Hello, Spring!

I finished my Easter decorating and I'll be instagramming some photos of my vintage toy vignettes.  

These old metal Easter eggs, duck and basket sure are nifty vintage toys that make great decorations.  Wonder if folks will ever be nostalgic over the plastic stuff seen on store shelves nowadays?

   There's so much beauty in the world!

The little peach tree bloomed with it's glorious pink blossoms 

that do brighten up that corner of my garden.

Then the saucer magnolia bloomed as well.  

Such an impressive sight with a tree that is so very large.

Our St. Patrick's Day Treats:

It was a beautiful day here in NC, sunny and in the 70's.  I simmered that big hunk of corned beef on the stove for 3 hours, dropping in potatoes and carrots after 2 hours.  Once everything was cooked to perfection it was scooped out of the seasoned water and then cabbage went in for a few minutes and dinner was served.  We dined al fresco on the veranda since my dinning room table was covered with piles of paperwork I've been sorting for taxes.

When the wind got gusty we came in to make some festive dessert drinks.   I saw this one on Pinterest and thought it was so cute.  For my version I used small scoops of mint chocolate chip ice cream filling up a pretty glass then poured almond milk over it, topping with whipped cream in a can and a rainbow sour candy belt.  Now how cute is that?

Sarah concocted this adult beverage using Midori, coconut vodka, clear strawberry soda from Aldi and garnished with a rainbow sour candy belt.  It was so very tasty!

Everything was going along swimmingly until I let 2 strangers into my house somehow, selling Kirby vacuum cleaners!

Here's what I'm Loving:

How cute are these Easter themed Yankee candles?!

I NEED to stop in at my local store, in the mall, and give these a sniff.  

I bet the go on clearance after the holiday.

Here's what I'm still obsessed with:

Easter themed washi from Dollar Tree.  I've been on a Washi tape hunt every time I go out to the craft stores and Love finding pretty versions of on sale or with a coupon.  But at Dollar Tree everything is a $1 and they have some holiday versions that are beyond cute.  I use washi to decorate my planner each week and I like to do themes.  

I took a photo of my planner a few weeks ago and shared it on instagram and got some good instalove.  What was cool to get that good feedback.  My theme that week was gold and green using that cute shamrock washi as the inspiration.

Thrifty Finds:

Not too many thrifty finds lately for me.  Just the nice old book of Robert Frost poetry.  I reached for it on the shelf because I was drawn to the wonderful light mint green colour of the cover.  I was pretty excited when I discovered it because he is my favorite poet.  I've loved him since the 6th grade when I was tasked to memorize 'Stopping By the Woods on a Snowy Evening' for school and recite it to the class.  It's a beautiful poem, like all of his poems, and I loved memorizing it even though I was terrified of not doing a good enough job of it and stumbling in class.  I would kind of sing it to remember it and recite it to our two pet lambs and all the bunnies while I was feeding them and doing my farm chores.  I still remember that poem, to this day, many many many years later.

What I've been cooking:
Mushroom madness rages on

My dear reader may remember
I absolutely LOVE mushrooms!  Lately, I can't get enough of them!
So I made up another pot of my delicious homemade cream of mushroom soup while it was being cold and rainy out. That's the mushroom soup pictured above with my 'new to me' poetry book.

Here's my version of - Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
If you like mushrooms, like I like mushrooms, you'll Love it! I used the recipe from http://damndelicious.net/2014/05/10/cream-mushroom-soup/ as a guide and added my own tweeks.

My Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/4 cup unsalted butter or olive oil
3 -5 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
1 minced celery stalk, grated carrot
1 1/2 pounds of a mix of cremini, button, portabello mushrooms, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup white wine
2 cups chicken broth, 1 carton
1 cup cream cheese is a whole brick, so prob half or 1/3 is sufficient
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme {Italian seasonings}
1/3 c canned pumpkin puree, good thickener, or more!
Melt butter / olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and veg saute til softened about 2-3 minutes.
Then add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 5-6 minutes; season with salt and pepper, Italian Seasonings to taste.  When veg starts to brown and stick deglaze with the wine, keep stirring and cook for 3-4 mins
Remove from heat and let cool with fan on
When veg mix is cooled, chop up hunks of cream cheese and let warm up slowly, then stir until incorporated and put back on the low heat to warm up slowly, add pumpkin.
Stir in chicken broth when the creamy veg is bubbly, season with salt, pepper and thyme, to taste.

