Random Thoughts...Food, Firearms, and Fun

I’ve been a Dream Dinners customer in Lancaster, PA for a few years, and have even blogged about my experiences. After last night, I may not be a customer much longer. I received a call yesterday afternoon, indicating that I was the only person in the 6:45 session, and asking if I could come in early. Calls like that are bad business practice. This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked to reschedule or arrive early, because I’m the only person in a session. The last time, I rearranged by schedule to arrive early, but it meant adding a lot of driving to my day. This time, I simply could not arrive early. Calls asking customers or guests to arrive early or reschedule are bad. Many of us opt for Dream Dinners because we’re very busy. Asking us to rearrange our schedule just adds additional stress, and part of what Dream Dinners offers is a reduction in stress. When I returned the call, I indicated that I would be there when I could be there. I also said that if it was easi...

I've been volunteering with an organization for years, and have enjoyed it quite a bit, although at times, my volunteer and work activities seem to clash. I've been swamped at work. I've been working overtime and on weekends, and quite frankly, am looking forward to only having two rescue transports, a wine tasting and pig roast, rehearsal for Eastern Star, and lunch with a friend this weekend. I should add that I'm taking Friday off, as I needed to try to squeeze in Dream Dinners at some point and I simply could not find the time in the next week or so to do that without taking Friday off from work! I'd expressed my schedule to those in charge at the volunteer organization, and had been assured that they understood that work was my first priority. Unfortunately, no one there seems to recognize this, as they keep asking me to do things, and then only after I've completed it and pointed out that I've been swamped, have I received the response of, "Oh, ...

We had an adventure packed weekend. I worked a bit late on Friday, so when I got home, I immediately started lunch. We had knishes that we picked up when we were last at Costco. They were very good, although they'd have been better with sauerkraut. I napped after lunch, while Mac cut the grass. I wanted to go to a semi-local BBQ restaurant, but by the time Mac showered and was ready to go, we wouldn't have made it there until after they closed. So, instead, we hit our local Qdoba, and then did a bit of grocery shopping. Mac always teases me about my choices for veggies for dinners, so I left it up to him to select veggies! On Saturday, we were going to have the Dream Dinners Crispy Salsa Ranch Chicken for dinner, but I had a few mystery shops to do, so we decided to push those until later in the day, and then check out a different BBQ restaurant for dinner. The BBQ restaurant was very good, and their dry rub was incredible, but neither Mac nor I were enamored with their sauces...

Another Yahoo article , this one about how I love my sister. We may not always agree, but I do love her.

Tiff and I headed to Dream Dinners for our March session on Thursday. This is the first time we've attended a weeknight session, but until the car issues, Mac and I had planned to be out in Philadelphia this past weekend. When the car issues started, we changed our plans, but opted not to change the session. I ordered an extra 6-serving of the Southwest Pulled Pork with Confetti Cornbread, figuring that Mac and I really enjoyed it when it was the test recipe, so we'd enjoy the extra in the freezer! Wow, is it interesting to prepare. It's not difficult really, but it can be challenging to get the cornbread to spread across the pork mixture easily. I'm sure mine won't look anything like the Dream Dinners pictures, but I made the best of it! We're having that for dinner tonight. The Orange Asian Chicken smelled wonderful, and we'll probably break that out of the freezer sooner, rather than later. The Pesto Cheese Ravioli with Chicken and Walnuts is curren...

I had to take Geno to the vet last week. He's been drinking a lot of water, and I was concerned. He has a UTI, plus crystals, so he's on two different medications--an antibiotic and something to reduce the pH in his urine, with hopes of eliminating the crystals. Geno tends to be difficult when trying to give him meds, so Wednesday night was interesting. I basically pried open his jaws, shoved the meds down his throat, and then held his mouth shut until he swallowed. He did try to cheek the one, but eventually took it. Thursday morning was very similar, and Thursday night was a bit easier, as Mac covered them in peanut butter, and he took it a bit warily, but without the typical struggle I have with him. On Friday, Mac tried something new. Since we had leftover mashed potatoes from dinner on Thursday, Mac rolled the pills in mashed potatoes. Geno loved it! He swallowed both without any hesitation! This is how we've been giving him his meds ever since! Friday was a bad da...

