Good Intentions & Guilty Feelings

Fresh off the press they arrive with your Sunday newspaper. Wonder what’s on sale this week!

I get all excited to clip these babies and many times I find to my chagrin I have completely forgotten about them.  Do you ever do this and does it make you feel the tiniest bit guilty?

Sunday Supper

This meal took twenty five minutes. We sat down to eat and all I could hear was um, um and um.  It was an enjoyable conversation for at least five minutes.

Saturday Afternoon

Took some time out to go through photographs from culinary school.  Here are the sugar and chocolate creations Chef Anil demonstrated for us Spring 2005.  It took about three hours and we really enjoyed watching him work.

TIme Out

Looks like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.  Wrong.  He is a brat and we spoiled him from when he was five weeks old and fit into the top of my overall shorts.  Cosmo turned into a real handful.  He has been in time out for two hours and I should go rescue him from his nap.  Right now he is all cosy in his secret hiding place.  After dinner he will play and love up to me then proceed to take an even longer nap.  I adore him.  He has wonderful green eyes and my photo of him made them appear cloudy.  It was the flash.  I’m coming to get you Cosmo.

Here he is looking all rested and ready to get more affection.  What a guy.

Pearing Up

Look at these beauties!  Whenever you choose pears you need to be careful not to bruise them and to be patient.  Wait to ensure they have matured so the flesh of the fruit is perfection when you bite into it.  Allow it to become ripened.  Most fruit is picked early in order to survive handling, shipment and sitting on the vegetable display.

Before slicing this fruit, gently rinse it twice and pat dry.  Bring it to room temperature and use a sharp paring knife.  It’s usually the smallest of the kitchen knives.  Remove the pits plus their casements and then enjoy.

A Lofty View

Guess who stopped by to visit me yesterday. A lovely mature grasshopper and he or she allowed me to talk soothingly while I snapped photos.  This is the best one because the sun was bright and it was difficult to see the digital screen. Look at how everything is made so perfectly. Makes you think about how divine Intelligence, Divine Order and Divine Love is at work all the time.  We are all connected.

P.S. Time to clean the bannister!

Watch This Money Show

I have been  a regular viewer of this show for about two months already and I have recommended him to a lot of people.  He has a web site, an AM radio show and this television show, on Fox News cable channel.  His show airs twice on cable, different shows and his radio program is three hours long.  He is a fine man who knows what he is talking about.  I urge all my readers to tune in and turn on to this way of living your financial lives.  Love you Dave!

Sketching My Favorite Vocalist

This celebrity is so lovely.  Not only have millions enjoyed her stupendous vocals for decades, but her elegance, charm, warmth and genuine smile entreats us to gaze at her rare beauty.  She is unconventional in her looks because they are simply exotic.  She possesses one of the most beautifully shaped mouths I have ever seen.  From her lips comes heartfelt music and she can hold notes for a very long time.  Her acting, writing, directing and producing talents have also been shared with the world.  She has stayed true to herself and continues to provide us all with gentility, originality and her glorious personality.  She is Barbra Streisand.

Today as I read her interview in Sunday’s Parade Magazine, I kept returning to the photograph on the front.  Why not sketch her, I thought to myself. So I did.  I am going to paint her because she has such an inner glow written over her features that it will be a exceptional art exercise to bring it to my paper.  When I have completed it I will post it so you may see.

I have added some color and am still working toward the finish line.

Still Working.

Barbra update … Still painting!  Long shot from the left and turning the camera straight on, from the right.  Perspective does change.  Lighting also enhances all art work.  A work in progress.  I think I need to make her big hair a little less big.

See the slide show of this artwork HERE.

Good Food For Eating

If you click on the photo and then click on it again, it will be huge!

Fresh vegetables are so rewarding to eat.  They are easy to prepare and after you have cleaned, peeled and sliced them, just pat them dry before adding seasonings and extra virgin olive oil.  400º hot oven for 47 minutes and do not over crowd pans.  Stir one time during the cook time and after you have served them add a little salt on top.  This amount is enough for me and my husband for four separate meals.  The next day, take a little out, heat in microwave and scramble eggs.  Add the warmed vegetables to the eggs when they are cooked half way through.  Add cheeses and you have just made an exciting breakfast.

