Dear Mom,

 i haven't been able to eat much meat lately (pregnancy symptom), like, kind of not at all - it's turned me back into a vegetarian - but the other day i got a craving for a very Minnesotan meal - something i've seen you make a lot: Tuna fish Casserole:

it was delicious

in addition to making up my own recipe - while consulting online versions - i also discovered that i didn't have any cream soups.  my favorite in casseroles is always cream of mushroom or cream of celery... and i didn't have any mushrooms, but i had lots of celery, so i made my own cream of celery soup:

i had some leftover for chicken chop suey, your recipe

 
that Glisten you gave me sure did work!  notice the yellow/cream plate; that was the color of the dishwasher before Glisten, and after it was gleaming white, and got rid of all the hard water spots on my dishes and glasses, just like you promised:

Jon made a meal i requested on wednesday night.  usually i cook because he's tired after working all day, but it smells soooooooo much better when he does.  it's something Tim taught him, i think - penne, tomatoes, toasted walnuts, with a bleu cheese cream sauce.  it's supposed to have chicken in it, but i don't like meat lately, as i mentioned.  mmmmmm, it was so good:

and i ate all the leftover the next day for lunch

we ran out of bread yesterday, and i really wanted some, and neither jon nor i wanted to go shopping, so i just made some with what ingredients i had.  i didn't have any bread flour, but this "Crusty Cob" turned out okay with all-purpose.  i have this great book called "100 Great Breads" by paul hollywood, and he gives really interesting tips - one of which was: you don't always have to dissolve yeast in warm water, just throw it in ... and, the longer bread takes to rise (like when in a refrigerator), the more flavor it will have... etc., etc.:

i had so much fun making it, i don't think i'll even buy bread anymore!

this morning, i had some toast from the bread i made, with raspberry jam (with seeds).  it was pretty good, but i'm going to invest in a bunch of flours and yeast, etc. to make it right next time... and experiment with other breads.  wow, i'm really turning into dad.  pretty soon, i'll be making divinity and home-made tootsie rolls.  Margie got a little taste of my toast too, because i got full (the bread was dense):

breakfast on the balcony in warm spring is my favorite thing

 i'm knitting some baby washcloths, and making some maternity dresses for myself, but i will show you pictures when they're done.  i better go take a shower and then take margie for a walk in this nice weather!!!