Random Bits of My Weekend...

Nothing much to write about today, except that the sun is shining, and it's "relatively" warm for a change.

The week has been hectic with work and rehearsals. Things are getting more and more "frantic" as we launch into opening week. We had a LONG and tedious tech rehearsal last night, but a bunch of us went to Jakes afterwards for drinks, so it was nice to hang out for awhile. Here are a couple of photos I took with my cell phone:

Theresa and Susie

Rachel and Kris

Me and Katy

Duane left for North Dakota last night, so I've had the day to myself. I have to admit that I REALLY like an occasional "me to myself day". I slept in, went to the grocery store, and have spent the rest of the day on the computer or watching television.

I decided to start entering recipes for FLAIR II on http://www.keyingredient.com/. FLAIR I took so much work that I didn't think I'd EVER get it all entered, but, the final result was REALLY cool, so maybe if I enter stuff as I find it (as opposed to doing it all at once, over MONTHS and MONTHS and MONTHS and MONTHS), it won't be so much work. Here's the first recipe I entered...YUM!!!

Greek Lasagna

from Better Homes and Gardens 9 x 13: The Pan that Can!!! Yum!

Yield: 12.00 servings

Ingredients

9 dried lasagna noodles
1 lb. ground beef
2 tsp. dried, minced onion
2 cloved garlic, minced
1- 8 oz. can tomato sauce
¼ cup dry red wine
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg, beaten
3 T. butter or margarine
3 T. all-purpose flour
¼ tsp. black pepper
1 ¾ cups milk
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup sliced, pitted kalamata olives
8 oz. shredded white cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions, drain well. Rinse with cold water. Place lasagna noodles in a single layer on a sheet of foil; set aside.

Meanwhile, for meat sauce, in a large skillet, cook ground meat, onion, and garlic until meat is cooked through, using a wooden spoon to break up the meat as it cooks; drain off fat.

Stir tomato sauce, wine, oregano, and cinnamon into meat mixture. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Gradually stir hot meat mixture into the one beaten egg; set aside.

For cheese sauce, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour and peper. Add milk all at once.

Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly; cook and stir for 1 minute more. Stir in ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese; set aside.

In a small bowl, stir together the two eggs and the remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese; set aside.
Spread about 2 tablespoons of the cheese sauce evenly in an ungreased 9×13-inch baking dish. Place three of the cooked lasagna noodles on the sauce in dish.

Spread with ⅓ of the meat sauce, ⅓ of the remaining cheese sauce, and ⅓ of the olives. Drizzle with ⅓ of the egg/Parmesan mixture. Sprinkle with ⅓ of the feta cheese and ⅓ of the cheddar cheese.

Repeat layers two more times, starting with noodles and ending with cheddar.

Bake, uncovered, for 35 to 40 minutes. Let lasagna stand for 10 minutes before serving.

372 calories, 22 g. fat, 1 g. fiber

I ordered a movie called "Almost Normal" from Amazon.com. It arrived yesterday, so I decided to watch it this afternoon. It was released in 2005, and had an interesting storyline. Gay guy hits 40...no "significant other", not happy, gets drunk, crashes his car, and wakes up as himself as a high school kid. Twist is, he's in a past that didn't exist. EVERYONE is gay, and the "straight people" are the "freaks". He hooks up with the high school jock he'd always fantasized about, but then realized that he was STRAIGHT! A little unbelievable, and several things just didn't "work", but it was enjoyable, and I LIKED the ending (even though I figured it out LONG before it actually ended).

This evening, I think I'm going to watch ANOTHER movie, and maybe actually READ something! I have a couple of things that I SHOULD do, but the thought of just lying around is REALLY TEMPTING!!!!

Tomorrow is Easter, and I'm going over to Robin and Dave's for dinner. We decided NOT to make the trek down to Des Moines...too far to drive for a two hour dinner. I guess we'll have to catch everyone at Thanksgiving. It's going to be ODD to not see the extended family this summer (now that the lake house is gone). We're going to have to make a better effort to attend the holiday dinners!

I guess that's it! The play opens Friday, and we have a HECK of a lot of stuff to accomplish during rehearsals this week. This, paired with the fact that the school board is meeting Monday night to decide how staffing will look next year, is going to make for a VERY, VERY long week!!!!

Enjoy the rest of YOUR weekend, and I hope YOUR week flies by quickly!!!