Grilling and eating outdoors on March 14!

March

And no ill effects of winter have been felt. Since I've been so crazy busy, I didn't even notice it was winter. Although I guess I would have if had ever got below freezing.

The business consumes me. Blog here.

I had a crazy idea that I would fly to California next weekend and see my kids, flying Anne up to San Fran. But between the conception of the idea and the booking flights, the prices skyrocketed so I'm not going. Plus my son's girl called me today and she's not even in SF right now and said they'd prefer I came out after they got a better apartment so I'll just hold off and make some sensible plans some other time.

My mom was in the hospital again for water retention so I zoomed down there Sunday but she was recovering. I'm sure this is just another hospital stay in a long line of them.

Today it was beautiful and sunny and 65 degrees but so so windy.

This weekend the Snaps are playing during a Welders break at Howard's but our drummer has the flu today so that could be iffy. Tonight is GNO, so since practice was cancelled, I'm attending for a bev or two.

Book club next week. Slogging through...

OMFG

It's about impossible to describe my life now. Most days I'm dealing with the business: meeting contractors at the site for quotes and approvals, lining up vendors, discussing logos, working on the website, the menus, the promotional materials, thinking about the design of the non-kitchen space.

Yesterday, I went out to see that the walls had been studded in for two sides of the kitchen and to OK the remaining two walls. The concrete has been sawed for the plumbing. Tomorrow I need to order the cooking equipment. And meet a guy about the phone and internet service.

Today, we angsted over the takeout containers. I wanted to get it down to the least common denominators of types of containers, which we did, although I have not cooked in any of them yet.

Tonight was book club, where we discussed the book for an hour and then discussed the business for an hour, where I picked up many interesting and useful tips. Mainly, people are not clear on what exactly the place will be doing or serving, so I need to crystallize that and get it out to my audience.

I thought my friend Doug could do a logo, but alas, he showed me some graphics but what I'm looking for is a logo TYPE so I made some of those in Photoshop tonight that I need to show to a sign guy.

The place will be called Good To Go. That's it. No more debate. I'm just waiting for the Stimmel's people to get the rest of their shelving and display racks out of there so I can start on the design of the front of the business. I've decided I'll have a few tables so if people want to eat their takeout food in there, they can, but no table service.

I've talked to tax accountants, and decided that with Quickbooks, Amy can do my accounting and we can do payroll by hand until I get dozens of employees. And I got a vendor's license. And a business checking account. And while I thought I wanted to get a fancy POS cash register system, I think now I will just opt for the credit card/check reader and buy some regular cash register.

I just want to get in there and cook, which I still plan to do by the middle of March, with opening being April 2, which is 6 weeks away.

The BG loan people didn't meet last week like I thought they were going to so I'm still up in the air about that but I'm forging on with the individual loans and retirement money I've invested so far.

The architect is working on the drawings to submit to the building code folks and the health dept.

Tomorrow I will make a decision on who will install the range hood and pay Ed for some of the work he's done.

I need to find some kitchen help. And firm up who of my friends will work when. And talk to produce vendors, names of some of whom I got tonight at book club.

Whew.

Also my mom DID get out of the nursing home and I spent three working days down there dealing with that and I had to do follow-up correspondence today with the guy who's dealing with her Medicaid application. But I haven't heard from my mom or sister in a week so that's good in the "no news is good news" way.



__________________________________

Woo hoo!!!!

Today I turned in my BG loan application and Sue Clark, the director there, was enthusiastic, pointing out that that's the direction the city is expanding and that my place is a GREAT IDEA (where have I heard that before??). The committee meets toward the end of next week. She cautioned me not to "undercapitalize" so maybe they'll give me even more than I asked for. Although as you know, I am trying to borrow as little as possible. She pointed out that, as it's a change in use, I also need to submit my plan to the city planning committee, but sort of indicated that it was a formality. I had to admit I have no experience in quantity food production but I'm sure my enthusiasm makes up for it. LOL.

