#52 & 53

Church Window and Mint M&M Cookies

Well, not having a home allowed me to bake some different holiday cookies this year with a friend instead of baking my usual family tradition Christmas cookies.

Church Window Cookies

I can't remember the last time I had one of these, probably when I was a kid.  I've never made them before, but it was pretty easy and they were so tasty.

1/2 c. butter melted with 16oz of chocolate chips until smooth and creamy.  Add a tsp of vanilla if you like, stir.  Let cool.  Once cool enough, stir in 16oz of multicolored mini marshmallows.  On wax paper, sprinkle a cup or so of flaked coconut and add half the mixture.  Using the paper, mold to create a log and wrap the log up and stick in the refrigerator to harden.    Repeat with the last half.  Once set, cut into slices and enjoy.

Mint M&Ms Chocolate Chips

 

This recipe is much like a recipe for chocolate chips only you use mint M&Ms. 

#51

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Having a cup of canned pumpkin left after making my pumpkin pancakes, I decided to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for the first time.  I used the same recipe a colleague used and these turn out like cake-ies instead of cookies.

You can find the recipe here, but I also added ginger, nutmeg, all spice and ground cloves (which the recipe did not call for).  I never measure those, I just add a shake or two to the dry mix.

#49 & 50

Pumpkin Pancakes and Pumpkin Latte

Craving pancakes, I decided to make pumpkin pancakes.  From another post, you'll know that I don't have eggs on hand so I found another vegan pancake recipe.  These were really easy to make and made my kitchen smell like Thanksgiving.  

 

1 1/2 c. flour

3 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg & cloves

dash of allspice

in another bowl I mixed:

1 1/4 c. soymilk

a little more than 1/3 c. of canned pumpkin

1 tbsp oil

I poured the wet mixture into the dry mixture and boom! Pumpkin pancakes.  They are tasty and dense, I wish I had whipped cream to top them with, but were perfectly fine with just margarine.  This recipe came from food.com

The pumpkin latte was made with Starbucks Christmas espresso beans, soymilk with 2 tbsp of pumpkin mixed in and steamed and topped with some nutmeg and cloves.  It was okay, when I got to the end of my cup the pumpkin kind of settled.  I'll stick to making eggnog lattes from now on, I'm not big pumpkin latte fan.

#48

With the weather getting colder and me craving protein, I decided to try a new chili recipe.  In the past I made my mom's chili: black beans, kidney beans and stewed tomatoes.  What I made tonight had: 5 different canned beans (kidney, black, pinto, small red beans and cannellini), stewed tomatoes, vegetable broth, lentils and spices (chili, cumin, onion and garlic powder and cayenne).  Just as tasty as mom's, but more flavorful with the variety of beans and I did like what the lentils and spices added to a rather plain dish.  In fact, next time I'll make sure to add more spices and lentils.   

#47

Butternut Squash and Apple Casserole

Okay, is it b/c it's in a casserole dish that makes this a "casserole"? This dish is basically butternut squash and apple crisp, except the brown sugar crumb topping melted into syrup, perhaps next time I use oats and make it a true crisp.


I peeled, seeded and sliced butternut squash and apples.  Made a brown sugar crumb topping and sprinkled on the squash/apple mix in a sprayed casserole dish.  Baked at 350°, covered, for about an hour.

Too bad I didn't have ice cream to put on top when I served it.  It is tasty, the butternut squash does cut the sweetness by adding it's nuttiness to the dish.  This is one of those dishes where you say "hey, it's healthy, it has squash and apples in it" but that's just to make us feel better when the dish is loaded with sugar.  :)

#46

 Sour Apple Cotton Candy Martini

Watching TV in the wee hours on a weekend, I stumbled across some basic cable channel talk show where they were making martini's using cotton candy.  Having received some sour apple cotton candy at work, I decided to create my own cotton candy cocktail.

I rimmed my martini glass with the sour apple sugar before stuffing my glass with a lump of cotton candy.  I then made my appletini cocktail and poured it over the cotton candy.

The cotton candy melted almost instantly and was left with a tasty apple martini.  The best part was when I got to the bottom where all the cotton candy sugar settled. 

