First post of 2011

Man, I really need to start taking more pictures. Today's photo is from the Mt. Baldy trip we took last March. I just don't have much recent stuff that isn't already posted.

Sadly, my temp to hire position has fallen through after one month. The company didn't have as much business set up for January as they had anticipated so several of us (including some full-time staff) were let go. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I am glad for the experience, and who knows? Maybe they will get busy again & remember me.

I have made several of the recipes from my Harry Potter cookbook. I really like the Herby Chicken a lot; the skin comes out nice & crisp, and since it's got butter under the skin you don't really need to baste it. The Onion-Garlic Mashed Potatoes that go with it I wasn't so impressed with. The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and the next time I make it I'll use butter & milk instead. I think that will make a big difference. I didn't care much for the Glazed Carrots although Ralph did like them. However, I don't believe that the recipe itself is poor; I think the issue was 1) I used "lite" corn syrup instead of regular since that's all they had in the store; and 2) I didn't cut the carrots thin enough so they were too crunchy for my liking. I will definitely give these another chance. Today I made Molly's Meatballs with Onion Sauce, and these I give two thumbs up! When I was making them I was dubious about the large quantity of onion (a whole one in the meatballs and another in the sauce), however it really is the right amount. Soooo good.

Yesterday was our 12th wedding anniversary. We didn't buy gifts for each other, but we did have a very pleasant weekend together. We saw "Tron: Legacy" on Saturday. When we got out of the theater, Ralph mentioned it was 3:00 o'clock. I said, "3:00 o'clock . . . isn't that when we were supposed to be at J & K's for the potluck?" Ralph said a Bad Word & we headed home to quickly make a corn casserole. We were quite late but no one seemed to mind; we arrived with the casserole just as people were thinking about having seconds of the meal so that was OK. We talked & ate & watched the re-run of the Rose Parade and basically a good time was had by all.

Yesterday Ralph needed to get some rear view mirror adhesive, so we went & picked that up, then sat in the truck listening to the rain, drinking hot chocolate and reading (him)/knitting (me) while we decided where to go for an early dinner/late lunch. We picked a Moroccan place in San Pedro, but alas we got there long before they opened. After driving around a bit we decided to eat at a British pub. Good choice, very good choice. The meal began with marinated mushrooms, and individual Yorkshire puddings with beef & horseradish sauce. Then we both chose steak pies (his with mushrooms, mine with kidney) and we finished it up with a lovely bread pudding which was complementary since it was our anniversary. Naturally I picked out the raisins since those are An Abomination Unto Nuggin.

Right now I am snuggled up under this wonderful electric blanket Ralph bought for me. It's just the right size for one person. He got one for himself, too. They were a bit pricey but I suspect they'll save us a lot of money when compared to running the space heaters all the time.