What's the Scariest Movie?

Around this time of year, my husband always wants to watch some scary movies, so we request a bunch from the library, and hope that a few come in before Halloween to watch.

Most of them are just stupid, but we enjoy them anyway, for the most part.  Seems like there have only been a few that were truly scary.  Maybe not even scary, but suspenseful, or at least freaked us out.  We just watched Nightmare on Elm Street.  I think I saw it years, and years ago, but I didn't remember it.  It was actually better than I thought, though I certainly wouldn't call it scary.  I think in most of these "horror" movies if the main character would just get their head examined (maybe check their Blue Advantage policy) all this bad stuff would never happen - you know, you spend half the movie yelling, "Don't close that door!", "Don't answer the phone!", "Don't fall asleep!".

(As I'm typing this DH just found Amityville Horror on!)

We saw "Memento" about a week ago.  That wasn't "scary" either, but it was pretty clever - we enjoyed that one a lot.

What's the scariest movie you've ever seen? Give me your recommendations!

The end.

Took A "Mental Day" in Millbrook, NY

After two days of gray rainy weather and staying inside and enjoying hunkering down, today the sun came out and it warmed up, and I just HAD to get outside.  I decided to go to Millbrook (if you're a regular reader you know I love this little village) because they have nice sidewalks to walk around, and I knew I could enjoy the sunshine, go in a few shops if I felt like it, and hear the sound of leaves crunching under my feet and smell that "fall smell" of dry leaves baking in the sun.  So I blew off some household chores and took a "mental day", you know what I mean?

Millbrook is a rare place, at least in my neck of the woods, in that most of the businesses here are still "Mom and Pop" owned.  Not a hotbed of top franchises, that's for sure.  Even the bank is individually owned - it's the "Millbrook Bank", can you believe it?  Inside they still have a big old fashioned vault - it's really cool, and it's beautiful.  One time I took my daughter in to show her and a nice clerk came over and let her try to move the door to the vault to show her how heavy and solid it is.  Ain't no one getting in THAT vault!

Anyway, it was a very relaxing afternoon - just a gorgeous fall day.  Here's a sign I saw in one of the shops (Keeper's Market) - I think it will give you a good idea of why I find Millbrook to be so quaint. :-)

 

The end.

I Made a Mummy for Dinner

 (I know it looks a little burnt, but it's just the grease that leaked out from the pepperoni inside.)

I saw this idea and thought it would be fun thing to serve to my peeps for dinner tonight.  The actual recipe I saw had a chicken cordon bleu type of filling, but I had leftover sauce and pepperoni so in the name of frugality, I decided I should use that up. So, I made mine as a "stromboli" and used sauce, deli ham, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni for my filling.

Was that me who was saying a couple of posts ago that I need to try to get back to eating better?  Whoops.

These days I hardly cook from cookbooks - I am more often than not using recipes I find online.  I think it would be cool if they made little netbooks just for cooking - kind of like how the kindle is for reading books, these could be specifically for use in the kitchen.  The little netbook could be for organizing and downloading recipes, and even cooking demo videos and stuff, and it could have some sort of special protective coating or clear cover or something that you could clean cooking "splatters" off of.  That would be cool.

Anyway, the Mummy was declared to be very tasty.

The end.

It's Amazing I Haven't Had a Heart Attack Yet

...from living with my husband!

Before you start reading this, if you haven't already seen my previous "Wordless Wednesday" post from this morning, go take a look at the "Pumpkin Man" in that picture.  Just scroll down, and then come back, otherwise you won't really know what I'm talking about.

It's ok, I'll wait.

*whistling*

*twiddling thumbs*

Ok.  THAT is what my husband put in the driver's seat of my truck for me to discover when I went to drive our daughter to school this morning!!

Deep breath.

It was really perfect too because it was drizzing, so I was running to the truck and not only did I not have time to look in the window, but it was covered with rain drops anyway.  After I recovered from my shock and surprise, I had to push him over into the passenger seat so I could drive our daughter to school, who by the way was laughing so hard she dropped her textbooks all over the floor of the truck.  Hardy, ha ha.

Pumpkin Man is still in my truck as I type this.  It's still rainy, and I didn't want to have to drag this lumpy, bumpy awkward thing in three pieces inside.  I started thinking maybe I should just prop him up and drive around with him in the passenger seat until Halloween.  What do you think?  LOL!

