The name of this display is called ‘The Feast of St. Joseph’
I found many more photos here.
Succulent container display, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.
This really stood out to me and I know Zoey from Perennial Passion likes container gardens. I’ll have to look closer to see what everything is.
My trusty Fannie Farmer-a gift from over 25 yrs ago, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.
Over 25 years ago, my then fiance and I were browsing through a bookstore and we ran across The Fannie Farmer cookbook in paperback. I thumbed through it and asked Brian if he’d buy it for me as a gift. I probably said I would like to practice some of the recipes, so he did buy it. From the condition of the poor book, you can see it has been a standby-like for how to cook a certain cut of meat or a vegetable. It even has duct tape holding it together. I would say I used it a lot for baking, by far my favorite kitchen activity.
This past Christmas, he bought me the Martha Stewart Cookie cookbook off my wish list. I needed it like a ‘hole in the head’ (as my cookbooks run in the 100s), but I love to bake cookies. I haven’t started to use it yet, but will!
Terry mentioned she gets recipes mostly off the internet now-I’m guilty of that too! But there is something about holding a book and looking at a photo of something that looks good and trying to replicate it.
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I have the tv on Conan O’Brien and the last gig was a ‘balloon guy’ named John Cassidy. I took a peek and here it was this guy we use to see perform at the St. David’s Fair over the years. Check out this link-he holds the Guinness World Record for making the most balloon animals in one hour! Pretty neat to see him on national tv after seeing him roam the grounds of a church fair.
My friend’s ex-husband and his partner have been on Conan too-they parody Country Western singers using the names Doyle and Debby.
(Post renamed and edited)
I think I’ll just be posting here mostly with the help of memes-to supplement blah days. I’m having more fun on Facebook and Flickr lately and it’s hard to talk about my trials and tribulations and keep people interested. I’ll still check out my pals’ blogs to see what they are up too, but blogging is getting old to me, and I need a fresher approach. I don’t have the time to read more than a few blogs a day either. I have so much on my plate with the internet. I want to do more organizing in my house and more art projects. Many of my blogger pals aren’t updating that frequently. I’m not on a bunch of specific boards, so my comments here are limited. I worked two hours on this post-not one comment. Ever since then I question why I do this. I thought I had some neat photos to reshow. On the above mentioned places, I get almost immediate feedback, a big plus in my opinion. I’m lucky to get one comment here, unless I do a meme. I guess my blog is too personal? Why do other people get 50 comments about a photo of food and a recipe. I don’t get it? So here’s probably some personal stuff that I may not be including in the future:
I may have to take my mom to the doctor today as she is still sick, though moving around. I don’t like her raspy cough.
I got my tooth fixed yesterday and it’s still in, knock wood.
Maybe I’ll have more to share when the weather gets nicer. : )
Update-I went to my mom’s for a few hours and she looks pretty blah and has an occasional raspy cough. I don’t know if that’s a good thing-I think she needs to use the expectorant I gave her. I made her soup and tuna salad, started her car and took her trash down. I left and ran into Trader Joe’s for dinner-got Mandarin orange chicken and Indonesian rice-good!
Thanks for your comments. I know who my friends are. Though I’d like new ones, I don’t know who you are unless you comment.
Welcome to the eighth (full) edition of ‘I recommend’. As the name implies, this is a share to recommend just about anything you like or have tried. It can be a book, drink, food, movie, music CD-anything. Mister Linky will open to another page (that’s how it works on WordPress). Please add your link there and don’t forget to leave me a comment here.
Amaryllis blooming, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.
During the winter, many of us gardeners miss the joy in seeing their outdoor flower gardens blooming and need some kind of cheery ‘fix’. I try and save some of my garden flowers, but many have gone kaput by January or February. I recommend forcing bulbs such as the amaryllis I have pictured. Brian gave me this for my November birthday and I saw that it had opened over the weekend.
I also love African violets.
They come in all colors from white to the darkest purple. Their leaves can be variegated too. They put up with a lot of neglect most of the time. I keep a bottle of AV plant food handy when I remember to water them and they perk up and give me a massive show of blooms.
