Last night, I made a casserole with crushed-up Ritz crackers on top. How retro is that? It was poppy-seed chicken, which is not my favorite, but my family seems to like it (and it always gets raves when I take it to new parents and shut-ins...guess it's creamy and bland enough to qualify as "comfort food.") Disclaimer: I only use a few tablespoons of butter, and I toss in some shredded cheddar for good measure. What's a casserole without cheese?
Tonight's entree was stuffed peppers and mashed potatoes. The stuffing for the peppers is a cross between my mom's stuffed pepper recipe and a friend's baked bean recipe - no rice involved but definitely another throw-back to old-school cooking.
Today was cool and drizzly, so I'm planning a roast for tomorrow (in my apple green Lodge pan, of course)...now just watch: the temps will swing back into the 80s and I'll be sweltering all day.
Our congregation's all-Summer Bible Vacation (we're knocking the old VBS model for a real loop) is approaching kickoff. I'm not sure how the months flew by, but we're down to just under 3 weeks before the sneak preview day on June 5. Yes, the sound you hear is me hyperventilating. One more major workday to paint and finish the props, then we move in over Memorial Day weekend, converting six classrooms into a bookstore, a museum, a movie theater, a radio station, an art studio and a game show set.
As with all such projects, there's lots to do, and never enough time to do it at a leisurely pace. But we have such a fantastic group of volunteers at Highland Heights, I'm confident it will all get done somehow. Every time I've asked for help, someone has been there to step up and do what needs to be done, and I'm thankful for that spirit of generosity, giving of themselves, their time and talents.
I've also found that proffering homemade cookies greases a lot of skids, too. Hey, I'm not above a little bribery. Besides, what else am I going to do with those two Ultimate Brownie Pans I got for Christmas?
