All is not lost, there is alcohol in the fridge! Welcome back and I hope life slows down enough to let you enjoy doing the things you enjoy.

Jo

Hey, at least your fridge is CLEAN!

As Jo mentioned, there is still hope. I see unopened bottles of wine in there, just open a couple and then you won't care about supper, LOL.

In the meantime, I hope you've been doing something fun, something with the horses, something enjoying the weather.

Oh, and welcome home. What's for dinner? (grin)

Annie

Welcome back! I need to clean out my refridgerator, it's such a mess. We always seem to have way too many jars of condiments open...

Nancy

Oh WOW that is impressive...you should see mine! I bet you I have 50 jars and bottles and at least 10 cheeses. Without looking I bet I am close!

So good to see you back!

That's amazing! It sure is nice and clean too. I don't think I've ever had that little food in mine. LOL. Maybe my fridge is just too small. That's it, I need a bigger fridge.

I too hope you've been enjoying the horses.

You won't be seeing a picture of my fridge. Too scary!!!!

Jim

Grace, I'm in the same boat. My internet and cooking time has been taken up with summer planning and my washing machine just went out (luckily before the warranty expired). I haven't participated in any of the cook-a-longs....but I'll start doing more than grilled chicken breasts real soon!

I do check bdays at 9:00 every night, still on the job for that one.

What a difference $198.00 makes! I've got food for about 9 days (breakfast, some lunches and all dinners) and a menu planned.

Go with the flow since DH Joe announced that we were invited out to dinner tomorrow night by two business associates who are in town. So my dinner menus have been pushed back, but I'm not one to turn down a free meal either!!

AND I've actually "cooked" something already!!! I made a pitcher of iced tea to go with dinner!!!! I hear the applause from my fellow slouches in the CF!

I've been gardening, working on the barn rebuild and visiting with kids.... plus we've ridden the geldings in trail competitions over in West TX north of Austin (500 miles away) and in the Arkansas Ozarks (450 miles away) so we've put some miles on both the truck and the horses!

Here's me over in TX....

And here's a waterfall that we rode back to in Arkansas last weekend....

Thanks for the welcome back.... now to get in the kitchen and peel shrimp for the Shrimp Fettucini, slice tomatoes for the Tomato and Mozarella Salad, fix the Sauteed Brussel Sprouts and slice some strawberries for dessert.... Hope I remember where all of my equipment is!

Grace

Welcome back,Grace.You were misses.Great pictures,thanks for sharing.

Shelley

Welcome back Grace! Beautiful picture of that waterfall.

Is that champagne on the tops shelf? I'll have some of that.

Grace:
Remember that saying " Count Your Blessings "
From what I see you have a lot.

Wish I was on that Horse !!!!!
I'd give the Dog a run for his next meal.
Lou
PS:
Ask me how I feel.

Grace, I'd have sworn off cooking for a while for those rides too!

Annie

Sometimes it's a good thing to have a vacation from a chore that while an agreeable, loved one, does have to be performed day after day, week after week, year after year. I love to cook, and take pride in making the great majority of my meals completely from scratch with healthy, fresh ingredients.

But sometimes I find myself flagging in my enthusiasm, and the pendulum swings very slowly more to the "chore" side, than the "joy" side. Often I don't even realize it until something happens to force me to take a break...I get really sick for a few days or we take a trip somewhere without cooking facilities (though you'd be surprised how much I can produce from a hot plate smuggled into a hotel room). More often, my husband goes away for a weekend to a barbershop singing convention or something and I find myself living off dry cereal, entrees I froze at some point and assorted vegetable & cheese plates.

The zest with which I go back to cooking lets me know how much I needed the break.

So enjoy!

Good to hear from ya Grace....think it's time to clean out my fridge....very scary compared to yours. Thanks for the pics too....you weren't far from me if you were in the Ozarks.