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So I finally got around to reading Philadelphia magazine’s 1oo year anniversary issue. Since I’ve lived around this city for almost half that, I was interested to read their top 100 things that made Philly stand out. Since you probably don’t have a copy of it, #1 was Philly cheesesteaks. I was curious to know if my readers have had one? I make them once in a while and found some good steak meat that wasn’t a Minute Steak or Steak-ums-more flavor, a little more money. Gee, I think I want one soon! My tummy is definitely better.
It’s your turn:
Santa’s letter to me!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.
Wow-I can’t wait! I think what I want is still on back order though!
My baking for today-minus the Rum Raisin bars-Sour Cream Drops-heavenly goodness-thanks for the recipe Jennifer; Microwave Peanut Brittle and Sugar Cookies-these are vintage Tupperware cutters like the ones my mom had. I would suggest not to save sugar cookies for last-too frustrating.
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Congrats to Missy and her family over at A Treehugger’s Wife-she welcomed Seamus 12-18 in a water birth and said it was a great experience. So happy for her.
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Please keep Brian and his fellow employees in your thoughts as the newspaper company where he works is going through hard times. All the papers (7 I think) need to be sold, except the one where he works, or they will be shut down. At Bri’s work there will be employee changes. He’s been there and in the different offices for almost 11 years now. Things will be going on in early January.
I just realized that I was pretty much on the go for over a week, since my birthday on the 19th. Our house is much quieter now since Sean is back in State College again. We figure he has 5 more trips up and back before he graduates. That’s if he doesn’t stay up there and work-he had to lease his place for a year-which is until next August. We do miss him like crazy-what can I say, I lucked out and enjoy being around him.
We tried to eat chicken fingers for dinner, too much like turkey! We had turkey Reubens for lunch-the sammie you usually make with corned beef-Swiss cheese, cole slaw and Thousand Island. Friday I had made ‘Bobbies’ like a local hoagie place is famous for-turkey, stuffing, whole cranberry sauce and mayo. Both very good, but I am all turkey-ed out.
Many blogger pals, and even cousins at the wedding last night have decorated their homes already. I still think it’s a little early for me, plus I need to take Autumn stuff down. I may start with a festive wreath to replace Mister Turkey wreath who is still hanging up! It was really too lousy of a day here to do anything outside.
I’ve been having fun trading ‘skinny cards’, which are 3″ x 5″ with artists on a Flickr group. I have had American lady swappers, but I’ve also traded with two Finnish ladies. Almost everyone sends me papers, stickers or ribbons too and I learned to send some to them too. I’ve always loved getting mail, so this is great. What’s also neat is someone who looks at my skinnies or ATCs in my photos and asks if they can trade with me just because they like what I’ve made.
Here’s the latest one I am sending to Tarja in Finland:
Another paper artist friend shared this little girl image and many others with us on Flickr.
I need to work on my Christmas card this week. I have a great idea in mind and hope it turns out. I then will get color copies made into cards so I don’t use all my printer’s ink. I did this last year, but didn’t make a stand-up card-I will try to this year.
Have a great cyber Monday. I may browse around a bit on Amazon for Sean’s gifts.
Update-About 15 minutes after I wrote this I picked the cat up to put him down the basement and aggravated a muscle pull that I somehow had gotten, I think on Friday. Well I tried to go to sleep and it was bugging me as it was in the chest area. I had Bri awake too. Finally I put my bra on under my nightie and stuffed it with tissue where it was aching (stop laughing) and it helped! I was thinking the worst for myself. Having Lyme Disease means it’s so easy to get aches and pains. Now I have an ache on the left side, so I guess it moved. I guess so much being on my feet lately did me in. I did toss some laundry in though. I want to decorate!
The above is a desktop I made a few years ago. If you click on it it will be bigger and you can add it to your computer.
I have a big dinner to get together and need to put the turkey in to roast by 11:30 or so as it says it takes at least 5 hours to cook all the way. My oven is pretty efficient, but I hope it’s thawed out well. I do use the Reynold’s cooking bags that help to keep the moisture in.
I hope everyone takes photos of their meals. I wish we thought to do that years ago at mom’s-especially when my brother made the turkey dance. : )
Have a great one!
