I don't necessarily have anything to say, but I haven't blogged in a bit. It's not that there's nothing going on. I just haven't been sleeping well and sleeplessness does not beget much inspiration. Though I can now blog with some authority about Better Homes & Gardens bedding from WalMart. Unless it softens up tremendously with repeated washings, I would never buy it again. It is stiff and noisy enough that it actually kept me up the first night we used it. I'm still not finding it all that comfortable. I prefer my jersey knit bedding, which drapes over the body and doesn't sound like I've put my head in a bowl of dry cereal.
Speaking of sleep, or lack thereof, what is up with the brain creating nightmares that make no sense? I mean, I get that some things are scary and go in nightmares, like monsters or fire or falling. But when the brain puts Drew Carey in the role of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, things get downright weird. Throw in a large golden dragon chasing us through a corner store and I begin to wonder about what my brain is doing with its downtime. And for the record, I don't even watch Buffy. Or Drew Carey.
Moving on to things less scary, Hallowe'en is almost here. For us, that's a non-scary event. We don't do monsters or spooky things or stuff like that. But we do take the kids trick or treating. And then we go through and sort out all of the safe (peanut free) candy from the rest, throw out anything made in China (seriously, we've gotten mystery candy we've never heard of, labeled "made in China") and put it all away. Usually I end up making a batch of candy cookies with the safe chocolates. The "unsafe" but familiar stuff gets divided between hubby and I for our own private stash. It's one of the few times I actually have "emergency chocolate" on hand.
Between now and then we have our anniversary. Thirteen years already. Plus the six that we dated (high school sweethearts). Not sure what we're doing yet. My birthday is in there too, so we may combine both. There is a local artisans market that we are absolutely going to attend at the end of the month, and since I won $50 from it the last time, I plan on buying myself a little something. Maybe we can mix it all into one date night. We'll see. I'm not sure where we'll have dinner, though there's a great Asian fusion tapas place in town that we both really enjoy.
It's funny how things change. A great dinner date night used to be at a local Thai restaurant. While that is still super-enjoyable, we get take out from there so it's not quite as special. A steakhouse was also considered a great dinner date, until I discovered how to create an amazing end result with any cut of steak just by using salt. Now we're both a bit spoiled and find restaurant steaks, even good one, lacking. If I'm going to pay $30+ for a steak now, it had better be grass fed, local and come from a cow that could moo show tunes. Atmosphere and chef name alone is no longer enough now that I can produce something at least as good, if not better, at home.
And because I can't blog and not talk food most of the time, with the cool weather has come the desire to braise pieces of beef. Which makes me laugh because honestly I'm not a big fan of beef stew and things like that. I am a big fan of making it though. Thankfully hubby is all too happy to eat it. Little Mister is requesting more veggie chili. I say "veggie" rather than "vegetarian" because I do use chicken stock in it. And Worcestershire sauce. Just no meat. I use eggplant and bulgur for texture, and always kidney beans, which are L.M's favourites. Maybe I'll make some for tomorrow. I wonder what he'd think of a vegetable curry? Hmmmm.... Honestly I think that he'd be... not necessarily a vegetarian, but maybe a carba-vore if I let him. He likes veggies and fruits well enough, but would exist on graham crackers, soup crackers and whole wheat bread if I let him. Little Miss, however, asked for steak for her birthday dinner. Both will contentedly eat bacon until they burst, but bacon is a magic food. Tonight it's pork chops. Thick, butterflied pork chops from a butcher we decided to try out on the weekend. So far the flank steak was so-so and the "medium" Italian sausage was bland. Hopefully these chops are better.
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