Hunter's Birthday Visit

I went to Greta's on Monday, it was Hunter's 7th birthday.  I picked everyone up at school and I hung out with Hunter and Tucker while Myles went to his reading tutor.

 Tucker minus a front tooth

We all had a birthday dinner and in the morning Tucker and I attempted  a chess game which he probably would have won and then some quick photos.

 Hunter got his two front teeth for Christma

After I dropped everyone off at school I was on the road again, this time to home.

Visit to Laura

Went to visit Laura on Thursday. 
She made a delicious fritatta for dinner.

She had to work on Friday, but the driving weather was going to be better on Thursday and thought I'd just have a free day on Friday but I did some grocery shopping and made a batch of Chicken Tortilla Soup

 On Saturday we went to the Northborough Wegmans for lunch as well as grocery shopping.  The food court is amazing.  It's like going to the buffet restaurant on a cruise ship.  There were so many different stations with so many different types of food.  AND every item had a calorie count with it.  Once you got your food, you could go to any number of rooms to eat it in and some even had large screen TVs.  At the end of our shopping, at the far end of the store from the food court is the liquor store and I got to do a little wine tasting.

While at that plaza we also went to Kohl's, Ulta and Michael's.  Next to Wegmans, we spent the most time at Kohl's and I bought a new pair of shoes and boots.  I am defintely having a shoe binge lately.

On Sunday Laura went to Zumba and I went to Yoga at the BSC and then we went to her office.

At night we watched the Academy Awards and the next day I was off to Greta's for Hunter's birthday.

Migraine Madness

I'm at Laura's.  Been here since Thursday and haven't had to take even one Ibuprophen.  Am I allergic to my house?  Am I involved in some psychosomatic illness?  Or when I go home will I find that I am just fine?  This is my story:

Chair Repair

Just when you thought you could relax, you notice that the footrest on the chair is crooked and won't go down.  Chair repair team to the rescue.  We turned the chair upside down and found where the screw was that lost all it's parts that hold it all together.  After searching for the right size tools and torturing ourselves trying to get it together we almost did . . . then the washer fell and we couldn't find it.  Next step, find another washer.  Washer found, another attempt, another lost washer.

We finally got it all put together and by accident, after dropping something else, found where all the other pieces went.  So we taped them to the underneath of the chair and I'm posting it here so that we remember.

Pretty food

We went to Betty & Brian's for drinks tonight.  I made some wraps and devilled eggs.  Betty had a beautiful plate of fruit and veggies and caprese on a stick.  Just looked so pretty.

Maple-Glazed Ribs

Larry saw this recipe in the Endless Vacation magazine.  For some reason he's always pointing out recipes for me to make.  When I tell him he should make it he just sort of walks away, now why is that?  Anyway, I decided I would make it for him this weekend since I am deserting him for a few days next week to visit Laura and Greta.
I found the recipe online http://www.endlessvacation.com/TravelTactics/In-Vermont,-Stick-to-Ribs.aspx so I won't have to type it :-) Picture will be added after I make it.

Happy Valentines Day

The day before, we went for a walk after there was some snow and I was able to get a really good shadow picture.

These are my Valentine flowers.

And we went out for dinner too.

Quotes

Was looking for something else and then found this great site that has all kinds of information and just loved this quote by Benjamin Franklin. 
"Where there's marriage without love, there will be love without marriage."

See the site here

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Chicken Tortilla Soup

I was looking for Chicken Tortilla soup recipes and found all these, but then I got the recipe from Patti that she made for Super Bowl and that's the one I'm going to make today which happens to be the one from allrecipes listed below.  The recipe as written on this page has my adaptation of that recipe.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/chicken-tortilla-soup/
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-tortilla-soup-i/
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/mexican-tortilla-chicken-soup-recipe/index.html
http://low-cholesterol.food.com/recipe/chicken-tortilla-soup-ii-4627

Mixbook Photobook #2

Here is my second book.

Mixbook Photo Book #1

After dallying for months in doing these books that I bought on Groupon, I now have only 3 more days to place my order.  I finally finished this one yesterday.

Breakfast

I can't help taking these pictures of Larry's breakfast. Besides the fact that the colors are so pretty, how he is able to find room to pour in the milk always amazes me.

Spicy Mulligatawny Soup

When I was talking to Laura today about a recipe she was going to make for a guy, it reminded me of the first meal I made for Larry after we met.  It was our first date after our meeting and I actually invited him over after I got out of work to:
1) take a walk
2) have dinner
3) watch the presidential debate with me

It was 2004 but I don't remember who was debating  (just looked it up - Bush vs Kerry).  Originally I wasn't even going to see him that night because I had on my calendar to watch the debate.  I remember it was a Wednesday.  Monday I had a Women for Winesense meeting, Tuesday I had to clean and cook so Wednesday was our first "real date."

