Do Others Do This Too?

I have some family traditions. Honking the horn when you cross the state line. Calling out the name of a body of water (when you're on a road trip) and expecting everyone else in the car to call it out, too. Things like that. (There are more than I can list...more than I can even think of!)

On Friday, we colored eggs. I grew up doing American Eggs, with the rainbow colors...aaaaand the Latvian Eggs, with the onion skin dye and the natural nature stuff for the variety.

My dear husband did his 2 or 3 Latvian Eggs, and colored about 18 of the American Eggs. He wrote witty things on the eggs in crayon beforehand and then dipped them in the dye. This was the part he enjoyed the most.

When I asked him if he didn't want to do more Latvian Eggs before I threw the dye away, he looked up from some invisible wit he was inscribing on an egg and said (lovingly, but factually): "No. I did those three for you. Cause I love you."

I love, in our marriage, that we can be that honest about traditions and habits. It's ok that he doesn't loooooove doing Latvian Eggs, and it's ok that he was honest about it. To be honest like that makes me happy, and it makes me trust people more.

Have a nice day.

Spring Catch-Up

It's been a while since I've posted. You know, I read all these great blogs and sometimes think I have nothing cool or worthwhile to say. And then I get in the habit of not-posting. Or I get really, really busy, and just get in the habit of not-posting.

Honestly, it has been a busy month for me. I've worked extra hours because of the exhibit-change-over. I worked extra hours because of Atlanta schools' Spring Break increased our attendance. I worked extra hours because one of our staff couldn't fulfill their shifts. I worked a lock-in Friday night (wheee! clock in at 5:30 pm and clock out at 9:30 am and sleep about 3 hours in between! yay for caffeine!).

When I'm feeling taxed, then writing here goes out the window. I have other things to do, like dishes, laundry, meal planning, and cooking. Folding clothes. Straightening up the house. Hanging out with my husband.

But here's a post for y'all. Would you like some short-quick-to-the-point Deep Thoughts? Good; here you go:

• I had coffee with a good friend I haven't seen in 5 years. It's so good to see her again and catch up. I sensed in her the same changed I've been sensing in myself: I've gone through some really hard seasons in the last 5 years, and have grown up a lot, become more refined, more sanctified. So has she. Her fun and goofy and silly personality is still there, but there's also a delightful calmness and peace that was there before but is more apparent now.
• A dear friend has, in the last month, had a baby (her 3rd girl! hooray) and spent about a week in the hospital with her. The baby had (has?) RSV.
• Spring is springing here in Southeast Tennessee. The redbuds are blooming in spite of the chilly overcast drizzliness we've had the last week and a half; the pears are trying their darndest to bloom. All we need is two, maybe three, hot and sunny days and spring will dazzle and delight us.

That's about all that comes to mind. Have a good Lord's Day, everyone.

Ham Loaf

I'm inspired to write about my evening's cooking...at least the Ham Loaf part of my cooking.
Here's a photo of the recipe.* Actually, it's a photo of an email of the recipe. If you care, you can read some of my commentary when I emailed the recipe to my mom.



Start with 1-3/4 cups of milk. Notice the measuring cup. My sister gave it to me for Christmas a while ago. See how the cup looks like it's got stairsteps? Those are the 1/2 and 1/4 measurements...I love those measuring cups!

Next, add two eggs and 2 tablespoons brown sugar:

After the eggs and brown sugar, it's time for the dry mustard. 1 tablespoon. Isn't that a cute mustard tin?

Be sure to add the salt.

Next, I mixed what was in my bowl. That giant fork? We called it a granny fork at Mia Cucina, one of my previous employers. I use it a lot for whipping and mixing things like this.

Then, add 6 slices soft bread, cubed.

Since I used up all my bread, I had to put another loaf in to bake.

Add 1-1/2 pound ground pre-cooked ham. This is my food processor, grinding my ham. Janis and Christine gave us that food processor for a wedding gift. Thanks, Janis and Christine! I like it a lot!

You should also add 1 pound ground beef. I didn't take a picture because my hands were all beefy and gross, so feast your eyes on this instead:

Put it in a casserole to bake. Doesn't that look like Alice's meatloaf in The Brady Bunch Movie? Hah! It looks a little gross, I admit. But believe me, it tastes great when it comes out.


