Locked in my own car!!!

This can only happen to ME, and it really happened I swear. I even took a picture of myself inside.

I'm off to Boston on Tuesday morning for a meeting Wednesday and Thursday. It snowed, so pretty, and was so cold and I was trapped in an office and couldn't enjoy it, but all was well. We had a nice group dinner and then hung out in the lobby afterwards with a board game and wine. Which I have a haiku for. Thursday, Priscilla and I leave. She drops me at that airport and returns her rental car, then she and Jason are off to NYC for a nice long weekend. I have a nice long wait. Get there at 4:30 or so and my flight is out at 8:30 pm. I go down to my gate then decide that I am hungry and have passed all the hot food in the center of the airport and am stuck eating a horrible cold icky tuna sandwich bag of chips and bottle of water that set me bag 13 bucks. Love airports. The plane left EARLY. isnt that unheard off? And the plane is half empty so I get to spread out. Unheard of again! Took a picture of that too.

We arrive back in about 10:15 or so to Newport News. I get my bag, which has miraculously appeared on the baggage carasel (sp?)and is waiting for me when I get downstairs. (another, unheard off, espeically at that airport) This is the best travel experience EVER, save for the tuna sandwich. I should have known right away that something bad was going to happen. I get my bag and go to the garage and it is cold outside. 30 degrees. I am parked on the top of the garage and as soon as I get out of the elevater I click the auto start. I was the first car in the lane. nothing. I do it again. nothing and I hear a clicking noise as I get closer. I load the suitcase in the back and then get in the car and put the key in the ignition. and clickclickclickclickclick. dead, nice. except that it keeps making this electronic cycle, from the door to the panel to the ignition switch and then back again. clicking all the way. even when my key was out of the ignition it just kept doing it and guess what. I was LOCKED in the car. I tried everything to get out, but no luck. Thank goodness for cell phones. I called Jesse and he had to stop by walmart and get some jumper cables and then drive all the way to Newport News to get me. It was really, really cold in the car though. I found some socks in my glove box, and I had gloves and a scarf and I also had one of those ear wrap things, and a blanket I threw in the car last week when I thought it was going to snow. Kinda funny. I am just glad that my last trip had been to Boston and I had cold weather gear instead of to Florida. I don't think a bathing suit wrapped around my head would have provided much warmth.

The Rolling Brie Incident and a Recipe

I was shopping at Sam's club on Friday without Gary. We usually go to the club stores together and every body knows how cheap Gary can be, and he always says, Oh you don't need that. Well he is in Atlantic City so I was forced to pick up the meds on my own. MWAHHH HA HA... I am shopping around the cheese and they have some items marked down after Christmas. I found this giant wheel of Brie that is about 8 inches across and the price is $3.81. Well who am I to turn down such a deal and I don't have G saying,. Oh you don't need that, so in the cart it goes. I spent $259.00, not including the meds. I did buy some stuff for work and I am quit sure that is what ran my total up. I ended up with 2 boxes full and one of them had 2 bottles of wine in it, I am thinking, how am I going to get these out of the cart. Well I hauled the first one out and got it in the car, no problem. The second one, I got half in the car and then stuff started falling everywhere, Lunch Meat, cheese spread and the Giant wheel of Brie dropped and I saw it go in slow motion........the cask, opened right up, the lid fell at my feet and the brie itself and the bottom rolled, in tandem, under the Ford Explorer parked beside me. Great. My first thought was I should get my camera out because no one would believe this, then I thought, well I should just leave it there. But nooooo. I got down on my hands and knees in my work clothes, in the cold and tried to retrieve them. I got the very edge of the brie paper with my fingernails and ripped the paper off in a little spot then I finally got the bottom and then used that to scrape the Brie towards me. Then I hauled myself up by the back of the Explorer and went over to my car, laughing all the way. No sooner did I get back to my car then here comes a man with a cart and he went right to the back of the Explorer. And what did I do? I said, OMG my wheel of Brie rolled under your car and I had to go under there and get it. And he says, very dryly. Yeah, I saw the end of it, I thought thats what I saw. I said, Oh I am sure the part you saw was LOVELY. I almost left it there. He said, I know you were calculating the cost of that. I said Yes thats exactly what I was doing. Thinking in my mind that I lost my dignity for a mere $3.81!! Then he took my cart to the return for me. You want to know what this guy was wearing? A black CHEF's coat. With embroidery on the sleeve and a thermometer in the sleeve pocket!! What are odds that a chef emerges from Sam's club, to see a crazed woman under his car chasing a wheel of Brie? I certainly hope he was inspired. So with all that being said, here is my favorite recipe for Baked Brie. Bon Apetit

Baked Brie with Brown Sugar, Bourbon and Pecans
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon bourbon

1/2 package (17.3 ounces) frozen puff-pastry sheets, thawed

1 round Brie (not the giant size I chased under the car, but probably an 8 oz wheel)

Directions:
Stir together first three ingredients.
Place puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface, roll out fold lines. Spread brown sugar and pecan mixture in a 5 inch circle in the middle. Place Brie round on top of sugar mixture. Fold in corners and rub seams tightly to prevent leaking. Turn upside down so the folder portion is on the bottom. Make sure Brie and sugar mixture is sealed to prevent leakage. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and cheese is melted.
Let cool 10 minutes. Serve with crackers, french bread, sliced apples or pears.

**Robbin's notes. I seldom follow directions. I put the Brie in the center of the puff pastry, Pack on some brown sugar, sprinkle on some bourbon and sprinkle on the nuts. bring the puff pastry up the sides and make a little bundle shape on top. Just make sure its sealed. Comes out great and everybody loves it.

A Bug among us

Been awhile Since I blogged, so I have much to talk about and yet......no time. The holidays were a big blur as usual, but I might come back to that. At the moment I have something MORE pressing on my mind. Ronnie, Natauni, Miah and there little bulldog puppy Dora (who is cute but not nice and has no manners) moved in, temporarily until her parents arrive next week and then they are moving in with them. Ok stuff is everywhere, the house is not big enough for all of us, christmas crap still out everywhere, Gary couldn't take off work during the holidays like he normally does and he takes down Christmas so we are piled in here, in a mess of leftover presents and wrappings, If i took a picture of my den right now, everyone I know including me would be appalled. With that being said, we now have a virus here in Blowville. Miah got it from her Nana. She came down with it Friday and Natauni had to pick her up from the babysitters because she was throwing up. then she threw up spaghetti'os in the car, then last night Ronnie and Natauni came down with it. They were in the bathroom every 15 minutes, yacking away. Once they were both in there at the same time. they barely moved today so I managed Miah who woke me up early to tell me it wasn't dark outside anymore. Miah speak for GET UP B.B. Now Gary has it. He says he hasn't been this sick since he had food poisoning years and years ago. I am holding my breath. I prayed as soon as I heard Miah had it that I wouldn't get sick. And then I have been washing my hands like a fanatic and spraying the house down with stuff. I hope it works. Jesse is now not feeling well. I told him not to come home at all, but he did. So I am the last hold out. Thank goodness dogs can't catch people stuff or we would be in a world of trouble over here. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh