Dinner For One

NO SYMPATHY, PLEASE!

This was just what I needed. Before the originator of this recipe could even try more than a forkful, I was off to the store to get the ingredients I needed. It just sounded perfect for a warm spring night like this to break in my new porch furniture.

I made Maura's not-your-mother's tuna salad: tuna, pesto, shells, scallions and roasted red peppers. I served it (to myself) on a bed of romain with a side of flatbread, warmed ever-so-perfectly using my quesadilla maker, which heretofor was known to me as having one, and only one function, that being to make quesadillas.



The dinner-for-one was underscored by - ironically, given the pleasantness of my solo dinner - The Shins' new album, Wincing the Night Away. Good stuff.

Baby Shower Success

After a long week plus of preparations, the baby shower for Melissa turned out to be a great day. Here are some pictures.... the rest are in my web album.

This is one of the favors I made - we had blue, pink, yellow, green and purple votive holders.
The fugly cake that ended up tasting amazing. Aunt, Mom, and Grandmother enjoying the shower. Buffet offering: veggie pizza, sandwich wraps, meatballs w/ marinara, chicken-sausage and peppers and onions, lightly coated chicken strips w/ honey mustard, sweet and sour, and honey teryaki dipping sauces, spring mix salad w/ feta and raspberries, fruit, veggies, guacamole and cake!

I even took a stab at making my own coursages:

not quite in my job description, part 2

We celebrate birthdays at the law firm with homemade treats. I volunteer to do the baking more often than not, because, well, I have a modest preference for my own baked goodness. Tomorrow's treat is a devil's food cake with homemade chocolate butter frosting. Slightly sweetened fresh strawberries between the layers and on top.

We had a birthday just one week ago, for which I baked an identical cake, except swap the strawberries for walnuts (which I self-servingly put only on top and kept as whole as possible so that I could avoid the nuts while I enjoyed my slice of cake).

not quite in my job description, part 1

Recent fundraiser play-production, and my Board status meant I assembled the "bulletin boards" for the schoolroom set. I missed my calling as a fourth-grade teacher. Either that, or my hourly rate is incredibly inflated. In the picture, my handiwork is the "Our Country" and "Our Faith" boards.

Those are completely "freestyle" letters (as in I didn't even sketch them out first). I'm a pro with scissors.

baby name thread

Don't non-reluctant bloggers post things called "threads" that are meant to just be the gateway for their readers' comments on a particular topic?

I thought so. Completely without M&M's permission, but in response to JLD's comments re: the-anagram-of-my-name baby name, I am posting this "baby name thread" for any and all suggestions. M&M can just indulge us and make us feel like we are involved in the naming of the baby, then put their original choice on the birth certificate :)