The end.

Wordless Wednesday: Apparently Any Lap Will Do

The Weather at My House Today

A shot of my backyard today

As you can see it's an overcast, rainy day here in upstate NY.  The temp is a damp and cold 49F.

Some people would spend today fantasizing about orlando vacations in sunny Florida.

But not me.

Sometimes I like cold, gloomy days like today where you can just "hunker down".  While a sunny day is energizing, a gray, gloomy day to me is relaxing and calming.  Days like today are good for staying home, cleaning, and doing stuff you've put off.  You don't WANT to go out and go anywhere.  I need these days now and then.  I don't even usually feel depressed by this kind of weather except at the end of March when the winter has just dragged on too long.

Does anyone else like gloomy days sometimes? Or is it too depressing?

The end.

P.S.  For quite awhile now, instead of using "The End" I have had this urge to put, "Love, Me".

I Didn't Realize We Are So Welcoming

I was actually taking a picture of the pumpkins on our porch for a "Wordless Wednesday" post, when I started looking around and noticing all the welcome signs we have.

First we have Mr. Welcome Bear.

And another Welcome Bear.

We have a Welcome Scarecrow.

And it just wouldn't be right if I didn't have a Welcome Cow, too.

Now before you think to yourself, "Wow, hope no burglars or hoodlums with a shotgun or box cutter come to your house - they'll feel welcomed right in!!"

Well don't worry - because we also have this:

The end.

A Very Cheesy Weekend

We've fallen off the Weight Watchers wagon a bit, I must confess.  On Saturday I had to take our daughter somewhere.  When I got home, I was starving - and look what my husband had prepared and had waiting for me!

Can you see he even made little "flags" labeling the different cheeses?
There was a plate of crackers too!

Then on Sunday after church we went for a ride for a couple of hours into western Connecticut to look at the fall colors of the leaves.  I'm pretty sure this weekend was the last really good time to go "leaf peeping" - and it was absolutely beautiful.  When we got home, DD went to work on her book report that she of course left until the last day.  (I'm not going to dwell on that, it's been a happy post so far.)  DH put on the Vikings football game and alternated between that and the NASCAR race.  (In my opinion Jimmie Johnson has ruined the NASCAR season. It's boring watching him win or nearly win all the time, and he himself is bor-ing.)  I spent the afternoon looking through some cooking magazines I had bought and then I made a homemade pizza for dinner.  Well, it's not all homemade - I bought fresh dough at the supermarket.

DH's side was the pepperoni & onion side, mine was the green peppers and onion side.

Well, it was a very cheesy weekend (we even ate the leftover cheese and crackers for lunch on Sunday!).  But Monday is a new week and despite being tempted by the diet pills and colonix commercials that seem to be running endlessly at this hour on TV, I have SWORN I am going to TRY to go back to eating better!

The end.

More Thoughts too Short for a Whole Blog Post

My one cat and my dog drive me crazy in the morning on the weekend.  The cat starts loudly meowing if we aren't up by I suppose, what she considers "a reasonable hour" - so I have to jump out of bed, chase her down, and put her in the basement so she doesn't wake the REST of the family.  Just what I want to do first thing on a Saturday morning.  Even if the cat hasn't already woken me, the dog can sense when I'm awake.  My head doesn't even have to leave the mattresses - he just knows.  So then he hovers near me, shakes his collar, sticks his nose under the blankets to smell my butt - and then God help me when I do get up - it's a huge ruckus of jumping and signaling to me "Come downstairs! Feed me! Go right now! Yes, that's right! Over here! Feed me!"  This is why I am sitting at the counter typing this at 8:58 on a Saturday morning instead of still being asleep in bed like my lucky husband and daughter.

I love how the radio stations play Christmas music at Christmas time.  I love how on Christmas Day they play it continuously.  Except, have you ever been up late on Christmas night?  And had the radio on when midnight comes?  And then suddenly the Christmas music is off at 12:01 and they go back to regular music??  I HATE THAT!  The Christmas music needs to taper off in the same way they gradually play more and more the closer it gets to Christmas.  The Christmas music ends way too abruptly!!

I need a "food mentor".  For cooking, I mean.  I'm ready to be adventurous, but I need a leader.  Or maybe someone to inspire me.

