Trash Picker

My son has an affinity for Mc Flurry's.  
The ice-cream concoctions that are blended with goodie goodness sold at that fast-food joint you might have heard of.  

hmm...really shouldn't finish a sentence with 'of'.
...of which you might have heard.  There, is that better?

So, after a particularly hot and sweaty baseball practice he politely asked (as all teenaged boys do *ahem*) if we could stop and get a Rolo Mc Flurry.  You heard it right peeps.  A Rolo Mc Flurry.  That would be ice cream blended with delicious caramel Rolos.  

Hold on, I'll be right back...
Love me some caramel.  Or, do you say, carmel. ??  I love them both.

Now, back to my story:
I graciously said 'yes' and off we went.  He finished it on the drive home and promptly threw it in the trash when we got home.  Such a good boy.

A while later we thought the house seemed particularly quiet.  


It's only when it's particularly quiet do you realize how noisy a puppy can be.  There was no scurrying across floors, no stealing socks out of laundry baskets.  It was just oh so quiet.  So, we called our little darling, just to make sure she was still in the house and hadn't snuck out to play with a goat (yes, our neighbor has a goat--that's a story for another day).  After calling out, "Virrrrr-ginnnnn-yaaaaa" this little head popped around the corner:

Did someone call me?  Pay no attention to the cup on my snout.  

It may be stuck, but I don't mind.

It's oh, so DEE-LISH-US.

Homemade Gifts

I was recently inspired by a friend's Facebook status update to buy homemade gifts for the holidays.  Specifically from Etsy.  As this friend is an artist and sells some of her stuff on Etsy she is fond of the artist community that exists on Etsy.  Another girl I went to High School with sells her wares on Etsy as well.  She is a wonderful artist who combines painting and photography into her portraits.  They really are wonderful.  Check it out...

Every year I say, 'I am going to make all my Christmas gifts next year' and then I end up giving only one or two homemade items, or sometimes none at all.  This year, I am afraid it might be none at all, as it's going to be December 1st tomorrow and I got nothing!  So, I did peruse Etsy and have already found some delightful stuff.  I ordered an item or two and will let you know when it arrives if it looks as good in person as it did online!

So, as we rush out to the stores to get prefabricated gifts made in China, let's stop a minute and think about homemade gifts.  Last year my sister-in-law gave us all a loaf of delicious bread.  I can't remember what it was called, but I do remember the chocolate chips!  mmmm...  It was one of the best gifts I got.  We had it for breakfast Christmas morning.  So, if you think, well, it's not like I can give everyone a loaf of banana bread, uh, YES YOU CAN!!  Bake em, freeze em, stick a bow on em and then hand em out!

mmmmm...who wouldn't want a piece of that?!??

So, get your creative juices flowing, or take a look at Etsy to check out other people's creative juices.  Or, one more thing, challenge yourself to check where the items you are buying are made.  Buy it if it says, ' Made in the USA.'

Good luck!!

Recovering

I had some wisdom teeth yanked out.

So barbaric.

I am recovering, and my mouth is a bit sore.  And, I am hungry.  I can't chew anything, so I am on a liquid diet.  To add insult to injury my son had DanDan Noodles from PeiWei last night, which really made me nostalgic for chewing!  Soon....  One day I will chew food again!!

Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing the movie Eat, Pray, Love with my friend Jen.  I am hoping that will take my mind off my sore mouth.

And, I also have a cool little photography series in the works that will come to you in October.  I will let you know more as we get closer to the date (can you believe it's almost October??  2010!!)  I am really excited for this and hope y'all enjoy it too.

Easy Chicken

We eat a lot of chicken 'round these parts. It's so easy and versatile that it ends up in so many of our meals. Whenever I sit down to plan the menu for the week it will easily have 5 days of chicken dinners in it. And then I review the menu and say, 'okay girlie let's think of some non-chicken meals'. Besides the obvious and regular pasta dishes I really need to seriously think about non-chicken dinners. I usually come up with a few, and then I get a headache so I just throw some chicken in the oven and say 'bob's yer uncle!'

Sad, but true.

So, in honor of my short supply of dinner ideas of the top of my head (and Uncle Bob) I bring you 'Easy Chicken'.

