Strikes my fancy

This book was sad :-( It's follows the stories of a few different Haitian folk. At some point in the book all of them live in America. While the book was sad, it was also very interesting. I like how the author tied all of the characters together (or not ;-))

Gotta enjoy the squash before it's out of season!! Squash & Mushroom Orzo 1 1/2 cups dried orzo 1/4 cup olive oil 4 cups assorted mushrooms, halved or sliced 3 medium yellow summer squash, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 cup whole roasted almonds, coarsely chopped 1 cup basil, cut into thin strips salt & pepper In a Dutch oven cook orzo according to package directions. Drain; toss with 1 Tbl of the oil. Return to Dutch oven; cover and set aside. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat remaining oil. Add mushrooms, squash, and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, over medium heat about 5 minutes or until crisp tender. Stir into cooked orzo along with almonds and basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Makes 12 servings. (187 calories, 8g fat, 72 mg sodium, 3 g fiber) Heidi's changes: - made the orzo in a regular pan (not sure why the Dutch oven?) - no olive oil in pasta - used 1 kind of mushrooms (it's what I had!) - used green instead of yellow squash - o...

Dice Desserts Our MOPS group has several fundraising events throughout the year. This year's first event was a "Funco Night" an fun-filled evening of Bunco playing! Because of a family commitment (Saturday before the 3rd Sunday of the month) I was unable to attend and support our group. However the lady in charge of donations posted on our FaceBook page about the need for dessert donations (they ask local area businesses to donate all the food and prizes.) I thought, this is a way I can help! So I contacted her and let her know I was interested in donating (what I hoped would be) a cute selection of cakes! She enthusiastically accepted! I thought individual cakes would make it easy for them because they wouldn't have to worry about cutting the cake and I could make them in cute dice shapes! Friday morning I started! I baked 1 (yellow) cake in the morning and then realized that I didn't have enough eggs for my second cake! So off to the store I went!...

Finished Product! Sorry for missing out last week, I just did not have time to post. Posting on Mondays can be difficult because I come off the weekend. Last weekend was a busy one at work and it was antique show weekend. There was no such thing as rest for the weary. I dont have pictures for my third post of the project, and here is why. You just couldnt see the difference through the shots. Therefore, though it would be fun to go on a "where's waldo" type search for the differences between the photos while at work, I thought better of it. For your sakes. :-) You remember how the mirror had been...er...scratched? I wanted to find a way to eradicate them and restore my good name. The surface scratches were not huge, but were noticable when you actually started looking at the mirror next to the frame. I searched the internet and found a few possibilities. The one I tried? Toothpaste. That is right, plain ol' white toothpaste. Beleive it or not, the hardest part about ...

Cilantro-lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa Chicken: 2 Tbl minced fresh cilantro 2 1/2 Tbl fresh lime juice 1 12/ Tbl olive oil 4 (6oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 1/4 tsp salt cooking spray Salsa: 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2) 2 Tbl finely chopped onion 2 tsp fresh lime juice 1/4 tsp salt 1/8 tsp pepper 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped To prepare chicken: combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 tsp salt. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 miutes on each side or until done. To prepare salsa: combine tomato and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add avocado; stir gently to combine. Serve salsa over chicken. Makes 4 servings: 289 calories, 13.2g fat, 3.6g faber, 383mg sodium Heidi changes I went to the grocery twice last week - and both times forgot the cilantro. I'm not a big fa...

I found this picture a few days ago and it pretty much sums up everything :-D but I've never liked the price tag. Imagine my surprise when I found this on the shelf at my Kroger! (sorry the picture is blurry - I was excited and it was taken with my phone ;-)) It was at least $1 less than the "real" stuff AND crunchy? I HAD to try it! Didn't notice the crunchy - you could see it in the jar, but I couldn't tell when eating it. This started out more runny than the regular stuff but as time (it lasted at least a day!) progressed it thickened up. Good substitute - dangerous substitute ;-)

This book had me hooked within the first 20 pages. And I read all 400 pages of it within 2 days :-D The story is set in Atlanta and I "recognized" many of the places she mentions within the book. But that was just bonus. The book was suspensful and action packed. Probably why I read it so fast - I needed to know what happened to the lady who's missing within the first chapter! This book was like a good movie, I could see the scenes in my head - and I never guessed the big twist! This is the author's newest book and while I don't think all of them are in ATL (she IS from here), I'm gonna start at the beginning!

I must admit - with everything that's been going on lately, I've been eating lots of salads. Unfortunately that means I have little to post here! This weekend I made the follow, but I don't like how the picture came out, so you don't get one :-( Zucchini, Black Bean & Rice Skillet 1 Tbl Canola Oil 1 1/2 cups quartered lengthwise, sliced zucchini 1/2 cup diced green bell pepper 1 can (15oz) black beans, drained & rinsed 1 can (14.5oz) Hunt's fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic, undrained 3/4 cups water 1 cup instant white rice 1/2 cup shredded cheddar & monterey jack cheese blend. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and bell pepper; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans, undrained tomatoes and water. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Add rice; stir well. Cover; remove from heat and let stand 7 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Sprinkle with cheese. Heidi's changes: Used olive oil instead of canola as that...

Can't you see those wonderful bones? This mirror is what MAKES this desk. Or at least, it is what used to make it, before we fixed her up. This mirror was the reason we decided to risk our lives taking this little vanity down a precarious and junk filled staircase (think of those comic strips, where you see the father tripping down the stairs on a roller skate.) That could have been our fate, but it was worth it. The detail on this mirror makes you take a second glance. I once again appologize for missing parts in my photo journaling. The above was taken after I had obviously taken the mirror frame off the vanity and the mirror out of the frame. Remember how the previous painters slapped paint everywhere? Well, that became a challenge for me with this mirror. I, foolishly, thought I could cut corners and work on everything in one evening. You know how I had trouble with the paint stripper? That was still fresh in my mind as I started this project. When I disassembled the mirror, th...

One of my closest friend's son turned 1 just recently and she asked me to honor them with his birthday cake! I was THRILLED! She gave me no real direction except that their theme was Winnie the Pooh! With that, may created juices started flowing! It took me a little while to decide on the design I wanted! I went from a giant tree to a honey pot and finally I decided on a scene with just the "edge" of the "hundred acre wood"! Since the party was on Labor Day, I had to start the process on Thursday! This cake took 1 petal cake and 2 8 1/2" x 11" cakes. I baked all three of these cakes on Thursday and wrapped them in plastic wrap and froze them over the weekend. Also on Thursday I worked on making the fondant/gum paste features. I made "sticks" for Eeyore's house, a door for piglet's house, the "Trespasser's Wil" sign for outside of piglet's house, a sign for Rabbit's house, Pooh's door frame, bell, "Mr Sa...

I love lace. I love the delicacy with which it presents itself to the world. That being said, I dont really use it very much. I do have some family doilies, and my wedding dress has some lace, but I dont go too crazy. I like to be able to clean things, and not have dust mites clinging to every available piece of cloth (they cling to everything else anyway.) So, I decided to try a painting technique. Why not paint the lace on the object? Easy to clean, lovely design, what could be better? We got this child's vanity in an old attic pick. Yes, we went into someone's hot and muggy attic for several hours. Yes, they let us jsut dig through things (can you believe it?!?!) unsupervised. Yes, we had to take our own flashlights. And yes, there was mouse droppings and dead birds up there. It was gross, but worth it. My boy LOVED it! American Pickers is his favorite tv show. So this school bus yellow vanity sat there looking at us. Begging for new life! I knew if we left ...

This book was...interesting. There were parts I thought were really cool (her going to old bars that her mom had gone to when she lived in NY)and parts that were kinda weird (what's up with her relationship with the designer?!) The book was a fun and easy read. And the author delivers the ending as a package wrapped up with a pretty bow ;-)