gobble gobble

Jay and I made these chenille turkeys when he was around five or six years old. We were hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house and made one for each member of Bill's family as a favor at their place setting. We must have made around twenty of these although after the first couple I probably ended up making all the rest myself. I encouraged people to take them home with them and a few did, but we ended up with the majority of them. I have always kept them and get three out every year for Jay, Bill and I for our Thanksgiving table. Feeling nostalgic perhaps, Jay picked up one with a yellow head and said he was going to take it home with him. However, just as in that year long ago, this little turkey got left behind in my safekeeping. I love the expression on their little turkey faces. They look happy....most likely because they are not the ones making an appearance on our plates.

brody and tess

stripey Brody


spotty Tess


peek-a-boo

My little Thanksgiving visitors.

pan seared chicken

medallions of yellow squash starting to cook in chicken broth

Any time I ask Bill what he would like for dinner if it isn't his birthday, he always wants pan seared chicken. Wegman's came out with a product a couple years ago called pan searing flour. It is a very fine flour with seasonings added. I put a dab of olive oil and a dab of butter in the pan and heat it. Then sprinkle one side of the chicken with the flour, put it flour side down in the pan, sprinkle the top side and sear the chicken on fairly high heat until it is golden. then flip it over, cover the pan, reduce the heat to low and let it cook until it is golden, tender and moist. This time I decided to serve it on a bed of spinach, arugula and radicchio with yellow squash.


chicken searing


spinach mix added to squash


moist, tender, golden chicken ready to serve



It's amazing how much spinach cooks down. I added a few dashes of Greek Vinaigrette dressing to the mix.


all served up

birthday dinner

Today was Bill's birthday and he always requests his favorite meal of meat loaf and baked potatoes for his birthday dinner. I was expected in Anatevka tonight so we had an early dinner. I myself hate meat loaf but I ate a slice of the one I made today and pronounced it pretty good. I never make it quite the same because I don't really follow a recipe. This one had lots of onion, green pepper and celery. I must have used a bit more Worcestershire than I normally use because I could taste it more strongly and I think this is why it tasted good to me. Since I am way more into the veggies than the meat I followed the progress of my green beans with dill butter and grape tomatoes dish.










The whole meal....meatloaf, baked potato, Mexicorn, green beans and olive bread.


pumpkin mousse

I found this pecan pumpkin butter in Williams Sonoma Saturday evening and dreamed up this dessert of equal parts pumpkin butter and whipped cream topped with cinnamon pecan pieces.

Then I headed out to Anatevka.

Soon I'll be a stranger in a strange new place
Searching for an old familiar face
from Anatevka

Anatevka, Anatevka
I belong in Anatevka
Dear little village little town of mine

Substitute New Holland-Middletown for Anatevka and this reminds me of recent Facebooking and meeting up with so many of the old familiar faces from those dear little towns of mine.

balancing act

Smudgie has always liked to to sit and walk on the stair rail. Once when he was a baby we heard a crash in the middle of the night and he had fallen off. After that he suffered from seizures that occurred about once a month until he was a year old. He has never had one since. And he is much more careful when he tight rope walks now.

bill

Happy Birthday to my husband, Bill. We had dinner at Biaggi's at East View Mall in Rochester last night. Bill enjoys the lasagna there. My favorite dish is the butternut squash ravioli. I always resolve to order this dish and then get lured away by the specials. Last night's special sounded good and involved pumpkin in some shape or form. So I was enticed by the pumpkin risotto with scallops which turned out to be a disappointment. The risotto was not creamy enough and could have benefited from a dash of Parmesan to add flavor. Jay had the duck sausage and chicken cassoulet with navy beans and Swiss chard. I don't know why I didn't order this dish. He let me taste and it was delicious. We were going to try the pumpkin creme brulee for dessert but we ate late in the evening and they had run out... fortunately for our waistlines.


I'm always trying to get a photo of my handsome son but he always foils me.



again and again



and again actually but at least this one turned out to resemble a smile

birthday loot

wool blanket from Deb

My birthday came and went and I am just now getting around to posting some pics of just a small portion of my birthday loot.


earrings beaded by Deb

looking forward to wearing these sweet little Christmas trees


pint ice cream container

A little hard to see in the photo but the writing is green and there is a green jewel in the lid of this container. I should get a lot of use out of this container because I buy my ice cream in pints.


I love these moccasins.


teapot pin cushion


beaded purses...one vintage, one meant to look vintage and the beaded vintage shoe I already owned just looked right here.


hula girl jammies


NYC ornament


my phone that I am still learning and can't seem to put down


one cup coffeemaker from Jay...perfect for me so I can have just a cuppa anytime I feel like it.