A short sabbatical

Have you had a child who broke your heart and didn't know how long it will take to forgive and move on? I need to take a break to deal with some issues happening at home. I will see you in a couple weeks. Hopefully I will still see you all here when I return.

See you in a few weeks.

A swing.........and a miss!

As I continue with the Pantry Challenge, I am...., well, challenged. I didn't sleep much yesterday because I had therapy for my elbow and had to get up early. After therapy I went to the travel agent to start planning me and Dude's 20th anniversary trip to Iceland. Found out that Iceland is closed right now and not taking reservations. Hmmm, really? So the agent will call me in a couple weeks when they are back in business. Dude and I were alone last night so we went and grabbed some dinner and went to Menard's to pick up some stuff for my new scrap room. We found carpet, some trim pieces and a new light fixture. Now he is getting ready to paint the ceiling. We went to bed last night at 7:30 because we were so exhausted. Sleeping while it is dark outside is a weird concept to us! He woke up at midnight and I woke up at 3. Now at 11 PM I am ready for bed again. After napping this afternoon I asked what he wanted for dinner. After explaining that I didn't have any T-bones in the the freezer, I made him go down to the freezer and just pick something out. He pulled out what I thought was a pork roast, but after cooking we came to the conclusion it was some kind of beef......thing. I thawed it, marinated it in olive oil, apple cider, rosemary, thyme and a little ginger and Tuscan Sunset blend. I put it in the oven with some onions that were sprinkled with some olive oil and some of the same herbs used in the marinade, I placed it in a 325 degree oven for about an hour and a half. I made a package of angel hair pasta and herb boxed side dish. Yeah. The meat must have been old as it was dry and tasteless. The pasta was good, but I was totally disappointed by the meat. I guess this is what the challenge is all about, right?

We are thinking we might do homemade soup tomorrow, but we will see. I have a coupon for Michael's and have a list of things that I need to pick up. It is also the big game between the Vikings and the Saints for a spot in the Superbowl!! Dude doesn't like football, but I kind of do, so I think I may have to watch. Normally we go for motor sports, but I love high school football and always watched the Vikings with my Dad growing up. I remember him in his skivvies (underwear) and t-shirt yelling at the Fran Tarkenton about the ball and Mom telling him if he knew so much, maybe he should go coach them. Ahhhh, good times, good times. Let's go Purple-make us proud!

Sticks and Stones

Another day in the Pantry Challenge. Friday night at work we ordered out dinner as I had a PT appointment before work so sleep was more important than cooking. When we got home in the morning, I went down to the freezer and randomly picked something out of the bin and got a pound of hamburger. I saw a bag of hash browns so I grabbed those also. Put the ground beef in the fridge to thaw and went to bed.

When I woke up I realized I had to do something with these items so I looked in the canned food pantry and grabbed some creamed corn and a can of cream of celery soup. I browned the ground beef and seasoned it with some onion and garlic powder and a little pepper. I stirred in the soup, the creamed corn, half a can of water and half the bag of potatoes and warmed it through. Into an 8x8 baking dish, sprinkled it with some fresh grated cheese and popped it into a 350 degree F. oven for about 30 minutes.

It is hard to get a good photo of a hotdish. This is as good as I got. It tasted a lot like Tater Tot hotdish. We took half for dinner at work and gobbled it right up and Dude took the rest last night when he worked OT. The Tupperware came home empty. I think I would stir the cheese into the creamy mixture and then bake it for 15 minutes and then sprinkle with a little more cheese. The cheesier the better!


I will definitely make this again. Oh, and sticks and stones was for potatoes (sticks) and ground beef (stones). Sorry, it popped into my mind and I ran with it!

