All posts tagged: Literature

Rainy Days and Mondays–A Recipe for Brownies

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You must believe me–I had no intention of baking brownies when I awoke this morning. After a rainy workweek, I spent this past beautiful, balmy weekend tidying the house, hiking with my dog, watching a Harry Potter movie with my family, and making wholesome meals. But sometime during the night the rain returned and when I opened the door for the morning dog walk, I was greeted by a wet, dreary Monday. Even then, the thought of brownies hadn’t entered my mind. This evening, when I picked up my son from his fall break day camp, he asked to go to Toys R Us. No, I said. He then asked to go to the nearby artisanal coffeehouse for vegan chocolate cake. Again, no. It was still drizzling and darkening, with the days growing shorter by the minute, and I just wanted to get home, get the dog walked, and get into my pajamas. I suppose I could have fallen back on that old parental chesnut and told him that we weren’t going to the coffeehouse …

Casserole Interrupted: When You Have a Plan for Dinner but You Just Can’t

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Lately I’ve been experimenting with a 30-day free trial of the meal planning program, Plan to Eat. After looking at various meal planner apps, I chose PTE based on positive reviews and the fact that the folks at Veggie Meal Maker recommend it. PTE allows you to import recipes and drag and drop them into a calendar. It also generates a shopping list based on that week’s menus. I noticed that sometimes importing recipes directly from websites can cause the program to hiccup–I suppose it’s something to do with all that invisible HTML code associated with the webpage–but the problem is fairly easily remedied with a”bulk input” option that allows you to cut and paste ingredients and directions into designated text boxes. All in all, it’s a great program and I plan to continue using it after the free trial is up. Sometimes, as we all know, the best laid plans don’t pan out. Take last night, for instance. My son and I got home from school/work around 6:15. I was tired–even more tired than …