Holiday Round Up

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. I hope that you were blessed with good food, better company, and a heart filled with gratitude. I know that I certainly was! Michael and I enjoyed a lovely mid-afternoon meal that went mostly according to plan. I forgot to make the cranberry sauce–it would have been wonderful with the stuffed squash.

Although I missed being with our larger families this holiday, I had a lot of fun planning our meal and choosing new recipes and bookmarking old favorites. One thing I noticed while reading foodie magazines was how their vegetarian menus kept overcompensating for the lack of a turkey. In fact, the authors would often say, “With such and such on the table, you won’t even miss the turkey.” But. The turkey’s absence is the whole point of being a vegetarian! Oh well, since we are not complete vegetarians, there really isn’t anything for me to quibble about, I just found it funny how often the lack of a turkey was mentioned for a group of folks who really probably didn’t care about eating a turkey in the first place. I digress…what I really want is to share some of our Thanksgiving food photos and recipes.

Grandma's Sweet Yeast Rolls

Early in the morning I made the pumpkin cheesecake. After the cheesecake was in the oven and on it’s way to completion, I had to call my grandmother for her yeast roll recipe, having lost my copy to the recipe box monster. She was a little concerned that I wouldn’t have them done by the time we ate. It wasn’t even 8:30 when I called her. As you can see by the photo above, they turned out beautifully! I brushed the tops with butter before and after baking and they developed the shiniest tops. We enjoyed a few as a late morning snack, and then it was back to the kitchen for me.

Relish Tray with Sweet Gherkins, Rosemary Roasted Cashews, Radishes and Celery

Rosemary Roasted Cashews are sooo good! I’ve had the recipe for a couple of years and they are just right as a pre-Thanksgiving nibble. Previously I had just tossed the cashews with melted butter and chopped rosemary. This year I used Ina Garten’s recipe and it calls for some brown sugar in addition to the butter and rosemary. The brown sugar and butter caramelized as soon as they hit the hot cashews and absolutely blew my old recipe out of the water. A small but significant change.

Thanksgiving place setting using Grandma's china

A little before I got married, my grandmother gave me her china. It’s so special to me! While I’ve had the opportunity to use bits and pieces before, I hadn’t served an entire meal using her china until yesterday. It was just the right size for our feast. And so beautifully festive with the champagne glass garland that encircles the plate. This is actually halfway through setting the table–we used the bread and dessert plates as well. Please excuse the uneven silverware. I didn’t realize how off they were until I looked at the photo. Perhaps I will have to follow the lead of HRH’s staff and start measuring my place settings!

Thanksgiving Dinner--Stuffed Acorn Squash, Roasted Root Vegetables, Steamed Broccoli, and Dried Corn

Again with the crooked silverware–sorry!! The stuffed squash was super yum, although I do wish I had remembered to make the cranberry sauce. I think it would have been very pretty. Roasted root vegetables=white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and parsnips. I love, love, love parsnips. This is probably my favorite way to serve and eat root vegetables. No beets because they turn everything pink and I just wasn’t prepared to commit my kitchen to that level of mess. Also Michael is not a huge beet fan. My aunt asked for my recipe. It is very easy. Cut everything into relatively similar sized chunks. Toss generously with OLIVE oil. Doesn’t have to be extra virgin, but it really should be olive oil. I don’t think vegetable oil is very good in this preparation at all. Toss with the oil, season with salt and pepper. Again, generously. I use kosher salt because it is easier to control–you can see it. Table salt just disappears so quickly and it’s so easy to use too much. To this batch of roasted vegetables I added coarsely chopped fresh rosemary. But you could use pretty much anything–Italian seasoning, garlic powder, cumin and chili powder, thyme and lemon zest, etc. Roast at 425 for about 30-40 minutes. Maybe less. Maybe more. Depends on the size of the vegetable chunks and whether your oven is true or not. You want them tender enough that a fork slides in easily. I like to let them go just a little longer to increase the crispy bits. Yum!

