Weekends are a Good Thing, Yes?

I love big weekends that include lots of friends and travel and special plans. But, I also love low-key weekends that are free from a bunch of obligations. That's the kind of weekend we just wrapped up. 'Twas very nice! I got up early Saturday and got my bake on.

This time: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (thanks to a Facebook friend's suggestion)
Here's the recipe I used. Deliciousness, indeed. I heard from a different Facebook friend that I have inspired her to get back in the kitchen! That made me very happy. Being in the kitchen is a good thing. I find much peace in the kitchen.

I spent a lot of time in my kitchen Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and today, actually. I made three casseroles in three days! Green bean casserole, a sausage breakfast casserole (photo of uncooked breakfast casserole below) and a pineapple casserole.
Fixing that pineapple casserole was fun! I cut that pineapple that you probably thought was becoming a permanent fixture in the background of all my kitchen photos! It was my first time cutting up a pineapple. I have to say, it was much easier than I have always imagined.

Saturday, it was a beautiful day outside and Michael and I had planned to do something in the city, maybe something educational. But... the other day, he thought it would be a good idea to pick through a bush in our courtyard and eat some berries or something. So, he had a major allergic reaction on the skin on his hands. Think bubbly palms. Yeah, nasty! And it was painful to look at. It's one of those things... like, it is nice that he couldn't feel it because I'm sure it was terribly itchy, and painful. But, the fact that he can't feel it makes it difficult to describe what's going on. At any rate, I didn't think it would be a good idea to be pushing all around town with those bubbly paws, so we decided to just take a drive in the car instead. That way, we were still getting out and enjoying the nice day, but we weren't causing any further damage to his poor hands. So, we drove to the GW Parkway, parked at Roosevelt Island, and read a few chapters out of the book we're reading for our small group, as we looked out at the awesome Fall leaves over the Potomac. It was great.

Then, we spent the late afternoon at the Minute Clinic at CVS. That was not so much fun, but I'm thankful M got something to help his hands! Prednisone is the best! It's clearing up nicely, thank God. We went through a drive-thru for dinner, and I did the grocery shopping while he sat in the car, again, so he could stay off those hands.

Sunday was church. I may share more of my thoughts about that later. Maybe, we'll see. :)

After church, I met one of my favorite pals, Jessi, over at the Washington Convention Center for the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show.
We tasted lots of yummy stuff...
Bought some fresh, organic herbs..
Dill and Basil... they smell so fresh! Can't wait to play with them!
And we saw my girl, Paula Deen!! We got tickets via Groupon at a steal. Thankful for that because the show wasn't really what I was expecting. She didn't really cook anything! Scratch that, she didn't cook anything at all! :( Her husband, Michael and this other chef guy were doing stuff with food, but Paula didn't really talk about that at all.
I have to say... it was all very weird. Like she was drunk or something, I don't know. She was all over the place, and made a few inappropriate jokes, ew! I remain a huge Paula fan, because I can testify that her recipes are golden! And, I'm willing to give her another chance in the future, but yeah, it was all so strange.

She also looked taller and thinner in real life than she does on TV. Not that that matters.
It was a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to hanging out with Jessi again soon, and cooking together!