There's no way I'll be able to drag the hubby out of the park. As it is, he's likely to say "hey" and they go enjoy single rider lines.

Of course, if you do it Sunday, there could always be a 2-parter of park meet during the day, followed by evening potluck wherever. I can't remember when our flight leaves, but I think it's 8pm-ish. I/we could join y'all for the park portion before heading to the airport.

Of course, we're staying at the GC, so that's also super convenient for us. :)

I enjoy baking. According to the kids that frequent my house I make killer cookies. Lately I have been in a peanutbutter cookie mood. As soon as my dishes are caught up Nickolas and I will be making another batch of pb cookies. The last batch we added white chocolate chip, this time we are going to add butterscotch chips. At Christmas I make around 15-20 pounds of fudge to give away to family and friends. I also make molasses crackle cookies (think ginger snaps) and sugar cookies (from a recipe my mom took off a sugar box 30+ years ago). I may add to those this year (since I am not working) a really good chocolate chip butter cookie and some gingerbread cookies (these are hard as a rock, but great for decorating).

I can do actual cooking pretty good, but I get irritated if it is too time consuming.

What I need to do is get my mom's porcupine ball recipe from her. It is basically meatballs w/rice rolled in and a rich tomato/sour cream sauce. Very tasty.

I almost forgot...I make a killer rum drink. Think an Orange Julius but much better and not so watery, made with pineapple orange juice and blended with a splash of dark rum and a hefty amount of white rum. Verrrrrrrry yummy!!

I have a weird bad association with peanut butter cookies. When I was a kid, I was playing with the neighborhood kids, riding bikes or something. One of the kids was, from my parents' perspective, one of the "bad" kids. Far from the worst, there was no problem with me just hanging out and tooling around...but I definitely shouldn't have been at his house. For one, he was, for whatever reason, considered a bad seed. For another, my parents didn't even really know his parents. And to top it off, his house was across a semi-major street, out of bounds for me to be going without my parents at that age. And I DEFINITELY shouldn't have been accepting peanut butter cookies while at this house I wasn't supposed to be at. But I did. And while eating one, one of my teeth fell out (baby tooth) in a painful and bloody way. So not only did I have to make my way home, bleeding and in pain, I had to admit to my parents that I was eating ilicit peanut butter cookies.

Stupid peanut butter cookies.

I make killer, kick-ass.....

1) French Onion Soup - It's really pretty simple but something that I've tried to improve with each batch. My secret is just a bit of Guiness beer.

2) Beef Stew - A nice comfort food that I always loved as a kid. I've done my best to replicate mom's recipe and I think it is pretty close.

3) Garlic Pasta - My claim to fame, actually. It's the dish I make most often when I want to impress someone. It contains artichoke hearts, capers, portabello mushrooms, and truffle oil, all doused with a liberal (hi scaeagles) helping of fresh grated parmesan and romano.

4) Thai food - One of my favorite things to cook, although Matthew isn't too fond of "spicy" and I haven't figured out much of a middle ground yet.

5) Chile Verde - To me, there is nothing better than a big vat cooking on a Sunday afternoon, with big chunks of pork simmering in the sauce until they are perfectly tenderized. It's an old family recipe that goes way back and, although I don't do it often (t is somewhat of an all-day event), it is something that I'm very fond of making.

Oooh, speaking of soup, while I've only attempted it once, my rendition of gazpacho via my mom's recipe turned out awesome. Damn, summer's over. I should have made it again this year.

Now that the weather is turning...I make a killer beef stew. I don't follow a recipe, just toss a bunch of stuff in the pot. That is when I organize my spice cupboard. It usually ends up with some bite (spicy bite).

I also love making bean soup and split pea soup. I use wanting soup as an excuse to buy a Honey Baked Ham.

Speaking of spaghetti sauce...

When I was about 12 yrs old and living in NY, one of my friends Sicillian (sp?) grandmothers taught my mom how to make "meatballs and gravy". It was also an all day affair and the taste was incredible. From that point on, this was the only way that I ever had spaghetti. Sadly, when my mom passed away, so did the recipe. I don't think I will ever taste anything like it again, try as I might to replicate it. I have yet to find another sauce in any italian restaurant that even comes close.

And yet, I keep trying and trying and trying. Ally, feel free to share that recipe anytime you would like. :)

If I have a cookbook, I can cook nearly anything. There are very few things that I can make on my own and have turn out delicious. One of those is Chicken Tortilla Soup. I combined several recipes to make my own unique soup. It's easy, it's delicious, and it's lunch for a week after I make it. This is going to be a staple of my new diet.

This is from a recipe, but it is sooooo good. Cinnamon rolls just like (or better than ;) ) Cinnabun. Huge with cream cheese frosting. These are a once every few years event, as it takes me a good eight hours to make. When I do make them, I make tons and give them to practically everyone. I miss cinnamon rolls.

lemon souffle