A Lovely Thursday Evening

I had just a nutty day running errands for work. I'm not complaining, though, because despite four, count 'em, four trips to office supply stores in search of a folding machine that works, I was in the office for a total of 2.75 hours. Wahoo!

I got home around 5:30 and decided to try a new recipe for dinner. Poor Brad. I didn't warn him. See, my mother had a delicious dish with a friend a while back, in which chicken breasts were breaded with crushed French-fried onions. Sounds tasty, right? I've been wanting to try it and actually saw a recipe for it (as if you need it-- chicken, egg dip, roll in onions, bake) in my Everyday Food magazine the other day. I also made some instant (shhh!) mashed potatoes with a little garlic and butter thrown in, and some frozen veggies in the micro. It was ok, but not as wonderful as I had hoped. We ended up taking the onions off the chicken and eating them with the mashed potatoes, which gave me a whole other idea... mashed potato casserole varieties! Take a layer, maybe 2 inches thick, of mashed potatoes, sprinkle on cooked bacon and cheese, or french fried onions, or who knows what else, then bake for 10 minutes or so until the toppings look tasty. Mmm. I see mashed potatoes in my future.

Anyway, here's a pic. I do believe the one in the magazine was a bit Photoshopped. Posers.


Yes, the portions are small. We usually split a chicken breast for dinner. And yes, I made one plain, just in case Brad didn't like the oniony ones. We ended up eating most of our portions, but I don't think I'll make it again.

After dinner we went for our nightly ride in our new machine. Here is its first picture-- it's a terrible picture and Brad would much prefer if I would wait until it gets buffed on Saturday back at the dealership, but I must share just one pic. It is just so much fun.


We used our nightly ride to get Italian ice at Rita's, a little shack in the parking lot of Burlington Coat Factory. Quite the destination. But the ice is pretty darn good, especially the lemon, with little bits of lemon zest in it. And at $1.35 a serving, including tax, it's not too large an indulgence.


In other news, I just finished helping my dad make a rental car reservation. I LOVE doing that kind of stuff. Perhaps I'll have a career in budget travel planning someday. I really enjoy bargain shopping like that. Nine days of rental for $203 in season in Florida? Deal! Dad arrives on Tuesday night and will be with us until Thursday evening. Mom arrives on Friday. I'm excited. Visitors = excuse to go out and explore!

Ok-- I'm going to use the remaining 41 minutes of battery on my computer to play a little catch up with pictures.