Sorry I forgot the menu!

Mea culpa, mea culpa...Mrs. Hinkelgruber apparently (no apparently about it) - I forgot to post last week's menu - so sorry! This week's will be delayed also - Mr. Hinkelgruber has been out of town this weekend and hasn't even decided if we're eating, let alone what!

Julia Child's 100th birthday was this past week (August 15) and as a result, I'll be making her chocolate cake as a tribute. The recipe appeared in our local paper and I kept ALL the recipes they paid homage to her with. I also have to make some popovers for my baking blog.

September will be a busy month for the Hinkelgruber (well, Mrs. Hinkelgruber, at least) with a trips to Vegas and Seattle, and a brief cruise from Vancouver, BC to Los Angeles. And, then, my favorite season: fall arrives! Cooler weather: crisp mornings, beautiful afternoons and Halloween...what could be better?

It's Wedding Season!

The weather has been lovely - warm days, cool nights. I've been knitting frantically - and with the Olympics airing, I've been able to justify the sittin' and knittin'. How about that women's 4X100 relay team?!? I loved watching them run - it was like watching a well-oiled, humming machine. They were beautiful!

I have to find something to do with a bunch of egg-whites...angel food cake sounds likely. Maybe with some fresh berries...

This month begins the Hinkelgruber family wedding season. There are six nieces in the family and 1/3 of them are being married between now and mid-September. So, it's party season for us.

Hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk!

Wow! Complain about the weather and Mother Nature will bite you in the butt! Yesterday it was 102 degrees - and today? 95 degrees! Talk about out of the frying pan into the fire!

I cooked dinner yesterday. Yes, you read that right - I (Mrs. Hinkelgruber) cooked dinner! My assignment for my baking blog group was to make a berry galette and the dough made enough for two. So...the recipe also said you could use it for a tomato-cheese galette, so that's what I did. I baked it in the morning, let it cool, and we had it cold for dinner. Delicious! Oh, and the berry galette was good, too, but its crust was too thin and it leaked all over the baking pan, leaving a soggy crust. Oh, well, better luck next time!

Can't help it - have to post a big congrats to Michael Phelps and his 22 Olympic Medals. Oh, as the mom of two 20-something boys, I have to say, I know how proud his momma must be. And he really does seem to be a very nice boy. Nice job, Debbie Phelps - that's a fine boy you got there (and, boy, can he swim)!

Breakfast - a great beginning!

I saw the best commercial last evening while I watched the opening ceremonies of the London Olympics. It opens with a voiceover, "Why is it every race is remembered for its ending? We think it should be remembered for its start." Flash to a little girl sitting at a kitchen table waiting for mom to put a bowl of cereal in front of her and then a simple banner "Kelloggs".

Weekdays, breakfast is my responsibility and Mr. Hinklegruber suffers through a simple bowl of cereal. Come the weekend, though, I'm treated to a $18 - $22 breakfast every Saturday. We live in an over-the-top-popular breakfast town, but my choice is always our own dining room. This morning? Two poached eggs on toasted french bread, with a crumbled bacon topping and a broiled tomato with a bread crumb stuffing. And, I didn't have to wait to hear my name called. Oh, those folks standing in line at any number of breakfast joints are wasting their time!

Between the Summer Olympics and family weddings, I can tell summer is beginning to wind down. That pie has to get baked today (I have my marching orders!) and then I intend to plant myself in front of the telly for the Games. (Who knew the Queen was a sky-diver?!?) What a weekend!

Is it time for that "pie" workshop I always thought about?

Got to find some ripe nectarines...nectarine-blueberry pie...that's the next recipe for Tuesdays with Dorie. And, yes, I am considering a pie workshop just so I may perfect a pie crust. Yesterday, our baker neighbor brought us blackberry muffins and two blackberry crostadas - mmm, mmm! Boy, can that girl bake!?!

This next week will see our house completely back together (well, there are those who would tell you it already looks pretty good!). By next weekend, the pictures will be hung on the walls and the books in the bookshelves. A major project completed!

Grown-ups live here!

Remember the ransacking thieves of last week? And my D-day of July 23? How about a new D-day of July 18? And the Hinkelgruber home looks fantastic - just like I said it would! All that is left is a quick painting of the hallway and some touchups of a few spot, and people will believe that grownups live here.

I haven't had anything to complain about with the weather. Even this morning's drizzle doesn't upset me - I've soaked enough sun to make it through the next couple of days. I'll be baking bread Monday for my "Tuesdays with Dorie," group and then I've begun a new knitting project that's a "Mystery" shawl. The idea is that you have no idea what the final project looks like, but by following the posted pattern, it reveals itself to you.

Have I told you lately what a good cook Mr. Hinkelgruber is? We've been dining as though a professionally trained chef visits us nightly, and I'm the beneficiary. Yes, we're going out Friday, but what that really means is the Mr. Hinkelgruber and I haven't visited a favorite haunt in a while, so it's time.

OK, so it looks like a bomb went off....

Well, maybe not a bomb, but how about like a pack of thieves broke in and ransacked the place? Having two rooms and a hallway painted simultaneously seemed like a good idea at the time...right now, not so much! There's furniture in the dining room, in the music room, in the living room - oh, yeah, there's more paint ready for application than a small paint store would require. Ahh...and the wafting smell of oil-based paint. OK, ok, ok - enough bitching...it's gonna look fantastic, when it's done (d-day: July 23).

Do you remember how much work it is to buy a car? Mr. Hinkelgruber and I were reminded and the youngest Hinkelgruber lad got to experience it for the first time, as we bought his college graduation gift: a brand-new pickup truck. It's been a long time since we've seen him light up like the proverbial Christmas tree - but he certainly did. So, need to move? I know a guy with a pickup!

We had a terrific time in "Lost Wages" - plenty of food, booze and gambling - there's a reason that city is nick-named "Sin City" - sinning is the rule of the day. Oh, and yes, my feet did get warm; 108 degrees will do that to them!

This week's dessert is very simple and common: Rice Krispie Treats - too hot to turn on the oven!