Pumpkin Cheesecake and Coffee

My favorite part of the Thanksgiving meal–recycling the leftovers into breakfast the next day! The cheesecake was actually very attractive, but Michael dropped his piece back on the cake and damaged this bit. It wasn’t fit for anyone but the cook, really… I used the Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe on Joy of Baking (love that site) and increased the filling by half for my larger spring form pan.

And that was our Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom and I hope that you will share some of your families favorites. I love to hear what foods are a part of other families’ traditions!

Meal Plan Monday

Whoops! I almost forgot to post this week’s menu. Truthfully, I haven’t thought much beyond Thursday. It will be just the two of us for Thanksgiving, but I do plan on a special meal with some built in leftovers. This week’s plan will only go through Saturday, as a result. Our holiday meal is a little atypical, I suppose, in that it’s largely vegetarian, but the meal is still centered around fall favorites and I hope you will find something that sounds tasty! The stuffed squash is SOOO yummy and worthy of a post of it’s own, with pictures. Perhaps everything will be organized enough so that I don’t feel ashamed to show the whole spread.

Monday: Leftover Baked Rigatoni and Green Salad

TO DO: Soak black beans

Tuesday: Mexicali Stuffed Peppers (moved from last week)

TO DO: Make tortillas, thaw pinto beans

Wednesday: Pinto bean enchiladas, celery salad

TO DO: Make pie dough, cranberry chutney

Thursday

Thanksgiving Menu

Vegetable Tray

Cheese Plate with Assorted Crackers & Breads

Rosemary Roasted Cashews

Shrimp Cocktail

Sweet & Savory Stuffed Acorn Squash

Roasted Root Vegetables, Sautéed Broccoli, Dried Corn

Grandma’s Yeast Rolls

Pumpkin Cheesecake, Mom’s Pecan Pie

Mulled Cranberry Juive

Friday: Leftover Buffet!!!

Saturday: Ricotta Omelet, Baked Sweet Potatoes

WT Week 1 Agenda

Still trying to get caught up…

BONES: Catch up on laundry, including dry cleaning. Hmm…well, I do laundry every day and have a system for that, so we’ll say I’m caught up there. I should be for the clothes I’m actually worrying about this round. Dry cleaning is another story–I’m terrible about getting items to the cleaners and worse about picking them up. I know this and it is just a drag.  Plan is to drop off a big lot of items tomorrow morning so they’ll be ready for next week. Plan is, anyway.

BREATH: Get rid of something terrible. Not a problem, there, either. I have a project in mind for some of what is leaving. If I get on that in a timely manner, I think I’ll post pictures. It’s a crafty plan, so I’m kind of excited.

HEART: Pampering. I’m a big believer in bubble baths, so that’s already part of the routine. I’ve added a SERIOUS manicure and pedicure to the agenda for this week. We’ve been having “winter” weather down here and it’s wreaking havoc on my skin and nails (for those who care to know).

HEAD: Style source. I know what I like when I see it, but don’t have any specific source. I’ll keep working on this, if only to narrow down some of my whims.

BUDGET: $0.00 I don’t feel like I need a lot of additions to my wardrobe at this point. Mostly I just need to get rid of the stuff that is extra-rabbity or not well-suited to my overall *style statement.* Realistically, I suppose that $100-150 is within reason.  I just found out about a large thrift store near me, so I may try my hand there (my experience with thrift stores has been mixed).

