The Fragrant Hand

A Self Reminder

2012-02-12T12:35:00.000-06:00

Why do I feel discouraged?
Why do the shadows come?
Why does my heart feel lonely and long for heaven's home?
For Jesus is my portion
A constant friend is he.
His eye is on the sparrow and I know he watches me.

From His Eye is on the Sparrow by Civilla D Martin

More More Eat Well: One Thing - January

2012-02-02T15:00:00.001-06:00

Wordless Wednesday: Move More Eat Well

2012-02-01T13:14:00.003-06:00

I know you likely can't read it. I'm not sure I want you to.

Oven Broiler Sandwiches

2012-01-19T12:12:00.002-06:00

You don't have to have a panini press to make delicious hot toasty sandwiches at home. I actually DO have a panini press but sometimes I don't want to get it out, or clean it, or add the calories of extra butter or olive oil on the outside of the bread. I have been making oven broiler sandwiches for years, and they are oh so tasty! This is also a good way to make a large batch of sandwiches at one time. This is a great quick meal for Sunday afternoon when we get home, starving & everyone wants lunch QUICK.

I used:
Mortadella as best I can tell it's facy Italian bologna Boar's Head makes a wonderful one, it has bits of pistachios in it. Yumm! You want it sliced very thin.
Genoa Salami - much nicer than hard salami you want one that is a nice deep color, some of the supermarket brands are almost pale pink, they're not as good. Private Selections at Kroger is of a good quality.
Pepperoni - you just can't go wrong with a bit of spicy pepperoni on your sandwich
Provalone is my cheese of choice - but I was out so I used what I had in the fridge, today.
You can also add some ham (which will make the sandwich sweet)
or Turkey (using more turkey and less of the higher fat sausage meats will help the sandwich have fewer calories)
Tomato also makes a nice addition.
I used Sourdough bread, but any kind of bread or roll works well.

Mix up some mayonnaise with Italian Salad dressing and spared it on the bread.

Next I like to add a layer of cheese, this helps the meats adhere to the sandwich & not slip & slide around as much. If you're going to use tomato, add it next. Then add the deli meats, ending up with a bit more cheese, which will serve as sandwich glue.

Position the sandwich halves on a foil lined baking sheet & position under the broiler until the cheese gets melty and the edges of the meats begin to crisp & curl up, you're going to love the way this brings out the flavors of the meat.

Now add any mustard, pickles or other dressings you desire. I drizzled in a bit more of the Italian mayo dressing. Put the two halves together and return to the broiler until the bread is toasted, flip the sandwich over & repeat.

The possibilities are endless with all the different combinations of meat, cheese, veggies, spreads & condiments. Go forth & create your own winning combination!

Chicken Stew With White Wine: Master Recipe Becomes - Chicken & Dumplings, Chicken Noodle Soup or Chicken Pie

2012-01-13T10:08:00.009-06:00

This recipe comes out of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (Amazon Affiliate Link at bottom of post) It's his Basic Stew recipe the Chicken and White Wine variation. Jamie's base recipe calls for a can of tomatoes, I leave those out, my idea of Chicken comfort food doesn't include tomatoes. My family loves this recipe I have now made it as Chicken & Dumplings & Chicken Noodle Soup. It would also make a wonderful chicken pot pie. I used to make it with boneless chicken breasts, but after using boneless thighs, I will never go back. The thigh meat requires some trimming away of fat, but the results are worth it. The thigh meat remains tender & juicy, by comparison chicken breasts seem a little tough & dry, particularly in leftovers the next Day. As for the wine, I have used Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Dry Vermouth & Sherry all are fine, it seems that just about anything that's light in color will do. This recipe can be made on the stovetop or in the oven. I prefer the oven as it produces a gentler, all over heat & I don't have to adjust the temperature as I would on the stovetop. Be sure that the pot you use is oven safe, you don't want to melt your handles.

Basic Stew Recipe Chicken With White Wine

2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled & sliced (I sometimes use 3 or 4 it adds more color)
2 celery stalks (use up to 4, celery adds a lot of flavor)
3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 chicken bouillon cube (I use Knorr – this item is my addition)
1 Tablespoon of flour (see the variation you are making for possible alteration)
1 – 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed & cut into pieces
2 cups of white wine
2 cups of chicken broth or stock (this makes up for the liquid in the can of tomatoes I omit)
1 teaspoon of salt
pepper to taste

If using your oven move position a rack in the center of the oven & preheat to 350 F.

Add the olive oil to a large dutch oven or stock pot & heat over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the veggies to the pan and cook until softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally as needed (I like to use a bamboo paddle for this purpose) When the veggies are nearly ready add the thyme, bouillon cube and flour and stir frequently to cook off the raw taste of the flour.

Add the chicken pieces to the pan & stir. Add the white wine, chicken broth, salt & pepper, stir and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan, they add flavor. Increase the heat if needed and bring to a bubble. Place the lid on the pot & either place in the oven, or reduce the heat to barely a simmer. Cook for 1 and ½ hours more (see notes for the variation you are making.)
Serves 4, generously

Chicken & Dumplings
If you want a thicker stew you can add an extra 2 teaspoons of flour at the stage where you added the flour (for a total of 1 Tbs + 2 teaspoons)
30 minutes before the stew is due to be removed from the oven remove the lid & check on it. Add more liquid if desired. It's now time to mix up your dumpling batter. I use Bisquick Baking mix & follow the directions on the box which calls for 2 cups of baking mix to be mixed with ¾ cup of milk (I use lactose free milk since I have some dairy issues.) Mix it up in a bowl with a fork. Pull the pot out of the oven & add dumpling batter to the top of the stew liquid – a large ice cream dipper works wonderful for this purpose & produces uniformly sized dumplings. Cook on the stovetop (or return to the oven) uncovered for 10 minutes. Then replace the lid and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Ladle into large soup bowls and enjoy!

You may have misgivings about using Bisquick but that's how my Aunt Virginia always makes them, and she was a caterer. If it was good enough for her, it's good enough for me – and it produces wonderful fluffy dumplings.

Chicken Noodle Soup
For Chicken Noodle Soup check on the pot 30 minutes before it will be ready (after 1 hour of simmer time) Depending on how much broth is in the pot you may wish to add more chicken broth at this point. The soup will thicken a little bit after you add the noodles as they will add starch to the water.
I find that 3 oz of dried fettuccine noodles broken into 4 pieces produce the amount and size of noodles that I like. Add them to the pot at the 1 hour and 10 minutes point & return to oven with the lid on (or continue to cook on the stove-top, covered) until the noodles are soft, then serve. I found my noodles were ready after 20 minutes of cooking in the oven.

Chicken Pot Pie
Add 1 Tablespoon of flour at the point where you added the flour (2 Tablespoons total). When the stew is ready, remove from heat and allow to cool (hot stew will make the pie crust melt and fall into the broth, then it will not get crisp) You can stir in up to 2 cups of frozen peas if desired. My Dad would also add some corn – I am not my father.
Roll out pie dough to the size of dish you are using for your pie (be it one large pie – or two individual pies) I find that rolling together 2 rounds of Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough produces a thicker crust that is hearty & pleasing for chicken pie. Place dough on top of dish & crimp, then cut 4 or more slits in the dough to allow the steam to vent away. Bake until browned and done, consult your pie dough recipe for an idea of how long and what temperature to bake.
A short cut to Chicken Pot Pie is to cut shapes or rounds out of the pie crust & bake on a baking sheet. Serve the stew in large bowls & float the pie crust shapes on the top. This is a great way to not have soggy pie crust if you're serving again as leftovers.

