I hate cleaning

Which is why I don't do it often, I guess.

But we have company coming next weekend (hubby's old college roommate) so we had no choice.

Cleaned the bathrooms, washed the floors, cleaned up the bedroom & living room. Kitchen is still a disaster area, but I'll get that this week. Also need to run a vacuum, but that's no biggie.

I could go on about when I found out a few months back at a family party that I'm the only one - besides his mother - in the Man's family that does not have maid service. That really, really needs to change soon.

The hubby also tackeled Mt. Washmore that's been piling up by his side of the bedroom. Glad to see that.

Also sewed my one beadspread that got ripped... about two years ago.

Then went to Kohl's to get totally cute but impractical shoes for me, and new Dockers for the Man.

Dinner was Portillos (hot dogs and beef sandwiches).

I promise to be a better Hausfrau tomorrow.... gotta do the weekly shopping, and also needed to prep a couple pantry staples from the Bouchon cookbook. Garlic confit and tomatoes confit. Garlic will be used in a hummus recipe for the 4th, maybe also a garlic aioli for the 4th. (For the 4th, going off to my bro in law's house in the morning to watch a parade that goes right past the house, then to my mom's in the evening where they shoot off fireworks across the street. And apparently, to my mom, the phrase "Why don't you do sandwiches for the 4th this year?" means "Why, yes, I'd love to BRING the sandwiches").

Might do the Frogs Legs from the Bouchon cookbook this week. At least that is the plan right now. A girl can hope, right????

More adventures in crap-tacular food

If I may plead my case.... it's been a mentally exhausting week at work. And a late week at work.

On the drive home, knew my options for dinner was limited. I always have stuff to fix breakfast on hand, and I knew I also had some frozen clam strips (shut up... they were on sale and the trashy take-out food part of me has been craving Long John Silver's since they closed the nearby one a year ago). I was thinking about stopping at the store, but the traffic in that direction was just horrid, so I just drove straight home.

Hubby said he could go for the clam strips. Decision made, then!

Whipped up some cocktail sauce and tartar sauce, pulled some "garlic" fries from Trader Joe's out of the frige (just regular fries with a garlic/parsley sauce packet thing... pretty tasty addition if you drain off the damned oil) and fired up the oven. It was nice to be able to use the oven, with the temps in the 90 for the past few days, I haven't been in the mood to turn on the oven.

Also steamed some broccoli. I need my veggies.

Not bad, overall.

I'd hoped to do the Tomato Confit from the Bouchon cookbook tonight, but since they take 6 hours, well, that wasn't going to be happenin'.

I might do them on Saturday... have to wake up early to bring my car in to have the breaks looked at (don't ever buy one of the newer model Merc Cougars. I swear, every year since '99 I've had to have the breaks done) and the rest of the day will be spent cleaning, which should be interesting, since we're low on cleaning supplies. Sigh. Might be making a run to Target at lunch time tomorrow, unless I decide that going to the farmer's market is more important.

Garden report..... got one strawberry that is half red. Hopefully tomorrow it will be all red and I will be happy to have the first non-herb "fruits" of the garden.

And another day that blends in to the next.....

Very unexciting day.

At work, Wednesday is "meeting day". Usually at least two, sometimes up to four, hours of the day is spent in meetings. Not as bad as some companies I've worked at where about 10 hours a week were spent in utterly pointless meetings, but still puts a crimp in the day where you don't end up getting much done by the end of the day.

Which, of course, meant today I had to get a set of documents & help files out to review, and get something finalized and sent over to our translation company (that is based in Sheffield UK, so now running at like half power with the recent flood conerns).

A highlight of my day was lunch.... had the last of the Tuna Tartine I mixed up on Sunday. No worthy bread in the house, and I knew I wouldn't be able to run out at lunch time to get anything, so I just diced the egg and radish and mixed it with the tuna. Gotta say... even three days after the fact and sans the bread, it was still darned good (and for me to like something WITHOUT the bread... that's big!!)

Come home late... just mentally drained (it happens a lot on this job, we have to think about a lot more things than most tech writers need to). I knew I pulled chili out of the freezer last night, and I knew I also had tortillas and cheese, so some totally unimaginative chili quesadillas formed in my mind.

