Guilty Pleasure

Peanut butter cookie dough ice cream.

Be still my heart.

Where can you get this? Well, you have to go to an Oberweis Dairy store. It's not available from home delivery. I went to Oberweis to get a gift card for some friends who were going through a spate of bad luck. You can get it in quarts. They have to hand pack it in the store. It's not in the ice cream cooler. They also offer chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, but one taste of this and it's just...oh my. They quit making my all-time favorite, banana chocolate fudge walnut, so I've been forced; forced, I tell you; to figure out what my new all-time favorite is. That's incredibly hard because there are so many good flavors. If I could get this home delivered, this would be it, hands down.

I know peanut butter is an acquired taste. I've met a number of people who don't like peanut butter. To each his own. It just means there's more for me.

Two spoons way up for this flavor.

Beverage:  Coca-Cola

Deb

A Discerning Choice

Everyone has a comfort food. For some, it's as simple as a hot mug of tea. For others, it's steak and potatoes. There is something we reach for when the going has been akin to walking uphill through molasses in January in Helsinki.

For me, comfort food is situation determinate. Hot cocoa. Macaroni and cheese. Chocolate. They all fit the bill. It can simply be a matter of what's on hand or what I can have access to with the least amount of preparation. Let's face it. If you're stressed and want comfort food, you don't want to have to spend 90 minutes preparing it. It needs to be ready.

Viola. Comfort food at the ready.

The egg nog ice cream is only available from Thanksgiving through the second week of January. Oh my. It's so good.

Egg nog is such a diet buster. I have never liked rum so the pairing of egg nog and rum has never appealed to me. That's where something like this ice cream comes in handy. I drenched my bowls of it with warmed chocolate sauce and sprinkled chopped walnuts or'top.

The chocolate peanut butter is a silky semi-sweet chocolate with ribbons of creamy peanut butter. It didn't need any ornamentation, although I chopped more walnuts than I wanted for the egg nog so there is no harm in adding them to the chocolate peanut butter.

Given the stress of moving the office and all the travel and inspections I've had to do, either of these were a fantastic way to wind down. And yes, it was supper on more than one occasion. Both are gone now, but there will be a New Year's Day delivery. I adore their banana chocolate walnut but felt three quarts was too much for the freezer. I may need to move some things around or, what a novel concept, cook some of the frozen stuff I have in there. Then there's room for three quarts of ice cream.

Beverage:  water

Deb

The Definitive Start to Summer

Memorial Day weekend, sort of kicks off summer. Never mind that meteorological summer doesn't start for 2 1/2 weeks, we are full on into summer mode. I had to work the two days prior to my vacation. This included working through a lunch hour. I knew, once I finished my inspections, exactly what would be the official start to my vacation.

That's the first Dairy Queen Blizzard of the summer. I've had one more since this photo was taken. The one close to the office closed, which is probably a good thing. And extra-large Blizzard is a meal in itself and that's a lot of calories to consume with little nutritional benefit from them. Oh sure, I could add fruit, and chocolate covered strawberries constitute fruit, but that's still a lot of calories. I get a medium and am deliriously happy.

Bring on summer! I'm ready.

Beverage;  Scottish Breakfast tea

Deb

Comfort Food

It's kind of overused to call this a "brutal" winter. At least we don't have the snow here that we did last year. It's just cold. Cold I can deal with, especially when I can make comfort food.

It was on sale for $1.50 a box. I think that comes very close to the cost of making them from scratch. What could be more comforting than warm brownies on a cold winter night.

Everything gets dumped into one bowl.

As advertised, the mix comes with chocolate pieces. Some were chunks and some were chips. There is a pouch of fudge which is added to the batter. You add an egg, 1/2 cup of oil and 3 tablespoons of water.

I found it humorous that the directions tell you to beat the batter for 50 strokes. Usually, it says "beat until moist". I guess they found that giving people a set number of strokes results in a more consistent product. The bottom of the pan is greased and the batter poured into the prepared pan. You bake the brownies at 350 for 35 to 37 minutes.

While they are baking, lick the bowl. It could be argued that one of the reasons I bake is to eat the batter. You wouldn't be completely wrong, but I think the combination of batter and baked good is best.

They look like brownies should look. There is a thin cracked crust and they rose just a bit. My pan is 8.5 by 6.5 so I got thick brownies. If you use a 9x9 pan, which the box says can be used, they would be thin. I guess it's all in how you like your brownies.