Gosh I wish this thing had an echo button. That's how you've got to say it:

EASY CHICKEN...CHICKEN...CHICKen...really loud with a slight echo...sounds good, eh?

Anyhoo, here's what I do when I do not feel like scouring all my countertops and sink because I am afraid of someone coming into my kitchen with a black light and showing me that I have salmonella all over everything: phew! that was a mouthful

I pour a little olive oil into the baking dish and sprinkle a little salt and pepper in there too. I swirl it around in the dish and then put the chicken in the dish and rub the chicken with the oil on both sides.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

This is where my daughter comes in and says, 'oh, I love seeing raw meat the same as what lions and tigers eat...' She's a nut that one...

Speaking of lemon squeezy I had one handy so I squeezed some lemon juice on top of the chicken and then put a slice of lemon on each piece.

I cover the dish with foil and then stick it in the oven. Depending on the amount of chicken you have cooking times will vary, but I did these 3 breast for 20 mins and then uncovered for about an additional 10 minutes.

I usually cut a piece in the middle just to make sure there is no pink.

This photo cracks me up and I just had to share. Doesn't it look like a face? Poor guy lying on the side of his face with a lemon for an ear!

Sorry, hope you don't think I'm too weird...please, come back!!

This is so easy to do when you are running back and forth to soccer practice and the barn and dentist appointments and eye appointments and....well, you get the idea...

Bon Appetit!

Williams-Sonoma Catalog

One of my favorite days is when I get a Williams-Sonoma catalog in the mail. Don't ask me why, but I love sitting down and just looking through the catalog.

It brings me peace and joy.

Weird, I know.

Well, today was one of those days.

My son checks the mailbox almost every single day, except Sunday.

No post on Sunday.

If you're a nerd like me you'll know what book that's from.

Today my son handed me a small pile of mail and I didn't mind the bills because I saw the Williams-Sonoma catalog right on top!

My blood pressure went down instantaneously. aaahhh....

I look though the pages and dream of having a Miele rotary iron.

Doesn't everyone?

Wrinkled linens are so embarrassing!

And what about pancakes?

Whenever I use molds my pancakes never come out looking like this.

Why is that?

I have to scrape the batter from the mold, bang it on the side of the pan and, usually, I end up ripping it and saying to my kids, 'there! it looks like'....well, not what the mold looks like anyway, but it usually looks like something!

And a pasta attachment! For my Kitchen Aid!

This is definitely on the list.

On an episode of Oprah, Gwyneth Paltrow and Mario Batali were the guests and they said it was so easy to make your own pasta and that everyone should have an attachment for their kitchen aid. And, whatever Gwyneth says, I do! I'm easy like that.

So, what catalogs get your boat a rockin?

Do tell...

Golden Crisp

I was raised in a country where they had yummy chocolates and biscuits (cookies) and crisps (potato chips). Every Sunday, after Mass, we would walk to a little shop where my father would buy a newspaper and then treat his children (there are 6 of us) to a, well, a treat! We would all pick a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps and then eat it on the way home.

Sometimes some of us would not eat our treat right away, but save it until he/she got home and then torture us young innocents who had already eaten her treat by savoring it right in front of us and not even sharing a tiny morsel!

Torture I tell you! Torture!!!!

ahem, sorry, got a little carried away there...childhood memories can take you to dark places!!

When we moved to the US we could not find the treats that we were used to growing up. It was all very sad. American 'candy' was different. Some things were the same, but called different names. Like a Marathon bar is called a Snickers. Mars is called Milky Way, etc, etc, etc...

After a few years little stores would pop up here and there that carried the 'candy' from our youth. It was so exciting, but I could never find my one, true love. A Golden Crisp. So, one day, very recently, I mentioned that all I wanted was a Golden Crisp. Is that so much to ask?? For some reason I had a hankering and it would not go away. I needed my fix and I needed it now!!

Well, my childhood best friend, Chuckles, heard my plea and knew she just had to do something about it.

Well, what do you think my best friend did?

You got it. She sent me a little package of Golden Crisps.

Pure joy.

Now, how do I thank her? I want to send her something in return.

I've got some ideas. Do you?

ps...she even included a little hand written note.

She knows I like to feel like Jane Austen.

Happy Fourth!

Pineapple Mango Salsa

I got the recipe here.

Make it--it's good.

Like, really really really good.

You can thank me later~