one week in a day

there is a young girl in my neighborhood.  most days you can find her in her front yard with her ipod and headphones, singing her heart out.  people drive by and laugh....even my brother laughs.  but still she sings.  she sings like she is jennifer lopez or some other superstar diva.  yesterday, i sat outside listening to her.  and no, she can't carry a tune in a bucket.  but as i sat and listened, i smiled because you know what....she believes.  she believes she is a superstar and i wish we could all be that way.  i wish that we all believed in our superstar powers.

i could take singing lessons from her.

*****************************************************
this shot is from last sunday's full moon...the cherry on top of the very best of evenings.  i loved the way the moon was a beacon through the heavy spanish moss.  it rose fast, almost faster than i could set up my tripod.  and as i got ready, my brother and sister-in-law stood watching its beauty with me.  life is good like that, you know?  or mine is....i have way more blessings to count than negatives. 

******************************************************
i started another art journal.  this one is much more personal.  in some small ways i like that it's private and mostly very raw.  i've also been on a major reading kick - i went to the book store today and restocked on some new authors that i either researched or are on the book club list at the store.  i've been keeping track of what i've read on a blog page.  i've also given them stars (the more stars the better) but i'm not sure how long the stars will stay.  it seems my opinion of the book changes sometimes.  i bought a fake diana lens from photojojo but so far i'm not happy with any of the shots.  there is no way to focus and it feels mostly weird.
**********************************************************************************************
i did a swap of spring photographs - i'll have to show you the one i got in the mail.  it's bokeh-licious.  speaking of spring, i have to confess i'm addicted to peeps.  i should be very glad that easter is tomorrow before my bum begins to resemble a peep chick.  i'm also rather fond of the cadbury caramel eggs.  *sigh*  speaking of cooking - i tried the pioneer woman's recipe for sour cream noodle bake and it was yummy.
**********************************************************************************************
today on my ipod -   feels like home to me** (chantal kreviazuk), must have been love (pat mcgee band), you can't always get what you want (the rolling stones), wonderland (angie aparo), all for you (sister hazel), breakin' me (jonny lang), daniel (elton john), gravity (sarah bareilles), at the stars (better than ezra), wasting time (jack johnson), where you lead (carole king)

quote of the day - how wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  (anne frank)


*totally my wedding song if i ever get married again.

the past few days .... in pictures of course

frankly my dear...

there are too many things running through my head today - i think the artic chiller sweeping through the state has taken over my brain and has put it into hyperdrive...or something like that.

little things seem to be irritating me today - more so than other days when i tell myself just to chill out. theses things include - total inconsideration of my calendar when it comes to scheduling meetings, music and captivas on blogs, the drone of the construction seems to be at a higher pitch today, the general lack of length on most tops unless it's designated a 'tunic' and then it's almost knee length, obnoxious football fans instead of good fans, weather forecasts, kayne, trump, and diddy - not together - separately, dry heat, and my bladder.

yeah...i need to get over myself. i know. these are all part of my journey. it feels better just to admit it instead of holding it in.

so far the 365 project is six days old and i've only struggled one day...yesterday. i will admit it's a lot harder on week days as i tend to do one of four to six things a day: wake-up, race around like a demon to get ready for work, work, come home as it's getting dark, throw together some kind of dinner, relax, and go to bed. but, i'm pressing on. the more fun part of my days this week have been consumed with my art journal that i started. it feels right now like the writings of a middle-school girl...but, as that's the last time i took 'art' lessons it makes sense to me that i would re-live that period of my life. next thing you know i'll macrame something and maybe move on to papermache.

i'm going to totally redesign my blog sometime soon. not sure exactly how it's going to turn out but i hope it's less chaotic than it is now. that too is irritating to me today...how chaotic my blog looks.

i made a version of tyler florence's slow cooker pork barbecue this week and it was yummy. no photographs though as the pork looks much like a lump when the dry rub and then when it was ready, we devoured it like wolves (yes it was that good). i rubbed the butt (yes, the child in me laughs as i type that) and put it in a slow oven for a bit to let it begin cooking. then, i moved the pork to the slow cooker with a layer of sliced onions and just enough water to cover the pork 3/4 of the way up. let it cook slowly until the meat is done and falls apart. gently shred the pork with two forks and serve warm over hamburger buns with your favorite barbecue sauce. tyler suggests topping it with coleslaw - but i'm an alabama girl and we have our coleslaw on the side.

dry rub:

2 T chili powder

2 T kosher salt

2 T black pepper

2 T dried oregano

2 T paprika

2 T celery seeds

3-4 T garlic powder

gratitude:: day 16 of 30

i learned how to cook when i was quite young - mostly to help mom around the house. with five children, including one terminally ill child, she had her hands full. she taught me the secret of fried chicken and beautiful brown pan gravy. i watched her hands as she stirred in the flour and made a caramely roux and though i'm not as good at it as i used to be (a lack of practice and impatience for precisely the right moment to add liquid) i still make gravy the same way. i look at a plate and think "on wait, it needs something green". i'm probably one the few weird people that like green olives in their chicken a la king....wait, i'm probably one of the few people that know what chicken a la king is...isn't that a 50's dish?