Short Ribs

While stalking, er I mean while reading through my reader list, I found a recipe for ribs in a red wine sauce that I wanted to try. I took ribs out and put in the fridge to make a little later in the day and then Dude asked if I wanted to go out for dinner and a movie. Heck yeah! I wish I would have brought my camera with because seriously? Best burger I ever had. I think I have mentioned that we like to eat at Rudy's Redeye Grill, which is part of Axl's Charhouse here in Minnesota. They have awesome steaks and prime rib and pasta, and well everything we have ever had there is good. My favorite cocktail is also from there-the Flirtini. I have that recipe under drinks in my recipe labels. And if you make these cocktails in pitcher form (which we do) stop at one pitcher. Trust me on this. I didn't learn the first time we made two. I learned the second time. But the burgers were phenomenal. I don't know if they ground up Bessie right there in the kitchen, but they were juicy and full of flavor and HUGE! So the ribs took a back seat. When I went to make the ribs the next day, I didn't do it with the red wine as it only takes about a cup of wine and we had to work the next two days and I didn't want the wine sitting in the fridge that long before I could drink the rest of it. I used beef stock instead. It went together so fast. I chopped an onion into quarters, cut 3 stalks of celery into three piece, took a handful of mini carrots (since those where the only ones in the crisper drawer) and put in the bottom of the Crock Pot. I rubbed the patted dry ribs with one of my favorite blends from Penzey's that consisted of paprika, onion, celery, arrowroot, sugar, garlic, black pepper, parsley, dill seed, caraway, turmeric, dill weed, bay leaf, thyme, savory, basil, marjoram and rosemary. Holy cow there is a lot packed in that jar! It is called Beef Roast seasoning and we use it all the time. I placed the ribs on the top of the veggies and poured the beef stock around the sides of the meat, put her on low and went to bed. 8 hours later dinner was ready. I strained the juices into a pan, mixed some Wondra flour with cold beef stock and whisked into the hot juices and made some pan gravy. Delish!

This is a new tablecloth I got from my Mom. I will have to do a post on the fun things I got. A resident in her apartment building (she calls 'the Home') had passed away and Mom offered to help her husband clean out some stuff. He told her she could take what she wanted and the rest was going off to Goodwill I believe. She took several tablecloths (I collect old ones), a stockinette cover for a rolling pin still in the original box, and a cookie press. I was excited about the cookie press (spelled Cooky on the box) since I have never made Spritz cookies and I know Dude likes those. There were several recipe booklets, receipts dated 1941, and some cool round recipe cards that came off of the lids of Spry shortening. I want to find a cool frame and hang them in my kitchen. I think when we move to town in a few years, I will do a retro themed kitchen!

Meatloaf Melt

I really hate housework. I'll admit it. I didn't get my Mom's cleaning gene. Our house was always clean and organized-it had to be because it was so tiny. She worked full time after I started first grade but still made sure the house was always clean-both dirt wise and clutter wise. Me, I make sure the dirt isn't there-counters wiped off (when I can find them), toilet is always clean (I'm a freak about that-ewww) and the like, but the clutter? Eh, I can live with it. I tried to go to bed early last night so I could get a good 8 hours of sleep and get up today and hit it. I had 4 loads of laundry to do, at least 2 sinkfuls (?) of dishes that can't be washed in the dishwasher, the boxes of Christmas decorations that just need to go about 25 feet out the garage door into the closet out there and some baking I wanted to do. Good intentions, good intentions. I slept for about 4-1/2 hours and then Dude and I were both awake. We watched "Living with Ed" on Discovery and then several "Property Virgins" and "My First Home" on HGTV and "Holmes on Homes" on whatever channel he is on. Then Food Network. I had such a headache and backache I had to get up and move and take aspirin. I had some breakfast, did one load of dishes and washed and dried two loads. Then I had to lay down since I was so tired I couldn't think straight. Slept a couple hours and then played on Facebook for 2 hours.

Dude went to work and suddenly I realized I hadn't eaten lunch and I was starving. I seriously wanted a bologna sandwich, but having no lunch meat in the house I needed to find something else. Hmmmm, I have some leftover meatloaf that Dude didn't take with him to work. I loped a hunk of bread off the French loaf on the island, grabbed some cheese and grilled it up in my grill pan. I would have used the panini press, but I had dishes drying on the counter so I just used the grill pan and another pan on top.

I enjoyed it with some Davinci Pinot Grigio. It was an okay bottle. Not very sweet, but no oaky taste, a pretty clean finish. Good with a salad or chicken I'm sure, but I had it with beef-that is how I roll.

It was really good; however I had sliced it into thick slices last night for dinner, so it was pretty thick for the panini, but I couldn't get it as squished with the grill pan versus the panini press, so that may have contributed to the thickness. I would also use more cheese. My Havarti was sliced pretty thin and it needed a little more creaminess. And I swear, I don't know why it looks so pink. It was cooked through to the correct temp last night, so please know it was not medium rare meatloaf.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

This is another dessert that I made for my family's Christmas party. Did I mention how much food we had? It was crazy and there were only 13 of us there, as my hubby and youngest didn't go as Drama Queen hadn't been feeling good and didn't want her getting anyone sick and Dude was waiting to hear if he was needed to fill in a spot at work. They missed an amazing spread of food, but they did get to taste the desserts!

