Gifts for a friend's baby shower

I went hog wild this time. I usually do. All of you ladies with kids have one up on those of us who don't. We only get to shop for baby stuff when YOU get pregnant! So I pretty much spent what probably amounts to the same as is in my 401k right now on BABY STUFF!

But that's not what I'm here to talk about at all. I am here to post pictures of my sweet gift wrapping macguyver job!

There were absolutely NO interesting or unique baby gift wrapping paper rolls to buy. I could have opted for a bag, and it is more sensible, but bleeeeeeeh.

So I dug around in the garage and presto! Here we have my newest creations and I fell in love with them. Now mind you, I am not a professional, so those of you who ARE talented, feel free to improve on my idea, but for crying out loud give credit for the idea where it's due.

Numero UNO: Paper tablecloth might be a Holly Hobby knock-off, but look at those bright oranges! sweeeeet. Not a stickler for detail, I didn't bother to use at least one layer of tissue paper so nobody could tell I was re-using a USPS priority mail box but whateeeeev.



Next is a bright couple of pages from a 1945 or so issue of Woman's Home Companion. I used pages that had momma/baby subject matter.

Vintage O'Keefe and Merritt all mine!

This beauty is the product of a marriage gone bad.


I have to say, I don't blame the woman for leaving him because he is clearly in the closet. But he isn't the type of gay I appreciate. He's stainless steel Bosch all the way. So he needed to get rid of this lovely and boy did I steal it!

I won't even say how much I paid because everyone will simply die of envy.

Suffice it to say that I need to get the clock, and I guess the enamel could use some work- but otherwise it was restored a few years ago and is ready for business.

Get out my way, I got some cookin' to do, as we used to say in Georgia

Mexican Pinwheels

This is a great summer treat!
Combine:
2 8oz packages cream cheese
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp chives or the green part of spring onions
4 oz black olives, minced
4 oz green chili, minced
4 oz roasted red pepper, minced

mix it all up and slather it on a flour tortilla. Roll tightly. Cover with cellophane plastic and chill for 2 hours. Slice thinly and admire your handiwork!

Food for a lonely weekend

I am going to be pretty much alone all weekend long. When I know I won't see anyone, I tend to watch too many old movies and eat way too much! At Trader Joe's I found the perfect summer meal for me.

Wine- CS of course, three-layer hummus, pita chips and yogurt. This will be good for at least a couple of movies.

This is perfect because I am still without a stove. It isn't easy to find a stove around here for a decent price. If it's vintage. People really do think they are worth their weight in gold. But they present problems for desert usage. They emit heat constantly and when it is 100+ degrees outside, it tends to drain energy if one has and A/C central air unit. I have just a swamp cooler, which right now is a real pain in the butt. Today as I type, it is 108 degrees. It is expected to get up to 115 later on in the afternoon. A well-maintained swamp cooler lowers the temp by 30-40 degrees, maximum, and that's if the air is extremely dry. I have to admit that I don't do the greatest job taking care of mine, so it probably lowers the temp by more like 20 degrees.

Phoenix is SO hot this year! At TJ's the cashier said, "So what do you guys have planned today?" I replied that we were mostly concerned about keeping cool. She agreed but said, "It could be much worse." I repeated the morning news report I'd heard that indicated this July was the hottest on record. "Don't believe it," said the cashier. "Nope nope nope. No way is this the hottest summer. I've been through much worse, I'll tell you."

We had to laugh. Oh, nevermind what those experts say, I'm telling you this isn't the hottest summer and that's final!

Pink Ribbon Kitchen -- Comin' right up

Sigh. Yesterday I said goodbye to my pink dream. Rosie, I called her. She is a 1950s pink stove. Okay enough referring to inanimate objects as "she." General Electric range, creeeeamy pink. Dreeeeamy fluorescent light, right below the clock and buttons and such. Oh what a masterpiece. Why didn't I keep it?



