Super Sunday

1. Nope, not the Super Bowl or even the "big" hockey game made it super.  We had a brunch with friends, which was so nice.  Like I said before, weekends are for eating out for us.  We hit the Saltwater Grille (again) for brunch.  It's in Stamford down next to a marina.  It's really nice in the warmer months, but still nice on a cold Sunday morning.  They have a lovely brunch and we've now enjoyed it three times.  The waiter always remembers us.  Is that a good thing?!

2. We had a social worker come over today to help us come up with routines, rules, rewards, etc. for our home.  That really made for a super mind set for me.  I feel like we're now on a better track-if only we can stick to it!

3. I had the forethought to throw a chicken in the crock pot early in the day to have for dinner tonight.  Of course, Rich ran out to Balducci's for sides, which cost us $27.  The mashed potatoes were terrible, the macaroni salad was pretty good and so was the bread.  But, it kind of defeats the purpose of having a nice meal at home if we're spending that much and running out to get the accompaniments to the main dish.  The thing is, he really likes making these runs!  Last time he got the sides at The Fresh Market and they weren't very good either-and pricey, too.  Maybe next time we'll try Garelick and Herbs-or I'll make my own! 

Fat Saturday

1. Boy, am I stuffed!  If I keep this blog up you will begin to notice a pattern about our eating very quickly.  I will write about food that I made during the week and tell you where I ate over the weekend.  Last night we stayed home because of the snow and because when Rich got home at 5:30 I was still in my pj's.  Amazingly, just after he walked in a friend of mine called from Atlanta that I haven't spoken to in 15 years!  Well, we've "spoken" on Facebook, but that's not the same as hearing her perky voice.

I took Lola to a birthday party today and Rich took Grace to lunch and the bookstore.  For breakfast I made multi-grain waffles and then later ate the frosting off the birthday cake.  We had a sitter tonight and we ended up winging our plans.  We headed out and ended up in New Caanan and walked around a bit.  We went to Thali Indian and had a nice meal.  We had two chicken dishes, nan and a laasi all for about $65.  Nothing is cheap in these parts!  For dessert we thought we'd head out to see what we could find.  Lo and behold, we ended up at the Melting Pot in Darien.  This is the second time we've just ended up there for dessert.  There wasn't room in the main restaurant, but we could sit at the bar for the chocolate fondue.  Perfect!  We got to sit and have our milk chocolate with Bailey's fondue and coffees all while watching curling.  We saw the medals ceremony, too.  The best part was that we didn't walk out of the place wreaking of oil.  If you've ever been to the Melting Pot you know you have to air your jackets out and wash your clothes immediately upon departure.  Fondue there isn't cheap and really isn't as awesome as I once thought it was, but it's a fun, cozy atmosphere and we enjoyed just being out!

2. Lola keeps talking a lot about her birthday party.  She wants to have it at home.  In some ways this is good and some ways not so good.  Seeing the gorgeous cake at the party today made me think more about bakery/store bought cakes vs. homemade cakes.  This cake was truly stunning.  When it was cut into I could see that the chocolate cake looked very light brown.  This is a very bad sign.  Sure enough, the cake was a bit dry and didn't have much flavor.  I did love the frosting, though.  Anyway, I think I may make Lola's cake.  Last year I made cupcakes for her party.  I'm thinking good old fashioned party games at home in the backyard.

3. Can you believe it's time to think about summer camp?  Camps around here fill up quickly and are pretty expensive.  I like to keep the kids busy during the summer without getting too busy.  It's all a balancing act and one that's hard to figure out months in advance.  There are two farm camps that sound so neat and a Girl Scout camp right here in town.  And, there are a million more options.  I'll think about it tomorrow.

Looks like my prayers will not be answered!

1. It rained all day for the past few days and now it looks like the heavy snow is moving in.  I hit Trader Joe's today for the essentials.  I will be able to make brownies tomorrow-those are essential, right?!