I have never made, nor eaten, Red Velvet cake. I know it is a standard in the South. My only connection with it was the scene in "Steel Magnolias" when it is served as the grooms cake. That armadillo looks like it was bleeding. And that movie inspired me to name my daughter Shelby. My Mom said that I should make an old fashioned dessert like Red Velvet cupcakes and I had remembered seeing a recipe in one the holiday baking magazines I had bought.

The batter scared me a little bit. Look how red it is. Nothing in nature is that red, other than blood and some tomatoes.
This made me laugh. I followed the instructions explicitly and filled the cups 3/4 of the way full, but the tops mounded over the top. Don't these look like red cookies?

But see? Actually cupcakes!

All frosted and ready to go!

Red Velvet Cupcakes from Holiday Baking 2009

2-1/4 cups flour

1-1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup cooking oil (I used a canola/vegetable blend)

1 cup buttermilk or sour milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup (2 oz) red food coloring (mine was only 1.75 but clearly enough!)

1 tsp. vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla

Mascarpone Frosting

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/4 cup softened butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tsp milk for thinning

Line 18 muffin cups with paper baking cups; set aside (I got 22 out of the batter). In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add oil, buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium until combined. *Put a paper towel over stand mixer bowl because the batter splattered even on low

Spoon batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 19 to 23 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in middle comes out clean (mine took all 23 minutes). Cool in pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.

For frosting: in a large bowl, combine the mascarpone cheese and butter. Beat with mixer on medium to high speed until smooth. Beat in the vanilla and then gradually add the powdered sugar, beating well. Add milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, to make it a spreadable consistency.

** This also has a filling that I didn't use.

These were very good, and the leftovers I had I brought to work on Monday and the boys scarfed them up quick. Even after 2-1/2 days, they still tasted good.

Pantry Challenge update

The pantry challenge has been going pretty well. I had spent about $12 last week on milk, bread and some fresh veggies. This week I have spent about $25 dollars on milk, cheese, potatoes, lettuce, oranges, limes, lemons, sour cream and a loaf of fresh bread. I so wanted to buy lunch meat for sandwiches, but I held firm and repeated to myself that leftovers are fine for work night lunches.

This a box mix of Au Gratin potatoes that I gussied up with some cream, nutmeg and a little extra fresh cheese


Here is a pork butt roast that I fixed in the Easy Bake oven (NuWave oven). Sprinkled it with pork chop seasoning and a mixed spice blend with onion, garlic, cumin, celery salt, paprika and pepper. We had it one night with the Au Gratins and the next night Dude had the left overs and I made a teriyaki chicken breast and made mashed spuds and gravy.


Tonight I made meatloaf with a pound of hamburger, pound of ground pork, some chicken stuffing mix softened in water and milk, an egg, some Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. I also make twice baked potatoes and split a bottle of Robert Mondovi White Zinfandel.

Since I was gone all weekend then I have worked Monday and Tuesday, I will spend tomorrow working on the menu plan some more. I had Physical Therapy today and told my therapist about the Brie and Kahlua appy. She wrote down the recipe as she is doing a cocktail party soon and thought it sound good. I told her my sister almost licked the plate.

Stopped and picked up a couple books from the library today-The French Laundry cookbook (which I'm sure I'll read like a novel and not cook from as I hear his recipes are quite involved) and Fearless Baking by Elinor Klivans. I'm off to run a bath and read about food and call it a night since I had to wake up in the middle of the morning for my appointment. I'm sure it isn't the wine that made me sleepy.....

French Silk Pie

I am not a huge pie lover. In fact, I only like a couple kinds of pies-Pecan (and some various versions of if) and French Silk. A chain of restaurants that we had in Minnesota-and I think in some other Midwest states-called Stuart Anderson's had this thick, whipped chocolate pie that was different from French Silk and that was by far my favorite. I was only learning to cook 25 years ago, so I never thought to try and re-create it or learn more about it. It was just plain awesome.

I came across this recipe while trolling through blogs one morning at probably 2 AM. I thought I thought I had scratched down the blog name while I wrote down the recipe, but I don't see it on the back of the old envelope I used. I can't tell you whose I found it on, I just hope if that person happens along my blog he or she will let me know so I can give props.

Do you remember that scene in "Julie and Julia" where Julie is having an editor of some type over and is chatting away and takes a bite of food and says "Yum. I know it isn't polite to say yum when eating like this, but yum!" This was how it was with this pie. I have always struggled with taking compliments (I have been taken to task more than once), but when my family said they really liked it, I said "I know, isn't it fabulous?" It is that good.