Got home, got the mail, brought in the trash cans (garbage day), cleaned up a little in the garage, went to check my plants out back (we had hail today) and I've got about 12 real tomatoes growing, and too many grape tomatoes for me to remember the number. And the first strawberry has started to turn red. Weeee!!

Came back inside, changed the clothes, pulled out the fixin's for dinner. The hubby walked in, looking beat as hell (it's been busy at his work too.... like us, understaffed!) but then saw the chili and his face lit up.... he asked if we were having chili cheese dogs. I took a quick look at some buns I had, they appeared OK, so I promised chili cheese dogs. Hey. I am a HausFrau after all. I like to make my man happy with dinner (well, sometimes, lol).

Relax for a few, started dinnner. After I plopped the dogs in the water (I'm a Chicago gal.... we reheat them in water!) I went to get the bus to steam them a little... and of course, all the parts covered by the printing on the package had turned south. Damnit.

So, a little thinking... and we ended up with chili cheese dog quesadillas for dinner. Very Semi-Half-Assed (tm) but in the end, it worked, it was tasty, and the hubby was in a better mood after dinner. All is well.

I did work out tonight, but have otherwise been a sloth with all the good Wednesday television... Ghost Hunters, Footballers Wives, Rescue Me (that one hurt..... Chief!!!). Still have to watch the last couple minutes of Footballers Wives but I know the nutter Amber goes all "Kali" on Bruno and ends up in the looney bin, and the return of Tanya!!!! Wooooooo!!!!!!!

I think the Men of Hell's Kitchen offically became Hell's Bitches

... c'mon.... grossed out at eating pigs fit, herring and tripe??? PLEASE!!!!!

What a bunch of mutha-fucking pansy ass pussies. And I meant every word of that.

Seriously.... eating some tounge, some liver, some stomach lining, a couple of preparations of herring that I have been seriously craving lately.... and it's time to hurl chunks??? Get over your chicken-breast loving asses and be a fuckin' man about it!! Jeebus.

Not an interesting night in Casa de la Hausfrau. (It's Hausfrau... which is feminine.... la is still right, right? Ugh. Too much timing editing foriegn languages today at work) I thought today was going to be a busy dat at work, so this morning I plunked the fixins' for a pot roast in the crockpot before I left for work this morning. I was happy I was awake enough to be chopping onions this morning, I've had episodes of When Kitchens Attack trying to do that before.

Lunch was my tuna tartine ala the Bouchon cookbook. My presentation was not as fancy, I mixed my olives with the tuna, and kinda wished I'd also just mixed in the egg and some diced radishes. For my tastes, it'd be better as a true tuna salad and not having to spend 5 minutes assembling my lunch in my cubicle, lol. But it was still DAMNED tasty and the best tuna I have ever had. WOW.

I did have to run out and buy bread.... damned you humid weather, the toasts I made last night were soggy and gross by lunch time. All was good though.

All partied out....

It was the 1st birthday party for one of the nephews today. (We'll actually have another first birthday party in August). Fun, but it takes a lot out of you.

They actually had a really cool setup... http://www.luckylous.com/ did a "New York Style Hotdog Cart" thing. Hot dogs, burgers and fries right there, meant the bro in law & sis in law didn't have to do any of the cooking, and there guys even do the cleanup. Sweet! They also had a snow cone machine for the kids.... yeah... one of 'em was up to 7 snow cones by the time the snow cone machine departed. It was fun.

Rather uneventful for a party for that side of the family... lots of beer was consumed (and my sis in law made some pretty good sangria-type thing) but I think all the adults are finally a little too old for the old-school jackassery that they used to specialize in.

Oh yeah. Was going to bring an appetizer type-thing... found an online recipe for mini cheese calzones. Yeah. Lesson learned, the final product can only be as good as the sum of its parts. It was easy, and it sounded good enough to my post-work brain last week (and gimme a break, at the time I thought I needed something that would be OK to sit out in 90 degree weather)... store bought pizza whack-a-dough around string cheese. Was easy enough to do, but when I sampled one out of the oven and tasted it... just... ew. EW. Odd sweetness to the dough. Not good. I plated them up, still debating, and before we left I just decided to leave them. They'd probably be good with REAL pizza dough, but these were just nasty.

