This and That

Bella has been enjoying my being home for a substantial length of time. I believe she had given up on me. She was pretty perturbed over our last trip during the Holidays. Prima donna. But I think she's over it, finally, and has forgiven me. She's been right by my side.

I've been puttering around, trying to get little things done. Piece by piece. Room by room. I finally cleaned out my bedroom and rid it of all the dust that was beginning to grow. I can't believe how much was there. Then I moved on to the bath. I can't believe how much junk had collected in my drawers since we moved in, um, nine years ago.

Yep. They have not been cleared since then. Bad, I know. This doesn't even do the bad justice.

These four are my catch alls. You have them, right?

Yes I was on a tangent. I scrubbed the floors, the shower and every other surface. Sherry comes up with this idea for using the Pampered Chef stone scraper for the shower stall. Hmmmm. And, guess what? It works perfectly for scraping soap scum off.

While she was doing that, I was working on replacing the fan/light in the powder room. It's been driving me mad for years. Finally, I got that little project done. Yay.

After all was said and done, the bathroom is in marvelous shape. Thank you very much Sherrie for motivating me to get 'er done right. I piled two large shopping bags full of soaps and other goodies I have picked up over the years in mine and the hub's travels. One bag went to Sherrie and the other will go to the nursing facility. There's all kinds of goodies I found that would be great for game prizes like airplane travel kits the hub brought home. Of course, I had enough miscellaneous travel size shampoos, soaps and the like from hotels to supply the county!

Today I finally replaced my Cuisinart and I brought it out for a test run.

Lemon/Blueberry scones again. They were flakier than my first batch. Not that I need to be tasting these fellows. I have yet to lose a pound of the weight I have gained since the summer -- and even more recently.

I have been melancholy, just can't seem to find my grind yet. I will though. In time, I suppose. Until then, if I could accomplish a couple of small projects like I did this week, I'll be doing pretty good. There's still the kid's room to dismantle and redo, the storage basement has been weighing pretty heavily on me. Hoarder! And of course, so many other areas that need a good weeding through. We'll see how much I get done. ha. Seems spring cleaning is starting a little early. Or, in actuality, I never did get to my fall cleaning. Time for catch up, for sure!

xo
ro

They Call Me Mellow Yellow

I'm just mad about Saffron, and Saffron's mad about me.

We decided to go bowling yesterday since it was like 100˚ƒ outside. The kid,

the actor, in from LaLa Land,

and Miss Sherrie, bowling extraordinaire.

Loads of fun. In fact, the kid and I went back tonight for Thursday Madness. All-you-can-bowl from 9 to midnight. (The hub is still on China time so he was in bed by then.) Woooosh. Seven games, my friends. High score of 112. Not bad for someone who hasn't bowled in like at least ten years! Ross? Who? Another alias or typo?

Today, I went to our Italian grocers, Lazzaroli's, and picked up some fresh pasta for dinner. Love that place! (I made a garlic butter sauce with wild Florida shrimpers on fettuccine. YUM!)

They had some Madagascar vanilla beans which is exactly what I needed to make some vanilla sugar--both granulated and confectioner's.

Can you smell it? Oh my. Sugar is happy tonight!

xo
ro

Viking Cooking Class/French Dinner

We had the very best time Saturday night. It was definitely a girl's night out. And the bonus was we had a wonderful male chef who was classically trained in French cooking. Does it get much better? Hmmmm. Let me ponder that one.

We started out with a bowl of fresh broccoli soup from the chef's kitchen. I don't even like broccoli and it was fabu.

Chef was a little taken aback by our cute aprons since the school does supply their own traditional whites. But we stuck by our guns even though he said "There's no cutesy aprons allowed in my kitchen!" lol. (I found them on Etsy at Boojiboo's.) I think after he got to know us a little, he saw how we saw the kitchen, through rose-colored glasses. ha. It was just too much fun.

I truly think the highlight of the entire evening was our chef, Chef Jamie, who was absolutely the best. He knew his stuff, was a pleasure to learn from and he had a wonderful sense of humor, which is always a must for me. He has been taped for an upcoming Food Network show with Bobby Flay coming in June, I believe. I'll keep you posted on that one! He was just too much fun. Here he is with his best French "pout." We all just adored him by night's end.

He started with the Hericots Verts (green beans) which we blanched and then later sauteed. Mmmmm.

Chopping tarragon for the bearnaise, teaching us chopping techniques.

A stock pile of mmmm mmmmm good butter in the fridge. Oh my.

Cooking up the shallots and tarragon, etc. for the bearnaise. We had to remove some of the shallots. We went a little overboard. tehe.

Chef seasoning the steaks. Salt and pepper.

The girls--Sherrie, Kelly and MJ--preparing to sear their filet mignon. Are they not the cutest ever?

MJ going to town on her steak.

My niece Kelly is chopping button mushrooms like a pro for our duxelles. Her hub will be so proud!

This stuff was soooo good.

Even better atop a filet mignon!

All closed up and here's Sherrie putting an egg wash on top of the puff pastry. We all put a little decoration on top. Chef's idea. Now who's being cutesy?

Kelly, "Oh please Lord, let mine come out the best, please let it come out the best." Looks like prayers were being said by all! lol


Chef making the bearnaise. He taught us how to bring one back if it separated. It was really very helpful.MJ is scooting away after making some funny remark. We were yucking it up by this time.

All prayers were answered because our beef wellingtons came out absolutely perfect.

See? Are you just dying to take a bite? I wish I had more! The chef prepared each of our plates for us and it was a delight being "served," as you will. He was just a hoot. I hope to take more classes with him.

After dinner, it was time to cook our Crepes Suzette. First Chef made the orange sauce. Mmmmm. (By this time, I had a butter smudge on my lens. Hmmm, I wonder why???)

That's Armando in the background there with Sherrie and MJ keeping an eye on our flipping technique. He was soooo sweet.

Mmmm, into the sauce the crepes went. Flambeed and then served.

Oh my.

And a bonus to you, my dear friends, the recipe for crepes! (You can resize to an index card size if you wish.) I hope you enjoy. But it can't be as much fun as the girls and I had. It was just a delightful evening from start to finish. A big thank you to the wonderful Viking Cooking School for helping with the planning of our menu and a special merci beaucoup to our Chef Jamie!! Un ne soirée délicieuse a été eue par tous.

xo
ro

Stuff

Yesterday was gorgeous here in Nashville. I spied some tulips (albeit funky tulips) that had sprung up seemingly overnight.

Of course, I had to cut them and bring them into the house to enjoy.

Aren't they beautiful?

Miss Sherrie came over (my Godsend) and mom was just beaming from ear to ear. Sherrie had been on vacation for a week, and we all missed her very much. We sat in the sun and got our 20 minutes of vitamin D, all three of us! Squint!

I found this piece on my way home from Alabama last week for mom. It was absolutely the most perfect saying I had ever found. I love her so. She was the best mom ever raising me.

Well, I'm beginning to see a difference in my dieting. Let's hope I can keep it up! Geesh.

Photos for my own morale! (And yes, the guest room is my catch all after a trip! Like I've been home for a week!) Can you say L-A-Z-Y? Teheh, this is the room my brother Jim is ready to redecorate for me. Bring it on brutha!

It turned cooler today and is supposed to begin raining. I hope we get thunderstorms! The kid and I are just dying for a good one!

xo
ro