Mix, Chop, Process, Bake, Saute, Drink, Eat, Repeat.

Whew! Busy last few days....to catch you up:

Thursday: had to go to the dentist...again. I got my first cavity and had to go have it filled. Never. Again. It took longer to numb my mouth than it did to drill and fill my tooth...and the numbing lasted forever. Instead of just marketing brushing teeth to young kids, numb them up really well one time....you'll never have to do it again.

Friday: had my TB test check bright and early for my new job at the hospital....which I forgot to mention earlier....so, um...I got a job! I start October 16th as a CNA at the long-term care facility in the hospital. They are starting me at $11.19 an hour with a 45 cent bonus each day that I arrive on time. Paid extra to do what you hired me to do? I can handle that! Anywhooo, Friday night, I met Meg at Mongolian BBQ for a little catch up dinner. We hadn't seen each other since before my roadtrip and lots of information needed to be shared. We spent two hours there chatting until our waitress began making it quite clear she would like us to vacate her table. We moved from the restaurant to the coffee shop downtown and had some hot cider while we finished catching up.

Saturday: went home with Greg to Lake Orion. We had to take Buster to the vet and then I met Greg's best friend, Grant, and Grant's wife, Jaime. We spent a very enjoyable afternoon there and then had to head out to pick up Buster. From the vet, we headed to Yate's Cider Mill. We bought a gallon of cider and a dozen doughnuts to take home, and cups of spiced, hot apple cider and a caramel apple to enjoy while we walked along their wooded paths. The cider was sooo yummy and the area was gorgeous! I unfortunately left my camera at home so no pictures are available.

Sunday: was little suzie homemaker yesterday. Greg needed to work on a project and wanted to watch football; I suggested he do it at my place so we could spend time together while he did his things and I did mine. Before we settled in at my place, we took Buster for a long walk down to the park. The leaves are starting to change here...most are still green, but there are quite a few colorful trees. I picked up several colorful leaves to dry; I am planning a bit of a craft project, but it will take a while for the leaves and plants to dry, so that will be a much later post. We walked back, dropped Buster off at Greg's house, and headed to my place. He settled in on the couch, and I settled into the kitchen....my favorite place to be. I am really loving my kitchen...it's open to the living room so he and I can talk while I cook. On our walk, we talked about things we hadn't had in a while and Windmill cookies were mentioned. As soon as we got back, I looked up the recipe and gathered my ingredients.

Windmill Cookies
2 c. butter
2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 tsp. soda
4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
4 1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. chopped almonds
1/4 c. chopped wlanuts

Cream butter and brown sugar. Sift together flour, soda and spices. Add sour cream alternately with sifted dry ingredients. Stir in nuts. Knead dough into rolls, 2 inches thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight. Cut into slices and bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

I rolled the dough with my hands into long tubes, 2 inches in diameter, and wrapped them in press-and-seal wrap.

After they had been in the fridge for a couple hours, I took the tubes out, one at a time, and cut them into half inch slices. I then rolled those slices in sugar and baked them according to the recipe...pretty and delicious!

While I was waiting for the dough to harden, I also made a pumpkin pie. It seems like as soon as the weather turnes colder and the leaves start changing color, I start craving a warm pumpkin pie, with homemade crust. The crust came out beautifully, but the pumpkin was the darkest color I have ever seen, even before baking....didn't seem to affect the flavor though.

I also made pesto while I was waiting. It has been getting quite cold here at night, even frosting a little here and there, and my basil plants were starting to take a downhill slide. Instead of letting all those lovely leaves go to waste, I cut all of the leaves off the plants to take inside and be frozen. I washed half the leaves and used my food processor to make pesto, which I divided into single-use portions and sealed in press-and-seal packets. the other half of the leaves I cleaned, dried, and then sealed whole into an airtight bag to use in recipes that call for fresh basil. I know the pesto will freeze and thaw nicely, but I'll have to wait and see about the whole leaves.

I ended my flurry of cooking and baking with dinner for me and Greg: crispy BBQ chicken and sauted asparagus.

Crispy BBQ Chicken
Chicken Breasts/tenders
1 c. plain bread crumbs
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chili powder
2 tbs butter

Mix dry ingredients in a shallow bowl. Melt butter in a 9x13 pan. Roll chicken in dry mix and place in pan.

 Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the outside is crispy.

I then sauted the asparagus in a shallow pan with a little seasoning salt and 3 tbs of water.

We capped off the evening with a some spiced, hot cider....trying to recreate the flavor we had at the mill on Saturday. I placed two mugs worth of cider in a sauce pan and added a stick of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of whole allspice.

We curled up with our cider and watched the 2 hour premiere of The Amazing Race...perfect, relaxing end to a busy weekend.