It was so cold tonight! We are lucky such a nice restaurant is only about 5 miles away. We practically had the place to ourselves for a while, hence the photos. The waiter was nice enough to take our photo too. I didn’t see lobster tail on the interesting menu. I decided not to get the prime rib ‘special’. My oh my, was that an expensive dinner, plus it could have been a bit firmer, so I brought some home. Brian had flounder and salmon on a bed of spinach (he isn’t a big fan of the green stuff). I had some shredded zucchini on my salad. Bri had a Caesar salad. I had my favorite cocktail (like my second of the year)-an Apricot Sour. Try one sometime.
Bri bought me a yellow cake with fudge icing. Let’s just say I’m glad I had Rolaids and peppermint tea in the house-for both of us! Bri wasn’t really up to par today. He gave me a lovely pearl necklace-not the real round pearls, but it’s really pretty, I’ll model it soon.
This was also the 26th anniversary of our engagement. : )
Here’s a recipe for an Apricot Sour. One of my former bosses introduced me to it back in the early 1980s and I get one everytime I go to a fancy restaurant:
Apricot Sour Recipe
Ingredients
2 oz Apricot Brandy
1 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Superfine Sugar
Pour the apricot brandy, lemon juice and sugar into a cocktail glass half-filled with ice cubes. Shake well, and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange wedge and a maraschino cherry, and serve.
Welcome to the first edition of ‘I recommend’. As the name implies, this is a share to recommend just about anything you liked or have tried. It can be a book, drink, food, movie, music CD-anything. Mister Linky will open to another page (that’s how it works on WordPress). Please add your link there and don’t forget to leave me a comment here.
First I recommend the site Image Chef. com for helping me figure out the above button. Please feel free to copy it.
A foodie recommend: The other evening I decided to open a box of Celestial Seasonings ‘Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride’ tea and it was delicious!
The holidays and freshly baked cookies just seem to go together. Every steaming cup of this naturally caffeine free blend releases the inviting aroma of sugar cookies straight from the oven! Like all Celestial Seasonings teas, Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride has no refined sweeteners or added sugars—just the delicious taste and healthful goodness of 100% natural ingredients.
About the Tea100% Natural
This product contains all-natural ingredients and flavors, and no artificial colors or preservatives.This product contains zero calories.
View nutritional informationIngredients: Milk thistle, roasted barley, orange peel, natural sugar cookie flavor with other natural flavors and vanilla bean.
It can be ordered of the internet. It does taste like a delicate sugar cookie without the calories. Also, milk thistle is good for your digestion.
It’s your turn:
My pal Zoey was talking about making a sandwich spread that her husband loves-ground bologna spread (pick a recipe that appeals to you!). I’ve never had it, nor has Brian or the lady at the grocery store who checked me out. So I did a Google search, and lo and behold it’s a Midwestern thing. I definitely want to try it as I purchased buy one get one free Oscar Meyer bologna yesterday. The recipe called for grounding up the solid piece of bologna in a meat grinder. Think I’ll use the food processor. Also it has sweet pickles-will use pickle relish like Zoey does, Spanish onion, mayo and yellow mustard. Zoey skips the mustard. Sounds good! I’ve had my share of Deviled Ham, so this sounds similar.
I asked Zoey if she had heard of Lebanon bologna. 
She had not. It’s a Lebanon County, PA lunchmeat. I had a LB food jag as a teen. Everyday I had it with a slice of American cheese, a dab of mustard on white or rye bread, but mostly on white bread and potato chips (when I was skinny). It’s smokey and tangy at the same time. I do still buy it on occasion.
Update:
I did mix up a fast batch of the ground bologna and it’s quite good. Like ham spread, not as salty and very similar to a hot dog taste because of the relish and onion. So we give it a ‘thumb’s up’! We thought black olives or red peppers would be good in it too. Thanks for the idea Zoey!
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I’m wearing the waist trimmer as I type this. Bri’s been wearing it while using the ab-lounger (doing sit ups) and then leaves it on for a few hours afterwards. I put it on him. I have to put it on me, so it probably could be tighter. I like it! Mom said she’d go get me another one. I guess it gives you support like a girdle. One reason we are fixated on our tummies is because of what Bri’s dad has been going through. He’s had a huge tummy as long as I’ve known him. When he finally ‘deflated’, he got the terrible sores from the skin hanging down-I know gross. Sure would do everything I can to avoid getting that problem.
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Thanks for all your sweet comments on my ‘Think Pink’ ATC card. I must join in some more challenges. : )
Collages & Creative Goodness 