Playing Catchup

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Sorry I've been absent - I had work out of town. In case you wondered, yes the weather was bad! My coworker and I narrowly escaped 2 tornadoes and the electricity went out in our hotel. By narrowly escaped I mean we were eating at a mexican restaurant when all the action happened. It's still relatively warm here, so we were hot all night.
Also I haven't been feeling too well, so I took a break from blogging. My cure has been TV, boyfriend, snuggly cat, and sleep. Here's a few pictures I found from Sunday though:

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We went to my parents' house Sunday to have pizza. We tried a delicious hummus spread with Galilee olivesI have no idea what galilee olives are.
a spicy artichoke spinach dip, veggies, and a medley of crackers.
My mom has a new water carafe which is quite handsome. There's a joke in the family about the word carafe. We all pronounce it "care-uh-fay".
The main meal was my mother's famous pizza, and a simple salad. The first pizza came out beautifully. I love artichoke hearts. I took two pieces, but only ate one out of a small sense of delayed gratification. I knew the next pizza was going to be even better!
The next pizza was an herb pizza with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese. We've made this before, and it's always a success. Before the oven:After:
During lunch I had a Killian's:
Plus one of these: (That's quite a hard pour - I tend to get carried away.)
I also stole a few Halloween candies. My parents hardly got any Trick-or-Treaters this year.

Father Knows Best

Breakfast was an egg in a basket, and coffee. I wanted grapefruit, but I'm saving it for tomorrow. We made our way over to my parents house for Sunday lunch. While preparing the feast we drank wine and ate apples, cheese, and crackers.My dad did the bulk of the cooking today. Here he is putting twice baked potatoes in the oven while we sat around and drank wine.They came out of the oven perfect. They're stuffed with onions, bell pepper, cheese, and bacon.Also on the menu, salad my mother made:
Steaks grilled to perfection on the George Foreman
And we moved on to Chimay for lunch.My plate:

After this, we had coffee and I shared a cookie with my mother. I think I had most of it though.
I drove home very sleepily and collapsed. After I awoke I had a leftover enchilada (expect to see this for lunch tomorrow too). I love that green sauce! I'm drinking a mocktail of cranberry-grape juice and club soda.
"I'll have another cointreau and sody."
Has anyone seen "The Big Picture"? Not a great movie, but a few funny lines.

Cheese - It's What's For Dinner

Upon awaking, we made apple, orange, carrot, pear, grapefruit juice. Quite a treat.
Also for breakfast? Cream of Wheat. I like mine savory with only salt and milk, Mr. Greens likes it with honey.
Today was a big day over at the parents'. It is my dad's birthday week.On the menu: veggie tray, cheese, olives, and crackers.
Clockwise from top left: Wensleydale with cranberries, Chimay Grand Cru, Mimolette 12 month, Dill Chevre Goat Cheese, St. Andre, Double cream Gouda, and Gruyere Reserve Cheese.

Served with one of the best wines ever: Groth Cabernet Sauvignon
We ate outside and enjoyed the sub 80 degree weather.My plate, one of many:
We all had a hard time choosing our favorite cheese. My tentative top three would be:

The Gruyere - I love little salty, hard bits in cheese.
The Mimolette - sharp, sweet, and surprisingly creamy for a hard cheese.
And the Gouda. That was a tough choice, but I love gouda!
They were all wonderful. Thanks to my mother for picking out such winners. She's a smart lady.
After we gorged on cheese we cracked open another bottle of Groth wine. This time a light Sauvignon Blanc.
Then we ate birthday brownies and drank coffee.
My mom and dad have a tradition of doing "birthday week" which is a week of smaller presents leading up to your birthday. I've always wanted a birthday week, but have never successfully implemented it with the mister. Anyway, today I brought my dad presents for his birthday, which I think he liked. First of all is a really girly wine bag. We thought this was funny. Inside was the requisite scotch and cigar. I buy him the same thing every year. (I do mix up the brands.) You can't go wrong with a sure thing, right?Whole Foods chocolate!
He and the boyfriend smoked their cigars and had a little scotch after lunch.

Happy Birthday Dad!