The panini grill...

got a workout tonight making veggie burgers!  Fresh lettuce and tomato, fresh sourdough rolls from Publix, a slice of American cheese and a grilled veggie burger.  Aggie even liked it!  I wasn't sure she would - it's been a while since I've had one - but I think she was just relieved that it wasn't pasta for dinner again.  I'll admit I love a bargain and the Morningstar Farms veggie burgers were on sale - so we also have tomato and basil burgers for next week.  Peach ice cream for dessert  - and another episode of Midsomer Murders.  I am happy with the little things in life.

Maybe we do...

have a second childhood when we reach a certain age.  Although I think I've probably reached it sooner than I would have expected, considering my renewed taste for orange soda.  I don't know if that's a good thing or not!

It's a good year for plums...

apparently, and my friend Erin in Arkansas made a big batch of plum jelly!  She was kind enough to send me a jar - along with some blueberry muffin mix.  Guess what we'll be having for breakfast on Sunday...  Thanks so much, Erin!

Fresh, hot...

homemade cinnamon rolls...

Not bad for a Sunday project.  I'm just saying...

Blatant product endorsement warning...

Have you tried the new Paul Newman frozen pizza?  This is the Margherita thin & crispy with whole wheat crust - to die for!  Fifteen minutes in the oven and crispy perfection.  The box even says: In crust, we trust.  Gotta love the humor - and the fact that all profits go to charity.  I don't usually buy much of the Paul Newman brand stuff because it's pricey, but I do indulge when it's on sale, especially buy one, get one free pizza.  We have a spinach & feta pie in the freezer for another I-don't-feel-like-cooking night.  It's a good thing.

Wishing for winter weather...

never makes it happen - but sometimes making soup and pretending is just as good.  I'll admit I took a shortcut and used this soup mix, but the result was probably better than if I'd tried to make cheddar broccoli soup from scratch.  Instead of eight cups of water, I used four cups of chicken broth and four cups of water.  Once the base liquid boils, you whisk in the soup mix and just ten short minutes later, you have soup.  And it is so good!

Why, I'd almost think it was cold outside...

No mixer involved...

and the brownies came out perfectly.

So much for culinary technology!

Ah dint git no rayz in mah allowentz...

but Ah did git sum chikn nuggitz.

Ah stil thinkz Ah shud git mor then a buk a weeek.

An Ah aint the one hoo wantz a monkee.

A sweet surprise...

 Seriously - and if you've ever had one you know I'm not kidding - a peanut butter pie from Miller's Dutch Kitchen.  This place is well known around here for their pies and desserts; the food is good, but the pie is to die for.  We used to go there quite often - and oddly enough, they even have a special called The Double Pleaser: salad bar and a piece of pie.  Both are excellent - but so many choices on each menu!  My sweet friend Ariela and her family showed up at my door tonight bearing a peanut butter pie.  I couldn't talk them into sharing it since they hadn't eaten dinner yet, but I will find a way.  It's great - but you can overdose on it pretty quick.

 I'm going to Tom & Al's house for Thanksgiving tomorrow and I was going to take it with me - but Tom has already made two pies: pumpkin and lime-in-the-coconut.  Yes - I will find a way to share this pie with Ariela - but first I think I'll share a little piece with Aggie...

Well, I bought a mixer...

after having mixed everything by hand for the past three years.  I had a KitchenAid hand mixer that bit the dust after many years of faithful use.  When I moved from our house to the apartment, I didn't think I'd need a mixer, so I didn't replace it.  After having attempted to make a cake several weeks ago, I realized that I did indeed have need of a hand mixer and I set about searching for the best heavy duty motor in a hand mixer for the best price.  Enter this cute little Cuisinart 9-speed mixer, complete with a whisk beater and dough hooks!  It also has a plastic base that holds the power cord and the attachments.  Fits neatly in my baking cupboard - I love it!

Perhaps a little too much...

I decided to make good old-fashioned pound cake using my Grandma's recipe: a pound of flour, a pound of butter, a pound of sugar and a pound of eggs.  Apparently I beat that cake batter within an inch of its life because instead of being the dense cake I remember from my youth, it's light and fluffy.  Don't get me wrong - it tastes good, but it's more like chiffon cake than pound cake.  I guess that means the mixer works really well on dense batter.

I'll have to see how well it does with pumpkin bread...