2. Speaking of Trader Joe's I do like the store and often think I could work there.  I'm always thinking about what to do when both kids are in school.  But, what I wanted to say was that I had some of their whole wheat pizza dough in the freezer that I pulled out today.  I bought their shredded mozzarella and a jar of their pizza sauce, which are both good.  I had both girls help me make the pizza.  Of course, neither wanted to eat it.  Frankly, I don't blame them.  Why does homemade or store bought dough for pizza never taste as good as take out?  Have any tips?  Yes, I've made homemade dough, too, and the pizza usually turns out soggy on the bottom.  One pizza I remember having as a kid was called "Crazy Crust Pizza."  It was made by my friend Bethanie's parents whenever we had a sleepover.  What was crazy about it was there was lots of oregano in the dough.  It bubbled up really funny in the oven and tasted delicious.  I tried to make it as an adult and thought it was terrible.  It must have been my very unsophisticated palate at the time that made me love it!  Hey, I also loved Doritos at those slumber parties! Here is the recipe for Crazy Crust Pizza.  I found a bunch online and most people really liked it!  The other cool thing about it is that it's easy and is yeastless.  I just may try it again sometime.  I know my kids won't eat it with green stuff in it, but my husband just might!   http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Crazy-Crust-Pizza-Dough/Detail.aspx

3. Have you ever heard of "muffin top?"  Well, that's me right about now!  My sides are hanging over my jeans.  I haven't been to the gym in days and have been eating up a storm.  I really can't wait for a new week and mostly for spring!  I love walking at Compo Beach and plan to get over there the first sign of warmer weather!

Please God, let there be school the rest of the week!

1. Last night instead of watching the women's figure skating I watched American Idol. I didn't know why I was doing that until one girl sang "Landslide" by Stevie Nicks. This is one of my all-time favorite songs and one that I had told my mom last year that reminded me of us. As soon as she started singing I burst into tears. If you didn't know, my mom passed away last month. I miss her terribly. Here are the lyrics:



I took my love, I took it down

Climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills

Til the landslide brought me down



Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?

Can the child that is in my heart rise above?

Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?

Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Mmm, mmm, mmm



Well, I've been afraid of changing

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older and I'm getting older too



Well, I've been afraid of changing

'Cause I've built my life around you

But time makes you bolder

Even children get older and I'm getting older too

Oh, I'm getting older too



Awh take my love, take it down

Awh climb a mountain and turn around

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well, the landslide bring it down



And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills

Well, the landslide bring it down

Oh, the landslide bring it down



2. I made a winner of a dish tonight! I was going to just clean out the fridge, but when my sick husband didn't really like the sound of that, I whipped this up pretty quickly! It's the first time in a while that he took one bite and said how good it was!
http://www.bigtent.com/group/news/entry/27954469

This is an eggs florentine dish that instead of using soy sausage I used a link of good Italian mild turkey sausage. This would be a perfect brunch menu as well as for dinner.

3. I'm wondering why I can't copy text from another website and paste it here? It would be a lot better if you could see the recipe! I guess I have some learning to do!

Blog-take 2

1. Made this soup yesterday in the crockpot:

Corn, Potato and Kale Soup/Chowder

2 c water or chicken broth

5 potatoes-cubed

1 carrot-diced

1 bag of frozen corn (or mixed veggies)

1 bunch of kale, sliced small (or frozen bag)

1 32 oz container creamy corn soup

1 package hot dogs or Polish sausage (optional)

Add water/chicken broth first, then place all ingredients in crock pot in order. Cook on low for 8-10 hours (this seems way too long!) or on high for 3-4 hours, like I did. I threw in frozen corn and frozen kale from our CSA share. I did add a chicken garlic sausage from Trader Joe's, which was awful. Today when I pulled this out of the fridge I took out all the sausage and threw it away. Then I pureed some of the soup and left some whole pieces for texture. I served it to friends. They loved it! What does my husband know?! The recipe came from someone in Ashburn, VA posted to www.flylady.net . There are a lot of crock pot recipes here if you're interested.

2. A friend came over and gave two of us a veggie sushi tutorial. I really don't see me doing that as it seemed like too much work! I served my chowder and also made chocolate ice cream in the ice cream maker and had a delicious lunch!

3. I was thinking about all the news about teflon pans. I'm really thinking about replacing mine. Anyone have any thoughts on the topic?