Wordless Wednesday: Something New for 2012

2012-01-11T08:08:00.000-06:00

How I Saved Christmas: Tales of the Half-lit Tree

2011-12-19T18:57:00.001-06:00

Pre-lit tree is getting old. Last year pre-lit tree had some dark patches. This year pre-lit tree has a whole dark middle. I tried to fix it. The man of the house tried to fix it. Even armed with fancy short detecting technology pre-lit tree refused to light.

I tried to buy a new pre-lit tree, but the only trees available at such a late date had purple, black, or orange needles. Think Dr. Seuss.

So today as I ate lunch I resigned myself to Christmas with half-lit tree. Once I had resigned myself to the situation, as it generally goes, the creative problem solving side of my brain kicked in. So off I went to the drug store to buy an extension cord & a set of 100 white tree-lights. I got some sets working using the extension cord & the few dark branches that were left got wrapped in the supplement set of lights.

Now half-lit tree looks like THIS!
Isn't that more like it!

White Chocolate Pop Corn

2011-12-12T20:33:00.000-06:00

I first had this as a midnight snack at a scrapbook retreat it was so tasty I knew I needed to try making it. You just need a REAL big bowl (or two.) This was a big hit with my family. They are already offering suggestions of all the different things we could mix into it.

1 bag of microwave pop corn with NO BUTTER (air pop corn would work well too)
3 squares of White Bark Coating
colorful candy decorations (optional)

Pop the popping corn. You don't want any butter or oil, it will make the coating get gummy & not set up properly. Transfer the popped corn into a bowl. At this point I transfer the pop corn by hand to a bowl I will mix in. By doing it by hand you can make sure not to get the un-popped kernels at the bottom of the bowl.

In a microwave dish melt the candy bark. I used 3 squares. Melt the candy 30 seconds at a time when it begins to get soft, stir around with a spoon & continue heating 30 seconds at a time until all of the candy bark is melted.

Pour the melted candy onto the popcorn & toss around in the bowl with two spoons. Once you have mixed in the candy bark, you can mix in your colorful candies. I used cupcake sprinkles, you could also use holiday colored M&M's or, hmmm, I wonder how some crushed candy cane pieces would be.

While the mixture is still soft (it doesn't set up too fast so you have time to work with it) use a large ice cream scoop to portion the popped corn into colorful muffin papers.

Wordless Wednesday: Lead Me - Music Video

2011-11-30T23:00:00.000-06:00

What Am I Up To? - Cooking

2011-11-17T20:58:00.005-06:00

This recipe is currently under development.
It needs more garlic, and a different kind of pasta but look how beautifully it photographs.

Inspired by the tortellini that comes with TGI Friday's Parmesan Crusted Chicken & Chicken Evangeline that I ate this Saturday at Babin's Seafood House. And of course I love shrimp more than anything so I have to make it a shrimp dish.

Step by step slideshow of last night's developing the spinach sauce can be seen here http://thefragranthand.blogspot.com/2011/11/wordless-wednesday-tortellini.html

Wordless Wednesday: Tortellini Evangeline

2011-11-16T21:08:00.000-06:00

Not A Scrapbook

2011-11-05T18:25:00.001-05:00

I'm at a scrapbook retreat. It's been wonderful, but suddenly...

It's not a scrapbook. It's not a journal. It's a picture capturing how I feel in this moment.

Chuck Roast Barbecue

2011-10-24T19:13:00.002-05:00

This recipe is from the cookbook Southern Living Our Best Easy Weeknight Favorites - this is an old favorite I'm reviving. It's made in the crock-pot so a perfect recipe for dinner on a busy Fall night.
This make tasty sandwiches, but it's also wonderful served over baked potatoes with sour cream.

Chuck Roast Barbecue

1 (2 1/2 pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed of fat
2 medium onions, chopped
1 (12 oz)can cola flavored drink (1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar or white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons beef bouillon (I use one Knorr beef bouillon cube)
¾ teaspoon dry mustard
¾ teaspoon chili powder
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground red pepper (I'm a spice wimp, I use none)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 CUP ketchup
1 tablespoon butter
6 hamburger buns
dill pickle slices (optional)

Place roast in a 3 ½ or 4 quart electric slow cooker; add onion. Combine cola and next 7 ingredients. Remove 1 cup of the sauce, cover & chill the reserved cup for later. Pour remaining sauce over roast. Cover and cook on HIGH 6 hours or on LOW 9 hours or until roast is very tender. Remove roast with chopped onion from cooker, using a slotted spoon, and shred meat with two forks. (reserve remaining meat juices to spoon over mashed potatoes or toast, if desired.) I throw out the onions, they add flavor to the roast but don't have much flavor in them by the end.

Combine reserved sauce, ketchup, and butter in a saucepan; cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Pour sauce over shredded meat, stirring gently. Spoon meat mixture onto buns.
Yield 6 servings.

Show Me Your Desktop: October 2011

2011-10-04T09:35:00.000-05:00

A photo I took at my Dad's house in 2010.

Wordless Wednesday: Inspired By Pretty Things

2011-09-28T01:03:00.010-05:00

Wordless Wednesday: Learn Something New

2011-09-14T18:07:00.000-05:00

Isn't It Fall Yet?

2011-09-06T09:12:00.000-05:00

The kids have been back to school for a few weeks now, I've been drinking Pumpkin Spice coffee all week. After a record run of 100+ heat (110 if my backyard thermometer can be trusted) and not much rain, I'm ready for Fall. Not to mention I want a good chill that will kill the mosquitoes!

This weekend we finally caught a break, our weather dropped into the 90's and it was heavenly. Last night I actually wrapped a blanket around my shoulders as I sat on the back patio with my husband.

I'm looking forward to some more cool nights so we can enjoy our new patio & this nifty new fire feature that we got on clearance from the patio store. I guess there was not a lot of call for fire on summer nights here in Houston.

I'm just about ready to start making Pumpkin Pasta, again!
How about you. Are you ready for fall? What are you most looking forward to?

Text Fx Class: Vanishing Text

2011-08-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

First assignment for week one of Text Fx.
Vanishing Text

I wish that I liked my fonts better. Particularly I would like a thicker elegant cursive, but when I went looking all the ones I could find were quite expensive.
Text Fx taught by Tiffany Tillman at Renee Pearson.com

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Kitties

2011-08-24T08:15:00.001-05:00

Having a crappy day? This will help.

Thanks, Jenny, for posting it on your FB page.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Clutter

2011-08-23T19:48:00.001-05:00

From a handout in the Quick + Simple Clutter class I'm taking:

"You’ll also don your Sherlock Holmes hat and become a clutter detective in your own home. This all important
step is where you put down your reading materials and take a tour of your home to uncover your clutter hotspots."

I think I need the advanced class.

Currently I'm in Quick + Simple Clutter Control: Conquer Everyday Clutter the trouble is, I’m not dealing with your everyday clutter, this is like mutant, zombie clutter. No, it's Teenage Mutant Ninja clutter. That's scarier & much better indicates how I FEEL about the clutter in my home.

