now you know . . .

the cave is not large but it is filled with the stuff that makes me happy.  as i was permanently tacking what should have been seasonal bells to my mantle a week after christmas, i realized that's what home is.  a place of warmth, memories and pleasure. the bells make me happy.

and so i looked around.  i love the floor to ceiling fireplace made of coquina, jetting two stories up.  i love that over the years, kidlet, the 9TS and i stuffed goodies into the cracks and crevices.  you have to look hard but there are among other things: a crystal pig, a jute bracelet, a rubber dinosaur, a rough amethyst, a guinea pig, a frog, a small pig. i don't even remember when it started.  kidlet was small.  occasionally, someone will notice but mostly not.  it is a family thing.

there is a pair of old clamp-on ice skates hanging on one side.  the hearth is occupied by an antique fire extinguisher . . . the 9TS was, after all, director of public safety which made him a fireman as well as top cop . . . the black rotary phone my father bought me from the black market when i wanted a phone in my room at age 13, there is fat wood and fireplace tongs, two pigs and an elephant . . . and yes three antique hot dog skewers we use for roasting marshmallows.

there's a mirror with metal scroll work doors on the wall that came from a flea market.  under the stairs are two craftsmen leather chairs where the 9TS and i would chatter on cold winters evenings in front of the fire.  the end table has a tatted cover made my the 9TS's mother.  and of course the five foot leather giraffe who still wears the 9TS's hat, glasses and a mourning band.  the television will not be replaced when it dies.  i like this quiet space too much to add the disturbance. 

on the far wall stands my father's scooter.  the first toy he ever bought himself.  and nestled between the sofa and the fireplace is a barrister bookcase the sloth and i picked up in mt. dora.  it holds all manner of treasures:  my grandfather's collection of books by g. a. henty, my father's high school football team photo, my uncle's 100 year old stuffed bear, slightly munched upon by a dog my senior year of college, my mother's college copy of goodbye mr. chips, an old model train engine, a photo of my sister and i age four and one, a tiffany glass something something from kidlet's paternal grandfather, and books from my great grandfather.  sitting on the hardwood floors is a sisal rug, picked for its ability to be hosed off when cat yack has been deposited. 

yep, that's my space and now you know, kidlet.

so there . . .

nope.  i don't print them out.  nope. no one wants them.  nope. i just do them because i can.

and so it's christmas . . .

we made it though christmas with joy, insanity and gluttony. 

wednesday night was our traditional christmas eve dinner.  no longer the feast of the seven fishes.  one, because i don't think i know how to cook seven different kinds of fish and two, because the poor fishies are not very popular with the masses.  so into the gravy we dived.  and then opened presents with the family.  there were gift cards and boots, fish tanks and makeup, tee shirts and head bands, picture frames and contact lenses, pj's and pompom makers, candy and paddle balls, scarves and 'snowman poops', bath salts and breath mints, dresses and sweaters, 'reindeer noses' and bottles of wine, coasters and candy canes, 'christmas tree seeds' and laptop fans, garlic presses and salt cellars.  say all that three times fast. 

thursday, kidlet and i tore into our stockings, discussed eating breakfast, passed on that idea and went straight for the presents.  lots of goodies on our sleigh.  no photos.  i know.  i know.  but for once, i just wanted to focus on the fun and not the camera.  i will take some shots later but my favorite was my crocheted minion slippers from you know who. 

lee came over for christmas dinner and joanie sat with us while we noshed . . .  she had her own family dinner yet to come.  so there was prime rib with gravy, oven roasted taters, sauteed mushrooms, brussel sprouts, asparagus, salad, rolls and butter, and lee brought baked apple slices, fresh fruit and deviled eggs.  and oh those deviled eggs.  i ate six before dinner.  and then an open fire and s'mores.  oh and a little alcohol.  note to self: do not ask kidlet to make the drinks.  wobble.  wobble.  and then jen, tim and 'd' dropped by.  madness and mayhem, i wouldn't change a thing.

only because i have a penchant for lunacy, do i share this with you:

three generations in the kitchen today . . .

