I'm Getting A Dutch/French Oven.

I just need help picking a color. I have a favorite, but I'm afraid it may be dated in a couple years. Somehow, I think all the color options may be dated in a couple years.

A ton of recipes I've read call for cooking on the stovetop then moving the food into the oven. I have no tool that can accommodate these recipes. The straw that broke my back came a week & a half ago while trying to make baked beans from scratch. The recipe said it made four servings, so I tripled it. Now... dry beans expand. A LOT. I ended up using three of my Corningware dishes, and I had to tend to the beans very frequently to make sure they stayed moist in the oven.

According to Cook's Illustrated, the best one to get is Le Creuset - the 7.25 quart one. They're pricy, but from the reviews I've seen, they'll outlast me.

So now, the biggest decision of all... COLOR. Cast your votes on the following:



BLACK









CARIBBEAN







CHERRY RED









CHESTNUT








COBALT







DIJON









DUNE








FLAME








KIWI





Ok. Vote!

Halloween is tomorrow!

I like Halloween. When I was a kid, it was a chance for me to escape the shy-girl shell I existed in. I remember a few costumes of mine, but not a very many. We weren’t a picture-taking family, really. (Boy how my life has changed!)

One of my first Halloween memories was staying at my friend Stacy’s house for trick-or-treat. I’d spent the day with her, and it just sounded like so much fun to go out and get candy with her and her siblings. PLUS, they still had the Rubik’s Cube costume that her sister Julie had worn the year before. It was a perfect fit for me. I LOVED my Rubik’s Cube (I could only ever complete two sides, though, before I got frustrated and took all the stickers off and reapplied them as a “solved” cube...). It was also a perfect fit because it was a box with holes cut for my head and arms. I didn’t even need to change my clothes! The only setback was that the box was so wide that I couldn’t hold my pillowcase open very well upon entering the free candy zones. Ultimately, I made out. Stacy’s neighborhood bought the GOOD candy.

In high school, my friends and I decided to trick-or-treat when we were Freshmen (I was only 13). It was then that I learned I was too old to beg for candy. Lots of grown-ups asked us if we weren’t too old to trick-or-treat. Ultimately, though, I made out. The neighborhood we were in gave out full-sized candy bars! I also learned that if I really wanted candy, Mom could buy it for me.

For the past five or six years, I used to sit out on the driveway and hand out candy with my neighbors, but they go out with their kids now. So I'm probably just going to be pausing the DVR when the doorbell rings this year.

I still like Halloween a lot. I love seeing the imaginative costumes that kids put together. And I do like seeing the babies all dressed and bundled up (even though it irks me that they’re not even the ones who will be eating the candy I bought). It’s also a chance to meet some of the neighbors.

I hope that after 8pm, there’s still some candy left for me!

Jungle Boogie

I had a business thing tonight after work in Fairfield. You might be asking yourself, “What’s in Fairfield besides Jungle Jim’s?” That’s a good question. The answer is... Not a whole helluva lot! You have some car dealerships, dive bars, and...um... I really don’t know what else. Oh wait - there’s a Bass Pro Shop.

There’s a new convention center in Fairfield, and it’s at Jungle Jim’s. Meet Oscar. WAIT! Before you click on that link, note that the first thing on the page says, “Please note... these photos do not represent the current decor of the Oscar Event Center, they’re just an example of what your event could look like!” It seriously says that. But I’ve been there, and it actually is a pretty nice place for a reception.

At said reception, I was served a very powerful glass of house chardonnay. I guess what they meant by “house” was actually “100 proof,” because I didn’t feel at ALL comfortable driving home. So I went shopping in the Jungle to kill some time.

Now, I’ve shopped at Jungle Jim’s before, but it’s been years since I’ve been there. So many, in fact, that I forgot just how much cool stuff they have! I entered the store in the wine section. I toured all the areas I like: California, Argentina, Italy. I ended up with a cart full of Pinot Noir, Malbec and Pinot Grigio.

Right next to the wine section are the restrooms. Apparently, they were voted best in the city. And here they are! Don’t be deceived. They’re not really port-o-potties! It’s a facade! They’re actually quite clean and nice inside. But I didn't think they were that special... This is coming from a woman who visited England’s Loo of the Year 1998. And I have the photo to prove it. I’ll scan it in later. I’m actually thinking about making a photo collage of the loos of the world I’ve visited, and America’s Best Restroom will definitely be included. I have this IKEA five-photo frame that would be great for my downstairs half bath. And what else would you want to look at while on the loo but other loos?! Sometimes my brilliance boggles even my own mind.

Anyway, back to the Jungle. If you’ve never been there, plan a visit. Don’t die without seeing this place. Elvis even makes appearances...every five minutes. I was lucky enough to catch a show. When the store opened (see history here), Jim bought up a bunch of the old Chuck-E-Cheese characters and put them in his store. I think I got to hear Hound Dog.

On to produce. Jungle Jim’s has THE BEST produce section in the entire world! And yes, Amy, there is a Santa Honeycrisp. They’re $2.69 a pound (so much better than Wild Oats’ $3.99/lb.) I got four apples. Not only do they have the traditional apples and oranges, but they have things I can’t even pronounce and am afraid to touch. Maybe someday I’ll be brave. They also have a million varieties of eggplant. I’m glad to see them in person. When I was trying to select eggplant seeds for my garden earlier this year, I had no idea which ones to grow. Again, some day, I’ll be brave enough to make some baba ganoush out of the different ones.

I didn’t really buy so much because I was overwhelmed. I wish I’d had a shopping list! I could be making some killer international dishes this weekend. Ah well. I can go back any time. It’s only 30 miles away.

Finally, there’s a zoo outside the Jungle. I managed to catch a gorilla and a giraffe in action. :)