#45

Homemade Popcorn!

I have to thank Will for this one.  I had assumed one needed a home popcorn maker to make popcorn at home (like the one my mom has that we probably haven't used since we were kids), but nope.  Apparently, all one needs is oil, popcorn kernels and a pot.

2 tbps of canola oil + 1/4 c. popcorn kernels.  The video will show you have I made it, but I poured the oil in first and let it warm up before adding the kernels.  It took me less than 5 minutes from start to finish (with me eating it).  I added some salt to the pot at the end (once I turned off the heat) and poured 2 melted tbsp of margarine before putting the lid back on a giving it a shake.  Then I poured it in my container a scarfed this deliciousness down!

#44

Butternut Squash Soup

I used this recipe from the Foodnetwork website as a guide for the soup.  I skipped the whole olive oil and shallots, and stuck the cut and seeded butternut squash with olive oil rubbed on it in the oven at 350° for about 50 minutes, cut side down.  Once that was done, I used a quart of organic low-sodium vegetable broth and heated that with the cooled butternut squash.  I didn't have curry powder so I mixed up my own: ground cumin, red chili powder, nutmeg and cardamom powder.  I added the spices to the pot and simmer for 10 minutes or so.  Since I started this late, I poured the soup into containers and stuck them in the fridge until I was able to blend the soup (as the butternut squash was still somewhat chunky). 

I had the soup for dinner tonight and it's not that filling; I think I need to make some grilled cheese to fill myself up. 

#43

Pumpkin Muffins

What does a vegetarian who can't eat eggs unless its in baked goods do, when her "best buy" date on her eggs reads May 2012 and they fail the sink test?  Look up how to substitute eggs in baked goods.  Tonight's recipe called for one egg, so I used 2 tablespoons of avocado in place of the egg after reading about different substitutes vegan's use.  I think this might be the first vegan dish I've ever made.  Hey, at least I can't get sick from eating the batter :)

Ingredients in this recipe: flour, sugars, salt, spices, oil, vanilla extract, baking powder, soy milk, pumpkin and avocado.

I'm not really sure about these.  I may have undercooked them, it's really hard to tell...they aren't gooey in the center, so maybe they're just really moist from the avocado fat and the canola oil.  I used paper cupcake cups instead of greasing the cupcake tin, and the muffins really stuck to the paper and are pretty heavy.   They don''t taste all that pumpkin-y and would probably taste really good with apple butter...hmm, perhaps the next recipe will be apple butter.

#42

Pumpkin Risotto

I have forgotten how messy making risotto is!  My stove is such a mess b/c the biggest pan I have isn't big enough to make a dish of risotto, unless I cut the recipe in half.  Note for next time.

vegetable broth warmed with a cinnamon stick
margarine
olive oil
onions
canned pumpkin
sauvignon blanc
arborio rice

I followed this recipe and did not do the walnut part.  When I dished it out, I mixed in some parmesan cheese and then sprinkled some cinnamon and nutmeg on top. Very tasty and perfect with my Shipyard Pumpkinhead.

#41

 Apple Cheddar Soup

With all the apples from apple picking this weekend I had to make some apple dishes.  Tonight I made apple cheddar soup using a BHG recipe.  It took about an hour to cook, turned out a bit too chunky for my liking (I wish I had a hand masher thingy) but is very tasty and went perfectly with my apple, avocado grilled cheese sandwich.

Melted margarine in a pot and added onions.  Used 2 cups of apple juice, a few small potatoes, thyme, salt and cayenne pepper, 2 apples, some milk and flour and sharp cheddar cheese.

#40

 

Buttercup Squash and Apple

I took this from Betty Crocker.  Halved a buttercup squash.  Diced up 1.5 apples and mixed with half tbsp margarine nutmeg, brown sugar and lemon juice.  Tossed the apple mix into the center of the buttercup halves and baked for about 40 minutes b/c I forgot to cover it when I put it in the oven. 

I've never had buttercup squash before and while I'm counting calories, each half is 125 calories.  Healthy, tasty and super easy to make.  I'm a fan.