busy. busy.  the gravy is made and cuddling the meatballs, pork and sausage.  the deviled eggs are done.  the iced Heath Bar brownies are done.  the ziti is made and ready to be baked.  then tomorrow we will make the salad and bake the garlic bread . . .  cook the peel and eat shrimp, the dip is already made.  the courvoisier is ready and the goods for the strawberry margaritas are stashed.  have i forgotten anything.  oh and the cannolis are on their way.  there's a good reason there are more vowels than consonants in our last name.  table for seven in the corner please.

show and tell . . .

the power went out this afternoon.  when it didn't come right back on, i called FPL to discover it was a blown transformer and they would have it up and running within a three hour span.

meanwhile, kidlet was hungry and wanted some fast food.  all we had to do was disconnect the Liftmaster and manually let her car out of the garage.  no problem.

umpteen hours later, i look out and her car is still in the driveway.  it was dark out and since our next door neighbor's car was stolen a couple of weeks ago, i called her to retrieve it.  again, no problem, manually lift the door to re-engage the garage door opener and go.

not so fast.  the mechanism wouldn't reconnect so kidlet called me for help, as i was just inside the door folding round four of laundry.  problem was, all i was wearing was one of the 9TS's long sleeve tees.  you know the kind you love to slub around the house in.  the kind that covers your butt but just and no more.  the kind you don't want to get caught in while lifting the garage door in a lit garage when it is dark out.  in case raising your arms raises the tee and your entire nether regions are showing.  yeah, that.

i had two choices.  run upstairs and find something to cover the bottom half or see if i could do a 50 yard dash before any of the neighbors noticed.  hum.

so there i was trying to heave the door above my head while trying to keep my shirt down.  not working.  so i enlisted kidlet.  as i pulled on the connection cord with my arms well over my head, kidlet held fast to my tee keeping it from blinding the neighbors.

and then.  only then, did a car drive by.  the door dropped, i ran.  tossed the instruction manual to kidlet and headed back to my much more mundane job of folding.

two minutes later, i hear the door engage.  she's a genius.  a genius.  too bad she wasn't a genius before my display.  i'm telling you, it was much better than old man Parker's christmas leg lamp.

before things get nuts . . .

around here, i'm playing my little heart out:

and no, i didn't take the picture.  you're not going to catch me in the frozen tundra.  i've been down here too long.  forty years.  yep.

but once upon a time, i called this place home sweet *cough* home.  boarding school to be exact.  this was our dorm.  the rooms had window seats with the original blown glass panes. stunning. transom doors. metal beds. community baths unless you had a suite. mice in the kitchen. tudor style dining room.  did you know that a pat of butter flung from a tensed spoon will stick to a stucco ceiling until which time it descends with some alacrity into the head mistresses' dinner plate. house mothers. short sheeted beds.  study hours. lights out. 

a very good day . . .

lunch out with a friend.

a little shopping for kidlet.

some time with my nose in a book.

a little play time on photoshop.

it was a good day in river city.

oh yes i did . . .

so a friend was chattering on facebook about getting creative and redesigning a jacket she loves.  my brain, what is left of it . . . she who made the strombolis tonight and forgot the sauce . . . zinged me to my closet and made me grab an old 70's jones of new york plaid fitted suit jacket from which i could never be parted.

i knocked off a layer of dust and tried that puppy on.  just as i suspected, the shoulder pads could easily protect the entire defense of the ny giants.  or, think linda evans in dynasty:

whatever.  i ripped out the seams and pulled out five pounds of padding on each side.  tried it on and after a trip to the dry cleaners, it is going to rock with a pair of dark wash jeans and a cami.  if i had riding boots, i'd look like an extra from Black Beauty, except i'd look more like mickey rooney than elizabeth taylor.

color me happy.

the house is quiet . . .

i have the weekend to myself.  just a little me time.  i love the k's but sometimes it is just nice to wobble around the cave on my own.  so when k1 headed up north to visit friends and k2 went home to her parents, a tiny part of my black pitted little heart did a fist pump and squealed 'yes'. 

last night was a little scotch on the rocks and a nice big fire.  today i did some unimpeded christmas shopping.  k2 is finis.  k1 only needs two more goodies.  everything purchased is wrapped. i did have help though:

best help ever.

