dinner party

so... i had a few people over for dinner tonight. i made 4 things. fat free corn chowder, not so good. way too many peppers. we put a whole green and red pepper in it, and there was too much broth i think. just not chowder-y. grade D-

the 2nd course was salad. it's hard to f-up a salad i think, plus i have two salad recipes that i know by heart. tonight was the good 'ole spinach tomato mozzarella salad. big hit, i think. grade B+

the main course was tamale casserole. it had a polenta base, and refried beans, sour cream, scallions, cilantro, stewed tomatoes, chipotle peppers and then topped with light mexican cheese and black olives. this was incredibly spicy. i put in like an 8th of a chipotle pepper, and it successfully burned everyones mouth. jen and hope made an awesome suggestion to have it with tortilla chips. it was perfect. sooo goood. grade B

the dessert was baked apples. uhm, they were less than good. they were pretty dry in the middle. the recipe called for core-ing the apples, then filling them with alternating layers of grape nuts and sugar. topping them off with cinnamon and a sprinkle of water and putting a little bit of water in the pan they were in. well. i forgot the water. and i think they would have been better if we had peeled the apple first.. we baked them for like 45 minutes. the apples were cooked enough, but the grape nuts part was totally dry inside. the only saving grace was the fat free cool whip i had. grade C-

regardless of the outcome of the food, i had a great time. and i appreciate everyones honesty. i can't learn how to cook so good if i don't practice and have some willing guinea pigs. =) i think cooking is a learned thing, you need to practice. hope was cute though, she liked everything... she's the best guinea pig, she even took home some of the "fantastic" apples. =)

i paid and sent my taxes off today. apparently massachusetts doesn't take credit cards as payment. thank god my state was only $57.

i am pretty excited about survivor tomorrow. i hope she wins the challenges. shiiiit though, there is a red sox game. i might have to watch survivor in my bedroom. chris and jen watched the game tonight in the living room. my livng room is so much more inviting now.

i think i might go to bed soon, about an hour and a half before normal. shiiiit.