Teenage

A large part of our clutter comes from my almost-teen and the toys he is not yet ready to give up. Teenage insinuates a certain attitude, a mocking, almost taunting, lack of respect for authority. My clutter is like that. Also, I am terrified of teenagers.

Mutant

To me mutant indicates something normal that has gone strange & unnatural, in an unanticipated way. At any moment my clutter may explode, expanding exponentially, on the whim of a family member. With mutation you don't know what you're dealing with or what it will be, tomorrow. It might keep on mutating into something else, a teenager, for example.

Ninja
Ninjas are all stealthy. You never see them coming, and they have impressive fighting skills. Fighting one would be like battling a phantom, an invisible enemy who strikes at you from every direction. Generally in movies if you come up against a ninja, you're toast. Also, they tend to pick off their targets, one at a time. I'm in this alone. Even though everyone in the house contributes to the clutter. I am the one held responsible to fight it. It's not fair. Ninjas don't fight fair, either.

Clutter
It's the thing that interferes with my peace, my tranquility, my concentration. It also steals my effort & my time. I have so many better things to do than battle this monster that just keeps coming back even when I think I've cut off it's head (hmmm Hydra, or perhaps I was right at first when I said Zombie.)

Well whatever you call it. I'm going to fight it, and I'm determined to win. I haven't been able to do it on my own, so I'm doing what I always do. I'm looking for a better way. I'm taking a class. This time, I'm in it to win it and if it turns out that I need the advanced class... well, they have that too.

Updated Tweetdeck Filters Post

2011-08-21T12:41:00.000-05:00

Today I added an update to my post of January 20, 20011 TweetDeck: Using Filters To Achieve Inbox Zero On Twitter this update is in regards to recently changed functionality on TweetDeck.

A Tale of Two Camera Phones

2011-08-17T19:33:00.002-05:00

Last week I got a much anticipated new phone. I love my original Motorola Droid so much that I got a Droid 3. I love it, I'm in phone heaven. It can do so many cool new things my own phone couldn't, with one glaring exception. It takes horrible photos.

Any insight on a fix for this would be much appreciated, but I think I'm just out of luck on this particular issue :(
Original Droid Photos on Left - Droid 3 photos on the right.

It's like the new phone everything has a pink, or beige tone to it. Some photos come out looking as if they were taking in sepia. I'm so sad, my old phone took such wonderful photos and was so good at capturing color.

This tool is great for using with Cricut

2011-08-08T16:09:00.002-05:00

Now that more people are using Cricut I'm getting questions about this tool so I thought I'd share it here. This is not adhesive. One end of this tool is sticky for picking up small pieces. The other end has a reversible chisel or pointed tool that I find great for helping me finish punching out or scraping up small pieces from the adhesive cutting mat.

Creamy Chicken Linguine Casserole

2011-08-04T20:01:00.003-05:00

This recipe is from Cooking with Paula Deen July/Aug 2011. The recipe is actually called Chicken Tetrazzini, but I tell you I have had a lot of unpleasant dishes called Tetrazzini so I'm giving it a more descriptive name. I've made this twice now, my family gave it a thumbs up and requested a repeat.

Creamy Chicken Linguine Casserole

1 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup butter (half a stick)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 (10 3/4 oz) cans condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (or 1 family sized large can)
1 (5 oz) tub of shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup water (or boil the pasta in chicken broth & use 1/2 cup of that)
1 cup frozen green peas (I use about 1 1/2 cups, I like green peas in creamy dishes)
12 oz linguine, cooked & kept warm (finally a recipe that CALLS for the cheater 12 oz package) I like to break the noodles in half before adding them to the cooking water, this will make them easier to mix, later.
3/4 cup coarsely crushed round buttery crackers (Ritz Crackers 1 1/2 sleeves crush in a zip loc bag)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick spray (to avoid getting the counter messy with overspray, open your dishwasher, set the dish on the open door & spray, it will get cleaned up next time you run your dishwasher).

Add butter and onions to a large non-stick skillet, sauté over medium heat until soft, add the garlic on top and stir around for a few minutes. Push the onions & garlic mixture to the side of the pan and add the chicken pieces to the center. Sprinkle chicken with salt & pepper. Cook for 6-8 minutes moving the chicken around as needed, until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove pan from heat, stir in mushroom soup, sour cream, 1/2 cup of water (or chicken broth) and cheese. Stir until combined then add the frozen peas. Now mix in the linguine and pour into prepared casserole mix. Top with crushed crackers.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Cooking with Paula Deen July/Aug 2011

Purpose: A Quote For Staying On Course.

2011-08-04T00:24:00.001-05:00

I find myself in a difficult season of life. I find myself often very sad, very discouraged. This is not the way I imagined my life in the enthusiastic blush of youth. Today I came across this quote by Mother Theresa. I find comfort & encouragement in this reminder that the ultimate result is beyond my control, it is only up to me to do MY best, and to value my best regardless of outcome.

"People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind,
people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful
you will win some false friends and true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,
someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; It was never between you and them anyway."

— Mother Theresa

Show Me Your Desktop: August 2011

2011-08-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

They cheer me.

Creating A Tradition: Fancy Toes

2011-07-13T14:20:00.001-05:00

Last year when I was in California, Debbie and I went together to get fancy toes for the wedding. You can see that post, Here: http://thefragranthand.blogspot.com/2010/07/picture-summer-day-10-making-memories.html We decided to make it a yearly tradition so yesterday we went together again to get fancy toes.
I loved the blue I got last year so much that I did more blue, but more daring this year. Debbie got an argyle inspired pattern.

Show Me Your Desktop: July 2011

2011-07-01T00:01:00.005-05:00

I think this longing for rain has influenced me.

Mexican Pulled Pork

2011-06-23T21:49:00.005-05:00

Thank you very much to Ali Bee's Bake Shop for posting this recipe. We love it! This is the easy version I have featured another, fussier pulled pork recipe in the past.

1 pork loin roast
1 bottle of Goya Mojo Criollo (see photo)
1 bottle of mexican beer
water
taco fixings of your choice.

Start with a boneless pork loin roast. NOT a tenderloin, that's an expensive cut of meat, you just want it to say loin, forget the tender the cooking method will take care of that. Place said roast, fat side up, into an oven safe Dutch Oven with a tight fitting lid. I have a Le Cereucet Dutch oven, my family calls it the magic pot. I got it for my 15th anniversary. It IS magical. I switched out the plastic knob that comes with it, I bought the oven safe one, you can find them at Sur La Table or Williams Sonoma.

Dump in 1 bottle of Mexican beer & 1 bottle of Goya Mojo Criollo, you can find it with the Latin foods, it smells amazing as soon as you open it! I got it at Kroger, but now I buy it at HEB, their price is better. Add water to the pot, enough to cover the top of the roast.

Place the lid on and Roast in an oven preheated to 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours.

Remove from the oven, if you did it right the sides of the pot will be black, that is where it pays to have a pot that cleans up like magic. Remove the roast to a large cutting board and shred it with 2 forks.