Buttercup Squash with Apples recipe from Betty Crocker

#38 and 39

 Parsnip Tomato Soup and Summer Veggie Tart

Two dishes tonight.  The first was the parsnip tomato soup.  Margarine and chopped onion and minced garlic sauteed with a little over two cups of chopped parsnips.  Cooking in a pot for 5-10 minutes before I added some flour with some thyme.  Next, I added low sodium vegetable stock, 2% milk and a can of whole cherry tomatoes.  I covered and simmered with a couple bay leaves for about 40 minutes before cooling a little and blending.  I'm not sure how I like it.  I feel like I needed more tomatoes or that if I didn't blend it so much, it would make for a nice pasta sauce with a couple of artichoke hearts.

While I was letting the soup simmer I started the summer squash tart.  First, in a pan, I added olive oil and a clove of pressed garlic and a chopped red pepper.  I added a little bit of salt and pepper, sauteed for about 5-10 minutes.  I let it cool to room temperature while I took out the refrigerated pie crust (I didn't have the energy to make my own) and placed it on a pan.  Meanwhile, I had half a brick of Neufchâtel cheese thawing at room temperature and mixed some salt and pepper with a handful of basil leaves from my garden, which I chopped. I spread the mixture onto the pie crust, smeared the red peppers onto the cheese and topped with sliced zucchini and summer squash.  I folded the pie dough over the edge, wiped the veggies with olive oil and baked at 425° for about 30 minutes.  After baking, I added a few more basil leaves as garnish.  This was really tasty and I could see myself adding more veggies next time around.

#37

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

I kind of made this up after looking through pages and pages of spaghetti squash recipes. I baked the spaghetti squash after cutting in half length wise with water in the pan for 40 minutes covered in foil with the oven at 375°.

I then sauteed onions, pressed garlic cloves and some grape tomatoes and grated 1/2 of monterey jack cheese. I also picked a bunch of basil from my garden and snipped it up.

When the squash was done, I let it cool a little bit before using tongs to scrape the inside. Since it was just me, I only used one half of the cut squash. I tossed the spaghetti squash in with the shredded cheese and onion mixture in a casserole dish and topped it with basil and 1.5 tbsp of breadcrumbs before sticking it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes. I put some parmesan cheese on it after serving.

While I crave carbs and love my pasta, this was a great, low-cal alternative that was pretty darn flavorful.

#36

Acorn Squash and Apple Puree

A recipe from Emeril off the Food Network website. You will find the link to the recipe at the bottom of this post, but I did not follow it completely.

I cut the acorn squash in half and took out the seeds. I then placed a little bit of butter (margarine) in the middle and sprinkled each half with cinnamon and nutmeg. I put the acorn cut side up in a casserole dish, filled it with about 1/4 cup of water, covered with aluminum foil and baked at 350 for 50 minutes. I then removed it from the oven and took the foil off to cool.

Meanwhile, I peeled and diced up 2 apples, put a little but of butter (margarine) in the pan and sauteed the apples for about 3 minutes. Then I added some water (about 1/4 cup) and cooked the apples until mushy (about 8 minutes).

I then took the acorn squash out of the skin and into my bullet, added the mushy apples and poured some more water into the bullet blender. Pureed it for a minute and what I got was a tasty, sweet acorn squash and apple puree. Perfect for this fall-like evening.


Acorn Squash and Apple Puree Recipe

#35

Tofu & Hummus Sandwich

My version of a tofu and hummus wrap I had at a restaurant a few weeks ago. I made my own hummus out of chickpeas, garlic cloves and some lemon juice. The hummus is what looks like peanut butter on the bread. I topped the hummus with feta cheese, then layered on two pre-cooked "steaks" of tofu and lettuce. Not as easy to eat as a wrap and I have yet to perfect making hummus- it just tastes off, edible, but off.

#34

Split Pea Soup in Slow Cooker

I've made vegetarian split pea soup before, but this time I tried a different recipe and used the slow cooker.