And, sadly, the recipe I used as a source was damned crappy and I now have two extra tubes of pizza dough in my fridge. Damnit.

But, felt better that when we got home, I started the prep for the tuna tartin from the Bouchon cookbook, so I can have it at work this week for lunch. Mixed the tuna and fixins, sans the herbs, which I just chopped, and have everything prepped so I can just grab the parts tomorrow and assemble at lunch time. But MAN... the tuna mixture already tastes good. Oil packed tuna really does make a huge difference. Coming out of the can.... it just even looked like tuna from when I was a kid. Actual chunks and not total mush.

Ok. Off to watch the Tivo'd Vegas Dream Dining special. Sigh.

Someone.... please... get Sandra Lee under control

Yep, add me to the list of the many, many, many people out there that cannot stand Sandra Lee.

Don't know who she is?? My husband calls her "Stupid Cooking Lady." If you've ever been flipping thru channels and landed on Food Network and see a blonde woman cooking, and watched for a few minutes until your mind put together all the off and gagging flavors she's putting together, the horrible execution of dishes, and the sheer insanity of it all.... that's Sandra Lee.

I'm all behind the concept. I practice it often. I call it "Semi-Half-Assed Cooking (TM) ". Canned stuff, a little help from the products now available in most grocery stores.... if you're someone who works a 9-5 job, you really almost have to take shortcuts along the way to get food on the table. But there are ways it can be done well, and well, Sandra Lee does not do that.

Today's new episode was just totally out of control. "Watch Sandy remake recipes from Mario Batali and Bobby Flay." This meant unrinsed canned beans, spice packets and just WRONG WRONG WRONG.

Let her keep attaching mango slices to chicken to make it "look like a zebra". Continue with the many cocktails. But stay the hell away from not just pretending to be like a real chef, but being BETTER since you're half-assed results are better than theirs because they're half-assed.

There is a time for half-assed cooking. Get home at 7pm from work and just too damned tired to think about picking up fast food... bring on the half-assed cooking! Pull some cheese tamales and chili out of the freezer, warm tamales thru, nuke the chili, dump chili on top of tamales... ta-da!! Dinner is served!!

I guess that's the thing that drives me the most nuts about the show. Half-assed cooking should not pretend to be anything more than half-assed cooking. And every show of Semi-Homemade is presented as dishes she's serving up for a party or company. Please. You have to wonder about the mindset of someone who claims to love entertaining, yet won't put a decent effort in to it to proove that you do enjoy it and you value the company of your guests enough to make a fuss.

And this episode struck a particular chord.... I'm a cookbook lover. And, actually, Bouchon is the first resteraunt cookbook I've ever purchased. I've had a horribly terrible, disappointig and heatbreaking breakfast at the Vegas outpost that did still give a glimpse to know that with some better line cooks, this stuff could be awesome. And really, as often as we are in Vegas, I've tried to get the hubby to try it with me but he finds it all way too fussy for his tastes. So... with the cookbook, I can at least try the stuff at home. And if I blow it, it's my own damned fault!!

There are some things that will be Semi-Half-Assed (TM) while I cook from it. Onions confit? They'll be done in a crockpot. I've been doing them that way for years (based off a recipe from Lara Brody's "Slow Cooker Cooking" - great book). Total high-end ingredients? Wish I could, but I live in the real world with a mortgage and car payments and I can't always go top-dollar.

But, I have enough respect for the book, Thomas Keller and the recipes to know damned well that the way it's being done as described in the book is the right way to do it. In any cookbook, that holds true.

It would take a particular brand of insanity to do something like the Trout with Hariots Verts and Almonds using canned green beans and a spice packet, and still call in inspired by Thomas Keller. I know little of the man itself, but I think for any human proud of their craft, it'd be gounds for having the person hunt you down and admister a swift and brutal beat down.

And I can take Sandra Lee ruining traditional recipes. All said, it's kinda fun to watch her do it, in the whole reality show "I'm sooooo much better than her" way. But when she tries to drag other people down... it's disturbing. It's disturbing that these talented chefs are reduced to that (no doubt due to selling their souls to the Food Network somewhere along the way) . It's disturbing that SHE really thinks these recipes are of the quality of the name associated with them. And it's most disturbing that people may actually make this recipes and NOT explore the work of the real chefs.

