I love McDonald's!

Well, this afternoon my body has decided that it is going to get sick with whatever Zander and Abigail have had. Not good. It was very wierd and all the sudden. This afternoon I was feeling drowsy so I made myself a coffee drink and had a nice visit with my sister. After she left I sat down with Zander to give him a micro-nap, and Boom! it hit me. Now I feel weak and shaky, and I alternate between goose bumps and feeling hot and sticky. My throat is feeling scratchy too. So say a little prayer for me please! I am single Mommy until 5:00pm Friday evening, and I have a dinner date for Friday. Poor Abigail has been so neglected of Mommy time, I hope I can beat this bug swiftly.

I am looking forward to bedtime tonight! Oh and the I love McDonald's is because both of my kids are sitting on the living room floor happily munching french fries and chicken nuggets while I ponder whether or not I can make it to bedtime tonite. Gotta love it. Happy Wednesday!

Cooking Challenge!

Yesterday in the mail I got the most awesome cookbook to date. It is Everyday Italian by Giada De Laurentiis. If you haven't seen her on FoodTv, she is just the cutest thing. She is so pretty, so tiny, and everything she makes looks so good. The bonus is that it's also so easy. So I am presenting myself with a cooking challenge. I have never gottne a cookbook where I actually want to make almost all of the recipes- so my challenge is that I will. There are only 125 recipes in her book, so I will make each one and post my findings here.

Tonight I started with her basic sauce: Simple Bolognese. Mmmm. It was very good. The only change I had was that I forgot to pick up some pecorino romano, so my sauce was cheeseless. I used less oil than called for, and I used Muir Glen crushed tomatoes with basil for extra flavor. It was really good. I imagine it would be phenomenal with the cheese added to it. It was extremely thick. I served it with frozen ravioli, which was okay, but the sauce is screaming for a plain pasta or even a nice slab of french bread lightly toasted as an open face sandwich. I have plenty of leftovers, so I will pick up the romano cheese to add to the remainder. I am also thinking this would be a good time to attempt Polenta, as Giada recommends the bolognese as a topping for it. So we'll see. Here's the recipe.

* Exported from MasterCook *
Simple Bolognese
Recipe By : Giada De Laurentiis
Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method-------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion -- coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves -- peeled and coarsely chopped
1 celery stalk -- coarsely chopped
1 carrot -- coarsely chopped
1 pound ground chuck beef
1 can crushed tomatoes -- (28-ounce)
1/4 cup flat-leaf Italian parsley -- chiffonade
8 fresh basil leaves -- chiffonade
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano

In a 6 quart pot, add extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano. Check for seasoning. Serve hot.
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Gripe to Star Wars Fans

Well, I want to take a minute to scold Star Wars fans. Shame on you. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard complaints about the acting in Episode 3. Um, did we see the same movie? There was one point where Padme was acting super sitzy "Let's go back to Naboo Ani..." but other than that, I don't know what fans are complaining about. And let me tell you, I am very picky about movies. I am constantly picking them apart and criticizing the acting. The one complaint that got me the most was that George Lucas did a poor job of depicting the emotional aspects Anakin went through? Again, I say, were we watching the same movie? OMG, Hayden Christensen was phenomenal. His eyes and facial expressions throughout tell the story of the turmoil alone. Wow. I was a fan of Hayden's before, but this sealed it. (If you haven't seen Life As A House- do it!!) And every once in a while he would get the identical expression on his face that Luke Skywalker would have once in a while. Lucas could not have done a better job casting Hayden. Amazing. And if you are reading this blog and have not seen Episode 3: first of all, do I know you? And second of all, what rock have you been hiding under? Go see it and enjoy it, and then curl up and watch episodes 4,5,and 6. They are totally different now- in a much better way.

Sorry It's been awhile!!

Hi all! Sorry for the lack of blogging. Our computer has been down for almost a month now. Turns out, of course, that the Motherboard is bad- so I have a new computer on it's way finally. In the meantime I have the computer that Rachel uses for school- thanks Rachie! I will post plenty more in short order- there is much to catch up on!