Harry Potter Cookbook

As some of you know, Ralph bought me The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook for Christmas. (Actually, I found out yesterday that there are two books with this title; I got the one with the purple cover). I was completely jazzed about it and couldn't wait to try some of the recipes. Now that I've made some--I am even MORE jazzed about it. Entree-wise, my favorite so far is the Breaded Pork Chops, with the Herby Roast Chicken a close second. Ralph likes Molly's Meatballs with Onion Sauce best, and I have to admit those are very good too. A couple days ago I made the Treacle Pudding (see picture) which Ralph & I both love. It was just OK the first day, but after it had "aged" overnight, WOW!! There's just barely enough left for our dessert tonight. I'm hoping to find bittersweet chocolate somewhere so I can make the Steamed Chocolate Pudding this weekend. It's also used in the Dark Chocolate Truffles so you can see it's very important that I find some.

Knitting-wise, I'm ready to pick up the stitches for the gusset in the first sock. I've put that one aside for now & am casting on for the second one. I do prefer to work on both socks at the same time to avoid "second sock syndrome," but that hasn't been feasible with this one because of the bobbins. I didn't want to load up 20 bobbins & then have leftover bits on them when the socks are done. I really need to get a picture of the one in progress, though.

Had one nibble at my resume during the week, but nothing definite at this point. I've got those same mixed-feelings about it all. I like being home. It means real dinners instead of fast-food or whatever can be thrown together; the dogs can stay indoors when it's cold or rainy; I can get the chores & errands done so the weekend is free to do fun things. Ralph likes me to be home for the same reasons. BUT. We just can't *quite* afford for me to not be working. A part-time job would be great, or even a series of temp positions would work out. Oh, well, as the old TV theme says, "we'll just take life as it comes, one day at a time." Hmm, wonder if I could find that on Netflix?




I got rather grossed out at the grocery store the other day. The bagger at the next checkstand over thoroughly wiped his nose on the palm of his hand & then went back to bagging groceries. YUCK! From where I stood it looked like his nose was really runny, too; his mustache looked wet. ICK ICK ICK. I kept a close eye on him to make sure he didn't come over to bag at the checkstand where I was. There was no way I was going to let him touch the lettuce I was buying, even if I had to say, "I'm sorry, but I saw you wipe your nose with your hand, and I don't want snot on my salad." Luckily he stayed put. I probably should have told him to go wash.

The second picture today is from the Christmas parade last month. It shows up a lot better if you click on it to enlarge. Isn't that just the coolest cop car ever?