Week 36 Crab Casserole

Oh my gosh, this is so good!  And once again I forgot to take a picture.  I've made this at least three times now (that's how far behind I am in my blogging) and not once did I remember to take a picture for the blog.  I basically found this while looking through one of my cookbooks for a new recipe to make and blog about.  I don't like mushrooms so I don't use those when I make this, but the crabmeat, mayo, stuffing, onion, whipping cream, eggs, parsley, and stuffing mix all combine nicely for a delicious dinner (or leftover lunch).  I made it just for me, I made it for one of my co-workers when she had surgery and was home recovering for a few weeks (she said she and her family really liked it) and I made it one night when I had my friend, her husband, and two children over.  I'm not sure her kids liked it that much (they're only two-years-old), but the adults seemed to enjoy it.  So there ya' go, another good dish.  And for once a dinner that didn't involve chicken since I seemed to be on a chicken kick for a while there with all my dinners. 

Week 35 Old-Fashioned Blueberry Buckle

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this one.  It was tasty!  Very much like blueberry bread.  I enjoyed this one.  I really don't have much else to say about this so I guess this is just going to be a short blog.  Now you can go do something productive.  :) 

Week 34 Clam Chowder Casserole

This recipe was a total accident.  Wait, I should rephrase that.  The recipe wasn't an accident, but my need to make it was.  I bought clams for something a while back and it turned out I bought the wrong kind.  Well thank goodness for google because you can just type in, 'recipes to make with canned clams' (or something similar) and all kinds of things pop up so you can get some use out of your "wrong" clams.  Of course the reason I wanted to make something with the clams was to use the clams NOT to have to purchase a bunch of other stuff so I could use the clams.  Eventually, I found something that I had most of the ingredients for.  One of the only things I needed to buy were oyster crackers.  Unfortunately, the grocery store only had a gigantic bag of oyster crackers.  I should have googled recipes that I could make with oyster crackers.  I think there might still be some sitting in my cabinet.  ANYWAY...I made this recipe and it was okay. Not my favorite, but not bad.  My one complaint is that it doesn't reheat too well.  Usually, I enjoy leftovers, but the leftovers on this dish weren't so wonderful.  They weren't awful, but definitely not as good as leftovers usually are for me.  I shared this recipe with one of my co-workers (I believe my carrot cake blog on here was from her recipe and I have two more of her recipes to try at some point) and she liked it and her husband LOVED it.  She's given me quite a few recipes so I was glad to return the favor so to speak. 

Say Cheese

We booked our wedding photographer.  We met with three different places (not bad for two indecisive people!) and found one we liked.  Actually, we liked two of them.  I liked the first person we met with, but my fiancé was a little annoyed because we met the owner of the company not the photographer.  That being said, he was very nice and patient with all of our questions.  Very friendly.  And the prices were great.  The next day we met with another photographer.  He was a bit...hmm, how can I put this politely?  I get that you have to sell yourself and put yourself out there, but it was a bit much.  And he gave us the brush off with some of our questions.  The third photographer we met with, my fiancé really liked.  He wanted to book him, but his prices were kind of high.  However, the next day he e-mailed us offering us a decent discount.  Since my fiancé is no Groomzilla, I figured I could compromise and let him get something he wanted even though it was a bit over our budget.  So a couple of days later, we wrote yet another check.  :-)  But now we have one thing checked off the list.  According to The Knot, I only have 158 (or something like that) more decisions to make.    Oh, yes, and we booked a dj a while back too.  Make that 157 (or something like that) more decisions to make. 

Week 33: Blondies (with Butterscotch chips)

I made this delightful dish during Lent when I wasn't eating chocolate.  I had made blondies before, but not this recipe.  It was good.  It was also a smaller dish than the previous blondies I'd made so that meant I wouldn't eat as many because there weren't as many to enjoy.  They were delicious.  I would gladly  make these again.  Unfortunately, I keep forgetting to take pictures of these dishes.  :-( 

Week 32 Honey Glazed Chicken Stir Fry

It has been so long since I made this that I barley remember it!  I do remember that making this involved me buying honey for the first time.  I had to ask someone what aisle honey is in since I'd never had a need to purchase it.  Fun Fact:  I once read that honey is the only food that does not spoil.  Anyway, I do believe I enjoyed this dish as did my fiancé.  Sorry to be so vague, but I made it in February.  Oops, I'm a little behind (again!). 

A Month Late

So "yesterday" a.k.a. a month ago, I said I would put up the pictures from Day 5 of my trip (after I charged my camera battery) and then life got in the way.  I charged the battery, but never posted the pictures so here are some of them a month late (and two months after the trip).  Enjoy!  Many are from a museum we went to.  Some are from my friend's place and the one of Ginger (the dog) and me is because I posed with her in a similar pose several years ago.  While we were unable to retake the picture at the same location we did the best we could with my posing.  If I were as good as my friend, I'd give you the comparison shot from 2010 and now, but I don't have that picture handy. 

 

Week 31 Cheesecake Pumpkin Muffins

Doesn't that sound delicious?  Cheesecake is delicious (usually) and pumpkin flavored things are wonderful (usually).  The muffins were okay, but not as delicious as they sounded.  I wonder if perhaps I should have added more cream cheese or something.  There were several layers to the muffins including a crumble-like pecan topping.  I may try to make them again next fall. 

Arizona Day 6

The title may as well have said Day 5 Continued considering I had to get up a little after 4am to catch my flight.  When one is on vacation, 4 am is still the middle of the night.  Heck, when I'm not on vacation, 4 am is nearly the middle of the night.  I don't get up until 6:30 on work days.  Anyway, I got up ridiculously early.  Natalie took me to the airport a half hour after I got up and an hour or so later I was on a plane.  I had to change planes in Denver.  I had been to Denver before and never had an issue.  That was not the case this time.  First, I got lost.  I eventually found my way and went to board a tram and nearly got squashed.  Normally things like that will beep and stay open if people are standing in the entryway trying to board, not this one, the doors just kept coming and coming.  Several of us had to back off the tram back onto the platform since people wouldn't move in.  When I was finally seated in the waiting area to board my connecting flight, I had this lovely text conversation with my brother: 
Me:  Hello Denver.
Brother:  Hello Texas
Me:  Why are you in Texas?
Bro:  I work in Texas
Me:  I thought you worked in NM.
Bro:  Hasn't been NM since Jan.
Me: Clearly, we don't talk enough.  Please don't tell me you are married and have two kids now too.   

Boarded my plane a while later and made it home safely.  All in all it was a great trip!  One of these days I'll remember to post those last few pics.