This one's right down my alley! I'm happiest when I'm in my kitchen cooking and/or baking! TRI-TIP ROAST 2 lb. Tri-tip sirloin ⅓ cup white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) 1 jar sundried tomatoes, oil drained 8.5 oz. package feta cheese Place roast in crockpot. Place drained tomatoes over top of roast. Sprinkle with crumbled feta cheese. Pour wine over all and cook on low for 6-10 hours. Note: We all really like this! Its different and has a good flavor. Leftovers are very good on buns! Here's one for game. SLOW COOKER VENISON ROAST Very good! 3 lbs. boneless venison roast 1 large onion, sliced 1 tbsp. soy sauce 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp. garlic salt ¼ tsp. ground black pepper 1 (1 oz.) package dry onion soup mix 1 (10.75 oz.) can condensed cream of mushroom soup Put cleaned meat in slow cooker and cover with onion. Sprinkle with soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the soup mix and the soup and pour mixture over the venison. Cook on low setting for 6 hours. And who doesn't like Cheese Danish?! CHEESE DANISH 2 pkgs. Crescent rolls 2 (8 oz.) pkgs. cream cheese 1 cup sugar 1 egg yolk, reserve the white 1 tsp. vanilla ½ cup sugar ¼ cup chopped walnuts 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 egg white, lightly beaten Preheat oven to 350˚. In a medium sized bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla together. Set aside. Unroll 1 package of the crescent rolls on the bottom of a 9x13 in. baking pan. Pinch seams together. Bake for 5 minutes at 350˚. Spread the cream cheese filling on top of the baked crescent roll. Top with remaining crescent roll. Brush the top with egg white and sprinkle with walnuts and cinnamon. Bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes. ~Sandy~

1. Could you have accidently used the QUICK dough cycle instead of the regular dough cycle? If so, there wasn't sufficient proofing time. 2. Dough rises according to the temperature, moisture, and the strength of the yeast - not a clock. It takes longer the colder the ambient temperature. After the 1-hr. rise was it double in bulk? 3. You may have had too much dough for the pan size. Did you weigh the dough before choosing the pan size? Jumbo - 10x4-1/2" - 4-5 c. of flour - 2+ pounds of dough Quick Bread Pan - 9x5 - 4 c. of flour - 2-pounds Standard - 8-1/2x4-1/2 - 3 c. of flour - 1-1/2-pounds Medium - 7-1/2x3-1/2 - 2-1/2 c. of flour - 1-pound Small - 5-3/4x3-3/4 - 1-1/2 c. of flour - 8-oz. 4. After you removed the dough from the bread machine and deflated it did you round the dough and allow it to rest (covered) for 10-minutes before forming it? 5. Is it possible you used the wrong measuring spoon for measuring the yeast? I have a 1/2 T. measuring spoon that can accidently get pulled when I needed 1 teaspoon. 6. Cracks and shredding on the side of the loaf are often caused by too much flour OR old flour. If you haven't been using your flour because you have been making gluten-free breads, it may have been too old to make good bread. -Grainlady

Well, BM's mom picked up SD on Friday from school. This morning (Sunday), BM called DH & told him SD has been throwing up since 3am & has the stomach flu. I guess that put BM's plans out & she was going to be home for DH to pick her up. I made a suggestion that DH let SD stay at BM's until she is no longer sick, since BM is not working & SD can't go to school... he didn't want to ask her so he was still going to bring her home. The last time SD came home with stomach flu, everyone in our house had it for a week & this time, I told him that I was not available to stay home & take care of SD as I have to be out of town on Tuesday, so if she needed to be taken care of, he would have to stay home & take care of her... also, that if she gets DGS2 sick, he won't be allowed at daycare & I will have to stay home with him, which messes up my plans. As far as I'm concerned, BM knew of the risk because her other DD15 and her DS1 was sick with it last weekend apparently. She is the mom, she should nurse her DD back to health, right? If SD can't go to school, there's no reason BM can't take care of her until she's well enough to go back to school. After all, she could have warned DH that they've been sick since she knew everyone in her house has had it the last week or so. Anyway, DH arranged for SD to stay with her, at least until tomorrow/Monday. Besides the physical discomfort of being sick, it affects us being able to work (=our income) & being a sole proprietor w/no employees at the time, it would force me to close business or my dad (he has a separate business in the same location) would have to run both of them, by himself because right now it's just the two of us. He doesn't need the added burden of me getting sick and/or possibly getting him sick too. As it is, I'm already taking time off because the daycare is closed on weekends & the other grandparents have not picked up DGS for two months... and it's no longer feasible to bring him to work with me, he gets into everything as 2 year old's do. So, I'm aggravated now with the prospect of dealing with a sick child and/or having the illness brought to us & having it affect our already stressed finances. I'd just like to figure out how to stop being aggravated with everything... and feeling like everything is BM's fault in one way or another. I know that's unreasonable or irrational thinking. But, it's just one thing after another.

Our board meets on 9/30 and 10/14 but is "booked" for those dates. We also need time to notify the neighbors. I might be able to get pushed into the 10/14 date, but that will be special treatment and is not a sure thing. I made friends with the very arbitrary commissioner, so have a long list of high up town employees who may pull strings on my behalf, but have to count on the 10/28 date for now. Since we had the variance approved last time, there have been many code changes or even just that they enforce what used to slide. Our plans are for less than last time, so it should be a no brainer, other than the fact that the game has changed in the interim. Our GC won't really order materials until it is clear we can proceed. Luckily (or not), we have most of our materials picked out and approx 75% on premises already. Any delay on materials will not come from us, lol.... Today it was over 80 degrees, so Nov could be 50 or could be -50, lol. We usually do not see snow until late Dec, so we are hoping that hold true this year. The ground is not fully frozen until late, but I am more concerned about living here in the cold with functioning heat. We have suffered through 4 summers with almost no a/c (only the one in our sons' room is any good and our bedroom has the only other one, and that one is ancient). I figure since we got through that, we could always layer clothes in cool weather, and maybe be ok. It seems like we have no choice, so it will be what it will be. Thanks for all the encouragement and support. I feel like I have called "wolf" before, but this time he might actually be getting close, lol.