I haven't just been playing Zelda. . .
I've also been riding around Chicago in a limo with my family:

My Mom, sister Kristy, her husband Gregg (hidden), sister Heidi & her boyfriend, Kevin (belongs to my sister Amanda) & Pete

Other end of the limo -- Me and my sister Amanda
We have 3 brother-in-laws in the family and their birthdays are all around the same time of the year (Sept/Oct). We used to have individual get togethers for each one, but three years ago my mom suggested one fancy dinner instead of three pizza/bbq type things. It was so much fun that we've been doing it every year.
This year we took a limo so that everyone could enjoy a few beverages and we went up to Chicago to Keefer's. Very nice place!
I've also been cooking and baking quite a bit. Recently I made the Crumb Coffeecake from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. So good! And it makes 2 - 8" round cake pans, so I froze one for later.
THen today I pulled out Beth Hensperger's The Bread Bible (not to be confused with Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible
-- also and excellent book) and made Real Lemon Muffins with the bag of lemons I had in the fridge. I am completely powerless against lemons and when I see bags of them at Trader Joe's I often will throw them in my cart. I never know what to do with them, but since trying this recipe I will never have that problem again. Delicious and very lemony! I used the whole bag of lemons for this recipe and it only makes 8 muffins, so there you go.
Speaking of Beth Hensperger, I just love her cookbooks and have had great success making everything I've ever tried from them.
Another thing I've been trying to do on a regular basis is cook dinners from scratch. I love to cook and bake and got away from this habit when Maddie was little and work was eating up all my free time, but as I step back from work a bit and Maddie becomes independent I find I have more time. So, I've been trying to cook things fresh, organic and whole.
I actually find that I'm loving Everyday Food. From the current issue I've tried 3 recipes and all were a success! (Well, Maddie wasn't a fan of the mushroom risotto, but it was delicious and turned out just great.) The whole family loved the Chicken Parmesan recipe and it was so easy since nothing needed to be fried. Of course, it always takes me longer to make the meal then they say it will, but I plan ahead for that :) (The third recipe I tried was the carmel corn -- very good, but I will make more caramel stuff next time I make it.)
So, I have been doing something besides playing Zelda -- really I have. In fact, I have some book reviews to post very soon!