I also went to the bank and set up my business checking account and the bank manager told me the SBA specialist and she are meeting tomorrow to discuss my options for an SBA loan.

Still getting insurance quotes. Although I have one solid one from my own peeps so if all else fails, they're on. For $770 year, under what I've budgeted.

Started on the website today. Will work on content and develop as time goes along. Website. No prob.

My mom is getting out of the nursing home tomorrow so after my meeting with Ed and the architect, I'm shooting down there to stock her fridge and get her meds together and take down her Christmas decorations.

Tonight, it's GNO at Cindy P's and I'm taking chicken salad and deviled eggs and thumbprint cookies and brie/crackers (gluten-free) and cashews and a box of chocolates left over from Xmas and stuffed dates. And plenty o wine. Let's party, wimmen!
_____________________________

Espionage

I have seen the enemy and they is not us. I figured my main three competitors for business are Bob Evans, Pagliai's and Super Suppers. So I've got their goods and here's the reports:

Bob Evans: ordered the meatloaf dinner for 4 or family style or whatever. Got 6 slices of meatloaf (about a pound, I'm guessing), a tub of mashed potatoes, a salad with dressing and six rolls for $24. The mashed potatoes were pretty good. The meatloaf was drenched in that gravy. The salad was large enough but other than lettuce, it contained 6 cherry tomatoes. Four people could have eaten a complete meal off this so, except for the meat and salad being heinous, it was a good deal.

Pagilai's: ordered the single lasagna dinner for pickup. Split it with Amy. The lasagna hunk was about 4" x 4" and tasteless. I'm not just being catty here: it didn't taste like meat or tomato sauce or garlic or anything. And it seemed like it was just noodle pile with some sauce on top. And the "garlic bread" was 2 pieces of plain ol white bread sort of grilled with no garlic flavor whatsoever. The salad was fine. $8.50.

Super Suppers: bought a Groupon for $15 for tasting event which is usually $15 anyway but this deal included two sides and a dessert along with the one 2-3 person entree that usually comes with the tasting event. Which said entree would be $12 if you just bought it so I guess your other $3 was for the snacks and winey beverage they provided. The thing about SS is you buy this stuff frozen OR you go in and prepare it for yourself from raw ingredients at these stations and then you have to go home and cook it. I made the meatloaf for my entree which was OK but again, a pound of meat with some onion, GP, tomato sauce, egg, bread crumbs and spices which if knew how to cook would cost you about $5. Plus you have to take it home and cook it for 45 minutes. Where's the time economy in that? For my two sides I chose the sweet potato casserole which was good but $4.50 and the pasta with tarragon butter which was way too salty and you had to cook the pasta and add in this 2 T. of herbed butter stuff. And $4.50 for about 30 cents worth of materials. And the dessert Chocolate Lovers Paradise was some chocolate mousse with some oreos crumbled into it. So to get a whole 2-3 person meal from them would cost $22 at least, the sides are frozen and you have to cook it.

Last week turned out fairly well after my initial feeling like I was at a standstill. I got my hood quotes which seem low enough. Met with an equipment guy and the building owner and got some questions answered. Went to the bank and applied for some SBA loans and got a checking account and got details on a debit card swiping system (too many details to explain here). At the bank, one of the women I met with said, after they quizzed me on my business plan, "Either you have been coached really well or you have done a ton of research" because I had a good answer for everything they threw at me.

Tomorrow I'm turning in my BG loan app without one piece: my damn 2009 tax return. Thursday I meet with an architect for some Q-and-A on my layout so he can get on with stamping my plan for approval.

I feel like I'm behind time-wise some but nothing I can't make up with a lot of concentrated action over the next couple of weeks.

Venting

This week I feel I'm at a standstill on the food operation. I need two years of tax returns which I don't save copies of so I ordered them from the IRS and yesterday one came. Where's the other one?