I cut the pan into quarters. I discovered that the 37 minutes allotted was not enough. The bottom was still batter. So, I was making fries at the time and stuck the pan back in the 450 oven for another 10 minutes. That cooked them all the way through. If I do this again, I'll go for 40-45 minutes.

They smelled wonderful. The batter tasted good. I can't call it "great" because it did taste somewhat artificial. There is a difference in taste when you make it on your own than when it comes from a box due to food preservation laws. You'd think it would just be chocolate pieces, cocoa, flour and sugar, but there was something else. Probably anti-clumping additives. It wasn't a bad taste, but it didn't taste like brownies composed of flour, sugar and cocoa.

They didn't hold up as well as homemade, however. They aren't the kind you wrap in plastic and send with lunch. By the time you get to lunch, they will be in pieces. The chocolate chips and chunks weren't as many as it appears when I dumped in the pouch. I thought about adding more and I should have. I think these also would have benefitted from the addition of walnuts. The chocolate flavor was consistent but I wonder how much the fudge sauce contributes to the flavor. "Real" brownies don't need that sauce to be chocolate.

I could just eat them plain, but warm, from the oven brownies just scream for ice cream. I was worried I didn't have any. But, I moved a bag of peas and there was a pint of Haagen Das vanilla bean ice cream; the perfect complement to chocolate brownies. This can be supper on a cold, cold winter night.

So, if you're in the market for brownies and don't want to take the hour to make homemade ones, and you see this on sale for $2.50 or less, it's worth it. You don't get a 9x13 pan of them unless you buy two boxes. They won't be as dense as the photo on the box or as you're used to but they are fine for an afternoon or evening treat. They tasted great and warm, with ice cream, it was very satisfying. Don't buy them if you are looking for a heap of chocolate. They aren't that chocolaty. Buy them if you want a quick treat.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast Tea

Deb

On Vacation - Friday Night Eats

On Friday night, we decided to go get something to eat. Carole had driven me through downtown Warrenton, which wasn't as spectacular as I expected.

I admit to having preconceived notions of what the downtown of an early 19th century town might look like. There would be lovingly preserved buildings, which there are. There would be stores which have been there for a long time, probably true. But there were a lot of offices and not many restaurants. There weren't many shops. It's not a downtown for parking and wandering. This is a product of the location and how the roads have to come into and go through downtown.

The city is built on rolling hills. This makes it quite picturesque. Owning to the city's age, homes and businesses are built very close to the road. It's a remnant of the time period of founding. Wide front yards just aren't that common. The road has to wind through the town, following the trail which was laid out in the years after the war of 1812. The downtown is a slight mishmash of roads and directions and not four-way stops. There are a few things to see, some eclectic and the buildings make for a lovely visage, but for tourists, it's not a downtown for them.

So, in deciding where to go for supper, we went out to the main drag, which is the highway that loops around the southeast side of the city. That's where the big box stores with their attendant strip malls have landed. We wound up at a place called El Agave. It's in a strip mall near the branch of SunTrust Bank where Carole works.

That is two chicken chimichangas with refried beans, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and a tomato. It's topped with shredded cheese and fried.

I run hot and cold on Mexican food. I don't care for tomatoes although I do love tomato soup and sauce. I don't care for guacamole or onions or sour cream although I use sour cream in cooking. These were soooo good. Mexican food can come in huge portions but this was just enough. Yes, we had chips and salsa. Their chips could have been from a bag but the salsa looked homemade. I would heartily recommend this place to anyone in the area. It's really good and reasonably priced.

From there, we went to a Warrenton institution, Carousel.

Every town should have one of these.

Larry said the store started in the 1980's. It used to be just a truck that would park at this intersection during the summer. (It's very easy to find. Take highway 29 into town. Where 29 intersects with 211, turn left. It's right there, adjacent to a strip mall where there's ample parking.) Eventually, they built the permanent structure which is open until Thanksgiving-ish. They reopen for the week of spring break, and then open for the summer around the middle of May. He said the original owners still own the place and still work it. There were a lot of teens manning the windows and I'm thinking Carousel gave a lot of teenagers their first job.

The menu is huge.

They do have a "lunch" menu with sandwiches but you go to Carousel for ice cream. When we were there on Friday, the line for full-service was 25 people long. They have a window for ordering just ice cream cones. So many flavors. All the ice cream is soft serve. I never knew soft serve could come in root beer flavor. Larry got a vanilla cone with chocolate sprinkles. I got a chocolate dipped cone and Carole got a cherry dip.

