Today is the first day that you can vote for my Pan Seared Pork Chops with Apple and Spinach, with honey mustard sauce and Rosemary Potatoes!  Whew, that’s a mouthful isn’t it?  But, it’s a recipe that needs so few kitchen items, that it can be cooked at an Extended Stay America hotel, which is where we stay when Tony goes to the Mayo Clinic.  One knife, a cutting board, a skillet, a pot, a strainer and a fork.  That’s it!

Click here to get to the voting page.  (although as of 7 am this morning, I cannot click on the voting gallery – anyone able to actually see the gallery, or is it just me?!)_

The voting runs through August 22.   You can vote once a day per email – if you have different email addresses, you can use as many as you have .  I don’t know about you, but I have five email addresses!  Thanks and wish me luck!  The top two who get the most votes automatically make the trip to New York!

So this weekend was low key.  Tony isn’t feeling that great, and we are just waiting until our next trip to Mayo later this week.  So while he dozed on and off, I finally got around to making breakfast around 10:30.  I kind of like eating later on the weekends, because I almost never am hungry for lunch – so it’s only two meals a day.  I had a taste for a breakfast sandwich, but I didn’t have any English muffins.  But I did have Turano Italian bread!   I am not sure if people outside of Chicagoland can buy this bread, but it’s so good.  One slice is plenty to make a sandwich, just cut in half and you are good to go.

With a cup of hot coffee on the side, this was a perfect weekend breakfast.   I had my cleaning pants on most of Saturday, and then in the afternoon I had a pedicure!  Since my toe incident, I’ve been afraid to cut my nails so I don’t get another in grown toe nail.  I don’t know why I procrastinated as long as I did – it was a 45 minute pedicure for only $20!   The place was super clean, the woman was nice (we talked about Pinterest!) and I think I’ll go back every month.

Tony and I watched a bunch of MMA fights Saturday night.  I figure for the amount of food shit he watches with me, it is only fair that I reciprocate.

Yesterday it was all about yard work.  I have to be truthful – I don’t do that much.  I don’t have a green thumb and while I enjoy looking at gorgeous flowers grown by Lori and Louise, typically the only thing I can grow are weeds! We have a flower box per se in the front of our house – it’s old rail road ties that make a box around our two giant pine trees.   These weeds were taller than me!

It took me 1.5 hours, but I finally cleaned it all out.  I think by our township I saw free mulch, so I am going to check that out – and then I’ll do an “after” photo.   I did see lots of big worms, and then got spooked by this toad – he jumped nearly two inches from my toe, but then hunkered back down in the dirt – can you see him?

Then there was the giant 40 foot tree in my back yard that we need to contend with.  I don’t know if you’ve ever needed a tree cut down, but it’s expensive!  So I figured I’d tackle the tree a little bit at a time, and then have someone come in and remove the stump and the scraps that I have already cut off.  Here is the top of the tree before.

And after 30 minutes, it looked like this.  Um, using a saw is hard work people!

Tony had a great idea – use an old blanket to haul all the scraps into the woods – worked perfectly!

Then I ran a few errands, did some grocery shopping, finished up the laundry, and decided that this would be my reward. Target sells it for $7.99 a bottle, and while Kim Crawford is my favorite Sauvignon Blanc, at twice the price, that wasn’t in the budget, but if you love grapefruit notes in wine, this one fits the bill.

So thanks for voting for me if you can – tell your family, friends and neighbors!   Hope you all had a great weekend.  Make it a great day!