Wooo... VEGAS!!!

Fuck the Hausfrau duties.

We've booked the next Vegas trip. Yeeee-haw!!!

At this point, there is no plan to rent the Shelby Mustang again. Unless Hertz has the new one by the time we leave. So if no car.... that means no Rosemary's this trip (I'm starting to think I'm cursed) and no Liberace Mueseum. I can live with that, I don't think those places are going away soon.

I'd like to hit the Imperial Palace auto mueseum again. Who knows how long IP will be around.

Sad that the New Frontier and Margarita's Cantina will be gone. I know that place probably isn't going to find a home anywhere else on the strip. Guess we'll have to find a new Friday night meal.

Reeaaaallly want to hit Enoteca San Marco (Mario Batali & Joe.... I won't even try because I *never* spell the last name right.... Lidia's kid, lol) for a lunch or something. The Hubby has been informed of this, and I think he might go for it since the dress is casual.

Really hoping that I'm not just using the slot & video poker machines like reverse ATMs again. God that sucked. Might try to see if I can get an actual seat at a blackjack table to play with some real live humans. We'll see if I work up the courage.

Um. Yeah. Busy day. Stuff happened. Burgers and Crisp Zucchini Coins (Cooking Light recipe, oldie but a goodies) for dinner. Man did Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip SUCK tonight. I think I'm finally ready to let this show go.

EEEEEEEEE!!!! VEGAS!!!!!!! And crap. Gotta bribe the mother in law to come over and water the plants while I'm gone. I don't want to come home to dead plants!!

How can eating all day make you so tired???

Pardon me for typos or incoherient thoughts. Half paying attention to my guilty pleasure.... Footballers Wive$. Oh yeah!!! But I so want Tayna back. Like two episodes ago. Get Amber the Nutter off my TV!!!

So. Today was the return of the New Bride at work. The cake was already ordered, and my boss and I had talked about taking her out to lunch.

New Bride got to work, all happy and smiles, got the story of how it all went down on a smoke break, congratulations were given, blah blah blah.

We quietly schemed about picking up the cake without New Bride catching on, stored the cake in one of the lesser-used fridges. Before I knew it, was time to take New Bride to lunch. Off to the Cheesecake factory.

It took FOR-EV-ER for someone to take our order. Even slower than usual Cheesecake Factory service. But food was very very good (even if they totally forgot dressing for my side salad.... but eh, just extra calories missing). The three of us split a piece of cheesecake... all old married ladies now!!!

Got back to the office just in time for a meeting, and I snuck to get the cake and bring it to the meeting room where many many people were waiting along with New Bride... congrats again, time for eating cake! Last thing I wanted after the big lunch and cheesecake was a slice of cake... but I did my duty and ate about 3/4 of a piece.

Spent the rest of the workday in a food coma. Too much food. Too much sugar. Really wanted nap.

Worked late (to make up for all the party time - I still got some tight deadlines coming up) and got home late.

I was a bad HausFrau tonight.... just picked up Burger King for dinner. I was hardly hungry and some chicken tenders were good for me (why are they still called "tenders" when they are now all stupid and crown-shaped, she wonders??). Then a half hour of watering the gardens and wrestling the tomato plants in to their cages. I am the proud mama of three baby regular sized tomatoes, and four baby grape tomatoes. And three tiny strawberries. And a basil plant that's gone batshit nuts over the past two days (many tops to pinch off). I really hope this is a better growing season than last year.

And now... TV time! Wooo!!!! I should be excercising, or cleaning (which is now more important to get done since the hubby invited company over the weekend after the 4th... um... and when am I supposed to find the time to clean??? GRRRR). Or doing something other than surfing the 'net and watching TV. But, Wednesday during summers is the busy TV night. Ghost Hunters, Footballers Wives, Rescue Me, Top Chef... man, I'd not enjoy life without my Tivo!!!!

Hunting Trip

So... tonight was the Mussels with Mustard Saffron sauce.