And I just need a couple things (including said tax returns) to file for the loan with the BG econ development folks and it seems like I'll never have all the stuff together. I guess right now the last thing I need that I have no control over getting is the estimate on hood installation.

THEN when I submit the application for the loan, who knows how long the committee will have it before I know the outcome?? I have a meeting with Huntington Bank Friday to open a checking account and get advice on applying for an SBA loan. Maybe this Mini Loan.

I HAVE recently received my required DUNS number and my certificate from the state that I'm an incorporated LLC. And I hit (just) my Kickstarter goal. And have one $1,000 lender on board.

And then of course, there's all that recent flak about the name Daddy's Girl. How some think it's too risque and then suddenly people who had had no opinion agreed that it at least gave no indication of the nature of the business and at worst sounds like a slutty lingerie store. So now I guess it will be Good To Go by Daddy's Girl or just Good To Go. Which means unless I don't care what people think about website names, I need to buy another domain instead of the DaddysGirlEats.com that I paid $238 for three years for. Not that big an outlay but still. Grrrrr.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a guy out at the shop who sells kitchen equipment on commission for some company in Detroit (who gave me quote #2 on the goods) for him to try and determine if my proposed layout needs any adjustment before it goes to an architect. And about those architects: Ed says his wants $2,500 to finalize the plans and Chip says his will take $2,000 but I'm not sure the latter would do everything right for Wood Co. purposes. Angst again....

I just wanna get the equipment in there and practice cooking in quantity and holding it at an edible temperature and assessing my customer base.

I guess the upside is, between the mild weather and my preoccupation with this project, I haven't got those wintertime blues. Yet.
________________________________

Almost February

We had Snaps practice tonight and when we said the next practice is Jan. 24, I thought OMG, it's almost February. I've totally lost the first month of 2012. I'm sure I will be glad to have lost another few months when it's closer to presidential election time.

So, Kickstarter update: $2,160 so I'm assured of hitting my goal of $2,500 since I have 14 days left and I haven't beaten up everyone I could have. Pledge here: Kickstarter.

Also I am trying to get up the nerve to ask individuals for $1,000 loans. Wrote the email. Haven't sent it.

Last week, I went to Delaware on Monday to work on the paperwork, was thwarted, went back Wednesday and then spent most of Thursday tying up loose ends on that. My mom was incredibly lucid and discussed Daddy's Girl with me. She felt I needed to make sure and advertise AND to post the hours of operation on the window so if somebody drives up and I'm closed, they'll know when they can return. Good points.

I'm sorry to say I haven't talked to her since Weds. but my sister has and apparently things are going OK although she wants to go home but I haven't heard anything about the pre-release family conference. Maybe they're just milking Medicare for everything they can before they turn her loose. At any rate, I think she WILL be going home, possibly to start her bad habits all over again. I talked to my sister about this and she seems resigned to the fact.

I was delighted to find out that I can get a good chunk of change out of my Roth IRA that even my financial guy said was a good idea as it's already taxed money that's not making a boatload of investment income. So with that and Kickstarter, I'm good for about $18,000. Plus I am this | | close to having my loan application for the BG econ dev folks ready. And I have two architects looking at my layout drawing.

Also I called banks about business checking accounts and have the names of 2 tax people that I will call tomorrow. The state has approved my LLC and I should be getting that document in the mail tomorrow. By the end of January, I should have all financing in place. Also, I called Doug Black about logos. Playing phone tag...

The timeline has February being focused on food: making it in quantity, costing it out for real, talking with wholesale vendors, choosing takeout containers.

In March, I will sign the lease and start moving equipment in. And work on the front construction and interior design.

Chip and I had a big discussion on the ordering process that was helpful.

Unfortunately, I have been lax in finding jobs to apply for for my unemployment requirement. Hmmmmm.
___________________________________

Apple pie with heart.

Random thoughts

One, I've been meaning to post about how 2011 was a year of loss for me: lost my job, both my cats died, big tree in front of my house cut down. Maybe I can just look at this as simplifying...