and then i played:

it was for a challenge over at designerdigital.com using masks.  i know it looks a little odd but trust me, christmas in the south is nothing like christmas up north.  thankfully.

the munchkins will be home before noon tomorrow.  k1 is tutoring k2 in intermediate algebra.  her final is monday.  fingers crossed.  and yes, i will welcome them both with open arms!!!

finally . . .

the grinch finally let go of my ass butt bottom and my christmas spirit took over when he wasn't looking.  it was a tad bit of a fight but christmas won.  the grinch isn't all that after all.

and so i found myself out at the mall shopping for k1 and k2.  of course the shopping was a bit lopsided since k1 was with me.  it's hard enough to shop for her but ditching her in the mall is even harder.  i will tackle her presents again tomorrow when she is gone.

but i did major damage in the k2 department.  a couple of little goodies for her stocking and i am finished with her.  one down, five more to go.

still, the grinch seems to have won the christmas tree battle.  we have not had one since the 9TS departed this earth.  we had a ritual.  he would erect the tree and fiddle with the lights while i sat back drinking a spiked something something and then we would trade places and i would trim while he imbibed.  i miss that most of all.  and so we have made do with a rather glittery green mass of molded metal which sits on a table in the living room.  at least it is topped with a red star.  oh and by the way, there is still glitter on my yoga mat from where they shared trunk space for the short trip home last year, but i digress.

i was ready to cave and get a real tree this year but when i called craig for his assistance, it seems that merry old grinch is now very much attached to his  . . .  and he is hacking and coughing, sneezing and wheezing and is generally in no condition to go tree hunting and mounting.  i have a reprieve for yet another year.  i have though, committed to the k's to buy a fake tree of a more reasonable size after the 25th to be stored for the following year. 

and so i sit yet once again plugged into my laptop with Pandora blasting that which is christmas to my ear.  life is good.

p.s. i have a feeling the grinch stole my christmas card powers and i may be sending out happy new year cards instead.  or easter.  yes, maybe easter.  or fourth of july cards.  they sound good.  fourth of july cards it is.

santorini part two . . .

back to playing. 

this will be the right side of the other santorini layout once i get the album printed.

it's getting closer . . .

i must have food on the brain.  the chili is simmering on the stove.  the cubes of beef are waiting in the fridge along side the carrots until tomorrow when the temps go down and the stew comes up.  despite temps almost in the 80's summer is definitely over and everyone's appetites are back.

it's time to think about christmas.  still no real tree.  i just don't have it in me, but we have a funky little glitter tree to brighten up the living room. it needs some lights but otherwise, it's good to go.  i've started my shopping list but have yet to make a dent.  progress comes in small steps.

and of course we have an extra stocking this year even though she will spend the holidays with her parents.  christmas eve is a tradition so she can open hers then.

all and all, the season is coming up.  deck the hall ya'll.  let the fun begin.

food glorious food . . .

i think i mentioned our one-new-food-item-a-week mandate to tease the palates of the resident sloths.  if i didn't well, yes, we are.  translated that means i am going to get k1 and k2 to expand their culinary horizons whether they like it or not.  say thanks, mom.

sunday night i went to robin's for 'souper sunday'  good peeps, good food, fantastic hostess.  robin is a fabulous cook and made a green chili posole soup.  let me just start drooling now.  of course i stole the recipe and it is on next weeks menu.  spicy.  healthy. delicious.

i'm also copying a special from my favorite tuesday haunt.  it's a flat bread with an olive tapenade, grilled chickie, black olives, spinach, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes and a drizzle of balsamic reduction.  ok, so i will use fresh tomatoes.  can i get another slurp.

while we're on the subject of soup, i came across an old recipe for cabbage soup.  you know, the one everyone was gorging themselves with in the early 80's.  i'd forgotten how good it was.  served with some warmed pita slices and hummus. slurp-o-licious.

that should hold them for this week.  or at least it will make me very happy.  they, however, may be found foraging at mickyD's.

only with Lee . . .