Getting Out of My Head

I have a tendency to dream big about a self-sufficient lifestyle and follow up by reading books, magazines and blogs that support those dreams. BUT. I am not so excellent about pulling those dreams out of my head and turning them into reality. There’s no 0-60 when you live in a city apartment and dream about your future on a remote homestead. I suppose there could be a transition that stark, but the reality is that it would be painful and possibly doomed unless I use my dreams as inspiration to start developing actual skills, not just as a pleasant interlude between daily realities. And, of course, there’s no reason I can’t become self-sufficient where I am.  Sharon, of Casaubon’s Book–a blog I regularly read–recently posted about her own Competence Project. It sounds like a great idea to me, and I’m going to use her challenge to push myself to develop the following skills over the next year:

1. Learn how to mend neatly, and DO SO.
2. Learn how to quilt.
3. Learn to sew my own clothes.
4. Learn how to pressure can. (I’ve signed up for a self-guided study through the University of Georgia.)
5. Learn how to fix minor plumbing problems.
6. Investigate the community garden in my city and sign up.
7. Learn how to garden on a small scale.
8. Figure out how to best garden in Zone 9.
9. Learn how to make very minor repairs on my car.
10. Make my own soap.
11. Develop organizational skills.
12. Learn how to be more focused and directed in our financial planning.

I’m thinking this list will keep me busy! Many of the skills I’d like to learn are skills I either know something about or was once taught but just require ACTION and PRACTICE. I am going to commit to reviewing my progress on a monthly basis–to see where I am, where I need to go and just to keep myself accountable!

Menu Plan Monday

Well! I missed posting a menu last week since we were out of town over the long Veteran’s Day weekend. It was nice to visit with family and see the fall foliage all through the Alabama mountains! it is hard for me to live so far away from family. Mine drive me half-crazy but I’d still like to be closer. I love visiting with my husband’s family, too. I am definitely a northern girl and it’s very interesting for me to visit the Deep South and learn some of their customs. Particularly as concern food! Michael’s family is vegetarian, as well, so that adds an interesting twist to their regional cuisine. I never knew that it was common to have pinto beans, cornbread and sauerkraut in the same meal. It’s yummy! Our meal plan for this week is pretty simple and comforting. One new thing on the menu: Mushroom and Ricotta Hand Pies. I am kind of making this up from a variety of resources, so if it turns out well, I’ll post the recipe here.

Breakfasts:

• Grapefruit with Whole Wheat Toast
• Oatmeal
• Cream of Wheat
• Cinnamon Whole Wheat Pancakes

Monday: Leftover Dreamy White Beans, Green Salad

To Do: Make brownies in the AM for meeting after work.

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Wheatballs, Sauteed Broccoli

To Do: Move pastry dough from freezer to fridge.

Wednesday: Mushroom & Ricotta Hand Pies, Green Salad

To Do: Cook rice for tomorrow’s meal.

Thursday: Mexicali Stuffed Peppers

To Do: Set out pinto beans to thaw.

Friday: Nachos with Red and Yellow Sauce

Saturday: Leftover Buffet

Sunday: Baked Ziti, Green Salad, Garlic Bread

WT: The Pie Chart

This is what I figure: I work 5 days a week but always have casual Fridays and depending on my schedule I try to slip in another semi-casual outfit into the rotation (work 4x/week), smart casual is also my weekend outside of the apartment uniform (4x/week), theoretically I work out (3x/week), my life doesn’t include too many formal/dressy occasions but I still need the clothes (.5x/week), and just get dressed is what I wear in the apartment (7x/week).

Wardrobe Therapy: The Interview

I saw this project dreamed up by The Sky is Bigger There a while ago and thought it was a good idea but never managed to get around to actually doing the work. Which means that my wardrobe is perhaps in dire need of therapy, I guess. I’m a little tired right now, but this is the Interview portion of Week 1–I am behind but hope to catch up within the week. For some reason I felt compelled to tell a story with this interview, so if you make it to the bottom, more power to you!

Favorites

1. Who is your candidate for “best dressed,” real or fictional?

Well, this embarrasses me a little, but I very much like Katie Holmes’ look lately.  Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn are of course classic style icons and that kind of pulled together, confident attractiveness is something I strive for but theirs are not looks I can specifically emulate because I am just not built like them (petite, small-boned). Michelle Obama is beautiful and makes a statement without it being about her clothes. Sandra Bullock has a certain wholesome, healthy look that is very appealing to me. I am especially a fan of the way she was styled in Hope Floats (I generally have a low tolerance for romantic comedies/tear-jerkers, but I cannot get away from this movie).  Angie Harmon always looks very good, too.

