Thank You, Thank You

I truly appreciate all the odd jobs that you took care of for me. It is a smile for me everytime that I walk into the SR and see the curtain rod and straight curtains.
What a smart and clever girl you are!!!

I had a MARVELOUS time with you and hope we can connect every two to three months in the future. I got a new smart card for the family room TV receiver and installed it. It made for a much sharper picture. WOO WOO
technology is great when it works as it should.

Monday, Monday

The recipe sounds delicious and I will have to give it a try. I plan to put some stew on when I get back from church duty to have tonight and tomorrow.

Bridget has had two attacks in as many days. Poor little girl, I wish there was a cure for her condition as she is a real sweet heart. She follows me everywhere and is sleeping at my feet as I type. I look forward to you meeting her.

Today with a dirty house and laundry to the ceiling and church duty, I do not think I will be doing much else but handling that. Everyday the plants are bigger and more things come into bloom. Such fun to see it all. I have plans to make out my shopping list for our "to-dos" while you are here today and start gathering. Bet I forget something, as I always do. I am so looking forward to seeing your smiling face and giving you a hug.

Healthier Eating!

Was prowling around on foodnetwork.com and found the Ina section. It's nice because if you choose each episode it has the recipes from that episode. I'm capturing one here because I don't know how far back they'll keep them. Handy! I can build my own Barefoot Contessa cookbook!

Here's the link to her "top 100" recipes and they're labeled by difficulty. I don't find that as handy as the indexing by episode but maybe because I tend to remember the episodes. It IS neat that it also shows what cookbooks they come from.

Barefoot Contessa Top 100

This is the one from the other day with Ribolita. I thought that sounded like a fantastic healthy soup main dish. Her's made enough for 12 but this recipe calls for half of what she used in the recipe so it's resized. Probably still makes way too much for one or two but I bet you could freeze this one. Another great thing about the food network stuff is each recipe has a comments section where other folks who have tried it can comment and I find that pretty handy. A lot of people said they substituted canned beans and juice and used canadian bacon for the panacetta. Looks pretty darn easy to make!

Ribolita

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 1/2 pound dried white beans, such as Great Northern or cannellini
• Kosher salt
• 1/4 cup good olive oil, plus extra for serving
• 1/4 pound large diced pancetta or smoked bacon
• 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
• 1 cup chopped carrots (3 carrots)
• 1 cup chopped celery (3 stalks)
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 (28-ounce) can Italian plum tomatoes in puree, chopped
• 4 cups coarsely chopped or shredded savoy cabbage, optional
• 4 cups coarsely chopped kale
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 6 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 4 cups sourdough bread cubes, crusts removed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions

In a large bowl, cover the beans with cold water by 1-inch and cover with plastic wrap. Allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator.

Drain the beans and place them in a large pot with 8 cups of water, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and continue to simmer for about 15 minutes, until the beans are tender. Set the beans aside to cool in their liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large stockpot. Add the pancetta and onions and cook over medium-low heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, 1 tablespoon of salt, the pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium-low heat for 7 to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes with their puree, the cabbage, if using, the kale, and basil and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, for another 7 to 10 minutes.

Drain the beans, reserving their cooking liquid. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade, puree half of the beans with a little of their liquid. Add to the stockpot, along with the remaining whole beans. Pour the bean cooking liquid into a large measuring cup and add enough chicken stock to make 8 cups. Add to the soup and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.

Add the bread to the soup and simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste for seasoning and serve hot in large bowls sprinkled with Parmesan and drizzled with olive oil.

Tuesday Tidings

It's certainly been a busy week! I bought some new lamps this weekend (it was one of those three lamp sets) and I spent the entire evening last night putting them together. I have something to say to those folks about their "Patent Pending" easy packaging. Once I was able to un-entomb the lamps from the styrofoam, it was pretty easy. Of course that led to a massive dusting as I shifted lamps around the house---if you move something, you have to dust underneath it. I keep telling Kevin that's the Rule of the Universe.

Did you get the picture of Paula, Lisa and me at the church dinner? Kev sent one from the phone. We saw a really great concert by the Franz Family . You've probably heard them before as they travel a lot doing bluegrass gospel. Very talented. If you get the chance to see them, highly recommended!

Just had a few spare minutes so thought I'd drop a line. More later!

Slow Compost

Maybe it is the cold weather, but it seems the compost is sure slow. At this rate, I can never make enough for the yard needs. There is no smell other than an earthy one, so I guess things are progressing ok. When you hear that you can make compost in 6 weeks, I have come to believe they are exaggerating a bit. Maybe if all the materials were chopped into tiny bits that would be so.

