Good times, rots of raughs.

I have been in Toronto for work the past 4 weeks. I got to come home on the weekends, but 48 hours is never enough. Thanks to some shenanigans by the plant, I don't have to go back for a few weeks. YAY!

In other news, 2 of my bestest friends from CT came up to visit. I've hardly been in VT in the time I've been technically living here so there has been very little friend making :-(. Sad. Anyway, Mel and Case came up for a fun filled 24 hours of beer tasting, laughing, shopping, laughing, eating, laughing, drinking, laughing, more eating, laughing, more shopping, laughing, and wine tasting.

So now I will share one the recipes for the food I made this weekend. I am very lucky in having a great local market to get local products.

Sweet potato hash

- Peel and cut up a few sweet potatoes into about 1" cubes. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast in oven for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

- Cut thick sliced bacon into little bits. Render the little bits down in a large sautee pan.

- While bacon is rendering, chop up an onion, After bacon is done, throw in the onion with the bacon bits and bacon grease.

- While onions are cooking, chop up a few apples into 1/2" chunks. Add to pan after onion has softened.

- Cook apples for a few minutes to heat through and add roasted sweet potatoes. Stir all together and heat for a few minutes and then eat!

* I used 3 sweet potatoes and 3 apples and that made enough for 3 people plus left overs. This recipe is from Anne Burrel.

In flight entertainment.

I am in Toronto again this week for work. Since there are no direct flights to anywhere I need to go from Burlington, I usually have to fly from Burlington to DC or Chicago or somewhere like that.

This morning I was sleeping peacefully in my seat near the back of the plane. It was just an Embraer 145, so it was tiny with a single row of seats on one side and 2 seats on the other. I fortuately got in a single seat and life was good. Life was good until I woke up to begin our initial descent and somebody called the flight attendant to the lavatory. Wow, people actually push those buttons in the bathroom. Turns out the woman in the lavatory couldn't get the door back open. The flight attendant phones up to the pilot and they call maintenance to get some hints on how to un-stick the door. The flight attendant was trying to manhandle the door as best she could but the door wouldn't budge. Finally after much struggle and calling the pilot to see if they could land with someone in the lavatory, the door gave up its fight and opened the lavatory prisoner.

I was amused. Nothing interesting seems to happen to me when I travel, but I'd prefer to keep it that way!

On the road again.

First, please pause for a moment of cuteness. This is Daisy, strategically posed on a log in the woods behind my house. She thinks she hears or sees something, but really it was probably a leaf falling or something. She's been trooper throughout this whole moving adventure and is probably the most stable thing in my life right now. Which may be sad to say, but I'm a dog person and am always going to have a dog. She's great.

Ok now down to business. I'm back on the road for business for the next 3 weeks in Toronto. I'm helping the plant here install a coffee packaging machine. On top of traveling, I've been sick since Labor Day weekend. It's been a coughing, sniffling, sneezing, type crud that seems to be going around.

Anyway, it's back to nights of dining alone and hanging out in the hotel. I could get out and explore, but I'm just so tired at the end of the day that exploring is just not an option.