Fishing Trip= PRICELESS!

So my husband is going fishing soon.  Inevitably, he will tell me about this months in advance, when he needs money for the deposit, and then of course he needs spending money too.  Since I pay the bills and manage the money, I usually budget for these expenditures ahead of time, based on what he tells me he will need. 


He is going with a group of 7 guys, some family, mostly friends from work.  I don't care who you are, there is nothing attractive about spending 4 days in the wilderness with a half dozen stinky guys.  Yet, he looks forward to this every year, twice a year.  This year he tells me he needs $100 deposit for the cabin, which has 3 beds.  I do a double-take when he tells me this and I mentally do the math, but hey, I'm not going so I just snicker under my breath and give him the check; scratch that I write out the check, address the envelope and mail it to the place, lest it sit on the kitchen counter top for-EVAH!

As I am doing our budgeting for the month, I ask him how much he'll need for the trip and he tells me $300 should be plenty.  So, I set aside the money in our savings account and I am feeling all prepared and stuff.  Last week, he tells me he will need a new reel.  Being that I don't have a clue what that is, I think it's the spindle-y thing on the rod, I inquire how much he will need so that I make sure to have that amount in our account for him.  He tells me $30 should cover it and then spends $70.  Needless to say, I had to walk to work that week because that was my gas money.

After having the most toned legs from all that walking, I finally stopped being mad for him overspending because he reasonably explained he forgot that he needed more line too- apparently this is sold separately from the reel.  This week he tells me he will need to go to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the trip.  I want to ask him what the $300 is for that I have stashed in our savings account, but instead I ask, again, how much he will need.  He says $30 should cover a small bottle of vodka, a 12 pack of beer and some club soda. 

So in conclusion, let's review the *actual* cost of this bi-annual fishing trip. 
$100 for deposit of facility
$300 for spending money
$70 for various necessary tackle
$30 for booze
Total cost:$500

I'm think about correcting Larry and his boasting when he says his trip is so cheap and only costs a few hundred dollars, but then I think of the 4 straight days of sleeping peacefully without getting elbowed and no snoring and I think, maybe $500 is worth it after all.

You say Tom-A-to, I say Toe-mat-O

So, my good friend and neighbor, Laurie brought me a 10 pound box of bruised tomatoes this weekend.  Initially I was really excited, except then I realized they didn't come all peeled, cored and seeded like hers did-ahem... after she peeled, cored and seeded them.

Immediately my mind started racing with the possibilities, but I reigned in all the randomness and decided on 4 recipes.  Tomato soup, tomato sauce, garden vegetable soup, and Tinga-a Hispanic shredded chicken made with chipotle peppers.  I was able to accomplish the first 3 items this weekend.  Tinga is on the docket for this week.  On top of the load of tomatoes I processed, I also made 2 peanut butter cheesecakes, with brownie crusts.  phew, that's a lot of kitchen time.  Thankfully the weather went all Antarctica on us and cooled down.

All this baking and cooking got me excited for Fall; the change in weather, more indoor cooking, warm sweaters, drinking by the fire pit, and of course; more cooking and baking!  I have started a list, based on my husband's requests, of things I want to make as the weather forces me indoors.  It seemed that as college football got started this weekend, so did my cooking extravaganza-to my husband's dismay, the first thing I made was not an apple pie with a flaky crust.  I mean I just perfected the *French* version of the apple pie, now I need to make a flaky crust?  hmmmm, I think I will need more kitchen hardware a la Amazon.com.

Did I tell you about the Fry Daddy and Truffle Oil I just purchased?  no?  I guess that's a story for another time.