Road Trippin' Day 4

Well the snow finally stopped and is almost all melted already! The boys were able to practice at one of the local high schools today and if the weather holds up, they will get to play their first double header of many tomorrow night!  Horay!!

Hubby and I managed to do a bit of shopping again sticking to the shops we don't have back home!  This means Williams Sonoma, Dick's Sporting Goods, Trader Joes, and Target! (Eeeeeee)

I have never been to a Williams Sonoma before.  I frequent their website and have friends who have picked things up for me but this was my first time.  The Williams Sonoma trip involved their Stars line that I didn't already have at home and new Wustoff chef's knife!!!  (EEEEEE)  Dick's Sporting Goods involved baseball gear.  We really don't have too many stores with a wide range of baseball gear back home.  The choices really are limited so we save up for trips to the USA.  The Boy will have to come with us to the Sports Authority to try on cleats though.  Pants and sliding shorts I can manage without him but cleats he will have to try on!

I have never been to a Trader Joes before.  I have friends who rave about this store and one of the parents on the trip wandered into one.  When he was telling us about this Trader Joes store, he wasn't impressed.  I however could have spent so much more time there.  I bought some salt grinders and vitamins but if I was closer to home....it could have been ugly wonderful.

Tomorrow (or later in the week) I will be going to Penzeys Spices!!  I have a list of places to go and this is one of them.  Even if I don't buy anything there, I just want to go!

Enough chit chat, what have we been doing for food? Well let me tell you! We are lucky enough to have a kitchen in our room! I think it may even be bigger than the Little Kitchen, and it has a dishwasher! Yesterday afternoon I made a bolognase sauce for quick lunches.  We just have to boil up some pasta! (Of course I didn't have my new chef's knife yet and suffered with the wimpy knife here, but I managed) We also stopped at the grocery store and loaded up on fruits, veggies, and sandwich fixings.

Even made Hubby's favourite chickpea salad!

Last night,since it had been snowing all day, we organized a pizza and salad dinner in the meeting room at the hotel.  We ordered from a local place called Racanelli's.  They came highly reccommended and it was very good.  Pizza and salad for 50 people is no small order but we had a nice time visiting with the other players and their families last night!

Tonight we all went as a group to the Delmar Loop. This is a neat shopping and restaurant area.  We all stopped for a bite to eat at Blueberry Hill, a St. Louis hotspot for music and food. I actually wasn't too hungry but the chicken fingers I had were delicious!  I didn't hear anyone else complain about their food at all!

It is quite unusual that we have so much time to shop and relax (and blog) but with the snow and rain the fields are just too wet.  The boys have had at least one practice a day since we arrived and we are told that tomorrow's scheduled games are on!  I hope to have baseball pics tomorrow!!

Until next time, stay warm and eat well!

A Tale of Horror from The Kitchen....

Before reading, please take caution, this is a tale of woe, horror, and dissappointment....you have been warned.  There are no pictures to share tonight, just this tale...

See?  Where did the end of the street go?

It was a dark and stormy afternoon......The snow is not just gently cascading down, it is coming down hard and I am walking staight into the wind.  Snow is clinging to my glasses and making it even more difficult to see.  I can't even see the end of the block it is snowing so hard. I just want to get home and warm up! Thoughts going through my head are, of course, what to make for dinner.  What would soothe the soul and warm the body....soup would be perfect!  Thinking of what I have in the pantry and in the freezer, I decide that a potato chowder would hit the spot!   Lets see, I have potatoes, some bacon (of course), homemade stock in the freezer downstairs....yes, yes...plans are coming together nicely.

Once home, I start rustling through the fridge to gather my ingredients in preparation for a hearty bowl of soup.  One ingredient inolves a trip to the basement.  I turn on the lights and carefully make my way down the stairs.  As I reach for the freezer door and open it, a scream escapes my lips.....the sight in front of me is too much to bare. Hubby rushes downstairs to see what is causing my distress.  A scream escapes his lips (along with a couple of expletives).....absolutely nothing in the freezer is still frozen!  Containers of spicy chili, luscious stew, and, of course, all of the stock....liquid and mouldy.  It took a moment for the smell to reach us...ew......needless to say we emptied the fridge, wiped it down, unplugged it, and propped the doors open.  It will need to have the doors removed and be hauled away....sigh....there will be no potato chowder tonight.

I couldn't bring myself to take any pictures, beside who wants to see pictures like that on a food blog....not me!  I just wanted to get it cleaned up.

Tonight we say good bye to an old friend: auxillary fridge.  As with many foodies, mothers, fathers, and people who love food, I keep a second fridge in the basement.  Generally this auxillary fridge holds drinks, extra food for entertaining, provides extra space for chilling sheets of cookies and is just plain useful. The freezer attached to this auxillary fridge is generally empty except to lay items flat to freeze before moving them to the chest freezer (also in the basement). Auxillary fridge has served us well. We are sad to see it go.  You see, auxillary fridge is an old fridge and we knew when we moved it downstairs that it wouldn't last forever.   I should have moved my sweet containers of leftovers and stock to the chest freezer, but I didn't and they are gone.....

Thanks for reading my tale of woe....like I mentioned before, I will miss auxillary fridge and will most likely be on the look out for a newer (gently used) fridge as I do love the convenience of having one.