Have you ever had "one of those days"??? I had one today! Last week I bought a card for my camera that didn't work with it. When I was leaving, the alarm went off. I showed them the receipt and all was fine. When I brought it back today, I realized after I got there that I didn't have my receipt. When I walked in, the alarm went off. I stood around a minute and no one said anything. I went to the customer service counter and at first she said they couldn't take it back without a receipt, but decided she could. She asked for my drivers license and I remembered that I had stuck it in my back pocket when we went out Saturday night (a rare occasion!) so I handed her my old one. She said she couldn't use an expired one. I remembered I saw my temporary license so I dug it out. It had one day left! I was starting to worry how I'd get out of the store without them thinking I had shoplifted the card!! Anyway, I got my money back on a card and did some shopping. I checked out, scanned my gift card and then realized I was out of checks. I had to ask the lady to hold my stuff until I ran home. Told her it would probably be about 10 minutes. Of course, I got home and couldn't find any checks except two that I started to write and messed up on. I ordered more checks and went back to wal-mart. My stuff was already at customer service to be put away! So.....you see, I have had one of those days today. I think I need to go home and relax for a while!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
One of those days....
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Pictures from Langston
Last Sunday I took the scenic route home from Momma & Daddy's house....I drove through Langston. I always loved driving throug there. When I was little, sometimes we'd all load up on the back of the truck and go to the river to swim. Those are two things I'd never do now--ride on the back of a truck or swim in the river with the snakes!! We had to drive through Langston to get there and I always thought it was so pretty. You can see the farms through the trees and I always
thought when I grew up, I'm go there and paint a picture! Its hard to get pictures driving down the road, but there are some pretty sites along the way. I especially loved when I could see a house and pasture with cows grazing. I guess that's what I always thought I'd paint. I didn't think about house I'd get the photo of what I wanted to paint. Maybe some day I'll try it!!
Lisa, here's that recipe I promised you....the one I found in Healthy Cooking magazine. Serve this with the fresh baked bread and some roasted garlic. That's my favorite meal these days!!
Blackberry Spinach Salad
6 c. fresh baby spinach
1 c. fresh blackberries
1 c. chopped tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes
2 T. chopped walnuts, toasted
2 T. olive oil
1 T. balsamic vinegar
2½ t. honey
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t. Dijon mustard
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
Combine spinach, berries, tomatoes & walnuts in large bowl. In small bowl, whisk oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, mustard, salt & pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to coat. Sprinkle with cheese and serve immediately.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Little Bit...and a new dip recipe!
Look how pretty Little Bit looks now....I am dying to grab her up an pet her, but she let me know that wasn't going to happen. lol! A few months back, I tried to pick her up and I had scratches all over my hands! She will smell of my hand or take a snack from my hand, but that's about it! When I went to the vet to pick up some cat food, I got a nice surprise. Remember Gandhi, the little kitty that wandered onto my porch that was almost starved to death? He had been neutered that day and someone was coming to pick him up! He'll be living inside and never have to worry about going hungry again. I almost cried when I found out he was being adopted. Unfortunately the other two kitties I took are still there, but they are gorgeous now and I'm sure they'll find a home soon.
I think we may get to start on my roof for my studio this weekend--keep your fingers crossed for me that it won't rain all weekend!!
My friend Alyssa at Olde Common Candles sent me this really easy recipe for taco dip. I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds good. I was thinking if you wanted to change it up, it might be good to replace the beans with salsa some time too.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Happy Birthday, Tyler & Jackson!