What I've been watching:

Still binge-ing through all 61 episodes of Poirot on Netflix.  So many poisonings, jewels, railway stations and trains, all my fav Agatha Christie themes.

Dreaming of baking:

I was flipping through the current issue of Martha Stewart Living and saw this advertisement for the cutest Easter dessert, so I snapped a photo of it!  

Aren't they darling?  

I sure would love to nibble on one of those, or 2 or 3, hehe.  Or better yet, some of my grammy's coconut cream pie!  Oh, that was the best pie ever!!  I sure do miss her and her cooking.  But I'll probably just end up getting those cute mega carrot cupcakes from Costco. 

Are you ready for Easter?

Highlights of my Week

There has been a lot of cold, gray rainy days.  
Then we had the time change. 
All of a sudden it is Spring Time!

The first sign of spring to me is 

when I see the bright, pretty colors of the crocus blooming in my garden.

This stripey one is extra pretty!  

This past week you can find me in the garden cleaning up the winter blanket of leaves and uncovering the green shoots.

A couple of warm sunny days and the daffodils pop open.  

I like how they dance in the spring breeze.

Here's what I'm Loving:

This is my favorite daffodil.  

Although it is much smaller than some varieties it has a wonderful honeysuckle type scent.  I like to think of it as an old fashioned kind because it came with our house that is over 100 years old.  I especially love this colour combination of yellows with the blue of the hyacinth.  

Enjoying and Listening to:

One rainy evening we traveled Downtown with friends for dinner at Mellow Mushroom.  I took this photo of my view looking out of the restaurant while waiting for the yummy pizza.

After dinner we walked across the street to the Stevens Center to see 

the opera, The Magic Flute by Mozart 

on 'Student Night' which is the final dress rehearsal of the Piedmont Opera and the Winston-Salem Symphony.  So my daughter got to see it for free and my ticket was only $15 for an evening of entertainment and culture.  What a bargain!  

I Loved the music, the costumes and Papageno!  

My favorite part was the Queen of the Night's aria.   So sublime!

I like old buildings so I took a few photos of the restored neoclassical theater while waiting for the the show to begin.  Lots of beautiful details in the architecture I wanted to remember.

This chandelier must be 8-9 ft across and it sure does sparkle.

These impressive structures are on either side of the stage that look to have something to do with sound perhaps when it was a silent movie theater.

I don't know how many times I've been to this theater, over a dozen for sure but I don't think I ever noticed this cool massive light that is above the seats.  The quality of this picture is terrible but at least I'll remember just how beautiful it is.

What I've been watching:

I've caught this series on and off airing on PBS over the years and always Love watching it.  

I just started binge watching it on Netflix this month and I'm thrilled there are so many episodes I haven't seen.  

Hercule Poirot is my favorite Agatha Christi character maybe it is because of the actor's fantastic portrayal as the somewhat fussy, particular, dandy persona with super intellect which

he refers to as his little gray cells.  Set in the mid 1930's with wonderful art deco design details, sets and costumes, the show revolves around mystery, murder and intrigue which Monsieur Poirot always figures out with charm and panache.  

What I've been cooking:

Buddha's Delight soup or just Buddha soup

I came across the original recipe in a book about soups I got from a second hand book store and I've put my own spin and adaptations on it over the years.

It is hardy, delicious and good for you with all those tasty wonderful vegetables.  

Fav veg: 

pea pods 

tiny broccoli florets 

thinly sliced carrots

bell peppers

green onion 

mushrooms 

celery 

baby bok choy 

 

In a large pot, put in the whole leftover rotisserie chicken, bones and all and heat the broth to boiling.  We want to get the flavor from the bones into the broth even though the meat is already cooked and doesn't need additional cooking. Reduce heat to low and simmer for up to an hour or so.  While the broth is simmering I do the cutting up and preparing of all the different veg.  

