… are off to the shore again, leaving me whiling away by my lonesome. No complaints here! I did a few errands after work, stopping at some places to gather more Halloween props and things. The Neighbor reminded me about a great dollar store near her office, and that was one of my stops tonight. I scored some wigs for the monsters, and fun props like machetes, swords and such. My next mission is to find a good fog machine; the one we used last year was ok, but just not up to snuff. I told The Husband that I think I am officially done with gathering stuff, and the rest is up to him. He’ll end up spending a few nights a week in the basement between now and Halloween, building all sorts of props, monsters, and other scary creatures. I’m excited! We’re adding a bunch of new things this year, and I can’t wait. Would you believe there are actually e-mail lists just for folks like us to talk about their Haunted Yards and such? I’ve subscribed to them for 2 years now, and it’s pretty cool to see all the different things that people do, and needless to say, the e-mails are coming fast and furious lately, and will up until the big day.
Anyways, dinner for tonight, as you might have guessed, was simple – leftovers. I debated about making something for dinner, but wanted to take advantage of the extra time and make some headway on getting my home office organized.
Tomorrow night, is dinner out with the parents, but I think The Neighbors are coming over for dinner on Sunday night, and I have Beer-Cheddar Soup, Mashed Potato Patties and Brown Sugar Roasted Chicken planned. Just need another side and dessert, and I’m all set. Figure if I’m not cooking tonight or tomorrow, I can cook extra Sunday. Also planning some baked goods for next week already, including Very Blueberry Muffins and Chocolate Chip Cookie Brittle, just to whet your appetite. Hee hee. No pun intended. ;)
If any of you are Sara Moulton fans, you’ll be happy to know that she has a new cookbook coming out next month. I really miss her presence on Food Network, so am looking forward to this one. It’s called Sara’s Secrets for Weeknight Meals
From Publisher’s Weekly: For each dish in this assemblage, she indicates hands-on time and total cooking time, with most calculated to require under 45 minutes (though cooks who are less efficient at prepping than Moulton may dispute some of the estimates; Mexican Chicken Salad, for instance, indicates 15 minutes of hands-on time, but with all the chopping and washing, some amateurs will soon reach the 25 minutes allotted for the whole process). Besides chapters on soup, pasta, meat and so on, there are several revolving around time-saving tips: “Shop and Serve” has recipes like the fast but tasty Tortellini Pepperoni Spinach Soup, and dishes in “Just Open the Pantry” use items from a kitchen stocked with Moulton’s long list of recommended staples. “Cooking Ahead,” meanwhile, unleashes the gourmet chef in Moulton with lengthier recipes that can be made on the weekend and reheated.
If you can’t wait, like me, you can pre-order it from Amazon at the above link.
OK folks, all for tonight. Off to watch Miss Congeniality 2
Tune in tomorrow to see what the weekend brings. Until then…
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