LADIES NIGHT OUT

It struck me Thursday evening while attending a Ladies Night Out in Medina, that for me, pretty much every night is Ladies Night Out.  I'm not complaining here, just stating that most of my time away from the house is spent with my lady friends.  Not much testosterone among us.  I need to make a more concentrated effort to find some guys to hang with from time to time. 

A STROLL AROUND MEDINA

Nancy treated me to dinner this week as a thank you for kitty-sitting with James while she was on her Moscow cruise.  Little is she aware I would gladly pay her to have James visit - he's a sweetie and good company.  However I'm never one to pass up a chance to go out on the town. 

We stumbled into Ladies Night Out on the square in Medina and there was also some sort of activity going on inside the square, so there were lots of people about.  It was really nice to see so many folks browsing the shops and, in general, enjoying a beautiful summer evening.  We wandered into House of Hunan and snagged a table directly on the sidewalk.  A mojito and appetizers were perfect excuses to sit back and watch the people go by. 

I ordered a BBQ Salmon wrapped Grilled Asparagus and it was delightful!  Nancy ordered a Mai Tai that came to the table in a funky monkey-shaped tumbler.  Very kitchy but extremely fun! 

On the way back to the car was passed a fire truck parked on the square that must have been there to amuse the kids.  It was a newer truck with an automated hose attached to a crane and the firemen were playing with the crane.  Just goes to show that little boys never outgrow their toys - they just go play with bigger, more expensive versions.  They were having fun with it and I'll admit it was fascinating watching them for a while.

Medina truly is a quaint area and I cannot wait to have the opportunity to drive back over with my camera and snap away at the downtown shops and homes around the square. 

FRIDAY LUNCH ON THE PORCH

Summer is here and dowtown is packed with lunchtime activities.  This week, Rebecca and I went over to the Mustill Store to enjoy their weekly Friday music on the porch.  The entertainers change every week but they all lean to the folk music genre.  We brought our lunch with us, but there is a hot dog vender there each Friday so if you decide to go on a whim you're able to grab a bite.  The crowd contains downtown business people, folks who happen by as they walk, run or ride the towpath, Mustill Store supporters and families with kids and/or dogs just enjoying the festivities.  It's a nice diversion for the middle of the day.

MACHO BABY SHOWER
This week our office workers threw a suprise baby shower for our coworker, Jerel, who is having his first baby this August.  He's so obviously excited about this baby we had to do something special for him.  We put on a traditional baby shower only HE was the guest of honor, not the mom-to-be.  The other guys in the office balked a bit about this whole idea, but once they caught on they stepped up to the plate and had just as much fun as us gals did.  Nicole attended (with baby) and as the guest of honor opened the baby gifts we all had a fun time teasing him as he opened all the little girlie things to our animated oooh's and aaah's.  What fun!  All five guys declared this their first-ever baby shower attendance and all agreed it was fun and they'd do it again.

POTATO CHIP....COOKIES!

Don't ask what this has to do with anything other than the fact that I love both potato chips and cookies.  I've used this recipe for many years and it's one of my favorites.  Last weekend I baked a batch for our Porthouse Theater Pre-Concert Picnic (which I neeglected to blog about but oh well) and these went over well with everyone.  People not familiar with them are always surprised to find they're actually made with crushed potato chips.  They're wonderful, crispy, buttery and not overly sweet. 

As you can see from my pic of the cookbook this recipe came from, I obviously use it a lot - the spine is broken and open to this page.  The author, Marcia Adams, wrote several wonderful cookbooks mostly based on Amish cooking and I've used many, many of her recipes over the years.  This particular book, Heirloom Recipes, is so well used I've even managed to burn the cover on the stove top.  At the time I was more panicked about loosing my cookbook than burning down the kitchen!  The cookbook survived the scorching and so did my kitchen. 

These cookies are a great way to use up the crushed potato chips that accumlate in the bottom of the bags.  I save these from every bag and then bake these cookies when there are enough.  Desparate times require crushing perfectly good potato chips and that's something I find difficult to do.  Next time you've got a few crushed chips, get out this recipe and bake some cookies!  Consider it a way of recycling something that you'd normally toss away.

Potato Chip Cookies

1 cup softened butter

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 tsp. vamilla extract

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup crushed potato chips

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In mixer, combine butter and sugar and beat for 3 minutes.  Add the egg yok and vanilla and mix well.  Gradually add the flour.  Gently mix in the chips and nuts.  Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake in preheated oven 10-12 minutes.  Cookies should be golden around the edges and not too brown.  Let cool on racks and dust with confectioners sugar before serving.