Because. I don't have $3,000 to spend on a fridge to match. Getting a fridge to match it would have been a nightmare so I decided to donate Rosie to Habitat for Humanity. It is in their showroom right now. Please check it out! If you want a pink ribbon kitchen and something sweeeet to go with your pink kitchenaid, consider Rosie!

Currently I do not have a stove. I don't even have a microwave. I went to Trader Joe's yesterday because I realized that I hadn't any food either, and loaded up on all sorts of good stuff, so I thought. At checkout, the outgoing young man said, "Getting-ready-for-a-meeting food?"

"No." I said. "I have no stove food." His teeth, my teeth, lady behind me, all our teeth flashed. Nobody knew what to say.

"Thanks!" I said.

Ok. So. I have a cleeeeeean slate. I want to have a pinky kitchen but I am too poor for a pink fridge. Here are some options that are BETTER than the same old WilliamsSonoma crap. This stuff endures. Like ME. And YOU!

to be continued, as I have to work at 4 tomorrow!

Kitty and Minchie

Kitty is turning 18 this year. I don't know how old that is in cat years, but judging from her looks and her behavior, she is a crabby old girl. She never liked dogs, nor did she like any cats other than her little companion Cleo, who passed away a few years ago.

So when Kitty found that she was decidedly alone, she seemed more content. I decided that since she probably has few years left, I would hold off on getting a dog. Then Christmas rolled around and Herc did what a person should NEVER, EVER do: he gave me a pet!


Oh yes, little Minchie. She is a frisky little Bichon, whose capacity for excitement seems limitless. She likes to jump around like a kangaroo. She particularly likes to use human legs as springboards during one of her spastic episodes.


Kitty was openly disappointed at first, and still can't stand the sight of little Minchy. But if it had to be a dog, thank goodness it had to be this dog, who would never hurt a fly. Unless the fly happened to land on my leg just before a power-spring off.

Fun with secondhand bookcases

I procured these old bookcases for free, soon before the demolition of a downtown building. They were both originally over 7 ft tall, but Herc cut the top shelves off in order for them to fit through my doors. They were used to store huge binders for construction projects. They had greenish laminate shelves, and the rest is plain old cheap plywood. We did our best to cover up all of the noticeable cosmetic problems like dings and ill-placed screws, and I spent three days sanding, priming and gel-staining to match the stain of my floor. Herc was the hero of this project. It would not have been completed had it not been for him, because I didn't know the first thing about sawing and nailing. These bookcases spent three months' time providing rich habitat for several black widows and their broods before Herc got busy. Now half of my books have a nice place to sit.

These tomatoes are safe! Chow down.

An elderly neighbor across the alley has been growing tomatoes for 20 years and he is not about to stop just because he has been ordered by his doctor to steer clear of them. That means I've been the lucky recipient of many handfuls like this specimen here.


All of a sudden, I'm thinking of dishes that I could make with fresh tomatoes, like:



SAFFRON RICE WITH TOMATOES AND FRESH OREGANO
Pinch of saffron
2 Tbsp. salt, plus more for seasoning
1 1/2 c. jasmine rice
2 large or 3 regular-sized roma tomatoes, seeded and cut into 1/4 -in. dice
(about 1 cup)
Freshly ground pepper
6 sprigs fresh oregano, leaved piced from stem

1. Fill a med. saucepan w/cold water. Add saffron and 2 Tbsp. salt. Bring water to a boil. Stir in rice, ad cook until rice is tender, 12-14 minutes. Remove from heat, and drain well.
2. Place rice in serving bowl. add butter and tomatoes, and toss very gently. Season with salt, pepper, and fresh oregano. Serves 4

Of course, the Roma tomatoes would be substituted. The recipe is from a Martha Stewart Magazine years ago and
it has been posted earlier in this blog...

Wow, I never knew how much I take tomatoes for granted until this salmonella outbreak occurred.