Apples...

from Wisconsin found their way to me via Tom & Al when they returned from their recent vacation - and they are so good!  After my recent failed attempt at a decent fresh raspberry two-crust pie, I decided to keep it simple and make an apple tart.  I used a pre-made rolled pie crust - and the Publix store brand is just as good as the more expensive Pillsbury crusts - and just added sliced apples (leave the skins on!), organic sugar and cinnamon.  I baked it at 350 degrees for about forty-five minutes because I hate over-baked crust and Aggie and I ate it warm for dinner with a little Cool Whip on the side.  This is the best Sunday supper I've had in a long time - thanks, guys!

Comfort food in a can...

When we lived on the farm when I was a kid, my mom and grandmother were always canning something - whatever was in season.  One of the big canning sessions involved zucchini (whose garden doesn't have lots of that?), tomatoes, onions and celery.  This staple was an appetizer, a side dish and spaghetti sauce.  I loved it!  Later, after we moved to Florida, my mom would buy DelMonte canned zucchini - which by the way - was just as good as the homemade stuff.  It seems like the grocery doesn't always have it, but the last time it was on sale I stocked up on a dozen cans and stashed them away.  Every now and then I open one and eat it for lunch - straight from the can, just like I did today.  Childhood comfort food at its best!

If there is comfort food, is there also comfort TV?

Silly, right?  Now, you know I like murder and mayhem as much as the next person, but I am really tired of violence, bad language and gratuitous sex.  I think that's why I like to read - my imagination controls the decency rating of the images elicited by the words on the page.  Make sense?  No reality television for me, either.  I don't see the sense in rewarding people for behaving badly on camera.  Since I don't have cable, I watch what programs or movies I want to see online on on DVD.  I like the TNT shows like Memphis Beat, Rizzoli & Isles and Leverage - and I am disappointed that CBS cancelled CHAOS - I loved that silly show.  Anyhow, I've gone retro for the past week or so, watching the first season of Scarecrow and Mrs. King - very eighties - and I am sure that there are lots of kids out there who have never even heard of it!  I loved this show the first time around (fortunately I don't remember much of the story) and I still enjoy it: there's murder and mayhem but you don't have to see the blood and guts, there's mystery plots and intrigue galore, there's comic relief and there's even some sexual tension - but instead of wondering when they'll hop into bed, we're just wondering when Lee will finally kiss Amanda.  Maybe there's something wrong with me, but I am not ashamed to admit that I like wholesome television.  Maybe it's having been raised on Andy Griffith and Petticoat Junction.  Or maybe I'm just boring.  But I am still wondering when Lee will finally kiss Amanda.  On to season two...

Half a loaf and a migraine...

I woke up this morning with a migraine - I thought my head was going to explode.  Another round of ibuprofen and a nap didn't do much to relieve it.  Eating lunch helped a little - but not much.  I decided that I had to do something productive, so after puttering around in the kitchen for a little while, emptying the dishwasher and tidying up, I decided to try and make a one-pound loaf of bread in the machine.  The two-pound loaf is pretty, but it's still too big for just me and Aggie.  How hard could it be - half the ingredients and away we go!  Amazingly, two hours later, this pretty little loaf was ready to come out.  My associate and I sampled it and we were happy with the results.  Guess it's a one-pound loaf for me from now on!

Lima beans...

with onions and bacon are the perfect dinner for a rainy day, don't you think?

I love popcorn...

and I seem to have forgotten that fact when I gave away my microwave.  Having read all of the alleged dangers of microwave popcorn, I had pretty much sworn that particular treat off anyway - but popcorn is still our preferred snack of choice around here.  Several years ago, we had an air popper, but Tim hated it because the salt wouldn't stick to the popcorn.  The popper went to Goodwill and we went back to microwave popcorn.  I guess things really do come back around - or so they say.  We are back to air-popped popcorn and we are loving it!  Peter even takes a treat now and then.  I'm not a big salt fan so we use Butter Buds for popcorn seasoning instead.  It's even good with a bit of Mrs. Dash.  So far I've even resisted the urge to put the butter melting cup to use, although I'm not saying that I can't be tempted by butter.  Isn't everyone?

Paninis!

