It's Fall, so all sorts of squashes and root vegetables are readily available, while the availability of Summer vegetables is dwindling...or the prices are skyrocketing. Even in this era of global food production and shipment, local options for root vegetables and squashes are much more economical than their half-a-world-away summer alternatives. One of my favorite squashes is … [Read more...]
Hectic Chicken Parmesan
Fresh chicken was on sale at the store, so of course I bought too much. I ended up having to freeze some...which just kills me. If I'm going to freeze the darned chicken, I don't know why I don't just buy it frozen. I guess part of me always thinks that I can use up everything that I bought, preparing a whole bunch of meals and then storing them for later. I'm still working on … [Read more...]
Hectic Baked Brie
My oldest daughter and I were at the store doing our weekly grocery shopping, and we decided that this week we wouldn't skimp on the cheese in any of the recipes. We were in the deli section of our mega market buying fresh mozzarella, grated parmesan, and a block of Swiss cheese when I saw a round of Brie. I've been wanting a baked brie for a while, but all the kids who eat it … [Read more...]
Christmas Day 2013
We're having a different kind of Christmas at the Hectic Household this year. Instead of having our big family meal (60-120 folks depending on the year), we're only going to have our immediate family here for the meal on Christmas day (10 of us this year, including Hectic Grandma). We'll have the larger meal on Saturday the 28th. This modification in our annual routine made … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving 2013 – The Rest of the Story
Have you ever had one of those perfect days planned. Everything is all bright, and shiny and ready to go. It's gonna be perfect. Just like in the movies. And then you're "movie-like life" turns into Christmas Vacation (or some other silly comedic romp)? Yeah, today had a bit of that, but only a bit. At least my oven didn't catch on fire. Had that happen to a friend of … [Read more...]