I like to skim off the fat and return the meat to it's juices, leftovers stay real juicy that way.
You can serve these as tacos, but my favorite way is to serve the meat & juices over cilantro rice & hit it with a squeeze of lime. Delicioso!

People have mentioned crockpots, so I tried cooking it one time at a lower temp of 350 degrees. It didn't get tender, the meat dried out & the sauce didn't reduce, so I can't vouch for what would happen in a crockpot.
.

Do You Know TED? Using Video To Re-invent Education

2011-06-15T11:55:00.002-05:00

Have you heard of TED Talks? I discovered them when I stumbled across a video of a talk given by Temple Grandin. TED is self described on its website as
TED: Ideas worth spreading, Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world. You can watch talks on the TED website, you can subscribe to them in iTunes as either a video or audio podcast. I watch them and handful at a time on the podcast channel of my Apple TV. Some topics are of more interest than others, but I always find something thought provoking.

I'd like to share this talk with you
Salman Khan: Let's Use Video To Re-invent Education.

TED speaker profile for Mr Khan http://www.ted.com/speakers/salman_kahn.html
Khan Academy http://www.khanacademy.org

Thanks to Kayla Lamoreaux http://www.artinmotherhood.com for bringing this particular talk to my attention!

Wordless Wednesday: LOM

2011-06-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

How Much Is Enough? MY Crafting EQ

2011-06-03T17:59:00.002-05:00

The class I've been waiting a year and a half for has finally begun. Library of Memories is now called Finding Photo Freedom.

I thought I'd share with you my EQ (enough quotient) this is about what we can realistically get done. If we can do more that's great, but the idea here is to be realistic about what we can accomplish and eliminate guilt over expecting too much. so here's mine.

Weekly

Digital Housekeeping - 15 min 3x's weekly. This includes importing photos & digi elements & maintaining my Digital organization system.
Time in Craft Room - 15 min 3x's or total of 45 min weekly. At present the project is making the room habitable again!
Work on primary online class.

Monthly

1 double page spread, monthly. I'm sick of feeling guilty! Anything else is gravy.

This Year

One Little Word
Library of Memories / Finding Photo Freedom
Start taking photos, again
Quit hitting delete on photos of me

Home

Display some photos in the house.
Probably this will be in a digital photo frame, but I need to find a spot for it.

Online

I have given myself permission to do whatever I feel inspired to do & nothing more.

Wordless Wednesday: Smash* Book

2011-06-01T08:33:00.000-05:00

Show Me Your Desktop: June 2011

2011-06-01T08:15:00.000-05:00

Almost the same as last month, this picture is working for me, it's cheerful.

Our Hearts Ache

2011-05-10T11:40:00.000-05:00

Wishbone, faithful companion. We will miss you 1997 - 2011

Show Me Your Desktop: May 2011

2011-04-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

Wanna Get Smashed?

2011-04-30T22:37:00.000-05:00

SMASH* book

I can't WAIT for these journal/scrapbooks to hit the stores. I hear the release has been pushed back to May 23.

I feel like Jonah - that can't be good

2011-04-07T12:56:00.000-05:00

Life has been kicking my butt, lately. Have you ever gone thru a time like that in your life? I was talking my friend on the phone recently and I said. "It's like everything in my life is going the wrong way!" Then I had one of those moments where you have a thought you wish you could un-have. The thought was "Perhaps everything is going against you because you are in a boat sailing in the wrong direction." Hm, that's not something I really want to think about, but things have been SO against me lately, I guess I had better pay attention.

You know about Jonah right? God told him to go and speak to the people of Nineveh, but Jonah had other ideas so he got on a boat that was sailing in the opposite direction. That didn't turn out so well for Jonah. A really bad storm, being thrown overboard, swallowed by a fish & vomited up onto the beach. I'm not real anxious to be relating this phase of my life to Jonah.

Then I saw this!

Priscilla Shirer's new book. Life Interrupted: Navigating the Unexpected

I've already started reading. Here is a link to it at Mardel

Life Interrupted

Life Interrupted: Na...

$14.99

Privacy

Which Jane Austen Heroine Are You?

2011-04-05T09:33:00.003-05:00

Take the Quiz here!

Just Curious Days 4 & 9

2011-04-01T14:47:00.051-05:00

I'm taking a class. 21 days of prompts to help me form a habit of curiosity. After all curiosity and creativity go hand in hand.

Day 4 Our assignment was to go out and learn about something new.

Day 9 our assignment was to cook something new.

I customized a digital postmark stamp - I put the name of the class on it and the name of the day's exercise. I also update the number in the top right of the card to indicate the day of class the assignment is from.

I created the pages in Photoshop Elements 9 then printed them out and added my journaling.
Digital Supplies: Library Card Collection and Make Your Own Postmarks by K Pertiet from Designer Digitals
Torn frame from Bloom Elements by Dana Zarling from Design House Digital
Fat Frame Shadowed from Framed kit by Linda Roos for Jessica Sprague
Strip with tape by D Young from Everyday kit from The Daily Digi
Fonts: telegraphem and traveling typewriter both from dafont.com

Show Me Your Desktop: April 2011

2011-04-01T10:26:00.001-05:00

Ok, shiny new destop all set for the month of April. This time I'm using one of my own photos of a place that soothes my soul. This is from last year's Birthday scrapbook retreat in Round Top, Texas.

Kitchen Tip: Food Processor Cleanup

2011-03-28T13:34:00.001-05:00

I recently got a new food processor, my old one was a floor model I bought when I worked in housewares 18+ years ago. My new one is such a pleasure to work with, but some things never change. A lot of food splatters up into the lid of the processor and while my new one is much easier to clean than my old one, I still dread cleaning the lid, bits of food get up inside the feed tubes so that makes 3 pieces to clean. Blech!

So here is a quick tip that will save you from having to wash the lid at ALL.
Cover the lid of your processor with plastic wrap, then put the lid on and do your processing (for the old twist style lid, place the plastic wrap over the open top of the workbowl & then put the lid on.) Now you can process your ingredients

Here is all the food that would have been flung up on my lid. Instead of having to wash the lid, I just removed the plastic and put my lid away still clean.

I Give Up

2011-03-24T13:43:00.001-05:00

I was expecting delivery of my new red front-loading washer and dryer, today... the truck came & said they have the pedestals but the washer & dryer are supposed to be delivered tomorrow. So I called the delivery company Best Buy is using and here is the scoop:

The Washer which I paid for and was confirmed in stock on FEBRUARY 12 is on back order & is supposed to be available on Saturday even though it was scheduled for delivery today waaaay back on February 12th.

The DRYER which I paid for and was confirmed in stock on FEBRUARY 12 is discontinued and will NEVER be available and I have to go into the store and “re-select.”

The pedestals for the Washer and Dryer that I am not ever getting were delivered today & are sitting in my garage.

It is all I can do not to cry. Every facet of my life is running this way right now. I feel like I'm wasting my time striving for anything better because no matter what I do - it doesn't work out.

Help Me Please - YouTube & Vimeo Issues

2011-03-22T09:50:00.001-05:00

I can watch most videos. If it's something stupid that I'm not interrested in, it works fine... but if I realy need the info in a video, it looks like this!

It doesn't matter if I use Firefox, or Internet Explorer. I have uninstalled & re-installed all Adobe products except for Photoshop. I've used the update driver utility on my computer & it says I have the most recent drivers (does that thing work at all? In the past 4 years & 2 laptops I have never had it find a driver update for me.)