More on the mom saga. After it was determined by the medical staff at the hospital that she shouldn't be living alone because of her vagueness, our job was to convince her she should go into a nursing home. Partly because somehow she developed leg pain that makes her unable to walk. Anyway, after Jedi mind tricks, I got her to agree and we took her to the Arbors in Delaware. It's very hospital-like: brightly lit, swarms of staff, two beds to a room. Nowhere I'd think would be comfortable for the long-term.

But if she could indeed get her walking power back and recover some from her vagueness, she could go back home. Much to my sister's chagrin, as probably my mom's failure to eat right to control her blood sugar will just land her back in the hospital, possibly over and over.

The vagueness is more than just the old people repetitiveness. For example, I had given her some current photos of my kids that I had printed out large and she said she didn't know any of the people in those pictures. Sigh.

After I got home, my sister texted me to say that my presence had made mom agitated and that I didn't need to come back down there - ever. She's not the most helpful...

So basically I lost the first week of the new year with that instead of soldiering on with Daddy's Girl, my food takeout venture. Costs are starting to mount up for that, with equipment and plumbing etc. NO TURNING BACK NOW. Really, read the blog on that for more info.

I did apply for a federal EIN and sent my app to the State of Ohio to register as an LLC. Next week, I have an appointment with my financial adviser on various things, like finding a tax guy and if I can get some of my retirement money out for start-up costs. And today I FB messaged about 50 people with my Kickstarter plea. After the initial days, it's sort of stopped. But I've got three weeks to go.

While I was messaging all those people, a message from FB popped up that said it looked I was using this feature in a way that it's not intended for and to slow down or I might face some restrictions. FB. Bah. Although I am counting on FB to be very helpful when Daddy's Girl opens.

For tonight I've online ordered the family meatloaf dinner from Bob Evans to pick up at 5:30. I want to see what people get there for their $24. Next week, I'll get a Pagliai's lasagna dinner because they're my main competitor in that food.

I'm also working today on a timeline of opening, just to make sure I'm doing all I can in a timely manner. On to that now....
________________________________

Hope to be home later

Hope to be home later today and maybe back here on the weeknd. Keeping a journal of the whole deal so i remember what was said n done by drs etc

My mom is in a

My mom is in a nursing home. Incredibly vague. Im at her apt doing dishes n laundry n taking out trash. Blogging from my phone. No wifi

Holidaze

First, let me ask that you not share my blog on Facebook. Some people don't know it exists. Thank you.

As you know, I was going to go to Austin with my kids for Christmas. That all fell through when my son had to work Christmas Eve.

Instead, it's been a hectic couple of weeks but it's over now.

There was a party out on a little cottage on the river by Grand Rapids with some friends of Chip's, including a guy who I was a French major with at BGSU back in the 70s.

The next night, the Joe Baker Band played at Howard's and they let me sing Santa Baby. Then I sang Mustang Sally while Ginger played bass with the guys.

Christmas Eve, Chip had his family over for lunch and gifts, where I received many. Thank you all. My daughter had called me earlier that day from her car while driving up to San Francisco to be with her brother for Christmas. I was comforted that she was using Bluetooth, so not as dangerous.

Christmas Day, Chip accompanied me to Delaware. My Aunt Midge had sprung for the Kroger takeout dinner, so we had ham and mashed potatoes and green bean casserole and rolls and sweet potato casserole that I made and too many desserts. Gifts were exchanged. I got two pairs of earrings and some other stuff. We got out of there and home by 5.

My Aunt Midge announced that she was moving to Georgia Jan. 4 where her son lives. A silence fell over the table. My mom overall was pretty good. She did allow that the stuffing was not as heinous as the previous two years. She didn't fall asleep immediately after we ate. She liked the robe I got her.

This last Friday, we went to a party at the Balles. Delicious snacks and a good crowd. Thanks to Kerry for driving again.