I go to Trader Joe's to get the most gorgeous organic vegetables that are the best prices.  I get out my mandolin slicer and use it to make perfect sized carrot coins.

The rest of the veg I chop by hand refining my knife skills, practice, practice!  I love how the stem end of the baby bok choy looks like a pretty rose when sliced.  It's my fav part to eat!

Do you see my friendly kitty, Ms. Zoe Pudding Pop watching over my work?  

It makes me giggle when my pets do cute silly things.

She just sat there watching, probably wondering why she smelled chicken but did not see ANY.

Assembling the soup

Remove the carcass from the pot and let it cool.  Sometimes I pop it in the fridge or freezer until it cools enough to touch so I can remove all the bits of meat, chopping into bite sized pieces.  

When all the veg and meat is chopped and ready it's time to assemble the soup, cooking each part in stages.

Optional: frozen Costco dumplings and/ or cellophane noodles.  These yummies add calories and I leave them out when I want to cut back and eat super healthy.  I used them as enticements to lure fussy eaters into consuming my good for you veg.  Cellophane noodles are clear noodles found in any grocery store's Asian food section.

First drop in dumplings minding the time they need to cook thoroughly, 

drop in cellophane noodles that need 2-4 mins to cook.

Next drop in pea pods, tiny broccoli florets and sliced carrot that need 3 mins to cook. 

Lastly drop in green onion, mushrooms, celery, baby bok choy & cooked cut up chicken that needs only 1 min to cook. 

~enjoy

Buddha soup

Ingredients:

leftover Costco rotisserie chicken with cooked, cut up chicken & carcass to flavor the broth. 

2-4 cups of broth, 1 carton + water and 1 knorrs boullion cube 

Your Fav veg - this is my list of favs: 

pea pods 

tiny broccoli florets 

thinly sliced carrots

bell peppers

green onion 

mushrooms 

celery 

baby bok choy 

optional: frozen Costco dumplings & cellophane noodles.  These yummies add calories and I leave them out when I want to cut back and eat super healthy.  I used them as enticements to lure fussy eaters into consuming my good for you veg.

In a large pot, put in the whole leftover chicken, bones and all and heat the broth to boiling.  We want to get the flavor from the bones into the broth even though the meat is already cooked and doesn't need additional cooking. Reduce heat to low and simmer for up to an hour or so.  While the broth is simmering I do the cutting up and preparing of all the different veg.

Remove the carcass from the pot and let it cool.  Sometimes I pop it in the fridge or freezer until it cools enough to touch so I can remove all the bits of meat, chopping into bite sized pieces.  

When all the veg and meat is chopped and ready it's time to assemble the soup, cooking each part in stages.

First drop in dumplings minding the time they need to cook thoroughly, 

drop in cellophane noodles that need 2-4 mins to cook.

Next drop in pea pods, tiny broccoli florets and sliced carrot that need 3 mins to cook. 

Lastly drop in green onion, mushrooms, celery, baby bok choy & cooked cut up chicken that needs only 1 min to cook 

~enjoy

My Thrifty Finds:

One morning I found this lovely orange juice carafe at my Favorite Goodwill for $2. 

The next day I spied a matching juice glass priced $1 at another Goodwill in the next town over.  

Both perfectly match the one I already had.

The bright colors remind me of warmer weather so I decided to display them on my kitchen window shelves with some of my other glassware.

I'm always on the lookout for old and beautiful books.

There are certain favorite authors that I will always want to buy, classic writers like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, etc that I will snatch up, as well as contemporary popular writers like Agatha Christie, Stephen King, David Sedaris & Dean Koontz to name a few.

What a find these gems were!  

Isn't the Jane Austen a beautiful book?  All were less than $2 found at Goodwill.

