02/06/10: Super weekends

My husband and I are throwing a party for the Super Bowl.  It should be fun.  I am rooting for the Saints and my husband for the Colts.  Nothing like a little bit of competition...

We should have about 25 people here and for me, part of the fun is in making the food.  I will post pictures of what I end up with, but for now, here's the menu:

White chili (a neighbor is bringing that)
Chicken wings (a neighbor is bringing that)
Queso (a neighbor is bringing that)
A 'football cake' (a neighbor is bringing that)

I'm making

a homemade roasted nut/dried cranberry mix
muffalatta
phyllo cup quiches with a chili chicken cilantro mix
pinwheels
deviled potatoes
parmesan crisps
a veggie tray
a fruit tray
a parfait station


It's all a good assortment and there will be about enough of everything for each person to have 1-2 pieces of each.  Not low calorie stuff - and in fact, it's all high carb stuff.  They say the Super Bowl is the Christmas of junk food.  Luckily, it lasts a day and that's that.  Like I said above, for me, the fun is in making everything.

My husband and I are taking Monday off so we can recuperate from all of this.  It's been a great weekend so far!  We've managed to sneak in some shopping.  I finally got myself some protein powder and chewable vitamins.  We also went to the world's greatest liquor store for some various things we needed for the party and I decided to peruse their fantastic wine selection.  This store is local to Houston although there are now many locations and they are spreading to Dallas and Austin.  Their largest store is an entire city block in the midtown area of Houston.  The one we have closest to us is in an old grocery store.  It's not little.  I recently read about a red wine I wanted to try - Carmenere and decided the next time we were in there I'd take a look.  It's a grape that grows quite nicely in Chile although it originates from France.  However, it was hit or miss in France and so has never gained any notoriety.  So I looked in the Chilean wine section at this store and they had three options.  I snagged all three and we'll see what we see.

In addition to that, my husband and I got ourselves pedicures.  I am so not the type to do bling things with my toe nails...but in the spirit of Valentine's Day, the mood won out and this is what I got.

I love that my sweet hubby loves to get pedicures, too.  It's definitely a treat for us but it doesn't hurt that the place we go to also does hand/arm/shoulder/neck massages as part of their pedicures.  55 minutes of pure bliss and pampering!  And it's about 2 miles from home!



We also tackled all of the grocery shopping today and spent a majority of this evening pre-making all that we could.  The potatoes are deviled, the chicken is cooked, the mixed nuts are dressed and roasted, the veggies are chopped and so is the fruit, the muffalatta is made and the oils and liquids are busy soaking into the bread, the parmesan is shredded - and the kitchen is clean!

I love weekends like this!  This is my cup of tea, to spend my time in the kitchen making fun and different things.  But my feet sure are mad at me for all of this.  The pedicure already needs to be redone!

Awww..my sweet hubby wanted to know what I was saying today so I just read this to him.  And he said "you know what?  Your husband likes to be in the kitchen helping you.  It's a great day when I can do what I can to help you".  I love him!  He is so sweet - and we work so well together.  And I like, too, that he doesn't just leave this all for me, he is right beside me - and sometimes is making me relax and get off the gosh-danged feet.  Sigh...someday I'll actually be losing weight and this will be a thing of the past.

Speaking of losing weight...so I had a weigh-in on Thurs, as you know.  And Friday I had a treat day and ate what I wanted.  It was a definite high calorie day.  And today I was down four pounds.  Seeing a number not seen since I started the uphill climb last year.  Who knows if it will stick - and I'm surely testing this this weekend.  Today was also not the greatest of eating and tomorrow certainly won't be, either.  But Monday it's back to awareness...which is a funny thing to say.  I'm aware right now.  I'm very cognizant of the fact that I'm not eating great things right now - but I am, for the first time in a long time, asking myself if it's worth it.  I know I'll have days/weekends like this in the future where I don't choose the best foods - and I'll be eating less of the stuff because the band will be in place.  But in the past, this might not have stopped at a weekend and I know this will stop after this weekend because it just doesn't feel good anymore to say "whatever".  I have a different definition of whatever now.  I hope that makes sense...it does to me.  This is sure an interesting journey!

Alright...good night.  I hope all y'all on the east coast are staying warm and I hope everyone enjoys the Super Bowl tomorrow!