today i find myself looking over recipes, reading some of them as though they were the most intriguing book ever. i wonder if everyone will like it - is it too weird for my brother with the very plain taste? will the nephews eat it or pick around it because they were raised politely?

i am glad that i learned to cook at a young age - it helped me stand on my own two feet and take care of myself...and as a result, my family and friends.

memories, cooking and other bits

it seems as though it's been forever since friday night. time has been doing funny things lately - it's blending together. i will attempt a quick wrap-up. saturday i spent with a sick niece (the baby) and then sharing cotton candy with the older niece after she got home from the fair. i've caught up on my diego watching and know more about penguins, porcupines and red-eyed tree frogs. after babysitting we all gathered for football (roll tide) and steaks on the grill. poor little emme was so upset not to be able to go outside but the air was not good for her croup. (it so broke my heart when she ran into my arms crying, 'please, please') sunday was church - though the niece's singing was canceled for another day and lunch.

i went exploring sunday and reliving very very very old memories. is it weird that i don't remember a lot about first grade? i remember the teacher's name and the smell of that paste we used to have at school. i remember the play yard as the house we lived in was on a hill overlooking the school yard. i used to have a picture of my brother and i playing on the yard.



i also remember this house. the first halloween that i remember, i remember being scared to go to this house as it was rumored that a witch lived there. we were never allowed in the yard. as you can see now, it's been damaged by fire and is unsafe to explore. it's a beautiful house, i wish i could remember it in its full glory - i bet it was gorgeous. i also remember going trick-or-treating at the governor's mansion about five blocks away. the governor himself gave out the candy.

time changes everything - it expands and contracts in proportion to many things in our lives.

last night i cooked meatloaf and homemade mac and cheese. neither one was a great hit. i'm not a meatloaf person so this was my first attempt, maybe i will try again. the mac and cheese was adequate, though my brother didn't like it. i did redeem myself tonight though with barbeque pork, chips and baked beans - the guys loved it. i also made christina's crostata again and i'm happy to report both nephews had two slices - major score.

i will admit, i'm sick of apple, acorn and leaf pictures but i'm feeling completely uninspired. typically my advice is always shoot through it so, i'm trying...more shots to come soon. until then my friends, sleep well, sweet dreams and happy thoughts.

ps - i'm finally reading 'my life in france' by julia child and i adore her voice. now that i've seen the movie, i can read it and hear meryl streep as julia in my head. perfection.

catching up

i know you guys are tired of some combination of nuts, pumpkins and glass. hopefully i can go to the fair sometime this week. today it's cooler and i am going to make christina's rustic apple pie in a bit. i think sitting and watching the leaves fall while i peel apples sounds like a perfect past time for a sunday afternoon (the oak leaves make such a beautiful spiral as they float to the ground). later i'm making taco soup (or chili).

last night i went to see 'whip it' with ellen page and drew barrymore. i know the movie was panned by the critics but i really loved it. i think i remember watching a calmer roller derby when i was a child - but this just looked so fun. it also made me remember that marcia gay harden is just a fabulous actress. she is so subtle and nuanced that i adored every scene that she is in.


omg - this may be the best thing i've ever made - she is right, the orange zest is just everything.

friday night i saw my itty bitty bit of a niece - i won't be able to call her that much longer - she is getting so big. as she played at the dinner table and ate butterbeans off my plate, my heart was filled with so much love that i could just burst. completely burst...and again when she said 'on the lips' when i kissed her goodnight.

this guy has been hanging out on the front porch for a few days now. i think from the pictures i've searched that he's a golden silk spider and he's definitely an orb weaver as his (her?) web covers the entire front of our bay window. shudder. i've tried getting closer but there are what are called warning webs or anchors in the way. though the bite is not poisonous, it can hurt for a few days. (i'm not going to chance it)

this has been a gift of a weekend. it was predicted to be stormy and ugly - instead we have beautiful, cool and the sunset last night was golden and glorious. hopefully we will have another today. hope your weekend is golden and glorious too.

the ususual

what's been going on in your little world? i've been catching up with my reading - taking a day off is always interesting because it takes me forever to catch up with you.

the weekend was quiet - saturday night my sister and i went for a drive down to watch the full moon. it was beautiful and we had a good time talking about anything and everything. sunday was even more quiet really. i can't really tell you one thing that i did besides play with the still life shots that i showed you.

