…for crisp autumn days.

…for the first snowflakes of winter.

…for a husband who loves me faithfully.

…for children who are beautiful, intelligent and, most of all, healthy.

…for the moms, dads, sons and daughters who are fighting in a war that needs to end.

…for the moms, dads, sons and daughter who have children or parents who are fighting a war that needs to end.

…for family and friends who love me for who I am.

…for food on the table and a roof over my head.

…for my strengths and my weaknesses.

…for all of you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The arrow points to the 100,000 people. The two in the foreground are Emily and Sam trying to avoid getting their picture taken.

We all had a good time. Jason, Emily, Sam and I and 100,000 of our (now) closest friends. It was a feast for all the senses. You can see just about everything, hear everything (at once), smell everything (good and bad) and it was hot and sweaty and people bumping you every 5 seconds (that’s the feeling sense, don’tchya know). I think I even got felt up once or twice. Wait, that was Jason doing that–doesn’t count. We ate all the requisite items, except cotton candy. I was so damn thirsty (and water cost $2.00/bottle) the whole time we were there, I couldn’t even think of putting something so sweet into my mouth. I would need more water.

We are exhausted and stuffed and the old folks are sore from so much walking. We’ll recover over the long weekend. It’s all good.

Jason took the day off today. We are going to the Minnesota State Fair. I have not been for many years. I am looking forward to it. The Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest and one of the best in the country. There is so much to see, and not just the farm stuff either. There is a ton of food and exhibits and animals and performances and on and on and on. Sam and Emily are going with us, too. I think that the last time we went, Sam was in a stroller. He’s 12, almost 13(!) now!

Must haves at the fair are cotton candy, caramel apple, milk shake in the dairy building and corn-on-the-cob. Very yummy. Of course it is all calorie free because of all the walking that you do.

So I will be at the state fair, see you there? (I totally stole that line from our local news channel.)

*Working*

Curiosity Killer tagged me a few weeks ago with this restaurant meme. My restaurants are going to be pretty boring. And likely, they will be ones that you all know of because we rarely go out to eat and when we do, usually it’s at one of the chain restaurants that you can find all over the country. Oh well, here goes anyway.

The rules:
1. Add a direct link to your post below the name of the person who tagged you. Include the state and country you’re in.

Nicole (Sydney, Australia)
Velverse (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
LB (San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy)
Selba (Jakarta, Indonesia)
Olivia (London, England)
ML (Utah, USA)
J (California, USA)
CuriosityKiller (Hong Kong, SAR)
Shelli (Minnesota, USA)

2. List out your top 5 favorite places to eat at your location (locally).

Tanner’s Steakhouse. We really love this place. It is a nice place to go when you want to either be alone with your spouse and it’s also a nice place to go with family. They have an awesome brunch buffet on the weekends with plenty of delicious breakfast and lunch items to choose from. We have gone there for Mother’s day with my Mom and brothers in the past and it was very nice. The food is good and the service is almost always excellent.

Chili’s. I am a mushroom and swiss burger connoisseur. Chili’s has one of the best ones that I have ever tasted. I love it. They also have this thing that I am sure you have all heard of, called the Awesome Blossom. Very high in fat and calories so, unless you want to die of a heart attack right there at the table, my recommendation is that you share it with at least one other person, preferably more.

Noodles & Company. Oh yummy yummy yummy. When we go here, if the kids are with, they always get the Wisconsin Mac & Cheese. They have Asian, Mediterranean and American styles of pasta. My favorite is the Pesto Cavatappi and I always get extra mushrooms on it. (Can you tell that I love mushrooms?)

Red Lobster. I know. People have lots of jokes or problems with Red Lobster, but I love it. I love there biscuits and my favorite kind of food is seafood, so of course this would be at the top of my list.

Doolittle’s Air Cafe. I love this place. Their Whirlybird is the awesomest! Here is what it is: “Charbroiled Chicken Breast loaded with Ham, Portabella Mushrooms, and melted Swiss Cheese. Served on a Grilled Kaiser Roll with a side of Honey Mustard Sauce”. Big surprise, huh? It has mushrooms on it. We often choose this as one of our date night places. We haven’t been there in awhile and I am sad that the one near our home has been sold. The closest one is too far away to go for a dinner. We will have to find another place like it, I guess.

So there you go. I don’t have a very sophisticated palate and I am not a very adventurous eater. I know what I like and I pretty much stick to it. But, hey! I did try sushi when we were in Jamaica and I actually didn’t mind it.

3. Tag 5 other people (preferably from other countries/states) and let them know they’ve been tagged. I don’t usually tag, but I am going to tag for this one. I need my head examined. If you want me to copy and send you the link HTML for all the people listed under number 2, I can do that and it will make your life a lot easier when you do this tag on your blog.

I am going to tag Todd because he lives in New York and I would like to see NY before I die and I will need to know what restaurants to check out while I am there.

Fab, I am tagging you. Don’t hit me. I know you have an appreciation for good food and I want to hear where the best places to eat are near you. You can do this on whichever blog you choose.

Lynda, you too. I actually may get to your section of the country some day and I want you to take me to the best eateries, so I want to know what they are ahead of time.

Suzi, I want to tag you because I could maybe actually go to some of the places you recommend. Seeing as we live in the same state. I am sure you have some great suggestions.

Blue, tag your it, too. I plan to come see you sometime soon. Tell me where we will eat.

I just went back and looked at all the linking I did for my lovely bliends and guess what I did? For those of you who don’t know, in order to get a link to open in a new window, you have to put this tag on the end of your link “target=_blank”. I went back and looked and all of my links had “target=_blog” on them.

After we had that killer storm (literally speaking) here on Saturday night, it got cold. I mean autumn cold, not winter cold. For those of you in the south, that means 50-ish as opposed to 20-ish. This makes several things happen at our house. First, we turn off the air conditioning and open the windows. Then we put on our sweatshirts and change out of our shorts. And finally, we put on a pot of chili. This got me to thinking about other people’s experiences with chili.

Now wait a minute, don’t go away. Just listen for a minute. What is your experience with chili? For instance, does the weather have to be cloudy or rainy and cool? Or can you eat chili in the middle of the summer when it is hot and the sun is shining outside? Would you say that it is a comfort food for you and/or your family?

Do you have a family recipe or do you make it using a product like Chili Magic? When you make chili, do you cook it all day in the crock pot or do you just make it up quick on the stove? Do you like it really spicy so that you have to have ice water sitting next to you to put out the fire?

Jason does most of the cooking in our house and when it comes to making the chili it is up to him as well. I could make the chili (shut up, Fab). My Mom had an awesome recipe that she would gladly sell me for my first born. Oh wait, she has my first born! (Just teasin’ Mom.) But, she does have an awesome chili recipe and she used to cook it all day, either on the stove or in a crock pot. Jason makes ours on the stove using Chili Magic. It’s really good. I highly recommend it. They have a Texan version as well, but since I don’t like really spicy food, we just get the original recipe.

When we get it to the table, that’s when the fun begins. We have many different ways of eating chili. We put sour cream and shredded cheese on ours. Some of us put crackers in it or sometimes tortilla chips. We use the tortilla chips as scoops or the chili as a dip for the tortilla chips, however you want to look at it. Sometimes we will leave out the chips and crackers and get a really good French bread. With butter on it and dipped in the chili, mmmmm…So good.

Do you put anything on top of your chili? Cheese or sour cream? Crackers, oyster crackers, tortilla chips or bread? How do you like your chili?

It’s getting to be that time of year. Autumn is coming. Bring out the chili!

(I would have said “fall”, but someone, who is a smartass, would harass me endlessly.)