Zucchini is ripe in AZ - Zucchini Bars

Link to recipe for Zucchini Bars from needfoodfast

Attention-seeking gestures

I'm babysitting little S for a friend who is deployed. Clearly, Kitty could do without the new pooch, but who can resist such a little bundle of affection?

We live at the dog park. Look us up there. If you are a beagle, please be sure you are wearing your tags because people tend to walk out with the wrong beagle sometimes! Last week I was busy chatting with a little cocker spaniel's owner when all of a sudden, I had that SINKING feeling. I looked around and did not see S anywhere. I started to walk aimlessly, thinking there must be some mistake. One of these little dogs must be S! Then a lady came running down the hill with a little dog in the lead whose ears were flopping impossibly in front of her eyes. She had S. She was so upset. I felt better once little S was secure on my leash and walking back to the car.

My Grammy's Sunbeam Mixmaster

My Grammy passed away recently. I am extremely thankful that I was able to spend a few weeks with her over the past year at different times. She was such a wonderful woman, and I don't know how life will be without her charm and love.

My uncle gave me her old Mixmaster after the funeral. Of course, it would have been the only material item that I would have liked to take home with me, had I thought of it. He also gave me one of her old straw sun hats and each of the granddaughters took some of her perfume to remember her by. She was a Chanel No. 5 girl forever.

I miss her so.
Maybe I'll dig out her famous brownie recipe and get Niece over here for a photo-op with the old Sunbeam.

Moving is hell on earth, they say.

Every time I think I can't do another thing, I think to myself, "Don't worry, you won't ever have to do this again if you don't want to!" It gives me the strength to go on for another half hour or so. This move is dragging on all month long. I don't know why. Probably because I refuse to take any vacation time for it. Plus I'm not a skilled packer because I hate to organize things but I know I have to, so I procrastinate since that's what I do best. I paid rent on my apt for November so I've put myself in this position. But now I am afraid to look at my bank account for fear that I won't have enough to rent a truck for my second-hand furniture. But I ought to start from the beginning instead of the end.

I found out that the roof needs fixed, the wiring needs updated before I can even put a dryer in or use a microwave and coffee maker at the same time, the carpet had a big hole in it and the lawn needed mowed but I don't know how to turn on a lawn mower!

Last week, I sensed anxiety lurking beneath my typically cocksure exterior when I found myself calling X whining, "Are you going to get out here and help me or not." Thankfully, I recovered from that fit of delusion within 24 hours. On my day off, I arrived at the house early. All by myself, just me. I had made an impulse purchase of some laminate wood flooring because I **thought** it was cheap. And now I had no idea how I'd get the carpet out and the flooring in. I felt lost. I fumbled around with the carpet where there was a big hole, and found that it came up easily. I got a hammer and a flat head screwdriver out of my little tool box and found that, while difficult, these items made it possible to rip out the trim and the pieces of wood nailed to the concrete that have little nails sticking up to somehow hold the carpet in place. I suffered some setbacks. I could not get some of it up and wanted to give up. I rifled around the workshop for something else to use. I cursed the former owner's family, who moved all of her things and took all of the tools out of the workshop. Yeah, I wanted to use Elizabeth's late husband Jack's tools, I'll admit it. But I was also pissed off that they would remove those tools from a place they'd been for 60 years. Jack had painted each tool turquoise and outlined a spot on the wall for each, so anyone would know where to return it. Now there are just outlines.

But I still rifled around. Then something caught my eye. An oddly shaped tool was hanging off one of the workbenches. Obviously they missed one. It was turquoise, after all. I pulled it out and thought, "hey this would work!" It looked like an iron snake, about 1 ft long. In minutes I had all the nasty wood strips with nails in them up and in a box, ready for the alley. I cut the carpet and padding up, rolled it all up neatly into small bundles and tied them with string. Then I called my brother and told him I needed him to help me with something.