so miss lee and i went to lunch on friday as usual and we had a really delicious munch at the thai place.  oh my, they have the very best red curry with shrimp.  cross my heart and hope to die.

miss lee has been invited to an ugly christmas sweater party and consequently needs the proper attire.  we decided since we were at the thai place, we would hit the nearby consignment store.  since she had to make a pit stop first, i wandered down the sidewalk with plans to meet her there.

i meandered the aisles, checked the racks.  no ugly christmas sweaters but a very cute gold metallic cap sleeved top, size medium.  score me.

meanwhile, miss lee appears to be MIA.  no problem, she is probable flirting with the manager of the restaurant.  and she was.  you can't leave her alone for a second and bam, she is in trouble.  so i nosed around the store again, holding onto my gold top.

finally, i wandered up front again to see if i could see her.  no lee but a cop who was frantically motioning me to come outside.  so i hung my gold top on the nearest hook and wandered out.  he immediately urged me further down the sidewalk and by then i notice miss lee with another cop.

or lord, what did we do now.  my cop starts shouting 20 questions at me as i look around and notice five cop cars and a motorcycle converging on the site.  i didn't do it, i swear i didn't.

he wants to know if i work for the shop or am a customer.  a customer, i reply, that's why i left the top inside . . .  i didn't want to get arrested.  he didn't care about my top.  "was everything inside ok",  was he asking me for a critique on the store.  this was just getting plain weird.

nope.  seems somehow the silent alarm was tripped in the store.  so i offered to go get him the owner but no, he wouldn't let me back in the store.  he wouldn't let lee come over to me either.  WTH? 

by now i'm getting quite jittery.  i don't have time to sit in the pokey this close to christmas.

finally, they declare an all clear and lee and i can go shopping. 

on a side note:  my top was missing from the hook.  some other thrifty shopper had picked up my $7.50 new top while i was being interrogated.  not fair officer.  the owner was very nice though and rescued it back for me.  too bad it didn't fit. 

i'm not sure it is safe to hang around miss wild child . . .

here gobble, gobble . . .

and so it was that turkey lurkey sat down to dinner with the garlic mashed potatoes, the gravy, the stuffing, ham, brussel sprouts, asparagus, salad, deviled eggs, rolls and butter.

and turkey lurkey asked his friends why they were all gathered together.  the garlic mashed potatoes had no idea, he was too busy snuggling up to the gravy who was flirting with the stuffing.  the brussel sprouts and asparagus had no idea either but were happy to be all slathered in oil and warmed by the heat.  they had visions of being at the beach and were heard to sigh in deep pleasure.  the ham was so pleased to be emoting that he couldn't care less.  the deviled eggs were consorting with the salad and the rolls and butter were too wrapped up in each other to care.

but i know.  i really do.  we gathered together as family.  my kidlet and K2.  K2's parents and her mother's mother.  we ate and laughed and told tales of the 9TS.  we giggled and gaffawed.  we imbibed. and then we scoffed up chocolate silk and pumpkin cheese pies.

but most of all, we rejoiced in being family.  happy thanksgiving one and all. 

then and now or boredom hits the road . . .

monday kidlet and i got bored.  very. very. bored, so we hopped in her fit and headed up the ocean:

and ate at an old favorite dive.  so old in fact that this is what happened on the beach behind it on january 4, 1997.

yup. the 9TS had hair.  i was a few pounds lighter and kidlet was sevenish. very fancy schmancy of us.  after the JP did his thing, we wandered up and pigged out on shrimp, clams, oysters and other succulent goodies.  well the 9TS did.  i stuck with the shrimpies.

and so kidlet and i managed to toss down clams and shrimp in memory there of . . .  and maybe a beer.  oh and some chocolate mousse mystery cake.  and some onion rings and fries.  waddle.  waddle.

and then we hit Ulta and did some Urban Decay damage.  all and all, it was a fun reprieve from boredom.  score us!

and then there was this:

i know i've used this photo before but it's one of my favorites.  almost twenty years between the two photos.

it's gloomy out there today so  kidlet and i are hanging in our pj's.  in lieu of doing a mound of ironing, i played:

what?  the laundry didn't do itself?  gah!