There is a lot of outdoor seating around the place, but when we were there, it was all filled so we retreated to the car to eat. It was so good, Carole and I stopped by on Tuesday afternoon, on the way back from our adventure and I got the cherry dipped cone.

The place just exudes happiness. The pink and blue and red neon of the trim just makes you feel happy. I half expected Pharrell Williams to jump up singing "Happy". You can tell the community is hugely supportive of this, too. The "Talk of the Town" bulletin board behind Carole had listings for all sorts of community and area wide events from concerts and plays to flea markets and festivals.

It's probably a good thing I don't live out that way. I'd have to sample everything.

Beverage:  Rooibos tea

Deb

It's A Market, Not a Grocery, Photo 13

There's no shortage of places to buy foodstuffs around here. That's the beauty of living in a reasonably well-off suburban area. Choice is abundant, even if you want to drive a little.

In February, a new grocery store opened in a new strip mall on the site of a former Chrysler car dealer.

The place I go to get my hair cut is to the right, out of sight. A Firehouse Subs shop is off the photo to the right and a dry cleaner with dry through pick up is at the far left of this strip mall. In terms of use, this is not a bad use of the space. There are still three vacant storefronts, but there are so many empty spaces along this stretch of roadway that it will be interesting to see if these fill within the next year.

I had a list of items I needed so I felt this was the time to check out this place. I've seen them around the Chicagoland area but never been in one. The first thing to notice is the cart area.

I've mentioned how I like the little carts. I don't spend as much and they are easier to load and unload. Well, the carts to the left are just two baskets on a rolling cart. I was not impressed. It felt cheap, like they couldn't be bothered to buy real carts.

This is a European-style market. It's similar in scope although not as big, as Whole Foods. They sell organic or niche items here. All the produce, which looked great and was competitively priced to Mariano's, was listed as organic. They have daily specials which are listed on a chalk board at the front of the store. I thought the ones for Sunday were on par in terms of price, with anything I'd seen elsewhere.

They have no prepackaged meats. There is a meat counter where you get what you want packaged to order. I'm used to this because I shopped at Whole Foods and it's what I grew up with. The meat looked very good. There is a small bakery, but I liked their offerings. Look!

Hot cross buns. They are good and they are the only ones I think I will find this season. Panera is not selling their version this year.

In store bakeries can seem to cater to the sweets department. Mariano's is three cases of donuts, rolls, cakes and cookies. Whole Foods has a sweets section but they do have a larger assortment of breads and rolls. Fresh Market's bakery area was small but had more artisan breads and rolls than sweets. I wasn't in the market for bread this trip but when I am, then I will critically look at their offerings.

They have a large prepared food area and a small, but functional salad bar. On the whole, the store is smaller than Whole Foods but offers similar items. I love the lighting and the look of this store. I don't like Mariano's lighting. It's too fluorescent. It's not a pleasant experience to be in the store. But it has things like cat food and kitty litter and Spam and dish soap and Mom's Best Cereal that Fresh Market doesn't carry. There is no pharmacy and, unlike Whole Foods, there isn't a section near the prepared foods devoted to holistic living, with any kind of herb or vitamin you could possibly want. There was half an aisle and I didn't look very much because I didn't need anything from there.

I came home with fruit, flour and salt, and impulse purchases, like the hot cross buns. This is surprisingly good.

It's too expensive to be consumed at any but occasional times. I'll stick with my LaCroix flavored water, but this comes in watermelon flavor which I will have to try. This was on sale for the same price as a pint of Ben and Jerry's.

I know I've had gelato but not recently. There has been this craving for ice cream lately. I'm giving this a try. There are other items which will merit their own posts in the future.

The bottom line is that while I like this store, for how it looks and how it feels and the fact that it doesn't play old rock and roll over the speakers, it's not a daily stock-up store. I'm still going to have to go to Mariano's for kitty litter. There was no section devoted to pets. It's on the way home. I pass it most every night unless I go the back way. I can see myself stopping there for fresh fruits and veggies and, once I look over the meat and prepared foods cases, getting those items there, too. I like that it's similar to Whole Foods and closer to me. That's an incentive to eat a bit healthier, a bit. The vegetable drawer in the fridge will always be, I fear, a secondary composter.