He was worried. He knew what I wanted. I wanted him to get over there and take the carpet out for me. But when he got there, he was surprised to find that I had already done it! He helped carry the junk to the alley. Next day, I knew I had to paint at least the living room and dining room because I don't like dusty pink in EVERY room! I got my supplies and even bought a paint sprayer that ultimately didn't do much but waste my time and expensive paint.
And splatter the ceiling. By 2 pm the next day, the painting was complete. Good thing, because I had to be back working by around 2 a.m. The day after that, I checked my personal cell phone on my way home from work. Two missed calls from Brother. I called him back. "Where you at?" he questioned.

"On my way home."
"Which home?"
"A. P. T."
"Well come over to your new house. I want you to see something."
"What, what's the matter."
"Nothing, just come over."
"What are you doing over there?"
"Just get over here."

Lo and behold, Brother had spent all day laying my flooring. It looked incredible. And it helped make the paint color look not so much like a circa 1987 Golden Girls episode. I was SO grateful.

Finally, I wanted to thank Jack for having that tool in the first place and then hiding it so the evil family members couldn't steal it from us! I was grateful to Elizabeth for taking such meticulous care of the house for all those years. I was grateful to Brother for being such a good, kind guy. How'd he ever finally grow up to be this wonderful man? Finally, I was grateful to X for being SUCH A jerk on the phone that I decided I'd rather sleep on a floor with no electricity at ALL then to seriously consider begging him for his unskilled, grudging assistance.

Because you know what? I don't need him! All I need is to accept that I can take care of it myself.
I'm going to get a part time job at Home Depot if they give discounts. I have LOTS of stuff to do.

Yummy Pumpkin Dip

In the process of moving, I found a recipe I must have copied from somewhere. Sounds like something to try, perhaps.

Yummy Pumpkin Dip

2 8-oz pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 lg can pumpkin
2 c. powdered sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger

Whip together and serve in hollowed out small pumpkin. Serve on a plate covered with black licorice "worms" or any halloweenish candy such as candy corn. On the side, place ginger snaps for dipping....

Cranberry Pumpkin Upside Down cake with Niece

Niece and I made the most wonderful cake. It was SO easy. Niece wanted to stay at my apt all day, and our habits are simple: we either go to a museum or make something yummy. I had to make something anyway for a potluck the following day, so it worked out perfectly. She wore a brand new apron that I WAS going to give her for Christmas. I found the recipe in a friend's current Sunset magazine (Nov 07)

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter, + more for pans
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon dark or light rum (used dark)
1 1/3 cups cranberries , thawed or fresh (used fresh)
2/3 cup toasted coarsely chopped, toasted walnuts
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil (used safflower, all I had)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whipped cream (eh, used cool whip because it was for a potluck)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9-in. square pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Whisk in brown sugar until blended. Remove from heat and whisk in rum. Pour mixture into prepared pan, evenly covering the bottom.

3. In a small bowl, combine cranberries and walnuts; arrange evenly over brown sugar mixture.

4. In a large bowl with a mixer on medium speed, beat eggs, pumpkin, oil, and granulated sugar until smooth. In another bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir flour mixture into pumpkin mixture. Spread batter evenly over cranberries and walnuts.

5. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool 10 minutes in pan. Run a thin-bladed knife between cake and sides of pan, then invert cake onto a serving platter. Remove pan and parchment, and let cool at least 20 minutes. Serve slightly warm or cool, with whipped cream.

Holiday Dos and Don'ts

From our good friends who gave us the Woman's Home Companion and its wonderful "Cook Book."

In light of my tentative plans to bully every relation into coming to my (soon - to - be - I - hope) new home for Thanksgiving, I've been flipping through old magazines and cookbooks like a crazed fiend.

But of course, the plain sensibility of these tips in the small excerpt below have brought me back to reality. Somewhat.

Don't do more than your household is equipped to do with ease and distinction. The secret of good service is not to attempt too much.

Don't have more guests than you can take care of easily. People remember a restful well-served little dinner. No one has a good time at a crowded badly managed party.

