Duck!

I did it! I bought a duck! Of the frozen variety, not the living. I went to do some grocery shopping today and Matt asked if I would pick him up some of these monster cookies that he really loves and I really hate. Plus they're expensive because they're from the deli. Anyway. I told him I'd get them so he told me to pick up something for myself that I normally wouldn't buy. And that translated into a duck :) I've seen them at the store since Easter and have been wanting to buy one but couldn't justify the $17. There was one left in the freezer today and I just had to have it! I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet, but if anyone requires any liquid gold for cooking I can hook you up.
I was going to buy some gnocchi for Matt for dinner tonight but they didn't have any fresh stuff and the dried stuff was ridiculously overpriced. So anyway, I picked up some penne and decided to try out a Club House pasta sauce mix. I've got to admit, I love Club House. Some of their stuff is just fantastic! Actually, all of their stuff that I've ever bought. I really don't like using mixes - especially for something like a pasta sauce, but it was really nice. I got their rose and I did it up with the penne, some tiny tomato bits and bacon. I also use their gravy mix regularly and their Cajun Rub Marinade is really good too. So while I'd still rather make my own sauce normally, if for some reason I'm not feeling very creative one day, I'll definately use that Club House sauce again. Oh, and also if I don't have cream in the house since that mix only needs milk.
Matt and I have been taking walks around our subdivision for the last couple nights and it's been really nice. It calms the dog down and tuckers Gabe out. Last night we swung by a garage sale that was very sucky :) They had a very small selection and it was all overpriced. An old tshirt for $10. Yuck. Tomorrow Matt's going out of town for the morning so I'm going to take Gabe garage saleing with me. There's an estate sale in town with what looks to be a very promising selection: fishing gear, sheet music, antiques, china... I'm pumped. I'm also going with limited cash so that I don't make any rash purchases (something I'm not typically prone to except at garage sales... and on kijiji)
We're having a barbque tomorrow kind of as a family reunion since most of Matt's family was out of the country last week. I'm making the salads and the desserts! For the salads I'm going to do a Santa Fe salad with corn, black beans, avocado, dates and lime vinagrette and then a mixed greens salad with tomatoes and peppers. For dessert I'm making sex-in-a-pan - a layered dessert with vanilla, chocolate and pistachio pudding and a cream cheese layer in there too - and I'm also doing lemon bars. I'm mostly doing the lemon bars because lemons were on sale last week and both Matt and I picked some up at different times.
In light of that last paragraph I should probably go clean my kitchen so that I can get cooking.

Mrs. Vander Leek ;)