1. Is there anyone you’re tempted to see as a style icon, but you’d never dare dress that way?

Cate Blanchett has great style but she is working/wearing on a different plane than me.

1. What is your favorite garment/outfit ever?

For work, my power outfit is a charcoal or black pencil skirt and a skinny (not tight) sweater with heels.

1. What is your current favorite garment?

I have two cashmere mix sweaters from Banana Republic that are bright (pumpkin orange & deep blue turquoise), skinny and lightweight. And very flattering.

I also really love this lightweight, flowy skirt from the Gap that I’ve had for a couple of years but still looks fresh and feels so comfortable.

1. What would you wear if you could wear absolutely anything?

Probably the flowy skirt with a t-shirt and sandals. I’m also partial to wide-legged pants and would LOVE to find a flattering pair of slacks or jeans in this cut.

1. What would your favorite store be, if money were no object?

I think J.Crew and Anthropology. I also very much like Ann Taylor but sometimes the clothes make me feel old. Nor sure why-they don’t look old on the hanger.

1. Do you have a favorite store now? If so, why? If not, why not?

Well, I’ve had success at the J.Crew outlet and am genetically programmed to browse the sale items at the gap and Banana. Dillards is actually another good place due to the quantity and quality. I am generally annoyed, however, by these stores not really stocking basics. J.Crew is the only one that is pretty consistent. Dillards is a whore for seasonal trends.

1. What’s your best fashion faux-pas story, now that the scars have healed?

I doubt that this is the best fashion faux-pas story in my arsenal, but for some reason this middle school era image will not leave my head: black and purple striped knit dress with a fitted short sleeved bodice and tiered (but not flowy) skirt over black pantyhose and probably these horrid black flats-this is maybe not the worst outfit in the world for the time (1990, maybe?), but I wore it to church and managed to tuck the back of the dress into my pantyhose during a bathroom break (which I generally took during the reading of the prayers or a particularly long sermon) and walked halfway down the aisle to our row and never realized that the whole church was getting a lovely view of bunched up dress and floral cotton undies. It makes me shudder.

How You Live & the People Around You

1. If there were a uniform for where you spend most of your time, what would it be?

The pencil skirt and sweater/button-down is great for my workplace, actually. Also I like a nice pair of slacks with a lightweight sweater.

1. If there were a uniform for where you spend your leisure, what would it be?

Jeans/cropped pants and a t-shirt. Or the flowy skirt and t-shirt or tunic-y pullover.

1. What do you like best about the prevailing style where you are?

Hmm…Florida and specifically Jacksonville is still something of a mystery to me, but I do like the casual but collected vibe that you see a lot of. I think this is due largely to the HEAT and also to the large number of SAHMs and WAHMs-I haven’t bothered to look up the statistics, but I’d guess that our percentage is a bit higher than the national average. Duval county is fairly conservative politically and socially and that trickles down to a lot of arenas.  I do not fall into either of those categories, but my profession (librarian) is not one which requires a strict business dress code. At the same time, my specific position as library manager means that business-y clothes are more of a requirement than when I was a children’s librarian.

1. What frustrates you?

I still have a hard time figuring out how to dress for the seasons, such as they are, down here. There is the added factor of high AC use in most workplaces and public buildings to consider as well.  It’s also been a learning curve for me transitioning out of my role as children’s librarian to manager and what is appropriate for my new-ish role.

1. Is there another place (one you’ve lived, visited, heard about, whatever) that better captures your idea of style?

I felt very comfortable and at home in my skin when I lived in Pittsburgh. For most of those years I was in college/grad school, so that may be more the aesthetic that I respond to best rather than the Steel City’s. I also think it had to do with just an overall better sense of knowing my place and feeling like I was in sync with a place than just the clothes.