It is the year of the Panini!  I am now the proud owner of a Cuisinart Griddler Jr. Panini grill.  I have had it on my Amazon wish list forever and I decided last week to move it to the cart and start grilling sandwiches – I mean, Panini.  Sounds so much better than a sandwich, doesn’t it?  Aggie is almost as thrilled as I am – she is a big bread crust eater.  Our first gourmet treat was a grilled provolone on rye.  Excellent!  A grilled Cuban! After a trip to the grocery, we had a grilled tomato, gouda and bacon on sourdough.  The possibilities are seemingly endless – I am looking forward to a homemade reuben – or a Rachel – I haven’t decided which just yet.  The upside is using up the entire loaf of bread, instead of throwing part of it away when I think it’s too stale to eat.  So you see, you have to spend money to save money.  Right?

The last long weekend...

for a while - I know, there's Presidents' Day - but tax season e-filing starts on Tuesday, so this is my last rest before a couple of really busy months.  Not that I am complaining - I am actually looking forward to the work.  I made some brownies this afternoon: one pan for John the maintenance guy who was nice enough to change my hall and bathroom light bulbs for me and bring me some touch-up paint and one pan for in case anyone stops by.  My hall light fixture had burned out several months ago but none of my friends could get the cover off to change the bulb!  The maintenance guy even had a hard time getting it apart - but it now has two new fluorescent bulbs in it, so I won't have to worry about that light for several years.  I had him put fluorescent bulbs in the bathroom, too.  Every little bit helps save on the electric bill!  I am happy to report that when they sold the apartment complex to the new company, they kept the maintenance guy who isn't afraid to get dirty and knows how to fix everything.  I hope Dapper Derek finds a job more suitable to his prissy, I-don't-want-to-muss-my-hair ways.  So what am I going to do for fun this weekend?  Well, besides eating a brownie (or two), I'm going to finish re-organizing the hall closet and get my tax season supplies ready.  Then I'm going to finish organizing the laundry closet and my craft fabric stash.  That should take me a while - but I'm going to try and cull out some more fabric to donate to Goodwill because I have more craft materials than one person could ever use in a lifetime.  Aggie will probably persuade me to take a nap (or two) and she has strongly hinted that I need to go to the grocery store and buy a) a bag of Newman's Own dog food, 2) some of those Good Life heart-shaped biscuits she likes and D) some sort of real meat.  She's not picky about what kind of meat - just some meat.  I think that Publix has Boar's Head roast beef on sale in the deli, so there may be a roast beef sandwich in our future.  I also expect that while the laundry cycles, spins and dries that I will be spending some quality time with my Kindle - so many free books, so little time!

Another surprise...

in my mailbox - don't you just love it?  My dear friend (of more years than either one of us wish to count), Kathy, who lives in Utah, sent me a lovely box of Christmas goodies - with these amazing homemade caramels.  Yes, they're gone.  All gone - and they were so good.  I asked if she'd make me some to take with me when I die - wherever I end up going.  And there were crispy, sweet snickerdoodles, chocolate fudge, magic cookie bars (which we have called Gluckies for eons!) and still more chocolate.  Aggie got her own bag of snaps - which she refused to even try until she had some snickerdoodle - and Peter got a green Christmas catnip mouse.  The question has finally been answered - Peter is indeed a niphead.  In fact, I think he's still lying in front of the big window tripping.  Thank you, Kathy, for my after-Christmas, final sugar binge of 2010.  Do you know me or what?

Shop early or stay home...

This year I took my own advice!  I was at Publix by 7:30 am (the bread in the bakery was still hot!) and back in my car by 8:15.  Didn't even overspend!  I had everything in the house and put away - and cranberry bread in the oven - before nine o'clock.  I don't think I've ever shopped that early or that efficiently the day before a holiday in my entire life.  I putzed around on the computer, returned a couple of client phone calls and took a nap - all before noon.  The vacuum cleaner is sitting in the living room practically shouting my name - but I refuse to respond.  I just finished making fudge, which I haven't made in years, and in a little while I am going to finish baking up the cookie dough I've been hoarding - chocolate chip and snickerdoodles.  Then I'm going to make the ultimate comfort food for dinner: homemade macaroni and cheese with enough butter and cheese to clog even Paula Deen's arteries.  After dinner, we are going to watch Home Alone and snuggle in for a good Christmas Eve's night sleep.  I hope you enjoy your holiday eve as much as I am enjoying mine!