finished chair

I am officially 1/3 of the way finished with my chair re-upholstery project. If you want to check out the beginning - click here. Here are pictures of the finished first chair. I'm sure you are questioning the "matching" fabrics. The piece on the chair back was from a remnant left over from the original chair. They knew it wouldn't be enough for the whole chair but they still wanted it for sentimental reasons.

recently made meals . . .

This week I made the following 2 recipes from the Publix cookbook. Both were a hit. I especially loved all the veggies in second recipe.

Carne Asade with salsa & zesty pinto beans
Mediterranean Scallops with Artichoke-Mushroom Pasta

Remembering. . . .

Some memories fade into the background. Other memories are sharp and clear . . . even down to the tiniest details.

I remember walking into my office on Sept. 11 and being met by Beth who told me that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I remember standing for hours in the back conference room with the rest of my co-workers watching in horror for the rest of the day. I remember that our boss came to check in periodically but never once made any of us feel like we needed to do anything other than stand there and watch that screen.

In other vivid memories - a few years before that - a group of my girlfriends took a trip to New Orleans. We detoured for a couple of days to Beth's parents' home. Her dad fried fish in his carport for us - and by carport I mean - a covered area with a full-fledged kitchen which happened to have room to also park a car - unless there were a bunch of tables set up for fish eating. The next morning he got us all up and took us out in his fishing boat down the bayou to look for alligators. We ended up docking at Fred's bar at 10 am for beer.

Why am I talking about these good times in Louisiana today? I found out a couple of days ago that Beth's dad had an accident and passed away. And so. . . . today I am flooded with memories. . . .

knitting

I mentioned to my Nanny-in-law earlier this year that I'd like to learn to knit. So for Mother's Day she set me up with a pair of her old needles and her original "learn to knit" booklet. I started with a scarf. Rest assured that none of you are ever going to see it. Then I looked up a pattern for hats on the WWW and here are matching daddy & Joseph hats. I would love to say that they turned out perfectly first time around . . . but believe me. . . there was much tearing out and gnashing of teeth. Nanny - I still don't want you to look to closely. I have it on good authority that you can spot a dropped stitch from across the room.

Cooking with wine

Cooking tip - I've found that when drinking a glass of wine while cooking, the act of cooking actually becomes more enjoyable and whatever it is I am cooking suddenly seems a wee bit more gourmet.

Oh yah, you know I'm right. . . .

Publix

One of the many reasons I love Publix grocery stores. . . . recipe cards. As you walk into most Publix stores, they have a small sampling station. A worker is cooking up one of their many recipes to sample. Beside that is an aisle section where they sell all the ingredients for the recipe on the card. Each card is 3-hole punched. The cards are free but you have to pay about $5 for the binder/tabs. Well worth every $! Part of the reason I love this is because I know that the store will have all the ingredients I need. Great, great, great concept and it makes me a loyal customer.

They also have their recipes online: click here

some days. . . .

you need a big cup of coffee. . . .