Puff Pastry Treats

mille-feuille, originally uploaded by super charz.

Puff Pastry is key in so many French desserts. When made by hand it literally takes hours to bring it to a point where it may be baked. I suppose this is the reason Pepperidge Farms makes so much money selling this pastry dough.

It can be used in savory and sweet dishes plus it is so versatile. After baking, it is either layered and filled or if baked in the shape of a shell or container, it is filled as a side dish or a main course. It is pretty easy to work with and even the most novice of cooks can be successful with this dough.  Here is a shorter version of puff pastry.  This is why it is called quick.

Laminated Doughs

Quick Puff

Also known as rapid puff or rough puff. You can make it flaky as well as tender if you make it well.

16 oz gold medal unbleached flour
1 t salt
8 oz water
drops of lemon
12 to 16 oz butter 1/2″ cubes (cold)
——————————————
1 c sugar (sacristans and palmiers)

Two double turns or six single turns. Rest 20 minutes in between.

1) Mixing bowl with paddle, combine all ingredients until just mixed.
2) finish by hand.
3) Roll out onto cold surface with lots of flour about 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness.

Shape and rest in fridge before baking. 375º to 400º 18 to 25 minutes. There is nothing to cook in this puff pastry you are just browning the dough. Drying time. Cool on rack.

Shapes:
Sacristans…roll dough 1/8″ sprinkle with sugar and roll it into the dough. Turn dough over and repeat process. Cut 5″ x 1/2″ twist and press down edges into the sheet pan.
Palmiers…follow sugar application for sacristans. shape 8″ x 5″ fold in half to see the middle. Turn both edges in by rolling. Fold twice toward the center but only just shy of the center line. turn over and slice 1/2″ portions.

Bake 375º to 400º 12 to 15 minutes to brown the dough. Dry time, turn oven down. Cool on rack.

Laminated Doughs

Quick Puff Pastry

Cheese Straws

You can use freshly rolled puff or the scraps leftover after you have cut the puff dough.

1) Roll out the puff dough 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness.

2) Egg wash.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

and cheddar cheese.  Roll ingredients into the dough.

3) Turn the dough over and repeat.

4) Cut 1/2″ strips.  Twist and put on sheet pan.

5) Cool in fridge about 30 minutes.

Bake 375º to 400º for about 18 minutes.  Cool on rack.  Enjoy.

Theresa’s Watercolor Landscape

Even though this is a practice project, I have agreed with myself that it is a completed work of art.  I have decided to make it a gift to my sister, Mary to show my appreciation for her loveliness.

I hope she likes it.

Umm Umm Good

Best BBQ Chicken with Simple Barbecue Sauce, originally uploaded by thebittenword.com.

I am writing as fast as I can because there is an impending thunderstorm headed my way. About twenty minutes ago I put some chicken in the oven with Shake and Bake BBQ Glaze. I can already smell the food cooking. The dry rub this company makes is excellent. That is the reason I use it. It is quick, delicious and I always know beforehand that the chicken will be tender and very moist. Give it a try. I have to run.

Scary Tornado Warning

Right.  The lightening started off by sparking jaggedly across the sky.  Thunder rumbled through the hot air making the loft and the entire condo shake.  Having been trained by my husband to unplug the cord to the internet and turn off computers, televisions, air purifiers, fans, lights and a few other things, I watched the effects of more threatening lightening mark its path above me through the skylights.

I deftly gathered my cell phone, camera and headed down the winding staircase.  I remained outwardly calm but I moved with purpose.  I peeked out the balcony doors just as a huge lightening strike touched down in the schoolyard.  I quickly allowed the blinds to fall back into place, an act which made me feel more secure.  Hearing my Fathers words in my mind, “Close the windows, blinds, shades, drapes and keep away from the windows. Glass shatters.”

A minute later I had turned off the security in order to open the glass door.  the cloud I had seen was a weird yellow and brownish hue, to the left of the condo.  I waited with baited breath until I felt the lightening would hold off for a minute.  I fumbled a bit unlocking the doors and sliding open the screen door.  I bravely stepped out onto the wooden planking of the deck and aimed my camera.  It had to be right now because the rain came out of the clouds as if the faucet had been turned on.