I should've snapped a photo of the H.G.Wells book with the tattered cover off.  It was published in the 1950's. I've displayed all of them prominently on my hall bookshelves.  Seeing them when I pass by makes me smile, especially the Jane Austen and H. G. Wells which are particularly noticeable.

What we've been drinking:

Did you get a Shamrock shake from McDonald's, yet?  We like to have one in the spring time with a couple of those grilled onion cheeseburgers from the Dollar Menu.  Ideally, it makes for a fun picnic to nibble and sip among the daffodils celebrating spring.  We like to get the traditional vanilla mint shake that tastes like  mint chocolate chip ice cream with out the chocolate chips.  You can ask for chocolate sauce or drizzle when you order your shamrock shake but I like the tradition plain.

Another yummy treat we had was Starbuck's new Tiramisu flavored drinks. I had earned another free reward. {I'm a gold card member!}  So we ordered a massive venti sized Tiramisu frappuccino for FREE and a chocolate caramel muffin to go with it, then had a nice chat about the upcoming Anime conventions and costumes Emily is dreaming about creating.

Want to learn more about Starbuck's Free Rewards?

Hope you had a fun week, too!
Happy Spring!

Highlights of My Week

It has been a crazy week!

Full of beautiful, gorgeous lovely snow 

falling perfectly, softly 

sugaring my world into a Winter Wonderland.

In the last week or so we've gotten rain, freezing rain, sleet and so much snow.  

Record low temps were set in my area.  

This latest bought of winter knocked out the electricity during the night and I was jolted awake to the crash of pine tree limbs breaking under the weight of the heavy snow and falling down, one onto the roof of my house!

At one point it was 45 degrees in my kitchen!

The next day the kitchen faucet wouldn't work.  I always dial down the thermostat at night to 58.  Our 100+ yr old house is rather drafty and definitely does not have much insulation which is no match for that polar vortex north wind.  The kitchen gets especially cold, being an add on, and only having 1 heat vent for a big 20x20' room.  So I turned the heat way up and opened up the cupboards were the pipes are to let the warm air at them.
Later in the day the cold water would come out but not the hot.  Then in the evening I came into the kitchen and noticed the sound of running water -- uh oh!
And also a weird funky smell -- double uh oh!
Then I notice the dishwasher is steaming even though it is not on, not running.  I check inside and sure enough there's hot water flowing into the bottom of the dishwasher and because I've opened the door the water starts to spill out onto the floor.  Marvelous, eh?
So I try not to panic too much while flinging open all the cupboard in search of

a) something to catch the water leaking and 

b) the valve to shut off the water.  

And after some confusion and removing most of the cleaning products stored under the sink I was able to do that.  Crisis averted.  Quick thinking of me wasn't it?  

In my former life I would've had my hubby to take care of these types of mishaps but now that I am a widow I did the next best thing which is to either google it or consult my daughter with the college degree or both!  She suggested I check down in the creepy cellar to make sure there weren't any leaks or whatnot down there.
A handyman came over the next day but couldn't get the dishwasher out to investigate because the newest floor, a laminate wood floor, laid down on top of a linoleum floor made it impossible to get out unless it's removed from in front of the dishwasher.  I decided that since the dishwasher was so old that instead of replacing it I would just do with out it and wash the dishes by hand.  You have to do that anyways before you put the dishes in the dishwashers, then it takes a few hours to run, then the dishes still have to air dry.  It seems like using a dishwasher just makes doing dishes longer and more complicated, doesn't it?
I sure do hope it doesn't ever get that cold here again.

And if that wasn't stressful enough, during all of it I was experiencing an awful pain in my lower left abdomen.  At first I thought I had pulled a muscle during my fitness workout.  But when it didn't go away and became increasingly more painful I concluded something else was going on.  

Unfortunately, that was when Snowmageddon was starting so I couldn't leave the house!  

As soon as the snow stopped and started to thaw a bit and my doctor's office opened again I was right there waiting.  

  I got a CT scan which is like riding a sled through a big donut.  

I had been curious about what it would be like to get an MRI or a CT scan.  

