Absolutely no subbing at all this week. I filled in for Sally at the park department while she was on vacation. Bob was on the west coast again until Thursday and then he and Rob and a friend of Rob's left for a weekend duck hunting trip in Stuttgart, Arkansas, the MECCA of duck hunting.
The weekend was again, kind of clunky. I was trying to load groceries in a rainy/snowy Wal-mart parking lot and my hood was pulled over my head and I couldn't see that the liftgate on the Jeep was not raising up as I thought it was and, anyway, I almost knocked myself out on the liftgate and I have a small lump above my left eye. And, when Bob applied online for Arkansas hunting licenses, he typed in Rob's birth date as 1889, making him 118 years old. They were 2 hours in some Arkansas Wal-Mart trying to get that straightened out, and Saturday morning they didn't even get a chance to fire their guns. Maybe some planet is in retrograde motion, wreaking havoc on our weekend.........or, maybe we just need to pay closer attention to what we're doing...and stay out of Wal-mart's.
There are no new pictures because thoughtless hunters took both cameras to the MECCA of duck hunting, so, for you Landon watchers, here he is in his formal nine month photograph with Stella. It could only be better if the dog was wearing a sweater with a boy on it.
It's Thanksgiving week and I've spent some time this afternoon making a shopping list. Brent and Lindsey will come and Nick and Stormy, and maybe, Lori and family. We'll have all the fixins and some Packer football and then we'll ready ourselves for BLACK FRIDAY!!!!!!!!
Here's how it will go. We'll get up at 3:00 am and we'll load all the store fliers in the back seat and drive to Fort Wayne. Initially there will be some mumbling about how stupid this is, but it will subside as the shoppers start to get into the spirit of the morning. At Starbuck's we'll get peppermint mocha's and then we'll plan our attack.
I think it's important to have a code of conduct or a set of rules to adhere to on this very special shopping day. So here's what I will and will not do:
On Black Friday I WILL NOT:
1. Push or shove
2. Scratch
3. Use profanity
4. Issue threats
However, I WILL:
1. Run
2. Bob and weave (if necessary)
3. Use shopping companions to create a diversion away from doorbuster items.
4. Act stupid and helpless to get what I want. (sometimes this is not acting) This works well with men at H.H. Gregg and Best Buy - you might even get them to lug some heavy stuff to your place in line, but don't even bother trying it at JC Penney, Macy's or Target because you'd be wasting your time. In fact, it's best not to show weakness at these locations, as any sign of vulnerability is like a drop of blood in shark-infested waters.
No Sunday night candlelight supper this week. I did have dinner at Nick and Stormy's on Saturday night. Shane and Krissy were also guests. We were served a delcious chicken Marsala, and we had a great time.
Illinois Corn Sausage Chowder is a family favorite. I still have the original recipe on a limp, grease-soaked, folded-up magazine page torn out of a 1988 issue of Midwest Living. I entered this chowder in a cooking contest that the Effingham Daily News sponsored many years ago and won second place in the soups and salads category. I think I got twenty-five bucks. Here it is. Enjoy
Prize-Winning Illinois Corn-Sausage Chowder
1 pound bulk pork sausage
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
4 cups 1/2-inch cubes peeled potato
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups water
1 17-ounce can cream-style corn
1 17-ounce can whole kernel corn, drained
1 12-ounce can evaporated milk
In a Dutch oven or kettle, cook the sausage and onion until sausage is brown and onion is tender; drain on paper towels. Return sausage and onion to the kettle with potato, salt, marjoram, pepper, and water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and simmer just till potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Add cream-corn and whole kernel-corn and milk. Heat through
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