I am NOT a big Facebook user AT ALL, but I do go on occasionally just to see what's going on.  I hate it when people use their kids as their profile pic.  If you want to have your kids IN your profile pic WITH you, that's fine.  But there a few of my "friends" that have JUST their kids' pic.  Now I could be wrong here, but the only reason I can think of that you would do this is if you gained a lot of weight since high school and are too embarrassed to put a pic of yourself on there.  Which I empathize with, but, just use a close-up face shot then, or something.  Not your KIDS.  I am friends with YOU on Facebook, not your KIDS.  And it's really freaky when your status update says, "Going out with the girls for some margaritas" and next to that is a picture of YOUR KIDS.  I'm sorry if you gained weight and feel uncomfortable putting a pic of yourself, but I'm sure if you try you CAN find a nice face shot.  Really, don't put your kids' photo on there as your profile.

Ok, I'm starting to wonder if this is me, but, when you order a Reuben in a restaurant shouldn't you EXPECT that you are going to get a little cup or bowl with thousand island dressing with it?  I have noticed that sometimes I have to ask for this, like just last night at the restaurant we were at.  Shouldn't they KNOW to bring that?  Or is thousand island dressing with Reubens going out of style, or what??

The end.

Is it Too Early for Christmas Spirit? Too Early for my Christmas Village?

My Christmas Village Set Up From Last Year

If my little friends in my little village ever needed wholesaleinsurance.net they would need coverage for things like protection against giant cats that might sit on their houses, protection from flying giant dog toys, and protection from 65 pound dogs sliding across the floor chasing said dog toy.

For some reason I have been dying to put up my Christmas village. It may have something to do with the fact that our DD has started playing Christmas songs on the piano.  DH said, "Go ahead and put it up if you want to".  But there are two problems.

Firstly, the table I use for the village is an extra table we need for Thanksgiving dinner.  Usually I put the village up right after Thanksgiving when we're done with the table.  (The table is a very heavy 6' long "office" type of table with legs that fold up.)  However, something I've not mentioned much is that we have an unfinished bonus room in our house that may finally be finished in the next year, and DH plans to commandeer that table permanently.  So DH suggested that I go buy one of those light-weight white tables with the folding legs - we're going to need it anyway - and put my village on that.  So I could do that.

Secondly...people - it's not even Halloween yet!!  Don't I need to at LEAST wait until November?? I'm one of those same people that whines about seeing Christmas stuff in the stores before November!!  I think I ought to just have some self control and wait.

Am I the only one in the Christmas mood already?

The end.

Food Heaven at Cafe Les Baux in Millbrook, NY

I told my Dad if he ever gets a call from a psych ward that I am suicidal, to take me for a meal at Cafe Les Baux - I think every available drop of serotonin (the brain chemical that makes you feel happy) was deployed into my body after yesterday's lunch.

If you've been a regular reader of my blog, you know I love the little village of Millbrook, NY so what better place could there be for this gem of a restaurant?  And believe it or not, this little, unassuming place is the #1 Zagat Rated French Bistro in Dutchess AND Westchester counties!  In Millbrook!  Now you might think, oh, this must be a really hoity-toity place - but it's not!  It's so unpretentious, so comfortable, so cozy - the atmosphere is wonderful - so relaxing.  And the food.  The food!  Oh mah gah!  I am not a gourmand, I am not a food critic, in fact, I can totally enjoy Kraft Macaroni and Cheese right out of the pot with the best of them, BUT I am just blown away by the food here.  There is no place I can think of where I attain such a level of being positively sated when I leave.  The food, the atmosphere, the company (I always go with my Dad), the wine, the dessert - a magical combination.  On the few occasions I am lucky enough to be going there, I don't even let the thought of Weight Watchers or weight loss pills cross my mind.  The calories are worth it.

