Fall is in the air?

Our fall is beginning more like summer - at least I believe so. Days up to nearly 80 degrees and no rain now for over 40 days! WOOHOO! To celebrate, the Hinkelgrubers are going to wine country! I know, I know, we have a wine cellar (read: basement) full of wine, do we really need more? Well, we have wine shipments from two wine clubs to collect and if we don't do so before mid-November, we'll have to pay shipping (and be available to sign for them), so we're getting that wine anyway.

I've been knitting - made two cute winter hats; one for the wee one across the street (the sample to learn the pattern) and one for the younger Hinkelgruber boy's new girlfriend. Hats - always a safe gift. I have a new favorite knit shop - one that I can easily walk to, if I really wanted - and it has the most beautiful yarns. And, most importantly, it smells like wool! I can't explain it, but that's a smell I have in the deep recesses of my mind - the smell of wool I remember from going to the Mill-End store as a child; when it was truly a "mill-end" store, with skeins of wool piled high on long, plywood tables, by color. Push your nose into a ball of wool yarn, and inhale; you'll learn the smell I mean.

Did you notice the menu of "Fish heads and rice?" I'm guessing Mr. Hinkelgruber doesn't want guests for dinner tonight. To bad for him, he can't lose me - I'm all for fish heads!

Fall is here!

So, my vacations are over (yeah, I'm a little relieved), fall has officially arrived and with it, baking season!

The month of September saw a trip to Vegas, two weddings, an anniversary trip to Seattle and a quick four-day cruise from Vancouver, BC to Los Angeles...WHEW!...what a month! Now it's time to gently slide into the fall and holiday season. (Did I say gently?!? Really?!?) Neighborhood kids have gone back to school, soccer and fundraisers. (Gift wrap, anyone? How about a magazine?) As for me, I'm going to fully embrace my Tuesdays with Dorie blog group and pick up my knitting needles in earnest.

You'll notice that this week's menu is beginning to look a little like winter comfort food, with a few selections we haven't enjoyed in a while. Mac & cheese...Roasted chicken...Texas toast...mmm....well, winter's not all bad. Wonder what I should bake?

We're baaack....

So, the Hinkelgrubers have been on holiday (well, Mrs. Hinkelgruber has been several holidays and is about to embark on another!). Thus, the lack of posting for the past few weeks. But, bowing to pressure from the peanut gallery, we return to the posts this week.

Let's see...to bring you up to date, Mrs. Hinkelgruber has been to Lost Wages (with said peanut gallery), then Mr. and Mrs. Hinkelgruber went to Seattle for their anniversary (29-years, and they said it wouldn't last!) and Mrs. Hinkelgruber is heading for a re-positioning cruise from Vancouver, BC to Los Angeles this coming Monday. Come Friday morning, it's back to normal and baking season starts!

With fall beginning in such a lovely manner, it's hard to believe Halloween and the holidays are right around the corner. Ooh - spooky!

As summer comes to a close...

Yeah, I know - there's still officially another four weeks or so of summer. But you can't tell it by the weather. Every morning, it feels like school is starting tomorrow! Cool enough for a jacket or sweater and by the afternoon, you're wondering why it is you wore that wrap?!?

We attended the first niece's wedding yesterday - and what a beautiful one it was! The weather was perfect (not too hot, not too cool) and the setting in a friend's back yard was spectacular! In two weeks, another wedding. But before then - Vegas, baby!

You'll notice my favorite dinner is on for Friday night. I told Mr. Hinkelgruber if he wants to guarantee that I won't ask to go to a restaurant for dinner, all he has to do is put pasta with garlic and eggs on the menu - so simple, yet, so delicious!

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)!