FYI, this time of year brings the need to bake something pumpkin. For those of you who are new to this blog, if you want a fabulous recipe that combines both cream cheese and pumpkin, be sure to type in this recipe in the search box at the bottom right under the archives. This was posted back in Oct of 09 and it is such a great dessert for this season.

Also another FYI. Randy and I decided that we would see just how little money we could spend on food and entertainment yesterday, just for the fun of it. Thought we would share in case you are wanting to do something a little different other than eating at Cheesecake Factory or heading to the movies for a Saturday.

A friend of Randy’s had told him about a fantastic donut shop over in Glendale, so off we go to see if these donuts are actually worth driving the 10 miles for. We got to the donut shop, still with his coffee and my Dr Pepper in hand and both of us ordered a HUGE cinnamon roll. It was so light, not greasy and just the perfect amount of cinnamon and glaze. We were absolutely thrilled to have found this place. Breakfast….$2.00. It was then and there that we decided to see just how  cheaply we could entertain ourselves until 5:00 p.m. We then proceeded to Costco to pick up a few items, all the while sampling the “free goodies” that they are known for. We indulge in free popcorn, free fruit juice and free granola bars. We left Costco and headed to our car dealership because we are beginning the search for a new car for Randy. He has had his car for almost 11 years and since it takes him about 2 years to actually pull the trigger on which car to buy, we feel like we need to begin the search now. So, we enter the dealership and the smell of popcorn permeates the showroom floor. Now, I know, we have just sampled the free popcorn at Costco, but can you really ever resist popcorn, especially if it is free. So while RC is talking to the sales guy, I sneak over to where people are sitting, waiting for their cars to be serviced. I have just walked into a little bit of “snack heaven”. There are coffee machines, juice machines and the popcorn machine. Otis Spunkmayer cookies are just laying out on a tray. Well, you guessed it. I find a napkin, pick up a couple of those little cookies and put them in my purse for afternoon coffee and grab a container of popcorn. I make Randy at least “seem” interested long enough for me to finish the popcorn so I can mosey on over to grab another little sack of popcorn. DO NOT JUDGE ME! The donut didn’t fill me up for long.

Randy sends the sales guy over to find a certain color of car while he makes his way over to the coffee machine. Who needs Starbucks when we have car dealerships? He grabs a cup and decides on the hazelnut latte. I tell him that if he will go get a couple of the cookies, that our afternoon snack will be covered. He does.

Since my purse won’t hold anymore snacks, we leave with a booklet in hand and tell the young man that we will be back if we decide upon that brand of car. It is now around 11:00 and we head to run a few errands. After about 45 minutes, Randy tells me he has a surprise for me. I cannot imagine what it might be. The last time he said that, all the surprise was, was that a certain favorite restaurant of ours had reopened from being closed for vacation. So I have learned not to get too excited about his “surprises” . Sure enough, we drive on over to Monrovia and he pulls up in front of where we go get a massage ever so often. I am thrilled, I cannot believe that he is treating me to a massage. When I look at him and smile and tell him how sweet he is, he just looks at me and says, “oh no, we aren’t going for a massage, we are going to our cheapie mexican food place next door.” Are you serious, we have had donuts, free samples at Costco and the car dealership and he is hungry? I couldn’t believe it. But he reminded me that we were suppose to be at a party at 5 and if we were going to be eating dinner at 5, we needed to hurry up and eat lunch so we would be hungry by that time. So, here we are at ll:30 eating once again. I order a cheese enchilada and a shredded beet taco, he orders a number 2 combo. My lunch was $2.70 total, that’s right, you read correctly. $2.70 and since you get free chips and hot sauce, we don’t order a lot. Why pay for food when the hot sauce bar and chips are sitting right in front of you. We leave stuffed and head to another car dealership. Since we are thirsty, we figured we would go to one that we know always offers you a free bottled water. The day is unseasonably warm and we are trying to act truly interested, even though our clothes are beginning to stick to our backs. We are not going to leave until we get our free water. After looking at a couple of cars, I guess Victor (our sales guy) figures that if two old geizers are out in 100 degree weather looking at cars in the middle of the day, we really must be interested. Guess we finally earned our water. As soon as we get it, we sit in one more car, ask a question or two and then tell him we just can’t take the heat anymore. So we head to our car, deciding that it should last a few more years and head home. We are hot, we are tired and we are stuffed. We had entertained ourselves all day for under $20.00…Saved enough money to buy a membership to Sams for the following week. We aren’t allowed in Costco anymore, they know our faces and our appetites now. We go to the dinner party right at 5, we didn’t want to chance missing a free meal.