The Bungalow

Does anyone have a good recipe for a good but simple marinara sauce? I hate making pasta cos I just don't like any of the jarred sauces in the store. Something light, I don't like chunky tomatoes, something easy that preferably doesn't have to simmer all day. LOL

Thanks!

(And how is it that this is the only icon I have of Dean eating? That just doesn't seem right...)

Anyway, I asked my folks if they could stay a little late today (they watch Martouf when I go into the office on Wednesday) as I wanted to get as much of the baking done for Thanksgiving as I could and that's kind of hard to do with a baby. So they said they would and ever since I got home, I've been baking almost non-stop. I had to the little guy down for a nap, so I got started about 2:00, it's now 5:15 and the second to last batch of cookies are in the oven.

I have made: Alton Brown's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (best cookies ever!!), Whoopie Pies and Red Velvet cupcakes. I was a little nervous about the Whoopie Pies as I've never made them before, but they turned out soo good!! And they're not 100% done. I'm going to make the filling in the morning, since I'm not sure what that'll do overnight. The recipe though makes an INSANE amount of batter. I ended up maybe using 1/3 of it and easily have 15 or 16 pies. But looking at the picture that's on the recipe, they're supposed to be huge! Honestly, they're probably the size of a small paper plate. Here's the recipe if you want to take a look.

I'm doing the same with the cupcakes - frosting in the morning. Those were all made from a mix & canned frosting, but considering everything else is from scratch, I figure that's fine. :-)

So, in the morning I have to:

• Make the filling and assemble whoopie pies
  
• Frost cupcakes
  
• Make meatballs for appetizer
  
• Make deviled eggs (maybe tonight?)
  
• Make cornbread muffins
  
• Make mashed potatoes (from 10 pounds of potatoes)
  
• Make sweet potato gratin
  
• Send husband to store to get ice and veggie tray
  

And I think that's it....

First off, I have this barbecue thing this coming Saturday and it's semi-potluck. Host is providing meats, we provide side dishes and desserts. I decided to bring a dessert. So, I was looking through the various recipe books I have and I cannot decide what to make, so I shall leave it to you, my lovely flist.

[Poll #1590999]

Also, I found out yesterday that I apparently have a prejudice against books about authors. Well, not necessarily about authors, but books where the protagonist is an author. We had some time to kill between dinner & the movie yesterday, so we headed over to Barnes & Noble to browse for a bit. I headed over to the mystery section (my preferred genre of novel) and it seemed like every other book I picked up was "Mystery writer Sue Smith is on vacation when random mysterious thing happens. Can she solve the crime before it's too late?". And it was annoying me. I don't know why. Maybe because it seems so egotistical/narcissistic? The author putting themselves in their own book, or something? I dunno. But, when I read mystery novels, I want detectives and policemen and all that good stuff. Not some dumb writer. Maybe it's because in books like that the people who should actually be investigating the crime are dumbed downed/trivialized so the writer can be the hero. And I hate when that happens. So, I ended up getting my first ever Sci Fi novel! I know, right? For the scifi geek I am, I don't read much of it. It's called The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. It sounded interesting. More like an action/adventure story that happens to have some scifi elements to it, than full on scifi. I hope it's good. It's pretty long...

We started our registries tonight! Woo-hoo!! Registered for the good pots and pans, china, flatware, some glassware. Ah, the joys of the internet. :-D Which is good cos I was in a bit of a funk today for some reason. I think I was suddenly overwhelmed with the OMG how the hell am I gonna do this kinda thing.

Oh, and it's the Chocolate Challenge on the Food Network right now. Yum!!!!!!!! :-D