Turned out pretty OK. I thought the mustard was a little strong, and I could have used a better wine. Might be better with something a little lighter & fruiter than what I used (Charles Shaw Sauvignon Blanc - yeah, I know).

The hubby at least at his without a grumble.... although I know it was waaay too much wine taste for him.

I had the worst damned time trying to find mussels. Since I'm on a hunt for nicoise olives, I figured Whole Foods would be a nice, one-stop shopping trip.

Before I left work, the boss asked me if I'd mind stopping at Costco on my way home (she usually drives the same way I do in to work... she knows I pass it) to order a cake for tomorrow for the newly married co-worker who should be back at work tomorrow. No problem. They had some pretty awesome looking french loaves there, so I figured I'd do the "stand in line for ten minutes to check out one item" thing.

In car, headed back towards home, have to snake around to get to Whole Foods without totally heading out of my way.

There... finally. Huh. No nicoise olives in the isles. And double huh... they seem to have gotten rid of the little olive bar. Damnit. Do they have an mussels? NO. Le FUCK.

So, headed home, changed clothes and quickly ran to the nearby produce mart. No mussels in the display at the seafood counter, but they had some in back and were more than happy to help me out. Yay!!!!

Got home, later than I wanted. Started the cooking, and ended up eating later than I wanted. But it was a decent dinner... lord knows I've done worse.

The hubby rented some movies today, so I knew the excercise session would be out. Sat around for a few, and apparently he decided to watch the ball game rather than a movie. Once it was about 8:15, gave up the idea of working out. I figure I at least got some excercise running around three different stores, right?

Not sure what dinner plans are for tomorrow. The hubsy has to work late (he thinks) and I might also be working late. I might just see what I can pull out of the freezer, either bagel dogs or chili over tamales.

I cleaned out the fridge last night, so don't need to do that tonight (it's garbage night). Yay!!

Now it's time to spend some quality time with my video poker software, practicing for the upcoming Vegas trip (if the hubby ever books it... grumble....)

Mmm.... confit.....

Right now... the entire place smells like garlic confit. Mmmmmm.

So... on Friday after work, I did go to the bookstore and picked up the Bouchon cookbook. Got some Cosi for dinner and sat down for a fun evening of cookbook reading (well, it's fun for me, at least).

Wow. Happy me.

I'm surprised at the amount of stuff that seems approachable and gasp! complimentary to my hubby's tastes.

I do believe this week will be attempts at the Tuna Nicoise Tartine for me for a couple lunches, and the Mussels with Saffron and Mustard for one dinner (maybe tomorrow - gotta get to Whole Foods for the mussels and nicoise olives for the tuna). Looking forward to it.

Spent Saturday running around to grocery stores.... I was hoping to make a run to Penzey's (there are ones in the area, but none that are easy to get to... heck.. it's probably easier for me to get up to Wisconsin.... ). That didn't happen. Just ended up getting an online order in today... totally blanked that a coworker was getting married this weekend, and I wanted to give her a small gift, and since we spend our smoke breaks talking about cooking, I know she'll enjoy it.

Sunday was low-key day with the in-laws. Outside all day. Oh my allergies.

Housework neglected this weekend... the bathrooms need cleaning, and I still have to get the winter sheets off the bed. Kitchen really needs a scrub down (as always). And I have to clean out the fridge.... I've got the week old lasagna in there that I wasn't impressed with (which is why it never made it to the freezer). I'm sure there is laundry to be done, but thankfully the husband went and bought some new work clothes this weekend, which buys time, lol.

Dinner tonight was highly uninteresting... filet mignons, nuked potatoes and grilled asparagus. The fun of grilling in the rain... I swear it was only raining every time I walked out on the deck. Did chop up some fresh rosemary for on top of my steak.... yum. Rosemary is another one, like fennel... I love it fresh but cannot stand the dried stuff.

Sigh. Dirty kitchen calls.

I love the smells from a convection oven on am 80 degree day......

If you're ever in the market to get a new stove, and convection is an option, GO FOR IT.

Best decision I made when we replaced the appliances when we moved here.

In our old apartment, on what was a nice, mid-80s degree day outside, our third-floor shithole apartment would seem like a lovely piece of real estate that was sun-adjacent. And the air didn't help a thing.

On a day like today was, I'd have to figure out how the heck to make dinner and not heat up the kitchen too much, to undo what little good air conditioners and fans did.

God, I hated it.

Now... in our beautiful townhome with the central air (No pleasure, no rapture, no exquisite sin greater, than central air) it's not so bad.

And... with the convection oven, I can actually cook *two* things in the oven! Yes, that makes me very very happy these days!

Tonight was BLTs with a new favorite of mine, Parmesan Oven Fries (from Everyday Food.... slightly modified by me to use less cheese). Bacon on one sheet pan, oven fries on the other. Stuck both in the middle racks in the oven, and cooked away.

Oh yeah... oven bacon. If you've never tried it, DO. It's the greatest way ever to cook bacon. And I don't even do it on a rack anymore... I find you actually get some nice color when you just throw it on the sheet pan.

But.... dinner was made (lost three of my farmer's market tomatoes. I spend a LOT of time looking over the produce so I don't get bruised ones, and then the farmer's market dudes just throw them in a bag and abuse them. Grrrrr.) Living space was not heated up. The Man (aka Hubby) was happy, unlike last night. Hope he enjoyed it.... since it looks like pork chops tomorrow. I'm thinking the Pork Chops with Zesty Sauce (minus the olives - another no-no for the Man) from Jacques Pepin's "Fast Food My Way". I don't use that cookbook nearly enough.

Color me PISSED!!!!!

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate Sandra Lee.

But I love snark. So I watch.

And browsing thru Tivo listings for her show, hoping for a long-hidden gem or something..... and ran across this listing for June 23rd.

"Restaurant Remakes: Bobby and Mario". Sandra is inspired by the food of Bobbly Flay and Mario Batali.

(FoodNetwork/RayRayWorldDominationCorp does not have a description yet.... please tell me it's because this won't air... please tell me it's because this won't air..........)

And the typical workday.......

Got to work a few minutes later than I wanted this morning. Pretty typical.

Work actually wasn't too hectic today.... but since I'm currently in the throws of 5 projects that are all going to be due within the next month or so, I'm sure it won't last! (I'm a technical writer. You know that book that came in the box when you bought your router that you've already tossed in the trash? I might have written it. Well, probably only if you're in Europe. I've worked on our Euro lines the most.)

At about 5:30pm I looked at the clock. Darn. Meant to leave work at 5pm (this is pretty common - I work more than fourty hours a week, usually, out of my own free will and stupidity).

In short... the night was.....

Leave work.
Stop at store.
Come home & change clothes.
Relax for two seconds.
Start dinner prep. Raid herb garden.
Cook dinner.
Wake up grumby husband from evening nap (how come I never get one of those????)
Eat.
Minor cleaning.
Pull a bagel dog out of the freezer for hubby to eat for dinner after he poo-pooed the chicken.
Watered plants in the back.
Watered plants in the front.
Worked out on excercise bike (after ten minutes of moving it back in to place and re-balancing it... hubby moved it over the weekend and always forgets that means I need to re-balance the thing).
Cleaned off floors and cabinets from my cooking exploits.
Chatted online a little with freiends.
Cleaned dishes, put hubby's clothes in dryer (at least he got them in the washer).
Checked online to see how much a copy of the French Laundry (Damn you, Diner Girl!!!) runs. Might buy myself one this weekend (since my dad passed in 2005, every holiday when I'd usually give him a cookbook, I buy myself a new cookbook). Who knows when I'll be able to cook anything from it... but I'm sure it will be a joy to own.

I was trying a new recipe for dinner tonight... Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyere. Needed to stop at the store on the way home to buy the Gruyere. Also knew I needed lettuce for BLTs tomorrow. Got home, and found a full head of lettuce in the fridge. Shit. Looks like some salads will be eaten this week!

Recipe was easy enough, but the hubby wasn't fond of it.

My husband has the tastebuds and likes/dislikes of a five year old. Seriously.

Groans whenever I make chicken. Hates balsamic vinegar. Doesn't like it when I put anything - meaning even salt and pepper - on his steak when I'm grilling steaks. Not fond of sauces, for the most part. No stinky cheeses. No strong herbs. Won't eat fish. When I make pork he often mistakes it for chicken.

