New York or Bust (Almost A Bust)...

Well, Memorial Day weekend has come and gone. It was a good weekend though...very busy, but very good.

Yesterday (Memorial Day):
We didn't really get to sleep in. We had to wake up and get over to the duplex to move what little furniture I wanted to keep. This included my bed and a futon. Without Jason and his truck this would not have happened...so, thanks Jason! :) Bryan was a huge help too! Those boys knocked it out in no time while I worked on packing this and that and loading down my car. After everything had been unloaded and something put away, we finally started on the holiday festivities. This included cooking/grilling by both Bryan and me (yes, me). I made one very delicious mock apple pie.

Here is the recipe:
Ritz Mock Apple Pie

The classic pie, featuring Ritz crackers baked in a golden crust,
is perfect for the holidays.

Pastry for two-crust 9-inch pie
36 RITZ Crackers, coarsely broken (about 1 3/4 cups crumbs)
1 3/4 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Grated peel of one lemon
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon


1. Roll out half the pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate. Place
cracker crumbs in prepared crust; set aside.

2. Heat water, sugar and cream of tartar to a boil in saucepan
over high heat; simmer for 15 minutes. Add lemon juice and peel;
cool.

3. Pour syrup over cracker crumbs. Dot with margarine or butter;
sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll out remaining pastry; place over pie.
Trim, seal and flute edges. Slit top crust to allow steam to escape.

4. Bake at 425 F for 30 to 35 minutes or until crust is crisp
and golden. Cool completely.

Makes 10 servings

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION per serving
413 calories, 3 g protein, 63 g carbohydrate, 17 g total fat,
3 g saturated fat, 339 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber.

Preparation Time: 45 mins.
Cook Time: 30 mins.
Cooling Time: 3 hrs.
Total Time: 4 hrs. 15 mins.

Jason came over and ate with us. It was a very good meal indeed. After as much food as we could handle was consumed, we packed up the rest and hauled it to Ben's house. We were supposed to be going over to swim. If wearing a swimsuit and dangling your legs in the pool counts as swimming, then yes, we swam. It was good conversation with lots of laughs as always, but we couldn't stay long. We needed to be in bed early so that we could get up early in order for Bryan to catch he flight to New York this morning. I woke up at 4:30 am to get ready. I drove him there. Traffic was moving along very nicely....and then....

About a mile from the airport, I spotted a truck up ahead in the lane. I saw that it had its break lights on, but I quickly realized that it was stopped completely in the lane. I had to put on my breaks kind of heavy, but by no means was its a slam on the breaks kind of stop. However, the idiot behind me either was too close or failed to pay attention to what was going on ahead of him because I heard the screech of breaks and then Wham! Yep, he rear ended me. I pulled over knowing this was going to kill Bryan's chances of catching his plane. I felt bad, but when we surveyed the damage there really wasn't any. Thank goodness for this idiot of a driver because I'm pretty sure he was an illegal alien. He didn't seem to know any English anyway. I'll hold in that rant for the time being. We didn't waste any time and moved on to the airport. It was hard to say bye to Bryan knowing he will be gone till Sunday. The wreck though made it a little easier becuase I was still a little shaken up and hot from it. And now that all that has passed, I miss him like crazy. I know that's extreme. He hasn't even been gone a full day, but we're not used to being apart. Ok, ok...I know it will probably be good for us and all, and I am glad that Bryan will get to see his family. I know he misses them. So, I hope that he has a great time, but I will be very happy to have him home. To top things off, now that it is light outside, there was some very minor damage done by that idiot who hit me. It really wouldn't be worth the trouble of having it fixed. You have to put your nose right up to it just to see it. So don't! Promblem solved.

Enjoy the rest of the short week at work. I know it might feel like Monday, but it isn't!! :)