Getting ready!

For the ski trip. It's just around the corner (actually, week after next -- but that's pretty close!)

Getting ready consists of a lot of details, but the one on my mind right now is influenced by my nose. This house smells heavenly! And Carol HASN'T started baking cookies yet.

So, what smells so good? Well, one of the ways we try to save money is by preparing our lunches in advance, freezing them in small containers, and then heating the food each morning and taking it to the mountain in big thermos containers. You see, our lodging place comes with a meal plan; cafeteria-style breakfasts and dinners - all you can eat! The quality is fair to very good, but you can't beat the quantity. Not to mention the ease of preparation (none) and clean-up (none)!

But that leaves the lunches on us, and the food in the restaurants on the ski mountain is VERY expensive. You know, like the old $7.50 hamburger with a $3.50 (small ) coke. If you want fries with that, it's an extra $4.00. It's like your basic $15 happy meal!

Our lunches (tradition dictates this, by the way) consist of fruit, chips, hot chocolate and cold sodas, the main course, and COOKIES! The main course alternates each day between beef stew, and black eyed peas with ham. Both are home made, and excellent!

When Carol makes these main courses, she uses a HUGE crock pot and lets them cook either all day, or all night. So the house fills with the aroma of these most basic of "soul foods."

Since we have to ensure the quality of these main courses and make sure that no one will be poisoned by them, it is imperative that we sample them before they are frozen into their small containers.

Tonight is beef stew night, with a salad and some home-made garlic bread.

If your mouth isn't watering, it ought to be!