Just for kicks, here is a photo of the unbaked ham loaf looking mighty pink, like it's out of a 1960s cookbook with full-color photos!

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Ham Loaf
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine in large mixing bowl:
1 3/4 c milk
2 large eggs
2 T brown sugar
1 T dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 slices soft bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1-1/2 lbs ground ham (pre-cooked)
1 lb. ground beef

Shape into a loaf in an oven-proof dish.

Bake until firm and lightly browned, about 90 minutes. Meat should reach an internal temperature of 175-180 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Merry Christmas (Christmas Travels, Part 2)

So, we woke on Christmas morning and unloaded out stockings. Each stocking has the traditional orange, in-shell peanuts, and candy, as well as something special for each person.

We had breakfast together...traditional scrambled eggs, bacon, monkey bread, and whatnot...then did dishes and THEN began the gift opening.

They were opened one at a time (none of this crazy all-at-once orgy of greed self-absorbed self-centeredness!), and each one was exclaimed over and appreciated.

(Wow, writing about this is really boring. Believe me, it was a nice day, not boring at all.)

Our niece, who is 16 months old, was very cute in the midst of all this. She understood the concept of tearing paper off, but may not have understood that the paper was the prelude, not the game itself. Her Favorite Uncle (my youngest brother-in-law) spent lots of time with her helping her unwrap and enjoy gifts! He is so kind and gentle with her, it's no wonder he's Her Favorite Uncle.

We had Christmas Dinner (Ham and stuff) later that evening...about 8pm...and inbetween gift-opening and dinner several things happened: Niece had her nap, movies were watched, books were perused, phone calls were made (just two...the daughters-in-law to each respective set of parents).

All in all, a nice, relaxing, family-focused, traditional and new-tradition-building day. I loved it.

Westward Ho! (Christmas Travels, Part 1)

First in this series of posts about our Christmas 2008, the trip itself.


View Larger Map

Here's our westward route. Due to the weather in Mt. Vernon, IL and thereabouts (70% chance of evening wintry mix on the 23rd! yikes), we opted for the southern route. It took us about 5.5 hours on the first evening to drive across one state. Yes, Memphis is very far away.

The second day, as we set out across Arkansas, we ran into some rain. It was very rainy, and windy. In fact, as we crossed the Mississippi River, I wan't able to enjoy it because (1) it was so rainy you couldn't even see the water as you crossed it which was just creepy enough to be unsettling and (2) it was so windy I had this terrible surreal fear of being blown off the bridge and into the cold, churning Mississippi below.

So that was our welcome to Arkansas. Thankfully, the rain cleared out in about 30 minutes. Crossing the rest of Arkansas was...long. 5 hours! I drove across most of Arkansas, through all of Oklahoma, and into southern Kansas to Wichita, while Ian read to me or slept.

We got gas in Wichita, and were going to get some fast food, but we forgot that it was Christmas Eve and all the restaurants closed early, so we ate gas station food.* This time, our On the Road Christmas Eve Dinner was fresh, plump, tasty hot dogs (Husband had corn dogs...I held the tray of ketchup for him so he could hold the corn dog, dip it in ketchup, and drive all at the same time), chips, and cokes.

The rest of the trip was uneventful (thankfully so!) till we arrived in Quinter at about 10 pm. Our homecoming was picturesque: the rest of the family had gathered in the living room and were singing Christmas carols while my father-in-law was accompanying with guitar. What a delightful memory!

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*Two years ago on Christmas Eve, we were driving from Colorado to Western Kansas and ate gas station food at 10pm in a tiny town on I-70 in Eastern Colorado. (If you've never driven I-70 in Eastern Colorado, let me tell you: it's barren.) We had the last two glumly revolving hot dogs in the gas station and were grateful! We were hungry, and they were food.

Obligatory Post-Thanksgiving Post

I've been cooking all week, including cooking the turkey and carving it the evening before Thanksgiving. So, all I had left to do on Thursday was the last minute stuff. It got done.