French Silk Pie

1 pie crust, homemade or store-bought

1 cup butter, room temperature

1-1/2 cup sugar

2 oz. unsweetened chocolate, melted

2 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

Whipped Topping:

1 pint heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Blind bake pie crust in a 425 degree F. oven for 10 minutes. Let cool while preparing filling. Beat butter and sugar thoroughly until no longer grainy.Mix in melted chocolate and vanilla. Add eggs, 2 at a time and beat for 3 to 5 minutes after each addition until it has a thick mousse texture. Pour into crust. Make whipped topping by beating ingredients together until soft peaks form. Spoon over chocolate layer and spread and swirl top. Store in fridge.

While I was copying down this recipe, I just glanced at the ingredients and saw that I had all of them in my cupboard and fridge-but didn't read the directions. It wasn't until I was making it that I saw it has you add eggs and they aren't cooked. This brings up a host of possible problems, but the eggs I used where fresh. The next time I make this, I will get pasteurized eggs to make it. No one has called to tell me they got ill, so that is a bonus.

You need to make this; it is just that good!

So Much good food and not enough hours

Hermit Crab and my nephew C


My niece K

My niece E with her daughter M

My Brother H


My Sisters S and B

My Mom



We had so much food today you wouldn't even believe it. I need to figure out that Picasso thing so I can do a collage of all of it. Heck, I still can't figure out how to the the link below these next pictures say Here instead of the whole address of the blog where I got it.

I'm ranting, aren't I?

We had a ham, a turkey, BBQ meatball, Swedish meatballs, BBQ smokies, two pans of potatoes, a pan of green bean casserole, fruit salad and then I brought Cathy from Noble Pig's Kahlua Pecan Brown sugar coated Brie, an apple pie using the last of the pie dough I made and posted on a couple days ago, a from scratch French silk that I lifted from another person's blog-only to discover that I forgot to write down WHICH blog I got if from, and some Red Velvet cupcakes. We were loaded to the gills.

Kahlua Pecan Brown Sugar coated Brie

I saw this recipe over at Noble Pig and totally drooled on my keyboard. I had emailed my family to see if they like Brie and only got a response from Sister B who loves it. Now remember-all my sibling and my Mom live in Wisconsin which is the land of cheese. Since I only heard from Sister B, I bought a smaller wheel of cheese, and halved the recipe. I put all of my ingredients in plastic storage containers and packed it all up with the desserts and headed to my brother's house. While unpacking my ingredients, it came to my attention that my Kahlua is still sitting in my fridge 45 miles away. Great. My brother looked through his cabinets and he had Mudslide in a bottle and Baileys. We went with Baileys. I followed Cathy's directions and when I took the cheese out of the oven after 15 minutes, it looked a little discombobulated. I let is set for a minute then used the biggest spatula he had and moved it to a plate. As you can see from the photos above, it looks nothing like her spectacular photos. As I moved around the plate trying to take a photo, I kept muttering "It doesn't look like Cathy's, why can't it just look like Cathy's, how come hers looks all perfectly undiscombobulate" and my Mom walks over and asked who Cathy was and why did I care if it didn't look like hers. I was having a moment. My Brother didn't partake in the cheese, but the rest of us dug in. It was proclaimed delish and Sister B wants the recipe. I had never had Brie before and it was quite tasty!

Go check out Noble Pig and see how it should look. http://http//noblepig.com/2009/12/13/kahluapecanbrown-sugar-baked-brie.aspx

I will post the cupcakes and the French Silk pie (which I do have to pat myself on the back-it was freaking fabulous) later this week.

Update on the Goals:

