Oh, come ON!

It's 9:20 PM, and my weather widget says 74. It's freakin' April 6th, people!! IN CHICAGO! Ugh! Excuse me, I'm gonna go research prices for flights to Alaska...

I'm in a sharing mood...

Ok, my Bloggy Buddies, this is a recipe I've been making for about 20 years, and it's the most requested dish by my family. The part in black is the original recipe that I received from a friend at my wedding shower. The part in red is the alterations I've made to the recipe. I could eat this every single day of my life, it's THAT good! It's kinda a two-day recipe (you need to start the night before) but, oh, so worth it!

Taffy Apple Salad

• 1 can chunk pineapple (drain & reserve liquid)
• 2 cups mini marshmallows
• 1 Tablespoon flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 ½ Tablespoon white vinegar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 8oz container Cool Whip, thawed (I use 2 8oz containers, usually the extra creamy)
• 1 ½ cups Spanish peanuts (I use a can of nut topping, intended for ice cream sundaes. It more like what’s actually on a taffy apple!)
• 3 cups diced apples w/peel (I only use Granny Smith apples, [cuz that’s what I like!] and I run it through my apple/peeler/corer/slicer from Pampered Chef, so it’s not chunks of apple, it’s smaller pieces)

Bowl #1
Mix pineapple chunks and marshmallows. Cover with foil and refrigerate.

Bowl #2
Mix flour, pineapple juice, sugar, vinegar and egg. Cook until thick over medium heat. Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

To Assemble
In a large bowl mix Cool Whip, apples, peanuts and Bowls #1 and #2. Refrigerate at least 6 hours before serving. (I have a goofy, kinda anal-retentive way that I put this together. The first thing I do is put the custard sauce [bowl #2] in a huge mixing bowl, then I add the apple pieces, and mix thoroughly, so each piece is coated in custard. Then, I add the nut topping [reserving a few tbs for garnish] and mix again, so that each piece of apple is coated with nuts. I then mix in the pineapple/marshmallow mix [bowl #1], again mixing thoroughly. Finally, I add the Cool Whip, one container at a time, mixing thoroughly after each container. I then transfer it to whatever serving bowl I’m going to use, and top it with the reserved nut topping. Refrigerate at least 6 hours.)

For JLo

Ok, I gotta tell ya, J, that I'm one of those really annoying people who NEVER shares her recipes. That's mostly because if people find out how simple they are, they will no longer be impressed with my culinary talents. But, because I love you, my bloggy friend, I decided that I would share with you. I can't guarantee it'll happen again, so pay attention. ;-)


Vegetable Lasagna

2 boxes no-boil lasagna noodles (I use Barilla) (you'll use about 1 1/2 boxes)

2 jars Alfredo sauce (any variety you like, I usually buy the one with mushrooms)

1 10oz box frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

1 16oz container ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1 cup grated Parmesan, divided

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (or more to taste)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Optional: mushrooms (fresh or canned, I usually use canned. If you use fresh, you should saute them first), roasted red peppers (I use jarred)

In a large mixing bowl, mix spinach, ricotta cheese, eggs and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well to incorporate all ingredients. In a 13x9 baking dish, place approximately 1/2 cup Alfredo sauce, or enough to coat the bottom evenly. Layer on lasagna noodles to cover bottom (my pan fits 3). Carefully spread 1/3 cheese filling over noodles, being sure to spread evenly. If using mushrooms and/or peppers, layer these over cheese filling. Sprinkle with Parmesan, to taste, and mozzarella (about 1/2 cup). Top with Alfredo sauce (about 1/2 cup, or enough to evenly coat filling). Top with another layer of noodles, and repeat filling layers and sauce. Repeat for a third layer, ending with noodles on top. Cover with remaining sauce, making sure to completely cover top layer of noodles with sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.

Cover dish with foil (it helps to spray it first with non-stick spray) and bake in a pre-heated 350 oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking until top layer of mozzarella is golden and edges of lasagna are bubbling (about 15 minutes). Let sit at least 10 minutes before serving.