Things that happened Thanksgiving morning before the meal:

• Monkey bread was baked and served for breakfast-snacking.
• Cheese ball was put out for breakfast-snacking.
• Chocolate-Pecan Pie was compiled and baked off.
• Apple juice was simmered with 3 cloves and 1/2 cinnamon stick (simple, easy cider; if orange peels simmer for too long they turn bitter).
• Table was set.
• Butter was put onto butter dish early enough for it to get soft for the meal.
• Potatoes were boiled and mashed.
• Green bean casserole was baked and topped with French fried onions.
• Peas were steamed.
• Crescent rolls were baked.
• Turkey was plattered and reheated (and still didn't get dry!)
• Martinelli's was poured (yes, we had a bottle of wine, but we didn't serve it. Long story).

The only food-related hitch was that the peas overcooked. I couldn't find regular crescent rolls this year, only the "big and buttery" ones...I didn't read the baking instructions beforehand, and they needed 10 extra minutes to bake...those were the 10 minutes that overcooked the peas. Oooooh well. I'll write that down to remember for next year's turkey dinner.

It was a great meal. It was a really nice day. I loved it. Some of the people I love were there, some new friends were there, and a lot of the people I love were elsewhere. Still, it was a great day.

Like/Don't Like Illustrated Edition!

Things I Like:

The Library

Hugs, and pictures of ridiculously cute cats

Shopping in a nearly empty store

Colby Cheese

Cheese and Crackers

The occasional boys' choir song...especially at Christmastime

Compliments

Things I Don't Like:

Black Friday Shopping

Precious Moments

Swiss Cheese

Hearing too much of the boys' choirs (oh, the shrillness)

Pate

Binging

I just binged on apple slices. At least it wasn't a package of freakin' Oreos...but I still have that uncomfortable full feeling. It is roughage, at least.

In related news, I HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND cutting your apples in halves, and then using a melon baller to scoop out the core. It was speedy, neat, easy, and attractive.

Sweet Tea

Now that the weather is changing, I am drinking sweet tea. I'm sure some imagine sipping a tall, icy glass of sweet tea while sitting in a rocking chair on the front veranda of a beautiful antebellum Southern mansion.

Not me. It's getting chilly, and now I want sweet tea. (Also, I can't buy coffee yet. Payday's not for a while.) (Anyway, if there are any Aussies reading this blog, this post should be right on time for your spring- and summer-time.)

So here's my recipe, adapted from Paula Deen. (Hers is too sweet.)

Krista's Sweet Tea

• Bring to a boil 2 cups water in medium saucepan. As soon as it boils, take it off the heat, put two family-size teabags in, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes or so.
• In two-quart pitcher, dissolve 1/3 cup sugar in some hot water. Tap water is fine.
• When the tea has steeped, pour it over into the pitcher. Stir.
• Fill the pitcher with cold tap water.
• Serve over ice.

Yield: 1/2 gallon (2 quarts). Double the recipe for a 1-gallon pitcher.

Sunday Meals

Monica posted about another layer her family adds to the specialness of the Lord's Day, and it inspired me to share what we do on Sundays.

Our church has a potluck every Sunday. Yes, every Sunday.

I really like it. I like the obvious reason of only preparing one casserole (maybe two) and sometimes one dessert to share with the whole church family, instead of an entire meal for just the two of us. I also like more subtle reasons: the chitchat and catchup with the folks in the kitchen as we prepare the food to go on the tables; the visiting over meals that we all get to do; the comments and compliments I get to share with other cooks in my congregation; the way we all crowd into the fellowship hall. We get in each other's way, we bump into each other, the little kids are underfoot...but we are all there, sharing this time together, learning at least a few of the minutiae and details of each other's personalities. (For example, one gentleman has Parkinson's but wants to contribute anyway, so he brings a box of cookies each week. There's always someone who puts his little donation into a nice dish so that they're just as special as any of the homemade desserts. Another example: the pastor's wife happens to have a real 'leadership' personality, and she organizes events that need organized.)

Don't think that it's all sunshine and roses, though. Like any family dynamic, this routine of Sunday potluck also brings out some weaknesses. There are patterns and routines we have when we all get together that I don't like, but nonetheless--we're a family, and the Big Sunday Potluck has potential either to make people feel included or to make them feel overlooked. My experience is that it's inclusive and fun.