life was boring . . .

so we ran away.  lee, k1, k2 and me. or is that i? or myself. well pick whichever one you like best but we all packed our bags and headed up 95 to st. simon's island.

we hit the lighthouse first because it closed at 4:30 and it was 4:29 and scampered up all 10,000 bazillion steps.  see proof.  four feet. and you know whose were bare, but in my defense, we didn't know the temperature was about to drop down to hell freezing over.

back down on solid ground i got a snap of three of the four musketeers. 

discovered a play ground:

and so we played and yes, i did. i climbed that whale.

wanna' know why the lighting is so weird.  check this out:

monster sunset.  coolio.

we decided we should find some food and ended up at barbara jean's.  really good crab cakes but you have to ask for tyler.  he's a cutie patootie and very fun to play with.  ask lee. or k2. or k1.  but i embarrassed k1 when i asked if we could take him home along with a box of pumpkin bread.  she should have known better.  i've been her momma for a very long time.

and this is what i woke up to the next morning.  she didn't want to wake me up when she got up at the butt crack of dawn:

yes, that is miss lee, hunkered down in the tub reading like it's the most natural thing in the world. 

we ate breakfast and headed to jekyll island to visit the boneyard on Driftwood Beach:

back to barabra jean's for some she crab soup.  oh boy, that's good stuff.  we didn't eat much because we were headed to Bennie's Barn for dinner.  yes, we ate a lot. and drank.  of course we did. silly.

headed home the next morning but here are a few odd shots i couldn't figure out where to stuff.  bambi didn't seem to mind us stopping and taking a few shots of her and her little buddy.

and that is all she wrote.  we had enough fun that we put it back on the list of things to do again.  not ssi but somewhere close.  wanna' come along?

and another . . .

and now, as soon as i process all of the photos, i'll share this weekend with you.

major fist pump . . .

yay, with all of Kidlet's alphabet soup of mental health issues, she has been accepted back at college for the spring semester and God willing, will graduate this coming may!!!!!  she only has to take two classes and they are both available on-line. can we get a hell yes!!!!!!!

and one more:

yes, i am that freak who runs around taking snaps of people's front doors.

istanbul . . .

so what do you do when you have a bunch of odd photos?  stick them up on a bulletin board. ok, so it's not one of my best but  . . .

goodness for the nose . . .

the house smells so good.  well, it does if you like the smell of roasting chicken and apple pie spice.

the chicken is one of my faves, smothered with homemade gravy, nestled around mashed taters and niblets of corn, some cold cranberry sauce and steaming rolls.  ok, so i am ahead of myself.  it really is still roasting away tented in its cocoon pouring forth with the aroma that reminds me of growing up in jersey.  i'm drooling down my front.

the apple pie spice is a mistake. mine.  i thought i had pumpkin pie spice when i went shopping this morning.  nope.  so the apple will have to do.  it's a new dessert recipe for a pie.  the crust is made of crushed ginger snaps, the first layer is a mixture of cream cheese and whipped cream.  the next layer is butterscotch pudding, pumpkin, and other good smelling stuff.  of course, a baker i am not.  as it sits in the fridge overnight . . . yeah like it will last that long . . . i see how different it looks from the nicely lit, exquisitely posed photo in the magazine.  mine will have an additional layer of whipped cream to hide the not so crisp division of layers.  hey, it all tastes the same.  hopefully.

and, a throw back to an 18 month old kidlet:

i see you . . .

i was making a dent in my work area when i decided it had been way too long since i have played.  so i grabbed some stabilo pens and some water color paper.  i might add in my defense that it is hard to do anything with pippin helping.  now i know why they developed cat cages . . . and no i didn't but i wanted to. sort of. anyway, there was a challenge last month to do faces.  i hate challenges because my mind wanders about day six and forgets to come back on task.

i started with blue stabilo but really messed up the eyes until they looked like the walking dead.  problem, naw.  i just cut out another piece of paper and started again. i'm flexible like that.

yeah, no, i pretty much didn't like the blue so i switched to brown, having been unable to find a black stabilo. then when i sent it to myself so i could mess with it in photoshop, i got rid of the blue altogether:

gotta' love photoshop when you don't like the direction something is going in.

