M&M's

No...not the candy. M&M's as they are called by doctors, stand for "Morbidity and Mortality". Typically MDs discuss what they did wrong or why patients died in their care. If you didn't know this...read Complications by A. Gawande. For me, the stand for: Mistakes and Mishaps. Here's our most recent two.
Travis and I are currently serving at Life 101 (aka Alpha) at our church. On Tuesday, our first meeting (round two this year) went great! We served food to about 110 people and there were many more guests than last time. We are so grateful for Rich's leadership, as he prophetically "guessed" how many people we should do food for. Last time we had about seventy...this time we ordered for 120. Right on Rich!
At one point in the evening at several of us tried to make some more coffee. Ever heard the expression, "Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the soup"? Our version is the following:

Question: How many professionals does it take to make coffee?
Answer: An engineer to calculate the appropriate concentration of grounds per pot, a dietitian to analyze the caloric content per cup, a economist to evaluate the cost efficiency of the venture, and a secretary to remind the other three that 2 quarts of water will not fit in to a 1 quart pot.

Here's to you Andrea!

Another mishap occured last night when I tried to finish off my fall soup for dinner. We got back from our run and I went to blend our Cauliflower Thyme Soup with Rye Croutons and Pecans. I debated before I started, "Should I use the blender or the food processor?" But the recipes send to blend it...in batches. But since I made only 1/3 of the recipe, I figured I could do it all at once. The soup was hot so I put a dishcloth on top of the blender to keep the lid from popping off (which it has done previously). The stopper ended up falling into the soup due to the vacuum the heat created and the blade crushed the plastic into tiny little pieces. So after some attempt at straining the soup, we scrapped it and had the croutons on a salad and a bowl of Butternut Squash soup from the box and some grilled cheese sandwiches.
Every person has to have their share of M&M's....

By popular request

Here's the recipe for Italian Meatloaf by popular request.
My mom says to stop bugging her for my recipes girls :) By the way, many of the recipes I either use or try are from the following magazines and resources:
Magazines ~ Food and Wine (subscribe), Cook's Illustrated (online) and Gourmet. This month I borrowed Janis' Sunset magazine from which I loved the Filet Mignon Wraps *I used sirloin steaks* with Pear Onion Relish and Bleu cheese dressing, which I made for our picnic on Friday night.
Cookbooks ~ for everything I don't know I turn to The Joy of Cooking. When I couldn't call my mom at 9pm her time for her Italian Meatloaf recipe, I turned to that book for guidance as to how many eggs, etc. It has all the basics, all the cool recipes deconstructed. I have another ton of cookbooks, but I will try and reference them from now on.
The Recipe~ Italian Meatloaf

What's in a NAME?

Janis just bought a new purse. She finally found a black leather purse that she liked with the correct number of pockets, the right size for her mini laptop, etc... and so she called me to report. We have had many conversations about a certain brand of purses that I am in love with. The conversation went like this:
"I just bought a Perlina purse. Isn't that the brand you like, Nora?"
"Perlina...you mean, La Perla"
"No, its not La Perla"
"Wait, is it La Furla"
"No, its Perlina""
"O whoops, the one I like is called Furla"
Neither of us could get it right; intentional tounge twisters meant to decieve and confuse the public.

Introduction to Fall

Fall in love all over again with cooler temperatures and warmer meals.
Last week I was inspired after our trip to San Diego to break out the sweaters and soups.

Menus for the week of October 2

Monday - Provencal Vegetable Soup with White Beans, Macaroni and Potato
Served with Pistou, and French Bread

Tuesday- Red Leaf Salad with Grilled Chicken Sausage

Wednesday- Leftover Soup

Thursday- Pumpkin Spice BelgainWaffles with Cinnamon Apples, Syrup and Plain Yogurt

Friday- Italian Meatloaf with Sun Dried Tomatoes
Black Pepper Mashed Potatoes
Green Herb Salad with Radishes and Pita Croutons

Saturday- Stuffed Jamaican Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops with Ham and Celery Root
Sweet Potato Wedges
Slaw with Green Applesand Cilantro

Sunday- Homemade Pepperoni and Green Pepper and Onion Pizza