We are enjoying a warm-up and I hope it is extending to you too. The nights dip into the 20's but the days are up to the 60's. Bridget had another attack yesterday. She is still not eating and just sleeps a lot. They are always so scary and I always wonder if she will recover. Poor little girl. She is such a sweet heart and such a beautiful dog. Everyone that sees her comments about her looks.

I am off today to a yarn shop that is having a 25% off sale. I want to pick up some needle punch yarn while it is on sale. Diane is going with me so it will be fun. It is still way to wet to work in the yard unfortunately. I notice that the daffodil flower buds are really swelling and should start blooming pretty soon. Next year I definitely plan to add more as I just love seeing the yellow cheery flowers herald spring.

Random Monday Thoughts

The Fiesta Casserole on page 311 of the America's Test Kitchen cookbook is outstanding! It also makes a huge amount so I'd either plan on using the aluminum foil trick for freezing some for later consumption or halve the recipe. Double star and sticky note on the page.

The Tramontina 6.5 quart enameled Dutch Oven is apparently a myth. Not to be found anywhere! If there's some at your local Walmart, I'd run and not walk to pick one up. I haven't totally given up but may wind up picking up the Lodge one which has also gotten very high ratings. They were downgraded for being .5 quart less in size an $15 more in price. I'd love to understand why the red version of the Lodge is $20 cheaper than any other color. Isn't that weird?

I picked up the 12" Tramontina all-clad style skillet at Walmart for $20 as everything I have is non-stick. Love the weighted bottom. ATK and the Barefoot Contessa are correct---browning in these pans is ever so much better than non-stick and you get those little brownie bits at the bottom they always make stuff with. They're also correct that this is NOT a pan to make eggs in as they stick to the bottom like Elmer's. Unless your name is Faye in which case it's the perfect pan because you get the broken and battered eggs after they're scraped from the pan.

I have way too much to do around the house and not enough time to do it. Yeesh.

Bed Bath and Beyond has the Oxo box grater for $17.95.

We saw Last Chance Harvey. Very predictable story you've seen 50 times but Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson were really good in it. Absolutely worth a matinee. I wouldn't pay full price. We still want to see Gran Torino and Frost/Nixon but haven't.

Whole Foods Market carries the real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. There's one in Lakewood by you. They say buy only what you'll use for a week or two and store it wrapped in foil or parchment paper. Parmigiano is one of the lowest fat highest nutrient cheeses available---who knew? There's a Whole Foods by my office so I'm going to give theirs a try. They have a parmigiano crisp recipe at http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/products/parmigiano-reggiano.php that sounds like it would be totally awesome served with a stew or hearty beef soup.

New Interest

I have a renewed interest in cake decorating. I do not know if you remember or not but in the late 70's and early 80's I took several cake decorating courses and really enjoyed baking and decorating cakes for family and friends. I have not done any since, but have been looking over my old notes and think I would like to try it again.

The several days of warm weather have had me out in the garden doing a lot of little chores. I am still in the process of removing rotting timbers and I will be so glad to have them all gone. There seems to be no end of clean up and pruning chores, but each new one completed makes the yard look better. Hopefully by the arrival of spring all will be done. The live oak has begun to drop some leaves. This is a weeks-long process each spring and is unbelievably messy, but the tree is so glorious the rest of the time that it is worth it.

The daffodils are growing almost visibly and I so look forward to seeing the sunny blooms. I wish I had gotten on the ball and planted more last fall. I want to add more compost bins as I mentioned to you. I truly enjoy turning the bins and watching debris turn into black gold before my eyes.

Quilting today, so I need to get going.

Wash Day Ahead

Congrats on the new W&D. Wish you had my hamper full of dirty laundry and we would give it a test run.

I found several neat gadgets on sale and used my card for an additional 15% off the total bill. They did not have the OXO box grater, which is what I wanted most, but c'est la vie. Maybe next time I go, it will be there, but maybe not on sale. I saw some great bamboo cutting boards, but just looked.

I will investigate the juicing attachment.

Rubadubdub!

After much looking, reading and comparing, we bought a new washer and dryer yesterday. Nebraska Furniture Mart was running a huge sale and we found the pair I've been eyeballing at a good price. They'll deliver it on Saturday and we'll see if front load washers are the best things since sliced bread as they claim. I hope so! It'd be nice to see some water and time savings for sure.

I also purchased an accessory for my Kitchen Aid mixer. I've been wanting a juicer for a while since all the cooking shows sneer at bottled juices but I really didn't want yet another appliance to haul out, clean and store so I spotted the juicer addon for my Kitchen Aid while buying the appliances and picked it up. It's really cool! At $20, not too much of a wallet breaker. Seems to work great. It just plugs into the front connector and juices away! If you don't have a juicer already, Deb's Test Kitchen recommends it.