Saturday Chores: 5:17pm

Accomplished:
~vacuumed all the moldings (eeew)
~vacuumed behind the dryer, while I had the vacuum out
~mixed two cake mixes, and made 2 doz. chocolate/vanilla marble cupcakes
~2 layers of a chocolate/vanilla marble cake ready to be baked

Recipe: Spiced Ham Loaf and Spiced Apple Sauce

My mom grew up in Pennsylvania, and this is a very traditional Pennsylvania Dutch home-cookin' recipe. I served this last Sunday, and it was delicious. The leftovers were delicious, too!

Spiced Ham Loaf
Ingredients:
1 3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
2 T brown sugar
1 T dry mustard
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
6 slices soft bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
1 1/2 lb ground ham (pre cooked)
1 lb ground beef

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the milk, eggs, brown sugar, dry mustard, salt, and pepper. Add the bread cubes, ham, and beef. Blend well; shape a loaf. Place in a large loaf pan or onto a roasting pan.**

Bake at 350 until firm and lightly browned, about 90 minutes. Meat should reach an internal temperature of 175 to 180 degrees on a meat thermometer.

Remove from oven. Let rest 15 minutes, allowing the juices to settle, before slicing.***

Apple Cider Sauce
Ingredients
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3 cups apple cider, or no-sugar-added apple juice
3/4 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2T + 1 tsp cornstarch
2 T water
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice

Combine the brown sugar, apple cider, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a saucepan. Note: because the sweetness of ciders varies, be prepared to adjust the amount of sugar to taste.**** Bring to a boil.

Separately dissolve the cornstarch in the water. Gradually add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling apple cider mixture, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens slightly.

Remove the sauce from heat. Stir in the lemon juice. Serve with Spiced Ham Loaf or Baked Ham.

This recipe is from CDKitchen http://www.cdkitchen.com

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*I bake my own bread, so this was extra yummy bread. It would still be ok with store bought bread, but the bread I bake doesn't have any extraneous ingredients.

**I used a round casserole dish because it was what I had on hand.

***I let mine rest, then covered it and put it into the fridge. Then, for Sunday lunch, I microwaved it to take off the chill and put it into my already-warm oven to heat it up enough to serve at the table.

****I used the full measure of sugar, and it was prrrrreeeeeety sweet! Next time I'll use just half.

Doing Eggs

I really enjoy family traditions. One of my traditions from my family of origin is Easter-Egg Coloring. It's not just using tubs of dye to dye eggs:

It's also using onion skins and items from nature to color eggs

This is Latvian Egg Coloring. I grew up doing this. Every Easter Saturday, we (my family: Mom, Dad, Sister, and Omamma [Dad's mom]) would sit at the same table and make each egg an individual artwork. It's so exciting to put leaves, grass, three-leafed clover, pear blossoms, grape hyacinths, forsythia blooms, baby oak leaves, and all kinds of materials on the egg, wrap it up, put it in the dye bath, and then...unwrap the egg and see how it turned out! Woo!

We colored eggs yesterday. Ian was there, and SisterinLaw A came for a visit so she could color eggs too, and her friend A was also there. It was such a nice time. It's a great season (springtime) for turning on pleasant music, opening the windows, covering the table with accessories for this art project, and do it together.

Dishes

I'm joining in! Rocks in my Dryer is having a spur-of-the-moment dish carnival and I want to share, too! I think it's amazing how many people, including me, will share details like these on the Internet. Are our plates really that important that we think of them as signifiers of who we are and how we keep house? Makes you think, right?

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First, my fine china: Lenox MicroSafe Continental Dining Platinum. My godmother talked us into registering for it about two weeks before our wedding! By that time, we only had ONE AFTERNOON to get that done, so we ran to Dill.ards and *poof* registered really quickly. The dish saleslady was impressed with our communications skills and decision-making technique.

We have service for 6 now. My favorite parts? The size of the plates, the classiness and simplicity of the design, and the size/shape of the teacups--with their easy-to-hold handles!

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Our everyday dishes: Pfaltzgraff Denim. We only had ONE DAY to do all of our registering (we lived in separate cities, were both teachers, and were coming up on final exams, ok?), and I learned from my sister's registering adventures that men have opinions but haven't talked and obsessed and thought about them as much as girls do. So, we talked everything over the week before we registered, we prayed faithfully for guidance, and when we saw these in Tar.get, we clapped and giggled. (Ok, it was just me. And registering is hard work, peeps, so I was a little punchy.)