and so, this is day 1 and i doubt there will be a day 2 considering the finished product and my attention span. 

we are now fighting over who is driving to micky d's.  it's one of those days.

tea for dragons . . .

so i used to collect teapots.  i don't drink much hot tea but i think the pots are adorable.  the 9TS was always bringing me home stray teapots.  they lived, for the most part, squished together on my garden window over the sink.  however, there might or might not be teapots in my bathrooms.  i'm just saying.

fast forward and when the 9TS had repainted the kitchen for the last time, we went with a red, black and white theme.  red being the accent color.  after a few more years of staring at my hodgepodge collection of pots, i decide they needed to get with the color scheme or move out.  but where to?  three began living on my counter top awaiting their fate.

on to another subject . . . sort of.  k1, k2 and i enjoy our evening meanderings through the surrounding neighborhoods.  quite a while back, i noticed that one house had a little cluster of coquina boulders and plants surrounding a palm and sitting on two of the rocks were teapots.  yes, teapots, how fortuitous is that?  one is black and the other red. fate.

and, since it is the season of booing.  i decided i had found the perfect home for my overflow.  every couple of nights, we would sneak under cover of darkness and deposit an additional teapot in their garden.  the first one included an unsigned note explaining booing in case they were unfamiliar with the concept.

k2 was filled with trepidation . . . her father having raised her to be an upright citizen.  but under my tutelage, her life has broadened.  wink.

while we are not certain they have even been spotted . . .  the note still sticking out of the first pot we gifted.  see, k2, you can't get arrested for gifting.  we are at least enjoying our strolls and my collection is dwindling . . . 

 see . . .

some are forever keepers!

how do you feel about dragons?  found this one in a moat, of course, in Kotor, Montenegro.

dragons like tea.

sorry . . .

but now that i have a guest spot on DesignerDigitals.com for the month, you get inundated with layouts.  on second thought, i am not sorry in the least.  i am happy as a pig in mud.  warm soothing, squishy mud.  deliciously murky and funky mud.  rolling around in and flopping in mud.  got the idea??

here's the newest, done while sitting in front of the fire while kidlet roasted the biggest marshmallows i have ever seen in my life.  i like to char mine and pull off the top layer and then pop it in my mouth, stick the marshmallow back in the fire and repeat.  after pulling off seven layers, i was stuffed and kidlet was impatient for the roasting fork.  i gave her my leftovers.  yum!

talk about a throwback.  this was the year we decided to spend christmas in boston.  so much fun!

saturday night and charred lizard . . .

it's what's for dinner.

the temperature dropped.  no not snow.  but we floridians don't need snow for a fire.  we'll use any excuse what-so-ever.  and 55 degrees works for me.  so i started this:

please ignore the warming tootsies but if you look carefully, you might spy kidlet's 'sunshine' tat.  back on topic . . . after burning for a while, it was obvious we needed another load of wood, which i promptly brought into the house.  but then the fire wobbled and i asked kidlet to add some fat wood. while she was poking around, she noticed a stick stuck on the fire screen and went to pick it off.  it moved.  it was a rather charred but very much alive lizard.  we think he must have come to town among the last pile of wood.  kidlet promptly picked him up and deposited him outside.  her hands were sooty where she touched his little bod.  hopefully he will survive and will live to tell his great grandchildren of his grand trial by fire.

we also won't mention the smoked squirrel.  when i went out for more kindling the first go round, i looked at the chimney and it was sending up great sputterings of smoke of the wild fire variety.  holy smoke signals batman, it was intense.  since all was fine in the house, i think it was the remnants of someone's summer home.  someone who cusses pippin out from the nearest tree.  never fear, all is well.

i'll take things found on the beach for $200 . . .

last night was like christmas in the cave.  i got to download the entire of week of new goodies over at DesignerDigitals for the start of my month as a guest designer.  i tried not to be greedy but it sure was hard not to download it all.  so here we go:

check out the two end photos!!!!   lee took those.  almost every morning my intrepid friend is down on the beach walking with her camera.  she mostly photographs the sunrise but these were so fabulous.  look at the lighting!!!!  thanks for letting me steal them, lee!