If you have any ideas or suggestions of what else I can do it would be extremely appreciated I have some tutorials that I PAID for access to, and they look like this. I will be really peeved (at my laptop) if I have to watch them on my cell phone.

Remembering Days Gone By

2011-03-12T20:57:00.000-06:00

I remember days gone by
My lovely mother, my brother, and I.

Quick Stovetop Jambalaya

2011-03-10T20:22:00.079-06:00

I've been eating Jambalaya since before I moved to the gulf, I used to make one baked in stoneware in the oven when I lived in California. I love the stuff.

This is not an authentic Jambalaya - I just made it up to please myself. Last week I sampled some tasty sausage at the market. I bought some then had to figure out what to do with it while at the market. I decided to do a kind-of Jambalaya on the fly. I've made it twice now. My family loves it. It comes together easy. Just 30 minutes on the stove.

Meat: Sausage, ham, cooked chicken, or a combination cut into pieces.
1 onion
3 celery stalks (optional)
1 green bell pepper
tomato cut up or diced (optional)
3 or 4 Garlic cloves, minced, chopped or pressed
rice (1 1/4 cup - see note)
1 small can of tomato sauce (not spaghetti sauce)
water (2 1/2 cups - see note)
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of oregano (optional)

Drizzle olive oil into the bottom of a large saucepan or pot & heat over medium. Finely chop the onion, celery, and bell pepper or process in a food processor.

Add the vegetables to the pot and saute until soft. This is a great way to get a lot of veggies into kids without them realizing what you are up to!

Add the fresh tomatoes to the pot I used grape tomatoes & cut them in half. It was what I had on hand. Add the garlic to the pan & cook until fragrant, 30 seconds or so.

Add the rice and meat to the pot and mix all together. Put some tomato sauce into your liquid measuring cup, I use about 1/2 a cup. Fill the cup up the rest of the way with water in total you will add 2 1/2 cups of liquid (this includes the tomato sauce & the water.) Add salt. Add oregano if desired.

Bring the pot up to a boil, put the lid on the pot, turn the heat down to low & cook for 20 minutes. When 20 minutes have expired turn off the heat in the pan but do not remove the lid. Set your timer for an additional 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, fluff the rice & serve.

Rice & Liquid Note: You can use any amount of rice in order to make as much of the dish as you want, just make sure your pot is big enough. However much rice you use, you will need to use double that amount of water.
For Example- 1 cup of rice, 2 cups of water. 1 1/3 cups of rice 2 2/3 cups of water. 2 cups of rice, 4 cups of water.

Tomato Note: You can use any kind of tomatoes you have on hand. I have made the recipe with both tomato sauce & tomato puree & I liked the flavor better with the sauce. You could also use cut up diced tomatoes but don't measure the pieces of tomato with the liquid, only the juice. You can put more or less tomato in depending on how tomato-y you want it to taste.
.

Adventures in Bookland: One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing

2011-03-08T07:31:00.000-06:00

The latest installment in one of my favorite book series was released, today.

The Thursday Next series by Jasper FForde.
Check it out. The first in the series is The Eyre Affair if you've read Jane Eyre you will love it!

Make It Monday

2011-03-07T00:01:00.027-06:00

I'm thinking of making these candy bar holders for the bus drivers for Easter. I thought I'd go ahead & share the how to video with you.

This cute project & video tutorial come from Stampin Up! demonstrator Dawn Griffith over at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com give her blog a look. You can buy the punch used in the project from her Stampin Up website

Show Me Your Desktop: March 2011

2011-02-28T10:57:00.003-06:00

Here is the second installment in Show Me Your Desktop.

I'd love to see yours too. Link us up so we can see!

New & Favorite Music

2011-02-21T11:53:00.005-06:00

Today I'm ordering some new music so I thought I'd share what I'm getting, as well as some of my favorites. I'm testing out the beta of Mardel's affiliate program, I also have some cute Embellish Your Story home decor items listed below the Title Bar of my blog - I love that line! If you follow one of those links there is a video under the "related media" tab that shows how to embellish the words.

Music

Hello Love

$7.99

No Changing Us

$13.99

Wow Worship Purple 2...

$14.99

The Generous Mr. Lov...

$9.99

WOW Hits 2011 2 PK

$14.99

And If Our God Is Fo...

$13.99

My Paper Heart Delux...

$5.99

What If We

$5.99

Leaving Eden

$9.99

Privacy

Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-09T16:05:00.000-06:00

Self Portrait

2011-02-05T00:01:00.002-06:00

Crafty Pay It Forward

2011-02-04T14:00:00.000-06:00

Saw this on Carrie's Through The Camera Lens blog & decided to play along - which means:

I promise to make a handcrafted item in 2011 & mail to the FIRST 5 people who comment that they would like to join in, only asking in return that you post this on your blog and offer 5 people something you make by hand and mail to them this year.

Sounds like fun doesn't it?
I hope you decide to join in and Pay It Forward with crafty love!
Whatever kind of crafting you do. It'll fun to see what we all come up with!

Snowless Snow Day

2011-02-04T10:50:00.001-06:00

Today shall be known hereafter, as The Snowless Snow Day.

A nearly invisible glaze of ice covers everything.
The grass is crunchy.
Branches crackle softly.

Show Me Your Desktop: February 2011

2011-01-31T00:01:00.008-06:00

I got a new laptop for Christmas. I'm curious to see how things change over the next year so I've captured my desktop for future reference. I think I'll do this once a month & see what develops.

What do you think, do you want to play along?

Basketball and a Shiny Sink

2011-01-28T12:12:00.007-06:00

Feel like I need to go all out on something, today. I was real tempted for it to be a guiltless no-work day... but I couldn't convince myself that I could really do it guilt-less-ly so decided it wouldn't be that.

I ended up joining Fly Lady again. So I have bleach soaking in my kitchen sinks & in my downstairs bathroom. I've set the timer for 1 hour, which is the suggested amount of soak time, meanwhile I'm going to clean the downstairs bathroom and my stove irons are in the dishwasher. When the sinks are done, so am I. No more work for me for the rest of the day. I think I'm going to pull out the cushion on the lounge chair & read in the sun in the backyard!

I'm setting an alarm on my phone so that I can be in the driveway playing basketball when Ethan's bus drives up. I'll bet he won't be able to resist playing with me. My goal is that he'll throw the backpack down in the driveway & be playing before ever setting foot in the house. !!

We're going to embrace the weekend, straight out of the gate!

Ortega Chicken Casserole

2011-01-26T20:54:00.002-06:00

Ethan often asks me, "When are you going to make casserole, again?" He loves them. He doesn't generally specify which casserole, just that it's time for me to make one, again. This casserole is another that I got from my Mother, it's full of canned soup & chicken, but I still crave it. I had a bit of a panic yesterday when I went into my recipe box and this card had been lost. Luckily I had made a recipe box full of recipes for my friend, Heather, some 11 years ago and found an old computer file.
Note: this is a retro recipe, very mild, good for littles who won't eat anything spicy, it is a lot of soup! In the future I think I will try updating it by using less soup and mixing it with red or green enchilada sauce. I do like the corn tortilla mixed into the casserole & the crispness of the tortillas on top, although they would dish up better if cut into squares.

