I did it.

I finally bit the bullet, ended my search, and bought a new set of pans. I've been toying with diong this for the past few months...and Chirstmas money has made it possible. The set was part of the Friday Sale this morning, at an incredible price with free shipping and an additional $25 off to boot. Yippee!

*skips off to put all metal utensils in deep storage*

P&G

Even though they're satanists, you gotta love P&G for all of the fantastic coupon and movie ticket deals they put out.

(LOL! Just kidding folks! They're not satanists!)

If you have a K-Mart, go get in on this great deal! Buy 4 P&G products (from a list) and get either an 8-pk of paper towels or a 24-pk of Charmin (or 12 double rolls) for free. Hello, do the math: 4 bottles of Dawn at $1 each with 30¢ coupons...that's 4 bottles of Dawn and 24 rolls of TP for $2.80. The coupons for the free TP/PT are next to most of the P&G items in the store.

Hey Julies....

Or Rebecca...anyone have a good tried-and-true chicken enchilada recipe? Real rolled enchiladas, not the layered tortillas and stuff. I had one that was quite good but I seem to have misplaced it. TIA...

Note to self

I get this really tasty white wine from Trader Joe's. And every time, we're finished, I recycle the bottle without remembering to write the name down. So in turn, every time I go to TJ's to look for it, I have to identify the bottle by sight. Duh.

So, note to self, it's Rene Barbier Mediterranean White. Not at all bad for $3.99 a bottle. (I've also seen it at Cost Plus, if you're not lucky enough to have a TJ's nearby.)

A resounding thumbs up...

...for the Baby George.

You know the chicken is good when you and dh are gathered round the plate, still on the kitchen counter, grabbing hunks straight off of it, no time for plates. Hee. It was his present, but I'm going to have a lot of fun with it!!

Who would have thought??

I'm not a big fan of asparagus. But wow, we had this on Christmas day and it was fantastic!!

Pasta with Asparagus

Very spicy! Watch out!! ;)

Spinach Phyllo Roll Ups

I'm getting ready to make these for Christmas Eve....never worked with Phyllo before, so wish me luck. I had them at my friend's house and she assures me that it was a snap....and boy, were they tasty.

Pancakes

I've spoken before of my love for this recipe. . . my kids eat pancakes like there's no tomorrow, and they love these. I've also had great success tweaking the recipe. Last time, I added a half can of pureed pumpkin that was sitting in my fridge. Yum! This time, I substituted one cup of eggnog for one of the cups of water. Double yum! Very subtle.

I always add a few teaspoons of this, too, but currently I'm fresh out. And you'd have to pay me money to go to Penzey's the week before Christmas. Well, not Penzey's itself, but the downtown area in which it is located. It's nuts.

Cookies

Have to give these a mention.....Jodi, thanks for the recipe...they are fabulous...

ANDES MINT COOKIES

3/4 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
2 TBSP water
2 cups chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 boxes Andes mints.

Melt butter in a saucepan on the stove. Add sugar, water, and chocolate chips, and stir until melted. Take off stove. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Put pan in refrigerator for one hour.

Roll into 1" balls and place 2" apart on a cookie sheet (they will spread). Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. As soon as a pan of hot cookies comes out of the oven, put an unwrapped Andes mint on top. When it is shiny, spread it out on the chocolate cookie with the backside of a spoon. Then place cookies on a cooling rack, and put in the freezer for 10 minutes to set the mint. Makes about 6 dozen.