yesterday was the busy day - doing paperwork, washing clothes and errands. cooking for the weekly family dinner (now that the monday shows are no longer in re-run). i've perfected the broth for the pot roast to one can cream of mushroom soup, one envelope of brown gravy mix and one envelope of onion soup mix. add the roast and later in the day add any combination of veggies you like. nothing was left last night but a few carrots.

oh the high life i live, right? *chuckle* don't be all jealous now. the state fair starts this week though i seem to be the only person in the family that is excited about it. the one thing i've been looking forward too. so, i guess that means i have to decide if i want the shots well enough to haul a tripod around myself. even with the carbon fiber legs, the thing isn't lightweight.

so, i hope your week is off to a good start. mine is like the tortoise - slow but steady.

potato salad was had by all

the birthday party was a wonderful time and i'm happy to report the potato salad was received very well. my sister in law laughed at we siblings as we are used to certain meal items being catered to our taste by mom - which makes the exact ingredients of mom's potato salad much more of a guess than common knowledge. my youngest brother swears she never put onions in it - my other brother didn't know about the celery seed - when she tried to cater it to me, she left out mustard and onion. the only agreement were the eggs and olives. here is what i remember chopping many, many, many times as a child: olives, eggs, celery (eventually she started using celery seeds instead), pimentos and onion. to that she added mayo (miracle whip actually), mustard, sweet relish and potatoes. served cold.

the brownie pops eventually just turned into individual brownie cakes - the girls were so happy having their very own cakes and candles. it was just the best time - except i forgot to actually light my sister's candles. hahahaha - it was very hectic.

but....in getting ready for the company i finally got the studio arranged the way i want it. the extra furniture previously in the way was stored and i'm in heaven. look at how the light hits my little table (built by my father). (of course the girls instantly loved playing with all the bottles) it was so inspiring that i'm going to tackle my bed room next. i'm leaning towards decorating in there with mustard and blues with the already established (before i moved in browns and khakis).

and ... a front has moved in and changed the humidity to nothing. i'm in heaven. hope you are too.

that's what you call an epic fail

here's the thing...not everything i cook is going to be the greatest. especially when i'm on this 'try new things' kick because i'm bored in my comfort zone. sure...sure, there have been successes - like the shrimp tacos and pound cake. but last night was probably the first epic fail where we both said, ehhhh no, never again.

i'm not sure exactly where it went wrong - i think perhaps it was using the flour tortillas and the sauce. it combined for a gummy mess. usually i credit where i got a recipe, but in this case i will stay silent. it was a popular blogger (though not a food blogger) and it could be my failure and not hers.

now, i will use the worse grammar transition ever....wait for it. anyway, chalk it up to a bad experiment and i will throw the leftovers away after i get over the guilt of feeling like it wasted food. i hate wasting food. hate it. but, that is how bad i disliked the meal.

the sun today is beautiful - like a long lost friend. it has this golden quality and when it first hit the chinaberry tree in the backyard this morning it was almost magical.

the best

i came to loving roasted red bell pepper later in life - i can remember going to dinner with a dear friend and picking them off my plate to give them to her (what was i thinking???) but as i was dragged along kicking and screaming to expand my palate, i slowly began to love the new flavors i was tasting.

of course i'm still fairly picky when i eat, which limits my palate. i wish the taste of raw onion didn't gag me, that mustard didn't kill the taste of a dish, or that i liked more than i do...but, 15 years ago i didn't really care for basil, chickpeas, bell peppers, or weird cheeses. so i've come a long way.

the oven has been on the fritz for a while and given my current economic situation coupled with my brother's odd schedule, we haven't had the time to get it repaired. so, i've become very creative with a stovetop, crockpot, the george foreman, and the toaster oven - so....it works.

tuesday i roasted yellow and red bell pepper on the george foreman. they charred up nicely and then i popped them in a plastic baggie for steaming the skins to make them easy to peel.



as they were steaming - i tossed a chicken breast on the grill, seasoned with a bit of dale's. oops - dale's is an alabama thing so - just season the breast with a light bit of seasoning to brown it - worcestershire, soy, whatever floats your boat and makes your mouth go 'yummy'.

slice the chicken into sandwich like slices. remove the skins from the bell pepper. if you have a bit of pesto - even yummier. take a nice sandwich roll and a cheese of choice - goat cheese with this would be soooo yummy (today though, I used up the last bit of swiss cheese).



stack up your sandwich the way you would like it and then press the sandwich in the george foreman to meld these yummy ingredients together. heaven!

the whole earth was brimming with sunshine that morning. she tripped along the clear blue sky pouring liquid blue into her soul.

there have been many posts about make-up today in my blog world so i will share with you my sister's secret. she's addicted to wet and wild's mega plump. it costs $2 and she goes through tubes like a maniac - to quote her, "i love it." so there you have my wild make-up tip. the good thing about not having a job - you save money on make-up. i rarely wear more than powder and mascara these days. yeah - i can hear the excitement of any male readers left out there.