Beverage:  La Croix Cran-Raspbearry seltzer

Deb

So Easy, My Brother Could Make It

Right after the new year, during the first heavy snow when I didn't go to work because there was 8 inches of white stuff to be moved about, I tried a new chocolate cake recipe. This was fished out of one of the ancient mailing envelopes that contain my recipes. I'm pretty sure it dates from the 1980's but it was quick and didn't take many ingredients.

Yup, that's the full extent of ingredients, other than oil and an egg. The morsels I'd had in the back of the cupboard. You can see the chocolate has "bloomed". This was a good way to use up half the bag.

The recipe said to mix the whole mess in the 9 x 13 pan in which it's baked but I couldn't find a compelling reason, other than not dirtying a bowl, for doing that. That is probably why it was suggested. You just dump everything in the pan, including one egg and half cup of vegetable oil, and mix with a fork.

The batter is quite thick. You stir until everything is 'moistened'. I found that not everything got incorporated at the bottom of the bowl and had to do a bit more stirring to make sure all the dry ingredients were mixed together. Then, it goes into a 350 oven for 45 minutes or until the top springs back when touched.

It's a lovely chocolatey color and made the house smell so nice. I cut the cake while warm and topped it with Oberweis' Banana Fudge Walnut ice cream. This is the best ice cream. Oh my.

I have decided I can't keep this in the house. It's so good, I'll eat half a quart as a meal and that's so not good, good tasting yes but good health, no.

The cake freezes very well. I had a couple of pieces the day I made it and then froze the rest in individual sandwich bags. I grab a piece and toss it in my lunch bag. It's not crumbly. It's very dense so it holds up well to the thawing process which can cause a deterioration in texture and cohesion.

If you are interested in the actual recipe, let me know and I'll give you the exact ingredient amounts. This turned out to be a good recipe, fast to put together and good to freeze for lunches.

Beverage:  British Breakfast tea

Deb

Sigh.

I have to share now.

As usual, when I have something, she wants to know what it is. Usually, she turns up her nose at it, unless it's deli turkey. Oh my. They both love deli turkey. For a treat, I got a quart of Oberweis Dulce de Leche ice cream. This is vanilla ice cream swirled with caramel. Mija kept standing on my right arm wanting to see into the bowl. I figured she wouldn't be thrilled with the caramel. I was wrong.

Maybe it's the vanilla. I can't see that cats would like caramel, but who knows.

Beverage:  Darjeeling tea

Deb

Because It Was on Sale

I bought a box. I had a coupon and they were on sale. A number of people told me these were fantastic, that I simply had to get a box.

As you might be guessing, I wasn't all that thrilled with these. Cost per piece is too high, even with a coupon and a sale. Honestly, I didn't find anything new and different in this. It was ice cream wrapped in caramel dipped in chocolate. Okay.

It is probably me and my tastes. If I'm going to have an ice cream bar or a sandwich or something on a stick, I want it to be a good value. I far prefer Klondike bars because, for the same price, I get double the contents of a package. I won't buy these again until the price is cut by 50%. Then they are a good value. Hmmm, I'm out of ice cream at home. I wonder if those Klondike Neopolitan bars are on sale.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

It Is An Option

Last night's supper.

I had two of them with copious amounts of tea. After the week I've had, this is an option for mental health.

Plus, they are really good.

Beverage:  Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

Are You Sure It's Not Lunch...or Dinner...or Breakfast

What is it about chocolate chip cookie dough? When you think of cookie dough ice cream, it's usually filled with chocolate chip cookie dough. Why is that?

Well, chocolate, for starters. And there is the sweet dough. It seems to be just the right mix of ingredients and it's pretty hard to botch a batch of chocolate chip cookies. You can add walnuts or oatmeal to them but what people remember are the chocolate chips.

And it's soooo good when it's raw.

I made cookies over the weekend. The warmth of the kitchen made the butter softer than I'd like for cookies so I had to put it in the fridge to firm up. Remove from fridge and, oh gee, I need to taste to make sure they are acceptable. Yeah, that's what I'm doing, checking the quality. I didn't eat all the dough. I got most of it baked.

I also made Snickerdoodles. Those are just a sweet dough, almost a sugar cookie consistency, that are formed into balls and rolled in a cinnamon sugar mix.

Here are pre-baked doodles. And here are baked doodles.

The photo from the cell phone isn't the best. They are a lovely golden color with cinnamon sugar all over them. They were part of baking marathon that included 3 kinds of sweet bread.