Don't attempt dishes beyond your culinary skill. Try the fancy ones on your family before springing them on your friends.

Don't try to be grand. Everyone sees through it and nothing is so forlorn as a pretentious party. The most distinguished entertaining is simple, done with ease and naturalness.

Don't leave everything until the last minute. A tired flustered hostess is no good to herself or friends.

Do let the menu, service, decorations, etc., have the stamp of your personality. The talked-of party is the one reflecting the taste and individuality of the hostess. Mere correctness and routine are dull.

Do keep your table decorations low and the candles high. Your guests might like to see one another; mounds of flowers never furthered good table talk.

My new kitchen

I never knew how much time and money getting a freaking mortgage costs, but will it ever be worth it!

There have been few opportunities like this in my life, and I am ever so grateful that someone is willing to loan me money to buy a house that someone is willing to sell to me for the amount I can pay. It's worth much more. And I think it's the best house in the whole world.

Yes, that's a pink stove. I move in two weeks!

Belated vacation thoughts

I spent a week up North taking care of my elderly grandmother.
Couple cute things Grammy says:
"Swell"
"I don't give a rat's nose..."
"MH, would you be kind enough to..."

I mentioned that I enjoyed hearing some of those and she commented that my grandpa (who died while my mother was still a child) used to say, "I'll be go to hell" about everything, even when they were in public. She claims that it embarrassed her for years but talking about it to me produced a giggle. She told me again the famous War Story. He was on Iwo Jima. It's pretty much the exact story of Flags of our Fathers, except for a few small details. He wasn't one of the guys raising the flag, but he did endure some terrible things. What I love is how this has been talked about in our family for years, and we thought it was OUR story. I guess it wasn't!

Although I can't stand the sight or smell of any meat, I knew that Grammy would not be happy without her regular meat-centered meals.

For breakfast, I usually made for her eggs and bacon or sausage. Good thing she likes her bacon crispy. I tried making a dish fondly referred to as potato-egg-cheese-stuff (pictured before I threw everything in a skillet). She loves that. It's a mixture of omelette ingredients plus whatever meat and cheese is sitting around.

One morning we had french toast. Another morning, we made cinnamon rolls and Grammy "made" a heavenly cream cheese frosting for them. I measured and mixed, but she told me exactly what she wanted done! She used to make cinnamon toast for my brother and I when we would spend the night at her house.

For dinner, I was on my own in deciding what to make. She naps during the day, so I couldn't very well wake her up to ask what she'd prefer to eat in a couple hours.

I dug out a few of her old cookbooks and used the local fundraiser ones. I found recipes that she had submitted and used them! I made a salmon loaf, fried chicken and beef stroganoff. Chicken salad (pictured) for lunch once. I found it curious that she didn't have there any of her Irish recipes. She said, "Now why would I give my best recipes to people I don't even know?"

We drank coffee all day long, but went without the whiskey, thankfully. Although, I did see a stockpile of Irish and Scotch whiskey in one of the pantries. I wondered why she didn't ask for it. Her chief duty was to think up things for me to get for her at the store. One trip was to satisfy her sweet tooth. Although there were already countless sugar-packed goodies scattered about in little dishes or shut away in cupboards, I ended up with a list for the following:
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (the small ones)
Small Hershey's Candy Bars
3 Kinds of chocolate, small sized in a big bag
Pepperridge Farm Milanos
Pepperridge Farm Sugar Cookies
Pepperridge Farm cookie of your choice

But I made sure that she had lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. It was Peach season so they were a staple.

A couple of days, Grammy was tired and crabby. She sometimes had trouble walking. It was a pleasure to wait on her and take care of every small need.

She now lives in a house that my uncle bought for her to live in. It has extra bedrooms for family members to visit for extended periods. It is a beautiful house. The kitchen is amazing. I can't remember ever having so much fun just cleaning a space. Her bedroom looks like a young girl's dream room. The bed linens are pink and white, and the bedroom set is from her old house, except it was from one of the girl's rooms. Funny that she is now using her children's furniture. It works very well for her needs.