These clouds, big, horizontal and low overhead were beginning to rotate.  The wind immediately whipped up and visibility was about fifteen feet.  The trees were being bent into whirling circles and some of the branches were made to dance a freestyle to which they were not at all accustomed.  Locking the doors and turning on the alarm I turned to the television set.

The lightening seemed to be inside the condo but I turned the set on anyway.  Thank God for Doug Hill’s Live Doppler Satellite station!  To my chagrin tornado warnings were issued, and the little whirling circles were definitely in my neck of the woods.  ”Great,” I thought “I’m way up in the sky and there really is no basement on the top floor.”  Fortunately, the loft covers the ceilings of the dining room and kitchen downstairs so they are somewhat of a shelter.  I recall pacing back and forth muttering prayers for protection and giving thanks that I was safe.  Being human led me to continue reacting to the alarming tornado warnings, now posted on all major network channels.  I mentally willed that huge cloud to go far away.  Far, far away.  The condo continued to echo the rumbles and the flashes of light.

My kitties surrounded me and followed my journey from room to room.  The doppler station doesn’t have any sound, so when I switched channels, the volume was a startling sound which blended with the buzzing going on inside my head.  The announcer was breaking in to tell us to immediately seek shelter and listing all of the precautions to help ensure public safety.  To make it even more intense, the map was zoomed in via TV station, to display a huge circle with two inner circles turning in a frightening manner.  I phoned immediate family to make certain they knew to stay out of the line of this storm and that if I went flying off into Kansas they would know I hadn’t left of my own accord.

In conclusion, the storm was quickly moving into other counties to my east and my area started looking much better. Whew!  This scary stuff is for the birds.  Long story short. Everything worked out alright and I purposely refused to watch the news because I did not want to know if there were any funnel clouds touching down.  For goodness sakes … this is the nation’s capitol, not the midwest.  Dorothy, even though I am wearing athletic shoes because I had to postpone my exercises, I am still clicking my heels together and saying the magic words, “There’s no place like home.”

Faithful Readers

My eldest sister informed me today that she went all the way back to January of 2009 to read through all of my blog posts.  Silly me.  Here I was thinking she was reading faithfully.  But what is faithfulness anyway?  Does a reader necessarily have to visit your blog everyday?  Must they feel trapped into thinking they are being disloyal should they go their way and not get around to you for a while?  Shouldn’t our readers be free to choose their appointment with our written words?  The answer should be yes.

Just because little sister has decided to share parts of her private life, art, thought patterns, stories or cuisine with the world, doesn’t mean my siblings or friends are to be chained to my web log site.  Or they feel they have to sheepishly look the other way when we ask how they liked the latest post.  They should be comfortable enough to say they have been dealing with their life and will get to the blog when next they have the time.  It doesn’t mean they don’t like what we offer, but it does tell us that just like the most glamorous movie or pop stars, there is a time and place for everything, even us.

Now I know for certain that she is a most faithful reader, even when she didn’t chose to visit, she might have wondered what I was busy doing. But when she did arrive it was with the intent to enjoy a private time with my written words.  The fact that she went all the way back to where she had left off reading made me feel rather good.

I have many faithful readers and I appreciate them all.  Please come and go as you will because what I share here is truly amongst friends I have opened the doors to welcome.

This is a watercolor seascape I am presently working on.  I call it “The Homecoming.”

My Exercise Coach

Bobby Loves Obama!, originally uploaded by Theresa111.

Bobby was keen to observe me on the sofa watching television and after eliciting no response from me when he ventured past where I was, he flew up the spiral staircase, stopped halfway and sent me a message of mournful merollows. That caught my attention. He looked at me pointedly and then continued up the stairs, stopped, looked over his shoulder and made eye contact. Clever lad.

He repeated this until I gave up and followed him albeit grudgingly, up the stairs. He was sitting on the floor next to the exercise machine. If he could have put on tiny tennis shoes I bet he would have, instead he rubbed his head across the tops of my shoes and then walked over to jump up on my desk. When I walked over toward the computer, he jumped into the chair and sprawled in a lazy way, yawned and kinda smiled at me.

The end result is that I donned my socks and shoes and walked on the Gazelle for thirty minutes. Good job Bobby!