Several friends were commenting on the baking posts I have up in the blog so I told them I'd send goodies. All of this was divided amongst 3 boxes and organized into plastic bags, those same plastic bags that have vexed me since I bought them. But, once they get to their destination, if the recipient has to get into them with a scissors, well, they are where they need to be and the bag won't matter. Everything shipped yesterday so I just wait to hear when the boxes arrive.

So back to the cookie dough issue. It's so good, maybe I should make more. I think the world would be a better place if you could give everyone a cookie without people worrying about ulterior motives behind said cookie. No, they aren't gluten free. I guess they would be sort of vegetarian but it's not vegan since there are eggs in the batter. If you're allergic to chocolate, you can have a snickerdoodle. I can imagine the hew and cry against someone wanting to offer people a cookie just because. There must be an ulterior motive.

(sigh) I think I'll just keep the cookie dough in the fridge and eat it. Talk about a comfort food.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Still Sealed

I bought 5 jars of this Ghirardelli Chocolate sauce for Carole's wedding last year. We only used a total of 1 whole jar although 2 were opened. So, I brought 3 back. Big deal. It's hot fudge.

Well, I really shouldn't be having hot fudge on everything in order to use these up. It took probably 4 months to use up one jar. I had to have Mike open this one because I just can't do it anymore. I need to find one of those circles, Mike calls them 'bologna slices' because that's what they look like to him, that help you open jars. I don't like bringing them into the office although the guys will make a big deal out of opening my jars.

After Mike opened this, I noticed the "best by" date on the lid had passed. Hmmmm. It should still be good. I can't toss all this hot fudge. The jar was sealed. It made that pop sound when he opened it. I don't have enough ice cream in my fridge to eat all of this, nor do I want Ghirardelli hot fudge every dinner until this jar is gone. AND...I have another jar in the basement.

Methinks I'll need to get creative.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Milk Maids

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight maids a milking.

Now we switch gears in the song. From here to the end, the verses involve people. That can be harder to quantify in terms of costs. PNC says eight maids a milking will cost $58. They give nice rationales for these costs, but what they didn't include was the cost of a cow. The song clearly says the maids are 'milking'. They aren't just showing up in a nice dirndl and standing on your front stoop. They are there to work. But, we'll take PNC at their word. You'll need to hire these maid for 4 days so the total cost is $232.

What shall we substitute for maids milking? Let's look at the product, milk. Ah! Ice Cream! Of course. Go to Oberweis Dairy and check out their ice cream offerings. I buy their milk and ice cream year 'round and they will ship ice cream anywhere in the US. You get 4 quarts of ice cream for $31.99. If you order right now, get yourself a quart of their egg nog ice cream. It is luscious. Their vanilla is superb and goes perfect with warmed apple or pumpkin pie. I'd add a quart of chocolate peanut butter and a quart of chocolate. We'll need 8 flavors to represent the 8 maids so your second order could be cookies dough, apple strudel, butter pecan and their seasonal pumpkin flavor.

For the next day, give your true love a gift certificate to cover 8 flavors of Dairy Queen blizzards. Oh my, the possibilities are almost endless; turtle pecan cluster, chocolate extreme, M&M's, Snickers, Oreo, cookie dough, banana cream pie and strawberry cheesequake. A medium blizzard costs $5.00 so buying a DQ gift card for $40 covers all 8 blizzards.

On day 3, you'll want to send your true love a $40 gift card for Baskin Robbins. Suggest the following flavors: peanut butter, rocky road, pistachio almond, cherries jubilee, rainbow sherbet, and world class chocolate. Check to see if they have winter white chocolate, a seasonal flavor. They also advertise some regional flavors. I'd get black walnut myself.

Lastly, take a look at icecreamsource.com. If they don't have it, it's probably not something you want to eat. You MUST get a container of Blue Moon. It comes in a pint for $3.99. Birthday cake comes in a case of 12 cups with the little wooden spoons for $12.99. A pint of Root Beer Float ice cream is $5.99. Amaretto almond is $6.99. A pint of cinnamon, which I could see with a scoop of vanilla on the top of apple pie is $6.39. For something a little different, get the lemon chiffon for $7.99 a quart. Add a pint of spumoni for $6.49. Lastly, get a quart of Superman for $6.99.

That's a lot of ice cream but your true love is worth it. You've spent $201.80. Like the cheesecakes, ice cream can be frozen. I have a quart of Oberweis Egg Nog ice cream in the freezer right now. Covered with hot fudge, whipped cream and a walnuts, it is a wonderfully decadent low cost dessert. Dessert nothing. I'm thinking that's supper on Saturday night.