So, in the past when I've eaten there I've had the "Duck breast with port wine sauce, potato gratin and vegetable", but my Dad said I should break out and try something else.  So I had the "Assortment with cheese and fruits" along with crusty baguette - I can't remember the last time I let myself eat so much BREAD!  And I didn't know what all the cheeses were, although I'm sure one was Brie - there was one that tasted almost like butter, OMG!  Then I had the "Original French Onion Soup" which had a huge, toasted brown, glob of Gruyere cheese melted on top - there was so much cheese I had to eat it with a fork!  How I stayed upright in my chair I don't know.  For dessert I usually in the past have gotten the "Madelines with Chocolate Sauce" which I have had dreams about, but yesterday I tried the Chocolate Mousse which was fantastic (although I think the warm, fresh baked madelines barely still come out on top).  My Dad and I shared a bottle of white burgundy and enjoyed a couple of hours of wonderful conversation.  And as if it couldn't get any better, afterwards we meandered around the village of Millbrook and walked off some of our meal.

What a treat that was!! 

Is there someplace you just LOVE to eat?  Where you are in culinary ecstasy?

The end.

Wordless Wednesday: Even Pumpkins Gotta Go

Kid Coupons, Wendy's and Golden Corral

"Rollo Towers"  

We made Pecan Caramel Candies the other day to bring to a friend's 

house and DD likes to help by unwrapping the Rollos. 

Tuesday is typically my "laundry and computer stuff day".  Today being Tuesday, since I would be home all day today with the washer and dryer running, I was going to make a chicken in our rotisserie (we got it from a friend who didn't want it anymore), which I was looking forward to.  However, in our house something we use as a "reward" are these "Kid Coupons", which our daughter loves.  They're for things like, "stay up 1/2 hour past your bedtime", "pick out one item at the grocery store", "trip to the park", etc. etc. but what's great for me is that I rarely have to actually fulfill any of them because she likes to save them rather than use them.  They are very useful as a reward (or bribe as the case may be).  However all of a sudden she is on a streak of using them.  Which meant last week when she didn't like what was for dinner she whipped out her coupon good for "a trip through the drive through of your choice", so I had to drive her to McDonald's.  This morning she whipped out another coupon good for "dinner at your favorite restaurant" which she declared, unbeknownst to me, is the "place with the girl with the red braids" (Wendy's).  So instead of rotisserie chicken for dinner tonight I get to drive an hour round trip to take her to Wendy's and back.  Niiiiiiiiiiiice.  So much for my weight loss diet. 

We don't even go to Wendy's that often (or any fast food place for that matter), I don't even really know what they have besides burgers. I'll have to look online and see if there's anything I can order that isn't 32,000 calories.

Those coupons will not be returning to the "rotation" any time soon.

The end.

P.S.  You know where I want to try?  Golden Corral.  Saw commercials for them during the NASCAR race and so I looked on the internet to see if there are any in NY, and lucky me, there is one in Saratoga, which just happens to be on the way to our Adirondack property.... Told DH I want to stop and eat there on our next trip up.  Anyone have any opinions on "Golden Corral"??  What to get, what not to get?

More Thoughts Too Short For A Whole Blog Post

After many, many years I have finally decided on an alternate name in case I ever decide to change my name - I have decided on "Minka".

If I were ever going to open a karate place, if people wrote me a bad check I would not charge a "$20.00 bank fee" for returned checks - I would just kick their butt.

I know some supermarkets use commercially made potato salad, coleslaw, etc. but SOME grocery stores make their own salads. Why are their salads usually yucky?  Why don't they use the same type of recipes we use when we make homemade salads??  They can crack open a Betty Crocker cookbook just like I can.  Is there like some universal supermarket cookbook of sub par salad recipes??  Same with in store bake shops. Have you EVER had a cookie or pie from a grocery store bake shop that was as good as homemade? Again, why don't they use the same recipes we do?  I know they need to make large amounts, but good golly, why on earth can't you use a "good" recipe and just quadruple it, whatever??

DH is sick AGAIN.  Second time this fall already!  We are different kind of sick people though.  When I'm sick I always shower and get dressed in the belief somehow it will make me feel better (which I think it usually does).  He's a stay-in-bed-and-rest-all-day sort of fellow.  I feel too yucky if I stay in bed. 

What would happen if you ground up diet pills and baked them into, say, brownies.  Would it make you not eat them??

I'm reading the Duggar's book.  I love the Duggars.

The kid who they thought was in that runaway weather balloon is NEVER EVER going to live that down.  Every girl he dates is going to hear that story, his kids are going to hear that story, the people in the nursing home where he ends up someday are going to hear that story.