Thanks to my grandparents and my parents-in-law, we have service for ten. We also have the gravy boat, the sugar and creamer, salt and pepper shakers, and three canisters. I like the blue look.

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Next, my buffet plates. White. Round. Utilitarian. I picked them up at a garage sale at my store last summer. They are freezer-, microwave-, dishwasher-, and oven-safe. (Oven safe! Yay!) I have ten.

I also have ten lionshead bowls, perfect for French onion soup and individual macaroni and cheeses. I'm glad I bought them, though they are a little hard to wash by hand (we don't have a dishwasher).

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My Christmas plates I got at The Bombay Store in its big going-out-of-business sale. There was a Bombay Store two doors down from Mia Cucina, and I had my eye on their beautiful Tartan plates. When they went 50% off, I snatched up their next to last box--service for four, with the dinner plate, salad plate, soup plate, and mug. Soooo pretty!

I looked and looked but couldn't find any pictures of the actual plates. This is the closest I could find, with the white center and the tartan band; ours are actually red, white, green, and yellow tartan (with red as the primary color).

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And my winter plates, courtesy of my mom and my mother-in-law...and my husband, who told his mom what exactly I wanted for Christmas two years ago. I looked and looked, but could only found this similar picture:Instead of randomly-scattered snowflakes around the rim, my plates feature evenly placed flakes around the rim. The center is white, though. The best part? The glaze is iridescent, and as my people know, iridescent is my favorite color. We have 6 of these, as well as cereal bowls. However, they are not microwave safe!

***

***
I like plates! I got that gene from my grandmother, who has four or five nice, formal sets.

I grew up going to Grandma's house and using her nice dishes, and so I regularly bust out my nice dishes and use them, even if it's just pizza or sandwiches. They make even the most bland dinner extra nice, and fancy dinner is extra memorable.

Dinner for Nine

Covenant is on its Spring Break this week, and the Dining Hall is closed. The students who are staying on campus during Spring Break have to fend for themselves. And not all of the dorms are equipped with stoves for the students to cook on.

So I invited some of my new friends to come for dinner. It snowballed a little, and in the end 7 college girls came over.

Our table has leaves, but until last night we've never used them. It was pretty exciting for me, and really fun.

The menu?
Mom's Lasagna
Cindy's Salad
Green Beans
Garlic Bread
Pioneer's Mom's Apple Dumplings

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The dumplings were delicious. My favorite was the crustiness of the croissant-dumpling with the lightly caramelized sugar on it. Yummmm. I was, I confess, a little skeptical about the Mountain Dew, but I followed directions (and heeded the advice about the proper size dish)--and it all came out delicious. I'm going to make it again for my church's weekly potluck, and they will love it too.

You should definitely hop over there and get that recipe and make the dumplings! They were sooooooo good.

Pancakes

When I make pancakes, I make the Joy of Cooking Buttermilk Pancakes. They are divine, and as I get better and cooking them, they are more and more tasty every time.

Buttermilk Pancakes
Whisk together dry ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt

Combine in another bowl:
1 1/2 cups buttermilk*
3 tbsp. butter, melted
2 eggs

-Pour combined wet ingredients into dry ingredients and just combine. (The more you stir, the chewier the pancakes will be, so just combine the ingredients. It's ok if there are some smallish lumps in the batter.)
-Cook in a medium-hot skillet.**
-You can keep them warm in a 200-degree oven until they are all made.

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*One of my church cookbooks says that an acceptable substitute for buttermilk is vinegar + milk: 1 tbsp. of vinegar for every cup of milk. Pour the vinegar into the measuring cup and then pour the milk in to make 1 cup total liquid. Let it sit for 3-5 minutes to sour, and treat that as your buttermilk.

**My pancake-frying tips: (1) Don't let the skillet get too hot. Once it gets too hot, the bottom of your pancakes will burn before all the batter is cooked. (2) Flip the pancake once the bubbles in the batter become 'fixed.' If you have batter spattering around when you flip, it was not quite done enough. Just let it cook on the other side a little longer, and don't flip the next one so soon. (3) Take the pan off the heat and re-oil every time. I don't use spray-grease on my fry pans at all anymore; I use a basting brush and just a little wipe of vegetable oil to keep the pan lubed.

Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Before I write, let me just say this recipe was originally FineCooking's. I tweaked it.
Last weekend, I made this wonderful Macaroni and Cheese for a girls' night party. Here's the recipe I promised you:

Classic Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Ingredients

• Kosher Salt
• 6 tbs. unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 6 tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 tbs. Dijon mustard
• 1 quart whole milk, heated
• 1 large sprig fresh thyme, plus 1 tbs. chopped thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 oz. grated extra-sharp white Cheddar (the sharpest you can find)
• 4 oz. grated Monterey Jack
• 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 tsp. Tabasco sauce
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 lb. macaroni (elbow or something fun and small)
• 2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the baking dish
• 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 oz. freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

• Read the entire recipe before you start. Get the steps in your mind so that when it's time to start, you know what you are doing as you go.
• Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Boil your pasta in a big pot. (Pasta cooks better if you give it plenty of water and space to swim around in, but you won't kill the pasta totally if you only have a medium pot to boil these noodles in.) (Oh, and you can boil this earlier. You don't have to do it while you are compiling your white sauce. I don't know about you, but that's waaaaay too much multitasking for me.)

Compile your white sauce:

• Melt the butter. It should sizzle up a little then calm down.
• Throw in the onion and 1/2 tsp. salt and cook until the onion is softened.
• Now add the flour, and cook. Stir it, and cook the flour for about 1-2 minutes.
• Stir in the mustard.
• Add the milk. (Use a whisk for this step. Add the milk slowly until you whisk all the butter-flour lumps out. Be sure the milk is warmed because adding cold milk to hot butter-flour will make your butter-flour wonky.)
• Now add the bay leaf, thyme sprig, and another 1/2 tsp. salt. Let it come to a bare simmer.
• Cook this for 15 minutes to let the flavors get cozy with each other. Stir frequently. Don't burn the milk on the bottom of your pan.
• Pull out the herbs (bay leaf and thyme sprig).
• Add the cheeses. (Use a spoon for stirring during this part, because melty cheese is a devil to wash off a whisk!) Stir just until melted. (If you let it overcook with cheese in it, the cheese will get oily and yucky.)
• Add the Tobasco and Worcestershire. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Take the sauce off the heat and gently mix in the cooked pasta.

Dump into a buttered/oiled oven-safe dish, and cover with bread-crumb topping.

Bake in oven for 15 minutes to get that bread-crumb topping crispy and wonderful.

Let the macaroni and cheese rest 5-10 minutes before serving, even though you will want to gobble it all right there right away!

Bread-Crumb Topping

• Toss the breadcrumbs (2 cups), Parmigiano (1 1/2 oz.), olive oil (2 tbs.), chopped thyme (1 tsp.), 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper all together.
• If you do this step beforehand, then you'll be ready to roll when your white sauce-cooked pasta is in the dish and ready to roll.
  

Weeked Update and Monday to-do list

Wow! Everyone is busy on a Monday morning updating their blogs. Let me join the flow.

Weekend events:
*Cleaned house
*Cooked food for Saturday night party
*Cooked food for Sunday lunch
*Hosted Saturday night party (I got some girls together and we watched the pre-recorded Miss America I had on hand. It was fun!)
*Attended morning church
*Hosted Sunday lunch (SIL A and her two former roommates came over)
*Cleaned up from Sunday lunch--including the fine china (thanks to Mom and Tanta for the two extra place settings I have now!)
*Attended evening church
*Found crochet project (it was in a project bag) and resumed work on a baby blanket for Heather of Troy

Menus for meals:
Saturday party:
Macaroni and Cheese (I'll share this recipe later--it is sooo good!)
"Taco Night"
Dessert: fruit (grapes and strawberries)

Sunday lunch:
Quiche Lorraine + cheese -- will share this recipe when I am at home
Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche -- will share this recipe too
Salad
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (Love the doughboy--these are always sooo yummy!)
Dessert--Easy Cherry Cobbler provided by J and A, SIL A's two roommates. (will share this recipe too)

To do list for today (compiled last night by my dear friend and husband...he wrote it onto a large *Post-it and stuck it onto the front of my planner):
*Get transcripts for schools
*Make decision about Tuesday Night activity
*Copy/Scan teacher's license
*Print resume for C-County School District
*Get and fill out application
*Send/email applications to W- and C-County Schools

So...off I go!