Thanks for the tip on Kohl's. I'll stop by on the way home tonight and see if they have a couple of the things I'm looking for. Boy, while we were at NFM, I wandered around their kitchen area. There are certainly some massive drool-worthy stoves and ranges. Since next in line for the house is a new stove or stovetop/oven, how have you found the smoothtop ranges? I'm pondering going to gas since it's so nice for temperature control. Are the smoothtop ranges like you have really good at temperature control or are they more like electric stoves?

Monday again

I tried the banana bread from the cookbook AmTestKitchen and it was delicious. One down and 1199 to go! We are enjoying some lovely spring like weather. I have been using it to trim rose bushes, whack away some more on the peach tree take-down and trim up a lot of dead vegetation like the tops of the day lilies and grasses, and cannas. I have been reworking on the long garden path, but do not have it done by any stretch. I will have to purchase some builder's sand and some more stones, but think I have it worked out in my mind.

Kohl's is running a 25% off sale on all its OXO kitchen gadgets and I want to run by after I finish working at church today. Might be a good time to pick up a box grater.

I plan to move some things around in the yard in order to expand my herb growing and veggie growing space. I am so tempted to do it now, but know we will have some harsh weather next month, so guess I had better wait. I must take down the arch leading into the long beds. I hate to loose the landscape interest, but it is rusted to a dangerous level. Maybe one of the home improvement stores will have a replacement or Big Lots even at a very good price. I will have to be on the look-out. My larkspur are poking up all over the place as well as the day lilies and the daffodils. What a lovely promise of spring right around the corner.

I am doing some punch needle work and just finished a really cute bunny pulling a cart of tulips. I finished a ginger jar table runner, but do not have it quilted. The block at guild was a ginger jar, and I wanted to give it a try. Table runners are so great for that.

I am excited for you that your friend is interested in helping you develop your garden further. That will be fun for you both and the yard will benefit. It is nice to have talented friends.

I need to get going on the To-Do's for the day.

Monday Madness

I didn't think you were hinting I should fix the lawn mower, etc. I was being a bit silly and commenting that I actually know how one works and can fix it. I guess the silly tone didn't come across in text.

As to whether I think you should dismiss the lawn guys, that's an evaluation on your time or your money. If it's costing you $90 a month and getting that money back is worth a couple of hours a week to you, then by all means dismiss them. Mowing the lawn is something I _enjoy_ doing so that seems like an easy decision but if you despise doing it, then the money may well be worth spending. The only lawn you have to worry about is the front and if your mower is a decent self-propelled one, then you're looking at two hours to mow and do the various cleanups. I know you worry about getting the gas. I surely don't know how to comment on that since if it's something you don't want to do, it's something you don't want to do. If you have someone willing to fill a 5 gallon can for you, I'd estimate that'd get you a month of mowing just based on how much gas we go through for our lawn.

I didn't do a bunch of cooking this weekend. We did go down and check out that restaurant supply but I was disappointed. It wasn't like a restaurant equipment supply but a food supply like a big Sams or Costco. Oh well! It was still fun to go down and look. We also checked out a new spancy grocery they've opened downtown for the loft dwellers. One great thing is they have an extremely well stocked cheese area and I found some true Parmigiano Reggiano. The price was slightly higher than the one ATK recommended from igourmet so I still think I'll try an order from there once the stuff I purchased runs out. We also bought an "extremely aged" gouda--really, that's how it's marked Very Old Gouda--that the counter guy recommended. Wow it's good. Very expensive so we only bought a small amount. It's strong and a bit salty so I'm thinking using it with fruit and a bit of light sausage and some good bread would be a great way to serve it.

I tried out Ina's "herbal tea" recipe this weekend with the Raspberry and Lemon Zinger along with apple juice. I liked it and think it'd be a great summertime brunch drink though I'd add some sugar. I drink it without but I suspect most folks would want it sweeter.

Checked it out

I looked at the site and it is a good one and I loved the fact that you could resize recipies. I got my stacked cooling rack today, so maybe tomorrow I will try it out with a batch of cookies. I made a delicious sour cream/cinnamon coffee cake and took it to quilting today. I love to bake but do not want to be the only one eating the goodies, or I will be even fatter than I already am.

I was not hinting about you fixing the L mower and the blower, or the Mantis, but I would appreciate some help getting them to the shop for tune up if I have not already done it before you visit next. I was soliciting your opinion about dismissing the yard guys and doing it myself.

It has been a long day and I am tired. I had post office, bought gas, went to quilt circle, bought groceries, walked dogs, fed dogs dinner and now I am ready for my easy chair and Food Network shows.

We can do eet!