Saturday, I thought I had a radio show but alas I was preempted. So stay tuned for my end-of-year concerts-I-saw show on Jan. 14.

Yesterday, I made a bunch of snacks (stuffed dates and stuffed mini-peppers and deviled eggs and jam thumbprint cookies and hummus with veggies and guacamole) and Chip cooked some brats and about 10 people went out to his place for football and eating. And light drinking.

On Friday, my sister took my mom to the ER because her blood sugar was way high and she was incoherent and more aggressive than usual. So during all this hectic weekend, I was in contact with my sister non-stop about this. Karen was concerned that mom would be released to Karen's care, which would be bad as Karen can't go stay with mom and mom can't stay at Karen's place. Apparently, my mom was telling my sister that the medical staff was holding her against her will AND that no one else was at the hospital except my mom AND that her roommate (she had none) was up and down all night.

Yesterday, I called the nurse station there but no one was available familiar with my mom's situation and no one called me back. Today, she's still in the hospital. I called her. She didn't know who I was. She asked where I was and I said Home. She said In Michigan? I said In Bowling Green. She said What are you doing THERE? She told me the doctor was in with her so I asked if I should call her back and she agreed. Karen then called later to say mom had called her and asked who that woman was who had called her from BG. It seems that if this were an issue connected to moderating her blood sugar, she would have come out of it by now with round-the-clock medical attention.

And in between all this, I've been busy with trying to launch Daddy's Girl, a takeout food place. I've done massive online research into suppliers and regulations. Tomorrow I can apply online for a federal tax number which I need before I start in on the mountain of forms for starting a LLC and getting a bank account and getting certified for food service, etc. etc.

I've talked to Ed Tyrell who owns the Stimmel's Market, half of which is where I plan to put Daddy's Girl. I bought the domain name DaddysGirlEats.com. I made a Facebook page. I got a gmail account. I created this blog to keep updates going while I'm in ramp-up mode. I've talked with the BG economic development folks about getting a low-interest loan. I've been in touch with the health department about their requirements.

I've started making and costing out recipes, things like meatloaf and lasagna and pasta dishes and stuffed peppers and for when warmer weather comes, BBQ sides. Also desserts. And appetizers that I will take orders for but not sell regularly.

Most importantly, I've started a fund-raising campaign on Kickstarter.com, where people can give small amounts of money that will hopefully accumulate to my goal of $2,500 by the end of January. As of now I've got 4 backers, with $165. Thank you.

Now, I need to try and get some bigger investors on board with small loans that I will pay back in two years.

It's all really nerve-wracking but my alternative is to get to May when my unemployment and buyout money runs out and have to get some low-paying job that won't even make my house payment.

So that's the end of 2011. Let's hope 2012 is great.
________________

Mexcian extravaganza

Friday night, I made a bunch of Mexican food.

1. Black bean, chorizo and cheese empanadas. I got this recipe from an ad for Mexico in a Bon Appetit magazine. It called for packaged pie crust but I had crescent roll dough in a can and used that which made for them being more flaky but still delish. Basically, brown chorizo, saute onions, add can of black beans, some cheese, stuff, bake.

2. Squash quesadillas from this recipe. These were yummy, especially with the tomatillo sauce.

3. Chicken enchiladas from my usual throw it together recipe: shredded chicken and cheese rolled into some corn tortillas and drenched with canned green enchilada sauce.

4. Guacamole which I actually cut up the tomatoes and onions for, rather than dumping some fresh-made, farmer's-market-bought salsa into a mashed avocado like I usually do.

Overall, delish!!

Root veg. b sprouts. beef short ribs. noodles. jus

Mmm

Snow

Fortunately I saw on Facebook that it was snowing. This is now how I find out what's going on right outside my window. Now the ground is covered. Not so bad except that I had to attend the heinous radio meeting at 9 p.m. and it was cold and windy and snowing and I shoulda worn a hat.

