Ribs! I put a spicy rub on them this morning and made some good sauce for basting. I made some broccoli slaw and sweet potato fries to go with them. Sure was tasty. Robert took today off and the rest of the week. We went out early to do some mattress shopping (YIKES), a doctor's appointment (for him), and had lunch at Cheddars, which is great here in Huntsville. I had a nice salad and Robert had fried catfish. Where are you, ellendi? Sounds like a tropical menu! Yum.

Can you believe, I bought the ingredients to test an idea I had. It was a vegetable dish that involved grilled endive topped with roasted beets and goat cheese, then sprinkled with an orange shallot vinagrette! Vagardengirl, great minds must think alike ;). So I had to change gears. And came up with this: Belgian Endive in Fondue *1 head endive, about the length of your hand, cut into quarters, washed well and dried with paper towels *Olive oil *Salt and Pepper *4 thin slices ham *1 tbsp butter *1 clove garlic, minced *1 clove from a shallot, minced *1 tbsp flour *1 cup canned evaporated milk *1 cup shredded gouda cheese Brush the endive with some oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill in a hot grill pan, turning to get marks on all sides. Remove to a piece of foil and pinch closed to seal so the endive quarters can steam a bit. In a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Saute the garlic and shallot until fragrant and softer, but do not brown. Add the flour and whisk for a moment to combine. Slowly add the evaporated milk, whisking the whole time. If it looks lumpy, just keep whisking. It will come together. Bring to a bubble and let cook for a moment (stirring constantly so it doesn't scorch). Remove from heat. Stir in the cheese, and add black pepper to taste. Open the foil packet and wrap an endive quarter in a ham slice. Place in a greased individual casserole dish or ramekin (I use brulee dishes I got with my brulee gun). I had to cut mine in half to fit. Divide the sauce over the rolls in the dishes. Bake at 350 degrees until sauce is bubbly, endive is tender, and the top is browned in spots. Mine took about 20 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve with toast points. Eat the endive pieces, then spread the cheese sauce on the toast. I can never decide if this is too salty from the ham. I think next time I will finally decide to leave the ham out, and increase the amount of endive in each dish and call it a side. The cheese is very forgiving, you can use whatever you like in a cheese sauce. I want to try this as a larger casserole and add some ricotta cheese and see what happens. Feel free to use regular milk (even skim milk!) for the sauce. I have a zillion cans of evaporated milk to use up. The serving seems small (1/4 of a belgian endive?!?!) but this is very rich and filling. Too much and you would be too full for the rest of the dinner, and it might be cloying. Here is a link that might be useful:

Here in N. NV we have alot of Indians. Few reservations in the area. They sell these on the corners sometimes and at area events. You take bread dough pull it out into a circle, put a hole in the middle,Think bagel and deep fry it.... yea, low cal hahahaha It puffs up and without the hole in the middle, which kinda gets real small with the puffing of the fried bread, it would be soggy in the middle. Then top with all your taco favorites. Meat, cheese, lettuce, tomato whatever. Either pick it up or eat with knife and fork. Yummy. I just fry mine up in a deep skillet with veg oil. Don't have a deep fryer.

Hi guys, Thanks for the preliminaries. I am really trying to be unbiased on this, but it's hard! He IS envious of college kids' carefree, no strings life. Each time we attend a college get-together, he mentions that. I trust him with his own time and am not worried about him being inappropriate with other people, so a tryst is not an issue here. Our discussion Thursday is just between us, no counselor. We're usually able, after attending many counseling session over the past 2 years, to get these things worked out---fortunately. Sometimes, though, it takes a few nights of conversations. We use this formula: A prediscussion, where we let the other person know the topic we want to talk about, so they can be prepared. We set a date 2 days from that day to talk. It helps us analyze our feelings toward the topic. When we meet, we establish the topic and write it down, so we stick with it! One of our problems used to be adding other issues into the mix---no more! Then we reveal our emotional attachments, insecurities, and fears about the topic. Then we respond to each other's response to the above, just to help them understand that WE understand the hot, underlying issues. We don't interrupt each other while we are stating our feelings and wants regarding the topic. During the discussion, we remain sensitive to our partner's trigger times and remain aware that either of us can stop the discussion at any time and we can begin again in 2 days. And lastly, we stay realistic, knowing that it may take more than one session to solve the problem. This formula has worked really well for us. We very seldom have any simmering issues building resentment under the surface of our relationship. It's nice to be able to bring things out in the open, even if they are controversial. it's not always a comfortable conversation, but afterward, we are both relieved about the openess and ability to talk. __________________ It's raining cat and dogs here! The freeways are messy, but not too bad, as it appears people are giving themselves extra time to complete their commutes. I am still on track with eating, however, my sleep has been restless as of late---I wonder why???---lol. I am helping a friend get hay today after I get the older kids off to school. Then I am heading over to photograph my friend who is preggers with twins. Her 36th week is next week and she is about to have the babies, so we want to get a photo of her body, while it's heavy with love! I am bring a beautiful, full length burgundy stretchy dress for her to wear. I also am loading up my big Malabar wicker chair for her to stand by or sit in, along with a sheer cabana net to hang from a tree and drape around the scene for background. It ought to be fun and my kids will play with hers while we work on getting something pleasing. Then it's off to the market (more veggies and fruit) and then to the barn for older DD's gaming lessons. Hope you all are getting through the week with no worries! Friday's coming!!!!!! Thanks for the insight to my issues with DH. I welcome any additions to the discussions.