In the fall and winter DH and I become big tea drinkers in the evening.  We don't brew it in a teapot or use a tea ball.  We're low class microwave-the-water-and-use-a-teabag sort of folks.

The end.

BBQ in a Wheelbarrow?

I was browsing through the cookbook I got at the World's Largest Garage Sale (post here) and I must say I have been highly entertained by some of the pictures.  I was pondering why someone would even think of barbecuing in a wheelbarrow and the only real reason I could come up with as to why this would be a good idea is that it's very portable.  You could go from house to house all over the neighborhood with your BBQ.  Want to grill some burgers at the neighbors but they don't have a grill?  No problem if you have a BBQ in a wheelbarrow!  Much better than one of those bulky Weber grills that everyone keeps on their deck.

Here's a nice little luncheon spread complete with mystery meat in square bowls and perhaps the fattiest ham sandwich I have ever seen!  I'm sorry, but if I were photographing food for a cookbook, that wouldn't be the slice of ham I would have picked.  Usually cookbooks make you want to eat, but I think I'd rather go buy office supplies or something.  :-O

The end.

Working on Our "Cabin" Design

We just got the first set of plans for our "cabin" to look over.  It was cool to see the elevations and how it will look from the outside.  Luckily it doesn't look stupid. :-)  Overall the plans were pretty good - just had to change the bathrooms a little (the architect changed them around a bit but we like the way we had them originally - nothing complicated or fancy, no walk in tubs or anything) and also add back in a spot we planned for the dog.  Yes, we are actually designing a "nook" for our dog's bed.  Well, wouldn't you?? :-D  It's either that or he'll sleep right in the doorway where we'll trip over him.

Now we have to decide what type of roof we want, and what type of siding.  We are leaning toward a metal roof - possibly a "standing seam" metal roof, and maybe fake log vinyl siding (how cool is that??). 

Any ideas or thoughts on budget-friendly, low maintenance, Adirondack-weather-resistant roofing/siding welcomed!

The end.

Walkway Over the Hudson, Poughkeepsie - Highland, NY

They (whoever "they" is) have been touting this walkway for years. The thing finally opened to huge crowds and it is the talk of everyone in the area, "Have you been over the walkway yet?".  It is the longest pedestrian bridge in the world.  We went Monday with my mother-in-law.  It was overcast and chilly but at least I can finally say YES I'VE WALKED OVER THE WALKWAY.

That is actually my daughter and I there on the right.

The parking situation is terrible. We tried to park on the Poughkeepsie side and finally gave up and parked on the Highland side - I think the walk from my truck to the start of the walkway was as long as the walkway itself.  After all the walking I didn't have to take any diet pills that day, ha ha.

The bridge was originally constructed for trains.  Eventually the trains stopped running.  Then there was a fire on the bridge.  Then it just sat there for years and years.  Then there was the idea of making it a walkway. Then it just sat there for a lot more years.  Then they got financing and started working on it.  Finally it is open and now it is part of the New York State Park System.

Here's a shot of the walkway. There aren't any benches or lights, but I believe they have plans to still work on the walkway more, maybe even have festivals and such on it at some point in the future.

 

 Here you can see what the old structure underneath looks like.

 

Here's a shot of Andy's Place from the walkway - where we ate afterwards.  It's one of our favorite places to eat when we're in the area.  The food is great, especially the chili.

 

One of those little piers is where my husband proposed to me 15 years ago.

 

The Mid-Hudson Bridge. Note the freight train going by on the right.

 

The photo doesn't show it well, but the color of the foliage is really nice.

 

Ever wonder where the odd name "Poughkeepsie" came from? Well now you know.

So, the walkway was nice but I have to admit after hearing about it incessantly I'm glad to say yes, I've seen it, I've walked it, I'm movin' on with my life now.

Do I seem grumpy today?  Hmm.

The end.

I Have Either Flum Bum or Lumis See Gloomis

(Don't worry - neither is as serious as swine flu or mesothelioma.)

Those are what we call it when you're just not feeling well, but no specific symptoms.  I took an Airborne just in case.  DH's family are the ones who call this malady "Flum Bum".  The "Lumis See Gloomis" (NO idea on the actual spelling of this one) is actually from the Gilligan's Island episode where Maryanne thinks she's eaten poison mushrooms.  That's what I call it when you just don't feel well.

