookware, the Emile Henry bakeware and the freakin' sweet Viking range in the cooking class area. As we checked out my Mom commented to the woman helping us that she could never get me in the kitchen as a child, but now thinks I need to come there and take some classes to help feed my desire to learn more. I looked at her and smiled while thinking to myself "you wouldn't let me in the kitchen, that was Bren's territory". I did learn a couple things when my parents got divorced and I had to make myself food when my Dad was working or away. I have come a long way from baking chocolate chip cookies and Hamburger Helper. Not far, but quite a ways (is that a word?). Long story short: never thought I would actually try and make pumpkin puree from scratch. It isn't hard, but I'm a little disappointed in this year's batch. The pumpkins didn't give up a lot of flesh and one was just dry as a bone when I finally pried it open.



Slice pumpkins in half. If really large, cut in chunks. Place cut side down on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F. until done. There isn't an exact science on timing. I started checking at half an hour, but left in for an hour until they gave easily when lightly pressed.

Peel skin off of the flesh and break into small chunks, about 2 or 3 inch pieces

Puree in food processor until smooth. I added about 2 tsp. of water to each batch to give it a start. The first batch had a hard time smoothing out, so adding the water helped.

I spoon 2 cups of puree into a quart size freezer bag, squeeze out extra air and smooth the bag flat. Freeze flat and then they store upright in a small box easily. I keep a couple small plastic bins in the freezer for my frozen veggies and fruits. It takes up less room and it is easier to find what I am looking for.

Off to stalk some more and find some pumpkin recipes. The natives are work will be restless again soon.

Fall

One last day outside.........

A new toy and a drink and a bonus dessert

I have mention many times my love of gadgets for the kitchen. I don't have many gadgets for household stuff: cleaning tools, closet organizers, yard work helpers. No, my love of gadgets is centered solely of cooking and baking. I have toyed around with the idea of featuring posts based on a different gadget used to make the dish. I want to gather some more ideas and then get that done. I think it would be kind of fun. My latest purchase was something I have seen on TV for two or more years. Dude said we don't need it-and we don't. But has that ever stopped me before? I think not. I explained that it would just be the two of us soon and if I can save a little on the gas and electric bill when not doing a lot of cooking and baking, it would benefit to our checkbook. He so isn't falling for it.





Yes, I bought a Nuwave oven.



And I cooked our entire dinner in it. Baked potatoes, baked chicken breasts and cibatta bread. All the boys at work have dubbed it the "Easy Bake Oven" and ask what wattage light bulb it takes. Skeptics. Wait till they taste the dessert I'm making in it tomorrow. They will be eating crow. Or more specifically, lemon bars. You get the point. The second night I also made our entire dinner: oven roasted potatoes and rubbed pork loin roast.


When I made the upside down apple pie last week (I made another for Dude's parents this weekend when we went up to visit-they loved it too), I had about two cups of apples left. I made a free formed tart type pie for Drama Queen. I had the one extra pie crust left in the package, so all the good stuff that was left over went in it. Baked it about 30 minutes in the oven with the upside down pie. She ate the entire thing in two days.

I also found a picture of the POMtini I made with some the the POM juice I received from that fine company.

POMtini

1 bottle of POM juice

2 ounces good vodka

1 tsp of orange liquer

small squirt simple syrup (I make mine with equal amounts sugar to water)

Ice

Shake all ingredients in shaker. Use strainer top and pour into martini glass. I had nothing to garnish it with, so it looks a little plain. I tried to get a good shot of my new martini glasses, but they don't show up very well. I took a day and went to visit my Mom and we visited a really nice kitchen store that has the expensive brands (that I can't afford, but drool over) and I found these pretty glasses. Our Flirtini's will taste great next summer in them too!

We had a nice visit with Dude's parents this weekend. Just the two of us drove up and stayed over night. Joan made us a delicious meal of individual meat loaves with the ketchup glaze, twice baked potatoes (forgot how much I love those!) and some coleslaw. We rounded out the night with four games of Rummy 500. Howie and I are always a team and we lose to Dude and Joan 95 percent of the time, but we pulled out two wins on Friday! Howie is pretty matter of fact about his illness and it made me sad when he talked about things he is getting done now so Joan doesn't have to deal with it after he is gone and that he wants to give some gifts back to his 4 kids that they gave him in years past so he was sure they went back to the correct giver. He feels good so far, but has only been on the chemo pills for three days. He does 5 days of the pills then waits 2 weeks and goes back in for a check up. We will know more then. I just want to thank everyone for their kind words when I first posted he was ill. It sounds crazy-or maybe it doesn't to all of you, but it was easier putting it up here on my blog then telling people who know our family. Maybe it is because I can log on and read at my leisure, or maybe it is that while we don't know each other personally we know each other through our passion of food and there is an understanding here in cyberworld. Whatever it is, I'm thankful that I can log on and catch up on lives, loves and your food passions.

See you later in the week!

P.S. The cocktail recipe makes 2 drinks, I forget to write that with the recipe