Make a list! I'm absolutely capable (thanks to my husband) of evaluating your mower. I can even change spark plugs and the like. /flexes her super woman muscles. We can also make sure the blower works okay. I rarely use our blower since it seems as fast to me to use a broom as it does to use the blower. Of course I cheat and tend to sweep the clippings on the sidewalk back onto the lawn. Hey, they say that's good for the lawn!

No other real news here. I'm going to do a big pot of spaghetti tonight since my evening will consist of watching the OU-Florida game. Bleh. The things I do for my husband. However, I've already built a stack of cook books, gardening catalogs and my notebook next to my chair so I'm prepared!

I found a source for those neat little take out cartons ol' Ina uses. Ha HAH! They actually have a lot of neat containers. The Webstaurante Store They even sell those neat little grocery baskets for less than $10. Baskets I was looking at those thinking a couple of those would be pretty handy around the garden. They actually have all kinds of neat things and I don't see anywhere on there that there's some sort of minimum order size. There's tons of the nice utensils you see the chefs on the shows use and seems the industrial quality would be good and a lot cheaper than the specialty stores.

They have a recipe resizer too which is rather handy. Put your recipe in, tell it how many you want to feed and it sizes the recipe. Recipe Resizer

Economy is my goal

I don't know enough about the situation with Jennifer to comment on that situation, but hope that it will resolve itself with everyone involved feeling that they won. If something happens to your job, you have Kevin's income which you said was good and although it might be tight for awhile, you would find something else as you are so very good at your job and have wonderful people skills. Of course, I hope that won't be necessary as I know you do too.

The current times are forcing a lot of folks to take a hard look at spending habits, which is a good thing I think. Our country has been on a spending spree for years, and that cannot be sustained forever. You also reach a point where you are buying just for the sake of buying, which is irresponsible to say the least.

I am one of those folks that are taking stock. One thing that would save me over $1200 a year is doing my own yard. I seek your imput before I jump onto this do-it-yourself bandwagon. I know that I cannot edge with my current equipment,and my lawnmower would need servicing as it was smoking like crazy the last few times I used it. I think the blower is ok, but it has not been used in over a year, so I am not sure. Then there is getting the gas thing. It probably is an irrational fear, but it is there none the less. I think I could talk my neighbor into filling up my can when he does his, or I could ask Kitty's husband with the stipulation that I would buy them a can full, so that would solve that problem and I should not have to have it done that often if I buy a 5 gallon can and pour into a one gallon container to mix with oil. I won't have to make an immediate decision as the guys are turned off until March, so perhaps when you are here you can help me assess if this is a good move or not by looking over my equipment.

Bridget is another big outlay, but there is no way around that. I intend to avoid purchasing any quilt materials of any kind (except batting)until I have completed what is already on hand, which is another savings. What am I wanting extra cash for, you might ask. Some new flooring and some new furniture (couch and chair) is my answer. OK, so I could get by without it, but I have the "I wants "and hence the financial reflection. It will be interesting to see if I can manage to save enough to do it in 2009. It seems that every time that you think you are pulling ahead a little something happens that squashes that notion.

Life is just never content to be calm!

Now I know why the Chinese curse people with "May you live in interesting times". Between this situation with Kevin's daughter and a sneaking hunch my job may not be stable, I'm certainly distracted a bit lately. I know you've commented a couple of times about sounding that way and I'm sure I do. I'm sure you understand.

I tried one of the Bare Foot Contessa's recipes this weekend and made her split pea soup. It was really very good and pretty simple. If you saw that episode, try it! It'd be a great weekend meal for you and I suspect any leftovers could be frozen. We didn't have any leftovers but can you freeze split pea soup?

I need to make some homemade chicken stock myself. It looks so easy and I'm sure it's better than about anything I can buy as well as more economical. I need to find a source for those little plastic containers she uses. Those are the perfect size.

The King Arthur site is neat! They have a lot of great stuff. I certainly need to make a run down to Penzey's as I've about run out of everything including my Pacific Sea Salt. Ack!!

Another Check-It-Out

If you are not already familiar with King Arthur Flour, go to www.kingarthurflour.com and sign up for their emails and free catalog. They have wonderful recipes and baking supplies and tools that are top notch. Diane made me aware of them about a year ago and I have been a fan ever since. I notice that America's Test Kitchen uses some of their things. Their all purpose flour is rated best by ATK, followed by Pillsbury (which is what I use). Many of the chefs on Food Network use their flavorings from the looks of things. It is definitely worth a look-see.

I have been getting tons of garden catalogs as I am sure you have. The combination of spring-like weather and the catalogs makes me itchy to get in the garden, but of course I know "real"winter weather is just around the corner.