Haunted muffaletta.

Ahh... I can't believe Halloween season is almost over already. HA! Is it wrong that I'm already sad for something to be over before it's even technically started? :) Oh well.... It's getting close, and I'm getting excited. And, of course, I can never resist the Halloween aisle at any store, and I've found a few last-minute Halloween goodies.

Haven't tried it yet, but bound to be delish.

I had one of these yesterday, and it was tasty!

I was SO excited to not only find this IN the store (had only seen it online), BUT it was ALSO on sale. Sigh.

Speaking of shopping, last night Lisa Z. and I hit Ikea... finally... after months of talking about it! I had a gift card from my bday (thanks, Melissa and Doug!), so I was ready to buy some loot! We decided to go on a weeknight, and it was the perfect decision. Take my advice friends: Ikea during the week is THE way to go. Here are a few of my favoritest finds:

Retro tins, just $2.99!

Cute as hell glasses. $6! Yes, that's a mushroom!

Mini bowl set. $3. Hello? Sold.

Finally, I leave you with a quick dinner tip! We went to New Orleans what seems like a million years ago now, and since then I have been mad craving a real muffaletta. They have it at Fishbones, and the Quarter, and neither even come close. So I'm always on the lookout for something, anything, muffalettay... Sometime over the summer, I found a little jar of actual-titled-muffaletta spread. I snagged it up. Now, obviously, it's not going to be the same, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. I finally got the inkling to test it out tonight, but I didn't want to kill myself (or Brad, who's getting over the flu) with 300 grams of fat in cheese and lunch meat, so I made a chicken muffaletta.

I sauteed up some stir fry chicken with a little salt, pepper, and oregano. I sliced two cibatta rolls in half and put some swiss on the bottom. I layered the chicken next, then topped with the m. spread. Now... this is nothing like a real muffaletta. BUT I thought it was pretty damn tasty (and easy), and it gave me enough of a hint of the flavor to continue to tide me over until we can make it back to Central Grocery again. And if you can't find "muffaletta" spread, try it just an assortment of olives. Would still be a yummy dinner!