MPM--Back to School Edition!

So, we made it to the end of the school break, which must mean we're in the thick of the second term. My son can't wait to go back to school, and the letters and notes from the kids who will be teaching him just get him more and more excited to go.

And I'm in the last of a few weeks of a work marathon, and the dog has her surgical followup, and my husband's staycation ends...and we're getting back to normal around here, I think.

I'm still obsessing over the Splendid Table book. And now I've discovered a blog by a friend-of-a-friend (well, really, the wife of a friend of my husband's) with equal excitement over the first Splendid Table book, which is more Italian based, and, well, it's now on the list too but a bit lower down. Too much else going on here first. But from my book, the curried cauliflower soup was delish, and a bit of a surprise with three tablespoons of curry in it, only a teeny bit too spicy for me. But the yogurt set it off perfectly, and even though they insisted on whole milk yogurt, Trader Joe's Greek style fat free was just fine in this case. Yum. And it was an excellent opportunity to use the new immersion blender, which I loved! So fun. There are a few more recipes to go that I want to try (the beans, the spaghetti sauce with cinnamon, the chocolate lava cakes, the macaroons...ok, maybe more than a few) but I'm calming down now.

So, last week I intended to go out a lot. Instead I cooked a lot. That was ok too. So this week:

Monday: leftovers. Chicken & leeks (I shared with the family this time), rice, broccoli, salad, spaghetti and meatballs, all buffet style

Tuesday: I can't resist a whole-cranberry recipe so I'll be trying the cranberry pork recipe from the Year of Crockpotting blog. Will serve with baked potatoes, and the Smitten Kitchen caramelized shallots.

Wednesday: Turkey tacos. Yep, again, it's been at least ten days now.

Thursday: Leftovers.

Friday: Out to dinner. To beat the holiday rush, of course. Heart shaped pizzas all around!

Wish me luck. This is the last week of crazy, then back to semi-normal. If you want more inspiration for your dinners, try the best menus on the web at I'm an Organizing Junkie's!