Ortega Chicken Casserole

2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup, condensed
2 cans Cream of Chicken soup, condensed
1 can Ortega chilies, cut up (I use mild)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed, or shredded (be sure to use the full 4 breasts of chicken or it will be too saucy)
1 medium onion, chopped
10 corn tortillas, cut into strips, or squares
1 cup cheddar or jack cheese, grated

In a large bowl mix soups, chilies, chicken and onion. Pour one layer of mixture into bottom of a casserole dish. Top with a layer of tortillas and repeat, sprinkle top layer of tortillas with cheese.

Casserole can be frozen at this point if desired.

Bake 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

TweetDeck: Using FiltersTo Achieve Inbox Zero on Twitter.

2011-01-20T10:01:00.011-06:00

*****UPDATE August 21, 2011 *****
I noticed recently that the filters no longer search hyperlinks in a post, so instead of using "4sq" to filter Foursquare posts, I'm now using "I'm at"
****END of UPDATE*****

TweetDeck is a utility I use on my laptop for Twitter, it also has functionality for Facebook, Foursquare, LinkedIn, Google Buzz & MySpace. I recently figured out how to use the TIME filter in TweetDeck. I tried to use it in the past, but couldn't figure out what it was doing, so I thought I'd share in case other people were equally puzzled by how it works. I like TweetDeck because of the ability to track which Tweets I've seen and which I have not, and the ability to clear out what I've already seen. It allows me to have a kind-of Inbox Zero with Twitter.

In TweetDeck you can apply a filter to any column. Click the icon that looks like an arrow pointing down at a log (technical term, I know) then you can select which filter you want to use.
Choices are Text, Name, Source & Time.
Then you select - or +

+ means you want to to display information that meets whatever criteria you are filtering.
- means you want to exclude or filter OUT certain criteria.

My Unfiltered Timeline

Now an explanation of filter types.

Text - type a word or term in the box. When my timeline is really long I often use it to clear out foursquare tweets. It's really easy because they all have the foursquare address in the tweet so I set my filter to: Text, +, 4sq then it displays all the foursquare tweets. I click the "mark all as seen" button followed by the "clear seen updates". Another great way to use this is if someone has used a hashtag (#example) and you don't want to be spoiled for that TV show, or are not attending that conference, you can easily remove all those tweets from your timeline by filtering & clearing that hashtag.

Timeline filtering Text of 4sq

Name - type a user name to display (+) or omit (-)

Timeline filtering by name where I typed in my user name.

Source - Filter by the app or utility someone used to post their tweet. I've never found a need for this, but here is what it looks like.

Timeline filtering by Source where I typed in Hoot (for Hoot Suite)

I have understood how to use those filters for a long time, but i could never get the time filter to work. I tried entering the date (because I only wanted to see today's tweets, I tried entering the hour - I couldn't get it display anything to even TRY to figure out what it was doing.)

Time - Enter the number of hours removed from now that you want to filter. This is tricky so I will give you a for example for + and - filtering because it works a little differently and the logic seems backward to me.

Note: After using the time filter my column often goes blank & stays that way even after turning off filters. I find that switching to one of the other filters, like Text, will fix the problem and the Tweets will display, again.

In this example I've filtered by + 1 this is showing me all tweets that were tweeted within the last hour. Remembering tip + is inside the specified number of hours.
You could use this to see if there is anything immediate going on. I often start with oldest tweets and work my way up, but this has sometimes meant I didn't see an announcement for an online chat, or missed out on a conversation that was going on (I goofed & had to screen cap this much later than the others if you are noticing a discrepancy on time between this & the other screen caps - sorry for the confusion.)

In this example I've filtered by - 1 and it is showing me all tweets that were more than an hour ago. Remembering Tip - is outside the specified number of hours.

How I most often use this feature is when I have already seen a bunch of tweets on my phone. Like when I have been out and about, or in the evening after my laptop was turned off. Many times in the morning I want to clear out the stuff from the previous evening, until about 6 AM when a lot of people are starting their day. I often filter an hour or a few at a time so I can quickly at-a-glance make sure I'm not missing anything, but get the all cleared out in a hurry.

In this example I'm filtering by Time - 7
which is showing me all tweets that were tweeted MORE than 7 hours ago.

Was this helpful? How do you use filters?
.

Yesterday & Today Week 1

2011-01-12T22:00:00.001-06:00

I finished watching the video Tutorials & brainstorming work for Week 1 of Yesterday & Today. Feel insecure about it, still don't know what stories to tell. Trust that it will come to me more clearly as I move forward, not going to let it bog me down. May look at what other people have said on the message board. Tomorrow begins Week 3. I am behind, as usual. Perhaps that should be one of my stories, how I am a straggler.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-01-12T17:13:00.000-06:00

Promise: My One Little Word 2011

2011-01-10T09:45:00.001-06:00

The word I have chosen for 2011 is PROMISE.
Perhaps I should say this word chose me.When I found that word, all of this meaning came upon me like a flood.

PROMISE

like full of promise / hopeful with bright prospects
like God's promise to transform my life if I will let HIM
like the promise of a child's future
like the promise of relationships restored
like the binding commitment of promising to love & respect till death do us part
like the opposite of doom

Like the promise of this verse

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

This is the kind of restoration, of healing that I see in the PROMISE of 2011

Isaiah 61:1-3
The Year of the LORD’s Favor
¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
   because the LORD has anointed me
   to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
   to proclaim freedom for the captives
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,
² to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
   and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
   instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
   instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
   instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the LORD
   for the display of his splendor.

One Little Word: Pondering the Possibilities

2011-01-06T23:27:00.004-06:00

This word art is created from the list of words I considered for my One Little Word for 2011. They came from a brainstorming session & several of them were real contenders, but once I thought of THE word, I knew I had the right one.

One Little Word: Title Page

2011-01-06T09:53:00.007-06:00

I think this photo is a perfect metaphor for a new year filled with PROMISE.

I made a title page for my One Little Word, this is 5x7 in size & was kind of a get-my-feet-wet run on the new laptop using Photoshop Elements 9 for the first time. The frame outline & words were a PNG file which was one of the pre-class downloads. I reserve the right to change it completely if I want to as the album progresses. That's my prerogative as a woman & a digi scrapper.

I took the photo yesterday with my phone while Visiting Bayou Bend Gardens.

Family Visit

2011-01-05T09:44:00.003-06:00

I've been quiet because I have family staying with us. My Dad & his wife, Debbie, are here visiting. We've had such a nice time seeing the sights & in conversation, that I have barely been online. I haven't even moved my Christmas photos off of my camera yet (this is also due to beginning the migration onto my NEW laptop - Yay!)

I hope everything is going well for you.
I did join the class Yesterday & Today and I also signed up for One Little Word 2011. I did choose my word, but I want to explain what the word means to me when I share my word. I hope to have more to say about classes in the coming days.

Happy New Year!

Journal Your Christmas Dec 22

2010-12-22T16:56:00.001-06:00

In which I actually journaled the prompt on the actual day it was assigned.

