I think I have decided on the vegetarian entree. I love the sound of Linda's butternut squash lasagna but I have all of this pumpkin puree so I went looking for a pumpkin lasagna. This one also includes Swiss chard. I'm thinking I might skip the green beans every pushes around on their plate because stuffing and mashed potatoes are more appealing. I'll add more chard to the dish as one review mentions it could use more. I will also add some rosemary as that sounds like a tasty addition. Pumpkin Lasagna with Ricotta and Swiss Chard 1 pound lasagna noodles 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for tossing 1 onion, finely chopped 2 pounds Swiss chard, stems discarded and leaves chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 3 15-ounce cans pumpkin puree 1/4 cup heavy cream Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg Pinch of cayenne pepper 4 cups fresh ricotta (32ounces) 2 large eggs, beaten 2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (about 6 ounces) 2 cups shredded imported Fontina cheese (about 8 ounces) 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the lasagna noodles until just starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Drain well and transfer the noodles to a baking sheet. Toss the noodles with olive oil to prevent them from sticking together. 2. In a large skillet, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderately low heat until softened, about 7 minutes. Add the Swiss chard and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until wilted and no more liquid remains, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season the chard with salt and pepper. Transfer to a plate and let cool slightly. 3. In a medium bowl, mix together the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, nutmeg and cayenne. Season with salt and pepper. In another bowl, mix the ricotta with the eggs, 1 1/2 cups of the Parmigiano, 1 cup of the fontina and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. 4. In a well-buttered, 9x13 inch ceramic baking dish, spoon 1/2 cup of the pumpkin mixture in an even layer. Arrange 3 or 4 lasagna noodles in the dish, overlapping them slightly. Spread half of the remaining pumpkin mixture over the noodles in an even layer. Top with half of the Swiss chard and another layer of noodles. Cover with half of the ricotta mixture. Repeat the layering with lasagna noodles, pumpkin, Swiss chard, another layer of noodles and finish with the ricotta mixture. 5. Cover the lasagna with foil and bake for about 40 minutes, until heated through and slightly firm. Remove from the oven and uncover. Preheat the broiler. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmigiano and 1 cup of fontina on top of the lasagna and broil about 4 inches from the heat until golden brown and crisp on top, about 4 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes, then cut into squares and serve. MAKE AHEAD The unbaked lasagna can be refrigerated overnight. Let return to room temperature before baking. Here is a link that might be useful: www.foodandwine.com

Even before Jen posted this, I was telling my husband about hearing it and being sad that I missed seeing Sedaris in my backyard. Then he suggested maybe we could do a road trip to catch another performance. He was probably thinking a place like D.C. I said well, I have checked the schedule and he'll be in Australia in January. I may have overplayed my hand. I think I'll recheck the schedule and see if there's a city - with a sports team - that we haven't visited and see about a weekend away. Unfortunately, we've already been to Dallas but I suppose we could repeat, we had a nice time.

Gosh, you'd think that with that hornet nest being about 15' up in the air that they really wouldn't have bothered attacking you. It seems like that's enough space that they wouldn't feel frightened, but then again, what do I know, I'm not a hornet. Pretty many years ago, I also got zapped by a bald face hornet when I was outside picking raspberries The nest was hanging really close to where I thought they'd be. I was stung plenty of times over the years by yellow jackets, wasps, hornets and maybe even a honey bee one time if I remember correctly. I think that was the time when I was clapping at our dog (many years ago, as I was a kid) and wouldn't you know it, that was just the time when one decided to fly in my bubble and I got zapped. I think the two times when stings hurt the most, though, was when I was zapped by the raspberry patch-living hornet and also two different times when I inadvertently reached right onto a saddleback cat. Ouch, I was surprised that a caterpillar sting could hurt so much. I really intend to use your "tennis racket" zapper method starting next year to "try" to annihilate those doggone European hornet butterfly murderers. Maybe I can also get the population down from a million to half a million like you did. Hey, it's a start anyway. I certainly can understand your saying that because there are sooo many of the potato leafhoppers. I think I remember reading about some bait that a person can put on the lilacs that they're stripping the bark off of and they carry it back to the nest and it also poisons the other hornets, so that's something else I can try. I have to look into exactly what to get. The way I look at it is that they don't belong here, so I don't feel the least bit guilty killing them. It infuriates me when I see them patrolling the butterfly bushes looking for their next victim. I feel better this year than last year and will be taking a much more proactive approach next year to eliminate the invasives, whether it be insect, bird or plant.

Well, it's just prior to the changing of the week...and I've been cold pretty much all day. But the house is the same temperature on the thermostat, so it's just me probably. Next week this time, I'm sure I'll be soundly asleep after a trip to Wagoner. Larry, any chance you could re-consider, it's not as long a trip for you as for me? And a final set of images from Thursday's hike on the upper area of Wilson Lake. Always nice to remind everyone I have two dogs (including me). They clambered over and (in Rag's case) under the rocks like ground squirrels. Sure hard to believe we're mid November and 2021 is in it's final six weeks.