When we met for the first time on Sunday, at a coffee shop near his house, Larry invited me back to his house right from there.  It really impressed me that he could invite me on the spot.  I would have to spend hours straightening up first.  I did go, although I could hear Laura in the background telling me I shouldn't and if I did I should definitely be driving my own car, which I didn't.

Getting back to the basics, this is the recipe I made, with a salad which obviously won his heart.  I got the recipe from Patsy but it is originally Ann's mother's recipe.  I need to make it again sometime soon.

Car Projects - Scarves

I was on a scarf making kick for my fall/winter car projects.  I made a scarf to go with my Missoni boots which helped to use a lot of the yarn I had laying around.

My next project was a scarf in grays and black and I just mailed it to Laura.

I used this pattern for the ripples in the multi color one and wanted to follow it for the gray one but I missed a bunch of rows by mistake so just winged it.  I really like the way it looks in the blues in the pattern.
http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/jan99_crochproj.html

My next projects are going to be mittens.  I have lots of yarn and need something to do while I watch TV.

Fudgy Pudding Cake

This recipe has almost the same ingredients as the Coffee & Cream Cake except it's made in a slow cooker.  Looks good enough to try.  I saw it on Facebook from Michelle B.

Fudgy Pudding Cake

Warm, gooey and chocolatey are the words that best describe this sensational dessert made in a slow cooker! Ice cream is a favorite topping, but the cake stands by itself just as well.

Photo by: Oxmoor House

• YIELD: Serves 8 to 10
• COURSE: Desserts

Ingredients

• 18 1/4-oz. pkg. devil’s food cake mix
• 3.9-oz. pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix
• 16-oz. container sour cream
• 3/4 cup oil
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup water
• 6-oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Vanilla ice cream

Preparation

Beat first 6 ingredients at low speed with an electric mixer 30 seconds or until blended. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into a lightly greased 4-quart round slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low setting 4 hours or until set around the edges but still soft in the center. Turn off slow cooker and let stand 20 to 30 minutes; do not lift lid until ready to serve. Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Carol McMillan, Catawba, VA, Gooseberry Patch Keepsake Cookbook, Gooseberry Patch
JANUARY 2012

Note from 12/19/13 - I did make this dessert for Patti's Superbowl party in 2012 and this is the picture I remembered to take when it was almost too late.  I happened to be looking at this post today and saw that I never posted the picture and I didn't want to forget that I DID make it.

Penguins

Tucker's having a birthday party this Saturday.  When I found out last Friday I thought I had time to make a penguin amigurami for him.  I wanted to do it for his Jan. 5 birthday after we got home from Christmas but just didn't have the time.
I got it made and it was delivered yesterday, 2 days early.

Snowy Owl

After seeing an article in the paper about snowy owls I posted this picture to the D&C site:

This is where it is on their site:  http://rocgalleries.democratandchronicle.com/galleries/birds/865

Can you see him on the roof?

Winter Arrived Today

Last Friday it was 48 degrees and sunny.  Today it is 25 and snowy.

Orange Kiss-Me Cake

I previously mentioned that I was on the Pillsbury site for something else, not the lime bread.  I was looking for a chocolate dessert to make to bring for New Year's Eve along with the Buttermilk Pie.  I was looking for the zillionth time at the Tunnel of Fudge cake recipe.  Then I found a recipe for Orange Kiss-Me Cake and I thought I still had the original recipe.  I knew exactly where to look and found the recipe that I must have saved from a bag of Pillbury flour.  This was the winner in 1950 and here is the link http://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/orange-kiss-me-cake/8815ee24-37ee-4646-a989-8c993d2cdac4/
on the site.  Not sure which is more updated, the one I have says that it is updated from the original and uses frozen OJ.  The one online uses a fresh orange.
Below is the recipe I have which was probably from the 60s or 70s. 

French Cosmo

A bunch of husbands went to play golf in Orlando so it was a week of Martinis on Midship.
We had Pomegranate Martinis, Orange Pomegranate Martinis, Raspberry Martinis, Chocolate Martinis and a French Cosmo.  I made the French Cosmo and couldn't remember the ingredients so I'm putting it here.  Can't believe it wasn't here already.  A lot lighter on the vodka than the Pomegranate martini.

French Cosmopolitan

1 oz Citron vodka
1/2 oz Grand Marnier® orange liqueur
1/2 oz sweet and sour mix
1/2 oz cranberry juice
1/4 oz lime juice

1 drop grenadine syrup

Pour all ingredients (except grenadine) into a shaker, shake well and strain into a chilled large martini glass. Pour a drop of grenadine into the middle of the glass and let it fall to bottom. (It will color the stem red.) Garnish with a slice of lime, and serve.