David

Welcome back, Grace.
I love that pitcher in your second pic. It is so pretty.
I started taking horseback riding lessons in December. I go once a week. Would love to be able to take a wandering tour with one soon. I am learning on an English saddle. They are much more prominent over here.
Lisa

Chase, you just can't see the condiments in the door, but I did throw a bunch of things away!

Shaun, no champagne instead it's my favorite: Prosecco (which from what I understand is the Italian version of champagne) I like it much better. Always fun to open a bottle when friends stop by.... makes them feel like its a celebration!

So Lou, how do you feel??

Rachel, my youngest son does is in a men's acapella group in college.... so much fun to listen to!

David, I thought you were in Michigan! And Lisa, aren't horses wonderful!!

So last night was a success! We ate outside on our patio table and had Shrimp Fettucini, a lovely salad of simple sliced mozzarella with some tomatoes drizzled with a little olive oil, and Brussel Sprouts pan sauteed with a little Balsamic and some cranberries thrown in at the end. A wonderful evening.

Grace

Firstly, wow that food looks good. The same thing happens to me... I get busy and tired from working and rely on fast food or convenience foods. I forget to check in on the cooking forum and sometimes will go a whole week without looking in (though I used to check it 5 times a day!). Life just consumes us sometimes!

I cooked bbqed baked chicken, cornbread, and rice last night and it felt good and tasted better. The last time I tried to cook something, it was chicken strips and I burned them and ended up ordering my dinner from Pappa Johns!

Welcome back :o)

Grace, hope everything is better. Now to highjack your thread - what brand of refrigerator is that? And where's the freezer LOL

I'm off the wagon a good portion of the time. This wagon, not....ohnevermind.

I sure wish my fridge was that clean.

Ha!!! I was wondering if anybody would notice!

It's a refrigerator "only" SubZero which is really meant to have the matching full size freezer standing next to it, but of course we could only fit the fridge. The four crisper/meat drawer go all the way to the back of the refrigerator so they hold a ton and each are deep enough for a big head of lettuce, melon etc...

Back in 88 I was struggling with fitting food for a us and three boys (with a fourth on the way) into the used Kenmore that we had bought when we first got married. It was a constant juggling act to fit in enough food to keep from shopping every couple of days. Then one day I saw this floor model SubZero that they were discounting at the appliance distributor store.

I sold the Kenmore for $50.00, DH Joe rebuilt the cabinets above the space so it is built in, and we stained a panel to match the cabinets. I have a freezer in our laundry room which is next to the kitchen. I figured how often did I really need to get in the freezer?? I've never regretted it though it does often give folks pause when they first go to look for ice if they're new to the house!

I've only had TWO repairs on the fridge in 21 years... one of which was just last fall and it was fixed in a day. With four sons, you can imagine the workout that it has undergone on the door handle alone!! The shelves look like new, the crisper drawers are still beautiful.... everything comes out easily to get washed down when needed... I can't say enough about the quality of Subzero.

Grace

Grace :
I thought the frige looked about a year old.Great Job!!!

And there's that Shrimp Fettucini again.
I'll have mine tommorrow night.
Lou

Amazing! I knew Sub Zero had a great rep and I see it's well deserved.

The reason I probably noticed is cause we have an all-fridge in our new kitchen (Miele - we looked at SZ but we were replacing a piece of junk and my dh isn't as handy as yours so had to "settle" for something that would fit) and our all-freezer is in the butler's pantry around the corner. Our guests too don't know where to find the ice LOL

And my fridge only looked that clean the day we got it three months ago but tomorrow I promise to clean it up. You've inspired me.

Loves 2:
That's not nice, talking about your husband like that.
And you don't clean your refrig. Shameful !!!
You should see mine.
Hope my DD's come up soon.

Grace:
I'll have to put the Shrimp Fettucini off for another day.
The bag of Shrimp was sitting on a a container
of Roast Chicken Thighs and Vegetables in the Freezer.

That's a little easier. All I have to do is heat it.

LOU

LOU............;-)