I told Chip I feel like kids in a divorce with joint custody because I go out to his house and stay overnight and then come back in here sometime during the day and realize I've left something out there, like my iPad charger.

Also, I have no Christmas spirit. I'm not doing any decorating since I'll be gone for the holiday and I have a set of drums in my living room. And I'm not excited for shopping although no doubt next week I will go someplace and buy a bunch of stuff.

We ordered two cases of wine from Laithwaite's because hey, the holidays are coming and there will be massive excuses to drink it. And it was free shipping the day we ordered which saved us $60! I still need to order a case to ship to Texas.

Last Sunday, we went to the make-up fundraiser for the Toledo School for the Arts. Then who knows what I did the rest of the week.

The assistant IT woman from 13abc called me Tuesday to discuss what I was doing in light of not having a job. She unfortunately did not get the giant buyout I did, nor was she eligible for the Disney pension so she is more concerned than I about the job search. She's going to sign up for some classes at Owens to boost her career skills. Alas, I don't think they got anything for me. Although I should sign up for welding.

Friday I went out to the farm and after dinner, practiced my guitar for 2 hours in the man shack while Chip did some art guy stuff in the studio.

Saturday there was a band featuring Cameron Bedell at GFT but Amy and I went to Doc's to see the Joe Baker Band with Rod playing. It was a good time. Many people we knew were there. I had made lasagna for dinner.

This week, I have Snaps practice Tuesday and GNO Weds. at Connie DiPuccio's and Lil Ed is at GFT on Friday.

Tonight I looked up a bunch of music on Amazon to download so I'll have something new for my radio show Saturday.

My boy turned 30 on Saturday in LA with his sister and other people he knows who live there. 30. Sheesh.

Still working my way through Sons of Anarchy on Netflix. Watching Cash Cab.
_____________________

Thanksgiving

MASSIVE FOOD PREPARATION. To sum it up.

We had been planning the Saturday after Thanksgiving bash at Chip's the whole week, but I still had to do the Delaware thing on Thursday. So, after massive menu decisions for Chip's, on Wednesday I made devilled eggs and baked sweet potatoes and made cole slaw and bought a bunch of other stuff and went to Delaware on Thursday morning. I had been willing to go Wednesday night to get ready, but my mom pointed out I didn't really need to be there til Thursday AM and Hey, who wants to spend a night in a sweatbox and then get up and cook so I accepted her offer.

I haul my stuff down there and start in. Get the ham in the oven, mash and prepare the sweet potatoes, and peel potatoes and microwave brussels sprouts and corn and make gravy from a packet and make stovetop stuffing into which I stirred celery and onions I had sauteed the day before and bake cheap rolls. Upon the first bite of devilled egg, my mom declares, "You know what's wrong with these...." I didn't kill her. You should be proud.

Also, she has no butter in the house so although I had taken 2 sticks, I had to run to Kroger for more butter because Thanksgiving, it's all about the butter.

My Aunt Midge attended, escorted by her grandson Eric, so it was better with a 'crowd.' She brought cookies. To add to our dessert buffet of pumpkin pie (never cut), chocolate silk pie and peach pie (which I had baked the day before).

I caught some of the holiday parade on TV and the Dog Show was on during dinner. I love the dog show and remember that the wire fox terrier or whatever won Best in Show.

Overall, the meal went great. Eric left around 2:30 and then I started in on the kitchen cleanup which took an hour after which I took my aunt back to her assisted living facility and had the tour, getting home about 6.

On Friday I shopped extensively for Saturday. And prepped so that when I got in the kitchen at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, I was ready to make the sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce with walnuts, apples, raisins, corn pudding, bacon for the salad and pear cobbler with ginger chocolate chip biscuit topping, which ran over onto the oven floor. With the smoke alarm going off at 10:45, I was loading the car with crockpots and food. I had already taken out the extra chairs and various serving pieces the day before.

