Almost took a nap in the hammock this afternoon. The sun was warm. The breeze was soft and cool. The occasional cawing crows, cars, and squirrels rustling the tree branches kept me awake. Played around with Photomatix again.

Looking at dumb stuff on the internet gave me this: Jon Dyer's working on all types of facial hair. Those are pretty sweet. Yeah. And here's something new to try: Sausage-stuffed potatoes. Mmmm...

Cooked for Will's mom, brother, and nephew: Potatoes/onions/garlic with olive oil, lemon wedges, fresh rosemary from the garden, and some oregano (used dried as mine froze outside) (350F for 45). Spinach and feta stuffed chicken breasts. Mmmmmmmm... And an after dinner mint of Beavis and Butthead's Christmas special with the family.

I should have started blogging my recipes a long time ago. Looking for the spinach and feta stuffed chicken I made sometime in the last couple of years. I know I made it since we bought the house...because I remember tenderizing and assembling the chicken on my counter. Hmmmm... Time to dig into the old box of printed recipes. What else have I missed!? Ohh Noes!!!

It's a beautiful day. We slept in, watched an excellent Everton v Aston Villa game, the windows and doors are open, we cooked some yummy breakfast for lunch, and later today we'll be picking up some toys for tots. I want more days like today.

The more pulp, the better... I <3 orange juice.

And what did we eat? Three slow cookers full of oh-so-yummy bison and pork sausage chili, Chris' especial cheese + rotel + sausage dip, some fresh mo-made guacamole, spinach artichoke dip + pita chips, this cornbread and this friggin awesome cornbread (special thanks to Sarah and Victoria for all their help), Sheri's delicious oatmeal raisin cookies, Jenny's wonderful cinnamon macadamia nut cookies, fresh fruit and cheese, a super moist German chocolate cake, and smores. Urthel Flamy Dark Ale, Konigshoeven Quadrupel Trappist Ale, Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout, Navarro Riesling, Bonterra Organic Chardonnay, Marques de Riscal Rioja Reserva 2003, and then whatever other people drank. Holy hell we ate well...very well.

My skid plate is on!!! Thanks guys!

It was 37 degrees out but the fire was nice and hot. The smores were awesome... Next time I'll try to remember skewers so no one gets a flaming marshmallow to the face.

Three of the goodies...

...minus the grillin' this time though. It's chili time!!! Perfect for tomorrow's chilly weather, right? Hunting down a good cornbread recipe as we speak. How about this one? I think it's asking to be mo-made, personally. Mo-making some guac-a-wocka and spinach artichoke dip as well. So I hope the temps stay nice enough for us to say outside all night. As long as the fire is warm, we'll be making smores and having a good ole time with some great friends.

We finally made the Ultimate Coffee Cake (a.k.a. monkey bread). Threw the ingredients together last night, wrapped the pan in saran wrap to let it rise on the counter without interference from curious muskrat whiskers, popped it in the oven this morning around 7:30, and devoured a piece before work. Mmmm...Mmmm...Good. Before we added the frozen yeast rolls to the bundt pan, we sprinkled some of the brown sugar, chopped pecans, and whole pecans in the bottom of the pan. When I flipped the pan over to pull out the heavenly goodness, it was covered in that rich, sticky, syrupy brown sugar pecan glaze. Oh my gawd it was good.

Last night while we were making dinner, we also threw a potato bread mix in the bread machine. It came out beautifully...super duper soft.