Ok, I'll have to come back for the others. Maybe I'll post one recipe a day, since it takes a while to type them out. (All the things I made for Easter are things that I don't have written out anywhere.) JLo, if you actually try making this, let me know how it turns out. This is a recipe I cobbled together on my own, so writing it out kinda forced me to think about actual measurements (just like when I sent it to you, Tiffany!) and I'm sure it's not exactly the same amounts I use, but you really can't screw it up. I mean, come on, it's essentially just pasta and cheese!! YUM!

So far this morning...

I've made:

• Vegetable Lasagna
• Cheesy Potatoes
• Brownies
• Taffy Apple Salad
• Cheddar Cheese Bread
• Jello Eggs

Now, I just hope I don't forget to put any of it in the car to take to my parents' house.

I wait all year for this...

Tonight, from 6-10 pm, I will be parked right here in front of my TV, watching this. It's just not Easter until we've watched The Ten Commandments. I can't believe I don't own this on DVD.

um...yeah...so...

...yesterday, I made Stud drive home from my parents (where we went to pick up my nieces) and when we got home, he just pulled into the driveway and parked it. Normally, I back in the driveway, and pull into the garage, but he's not quite comfortable with that yet. No biggie, I had planned to get the kids started on the eggs, then run to the grocery store to get some flour. (I've been on a bread kick for a couple of days now, so there may be photos coming!) Now, you may recall it's been in the 80s for a couple of days now, so we had the sunroof and all the windows open when we were driving. When he parked, Stud asked if he should close the windows, and I said no, because I was planning to run right back out. However, I never did make it to the store, because after I set the kids up, they decided they were hungry, and then my sister came over, and the store was completely forgotten.

Well, flash forward to this morning. I woke up at about dawn, per usual, and I was watching the morning news programs in bed. I had opened my bedroom window last night when I went to bed because it was really warm in the house (hmmm...could all the baking have anything to do with that?) and so this morning, I actually awoke to the sound of birds chirping, and was enjoying the delightful breeze. A little while later, I thought I heard what sounded like raindrops, and thought, "well, that's good, we could use some rain." I wasn't surprised at all, because the weather forecast called for rain today.

I went into Stud's room to check his windows, since I knew they were opened, and I saw that rain was actually coming into his room, so I walked over to close them. Well, guess what was directly below his window. Um..yeah...my WIDE OPEN SUNROOF!!

I ran outside with my key and closed all the windows and the sunroof, but the inside of the car was already soaked. Now it's raining, so I can't exactly go out there to dry things off. I can't even sit IN the car to dry things, because my seats are soaked. That's just craptastic, isn't it?

This all happened over an hour ago, and I've been sitting here trying to figure out what I should do. I really need to get the store, and I really want to start drying the car. I'm afraid that no matter how many towels I put on my seat, when I get out at the store, my whole rearend will be wet, and I'll have to walk around the store looking like a 3 year old who had an accident. I suppose I could put some plastic over the seat, like a trash bag. Hmmm....I may be on to something here....

I think this kid is part Chia Pet...

This was his big, bald, beautiful head on the morning of the St. Baldrick's event. It actually looks longer than it was because he has such thick, dark hair. There was no hair sticking up, it was just like a 5 o'clock shadow.

Here's his head two weeks later. This is actually longer than the length his father gets his hair cut. How freakin' cute is my baby?!I had to take a bunch of silly pictures before I could get the cute one above. He's such a goof!

He was trying to look intimidating here. Yeah, not so much....

Oops, his Italian is showing....

This was his Godfather impersonation.

On a totally unrelated topic, I searched the internet early this morning for a recipe that resembled the Easter bread my grandma used to make us. This was the closest I found. Not nearly as pretty as what my grandma made. Actually, I don't have a clue what it's going to taste like. I skipped an entire line in the recipe and totally screwed up at one point, so I don't know how that's going to affect the taste/texture of the bread. (I was supposed to let it rise for 30 minutes, then brush it with egg white and sprinkle it with sugar, then bake it. Well, I did the egg white and sugar BEFORE I let it rise! CRAP!) It smells good, so maybe it'll taste good, too.