Happy Labor Day

It's been a lovely weekend- the only thing missing has been my new husband! He is STILL in Spain, but is due back late Thursday, so if flight times and take-offs all go according to plan, (a BIG if) he'll be home soon.

I took advantage of the four-day weekend to clean and organize the house with all the new stuff we had acquired from the wedding; work on my classes; pick up knitting again; and the best part of all- cooking! One day I spent over two hours making homemade pizza, as my newest issue of Cooking Light assured me was easy to do (did not mention anything about two hours). Their picture here, by the way, not mine. This fall I am on a quest to perfect homemade pizza. Well, instead of perfection I would be satisfied with something that was better than take-home. So far, results have been less than stellar, as this time also proved to be so. I wanted a thin crust margharita pizza, but the crust was too hard and the recipe called for ricotta with mozarrella, which is a cheese I really just don't get as a main ingredient to a main course dish. I like my cheese to melt, and ricotta doesn't go there. Unless I'm just buying the wrong brand.

This weekend I started working on limoncello, an Italian liquor, and used some lemons to make a lemon mayonnaise which I will combine with some grilled chicken for a chicken salad for this week’s lunches. I also made lemonade (not too much sugar), brownies, and hot fudge to go on top of some vanilla ice cream with said brownies, and dinner tonight was a Thai chicken curry with rice that came out really well. I would say I am pretty well stocked for the week!

I am STILL working on my mom’s cardigan. I had to stop working on it several times because I had to get more yarn, and then the wedding, then traveling… anyway- she will have it before it gets cold this fall, I promise.

I just got done watching No Reservations. I take back what I said last week- he is now my favorite travel host ever. He actually reminds me a lot of my friend Chris in his travel philosophy and style. I had an embarrassing discovery while watching, though. I had no idea Bombay has been called Mumbai for over 10 years. Why was I not aware of this change? I have really wanted to go to India since I was in high school and read A Suitable Boy for the first time. It’s a really great novel that intertwines the lives of various families in post-independence India, and gives a foreigner a great glimpse into the political and social structure of the country at that time.

Ok, so enough about cooking, literature, knitting, and travel. Holiday is over- tomorrow I must teach once again. Enjoy your short week!