Picked up my new eye glasses today.  They look almost identical to my old ones.  I tried on a million pairs, but the only ones anyone thought looked good were ones that look just like my old ones.  I was hoping to get something different, but not at the cost of looking ugly, so I have new glasses that don't seem very new.

Our cat Q-ee got out the other day, unbeknownst to us.  We left and were out for like 4 or 5 hours, came back about 9pm at night.  We were home a few minutes when I called out, "Has anyone seen Q-ee?"  DH has just fed the dog and let him out, so when he went to let the dog back in, he poked his head out to look for the cat, when who comes running down the porch and in the front door - but our little rascal Q-ee.  I bet it seemed like fun to be outside until it got dark and COLD.  It was probably the only time he was happy to see the dog - knew it was his ticket inside!

Spoke to the builder tonight and went over a few minor changes with our plans that were drawn up.  We are in a race against the approaching winter weather now.  We actually put into the design of our house a spot for the dog to have his bed.  Standard cabin plans don't come with that ya know. :-P

Watching Hannah Montana (because DD put it on).  I'm ok with that, it's actually pretty funny.  Looking forward to watching "The Duggars" later.  Now I have to look up "STK" siding, or something like that, and something-seam-metal roofs so we can make choices for our "cabin".

The end.

Enjoying our Stay in Lake George on the Cheap

When we were in Lake George last weekend we stayed at a motel that we have never stayed at.  We called too late to get a room at the place we usually stay (The Sundowner), so we booked a room at this other place instead. The nightly rate was only $48/night. Normally I'd be pretty fearful of staying in a $48/night motel because that is VERY cheap for places around here, but we had reason to believe it would be ok.  And it actually was fine.  For $48/night.  It had the loudest plumbing I've ever heard in a hotel, the traffic going by literally sounded like it was just outside the door, and it also had the flush-the-toilet-shower-turns-scalding-hot feature, but it was clean and modern, had a fridge and hairdryer, and it was in a good location - you can walk into the village, and although it's not on Lake George, you can walk across the street to a small beach right on the lake in about 30 seconds.  They had a very nice looking pool, too.

They also had a very nice terrace, so after going to the World's Largest Garage Sale in Warrensburg, we decided to sit on the terrace and watch the traffic go by.  It was more interesting than you'd think. We saw everything from trolleys, to motorcycles, to fire engines to San Jose motorcycle accident attorneys go by.  I really didn't even smell any exhaust - I think the fresh pine air of the Adirondacks was a natural "air freshener". :-)

(This shot is looking down the road into Lake George Village)

A couple of beers and a copy of the Lake George Mirror made it even more enjoyable.  (Check out the light blue 1950's lounge chair!)

Now you might think it just can't get better than this, but how about a nice, hot, greasy pizza with pepperoni and onions delivered right to the motel from Capri Pizza?

Something that I think is great about my husband and myself as a couple is that we can find a way to have a good time no matter where we are or what we're doing, whether we have a lot of money to spend or barely any at all.  I'm sure sitting in 1950s plastic chairs, drinking beer, eating pizza out of the box watching traffic go by is not what everyone would find "fun", but we had a blast. :-D

The end.

Enchanted Broccoli Forest

Want to know how to burn fat? Why, take a walk in the Enchanted Broccoli Forest!

Have you ever heard of the Enchanted Broccoli Forest? Not only is it a favorite occasional dish of ours, but it's the name of an apparently somewhat well known vegetarain cookbook:

I'm not sure how exactly we first heard of the dish, but my DH (dear husband) years ago bought me the cookbook and I made Enchanted Broccoli Forest, which we loved.  However, I have to admit, I have never made another thing from this cookbook. I have browsed it a number of times, and it's a very charming cookbook, but I really don't find the other recipes very appealing, and many of them seem to have an awful lot of steps and/or lots of ingredients I don't usually use or eat.  My DH and DD tend to be picky eaters, but I like nearly everything - so when even *I'm* not sure I'd like the other recipes in the book, well, that's not very promising.

On the bright side, it was probably worth buying the cookbook just for that one recipe - we really enjoy it, plus we get the fun of saying "Enchanted Broccoli Forest".   Do any of you have this cookbook? Are there any other recipes in it you recommend? I know her other cookbook is "Moosewood" - is that one better?  We're not vegetarians, but we do like to eat healthy - have any vegetarian cookbooks you like?

