Celebrate!

 What do I want for my birthday?  Some years that question has left me feeling bewildered and discouraged because I had no answer.  Not happening this year.  It did take me some time to hand over a list, but I had one already started well before the beginning of February.  This year the difficulty has been narrowing it down.

 Currently I am typing on one of my presents, the

ASUS TF300T-DOCK-BL Tablet Docking Station

image from: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834991741&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=6146833&SID=1xcjw3g04fsed

The touch pad is rather more sensitive than I am familiar with, so I will need to research regarding options for tweaking it, along with other general questions about the dock/keyboard.  One challenge so far is remembering that I can still use the touchscreen of my tablet in order to manuever around while it is connected to the dock.  The addition of the dock/keyboard is satisfying for this geek as it is a tablet and a netbook all-in-one.  And yes, of course it's okay with hubbie that I am playing with this present before my actual birthday!

  Retreat is another gift I often request, this year being no exception.  I will let you know how that plays out, if it does.  I plan to enjoy my retreat during warmer weather.

 Our family birthday traditions include breakfast in bed and your choice of dinner meal and dessert.  I am looking forward to all of these treats.  Eggs, toast and coffee sound yummy for breakfast in bed, while a home-grilled steak, sides, cake and ice cream will brilliantly round out the special foods.


 Have you thought about what you want for your birthday this year?

Minding the Minutia

 Because of the impending weather, I rescheduled my usual grocery shopping day a day earlier than usual.  After completing that adventure, a later conversation with a friend motivated me to begin to evaluate my system of menu planning, my shopping list and my recipe collection.  As this project is much larger than I can manage in one day, I will be tweaking as life moves forward.  I did make some changes to my master shopping list, including widening some columns, deleting and adding some items  and adding some darker boxes around some of the text. One feature of my list that I left untouched is the weekly menu included at the bottom of the page; that way I have it with me while shopping as a reference in case I forgot to add items to my list, (I do get interrupted often in my meal planning process).  Once home again, I cut off the menu list and hang it on the fridge for all to reference.

 I also poked around in my recipe software and found a menu planner feature, which is relatively easy to use.  My current plan is that I will record our dinner meals there.  I have other ideas of how to keep track of the weekly menu plans, but want to use what I already have in place first.

 Organizing, sorting and tossing out recipes will take a require more time.  Storing them digitally is a fabulous idea -- one that I have worked on for years, though not consistently.  Perhaps further thought and conversations will produce the solution that works best for me.  Remaining motivated to try new recipes and spend time on related projects will take some work.  Any suggestions?

How do you handle menu planning and recipe organization?  What are some of your favorite recipes and recipe web sites or blogs?


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