I can’t believe it’s already Tuesday! This weekend went by so fast. We made a quick trip down to Springfield for a friend’s birthday party. Of course, our trips have to start with a treat, and Cashew Inn Cashew Out is our favorite. Everyone has their favorite Cashew Chicken recipe, but theirs is the best. Plus the crab rangoons are to die for. Worth the cheat.
![IMG_1343[1]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8425/7726048890_5a6868aaf0.jpg)
After dropping the pups off with their grandparents, we made a stop at Bed Bath and Beyond. I have a horrible time using their coupons (I don’t like most of their stuff), but I’d managed to hoard a few coupons I could use together and decided it was time to upgrade my tiny food processor to something more ballsy. I had been working on a new recipe earlier that day that called for dates, and my tiny processor could do little more than glob the pieces into a clump. We left the store with the Cuisinart Prep 11 Plus series which had good reviews and an 11-cup capacity. It’s a monster compared to my little 3-cup, and it can apparently do dough, I’m sold.
We then headed out to the country for a birthday/hog roast of a friend. His parents live on a gorgeous little farm outside of town and raise their own goats and chickens. They’ve recently parlayed the use of the goat milk into a profitable soap business, and his mom was gracious enough to offer us a few bars to try.
I chose Woodsy, Dusk, Flaxen Sky Blue, Oatmeal & Honey and Verbena. They smell so good.
Around dinnertime, the clouds started to roll in and the most amazing thunderstorm erupted. We’ve been without rain so long that everyone ran into the yard, some singing, a few crying. It rained for about 45 minutes. You know you’re in a drought when a severe thunderstorm is a welcome guest at a birthday party.
We dined on shredded pork, baked beans and cole slaw. I also nabbed a piece of homemade zucchini bread. The most impressive thing by far though was this cake, completely World of Warcraft-themed. It was HUGE. I’m kind of sad I didn’t get a sliver, but we left before it was cut.
We returned to Neil’s parents and spent a late night snuggled in bed with the pups, my favorite coffee and the original Little Women with Katharine Hepburn. Love!
We headed home the next morning, still sleepy with two snoring pups in the backseat.
What was the highlight of your weekend?
Aw, that last pic is just too cute! Makes me want a second dog!
They get into it sometimes, but for the most part, they are a constant snuggling photo-op!
I feel you on the wee-food-processor blues. Ours is teensy and I think it came from the drugstore, but it isn’t BROKEN so I can’t justify replacing it just yet. But yours looks awesome; I hope I can upgrade sometime!
Neil bought me our little one with some credit card points. It was perfect when we were cooking less, but now that every day has us making everything from scratch, I needed MORE POWER (channeling my Tim Allen here!)!!
So many good things in this post! I love that you described your new food processor as “ballsy.” I love the rain dance and the rain tears, I LOVE that last photo of the dogs. My two like each other for sure, but they hardly ever snuggle together.
The highlight of my weekend was kayaking Saturday evening. And probably figuring out dude attire for the wedding. Otherwise, you’re right – it went by way too fast!
Isn’t it funny that we end up dressing the boys? I found it so weird that I was picking out suit colors and ties because I was afraid of what would happen if they were left to their own devices. In the end, I kept it simple. Black.