Seriously, I should give up even intending to post on Fridays.
Anyway, I had a really fun day because DH took me SHOPPING for CLOTHES. I love shopping! It was the perfect day for us; fall fell on us last week, and this morning the air was bright, crisp, and shiny without being too terribly cold. After another Test Week, it was so much fun to spend a big stretch of time with Dennis, just enjoying looking at things. He was very patient while I tried on about sixteen thousand pairs of jeans and work pants, at several different stores.
I very nearly had a Bad Day instead of a really fun one. It is NO FUN to try on pants that don't fit. And since I am quite small, have no hips at all, and yet still have too much of me in the leg area to fit into girls' or boys' sizes, A LOT of pants don't fit me.
I was getting pretty glum, but with the grace of God and the help of a very attentive sales associate at Maurices, I was finally able to find a glorious, glorious pair of jeans. I cannot remember the last time that I bought a pair of jeans that really fit well and looked nice.
I also can't remember the last time I paid $30.00 for a pair of jeans! And I am so happy about these jeans, I am going to buy another pair JUST LIKE THEM next week (so I can use the coupon I got today).
Now all I have to find is a pair of work pants. They don't make a lot of professional-looking clothes for people my size, at least not anywhere I know to look.
DH got some tennis shoes, and we bought a bread box (we've been using my biggest mixing bowl!), some pretty glass coffee cups (he likes cappuccinos and Irish coffee and fun stuff like that), and a cookie spatula (which was strangely elusive for a long time ... )
Anyway, we have done our part to stimulate the local economy. In other news, I am excited to substitute teach Sunday School tomorrow, I discovered the delights of roasting butternut squash, and I read a super amazing book called The Name of the Rose, which is apparently about a series of murders in a medieval abbey, but really is about Knowledge and Truth and Language and English-majory stuff like that.
blues in july
5 months ago
If you have any interesting butternut squash recipes - besides soup, please share. I'm drowning in it. David won't eat anything that tastes like butternut squash, except for the cake recipe I found. I'm going to have to make about 10 of those to use up all this squash.
ReplyDeleteA friend from church says she steams or roasts it, scoops it from the peel, mashes it, and uses it in her pumpkin pie recipe, instead of pumpkin pie. She says it tastes the same, but it looks brighter and prettier.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, you could always mail us a few squash!
The Name of the Rose is one of my favorite novels! I also loved _Foucault's Pendulum_ and thought _The Island of the Day Before_ was pretty good as well.
ReplyDeleteWhat I love about Echo is how he forces his readers to viscerally experience the world he's writing about. Think about those first few hundred pages of the Rose. He forces you, a 21st century reader, to s l o w d o w n so much that by the time the story begins to take off you've grown accustom to a 14th century pace. Brilliant. He does something similar in Pendulum where the vitiguous interconnections of secret societies has you near mind-numbing exhaustion.
Oops...virtiguous of course.
ReplyDeleteNo Crust Pumpkin Pie
ReplyDelete1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 cup pumpkin (or butternut squash)
1/2 cup evaporated milk
4 eggs
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
OR 1/4 tsp. each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves
Blend all ingredients. Pour in 9" greased glass pie pan. Bake at 350* for 45 min. Can top with nuts.
This pie makes its own crust as it bakes! It is so easy and the kids inhale it. I usually double it and make 2 because, let's face it, 1 cup of squash doesn't make a dent in the available supply! :) I also frequently substitute regular milk for the evaporated milk with no ill effects.
OK, so I made the pumpkin pie with butternut ... and I guess it turned out OK. Tasted like pumpkin pie ... only butterier ... and nuttier.
ReplyDelete**Interjection by DH- Emily doesn't even like pumpkin pie. I thought it was fantastic! And definitely nuttier...**
AS I WAS SAYING, I thought it was gross, but then I don't like regular pumpkin pie (or indeed ANY kind of custard pie). But I would say, if pumpkin pie is your thing, squash pie is definitely worth a try.
And next week ... CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.