December 22, 2010

Things still left to do:

Empty living room of all the “stuff” so I can
Rearrange the furniture so we can walk thru to the breakfast area past the tree.
Decorate the tree
Wrap Gifts
Clean House
Prepare Christmas Casseroles
Make Tags

Things accomplished NOT on on the list, but more important

Got Ethan to play outside
Played basketball with Ethan

Not Journaling Your Christmas - Forward Progress

2010-12-20T20:38:00.000-06:00

So I have journaled about Christmas I think about 3 days and only one of those journalings lines up with any of the prompts for my class. So I decided I need to take an approach that worked particularly well for me with the Picture Summer photo class that I took. For that class I made a list on my phone of each day's photo prompt and put a * beside it when I had accomplished that photo.

Journal Your Christmas comes to me each day as an email in my inbox. The actual prompt comes as a PDF file and it has lots of ideas and inspiration in it, including artwork... but because of this it takes awhile to read and I don't tend to read each one as it comes in. So I decided I needed a short list. Something I could look at to decide which prompt I want to tackle when I have a bit of time. Then I can jump right in and start writing, or look at the .PDF file for more inspiration. This time I'm making a checklist in Evernote. Evernote is an online place to keep notes & information that you want later. Usually I keep this kind of stuff in Microsoft OneNote (LOVE!!) but I don't have access to OneNote when I'm away from my laptop - so I'm trying to learn to use Evernote more - I have an Evernote app on my phone so I can access it during my weekly 2 hour lobby sit-in during Ethan's Speech & Occupational Therapy appointments - which is when I most often find myself in the mood to work on these things. I'm also hoping for a new laptop for Christmas, so I'm trying to make it easy on myself to get to from the new laptop out of hope.

Even though I am dismally behind on this project, making my Evernote list has made me very glad I took this class this year & didn't wait until Christmas 2011. This is an on-going class. Once you pay your registration, you have access to each year's new edition. This year I am happy to get anything down, but I feel like it is making me more prepared and knowing what to expect next year. I feel like having done THIS year I am more excited about next year and see that this is something I think I can do if I start form the first and work through a day at a time. I feel like just from deciding to take back Christmas this year, I have begun the process of recovery & laid a foundation for an even better Holiday season next year.

And you know Shimelle who teaches the class has done such a wonderful job of making me not feel stressed about it all. Every day's email (even today on December 20th) has these words in it "If today is your first day in class, welcome!" I can't tell you how "OK" that has made me feel. Today she also said "
During this last week before Christmas, be sure to remember to enjoy the season rather than be ruled by it. You're in charge: do what you love and let go of anything that is causing you worry. Let your happy holiday start with you! Have a great day!" Isn't that great. That is just the kind of thing I need to hear!

Three Things I Learned From Jamie Oliver

2010-12-20T00:01:00.003-06:00

Slice your garlic
all these years I've been pressing it with a garlic press OMGosh what a difference!
Basmati rice works better for fried rice.
The flavor also goes better with ginger - I've been using basmati for Indian dishes for awhile, now I'm going to start using it with Asian dishes too!
Fresh home-made food is healthier than eating out.
Here all this time I've been feeling guilty for cooking with cream, but at least when I cook my family is getting fresh recognizable foods instead of a bunch of preservatives and chemicals.
He said something on his show Food Revolution - something about you want to be eating foods made with ingredients you could have found in your Gran's kitchen. - I love that. I can DO that!

Thank you Jamie Oliver!

1 & 2 I learned from cooking Jamie's recipe Sizzling Beef with Scallions & Black Bean Sauce it's in Food Revolution but it's also on the web. I made the fried rice twice, once with Basmati & the second time with long grain rice. The taste & texture of the Basmati was much better!

New Comment Handler

2010-12-18T09:02:00.004-06:00

I'm trying out a new comment handler on my blog. It's IntenseDebate. It allows you to subscribe to be notified via email of additional comments on a post (as you always could). The feature I'm excited about is that it allows you to post a reply to a specific comment. It also allows you to subscribe to just the replies to your own comment if you wish. So you wouldn't get an email to every comment on that post, but you WOULD get an email notifying you whenever someone specifically replies to your comments. You can also comment & reply to comments via email.

It allows you to post comments using services like Facebook, Twitter, and OpenID. Or you can sign up for an IntenseDebate profile but you can still simply comment without one as a Guest.
It is also integrated with Google Reader & Bloglines allowing you to read and post comments directly from your RSS reader.

If you want to see the details here is the IntenseDebate features site.

This is brand new to me & I'm still figuring out how it all works, but I think this will be a good thing. Let me know how you like it!

Update: December 8, 2010 1:32 PM
To comment from Google Reader install this Firefox Add-On gReader Comments found here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/6128/
Shoot, it has not yet been updated to work with the latest version of Firefox. :(

Honest

2010-12-17T23:15:00.002-06:00

Lately just getting my son through his day feels like walking around with a bowling ball chained to my leg. The simplest thing is a huge ordeal to get him through. I'm emotionally drained I'm weary and I don't have energy to do much else.
Thses last few days it feels like the bowling ball has turned into a bludger!
I'm trying real hard to be positive not and not crumple... I keep reminding myself that this is just the night and that dawn is coming... but I'm so tired.

In case you don' tknow what a bludger is

April
http://TheFragrantHand.blogspot.com
sent from my Android phone

Christmas Wishes Part 1

2010-12-17T00:01:00.000-06:00

One of the things on my Christmas wish list is a spot in this class at Big Picture Classes.

It's called Yesterday & Today (despite my tendency to refer to it as Then & Now.) It's taught by Ali Edwards and it's a class to help you learn to tell over-arcing stories inter-generational stories. Stories about things that happen over time - instead of strictly event based scrapbooking. I would love to be able to do some of this... the trend right seems to be to talk about the mundane small every day details... but I also find I have a desire to scrap about the big picture. There is a lot of pressure talking about the big picture. The other thing that really appeals to me about this class is that she promises to show us how to scrap about things for which you have no pictures. I think that will be very helpful in telling more heart stories, to not have to have a photo for everything I want to say.

Ali has posted a teaser glimpse at some of the layouts from the class on her blog.
Yesterday & Today will run from December 30 2010 - March 30 2011.

Holiday Classes Part 2

2010-12-11T03:00:00.004-06:00

The second Holiday class I am taking is 25 Days of Templates: Holiday taught by Tiffany Tillman at ReneePearson.com this class I thought was a great supplement to the journaling class in case I wanted to make some of the journaling into scrapbook pages.

This class comes with 50 Photoshop Elements Page templates & the instruction is about how to use and manipulate templates to create more customized digital pages. I anticipate that I will complete this content after the holidays are over and with forever access to the materials and classrooms I can always take advantage of them. So far I have watched the instructional videos for days 1-5, not too bad. These daily lessons are mostly about 5 minutes long, so easy to work into the day along with morning coffee.

My first Journal Your Christmas page was actually made from a template from the summer edition of this class. Summer Template 11 by Tiffany Tillman at Design House Digital

What am I, nuts?! Holiday Classes Part 1

2010-12-10T14:23:00.009-06:00

I'm not just taking a class in the crazy month of December, I'm taking two!
I am always behind at the Holidays. Ethan has a birthday in the first week of December and by the time I can shift my focus from Birthday to Christmas I am already far behind where I should be for holiday preparedness.