Beverage: Gingerbread spice tea

Deb

Second Day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, two turtle doves. 

Here we are with day 2 of your alternative to the original twelve days of Christmas. On day two, we again find the author sending his love birds. You only have to do this 11 days but that's still 22 turtle doves. Pigeons don't count, even though they are in the same species.

From Wikipedia: Pigeons and doves constitute the bird family Columbidae within the order Columbiformes, which include some 300 species of near passerines. In general terms "dove" and "pigeon" are used somewhat interchangeably. In ornithological practice, there is a tendency for "dove" to be used for smaller species and "pigeon" for larger ones, but this is in no way consistently applied, and historically the common names for these birds involve a great deal of variation between the terms "dove" and "pigeon."

So get away from those birds waddling out by the fountain.

But, as we discussed yesterday, what is your beloved going to do on day 12 with 22 doves? He or she also has 12 partridges running around the back yard on day 12. Doves aren't the noisiest of birds, thank goodness, but the mess...well, let's not think about that.

So, you want to stay in the theme here. Might I suggest these Doves.

There are 5 different kinds of doves here. You send your true love 2 packages of each and then one package of the flavor he or she likes the best. The turtle doves cost $125 a day. That's (gets out the calculator) $1,375 for 11 days of birds. That doesn't factor in the cost of shelter, food and water, either.

A package of Dove bars can be found on sale for $5.00. Let's assume you have to pay full price which can be $6.99 per box. At $7.00 a box, for 11 days of Dove bars, you've spent $77 AND the box is recyclable. I think your true love will be happier, not to mention how chocolate raises one's serotonin levels which helps alleviate stress during this holiday. Plus, there is more than one dove bar in a box. If your true love is really sweet, perhaps they will share with you.

Turtle dove or Dove bar? I'm going to include the peanut butter bars on my next grocery list.

Beverage:  Earl Grey tea

Deb

Lunch

I've come through a week of busyness. A major project that we had all, more or less, ignored, came due. Add into that just the regular day-to-day work and one "gentleman" (I use this term very, very loosely.), who felt calling the office and whining would get his way, and the stress meter went over 75%. I realized, late last night, that I had forgotten one small portion of my part of the project, but it will take about 15 minutes to do on Monday morning and then the whole thing can be shipped out tomorrow afternoon and...

I can go on to the other three projects on my desk. There's scheduling and bidding to be done. There are instruments to service. There are downloads to do and emails to be sent. I know the economy is not good now but we had the best summer in the history of our office; history of our office. We got everything covered, everything done, didn't drop the myriad of balls we have juggling.

Sometimes, the stress gets to us. Last Wednesday was that day for me. I couldn't find pictures I know were taken. Bits of information I needed from others wasn't coming. A client wouldn't sign the paperwork we need so we can walk onto a job site but is demanding we show up now, of course, and do an installation and be on-site for monitoring. The phone won't quit ringing and you want to make every client feel that they are the only person you're going to help even if their number is 83 and you're working on number 12. Add into the mix the clients who call repeatedly and just don't get "it", whatever "it" is that you've explained to them 122 times before.

By lunchtime, I looked at the leftovers I brought with me and decided, since I had to pick up those photos from PJ's for yet another project, I was going to Dairy Queen. It's right there, by PJs. That's a large pecan turtle blizzard. Five dollars of stress reduction.

I'm worth it.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb

Random Thoughts from the Wedding

So THAT'S where that pair of socks was. I really need to make sure I clean out the suitcase thoroughly when I get home. The last time I used the biggest suitcase was when I went to Carole and David's in November. I left the suitcase on the settee on Wednesday, after mom headed back to Iowa. I felt it would reassure the girls that I wasn't going anywhere. Plus, Pilchard lay down on the top and I don't disturb a sleeping cat. When she moved, I would retrieve my toiletries. I pulled this pair of socks out of the suitcase and didn't remember packing them. I have another pair close in color and design and they were in the sock drawer. So this pair had been in the suitcase since November. I'm glad I didn't lose them.

I discovered, in looking at the wedding photos, I look like I'm scowling or angry. I'm really not, but it's rare to see me look happy. Maybe that's a reflection on the difficulties of the past almost 2 years. It's more a reflection of the fact that I don't have good teeth and smiling is something of an embarrassment. But, I don't have to look like I disapprove of everything either. I need to work on looking content. You never know who is taking your picture.