Below are some pics from Jackson's birthday party. As we like to say around here, "he's growin' like a weed!!" Last month was Tyler's 9th birthday and last week was Jackson's first birthday! This is Tyler on the right with his cousin Wyatt. We had a SpongeBob Squarepants themed party....'cause everyone loves SpongeBob, right? We had a pineapple, Squidward Dogs (hot dogs that we sliced into tentacles before we boiled them), Crabby Patties, Goldfish (crackers), and Ocean Water (punch). It was as much fun setting it all up and coming up with ideas as the party was.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Dill Pickle Relish
Thought I'd share another recipe. This is for Dill Pickle relish--I like to use it in tuna salad. My mouth is watering right now, thinking of taking a big bite of it!! Remember the onion chopper I mentioned for the squash relish? It works good for chopping the cucumbers into tiny pieces too.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Favorite Bread recipe
(Artisan Free-Form Loaf) Makes 4 1-pound loaves 3 cups lukewarm water Instructions: 1. Heat the water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit). 2. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded container (not airtight — use container with gasket or lift a corner). Don’t worry about getting it all to dissolve. 3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top of the measuring cup with a knife; don’t pat down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor with dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer with dough hook, until uniformly moist. If hand-mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don’t knead! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and yields a wet dough loose enough to conform to the container. 4. Cover loosely. Do not use screw-topped jars, which could explode from trapped gases. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flatten on top), approximately two hours, depending on temperature. Longer rising times, up to about five hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than room-temperature dough. We recommend refrigerating the dough at least three hours before shaping a loaf. And relax! You don’t need to monitor doubling or tripling of volume as in traditional recipes. 5. Prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into the oven. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit-sized) piece with a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four “sides,” rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn’t need to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf will flatten out during resting and baking. 6. Place the ball on the pizza peel. Let it rest uncovered for about 40 minutes. Depending on the dough’s age, you may see little rise during this period; more rising will occur during baking. 7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on another shelf. 8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing, serrated knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1⁄4-inch-deep cross, scallop or tick-tack-toe pattern into the top. (This helps the bread expand during baking.) 9. With a forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch. With wet dough, there’s little risk of drying out the interior, despite the dark crust. When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will audibly crackle, or “sing,” when initially exposed to room temperature air. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack, for best flavor, texture and slicing. The perfect crust may initially soften, but will firm up again when cooled. 10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks: You’ll find that even one day’s storage improves the flavor and texture of your bread. This maturation continues over the two-week period. Cut off and shape loaves as you need them. The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in an airtight container and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day. I LOVE fresh baked bread...its always a treat when I go to Huntsville to stop by Atlanta Bread Company and buy a loaf of sourdough bread. But even better is fresh baked bread that you baked yourself! I ran across a really easy recipe in my Mother Earth News magazine. I kept putting it off because I didn't think it could be as easy as they said....but it was! You can click here to read the full article, but I'll include the basic recipe below. Try it--your friends and family will be so impressed! I took some for Easter and before we even ate dinner, the bread was gone, just a few crumbs left!
The Master Recipe: Boule
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
Cornmeal for pizza peel
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Contest....Win a free e-pattern!
I feel like giving something away today! See this little kitty on the right? Go to my website, www.thectspyjamaspatterns.com, and look for his picture. It will be smaller and will be in the description of one of the patterns. The first one to find it and post it here on my website will get an epattern of their choice! Remember....don't email me and tell me where it is, you must be the first person to post a reply to this message and tell me where it is to win. Tell me the name of the pattern where it is....BUT, everyone can win. Anyone who posts a reply to this message can get one epattern for $3 during April 2009!! After you reply, I'll email you with details--all you have to do is tell me where the kitty above is on my site. So be sure you have your correct email address on the reply and start looking for that kitty!
Friday, April 17, 2009
New free pattern!
I have a new summer pattern to download for FREE on my website! This is a stitchery pattern--you can frame it, make it into a pillow, or even paint the design if you want. What about stitching it on some fabric and making a purse out of it? Or painting it on a t-shirt? All I ask is that you not SELL the pattern and always give me credit for the design. Click here to go to my site and download the pattern. I'd love to hear what you think about it and see what you make from it! Send me your pics and I'll post them here if you want....
I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words about Sweet Pea. Thanks for the comments, emails, cards and donations made in his name. It means so much to me--it is so hard to say good-bye to him, he was such a part of my life and still is! I will try not to dwell on the sadness of it, but on the happy times...
Have any of you started your gardens yet? It's too wet to do any gardening yet. We did plant some bushes at the edge of our yards, but that's about it. I ordered 2 cherry trees that I am so excited about! And I have tons of stuff started and sitting in the bathtub and all over the bathroom. We can't even use that bathroom now, it has turned into a temporary greenhouse. ha! Last year we had so much squash, I was tired of it about halfway through the summer. I found a good recipe for squash relish. My husband eats it on his beans--he's nearly eaten it all, so I'll be making more this summer! If you don't already have an onion chopper, run to wal-mart and get one before you try this recipe. They're on clearance for $14 and it is definitely worth it. Slice your squash into about 1" slices and when you chop them, they all be in little tiny pieces. And if you don't like celery, it is good without the celery seed. I hate celery, so I left it out.
Squash Relish