Sunday, October 31, 2010

vampire pumpkin

a mishmash of photos

because my blog is mishmash melange I feel free to post this mishmash of photos



for Donna who asked if we got the new windows that we were talking about this summer....yes we did. We think they turned out looking very nice and B painted the dormer which had faded over the years. The side windows next to the picture windows are cut glass diamonds.



a handy necklace organizer that I picked up at Steinmart one Friday when I made a trip to Rochester to visit Barb



it holds a lot of necklaces in a small space and they are very visible



this is a reproduction table that B and I bid on and won in the silent auction at the NCCC Scholarship Gala fundraiser several weeks ago

dreamers and doers

some people are dreamers
some people are doers
I fear I am the first
and not the latter

Sunday, October 24, 2010

riding on the marrakesh express

Would you know we're riding

on the Marrakesh Express

Would you know we're riding

on the Marrakesh Express

All on board that train



Colored cottons hang in air



Charming cobras in the square



Striped Djellebas we can wear at home



never take your spices for granted....five colorful spices for the chicken - paprika, cumin, turmeric, ginger and cinnamon

I have not visited Disney World in over twenty years. When I did visit, Epcot was my favorite park. I was very intrigued by the cultures and cuisines of other countries. My most favorite then and I'm sure it would still be now was Morocco. I have always been a person who enjoys color and where would can you see more color than Morocco. In the foods, the fabrics, the tiles, the markets, the clothing, the spices.

Yesterday I was trying to decide what to make for dinner and Moroccan chicken came to mind. I googled a recipe which I will share here. I have prepared many theme dinners in the past. Mexican, Greek, French, Irish, German and Italian. I usually go all out and have every dish reflect the theme, set the table and play music from that country. But I've gotten a bit lazy and don't look that great in a belly dancer outfit anymore so yesterday I just went with my main dish being Moroccan and the rest of the meal somewhat fall themed. While we ate the TV blared news in the background instead of sweet, mysterious Moroccan music and we ate at the ugly kitchen counter instead of at a nicely set table. But the food we dined on was delicious.




tangines

Moroccan Chicken with Lemon and Olives

2 t paprika
1 t cumin
1 t ginger
1 t turmeric
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t sugar
pepper to taste

Mix the spices and rub 4 lbs of chicken thighs and drumsticks with the spices. Place in a tangine which I don't have so I placed them in a clay cooking pot of Southwestern-looking origin which I do have.

Add 3 garlic cloves (chopped or pressed), an onion or two cut in chunks, 1 c chopped green olives, 1/2 c raisins, 1/2 c chicken broth and preserved lemon peel (which I did not have so I used a teaspoon of dehydrated chopped lemon peel). I suppose fresh lemon peel would have worked also.

Cover and bake as long as you like (but at least for 2 or 3 hours) at 325 or 350 degrees.




ready for consumption



I also made Pumpkin Marscarpone soup....at least that was my intention but the marscarpone that I had in the refrig had been opened a week or so ago and when I went to use it, it had a little mold growing on top of it. I used ricotta and a little brie instead. It was still delish but nothing like it would have been with the marscarpone. So here goes...

Saute a chopped onion in a soup pot with a little pancetta. Add a can of pumpkin, a cup or two of chicken broth, a teaspoon of thyme and I blended a peeled boiled potato with a little chicken broth and added this as a thickener. Heat altogether and add some marscarpone. Nutmeg and ginger could be used instead of thyme. I went with thyme.



I served with a sprinkle of roasted pepitas.



Moroccan chicken served on tri-colored couscous



And for dessert we tried coconut and dark chocolate gelatos

Ah....all those flavorful spices

They're taking me to Marrakesh

Thursday, October 21, 2010

this person that i know

someone got very drunk last weekend
i shan't say who
but now the thought of drinking
anything with boo......za
makes this person feel like a crime
this person hopes that this sick feeling
will heal over time

because this person has a lot of wine in a wine rack

on a side note.......this person has not behaved this way in years and years

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

woo hoo witchy woman

woo hoo witchy woman
see how high she flies
woo hoo witchy woman
she got the moon in her eye




Yesterday at 4:00 pm I got an email that stated that we were light on filling the roles for our Toastmaster meeting that occurred today. So I took the plunge and offered to be the Toastmaster, a role that scared the daylights out of me. But still not as much as giving a speech. So last night I prepared a little and today I delivered. It was sort of fun and I flew right through it and felt a little high when it was over. I spread dark chocolate and regular peanut butter cups along the tables and put out a few Halloween decorations. My monologue went something like this.

Good Day Everyone and Welcome

How many of you have a Facebook account? (most people in the room raised their hand)

I’ve been on Facebook for two years now. I guess you could say that I’m a little addicted. However I consider it to be a good thing.

It keeps me in touch with my family that is scattered all across the United States and I’ve reunited with hometown friends and schoolmates.

I do waste a lot of time on there though. Sometimes I take those little quizzes like What Legend of Sleepy Hollow character are you? You are Ichabod’s horse. Do you like your result? NO

Take quiz again.

Last week I took a quiz called Which Historical Woman are You? I got Amelia Earhart. Like! This is what it said.

YOU ARE THE RISK TAKER AND SEEKER OF ALL THINGS NEW AND EXCITING. YOUR PASSION KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES AND YOUR IMAGINATION IS VIVID. USE THE TOOLS TO HELP CREATE YOUR LIFE. YOU ARE A FREE SPIRIT. And only the word boundaries was misspelled.