I get to Chip's at 11 to find that shrimp needed to be shucked or whatever, brussels sprouts prepared for steaming, potatoes peeled for the mashed, cheese tray assembled. Which is why I started in on the wine at noon. Sharp.

Chip's dad was an admirable sous chef, chopping and slicing avocados and tomatoes for the salad.

Chip's parents and brother and SIL show up around noon for the OSU-UM game. Appetizers are presented. A 23-pound turkey had been in the oven since 6:30 a.m.

My mom and sister show up around 1:30. Chip's daughter and baby daddy and grandson show up around 2:30. There is a mad dash to serve the meal, which worked out great! Eleven adults and the boy, had way too much food (as Chip's Italian SIL had brought lasagna), including the desserts: pumpkin pie and pear cobbler and my mom's cherry 'cheesecake' and a pecan pie, which we forgot to serve.

Menu: turkey, stuffing, mashed taters, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, corn pudding, rolls, salad (lettuce, avocado, bacon, tomato, gorgonzola), brussels sprouts, lasagna, cranberry sauce from a can, cranberry sauce with stuff in it.

Continued drinking and finally, they all leave about 6 p.m. Whew!

Then I picked up Amy and we went to Kim and Jim's for cards where I immediately lost $7 so continued on to play euchre with Connie and Annette and Jim and finally got home after 11.

I thought I was coming down with some disabling disease but apparently it was just exhaustion. Sunday was fab, starting with coffee and pear cobbler in bed watching Modern Family on the iPad segueing into reading We Need to Talk About Kevin, December's book club selection. Then I did a pilates DVD and later Chip and I went to the aborted Toledo School for the Arts fundraiser. Where we did not win in the reverse raffle.

Although we had done massive cleanup Saturday, I went to Chip's today and made plates for Amy and Connie of leftovers and consolidated some stuff so that there's only 10 pounds of food left, instead of 20. Finished the last of the cleanup, brought home my coolers and dishes and crockpots.

Today, I applied for a web project manager job at Thread Marketing in Maumee and got a phone interview an hour later. Wish me luck. Also applied for a web content specialist job that I had applied for in September but was re-posted. Finished the book club book, talked to Miss Jenks for 2 hours and now it's bedtime.
________________________

Cookery

Usually, my recipe radar is pretty good. By this I mean, I can spot a recipe and, by dint of its ingredients, deem that it would be tasty. So I decide to make carrot and squash cannelloni. I had to read the instructions several times because it seemed so complicated. And has some odd stuff in it: swiss chard, chanterlle mushrooms, pasta sheets.

Chip had made pulled pork and cole slaw egg rolls last week so there were some egg roll wrappers left over and googling, I could see they are interchangeable (pretty much) with pasta sheets.

I Meijered for the other stuff, paying way too much for an acorn squash ($2.14) that I know farm people are practically giving away. Whatev. So in the end, it was not a cheap dish but it was unbelievably delicious.

The recipe was so dense with verbs I had to make an abstract of it to keep track of where I was.

First you roast the carrots and squash and some garlic cloves. Then you brown some sage leaves in butter til crisp. Then you roll the carrots and squash in the pasta sheets. Where I somehow believed (wine) that I didn't have to cook the egg roll wrappers first. But they worked out OK. You bake those for a few minutes with some parmesan on top.

Then you saute the mushrooms and then the chard with it and some chicken broth and then throw in the roasted garlic. And serve the rolls on top of the chard/mushroom mixture.

Every bite was a wild combo of mushroom, carrot, squash, chard, garlic. MMMMM. So good.

So if you feel like spending a lot of time on one dish, this is the one for you.

Plus I made some bread pudding with raisin bread and chocolate chips and pecans that was out of this world. Wish I had some now....

_____________________________

Slidin' by

Time just goes...

Since I last posted, we had Connie's birthday party at GFT which was huge fun although the Snaps were nervous and jangly. The other bands were outtasite!!

