Happy 2nd Birthday, Helen!
We were away for a long weekend in Salt Lake City to visit our daughter, Elaina, her husband Bob, and their four little ones. The two little girls share February birthdays which we were able to help celebrate.
It was a very fun and busy time. We got in late on Thursday night via Seattle (too long a story to share here. Hi, Gianna!). We babysat on Friday evening, while Elaina and Bob enjoyed their Friday evening event, Theology UnCorked. On Saturday, we went to another event planned by Elaina and Bob and a few others who started a non-profit in Utah. We also met and had lunch with Patrick Madrid, the speaker for the two events. (Unbeknownst to us, he slipped into the pew right behind us for Saturday evening Mass.) He hosts his own show on Relevant Radio. Both events were a success and very informative and enjoyable.
After a morning birthday celebration for Helen, we had a relatively quiet rest-of-her-birthday with a delicious fajita dinner Sunday.
We returned home Monday afternoon to an empty larder. Actually, I am exaggerating. I had 3 wrinkled Roma tomatoes along with milk and other staples in the refrigerator, one sweet potato hidden among the onions in the larder, actually, a cupboard with a mesh vented front where I keep the potatoes, onions, etc.
I also had one partial package of frozen tilapia in the freezer. I cut the ends off of the tomatoes, dropped them into the the mini chopper and chopped them along with some sautéed onion, put them in a sauce pan to simmer with some butter, skim milk, and a little half and half. I added the peeled and cooked sweet potato to the chopper, then to the simmering pot along with salt, pepper, and parsley flakes, and I puréed it all with an immersion blender.
I thawed the fish, dipped it in egg, coated it with a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper and then pan-fried it in my Uncle Tony’s Grill Pan. I ate my portion and now, here I sit falling asleep, waiting for John to get home from Barnes and Noble where he had to go right after we returned to Rockford. 
mini food chopper 
cream of tomato, sweet potato soup
parmesan crusted tilapia
I think he will enjoy his late dinner when he arrives, (if he can keep his eyes open long enough to eat it.)
