Good afternoon all,
Sounds like everyone is having a good day and I am glad.
Margaret....glad you enjoyed the visit and that your GD and her SO enjoyed spending their time with you. Yes, company is tiring but fun while they are there but it is nice to have your house back to yourself. Hoping they will be around to see you again soon (but not too
). Since her SO loves Mexican food so much maybe he will get inspired and make some fish tacos with that lovely trout you gave them.
Anna....I'm with you. I am not a fan of pumpkin anything either. I will tolerate a small slice of pumpkin pie during Thanksgiving but that is more than enough for me. Other than that I don't care for it or the majority of other squashes.
As for spring rolls, Thai or otherwise...now those I love! YUM!
Sean...The eggplant looks wonderful. Yes indeed a labor of love but so goooood when done especially when all the components are from scratch. You mentioned the acid in sauce bothers your DO. My grandfather had that issue. He used to add sugar to the sauce to alleviate that. Not enough to the point where it sweetened the sauce or you could really taste it, but just enough to cut the acid. Do you add sugar to yours? I usually do for mine for this reason. Usually about 2 Tbsps. is sufficient.
As for us it was Subway today. Husband was really, really tired yesterday. Just wanted to sleep. Despite getting home about 1 (shift was 4 a.m. to noon) and taking a nap he went to bed at 8 last night. Slept until 7:30 this morning! Just tired. So I decided to put off making the Kielbasa and Pierogies until tomorrow when we can enjoy them and just decided we would hit the 'easy button'. Subway. No fuss, no muss and he could take his other half to work. I'll have mine later with soup. I'm doing touch up cleaning today and then can relax and enjoy the day.
TT....yes, a lot of vendors have been doing that when you use a credit or debit card; passing the transaction 'fee' onto you (the customer). I call bull-crap on that.
Reason being as a business owner they are allowed to deduct those taxes and fees. Also it is the 'price' of doing business. They get to deduct that. They also get it refunded when they file income taxes. I think it is tacky and low class and refuse to play that game.
My hairdresser did that to me the last time and did not tell me!
She added almost another $3 to my bill. She used the lame excuse of 'not overcharging me or anything but just processing my debit card fee'. So my way of fixing it was to short her tip the exact same amount to the penny.
I said, "Sorry. Since tips are GRATUITIES and I tip over 20% anyhow this is my way of adjusting for your new fee structure. It isn't like I'm shorting you money or anything. You're still getting 17.36% as a tip which is well above the 'suggested' 15% for the service you gave today.
" Needless to say she is my ex-hair dresser now. I hadn't been pleased with her for a while but that is a whole unrelated story.
Tom...I commend you on your willpower. Good for you for sticking to you maintenance. If you are craving a pear dessert I found something you may like and that I have served before. It is an old Cooking Light recipe that I have had for years.
I like this for holidays as a nice change of pace to pumpkin pie. Low cal and high fiber and fairly decent calcium also.
PEAR CRISP WITH OAT STREUSEL TOPPING
Ingredients for the Crisp:
---7 3/4 cups cubed Bartlett or Anjou pears
---1 cup golden raisins
---1 Tbsp. all purpose flour
---1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
---1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
---1/4 tsp salt
--- non stick cooking spray
Ingredients for Topping:
---1/2 cup all purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
--- 1 cup regular oats
--- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
--- 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
--- dash of salt
--- 1/4 cup chilled butter; cut into small pieces
--- 1/2 cup frozen fat-free whipped topping; thawed
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. To prepare crisp, combine the first 6 ingredients (everything except cooking spray) in a large bowl; Toss to combine.
3. Spoon the mixture into an 11 x 7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
4. Prepare the topping by lightly spooning 1/2 cup flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife.
5. Combine flour, oats, sugar, 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, and dash of salt in a small bowl and stir to combine.
6. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles very coarse meal.
7. Sprinkle oat mixture evenly over the pear mixture.
8. Bake at 375F for 50 minutes or until browned on top. Serve with whipped topping. Yields 8 servings (Serving size: about 1 cup and 1 Tbsp. whipped topping.)
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
calories 303 per serving; 20% from fat
Fat 6.8 Grams (Saturated 3.8G, mono 1.8G, poly o.6G)
Protein 3.7G
Carbs 60G
Fiber 6.9G
Cholesterol 15mg
Iron 1.7mg
Sodium 14.2mg
Calcium 40mg
Going to finish up the cleaning today and check the mail. Will catch you all a little later.
Happy Day.
AG
