Cook All Weekend

We found ourselves with a free weekend with no plans, due to an early-season snowstorm.  It's not even Halloween yet, and there was a decent-sized Nor'easter knocking on our door.

Snowy weekends always make me feel like cooking.  This one was no exception!

First up:  applesauce.  Done right this time, I remembered to COVER THE PAN of apples while it was cooking.  Made all the difference in the world. 

Brian made Chicken Divan for dinner, which is one of my favorites.  It's a tricky recipe though,if you prepare it the way that it's written (on the can of cream of chicken soup, that I saved the label many moons ago) the chicken turns out raw in the middle.  We've tweaked it over the years, but it still sometimes comes out wrong.   A little microwaving saved dinner!  And the meal is cooked perfectly for leftovers at work tomorrow...it certainly won't be overcooked from microwaving.  

Then last night we lost power.  It was heavy snow falling, and a lot of Central MA was without power.  We're one of the lucky ones, losing it for only three hours.  So this morning, Brian made waffles.  (And those were so special, they need their own blog post, with a little co-authoring.)  After breakfast, I baked some banana walnut muffins.  Don't get too excited...they're a box mix.  I did stir in half a bag of chocolate chips to dress them up a little, though.  

At the grocery yesterday, I bought the last two sugar pumpkins that were in Stop and Shop.  And today, we've roasted them in the oven, to process the pulp for Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie later on.  (And muffins, or bread, or whatever we feel like making.  Gosh, I love pumpkin!)  

On the stove right now:  baked potato soup.  I had this soup at our local coffee shop a few months ago and honestly I've wanted to have some more since!  Hubby is not usually a fan of soups, unless, according to him, they clog his arteries upon digestion.  :)  This ought to do the trick.  

My back is aching, and I should call it quits soon.  But I'm still dreaming about baking some cookies for the kids, and I just found the recipe for the Squash and Apple Turnovers that we made last year from the October 2010 Cooking Light.  AND I just found a recipe for beef and butternut chili.  Yes, I'm the only one who will eat it.  But who cares??  A girl needs lunch at work.