-split peas

-TJs organic vegetable broth

-2 peeled and chopped potatoes

-2 celery stalks

-2 peeled and chopped carrots

-2 peeled and chopped parsnips

-3 bay leaves

-chipped onion

-2 garlic cloves, pressed

-1/2 tsp thyme

-1/2 tsp cumin

recipe also called for dry mustard and sage but I didn't have those, so they were omitted.

Tossed it in the slow cooker and cooked it for 8-10 hours on low. When it was done, the peas were mushy (soupy) and decided to skip the blending part, so the carrots, potatoes, parsnip and celery were chunky in a sea of soupy split peas.

Tasty and super easy, I just have to remember that I'm not a fan of thyme, so next time I'll add less or omit altogether.

Here's the recipe I used http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetariancrockpotrecipe/r/crockpotpeasoup.htm

#33

Meatless Tacos

Craving Mexican food I flipped through my Better Homes and Garden Cookbook and found a meatless taco recipe. No beans required and I had all the ingredients on hand.

Lentils, onions, water cooked together for 30 minutes. I then fried the tofu using some taco seasoning and added 4 oz of tomato sauce. After the lentils were done, I added the rest of the tomato sauce and taco sauce to the pot, heated it for 5 minutes before adding the tofu. I then used a pan to heat my whole wheat tortillas before putting the "meat" and piling on the lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese and sour cream. Oh so tasty and no beans and served with a mojito.

#32

Orzo Salad with Grape Tomatoes, Mint and Feta

If only you could see my kitchen after making this dish! I think I'll be spending more time cleaning up than what it took me to make this dish. A rather simple recipe really and yet I managed to spill and drop every ingredient somewhere in my kitchen during the 30 minutes it took me to make this dish.

From Good Housekeeping, I tweaked it a little (as usual) and it was really tasty and surprisingly filling.

I started off boiling the water for the orzo. Meanwhile, with a blob of olive oil, I heated the grape tomatoes for about 10 minutes. I used two different kinds of mint from my garden, regular mint and orange mint and chopped the leaves up. I accidentally poured 3/4 cup too much of orzo water in the pan so I did my best to drain as much as I could after I realized the mistake (this is what I get for using my laptop instead of printing out recipes). I threw 2 cups of cooked orzo in with the tomatoes, a tablespoon of lemon juice, my mint which I didn't measure and I used reduced fat feta and only used 3/4 cups instead of the 1 cup the recipe called for. I also didn't use pepper or lemon zest since I didn't have a lemon and used the plastic lemon container for the juice the recipe called for. And since I had green olives stuffed with feta, I chopped a few of those up instead of using the kind the recipe calls for.

I'm stuffed and really don't want to deal with the kitchen, but a glass of Cab is going to get me through it. For the recipe from Good Housekeeping click here.

#31

I'm going to call this Bean Margherita Rotini. I found the recipe from Fitness Magazine's weekly emails I receive and tweaked it a bit. I used whole wheat Rotini instead of penne b/c I didn't have any. I cooked the pasta and using my fresh basil and one tomato from my windowsill garden- chopped them up and added 1 tablespoon of olive oil, 4 crushed cloves of garlic and drained/rinsed white beans to a bowl. When the pasta was done, I drained and added some pasta to the bowl, mixing the ingredients and letting it sit for a few minutes for the flavors to soak into the pasta and the hot pasta to warm the ingredients. I served with Parmesan cheese and enjoyed an Argentine red blend glass of wine. Delicious!

#30

L's Green Drink

Last weekend I was up way late, like past 2am when there is nothing on the telly except infomercials. I got sucked into watching one for the NutriBullet which is similar to the Magic Bullet that I own, only they claim with the NutriBullet it "completely breaks down ingredients in to there most nutritious, absorptive stage" something blenders and juicers do not do. I can understand that juicers leave out the healthy part of the fruits and vegetables as all the fibrous parts go into the discard canister. I listened to the infomercial and thought "Now wait a minute! I have the Magic Bullet. Instead of paying over $100 for this NutriBullet, I'm going to see if mine will do what the NutriBullet does."