The end.

P.S. Enchanted Broccoli Forest is a rice dish with seasonings like sauteed onion, garlic and dill with swiss cheese and steamed broccoli standing up in it to look like a forest.  It's really good!!

Here's How my Potluck Dishes Turned Out

Well a big thank you to everyone who answered my plea and offered potluck dish ideas - they all sounded great, but I could only pick a couple so on Wednesday for the potluck at my house, I ended up picking Mama K's Three Cheese Spaghetti Bake. I was actually only going to pick one recipe, but Small Pines gave a recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip and I've always wanted to make that, so I decided to make that too.  How'd I do?

 

Trust me - they both tasted as good as they look.  There was very little spaghetti bake leftover, which I ate yesterday for lunch (I think it was actually even tastier as a leftover, if that's possible).  Then I proceeded to eat what was left of the artichoke dip last night while watching the "Pam and Jim Wedding" on the Office.  I ran out of bread, so I just ate the rest with a spoon.  I think that says it all! :-)  The only weird thing is that when making recipes I get online, instead of cracking a cookbook I have to have my computer set up on the counter, frighteningly close to my mess so I can see the recipes.  Someone needs to invent some kind of "rackmount splatter resistant kitchen computer", heh.

Anyway, I think it would be hardly fair to show you these mouth-watering pictures and not share the recipes, so here they are, and trust me, if I could successfully make these, so can you! :-) They were both very easy.

Three Cheese Spaghetti Bake

1 16 oz pkg spaghetti
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
3/4 C grated parmesan cheese
1/2 C grated romano cheese
3 eggs, beaten
1 T olive or veg oil
2 t garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 28 oz jar spaghetti sauce

Cook spaghetti per package instructions. Drain. Add 1 C mozzarella cheese, parmesan and romano cheese, eggs, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Press into a greased 13 X 9 inch baking dish. Top with spaghetti sauce. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese and bake 10 minutes longer or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Spinach Artichoke Dip in a bread bowl

1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated Romano cheese
1 clove minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1 14 oz can artichoke hearts
1 cup fresh chopped spinach
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Chop and/or shred everything, and toss it in a pot on low heat for a half hour (or until you decide it is gooey and delicious), or bake at 350° for 30 minutes, or better yet - toss it in a crockpot on low heat and for a half a day.

Get a big fancy round loaf from the bakery and cut it out like a bowl. Put the dip inside, garnish with a few spinach leaves, and cut the taken-out pieces of bread into cubes. Place it all on a platter with the bread cubes on the sides of the bread bowl. Or you can skip the bread bowl and serve it with tortilla chips.

I am really looking forward to asking for some more recipes in the future to try - this was really fun, and I love using recipes I get from people I know because I know they're going to be good!  Thanks again everyone!

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Wordless Wednesday: How to Make it Through Warrensburg's "World's Largest Garage Sale" With a Kid

 

I call it, "Granny Cart With Seat"

What We Bought at the World's Largest Garage Sale (Warrensburg, NY)

Thanks for asking, Bonnie K!

You'd think for traveling all the way up there, spending the money for a hotel, kenneling the dog, and walking around all day, we'd score more than this. But it's not really about buying a lot of stuff, it's just the fun of spending the weekend up there and walking around Warrensburg, NY at the "World's Largest Garage Sale" looking at everything.

I love old cookbooks - I got that 1954 Betty Crocker cookbook for $9. I also love owls. They are for our "cabin" - DH is the big owl, I am the smaller brown owl, and DD is the small white owl. (Well, that's what me and DD decided, anyway.) The small owls were $2 each, the big one was $3. I always get the $1 sponges and the tissue paper every year. We actually needed the banana holder, silly as it is - got that for $1.50. And, we had the 2009 Adirondack Life calendar and we love it, so it's nice to have the 2010 one already - got that for $10 which is less than what I've seen it advertised for elsewhere.

There are a couple more things we got that aren't pictured - DH got a small stein with a trout on it for ten cents, I got a $4 World's Largest Garage Sale long sleeve t-shirt, soft fluffy gloves for DD for $1, DD got a Tinkerbell watch for $5 and DH got a used copy of one of the "The Cat Who" books by Lillian Jackson Braun for .75.