Also I had my other cat put down due to severe liver failure which I apparently had not noticed the signs of.

Plus I had to go take my mom to some doctor's appointments because my sister got a new dog and can't take it anyplace or leave it home alone yet. As usual, they wanted dinner so I whipped up the usual--spaghetti. I could make this in my sleep. My mom said the sausage was too hot and the sauce was watery. Sigh....

The Atomic Mama and I attended both the Sonny Morman show at the Maumee Elks and jazz Sunday at the Village Idiot. Which really does have the best pizza I've had around here.

There was GNO at Ginger's which was heavily attended and included many good snacks, such as my famous devilled eggs and some soups and hummus with those evilly delicious chips from SS6. She had a fire in the backyard device and it was a lovely evening. There have been many lovely evenings lately, for it being November.

Lynn combined her retirement party with a Joe Baker Band appearance at Howard's. Chip and I went out to eat first so by the time we got there, we had missed the lame stripper Donna had hired for it. Apparently it was some skinny tattoo artist who had never been a stripper before.

Also Chip and I went to the Ark Oct. 30 to see Hayes Carll, who was pretty good, but no Todd. Beforehand, we ate at the Common Grill in Chelsea which was delish as always. We both had fish with oysters and calamari for appetizers. Seafood extravaganza! Also a great Chardonnay by Acacia.

Thursday night is book club chez moi. Friday, Chip and I are going to the Toledo School for the Arts fundraiser. Saturday is the holiday parade in BG and Julie's birthday dance at Otsego Park and Reel Big Fish at the Clazel and Fishing Ice at Doc's in Togany.

Today I applied for 2 jobs: web content specialist with siop.org and web manager for the Findlay Courier. Fingers crossed.

After all the booking of flights for Austin for Christmas, now Tom cannot get all those days off. This all just came up today so I don't know what we'll do.

Amy is still laid up. Went to the doc today who said 4 more weeks of no weight on it and put on a walking boot. Although she cannot walk on it.

Right now it storming like a mofo. November. Thundering, lightning, torrential rain, etc.
____________________________

Guvmint money

So, trying to be proactive in the event I can't get a high enough paying job to make my house payment someday, I looked into Making Home Affordable. It's the highly touted government program to help struggling homeowners in this crappy economy.

After speaking to someone at the first number I called, I was transferred to a counselor with Money Management International, thinking that I would get some advice on which program I might qualify for. But alas, after this kid asking me many questions about my income and my assets and my monthly expenses, here's the advice I got:

1) The program for people having trouble making their house payments because they're on unemployment is a forbearance deal, wherein your mortgage holder can, at their discretion, lower your house payments for 3-12 months. But the amount that was delayed is due at the end of the deal.

2) The refinance-at-a-lower-rate option offered is only available to homeowners with jobs (albeit lower paying than what you might have been used to) and good credit. I'm thinking, if you are already in trouble, your credit score is probably too low to qualify. Plus, the mortgages are through various mortgage lenders that do not include my bank AND all the fees and extra costs of financing apply, including that you might pay to fill out a loan app and then be denied.

3) I should look into various websites such as LivingSocial in case they might have some coupons for my dining out needs, CouponMom in case I need to cut my grocery expenses and MakingHomeAffordable, the very website where I started all this rigamarole.

4) I should know that Walmart matches any other stores price on items. What is up with this advice?? Is Walmart a proud sponsor of a government program??

5) My current house value on zillow.com is $67,600, although that site also shows my extra half lot with a value of $58,000. Apparently the value is so low due to foreclosures in my neighborhood.

So overall, no help is available to me. Or probably to anyone else either. The kid did complement me on my frugal amount of monthly expenses, although when I pointed out that buying health insurance was a costly part of my expenses, he told me he didn't have anywhere on his worksheet to enter that as an expense. What??? Is this not one of the major factors? My monthly expenses on hair and beauty care had its own line on the form. Sheesh.
__________________________

Meat and taters and beans