September 30, 2008

Busy bee and watching tv

I had a lengthy to-do list growing; fortunately, we were productive and made a good dent in it this weekend. I painted the 4th bedroom, good bye nearly neon green and hello raffia cream. We took down the light fixture over the kitchen table and replaced it with a ceiling fan. That’s one more gold fixture gone for good. We scraped the painted parrots off the laundry room window, and the seagull, clouds and sea painting off the master bath window. Only three more window paintings to go. We expanded the pond to include another basin and a cascading waterfall. The new pieces are in place, but we still need to build up the surrounding area with rocks and plants. Pictures to come. We attempted to buy an elliptical and recumbent bike I’ve been eyeing, but we missed Sears’ financing promotion by one day. The exercise equipment will have to wait. Also, cleaned house and did laundry, sewed some buttons and hemmed a pair of pants. I made traditional chocolate chips cookies per Frank’s request:

Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/4 cups unsifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375ºF. Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixer bowl, cream butter with sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375ºF for 9 to 11 minutes, or until golden brown.

The cookies came out well. It was just what Frank had been craving.
And I tried another new pork recipe, Grecian Pork Tenderloin. The marinade was tasty, but it didn’t infuse the tenderloin as much as I would’ve liked. Some pieces were a bit bland. I’ll use the recipe again, but next time I’ll make kabobs.

The weekend wasn’t all work and no play, but play was limited to swimming in the pool, relaxing in the spa and enjoying good tv. We were happy to welcome back Dexter and Californication. I’m fully caught up on Mad Men, I’ve enjoyed having a nice bank of episodes on the dvr. Waiting until Sunday for the next episode to air will be killer.

I finally had a good week in Fantasy football; I’m now 1-3. Nice to finally achieve a win. I’m holding my own in my contests, too, so all is good in the world of football.

Baseball season has a chance of being extended. After the embarrassing losses we suffered against the Twins last week, we’ve earned ourselves another chance at the playoffs by defeating the Tigers yesterday afternoon. Tonight, we’ll watch the game with friends and chowdown on stuffed pizza from Amore. Hopefully, we’ll have reason to celebrate.

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