Well, I'm rounding the corner to my busiest time of year.   We're gearing up for the retail holiday season.  New merchandise is coming in on a pretty regular basis at the stores now and I've tried to insert a little fall feel into the stores' décor even though, in reality, it feels just as miserable as it did back in July around here.  No, really, the temps have plummeted from the upper 90's to a now chilly lower 90's.  Nothing says fall like the lower 90's, people.  Still, I wait with much anticipation for the fall to feel like fall.  It could be a lengthy wait, I'm afraid, as 90's are forecasted as far as my Weather Channel app will take me. Sigh.  Yet, I try not to lose hope.   

Oh, but all the promising signs are there.  The shadows are a tad bit longer.  The sky is bluer.  An ever so tiny bit of breeze is in the air.  Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are in the shape of pumpkins.  The harvest moon has risen.  Vern and Gary's annoying voices are back on the television.  And social media is all ablaze with SEC smack talk.  If the temperatures would just follow their lead.

Oh, how I long to make my first pot of chili.  A good, hearty stew.  I want to make red beans and rice.  And soup, soup, and more soup. 

But, I must wait for this heat to break.
                   
I'm trying to get a little more organized with my meal planning since it's going to get more and more hectic around here.  This summer, I got so lazy about cooking and the lack of motivation has lingered over into "fall".....if that's what you want to call this.  I can't think of anything to cook.  I don't want to cook.  Nothing sounds good to cook.  I'm not inspired to cook.  And as a result, we have eaten out more than usual over the last few months, so I have got to get back in the game.

The main problem is I've been going to the grocery store without a plan and I'd just throw things in the buggy and try to piece it together later and make something out of it.  I mean, a southern girl can come up with something to cook if she has enough cheeses, Campbell's soup, rice, ground beef, onion, Ro-Tel tomatoes, oil, garlic, potatoes, pasta, sour cream, butter, and chicken, right?  Our mamas taught us that those are the building blocks of meal preparation. 

Well, that "throw it in and figure it out later" plan wasn't working so well for me.  I'd come home and stare into the freezer at frozen slabs of meat with very little inspiration to actually transform them into something edible.  So, I'd just shut the freezer door and suggest we go out to eat. 

I used to go to the grocery store with a detailed shopping list and specific dishes in mind and I've decided I have to get back to that.  So, today, I printed out all of my family's 20 favorite recipes and made a shopping list for each one.  I've decided to do them on some kind of rotation basis and go to the store armed with my list.  I'll let you know where this goes but it has to go somewhere other than where it's going now.....which is nowhere but the nearest Mexican restaurant.

Whether you call it supper or dinner, it is the perpetual, universal question at the forefront of all of our minds each and every day....."What am I going to feed these people tonight?  May you be vigilant in your quest for the answer.  And always know that I feel your pain.