So when I saw yesterday that the toastmaster role was still open I thought why not take a risk. I’ve mastered the art of cooking. How hard could it be to make toast? (I almost left out this joke because it is kind of lame but in the end I decided to keep it because I thought I could deal with the failure. But everyone laughed!)

But seriously.....I thought why not take a risk. How bad could I really be at the role of toastmaster? Then I thought well I could be pretty bad. Then I remembered it was almost Halloween and I could wear a disguise (and here I put on my witch hat and kept it on throughout the whole meeting)…and no one will know who I am.

Then I had to introduce the people filling the roles and ask them to explain their role. Then I had to be the humorist also and I read a poem about Halloween that I got off the Internet. Then I introduced the Table Topics master and asked people to vote on the best table topic speaker of which I was one.

Then I introduced my speakers.

My first speaker was Greg.

I said "If Greg took a Facebook quiz entitled What insect are you?....he would be a bee. Because he is always busy. He is always telling us about his busy busy life. Greg's speech is from the blah blah manual project #blah and is titled "You Don't Know What You Don't Know". Our president...Mr. Greg L.

My next speaker was Rachael.

I said – I took a facebook quiz titled what musical instrument are you. I got piano. Like! But a friend of mine took the quiz and got a big black question mark. And I am not making this up. This is what it said……
You have no musical soul or ability. Even if you do play an instrument your music does not reach people’s hearts. Here is a girl who does reach people’s hearts. Her enthusiasm and smile always put a smile on my face. Her speech is project 6 in the blah blah manual and is titled "Life Lessons from the Chessboard". Please welcome Ms Rachael B.

Jim had decided to give a speech at the last minute so I hadn't planned an intro for him. I stated that but I said if there was a quiz on Facebook about who is a great guy then Jim would be that great guy. My fellow co-worker and a great guy....Jim W. Jim's speech was titled Sign, Signs, Signs.

After each speech I had to pass around an envelope so people could give the speakers comments on their speeches. Each time while his was being done I told little Halloween jokes.

Why don't skeletons ever go out on the town?
Because they don't have any body to go out with.

Why do mummies have trouble keeping friends?
Because they are so wrapped up in themselves.

What kinds of streets do zombies like best?
Dead ends

Why did the vampire subscribe to the Wall Street Journal?
He heard it had great circulation.

Then I had to introduce the general evaluator who took over the meeting for a bit and then I gave the meeting back to the president at the end.

And then I came down from the high and I feel a little tired. I have the moon in my eye.

Monday, October 11, 2010

fairport friday



This is me arriving at Barb's new little house in Webster on Friday morning. I've developed a liking for leggings with dresses and tunics lately. After a tour of Barb's lovely nicely decorated patio home, we drove to Fairport for lunch and an afternoon of shopping in this quaint little canal town.



We parked in a little shopping mall outside a little market...Red Bird Market. It was so clean and attractive inside. The walls had been painted with murals by a local artist. The displays and food packaging made you want to buy it all. And I almost did. Pastas and packets of dip mix that I intend to turn into a sauce for the pasta. Colorful wasabi soy nuts and tiny marshmallows. Orange and purple sanding sugars for Halloween cookies and pink sanding sugar simply because I couldn't resist the color. Chocolate stix and homemade butterflake rolls.



my pretty wasabi soy nuts in a cute elephant dish that has just been waiting for such a pretty treat as this



We took our stuff back to the car and walked across the canal to find a suitable restaurant. Rickie's had been recommended to us but when we opened the door we were accosted with blandness and a cigarette smoke smell so quietly turned and exited.



And then we found The Blue Cactus Mexican Grille. The cuteness of this place was mind boggling. Most of those windows were trompe l'oeil.



All I can say about this Margarita is that it was delicious and the blue salt was simply enchanting.



Here is Barb enjoying her drink among the sunflowers.



We both ordered the same thing. Three tacos...chicken, pork carnitas and grilled mushroom. They were served with lots of chopped herbs and greens and in soft slightly sweet tortillas.



I picked up a CD by a local artist that I had never heard of. She turned out to be a folk singer and I love every song on the CD.



We stopped at a gift shop/used book store where I bought Edgar Sawtelle for $6. The other book I picked up at Wegmans on Thursday night.



I picked up these silver Bandolino shoes in a consignment shop. It seemed to be a nice shop but I just couldn't find anything I wanted. As we were leaving I saw these and I can't resist any shoes that are metallic and comfortable.



On our walk back to the car we had to wait for the canal bridge to let a barge pass under.



Before heading back we stopped at Century Liquor owned by Wegmans. They always feature nice wines for $6 a bottle. I bought some of the $6 wines, one $4 wine and a few a little more expensive. With my shoppers club discount I bought a case of wine for $80. I wish Wegmans had a liquor store in Buffalo.

I left Barb's at 5:30 and drove to Gates to have dinner with Jay. We ate turkey avocado burgers at Ruby Tuesday's and had a great conversation. He made me a mocha coffee for the road and I drove home listening to Nora Green.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

days weeks months

days weeks months years go by and i can't seem to find the time to accomplish anything on my to do list. in fact i can't even seem to find the time to make a to do list. i don't work on fridays. friday arrives with promise. three days to accomplish much. three beautiful glorious days. each a gift. each filled with hope. and i proceed to squander each and every one of them. i guess i'm in a bad mood. sunday evening blues seeming to affect me more and more.



on a happier note.....this pedicure is about a month old and holding up beautifully