You Gotta Love Help Like This!

When "Cindy" said she'd come by early last night to help me get ready for Splurge Club, I wondered what the story was with the name "Cindy"! It wasn't until she arrived that I realized "Cindy" was short for "Cinderella"! How funny and how sweet! Bonnie had been thinking of my story of how I used to hate doing dishes so much that I would save up a week's worth and then don one of my bride's maid dresses to do them. I would pretend I was an ill-fated princess. Somehow it made household chores a whole lot easier to face when I was glammed up. So here is Bonnie, as Cinderelly, sweeping my cinders.

Karen came as "Cindy", too. Her little tag says, "Cindy dressed up for Hallowe'en"! Isn't she clever? They're so funny! The two of them did dishes for me while I had a bath and got dressed for the party (they did dishes after the party, too!). I was so sweaty after working away in the kitchen over those jalapeno poppers (see photo below) and I was a little behind schedule and my edema was slowing me down a bit, too, so the help was timely and much appreciated as was the glass of wine they poured for me!

The rest of the splurgers arrived and ... get this ... they each brought food for our freezer!! Lasagnas, casseroles, pork cutlets, moose sausage and antelope roast (Gail's husband shoots anything that moves, she tells me), homemade buns, wine ... and more. What a wonderful bunch of splurge buddies I have!! We'll be thinking fondly of each of them on those days when I'm beat down by radiation and Kevin's tired from work and yet there will still be a hearty and healthy meal for us at the end of the day. Kevin is SOOOOO grateful, too! Bonnie, the dutiful "Cindy", kept running up and down the stairs taking items to my freezer!

These Jalopeno Poppers are what took me some finessing in the kitchen. It's a recipe from my new cookbook (by the Pioneer Woman ... the woman whose blog I follow because she so amuses me).

I had never worked with jalapeno's before and had to wear plastic bags on my hands ... very clumsy ... and it took me a while to prepare them, though they're very easy to make and I'm sure others are faster at the japapeno prep part. Until yesterday I hadn't known that all the "heat" in jalopenos is from the seeds and membrane so I was quite diligent about getting rid of all the seeds and such before stuffing them. Apparently I wasn't as diligent as I thought, though. The first one I had didn't have a spark of heat. I was almost a little disappointed. But, the second one must have contained a couple of errant seeds because it was so hot that Cinderella had to get me a class of milk which I would hold by the mouthful in my mouth for as long as I could to relieve the burn. I think I was the only one who got a firey one. I think they were good, though. Kevin liked them and he would have told me if they were duds. If you want the recipe, send me an email.

The other thing I served that I think was especially good is a relatively new flavour of Boursin Cheese (cranberry and pepper) and I served it with cut up pieces of cranberry bread (from Sobey's) and Margeret's Artisan Crisps (in Cranberry Pumpkin Seed and Goji Berry Pistachio flavours and available at Sobey's). Very easy and very yummy.