I will probably always overestimate how much of something to buy. I came back with 3 jars of chocolate sauce. Carole and David have the one which was opened but only a third was used. Plus, I got 5 containers of whipping cream when 3 would have been plenty. I was going to take most of the containers when we left but I didn't realize we didn't have them until we were well away from Warrenton on Sunday. I hope Kitty and David have a use for it.

I'm just never sure how much of something to buy when I'm feeding more than a family of 6. It's always been a problem. The whole "suggested serving size" is absolutely no help in figuring this out. A "suggested serving size" of fudge sauce is going to be different between me and you as well as what is the sauce going over. Plain vanilla ice cream requires more sauce than chocolate chocolate chip with bananas, walnuts and maraschino cherries. Because these are well sealed, the sauce will last longer. As June heads into July, I should order some Oberweise ice cream this coming Thursday. July 4th and ice cream with chocolate sauce. Yes, I can celebrate independence in that fashion.

I wonder what happened to the extra Blue Moon ice cream. If there had been a way to take some home with me, I would have.

If there was a way to subsidize Perry's mead making, I would do it...in a heartbeat...no questions asked. I want to open one of these because I know how good the mead will be, but then, drinking it means I'm closer to being out of it. Dilemmas. Dilemmas.

Why is it that we go some place new and say, "This reminds me of the area around Strawberry Point" or some other place? I guess it's our mind's way of connecting us to a place. Virginia is like that. In places, I was reminded of Iowa. When mom and I headed the wrong way out of Warrenton on Friday, we drove by some beautiful farms on a small two-lane road. It reminded me of the many roads in southwestern Wisconsin. But, we turned a corner and a Civil War plaque stood next to a stone wall. You don't see those in southwestern Wisconsin.

We were reminded that this portion of the country has an American history that predates anything from Iowa. At times, that was jarring. But most of the time, it made me wish I could just drop everything and travel to places for a week at a time to experience the history of the place. There are so many corners of this country I have never been.

The words of the day for the weekend of the wedding.

Lastly, no matter how warm the welcome, how soft the beds, how smooth the drive, how fun the event, waking up on Wednesday with a purring cat next to me defines happiness. It's good to travel but it's also good to be home.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Ordinarily, I wouldn't touch this.

It's not the best photo in the world because of the lighting. I didn't want to use a flash to attract attention to the fact that I was photographing my gelato at the coffee shop tonight.

Why photograph my dessert?

This is mint chocolate chip gelato. So? I usually decline mint chocolate anything. I think it's an awful thing to do to chocolate, combine it with mint. I'm not a fan of mint.

But Melody bought me dessert while we were listening to her hubby play guitar and unless you know you're going to have a physical reaction to food, it's really impolite to decline. You eat a little and then say, "Oh gosh. I didn't realize I was so full." Manners. My momma taught me.

This was good, very good, surprisingly good. It was green, something you can't see here, with little flecks of chocolate chips in it. The mint was not overpowering and there was no metallic aftertaste as can happen when you combine mint and chocolate. No one was more surprised at how smooth and luscious this was than me.

I will still view mint and chocolate combinations with a very skeptical eye, but I might be less likely to turn up my nose at them now.

Beverage: Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

One Day Later

Yesterday was National Ice Cream Day. Ronald Reagen signed a bill in 1984 designating the third Sunday of July a day to indulge in this heavenly treat.

Well, I ate all the Ben & Jerry's I bought before the 4th. Yesterday was hot and muggy so I didn't want to go out to get any ice cream. So, I decided to celebrate today. After being out in the field and getting rather dirty and forgetting where I put my work boots this morning and nearly panicking and then walking into several fires that needed to be put out, I felt a swing by Dairy Queen on my way home was justified.

It's also the 25th year of the Blizzard. What an amazing coincidence! National Ice Cream Day AND Blizzard's birthday.

Now, it can be argued that soft serve is really NOT ice cream. I know I have heard, and probably made, that argument over the years. But it was a left turn into and out of Oberweise's store to get iced cream whereas it was a right turn into and out of Dairy Queen. When you're tired and you want to go home, what are you going to do?

I got a large French Silk Pie Blizzard. She gave me a senior discount. I almost laughed out loud. But that discount turned out to be enough that I didn't have to break my $20. There's something to be said for gray hair.

So, here's to National Ice Cream Day a day late. I took care of my chocolate craving for the week, too.

Beverage: Irish Breakfast tea

Deb

Second year in a row.

