Messed Up Internal Time Clock

Argh... I must say, this is rather annoying... Maybe it's Vegas... We spent a week there, and I could hardly hold my head up past 11 pm. Now that I'm home, and it's desirable to be asleep at 3:30 am, I just can't do it. It's all very weird for me... usually, I'm practically narcoleptic, & can always snooze on command, and in Vegas, I'm good to go on nothing but a shower & neon lights in my eyes. Now, this is the second night in the last few days that I simply cannot sleep. Oh well.

So yah, Vegas :)

James' birthday was the 22nd, so we went for that and for the beginning of March Madness. James thinks they invented that tournament in honor of his birth.

Mom & Dad actually got to meet us there for a few days! It's been AGES since I've been on vacation with my mom, so it was really nice. I had a mid-day nap partner, and James had a basketball watching partner. I was sad they couldn't stay the whole time.

We stayed at Harrah's, and saw Jersey Boys, Rita Rudner, and a hypnotist show. If you get the chance, SEE JERSEY BOYS. It's really fantastic- definitely one of the best shows I've ever seen anywhere.

We ate at a couple of the best restaurants I've ever eaten at (one was The Range- pretty much everything we ate was the best thing we'd ever tasted) , and ate THREE TIMES at In-&-Out Burger. yummm... On James' birthday, we ate at The Eiffel Tower Restaurant... wow. I've eaten at some fancy restaurants, but this one was definitely right on up there with some of the swankiest. Our waiter was zees leetle French man weeth zees outRAGEous accente... He seated us at what HAD to be the best table in the house/ in town... up in front of the window, overlooking the strip, with the Bellagio & it's fountains RIGHT in front of us. It was incredible. (see below). They served Amuses Bouches (remember Monica serving them, & Chandler said, "well... they are amoosing..."??) of tiny little cheese puffs, then some AMAZING french bread, then scallops for an appetizer, & our main courses. Then, our waiter came out singing, & carrying this tiny little pudding cup on a plate that had "Happy Birthday" written in chocolate on. THEN, we shared a chocolate souffle (drool), and then a plate of some teeeeeny little candied fruits, chocolates, caramels, nougats, & tartlets. Holy Moly. All the while, we got to watch the fountain show every 15 minutes. :) OOH, the funniest part: I asked where the ladies' was, and the waiter led me all the way there, held open the bathroom door for me, and when I got inside, there was an attendant that held open the stall door for me, & then prewarmed the sink faucet for me before I washed my hands. Sheesh... of course, I couldn't stop giggling about it...

ANYWAY...

We actually got out of town one day & drove to see Hoover Dam... pretty cool. But I'd still rather be in the poker room. The first day we were there, I won a tournament for $380!!! Somehow, even 8 days was not long enough for us... Hopefully, we'll be back soon :)

For all the pics, see here.

The view from our table at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant.

My hair pretty much stayed messed up because we got to drive around in this cute little red convertible. :)

You can't tell in the picture, but I'm actually in Arizona & James is in Nevada.

Over the dam.

I know, I'm a nerd...

Good thing James is not as picky as Max

Last night, I made this for supper. It was good... not great. Definitely RaeRay's (or my) best recipe, but better than edible. James & I both feel the same way about sundried tomatoes: We like the flavor & the asthetics they add to a meal, but neither of us would care to voluntarily bite into one. When we finished, both our bowls were left sitting on the coffee table, with them left in it. I did accidentally burn them, but only a bit, and since they were soaked in soy sauce, they didn't look very pleasant... like slugs.

We were watching tv, & before we could get around to bussing our dishes, Max hopped up on the table. He sniffed around our bowls very curiously, circling around it several times, then, to show us what he thought of my cooking, he turned around, and started "covering" it with his paws on the table... evidently he thought it looked and smelled like something that should be in his litterbox.

There's a Grasshopper in the Ham!!!

Tonight, I made us a lovely supper of homemade chicken cordon bleu with fondue sauce & asparagus wrapped in pancetta. Unfortunately, somehow a little friend got into the ham while I was cooking, and when I yelled, "There's A GRASSHOPPER in the HAM!!!", nobody understood what i was talking about. I had to yell it a bunch of times before James came to take care of it for me... Anyway, Aspen got a little treat tonight.

You may call me June Cleaver.

Today, I cleaned & cooked, wearing heels & pearls. JK on the heels & pearls part...

I cleaned up the kitchen & living room, & decided to surprise James with a nice meal :)

I made Engagement Chicken, something I've made several times before, but for the side dish & dessert, I decided to branch out a bit.

LOOKIT!

Engagement Chicken

RATATOUILLE!!!
I had this for the first time in Vegas, and LOVED it, but it didn't look like Remy's Ratatouille. I did some searching, & found the recipe used by the people at Pixar!

And for dessert: I decided to try a new-to-me twist on an old favorite... Peach Pie!
(I've never done the latticed crust before.)