So, tonight I tried it. I added 4 baby carrots, a frozen banana, a handful of kale, half an apple with about a cup of water and used my Magic Bullet. Low and behold, I had a nice smooth green drink that had all the nutritional value of the fruits and veggies as if I ate them in their raw form. Only 186 calories! [Of course, the banana was 105 of those calories, so next time I'll use only a half.] Now, I just made this recipe up, the NutriBullet website lists some recipes like "Toxin Cleansing Blast", "The Immune Booster", "Life Boost Blast" that I may try in the future now that I know what I have will do practically the same thing.

#29

Baked Kale

I bought a bag of kale to make a healthy protein smoothie but because I haven't bought some bananas and apples, the bag just sat in the fridge. So, after talking to Suz a few days ago, she told me about making kale chips. I decided to give it a try. The only time I've ever had kale was in a juicer with carrots so I was a little hesitant to try them. For 10 minutes I baked the kale at 300°. I didn't use oil or salt and OMG, it was delicious! I ate the entire bowl. I'll be making some more and probably cook a little bit longer so everything is crunchy. No need to season either, I like it just as it is.

Walk somewhere new

I've lived in Brookline for nearly 3 full years and usually travel along the same path either via the bus, the T or my own two feet. Yesterday after the storm passed and cool weather blew in, I decideed to go for a 45 minute walk in search for the Brookling High School and public pool. It was a little nerve wrecking walking alone in a new area. 3/4 of mile from my house, through some nice neighborhoods with old bricked houses where trees created a nice, lushious canopy, I found the high school. It's gorgeous from the outside, nothing like my ghetto high school in Vista. It didn't take me long to get to the school and it felt like I was walking in a forest on some streets. Who would have thought I could escape the city feel by walking 8 minutes SW? I plan on exploring my own area nightly, with or without a walking partner.

#28

A twist to my favorite Italian dish, garlic and olive oil spaghetti. I used a half a bulb of garlic for this as I sauteed the garlic, zucchini and broccoli with a few tablespoons of olive oil. I tossed in the cooked spaghetti and mixed it with the deliciousness in the pan. I of course topped it with Parmesan cheese. Easy, tasty and new. I think next time I might throw in some sweet potatoes and/or green beans.

# 25, 26 and 27

I was bored today so after church I went to some grocery stores to gather items so I could spend the hot day in the kitchen. I don't know why I always feel like cooking when it's over 80° out, but I do. So, first up, I made eggless cookie dough. Now, I love cookie dough and my little sis would always get mad at me at Christmas time or whenever she was making cookies b/c I would eat the dough. Now, I cant eat eggs b/c they make me vomit, but when they are in things, I have no problem. I have never gotten sick from eating raw cookie dough (and my eggs are like 3 months old). Anyway, I decided to make eggless cookie dough for ice cream (and to eat straight from the freezer whenever the sweet tooth calls).


Eggless cookie dough: brown sugar, white sugar, butter, soy milk, flour, salt, vanilla extract and chocolate chips. I then froze it while I made vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker.

Now, I've only made L's minty mint & chip ice cream, so me making vanilla ice cream counts as #26. I pretty much followed the minty mint & chip ice cream recipe but used vanilla extract instead of mint. Half and Half, whipping cream, sugar, dash of salt and vanilla extract. I was a little worried b/c other recipes for vanilla ice cream included other ingredients like lemon juice. After the ice cream maker machine worked it's magic, I had tasty vanilla ice cream that reminded me of In-n-Out's vanilla milk shakes. Oh so yummy. I then removed the canister from the machine and poured the vanilla ice cream into my freezing canister and cut in the frozen cookie dough and stirred before putting the ice cream container into the freezer for the hardening phase.

finished product...oh so yummy!

Since I was already in the kitchen, I decided to make Moroccan Sweet Potato Stew from a Good Housekeeping recipe.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/moroccan-sweet-potato-stew


Of course, I didn't have curry powder, so I mixed some Chili powder w/ ground cardamon and garam masala as a substitute. I was able to pick some mint leaves from my garden! I also made quinoa instead of couscous simply b/c I don't have couscous and I'm not really a fan of it.

