Enjablog

So, SPJ was in town this weekend. He stopped in tonight to have dinner with Ian and me. It was very exciting. We cooked and ate at home. Yeah, I know. That shouldn’t be such an unusual thing. But growing up, both Ian and I had families that ate out only when it was a special occasion. So, now, we eat out all the time so every night is special. Or something like that. Anyway, we usually meet people out at a restaurant when we get together. But since it was a weeknight and we all lead busy lives, we decided to stay in and forgo the restaurant wait and the noisy atmosphere.

It was an incredibly simple meal. I made the noodles last night and picked up a bag of salad on sale yesterday. Ian was working at home today, so he browned some ground beef and finished just as I was getting home. Mixed the meat and noodles with some sauce and cheese and put it in the oven to bake. Ziti: The lazy man’s lasagna. Sean showed up just as the ziti was finishing. We caught up some and then sat down with the salad while everything else finished baking.

And to top everything off, we finished off the mud pie I made last weekend for all the birthdays. Mm!

We sat around for about 3 hours catching up on gossip and eating. A lot of interesting news, including an engagement, a pregnancy, and some biting attacks. :)

Mud Pie

INGREDIENTS:
Brownie mix
Caramel ice cream topping
Ice cream, 2 flavors
Oreos, crushed

DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare brownie mix as instructed and bake in a 9″ round pan. (I used a springform pan, so the whole pie could be constructed in there.) Cool completely.
2. With a 1/2 teaspoon measuring spoon or a melon baller, scoop some spoonfuls of brownie out. Set aside for later.
3. Drizzle brownie with caramel. Freeze for 30 minutes.
4. Spread a layer of ice cream on the brownie. (I used coffee flavor.) Place saved brownie chunks on top of ice cream. Press firmly in place. Freeze until set.
5. Spread second layer of ice cream (I used peanut butter chocolate).
6. Spread crushed cookies on top of ice cream and press in to set. Drizzle with caramel.
7. Freeze until ready to serve.

NOTE: I’m not sure if taking scoops out of the brownie really does anything, but it makes for a pretty cool profile when you cut into the pie. I kind of picture it as interlocking layers, so the ice cream doesn’t slide around.

Put toothpicks in the top layer, if covering with plastic wrap so it doesn’t stick to the caramel.

From: VP of Company

All,

I just wanted to remind everyone how important this survey is to upper management. Please take the time this week to go through the questionnaire so that your concerns are heard and the necessary changes can be made.

Thanks

[VIP]

In response, I sent this email:

[VIP],

FYI, the blanks at the end of the survey do not have very much space to write detailed comments. In the future, please consider having larger boxes and/or a higher character limit for responses.

Thanks,
[Enjanerd]

And, finally, his response:

[Enjanerd],

Thanks for the input. That came up last year also.

[VIP]