Have walked every day but today since Wednesday on treadmill

Have a partial list of meals written down to get ready for a menu

Bought whipping cream, milk and butter from the store for about $12

Haven't put any more recipes into my recipe program on my laptop yet

New Year's Resolutions and My Own Challenge

All shelves are full

Pantry is full too

yep, 3 bags of groceries on the floor that I don't have room for

no room on the freezer shelves either

At the start of the year I said I was working on resolutions for myself. Not the typical "I want to lose weight" type resolutions since I always fail at those. I needed to come up with something that I can achieve and maintain. I mentioned a long time ago that I was going to do a Pantry challenge in an effort to clean out cupboards and the freezer. I have some odd compulsion that makes me buy food when I don't need it. Our cupboards are so full I have a couple bags sitting on my kitchen floor that I can't put away because I have run out of room. That is just plain wrong. I also mentioned that I was waiting to post my resolutions or 'goals' due to some changes happening at work. Nothing is settled yet and now I was told it wouldn't be until some time in February, so one of my goals had to be revamped a little to make it achievable. I still don't know what will happen at work. We lost two of our team members on my team-both due to them moving to new places in the plant, and they won't be replaced right away due to how jobs are filled at the plant. There is a chance that my schedule will be changing a bit, but it isn't certain yet. Right now I work over nights on a 12 hour shift, and my days are different each week. I either work Mon/Tues/Fri/Sat, and then the next week I work Sun/Wed/Thur and then switch back. I will still be working the night shift-nothing can change that. We have to work nights until we reach about 11 years and will have enough seniority to bid a dayshift job. That is neither here nor there for now; I may have a set weekly schedule because someone else that is trying to bid into our Phase needs to work only certain days because of child care issues. Nothing is stone yet, so I'm crossing fingers and hoping, but not betting the farm on it.

My Goals and Resolutions 2010

1) To make 30 new recipes over the course of the year. I wanted to do a new one each week, but because we are going to be short-staffed on our Phase, I may need to work overtime and that will cut into the days I have available to cook.

2) To cook out of my cupboards and freezer. As evidenced by the photos above, you can see that we have vast quantities of food at our disposal. Some of it will be making its way to the food shelf as well. My 'challenge' is to only spend $100 from now until the first of February to purchase milk, bread, eggs, fruits and veggies. No canned food, no meat, no baking supplies.

3) To walk twice a week on my treadmill. This is a big one. I'm not doing this to lose weigh per se, but to increase endurance and lung function. I have asthma and has been flaring up a bit lately due to illness. Hopefully with more exercise I will sleep better and be healthier. If I lose weight in the process-good for me. If I just tone up the lower half-good for me.

4) To finally get all of my recipe clippings entered into my laptop so I can use it in the kitchen for cooking. I have sat and gone through almost 30 magazines piled up in my living room and pulled out recipes and tips and pictures of kitchens I like. I have then recycled the magazines.

5) To get a menu put together for the month. Because of my rotating days off, I usually only cook on my days off and hope that I have enough left overs to get us through dinners at work and have food for Drama Queen to eat before she heads to the neighbors house to stay on work nights. She prefers to eat at home before going since she is a picky eater just like her Mama. I need to be better prepared with ideas to throw in the crock in the morning when we get home for dinner that night and for the days that I do have to cook, make double to freeze. Planning at work has always come easy to me; at home-I flunk this task day in and day out. I think my brain just freezes when I walk in the door.

I found this when I was strolling through blogs tonight. I guess the whole challenge thing is popular! I had already started this post when I needed some inspiration and found this through another blog I found.

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/eat-from-the-pantry-challenge/

I'm off to bake a cake for my co-worker whose last night is tomorrow-well, actually tonight now. Cake mix out of the pantry and frosting pictured above in the blue shopping bag. Then I'm going to rough draft some menus.

I DID IT!!!

Yes, all caps. I have mentioned before the struggle I have with pie crust. How hard can it be? It is 4 or 5 ingredients, some mixing, some rolling, and voila. Yep, not a lot of voila for me. I'm not professing to be an awesome cook-I can cook, but it shouldn't be this hard to get a decent pie crust. All that has changed with a recipe from my friend at work. Crystal is a young girl married to a young guy that also works with us. She loves to cook and bake also and I have mentioned my struggle with pie crust and my falling back on store bought dough. She told me that she found a recipe that worked great for her and she had shared it with yet another co-worker who had success with it also. She wrote out the recipe for me and I finally had a chance to try it this weekend. I was getting harassed on Facebook by some co-workers looking for some chow on our first night back to work.

7-Up and Lard Pie Crust

5-1/2 cups flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound lard, chilled and cubed into 1 inch pieces
1-12 oz can 7-Up

Combine flour and salt and sift into a bowl. Cut lard into flour and salt until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 7-Up until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and refrigerate at least 4 hours. Roll out and use in your favorite recipe.

The dough was sticky, so I rolled it with a little flour and in between waxed paper-still a little sticky. Crystal said she works flour into it when she rolls out the dough and it doesn't have impact on the flakiness of the crust. I will do that when I roll the rest out this weekend for the Chocolate French silk pie I'm making for our family Christmas. I was erring on the side of caution until I could talk to her at work about it. She also uses this dough for home made pot pies as it isn't sweet. The only sweetness comes from the lemon-lime soda. I think I may try adding a few tablespoons of sugar to the next one just to see, as Drama Queen thought it should be a little more sweet.