The recipe did call for tarragon... and with two tarragon plants in my garden, I'm in my full-blown fresh tarragon summer addiction. Hate the dried stuff, love the fresh stuff (I might need to try harder to keep my plants alive this winter). I chopped up a bunch for me, and sprinkled it on top of mine before I ate it. I liked it well enough. I better - got enough left for two lunches this week!

Total klutz in the kitchen today. Got flour everywhere, dropped sour cream on the cabinets and floor, so that had to be dealt with.

While doing all this - watched the new Hell's Kitchen and No Reservations. Ahhh. Summer Monday nights when I get to view Furture Husband Number One (Bourdain) and Future Husband Number Three (Ramsay).

And now is the best time of night... a glass of chilled savignon blanc and The Daily Show. Nothing exciting on the wine... just Charles Shaw... I'm a cheapie for my every day wine drinking.

The typical Saturday.....

Today was spent on the mundane but required tasks of the usual Hausfrau who also has a full time job.

Hit the farmer's market for a few minutes.... first time I've been to the town's farmer's market although I've lived here for 8 years.... pretty sad, actually. I hope it was a poor showing since it was the first farmer's market day for the season. Too many people selling crafts (like the "stuff made from gourds" stand... what the hell?) and not enough food. I did walk away with some tomatoes, strawberries and a small loaf of zucchini bread for breakfast tomorrow.

Then, it was time to brave the masses and hit the plain old grocery store (that'll be POG from here on out) and the produce mart.

Sadly, my grocery store cart is starting to look more and more like the people I pity most.... people with carts full of nothing but all the crap convenience foods that the usual POG has to offer now. But in my defense, that is because I always also hit the produce mart to buy my veggies and meat at half price. The POG haul was lasagna fixin's (which included the 3 pound jar of Prego.... I have tried many times to make my own sauce but I grew up on Prego.... my italian Gran used Prego.... I'm a Prego girl and I have no shame about it) and some stuff that is cheaper there like tuna that was on sale. Woo. Exciting.

Oh, picked up fixings so the hubby can make himself fried balogna tomorrow. I despise the stuff. He is only allowed to make it when I am not home and the house can be fully aired out before I return home.

Produce mart haul was pretty unexciting. Sadly, as more and more people have discovered this place, they've gotten a little more mainstream. But the place still rocks.

Home... did some cleaning, did some laundry (exciting life, huh?) and prepped a lasagna for tomorrow, in honor of the last ever episode of the Sopranos. Also, I have a wedding shower tomorrow (two cousins are getting married this summer/fall.... uh... not to each other, as that kinda reads....) so who knows when I'll be getting home.

My lasagna... no real recipe.... some ground sirloin and italian sausage and onions cooked... add red sauce to taste.... take your riccotta, mix in some thawed chopped spinach and choppped salami along with the egg.... layer it all with cheese and the no-boil noodles. Now it happily sits in our fridge for tomorrow.

And we had Taco Bell for dinnner. I suck... but the husband was happy (hey.... I gave him the choice between BLTs and Taco Bell. I blame him.)

Sudden thought that I might need to do bruschetta with my tomatoes tomorrow. Hmm. Also gives me a chance to raid the herb garden, which I always love.

Yeah. Fairly typical Saturday. Sadly, right down to the Taco Bell.

Ok. Hex is on in a minute. I've mentioned I love TV, right???

So who the heck are you??

More often, I find myself remind myself... oh yeah, I'm married now??

I'm a (sigh) early 30's gal, have a day job, live in the Chicago northwest suburbs. Got married in 2005 after dating the most wonderful guy for a mere 11 years (hey.... ya gotta take the test drive before you commit to buying!). I'm snarky, I spend too much time watching TV and not enough time being the wife who cleans, manages the house without a complaint, all wearing heels, pearls and a dress (although the hubsy might like that).

I do cook though. Not as much as I probably should, but more than a lot of other people do. It's probably the only area where my Hausfrau tendencies measure up.

And I love to talk food. I read cookbooks like novels. I read a lot of other food blogs and enjoy them... what the hell (yeah... beware..... I swear like a trucker).... might as well try one of my own.