I'm rather glad I made the decision on Tuesday to stay home and not go to the Illinois St. Andrew Society's Highland Games today. There is a music event tonight and they like to have clans set up on Friday and be at their tents from 4 to 7 p.m. About a third of the clans actually do that.

The weather forecast was for hot and humid conditions with a large threat of rain in the afternoon, similar to last year. Jon had to go cover a shot at a quarry and said 70 mph winds were predicted about the time the shot was to go off. Fortunately, the quarry superintendent pushed the shot up because he has weather radar and noticed a rather icky (technical term there) line of storms coming from Iowa marching east.

I had to go to the post office and the bank before coming home. At 3 p.m., I noticed the sky was growing dark and turbulent. I made the decision to leave the office early. Post office? Check. Bank? Check. Drive home and get comfortable and the storm came through at 3:54 p.m.

I would have still been at the office; we get done at 4; and I would have stayed there and not driven home. Even with working wipers, there's no reason to head into the teeth of a gale.

When it rains sideways, there really isn't anywhere you can go in one of those exhibition-type tents that a cube with a top on it. It would not have been a good start to the weekend.

It's just raining right now, a steady rain. It looks like another 30 minutes of rain and then it clears up. Supper is the rest of the pint of Ben & Jerry's Cheesecake Brownie ice cream. I'll get donuts tomorrow for myself and Peter and Mary from Clan Wallace who will be next to me. Other than some warmth, it's supposed to be a nice day tomorrow.

For the Society's sake, I'm glad the storms rumbled through now. People will still come for the music tonight. Although I feel badly for not being there, this year, it was the right decision.

Beverage: English Breakfast tea

Deb

A near D'oh and a very much YAY!

It's Thursday and, in the wee hours of the morning, I get delivery of milk and water. If it's been a restless night, I have heard the delivery. Pilchard sometimes sleeps on the table against the window so I wonder if she see the delivery. She's caught the eye of the pizza delivery guy. "Oooh nice cat!"

Anyway, I don't need milk right now but with Carole coming next week, ice cream would be nice. It's so hard to decide from the myriad of flavors, what would be nice to have in the freezer. As I have whittled the stored bottles out of the fridge, I find that I'm down to ice cream toppings, a lot of ice cream toppings. Why do I have 2 bottles each of caramel and butterscotch? There is, as you would expect, only one bottle of chocolate and it's about half gone.

I made, back in November, a chocolate ginger spice cake, sliced it and froze it. In the clean-up after baking the cake, the scent and taste of the little bit of batter left in the bowl made me wonder what I was thinking when I decided to try this recipe. Now, frozen and unthawed, it is delicious. I top the cake with one of the toppings and a dollop of whipped cream. It's rather rich so I can only eat one slice at a sitting. I did think ice cream would be a nice accompaniment.

Carole has asked for Italian meatloaf for dinner one night. A cake with ice cream would make a nice dessert to go with this. I ordered two kinds of ice cream, Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Chip. I'll have to go through the recipes I have for the proper cake but even just ice cream with toppings and whipped cream would be satisfactory.

When you order ice cream, you get a bag with a container that holds dry ice. It used to be that ice cream was hand delivered. Your doorbell was rung whenever the driver happened to deliver to let you know ice cream was in the box and needed to be handled. But that method still didn't guarantee your ice cream wasn't soup when you got to it in the morning. They have insulated boxes, which had a wasp nest in it until I took care of that yesterday. That is only marginally better. This new method is far superior. It even lasts until noon because you left the house and forgot to bring in the ice cream.

Yes, dear reader, I forgot. At about 8:45 in the morning, my brain kicked the side of my head and reminded me that I had not brought the ice cream inside. I couldn't get home before 11:30 so I was expecting some oozing of the product. Nope. The ice cream was still hard as it sat in the insulated bag with the dry ice container on top of them. It is now safely inside the freezer for next week.

From there, I nipped on over to Subway. As I said, I'm cleaning and part of the kitchen was last night's task. I spent nearly 2 hours scrubbing. When I was done, the last thing I wanted to do was cook and mess it all up again. So, I had the last of the leftovers. This morning, I had toast. I must cook tonight since there's nothing to eat in the fridge but I'm on top of the dishes now. I decided I could afford, since I had a coupon, a trip to Subway.

Lo and behold, they have Dr. Pepper. Maybe your Subway has always had Dr. Pepper, but the closest one to me has not. Well, that just made my day. My meal was less than $5.25 and they have Dr. Pepper. Yes, it is the little things that make a day happy.

Beverage: um...see above

Deb