Back to the Semi-weekly Grind...

I kept having these bad dreams Sunday night. They would wake me up, I'd go to the bathroom, but then they would start up where they left off. Weird...

I finally gave up and got up at 5:15 AM. I filled in the Blog and then watched the news. They said it was "light" snow right then and maybe (just maybe) an inch total today. This is all brought to us courtesy of an Alberta Clipper (thanks, Babe!)

Oh, BTW, I solved the mystery by watching the Weather Channel (I typically watch both the local and the national weather). The jet steam doesn't dip until EAST of Alberta, which is why CC's weather is about the same as Melissa's.

Anyway, I got done with my morning rituals and headed to work. Now, maybe like you, I am experiencing some confusion these days between all the new terms: "snow showers," "snow flurries" and "light snow," but my wipers were having a tough time keeping it off! It was very, VERY slippery and it took me twice as long to get to work!

Okay, so that only means five minutes unlike 2 1/2. But, it was bad, man!

At 11:00 AM, I went to Meijer's for my two-week grocery shopping and spent $60.38. That freakin' Alberta Clipper wind is just nasty! It was actually hard to breathe!

On the way back from home to work at lunchtime, I stopped and filled up my gas tank. WTF? When did gas go up like 50 cents per gallon? I must have missed that! But, I only fill the gas tank up once or twice a month, these days... With no visits to Mom or doctor appointments, I just don't use that much.

The snow lessened throughout the day, but it was still snowing when I headed home. I had to scrape the windows before pulling out.

Back home, I changed clothes and tided up. I went through the mail and checked out the grocery fliers.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Paralyzed Veterans had called me on Saturday. Now, yes, I am ticked with them because, after sending a donation, I started getting all kinds of mail, email and phone calls for various other charities. I am sure they sold my email and phone number to other charities. Okay, okay, I get it, it's another way to help, but it really pissed me off.

Anyway, she said they would be coming through Redford on Monday and did I have any "gently used" clothing to donate. I said, no, but I have two brand new pairs of pants I bought that were too big that I would be happy to donate. She told me to put them in a baggie on the front porch with a tag and they would pick them up.

She called again on Sunday to remind me (which kinda annoyed me as I'd already had them set to go). But I said sure, they'll be out there.

So, I put them out on the porch at 7:00 AM on Monday. They were still here when I came home from lunch and still there when I came home after work. I just checked at 7:30 PM and they are still there... So much for charity...

So, I had taken the Jumbo shells out and brought them up to room temperature. I carefully separated them out, discarding the ripped ones (trust me when I tell you this: the recipes call for 25 shells. But, make the whole damn box as a bunch of them are already broken or they fall apart in cooking).

Then I made the filling by combining two eggs slightly beaten, the 15 ounces of ricotta cheese (bought today), one cup of shredded mozzarella, 3/4 cup of shredded Parmesan, one cup of coarse chopped walnuts, one tablespoon of fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley, 1/2 tablespoon of Kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper and 1/8 teaspoon of ground nutmeg.

Away, the next problem was the call for a three-quart baking dish. I ain't got one that big. So, I used a rectangular cake pan. I sprayed it with non-stick cooking spray (to facilitate cleanup) and then put down a layer of store-bought pasta sauce. I used Prego Chunky Garden (tomato, onion and garlic) because all my homemade stuff has ground beef and/or sausage in it. Now, you could make your own, but why bother? The sauce is not the star of this show.

I managed to fill twenty-four of them with a heaping tablespoon of filling and fit them into the pan (single layer). I dumped the rest of the jarred pasta sauce over top of them and then sprinkled on another half cup of mozzarella and a quarter cup of the Parmesan. I covered the pan with tinfoil and put it in the oven for 45 minutes (at 8:30 PM).

Now, I must confess, I'd bought a baguette at Meijer's, intending on making garlic bread. But, it's late, I'm tired and I don't give a shit about it, anymore... So, I just cut off about 1/3 of the baguette, cut it in half length-wise, drizzled it with olive oil and stuck it in the toaster oven on broil.

When it was starting to toast, I pulled it out and rubbed the toasted side with a big fat clove of garlic. I let those sit while I pulled out the stuffed shells, and let everybody rest for a bit.

Then I plated them. Was it worth the wait? Definitely! I've had stuff shells before (rarely) and, when the filling included spinach or something, found the taste heavenly, but the texture sucked (just a cheesy, gooey mess). But, in this dish, the walnuts provided a much needed "crunch." This recipe goes into the binder!!

I watched some taped TV shows (Monday night on cable is usually a wasteland) but gave it up at 9:30 PM and went to bed.