to tell you how very bored i've been, i organized my computer cookbooks and have consolidated them into one. i noticed the following about that

:: though i dislike baking with a passion, there are a very high number of cake recipes in the cookbooks. i love cake - i am intimidated of cakes. it's all so exact and delicate. pies are easier.
:: i have at least five different recipes for shrimp and grits. i only use one. maybe it's time to let go of a couple.
:: i put overly ambitious recipes in the cookbook in hopes that i will be inspired - turns out they make me lazy and bring on unbridled use of cream of mushroom soup. i swear i'm going to make those empanadas from userealbutter one of these days.

i didn't do all of my errands yesterday but i did pick up chinese food. since moving home there has been a serious lack of chinese food in my diet. maybe that is the root cause in so many allergy attacks this year - the lack of eggrolls and steamed dumplings. i will investigate that possibility more.

clothes are washed (not yet folded), i need to pay bills (don't want to) and groceries need to be purchased. boredom has moved into the food area (part of the reason for the cookbook consolidation). did you know that 2% milk is named that because it only has 2% less fat than whole milk and not because it has 2% total fat? yeah, neither did i. now i know why there is such a drastic difference between that and skim milk. boo.

this morning i read a blog and was suddenly transported back to my childhood. something about summer does that to me and i think it's universal. summer is the time screams childhood, isn't it? the memory in particular is sitting on the steps of the front porch with the light off. soft murmurings of voices with the adults sitting in in the kitchen playing cards. running after fireflies and making wishes on dandelions. playing 'mother may i' in the dusky light and swinging until my lungs felt as if they would burst.

last night i saw fireflies as i took out the garbage. this morning i watched a bright red cardinal play among the leaves of the chinaberry tree. he hopped from branch to branch. i swear i heard him laugh, so i laughed with him. he flew way - but, i know he'll be back around. i think maybe i will too...some day...hopefully soon. i miss me.

how did it get to be wednesday already?

i swear i slept through the last day or so. sunday, while finishing up shopping for the holiday dinner, i also bought a box fan. i used to sleep with one but figured since i now have a beautiful ceiling fan in my room that i could be a grown up girl and ditch my former companion. i think i had forgotten that wonderful white noise drone of a box fan that is roughly similar to sleeping inside a giant airplane. i've been sleeping like a baby - in fact, except for a quick pee break in the early morning hours, i slept until 10:00 a.m. that's insane, but as a friend asked this week, is it really oversleeping if you have no place to be? *sigh*

the party was a great success. food was consumed, friend and family came over, the dogs behaved and i got maximum cuddle time with the nieces. my boys (the nephews) didn't come over as they were hanging out with their dad and older brother - i missed them. but, it was a housefull and i felt happy. cocktails and ribs - yum. the baby's face as she tasted lemon pie for the first time. ga playing tea party with my teacups and reading the book that i read as a child. all part of the quilt of warm and beautiful.

i need to run errands today and i need to replenish flowers. there is a shiny thing in the sky, my brother tells me it's called sol and if i go out it could warm me. i also have a ton of clothes to wash and a room to tidy up. but the sun is shining and housekeeping will....well, keep.

a parting shot of the wilted roses....these kept beautifully for ten days - i think that's a record for me.

Since you asked....

EAGLE BRAND LEMON ICEBOX PIE

1 can eagle brand milk

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 graham cracker crust

** This is for two generous pies so I tripled the recipe. I also used store bought crusts - making them at home is very easy with graham crackers, butter and a bit of sugar. But I cheated today - easy.

I hand-squeezed enough lemons for one and one-half cups lemon juice (it took about 14 large lemons). As I said, I had the concentrate handy if the lemons were not enough. Turns out, I didn't need it.

Open three cans of eagle brand and spoon into a bowl. Separate nine eggs. You can reserve the whites for making a meringue or use them later for an egg white omelet. Mix together the milk and the eggs until creamy.

Slowly add the lemon juice as you are beating the milk and egg mixture. The filling will thicken - continue beating to make sure it is smooth and creamy. Pour filling into crusts.

Some people have an aversion to uncooked eggs in recipes. I only use eggland eggs which are safe, however, if you like, you can put the pies into the oven at 350 for about eight minutes to make sure the eggs are cooked. Then you can cool the pies and put them into the fridge to completely cool.

This recipe is from an old cookbook but a classic. I got it on a recipe card during my bridal shower (everyone was told to bring me two recipes). I'm sure this was around in the fifties when my mom learned to cook. It is one of the few from that bridal shower collection that I continue to use.


Of course ... supervision in the kitchen is always desired if you're unsure of how to work the appliances or need a taster. Lizzie, the eternal optimist, tries to assure me that pugs indeed like lemon icebox pie.



and....the finished product (before adding a whipped topping or meringue).