1. Construct a quick pie chart of the occasions for which you dress. (The link has detailed instructions from Rebecca.)

I will do this in a separate post as I am already writing a book and a half!

Your Wardrobe

1. In three bullet points, what is the problem with your wardrobe?
   1. I have too many things that I don’t wear.
   2. I have too many things that shouldn’t be worn.
   3. I hold on to things way beyond their use-by date.
2. If your wardrobe could speak, what would it say is the problem?
   1. One half would be singing “Please release me…” and the other half would be yawning, “We’re so bored…”
3. What one thing do you want your wardrobe to do more of?
   1. Be specific-I am for work, I am for play, I am for meeting friends for lunch.
4. What do you want people to say about your look?
   1. Frankly, I’d rather they talked about me instead-that my look is just such a part of who I am that there are no conversations about what I wear that don’t end up being about me anyway. I guess, for adjectives: intelligent, approachable, verve.

Simplify, Reduce: Clothing

I read a lot of simple living, green living, frugal living blogs, websites, books, etc. Especially lately–in the last year or so I have really felt a need to pare down and prioritize. I don’t need to do this just with THINGS–I’ve also had to work on de-cluttering my BRAIN. I’ve always been kind of anxious, a worrier and slightly scattered because I am easily led down a mental detour. In March I took a new position within my library system and the responsibility that comes with that position has forced me to clarify my thought process and the way I tackle work projects.  I’m not there yet, but I’m grateful for the push into mental maturity and have seen a trickle-down effect on the way I approach projects/concerns at home. So, slowly my mind is coming around, letting go of the small anxieties that only served to distract me from my real purpose. The other trickle-down effect is actually working on projects I’ve been planning in a nebulous sense for ages. Although apparently this clarity and resolve hasn’t yet trickled down to how I write—all this background just to say that I’ve seen a few posts/articles recently that have made me think about my closet and the need to go through and evaluate it’s contents!!

This post on Women Not Dabbling in Normal caught my attention. And I followed this Wardrobe Therapy project last spring but didn’t get up the gumption to join. But, this time, I think I’m in. I really need focus when I get involved in a large project like this–otherwise I do a bang up job with the sweaters and skirts and then abandon the whole thing. Last night I started by making a list of “Just the Basics.” I’d love to someday live a life that allows me to own only enough clothes for a week or two! Right now, however, I have a need for three different wardrobes: Work/Professional, Work & Free-Time/Polished Casual, and Exercise & Chores/Task Specific. Plus a few dressy items for special date nights and atypical functions. I started a list yesterday and I can already tell that it is a) too big and b) going to make me choose between items I both like and find functional. Well, nobody said it would be easy, I suppose! Check in later this weekend for the Wardrobe Therapy interview.

100 Books

I saw this list on A Journey Down the Narrow Road. I’ve seen lists like these before and tonight feel compelled to join in the fun (I’ve also seen lists like this that involve FOOD–hmmm…) This list is apparently derived from the NEA’s Top 100 Books. I can’t actually find this list on the Big Read site that was linked to, but since my library is a faithful participant in the Big Read (Call of the Wild coming up this Spring) I was especially drawn to this particular meme.

The rules: Make bold any books you’ve read. Italicize any books you plan to read. Underline any books you loved.

100 Books

1. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (I am a HUGE Jane Austen fan and usually re-read her books every year.)
   
2. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (I really became immersed in this series. I’ve always been a fantasy lover, but I didn’t read these books until two years ago. I’d started them many times but it took a while to get there.)
   
3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (I started Wuthering Heights and that put me off the Bronte sisters for a   long time. I would like to read this however; it is beloved by so many of my friends.)
4. The Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
6. The Bible (I’ve read much of it, anyway.)
7. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte (I started this and got so annoyed. I really didn’t understand why anybody would get so worked up about Heathcliff. I actually get annoyed just thinking about it…)
8. Nineteen Eighty Four, George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (I was blown away by this series. It was really phenomenal.)
10. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
11. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (I’ve read this one many times.)
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy (I started this but for some reason didn’t continue. A book and I have to both be in the mood for one another, I think.)
13. Catch 22, Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (I’ve read many, but not all of Shakespeare’s work)
15. Rebecca, Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit, J.R.R Tolkien (Loved this, unlike the Lord of the Rings, read this in middle school)
17. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (I enjoyed this book when I first read it but don’t understand the magnetic pull it has over the literary world…)
19. The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch, George Eliot
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell (I’ve never seen the movie, either)
22. The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams (this is one of my husband’s favorites)
26. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
    
30. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy (one of my mother’s favorites)
32. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
34. Emma, Jane Austen
35. Persuasion, Jane Austen
36. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
37. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (This is another title my husband raves about. I have not geared myself for the emotional upheaval yet, so it is still on my to be read list.)
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne
41. Animal Farm, George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude, Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
45. The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery
47. Far From the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies, William Golding (this book gave me nightmares)
50. Atonement, Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi, Yann Martel
52. Dune, Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mark Haddon
60. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (started this but wasn’t the right time.)
61. Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
62. Lolita, Victor Nabokov
63. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas
66. On the Road, Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure, Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
72. Dracula, Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes from a Small Island, Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses, James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath
    
77. Swallows and Amazons, Arthur Ransome
    
78. Germinal, Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray (started but got annoyed with Thackeray’s treatment of his main character. Would like to finish one day.)
80. Possession, A.S. Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (this is sitting on my bookshelf)
85. Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White
88. The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection, Enid Blyton (I’ve read some.)
91. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad (Had to read this for school–hated it)
92. The LIttle Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
94. Watership Down, Richard Adams (another one that makes me cry and cry)
95. A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas (again, started but not finished)
98. Hamlet, William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
     

Not too bad, I suppose. My habit of starting but not finishing a book is evident. It was a pretty huge revelation on my part that such a thing could even be done. It seemed WRONG. Then I decided that enjoyment is certainly one reason I read, and while enjoying a good book doesn’t always mean being happy, it does mean that I should feel engaged. So, if I’m not feeling a book I put it aside (or return it to the library) and wait for a time when I might be more receptive. It is actually a pretty good system–no stressing out over not finishing something quickly or not being able to love a classic.

Menu Plan Monday

We ended up not going out of town this weekend. Michael came down with the crud that has been circulating his office. Normally this wouldn’t stop us (he wasn’t terribly ill), but his mother is undergoing chemotherapy and really can’t be around anyone who is sick with a lowered immune system. So. I did end up sticking to last week’s meal plan, although I had to add in a few meals for the weekend. We spent this evening at the county fair, so a fun, albeit unhealthy, meal was had there. I’ve decided to share some of our breakfasts this week, in addition to just dinner. Lunch is almost always leftovers.

BREAKFAST:

• Chunky Monkey Oatmeal
• Peanut Butter & Banana Smoothie
• Oatmeal w/Raisins and Cinnamon
• Whole Wheat Toast w/Jam and a Hard Boiled Egg

DINNER:

• Monday: Baked Salmon, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans (Michael is cooking)
• Tuesday: Peppers Stuffed w/Lentils and Rice
• Wednesday: Green Bean, Pepper & Tofu Stir-Fry
• Thursday: Pumpkin Bisque, Snap Peas
• Friday: Leftover Buffet
• Saturday: Out of Town (we hope)
• Sunday: Out of Town (we hope)

We visited the Farmers Market again this weekend. It was later in the day by the time we got there. We got some great stuff, but Michael is more of a what do we need, lets find it kind of shopper whereas I am more of a what is a great deal, lets get it kind of shopper. This is reflected in our cooking styles, I think. Michael finds a recipe and then his ingredients. I see what we’ve got and then look for a recipe!