Those machines are pretty impressive aren't they?

First I had to drink 2 grande sized cups of contrast which tasted to me like very old flat Mountain Dew.  Each swallow made me grimace but it wasn't the worst thing ever, by far.   They give you over and hour to drink that stuff then call you back to take some blood and start an IV in your arm.  The IV lady explained to me that they'd be injecting more contrast through the IV during the procedure and at that time I might experience a warm sensation in my neck, face or extremities and also, perhaps, an alarming feeling that I might have peed myself!  

I thought, Oh my, really?  

She went on to say that if I did get that sensation not be worried because that was a normal reaction to the feeling of the contrast running through your veins, into your kidneys and bladder.  Later when I'm on the sled, in the donut, ready to get scanned the lady working the machine says the exact same thing again reminding me about the warm sensation I might feel.  And sure enough, if those ladies hadn't mentioned it twice I would have thought for sure that I had an accident.  So weird!

The scan showed I had a 4 mm kidney stone in my left ureter which is the vessel that connects your kidney to your bladder.  Evidently, 5 mm is too big to pass through without getting stuck but 4 is ok. I picked up a prescription for Flomax which is a drug that makes the bladder vessels more elastic and have been waiting to pass it for the last several days using a strainer to catch it for analysis so we might know what caused it to prevent in the future. 

Oddly enough, ever since hearing the news I've been feeling increasingly better.  I'm still not 100% but no where near as sore as I was feeling during those snowstorms.  My doctor said to call back in 3-4 if I had not passed the stone.

I'm still surprised to know I have/had a kidney stone.  I do drink a lot of water.  I always get my 2-3 liters a day + I drink coffee in the morning and I like tea anytime.  I know I must be doing something wrong and I better consult with my doctor to remedy it.  

I've got stuff to do, fun to be had and adventures to go on!

On a positive note, my dear sweet beloved sister is treating us to 

a San Francisco vacation for my 49th birthday! 

Isn't she an angel?  

I really am so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.  

We are planning and figuring out all the places we want to see, shop, explore, eat and drink at including a side trip to Napa.  

I've already started my Pinterest board about it if you want to check it out.

Here's what I'm obsessed with:

Ever since our Lovely Galentine's Day dinner at Ruby Tuesday I've been excited to add slices of fresh raw button mushrooms in my salad.  That restaurant has such a nice salad bar and quite a diverse menu.

I absolutely LOVE mushrooms!  Lately, I can't get enough of them!

I do believe they've added a new level of deliciousness to my favorite baby spring mix with shaved carrots, some cabbage, English cucumbers and some grated cheddar cheese.

What sort of veg do you like to add to your salad?

Art I've been admiring:

We got to tour the new exhibition of American artist, George Catlin at our local museum, Reynolda House, the restored mansion was built in 1917 by Katharine & R.J. Reynolds founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and turned into a museum of American art in the late 1960's.

It's the kind of place where you can get up close to the art, really get a feel for it and take a good look at every brush stroke.   The first time I toured the museum I was amazed to be able to get up close and personal to a Remington sculpture, actually be able to walk around it, savor it with virtually no one around only the people in my small tour group.

I love to go there and stroll through the gardens, greenhouse, grounds & shops as well.  

If you get the chance to go, I do recommend it.

Want to read more about Reynolda House?

Here's what is looks like from the back.  

Landscaping, especially inviting steps like these always intrigue me.

Binge watching on Netflix:

I've had the good fortune to stumble upon another fantastic TV show.   This is an Australian show set in Melbourne, circa 1920, featuring the lovely Miss Fisher, who solves crimes with panache while bedecked in the most scrumptious fashions including hats, headdresses, feather, and furs.  

I

She is so posh, clever, beguiling and just a wee bit sultry!  It's such a fascinating show with good acting, fantastic set design, the music of the era as well as those costumes.  It's my new favorite now that Agent Carter & Downton Abbey has ended.  Can you even believe both of my Favorite shows had their season finales this week? Harrumph!  

What a craaaaazeeee week!!