you know that little black cloud . . .

the one that has been following me around and breaking things in the house . . . like the dishwasher.  for which we are still waiting on parts.  and the toilet, that i fixed, by the way, and the sink that refused to give forth with the clear refreshing liquid it was designed to emit. and the refrigerator that sends me ice burgs rather than cubes.  yeah, that cloud. 

it's back.  k2 went out the garage to head to work and even before she popped back upstairs with the news, i knew something was terribly not so very good.  my bedroom is right over the garage.  grind.  lurch.  groan.  they were all sounds coming through the floor boards.  when i took a look, one of the gear chains was hanging.  when i manually lifted the door so k1 and her car could escape, it spewed cogs and gears like so many snowflakes from heaven. black greasy snowflakes.  ok, so not so much like snowflakes. 

so i called the garage door peeps and told them my garage door opening mechanism had committed suicide.  he chuckled.  really.  he did.  but being the nice guy he is, and having put up with me before, he's got us on the schedule for tomorrow. 

again with the first world problem, jeanne.  people have real issues.  shut up. 

ok.  i was just saying.

incoming . . .

so in continuing our quest for a larger culinary experience . . .  aren't we sounding all pretentious . . .  we are back to one or two new recipes a week.  tonight's experiments were polar opposites on all four quadrants.

one is relatively wholesome and the other decadent to the nth degree.

one is an enormous do-again while the other, a decided flop.  (we have a much better very similar recipe that can be served over grilled bread or angel hair pasta.)

one is thrown together in a singular giant step.  the other requires a slower building process.

one has a bite.  the other melts in your mouth.

on the slurp scale of one to five, here we go.  main dish category.  although we love pasta and basil, and tomatoes and mozzarella, this was a one slurp.  sorry but it was boring except for the mozzarella pearls i may or may not have been tossing in my mouth like so many peanuts. 

nope, not inventive enough to do again.  sorry.

dessert category, are we ready?  carmelitas.  are you familiar with these goodies?  no photo usually means they were gone before the shutter could snap.  not exactly true in this instance but exactly how much gooey-ness can two people consume in short order plus we had to save some for k2 who has a night class after work on tuesdays.  slurp scale?  off the freakin' sugar induced coma charts!!!!!!

and that my little foodies, is that.

lipsmacking good ol' hot out of the oven . . .

picked up a cast iron cornbread mold when i went junking a couple of weeks back.  this is after its first bath in easy off:

 

almost all of the gunk scrubbed off but just to make sure it was squeaky clean, i coated it again and it is sitting in a plastic baggie for another 24 hours.  then it hops into a vinegar bath before being seasoned.  fall and cornbread, what can i say?

happy. happy . . .

There is a site called GSO . . . short for Gallery Stand Outs . . . and they scour all the various digital sites for their daily favorites.

hold your seats there cowgirls and check out the second one down!!!!

yes, i'm a tad excited.  saddle up those ponies and head on down the road.

hummmmm . . .

wht f ( ) wk p n mrnng nd rlzd  ( ) hd spnt m lflng qt f vwls?

spent part of the morning moving the remainder of the wood pile from the wood brace in anticipation of a truck load of oak coming in on friday.  the newer wood will go on the bottom and the older seasoned wood will go on top and yes, i am hoping the predictions for a colder than normal winter are correct.  the fireplace has been cleaned, inspected, patched and the flue has been modified to work more efficiently.

i have visions of cozily sitting in front of a roaring fire with warm tootsies, my laptop and a mug of swisse mocha.  yes, i am delusional but for those five or six days, i am in heaven!!!!

warm kitty, sleepy kitty . . .

pippin has wedged her body between my bent knees and the back of my laptop.  it's warm there apparently.  she is such a florida cat.  a little cooler weather and she goes into wimp mode.

this was my favorite town.  what a gorgeous place.

i would be happy to head back.  anytime. 

musk be a mosque . . .

more playing . . . this time on a more traditional basis.  the truth be told, while i enjoyed turkey, i was happy to get the heck out of dodge.  they made me feel creepy: