Memorial Day

Hey there kiddies!  So it turns out I've been quite uninspired lately and haven't been doing anything particularly noteworthy.  But I did have a small little get-together at my house which gave me the opportunity to experiment with a new recipe or two.  And, of course, it was Memorial Day weekend so I just had to decorate the house.

And of course I'm just pleased as punch to finally be able to buy my very own presidential plate!  I may be a nerd, but I'm a patriotic nerd, or so my husband claims.  I plan to give this little beauty a permanent home on my kitchen wall where I can admire it year 'round.

And of course, here's what we served:

Grilled hot dogs & bratwurst (hot dogs plus grill = yummy goodness)

Grilled corn on the cob (same idea as above)

Fruit Salad (recipe courtesy of what2eat.net)

Baked Beans

2 cups chopped onion (I just used one large onion, Costco sized)
4 tbsp butter
2 tsps dry mustard
1 tbsp all spice
1 tsp pepper
1 55oz can B&M beans (which I couldn't find so I used Bush's instead)
1/2 cup catsup
1/2 cup brown sugar
Bake everything, uncovered, for 30 minutes at 350 degrees

Potato Salad (yeah, didn't follow a recipe but I probably should've... yeah...)

Mandarin Orange Pie (blogged about this recipe during Christmas dinner.  Made it exactly the same except this time I only used half of the Cool Whip.)

In all fairness, I feel that I should confess and tell you, my gentle readers, that I have been quite distracted lately.  My crocheting has suffered, my blogging has suffered, but I've been entirely engrossed.  Not only have I discovered the joys of Pinterest, but I have also bought a new laptop.  Yes, even though I am quite the cheapskate, I have bought a laptop that actually causes me no fiscal guilt.  I realized that I needed a laptop for blogging, tracking my online shop, and reading articles.  I ended up buying a Google Chromebook, the Acer C7.  Can you believe this sweet little machine sells for $200?  So now I am thoroughly distracted, which is ironic because I bought this laptop so I could blog more easily & frequently.