Ugh, water everywhere. I feel you pain - my washer gushed everywhere right in the middle of our bed-bug fiasco a few years back. Horrible timing and such a mess.

Cakes are baked, I am making a 6" cake for the birthday boy (a friend who is coming to our cookie swap party on Sunday). I had extra batter so I made some cup cakes and a 8" layer that I may turn into cake balls. I should have just made cup cakes with all the extra but I had a brain fart when filling the cake pans I had out. Oh well.

CJ is whining about only having rice and chicken broth. So I made him saffron rice to add some flavor to his bland diet. My mom hoarded saffron, so I have hundreds of dollars worth of it in a canning jar.

Ugh, water everywhere. I feel you pain - my washer gushed everywhere right in the middle of our bed-bug fiasco a few years back. Horrible timing and such a mess.

Cakes are baked, I am making a 6" cake for the birthday boy (a friend who is coming to our cookie swap party on Sunday). I had extra batter so I made some cup cakes and a 8" layer that I may turn into cake balls. I should have just made cup cakes with all the extra but I had a brain fart when filling the cake pans I had out. Oh well.

CJ is whining about only having rice and chicken broth. So I made him saffron rice to add some flavor to his bland diet. My mom hoarded saffron, so I have hundreds of dollars worth of it in a canning jar.

Some excellent ideas there, Todd.

I have hundreds of dollars worth of it in a canning jar.

If my brother the chef ever gets wind of that, he may drive down from Westminster and steal it.

Heeeeee!

Get well, sick Buffistas! Stay well, not-sick Buffistas! (And sprog!)

KITTENS!

msbelle rocks at the DIY!

Sounds like a band. "Tonight, local band MSBELLE rocking out at the DIY (Drinks In Yerface) club! Ladies drink for free!"

::pointing and nodding at Zen::

What she said!

I hab a code. But my neighbor's house is decorated for Christmas and it's snowing, so at least there's pretty to look at in between bouts of dozing off on the couch, full of chicken soup and cold meds.

Woo msbelle, fixin the thing!

Love you to Karl!

Yay recliner!

"Tonight, local band MSBELLE rocking out at the DIY (Drinks In Yerface) club! Ladies drink for free!"

Yes please!

I also had chicken soup for lunch. Have not been sneezing on the customers - I think the lower temperature in the warehouse is actually better for my respiratory system? Dunno. It's been pretty busy today, and the credit card system stopped working for a while, so that was exciting...5 more hours to the weekend...I've got my tea with honey to get me through the next little bit, anyway.

I have achieved casserole dishes that are appropriate for a person cooking for one (with lunch leftovers), plus dishes for prep work. My meatloaf last weekend was yummy, and the leftovers are scrumptious.

So, to expand my horizons. I find tomatoes to be too acidic and often very metallic tasting, but I want to try manicotti. I really hate the idea of spending time and money on food experiments where I end up with a bunch of food I don't want to eat, so what spices are essential for a tomato sauce that isn't bland but isn't horribly spicy? I'm thinking of a really good pizza sauce, with (I think) oregano and garlic and such. Hubby could think in flavors, which is why he cooked, but I don't have that talent yet.

I've looked at lots of recipes online, but I can't "picture" how the sauces will taste. Instead of spaghetti sauce, should I be researching pizza sauces?

Connie, one thing you might try is making sure you use "Roma" tomatoes - the small ones that are shaped kind of like little eggplants. To my taste, they tend to be sweeter than the usual tomatoes.