We did indeed spend many hours playing Scrabble. I won maybe two or three games out of the dozens we played. I think she has the whole Scrabble Dictionary memorized.

Home Stuff: Tile Ideas

More likely than not, any kitchen I own will need to be gutted. I'm thinking of incorporating decorative tiles.

Here is a beautiful medallion from Terrapin Tile. I used to collect an old china pattern from the '60s by Noritake called Cielito Lindo. I still have it and have considered bringing it out again. This might go well with it, if I could get blue. Green is nice too.

Today I seem to be leaning towards greenish bluish tiles for some reason. I don't know why. This Morning Glory tile from Earth Song Tiles is another possibility.

I love the designs at Ravenstone Tiles. This one is called Windswept Tree. I think it comes is different sizes.

TilesandTiles.com offers free samples! Must investigate them more.

Vacation. What will I do?

I think this time, I'll have plenty of opportunity for quiet reflection, since I'll be spending a week Up North taking care of my Grammy. She likes Scrabble, coffee with Irish whiskey and a DROP of heavy cream, and Cobb salad with Roquefort dressing. I like Scrabble and coffee. And I don't mind a drop of Irish whiskey, so I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time.

Last time I was there, I was able to get her to give me some of her old recipes. I treasure them! I think this time, I'm going to borrow a camcorder from one of my aunts so I can record her telling some of her favorite old stories. She loves to tell stories with no real point. That must be where I get it from. But still, I love them all. There is one she likes to tell every time anyone brings up the subject of donuts.

"Ooooooh JesusMaryandJoseph child, how blessed we were when Momma found an extra few pennies for us, before we lost her bless her soul I miss her like the dickens what a good woman she was and my lovely granddaughter reminds me of her every time I see her beautiful smile she does.... where was I? Anyhow darling, Mamma would give us a penny, and I would take the twins over to the bakery, you don't know what a luxury it was back then to live near a bakery where you could get the freshest bread for nothing. And Lord forgive me for it but oh how I did love to eat the donuts and the cake that you could buy for just a penny! Bless her soul, she had such a good heart, much like my beautiful granddaughter before me today, and oh! She gave me the best gift a mother could give a daughter, my dear. My child-like faith in God, MH. I have always had a child-like faith, I'm sure you know, and it was herself who gave it to me, yes it was. Anyhow my dear, by and by there was no more coffee and not a penny for that, not to mention bread. And it was oh such torture living near such a thing as a bakery then. But when we did have that extra penny again, why do you think we relished such a thing as a donut? Because we were lucky to have our lives. The Lord rewards gratitude and punishes arrogance, MH, and that is why there but for the Grace of Him goes me. "

Can't wait!

Couches!

I need to buy a couch for the new house. Or whatever it will be. I already know sort-of what I want, and it probably won't match my old stuff. Oh well. I've learned that comfort is important. As previously complained about, I have lived without a couch for YEARS, and I'm getting quite sick of sitting on the floor every time I want to watch a DVD.

The ad I have tacked to my fridge with a pizza hut magnet is this one from Pruitt's. They have it listed at the furniture company's website as being on sale for $798 but my ad is from the big "7-7-7" sale, in which it was only $777. I'll try to get that price if I choose to go over there. I don't like pillows for backs of couches, but hey. It's cheap. er than the other sectionals out there. I've saved this same couch ad I don't know how many times over the past year or so. It's always a different price.

I would go to Ashley Furniture, but they are notorious on complaints.com so I'll just go on to the next big retailer.

Thomasville offers what they call the MetroSectional but I don't know what the price is. I like it because it seems just the right size for little old MH who won't need much room at all!


Wow! JCPenney has furniture! Who knew? Their prices aren't half bad, either.

This one is called the Kelsey and it's on sale for $899. If you want the ottoman, it will be an extra $199 though.