Leftovers Week

It's leftovers week.  It's just one of those weeks.  I am still recovering from my cold/allergies/illness of some sort, it's almost mid-semester, I am tired, and it's just kind of a blah-ish rainy beginning of the week.  Hence, leftovers week.  Leftovers have never been my favorite thing.  Dad is accusing me of abandoning him in the not-liking-leftovers camp.  I haven't entirely.  First off, they have to be good things to begin with.  Second, well, leftovers are convenient because they reduce waste, save money and save time.  I have to at least sorta be a fan.  I'm a grad student.

Last night was leftover pizza and bread from going out with NES last week.  It was good, but not as good as it was originally.  Kind of disappointing for leftover pizza, actually, but still, I was able to work on homework all evening and therefore have time now.  This is good.

Tonight, I branched out a little.  A little.  I made some oven fries to go with my leftovers.  Ooooo.  Fresh food.

Of course, they were ready to come out of the oven just as I started talking to NES.  Perfect timing.

But oven fries are so easy, I don't know why I don't make them more.  Tonight, I just played with the seasonings and made whatever I felt like -- I was thinking of MW's weekly oven fries last year as I made them.  Mmmm.

Tonight, I took my . . . well rooted . . . potatoes and chopped them into quarters.  Then I drizzled them with olive oil, a lot of rosemary, some salt, thyme and oregano.  Mostly, I just added rosemary.  Rosemary roasted veggies are my favorite.

Then I put them on a cookie sheet.  That apparently doesn't fit in my oven.  Good to know.  My oven doesn't hold a full sized cookie sheet.  Extra dishes.  Oh boy.

Once I found something they would fit on and would fit in the oven, I roasted them at 425 for 35 minutes, flipping 15 minutes in.  And NES didn't even distract me so much that they burned!  Hooray for that!  They were actually pretty close to perfect.

To go with the fries, there was the leftover egg and pepper grinder from this weekend.  Remind me to tell you about Connecticut grinders sometime.  They are what most people would probably call subs.  But they are different.  Not subs.  Oh, and don't mention mayonnaise in a Connecticut grinder shop.  Just don't do it.

Tomorrow night is leftover tomato mac and cheese from mom this weekend.  Mmmm.  And then leftover oven fries.  So tomorrow night is leftover night for real.

And I found some local milk in glass bottles at the grocery store this week.  I am a huge fan of my new grocery store find.  I was so sad there isn't a Trader Joe's or (even better!) Whole Foods around here, but I've  found a local market that's just as much -- or more! -- fun.

Oh, and seeing as I promised that you hadn't heard the end of the wedding stuff, this is my newest distraction.  It's like foodgawker (you know how much I love that site) but weddings.  Oooooo.  But, in my own defense, I have gotten more work done and feel more accomplished than I have in many weeks.

And I can't not say happy birthday to my wonderful parents!  Happy birthday to mom and dad!  We had carrot cake -- the famous family recipe for dad's birthday this weekend.  We also had what will probably be the last outdoor seafood meal of the summer.

Oh, and Auntie gave me this.

She made a pattern from a snowman I made in 1st grade art class out of construction paper.  He's so cool! Literally!

Speaking of cool, fall, you can come any time now!