THE GRAVEL ROAD GOURMET....

WHERE DID IT GO??

2010-01-24T12:19:00.000-08:00

(courtesy Google images)

So....I KNOW that a weekend just happened.....my question.....where did it go?? I woke up this morning only to realize that it's Sunday already, and the sad thing is, I don't even remember having a weekend!!

Also, just looked out my window (haven't been doing that too much lately....too depressing) and realized that the snow is FINALLY all gone! But....in it's place we have the above scenerio....potholes!! Now, we are not talking your everyday run-of-the-mill pothole....we are talking holes that are big enough to claim as an inground pool!!

(courtesy Google images)

I backed my car out of my driveway and and discovered that we now have a MOAT!! It was around 5a.m., and lemme tell ya.....I was NOT amused!! I thought that I had blown a tire at first....and then realized that I was sitting in a ginormous hole. Well.....after putting the car into 4 wheel drive, I managed to get out and resume my little daily jaunt to hell. (ooops....did I say that??) What I MEANT to say, was that I made it to work!! (Damn....need to get that filter between my brain and fingers/mouth checked again!!)

Anyway, when I got to work, I called BG (Big Guy...my fiance), and told him what happened. He just chuckled kinda softly and said, "Yup...that's probably what I did when the truck got stuck there a couple days ago". Hmm......now why hadn't I noticed that BEFORE? Well, probably because it was covered with snow...

(courtesy Google images)

So anyway....back to the weekend saga..... I really wish I had another day (or ten) to chill out! I came home from hell (grr...you know what I mean), and decided that since it had been such a HORRIBLE week, and also because I couldn't sleep the night before and decided to take 2 tylenol pm's at 11 pm..KNOWING that I had to get up at 3:30am (don't ask....), I thought I would just lay down for an hour or so to try to get rid of the headache that seemed to adopt me this week. So....I woke up on SATURDAY morning at around 8 am!! So much for the hour nap. There you have it......the mystery is now solved and the missing weekend accounted for!!

I feel bad that I haven't chatted about recipes at all lately, but I hope you can tell by my post what a truly overwhelming week this has been. I promise to do better when things calm down a little!

Until next time.....

(courtesy google images)

GOOD MORNING!!

2010-01-17T10:49:00.000-08:00

(courtesy google images)

Well, if you looked out my window today, you would see a scene like the one above. We have had "freezing fog" for the last couple days. I had never even HEARD of freezing fog before now, so this is a new one on me! It makes it look kinda creepy/beautiful outside (does that make sense??), but it makes for very unhappy travel on these gravel roads.....not only can you NOT see....you can't really tell that it is slick either!!

Moving on....last night I made the most YUMMY ham and potato soup. Now get this - I am 47 yrs. old and had NEVER made potato soup before! Can you believe it? My mom used to cook it all the time for my dad when I was younger....he had an ulcer, and whenever it was bothering him, mom would make him this bland-looking bowl of white stuff.....now you see why I never tried to make it before!!

Anyway, I got the recipe off Allrecipes.com, which is one of my fave places to find new stuff. I love that place because you can read the reviews of other people to see if the recipe is a good one. I like that because 9 times out of 10, you can save yourself some disappointment if you check out the reviews first.

(courtesy allrecipes.com)

Getting back to this recipe, it's called Delicious Ham and Potato Soup by Ellie11, and if you follow the suggestions in the reviews you CANNOT go wrong....this is some really good stuff!! I am sorry that I can't just put the link in here for you to directly follow....but like I told you in my introduction, I am completely new to all this, and I don't even know how to do the direct "link" thing yet. But please gimme a chance.....I WILL learn how to do this.....I am sure it is totally easy, I just don't know how!! By the way, if you go to the reviews, you can read exactly how I fixed mine in my reveiw. Just look in the reviews on January 5th, 2010....my allrecipes member name is "kitchenwitch04". I did take pictures of the soup, but they are in my daughter's camera, which she has with her today.......(I know...not much help am I??) But really....check this recipe out...but DO follow the suggestions in the reviews, as I found it to be a tad bland without the extra ingredients....but hey, you may love it just as it is.

I really think that I have blabbed enough for today, but before I go, I wanted to give a HUGE shout-out to an incredibly nice person that I met thru stumbleupon. Her name is Megan, and her website is megansmunchies.com. GO THERE......don't even wait....go there NOW!! She has wonderful recipes, gorgeous pics, and she is a super-nice person. I envy her talent and her creativity, and she has helped me so much with the advice that she gives me about blogging. Megan's blog was one of the first food blogs that I had ever read - in fact, it was the reason I decided to start my own. I am forever greatful for her help, and it is my hope that maybe SOMEDAY my blog can be half as good as hers. Thanks Megan.......(By the way...come check out my stumbleupon page....my member name there is Gingerbreadchef....I have TONS of yummy stuff I found on there...)

So, until next time.....

(courtesy google images)

Hello and Welcome!!

2010-01-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to start by welcoming anyone who happens to drop by! I hope that you will stop by often to check out my little corner of cyberspace, and follow along with me on my journey thru this crazy thing called life.

My "About Me" section is mighty lengthy....I do apologize for that - I just wanted to try to be clear on what I am trying to do here, and to let folks know a little about how I roll. (My daughter would totally roll her eyes at my sad attempt to sound "kewl"...lol)

I absolutely ADORE all things to do with cooking, but I know that I will stray into other elements of my life as well. You will probably witness all kinds of stuff here...manic ravings, bizarre humor, everyday rants, and probably lots of tantrums.....yup....I cannot lie.... I am pretty good at the old-fashioned tantrum thing!

I am definitely NOT a professional writer, cook, photographer, or ANYTHING for that matter. I am not out to change the world, run for president, or claim to be the best cook on the planet. I just am putting myself out here in all my amateur glory to write about things that interest me, and well, just put it all out there for the sole purpose of probably embarrassing my kids someday. = )

It is my hope that I can meet some great people that share my crazy notions, and can relate to the day to day happenings in my world. And, hopefully I will learn more about what I am doing and will be able to share some recipes, general life experiences, and maybe even make some new friends along the way...but if not, well, I guess this will just be a place where for just a little while things can be "all about me".

So....until next time.....have a grrreat day!