I can't tell you how excited I was to have it turn out. One more thing marked off the list!

Here are some current Tofu pictures. What happens when you have a bored college student, her Mom's camera and a curious cat?

Ummm, the door was open when I walked in here....

Can't you see I'm trying to sleep?

Fine, have it your way. I'm taking a nap

New Year's Day and best intentions out the window

In the old days when I was first married, my cousins and I would get together and fondue around Christmas. This fell by the wayside when we all had small children running around for fear that the kids would get hurt. Dude and I tried to revive this with our kids a few years ago and we began to fondue on Christmas Eve. The kids were not as thrilled as we were as it took too long for a reasonable amount of food to cook before eating could begin and let's just say that patience isn't their thang. We didn't fondue this Christmas Eve-I made lasagna instead, and they both asked where the fondue was. Seriously? We told them that we would fondue on New Year's night. Hermit Crab went to a party about 45 miles away and was going to stay over night and Drama Queen was staying with one of her BFF's. At 6 this morning I heard noises and rolled over and told Dude I thought someone was in the house. He assured me it had to be one of the children, but neither of us heard either vehicle or saw any lights. Yep, Hermit Crab came home as she was afraid if she slept at Dan's she would be out all day and it would be rude to stay at his house and sleep, so her and JML drove home at 4:3o and left the other 5 kids there sleeping. Drama Queen came home sometime and brought her BFF with-which I didn't know about until about an hour ago. They haven't eaten and Mich just went to the bathroom for the first time at 1:00 AM. She pops up in the stairwell and I turn to say something thinking it is Booger and I look and said "Um, you're not my child" to which I got a giggle in reply. This long story is really coming to the point-neither of our kids wanted fondue. One slept ALL DAY and the other s...., well she did the exact same thing. Dude and I fondued ourselves and enjoyed a nice bottle of wine. The bottle was beautiful and it was a nice Riesling-not overly sweet, had a nice body and a nice finish.

My intentions of getting the house cleaned and starting on my resolutions didn't turn out quite like I had hoped. I'm not big on resolutions as I always fail at them. I am staying away from the "I want to lose 20 pounds" and similar. I have a few things on my list but am waiting for another week or two to state them out loud as I'm waiting for some things that are in the works, but not sure if it will happen or not. Don't like to put the cart before the horse, and I don't want to jinx it. They are food related, but that is all for now.

I am now baking a pie using a friend's no fail pie crust recipe. Hers always turn out; I'm a little skeptical as the dough was quite sticky, even after chilling for 4 hours. I rolled it between parchment so I wouldn't have to add so much flour, but it stuck a lot to the parchment. It just came out of the oven and smells wonderful, but I need to bring it to work and get a taste test. It uses 7-Up for liquid and she swears by it. Cross your fingers....

Family Fun Night

On the 27th we decided to have Family Fun night. The kids were not digging it so much because Drama Queen wanted to go shopping before dinner and a movie but the mall closes at 6 on Sundays and Hermit Crab was pretty sure she was going to hate the 'feel good' movie "The Blind Side". We had dinner at Harry's Cafe in Lakeville which is kitty corner from the movie theater. It has a motif of airplanes and WWII. As in the planes they flew in that war. Very good food and cocktails.


Drama Queen thinks she is a bad a**, but look at her trying not to smile


Hermit Crab hates getting her photo taken and was sure she was going to hate the movie.



I had a nice Club wrap. It was huge and I couldn't finish.

Hermit Crab had the Chicken Fajita salad. Another large portion.

Dude had a Philly Cheese steak sandwich. It was so juicy and sloppy I'm surprised he didn't spill.

Drama Queen had enchiladas. She has been on a kick with these. One of her closest friends is Puerto Rican and she had the best home made ones at Mich's house.

The movie was FANTASTIC! Sandra Bullock should get an Oscar for her performance. It was funny and sad and heart wrenching and hopeful. It truly shows that there are good people in the world. No rewards, no one hand washing the other, just a person who did what was right. Even if you know it is about football, that is just a part of the story. It is a story about family. And Hermit Crab actually enjoyed it. I love it when I'm right and she isn't.

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's. We are such party animals here. The kids both went to friends houses for the night. Dude and I had a super scrumptious meal of prime rib late in the night. We came home, he went to bed and I broke out the bubbly and watched "My Sister's Keeper" and cried again. And said a little thank you that my kids are healthy. This is how we roll people.

Peace out!