#24

Living by yourself sucks! I hate cooking for one and sometimes hate coming home having to fix myself something to eat. It would be nice if a) I had others to cook for and/or b) had someone cook my meals for me. Anyway, I made lasagna for the first time tonight. I have been meaning to make butternut squash lasagna for a year so yesterday I cooked the noodles, heated the squash and made lasagna. I cheated a bit as I used a jar of pasta sauce instead of slaving over the stove in 85° weather. Since I waited until I was starving to start making it, I decided to stick it in the fridge and cook it today. Of course, that plan backfired b/c I went to the gym and didn't get home until 8ish and lasagna takes over an hour to cook. So here I am at 9:30pm, drinking wine while waiting for the lasagna to cool so I don't burn my mouth.


-cook lasagna noodles (I cooked half the box since I wanted a smaller serving)
-heated the frozen butternut squash in the microwave and mushed it with my fingers
-drained the noodles
-sprayed my corning ware
-layer some sauce, noodles, butternut squash, ricotta cheese, cheddar cheese and monterey jack cheese, sauce and repeated.

It was good, not all that flavorful, but that's what I get for not making my own sauce. The squash didn't add too much flavor so the next time I make lasagna, I'll probably make a veggie one with carrots and broccoli. It was filling though.

That’s what I like about Sundays.

I’m not very religious. I was raised Catholic and do not call myself Christian but Catholic, even though Catholic’s are Christians. I don’t feel comfortable with those who force their beliefs on me. I don’t like seeing posts on FB quoting the bible. I can’t stand mega churches. I can’t quote the bible, I don’t force my beliefs on others and I don’t openly pray [I know there’s a part in the bible that says something about go to the farthest corner in the farthest room to pray in private]. I’m not a saint, I don’t act like I am. I enjoy going to church on Sundays. There’s something about being in a Catholic church (not a multipurpose room or strip mall building like some Christian services are held), the ritual of the mass, how I can go to any Catholic church anywhere in the world and would know what to do regardless of the language spoken.

I’d like to say I’m probably more spiritual than religious, there are some things that the Church and I do not see eye-to-eye on, but this is the case with most Catholics I know. I enjoy the 45 minutes spent in an old church, being quiet with the exception of responsorial.

This Sunday was the silver anniversary of priesthood for one of the priests. With that, we had a more traditional mass, meaning, we sang in Latin. My parish in O’side (with an Irish priest who I could listen to for hours even if he does remind me of Shrek) has one all Latin mass and then every mass has parts of text and song in Latin. So, I learned some Latin and it makes mass sound pretty to me. I couldn’t help but feel joyful at this Sunday’s mass when I was given the pamphlet that had Latin text and song in it. Yes it ran longer (an hour vs. the usual 45 minute mass) but I didn’t mind. I couldn’t believe how much the Latin speaking part made me so happy. I just wish I had that option every week.

I had a great weekend and have been smiling and in a good mood ever since I got off work on Friday and Sunday was like icing on the cake. I even started singing at home and wishing so badly I had Sister Act and Sister Act 2 on DVD b/c I was so in the mood to sing along to Whoopi and the gang. In fact, one of the songs we sang on Sunday was a song on the Sister Act
soundtrack. I was so happy to sing it and imagined Whoopi and the sisters singing during mass, lol.

There's nothing better than ending a week and starting a week with reflection and just being without outside distractions for close to an hour.

That’s what I like about Sundays.

#23

Vegetarian Shepard's Pie

This was surprisingly easy and super filling. I didn't follow the recipe exactly (it called for 2 cups of salsa, which I didn't have and didn't agree with making this a mexican dish). In the pan, I boiled/simmered a cup of corn, 2 cans of rinsed kidney beans, and 2 carrots chopped. This took about 15 minutes for the carrots to soften. I also added about a cup of water since the recipe said boil and simmer but there wasn't any liquid in the pan, so I was like "how can it boil with no liquid?" so perhaps the salsa was what would allow it to boil?? Anyway, meanwhile, I made instant mashed potatoes. After the carrots were done, I dolloped the potatoes around the edges of the pan and then in the middle since I had potatoes left over. I covered the pan and let it cook for 5 minutes. The recipe said to serve with Parmesan cheese, which I did add after serving. Cheese makes any dish better, but this recipe doesn't really need it. It's pretty tasty without the cheese.