I saved the Dream Dinners Slow Cooked BBQ Beef with Baby Bakers for Saturday. I figured that I'd get it ready in the crock pot Friday night, and that Mac could turn it on once he got home from hunting on Saturday morning. I knew that Saturday, after the Dress for Success Professional Women's Group workshop, I wouldn't feel up to cooking, so I thought this was a great way to still have a nice dinner, while not going back out after getting home from the workshop. We had a rifle shipped to Cabela's in Hamburg, and we had until Wednesday, December 5 to pick it up there. We wanted to pick it up by Tuesday, December 4, because of a coupon offer they had, where you could save $20 on a $150 purchase. We planned on heading there on Sunday morning. Saturday morning, Mac and I went hunting, before the workshop. Yes, I went hunting in business attire, with a blaze orange coat and hat added to my outfit. Dedicated, right? I then headed to the workshop, and still managed to arriv...

Mac and I packed up the dogs last Wednesday and headed off to visit my parents for the Thanksgiving holiday. Since I was cooking Thanksgiving dinner, I purchased most of the groceries here, and we hauled those out to their house as well. They picked up a few odds and ends, primarily things that I figured wouldn't travel well. Mac and I headed out around 4 AM on Thanksgiving to try to snag a TV at Kmart. We didn't make it more than an hour in line, before we found out that they'd run out of vouchers for the TV we wanted. We headed back to my parents' house, and napped. I got up around 8:30 and prepared the stuffing, then got the turkey into the oven around 9 AM, so we could eat around 1 or 1:30 PM. I then mixed everything for green bean casserole and cut the red-skinned potatoes so we could have mashed potatoes. My mother prepared the hash brown casserole, while I prepared a dill dip from a local small business. Once the potatoes were ready, Mac prepared the mashed...

Tonight, after work, I'm headed to get my hair cut to donate to Locks of Love , and colored. I'm trying Bernard's at Brighton, where we were last Sunday, for their Spa, Shop, Wine, and Chocolate event. We each received a $15 gift certificate, so I'll use that to offset the costs. I also won a door prize at the event, so I'll pick that up as well. After that tonight, I'm going to cook the Dream Dinners Chicken with Honey, Garlic, and Orange, along with rice and broccoli for dinner. After tonight, I'm not cooking again until Tuesday, for various reasons, in part that Mac will be at the Steelers game on Sunday. On Tuesday, I'm going to prepare the Chicken and White Bean Chili with Corn Fritters. That will leave me with 3 additional meals from November to prepare, and those will probably be prepared in December, since Mac will be hunting much of the last week of November. I'll only be hunting for a day, but he'll be out in the woods for much of...

I stumbled upon a similar recipe not long ago, but tweaked it a bit to better reflect some of the issues I typically have with some of the "once-a-month cooking" type meals, where while I do the prep work on one day, I then still have to do a lot of cooking when I want to cook the meal. So, I changed this to do most of the cooking in advance. :) I've not tried it yet, and probably won't until I have a bit of room in the freezer. Right now, the freezer is so packed with antelope and mule deer, plus elk from last year, that I think if Mac or I get a deer during hunting season, we're either donating it or buying a freezer! I am pondering making 3 versions of it, when I do prepare it. Version 1 will be antelope, Version 2 elk, and Version 3, mule deer. You will need: ¾ Cup Salsa 1 Cup Tomato Sauce 3 T Taco Seasoning 1 ¾ Cup Cottage Cheese 2 Eggs ¾ tsp Oregano 1 Cup Shredded Cheese 1 lb Ground Beef 6 flour tortillas Brown ground meat and drain. Combi...

I received a text message from Mac this morning, at 11:56 AM (Eastern). The text message simply read, "Great hunter." My reply was, "Yes..." If you're familiar with the movie Jeremiah Johnson , you'll understand. It's family tradition that when hunting, if you are successful, to tell those who didn't go with you that you were successful. It goes: Hunter: Great hunter. Other person: Yes. Hunter: Fine figure of a man. Other person: Yes. Hunter: That is all you need to know. For now. The follow-up text message I received was, "Your father-in-law and I are both done antelope hunting." First morning, first day hunting, and they're done with antelope already. My father-in-law still has a mule deer license, so they'll still have a little hunting to do. I'm beaming! I guess I'll have to learn how to cook antelope now!