theresat

So, this past weekend Mike and I visited his parents in New Jersey. We had a really nice time. Friday we arrived to a delicious dinner and watched tv with his parents until I fell asleep on the couch. Mike thought it was funny to take pictures of me with my head under a pillow (the light was bothering me!).

Saturday we took their Corvette out for the day, and drove around on a wildly unsuccessful scouting mission, where we failed to find the two knitting stores and the one winery we were searching for. We did see some cool stuff, including High Point, which was really neat despite my terror at trying to climb the stairs inside the 220 foot monument. Mike took lots of pictures, including some nice ones of me.

Saturday night we went to the bar with his parents, aunt and uncle, and friends of the family. One of their favorite bands, The Flamethrowers, were playing. Apparently there are pictures of us up on their website from that night.

Sunday we got up kind of late and had lunch. While Mike was cooking burgers, I grabbed the top book in his mom's book pile. It was a cookbook, The Food You Crave, by Ellie Krieger. Looking through it, I found tons of recipes that sounded delicious, so as soon as we got home, I ran out and bought it.

Since I bought that cookbook, I have made at least one recipe a day, and every one has been delicious. It's healthy, simple food, with delicious ingredients. Sunday night I made penne with roasted tomatoes, garlic, and white beans. Yesterday was Mike's turn to cook, with Tuscan roasted chicken and vegetables. And today for lunch, I made sweet and spicy grilled cheese sandwiches, with a specialty cheddar we got at the big E, Jack cheese, yellow onion, and tomato. Mmmm.

The only thing I don't like is that Krieger seems to love red onions and kalamata olives, and features one or the other in nearly every recipe. I don't think any of the recipes are less delicious for not having them included, so it's not a huge deal.

The next few things I want to make are chicken pot pie with phyllo crust, chicken with mango barbecue sauce, roasted salmon with shallot-grapefruit sauce, baked shrimp with tomatoes and feta, macaroni and four cheeses, whole wheat pancakes with strawberry sauce......the list goes on.