Monroe, LA

Friday recap: Left Boston on an earlier flight, but that got me into Dallas early so I had a few hours to spare before the Monroe flight I was on the standby list for. I rode the DFW train around different terminals, hung out at the AA lounge and was fortunate enough to get on the flight to Monroe. I was nervous b/c it was close to being full and earlier in the day was red, which meant I had a slim chance of getting on. So glad I didn't have to spend the night in Dallas. I was the last one on the flight and the pilot said we were delayed while they waited for the head mechanic to sign off on some maintenance. Unfortunately, something was wrong with a steel flap or some other part of the plane and the head mechanic wouldn't let us takeoff. So, we had to deplane and were delayed an hour while we waited for a new plane. We got word that they found a plane, but we wouldn't be taking off until 9:30, over two hours late. They had us change gates, we go down there and we are informed we're at the other end of the terminal. We finally get to the right gate and board. I finally arrive in Monroe and can't wait to see Suz. I'm also starving bc I realized with all the delays, I didn't eat dinner or anything since noon when I had lunch. Got to Suzanna's place, her apartment smelled like something was burning. She had made lasagna so we had some lasagna and sweet tea. She noticed her fridge was left open. Later she notices her fridge light is burnt out. I go to pour some water from the Brita pitcher that is in the fridge and noticed it was burnt on top. The bulb must have exploded and burnt the Brita pitcher since it was right under the fridge bulb. So, we figured out what the burning smell came from. We hung out and chatted until after 1am. My phone started ringing about 1:30am and I wasn't sure what time it was when I heard it ring, but I'm like it's late so maybe it's my mom. I didn't get to it in time and learned it was mattress boy calling me, leaving me a message and then sent me a text. Good grief.

Saturday recap: Had breakfast...cream of wheat with sugar and funny tasting cinnamon- later realizing it was ground cumin that Suz gave me and I even looked at the bottle after thinking it tasted funny. Bought Coke out of a machine for 5 cents while visiting the Biedenharn museum- first Coca Cola bottler. Louisiana has a few wineries, so we drove to West Monroe and went to Landry Vineyards for some free wine tasting. Interesting wines, they had some really sweet blueberry and blackberry Merlots, where the berries are fermented with the grapes. I wasn't a fan of the local wine, the Muscadine- this wine is what most LA vineyards grow. It's a wild grape that grows in the area and people in the area are brought up on it so they like it...us outsiders were not a fan. Later for dinner, I had promised to try crawfish, so we went out and I ate crawfish for the first time. That was kind of scary- having to pull the tale, then twist it in half, then peel the shell and eat the meat. Of course I threw out more meat than I ate bc I was terrible at the whole cracking. The restaurant reminded me of a scene from True Blood, lol. Later we went to an Irish pub and sat outside talking before going off to a bar/restaurant where cougars hang out...interesting crowd. The guys in this town wear golf shirts/polos as their going out/dressed up look.

Sunday recap: had cream of wheat with sugar and CINNAMON. Hottest part of the day we went and watched MIB3. Got Sonic for lunch-didn't get a cherry in my limeade and was charged full price even though it was happy hour. Went bowling where we had to keep track of our own scores...smart phone to the rescue b/c we couldn't do the math right with the splits and spares. Drive thru daiquiris...so many choices! Hooping by the river turned into harassing the snakes, frogs and I hit a squirrel with a sick (it didn't even move...I also didn't throw it very hard). Made dinner. Made mojitos. Had my tarot cards read: big change with solo work and more money plus 2 boys fighting for my love, all the male drama wears me out, but in the end I get everything I want and am happy. Interesting...we will see what happens. No spirits visited us. Then we went to Walmart. Why? Because it's 9:30 on a Sunday night and that's what you do in the South. We bought Yahtzee sheets, koozies, UNO but they didn't have dice. We then walked around and observed the Walmart people and I got the brilliant idea of roasting marshmallows. So we bought marshmallows and metal skewers. We then stop at CVS right before it closed to get dice. Then we sat out outside, playing Yahtzee while roasting marshmallows on our metal skewers with a lighter gun.