We had a great time and are happy with our "treasures". :-)  Is there something in particular you like to hunt for at garage sales? Besides old cookbooks, I also like old Pyrex bowls and old Pyrex casserole dishes.

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If I'm Not the Next "Dooce" Then Maybe I'll Get An Online Master's Degree

I've blogged about this before, but I toy with the idea of getting a Masters degree online from time to time. I have a Bachelor's Degree already in Visual Arts, which doesn't really buy all that much, however, there are Master's Degrees that I could go for with the degree I have.  Someday DD is going to grow up and move out, and unless I somehow become the next Dooce or "Julie" from Julie & Julia, I'm probably going to be looking for a way to earn a few bucks. I keep seeing ads for different online degree programs, but this one caught my eye - Gonzaga University Online. I worry about the credibility of online degree programs but this one says on it's website, "the Princeton Review and Forbes have separately ranked Gonzaga one of the nation's best universities."  This also appeals to me: "Gonzaga University Online follows a long and distinguished tradition of humanistic, Catholic, and Jesuit education. Gonzaga's philosophy is based on the 450-year old Ignatian model that aims to educate the whole person — mind, body, and spirit" - and their tagline is, "be inspired".  I like that!

Also, I could potentially finish my degree in just 18-24 months! That seems so short compared to getting my Bachelor's.  And I could do it in my pajamas!  Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

I'm going to add this one to my "bookmarks" for when I seriously start looking into getting an online Master's degree. Have any of you gotten a degree online? Did you find when you went looking for employment that your degree was respectable?

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Aftermath of Being Away for the Weekend

Well, we spent the weekend in the Adirondacks to make our yearly pilgrimmage to Warrensburg's "World's Largest Garage Sale".  We've been going to this thing for 15-ish years now. I have lots to tell, but I just got home from dropping DD off at school and I need to face the "mess". 

You know, all the odds and ends you come home from traveling with.  It's not even like we were gone for a week at the gulf shores or anything - for Pete's sake, we were only gone for the weekend 3 hours up north! You can see there's stuff toward the back on the kitchen table too. Plus the dishwasher is full of dirty dishes and that needs to be run and emptied. (DH already helped a lot by emptying the cooler and rinsing and putting away all our returnable bottles from the weekend.) And, I still have to go get the dog from the kennel. I love going away, but I hate all the work there is to do when you get home. I haven't even had my coffee yet. Blah.

Maybe I should have coffee before I do anything else. Things always look better after coffee, don't they?

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My Duh Day

I had the worst sinus headache yesterday. I can sum up yesterday in one word: "Duh."  That's how I felt. (I'm sure DH would say that word would describe me every day, ha ha.)  I was so happy when I woke up today - I still have a sinus headache but it was NOTHING like yesterday.  Despite not feeling well, I did manage to make a nice dinner for my peeps - they love corned beef and cabbage - and this cool weather seemed just right for it. We even ate in our diningroom because DD said, "it seems like we always eat corned beef in the diningroom".  Which is pretty much true - I always invite my mother-in-law and father over for St. Patrick's Day and we eat in the diningroom, although we do occasionally eat corned beef other times of the year NOT in the diningroom, but, no reason we couldn't eat in the diningroom.  So here was dinner:

Also, I took some time over the weekend to clean up my blog a bit, move some things around, delete some things, add some things, AND finally fix my LABELS. When I first started blogging I didn't understand correctly how to use the labels, and I wrote a whole bunch of posts before I realized how I should have done the labels. So then for a looooong time I didn't use ANY labels, so I wouldn't make more posts I'd have to un-label. Well, I've been working on fixing them on and off, but I finally buckled down until my eyes glazed over and my brain nearly burst and fixed all the labels. So, if for some unknown reason you want to read MORE of the stupid stuff I write, you can find them all organized by category in the right sidebar.  

Lastly, to add to the evidence that every day is a "Duh" day for me, I previously posted that we were having a potluck here this Wednesday - but it wasn't this Wednesday - it's NEXT Wednesday. Thanks to all who posted potluck recipes for me. I actually picked two to make, but I'll keep you in suspense until next week and I'll show you how they turned out.

I hope you all have the best Thursday EVER. :-)

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