We lost my Mom to cancer in February of 2007. Christmas hasn't felt like Christmas for years... there were heightened emotions & a dread of each year being "the last Christmas" and after she was gone, Christmas felt empty. I'd go through the motions the best I could, but my heart had gone out of it.

I love the holidays & I want the Joy back. I want to see the charm, again. So I decided to take back Christmas. I thought this one would help me to get into the mind-set & cherish the every-day of December.

The first of these classes is Journal Your Christmas at Shimelle.com

This class is about a daily journaling prompt from December 1 - January 6 to help collect thoughts about the holiday. There are also daily photographic prompts. You should see the albums that people are forming around the prompts, they are truly spectacular. An added bonus of this class is that Shimelle teaches it every year so you pay your registration once and you get access to it every year & the archives from past years too.

I'm behind, but I knew I would be and my focus this year isn't to do every single day. It's to bring the heart back into Christmas. That's what I'm after, this year.

The previous 2 blog posts have been inspired by this class. I've given it a label to make it easy to follow. Journal Your Chrsitmas 2010

Journal Your Christmas: First Page

2010-12-08T01:29:00.009-06:00

I had no Christmas papers so I adapted with what I had. This layout is 8x8.
Template by Tiffany Tillman. Digital patterned paper from If I Fall kit designed by J Edwards, found at Designer Digitals. Fonts are - Journal Your: Engraver's Edge, Christmas & Journaling: Constantina, December 7: Plantagenet Cherokee

I will probably update it later when I get some Christmas digital papers & when I get my tree up I will get photos from my own house (since Ethan's Birthday was Monday, I haven't put the tree up yet) this tree photo was taken in the Lobby at Speech Therapy - I needed to get STARTED so I can start getting into this holiday season!

Journal Your Christmas: December 7

2010-12-07T17:10:00.010-06:00

This is the year I take back Christmas.
I'm not going to let it rule me.
I refuse to be a martyr to it.
I'm won't allow myself to be swept away down a river, swallowing water.
This season is something I love.
I'm going to get the magic back.

April
http://TheFragrantHand.blogspot.com
sent from my Android phone

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend

2010-11-27T13:06:00.001-06:00

I hope you are all having a great weekend with family & friends!
Happy Holidays!!!

Recipe Categories

2010-11-20T11:22:00.003-06:00

I've updated my blog so that you can now find recipes by category. The listing is in the right margin and it's called Recipe Categories.

Here is what it includes right now (for those of you reading via Google Reader or other Blog Aggregation tool.)

Recipe Categories

Breakfast (3) Casserole (5) dessert (3) Grill (2) Main Dish (25) Pasta (8) Recipe (51) side dish (13) Soup (1)

Shrimp Fettuccine with Pancetta & Green Peas

2010-11-18T19:30:00.013-06:00

I made this for dinner, tonight. I just made it up as I went. It was so good I have to share the recipe! If you don't have any, just skip the grapeseed oil & scampi blend, just use olive oil or butter.

10 oz dried fettuccine (I used fettuccine Florentine some of the noodles are green, it's pretty)
3 Tbs Garlic Grapeseed Oil (I used Wildtree)
optional 1 and 1/2 teaspoons Scampi Blend (from Wildtree)
1 pound of shrimp, cleaned & peeled
3 oz of pancetta (or bacon), cut into small pieces
3 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1/2 cup of white wine
approximately 2 cups of heavy cream
2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
2 teaspoons Sun-Dried tomato paste or Sun-dried Tomatoes(I used the teaspoons out of my silverware drawer, not measuring spoons)
1 cup of frozen peas (measure them out before you begin & let them sit out while you cook)
5 oz shredded Parmesan Cheese

In a cold skillet combine oil & scampi blend. Add the shrimp to the pan and toss in the oil mixture. Heat the pan to medium low and cook the shrimp. When the shrimp are cooked through remove to a warmed bowl & cover with foil.

While you make the sauce, cook pasta according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of pasta cooking water for use with any leftovers.

Add pancetta to the pan and cook, when the pancetta is cooked add 3 cloves of pressed garlic to the pan and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then add the white wine & heat through. Add the cream to the pan, add 2 MORE pressed garlic cloves to the pan, stir around & bring up to a simmer for a few minutes. Reduce heat and add sun-dried tomatoes and shrimp to the pan. Mix in Parmesan cheese & peas. Mix in the fettuccine noodles.

Serve with garlic bread and green salad.

If you have any leftovers, place in a large container and add the reserved pasta water, cover & refrigerate. The pasta will drink in liquid and you won't have any sauce, adding the pasta water before storing will help with this.

What is it about Chick-fil-a

2010-11-17T10:58:00.007-06:00

What is it about Chick-fil-a that makes us love it so much? Is it just in certain parts of the country? Is it a Southern thing? Is it the tea? Share the love...

Watch This Movie!

2010-11-10T07:01:00.000-06:00

Temple Grandin is now (has been for a little while) available on DVD, and has reached both Netflix & Redbox. Give it a watch, it's a great film! Watch the trailer, below.

You might also enjoy this previous post & video of Temple speaking the things she has to say are so interesting! Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds.

Pumpkin Pasta

2010-11-09T08:28:00.001-06:00

**11/08/10 8:30 AM- Revised ingredient list & expanded directions**

Just trust me, I know it's a new concept to most people but it's so good! This is one of my family's favorite dishes and I haven't made this for anyone who wasn't won over by it. But don't bother making it if you're going to cut out ingredients... it needs all these components to taste right.
This recipe is from Rachael Ray 365 my most-used cookbook.
Check me out I used my tripod & the timer button on my camera to get some action shots!

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian Sausage (I buy the kind that's just ground meat, not in links)
1 small onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 carton of sliced mushrooms
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup cream
a pinch of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2-3 Tablespoons thinly cut, fresh sage
Shredded Parmesan Cheese, a handful or two (please, not the stuff out of the green can)
a little less than 1 pound of pene pasta (In my opinion, if you use a full pound, the pasta to sauce ratio is too high. This is why I recommend you don't cook the full pound.)

Cook the Pasta according to package directions - try to time it so that it is done about the same time as the sauce so it can go into the sauce hot. It's a good idea to save a cup of the pasta cooking water to add to the leftovers when you put them in the fridge, the pasta will drink up the liquid from the sauce when it is in the fridge.

Heat a very large, very deep skillet over medium heat. My skillet is a whopping 12.5 inches across and 3 inches deep, I love it! Add the extra virgin olive oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, add the sausage to the pan, while it cooks break it up into bits with a wooden spatula. When the sausage is almost completely cooked push it to the sides of the pan. Add the onions and garlic to the center of the pan, when the onion is translucent push it to the sides and add the mushrooms.

Let the mushrooms cook for awhile without disturbing, as they begin to cook down move them around a bit so any uncooked mushrooms can work their way down to the bottom. The less you move them, the better they'll cook down.

A tip about mushrooms, this one learned form Rachael Ray on one of her cooking shows... you need to cook the mushrooms down, now and do not salt them. If you don't cook the mushrooms enough at this stage, they'll stay rubbery no matter how much longer you simmer them in a sauce or whatever. Also wait until they are cooked down to salt them. Once you salt the mushrooms they will release their liquid, with all that liquid in the pan the mushrooms will steam and not cook down properly. I don't know why it works that way, but trial and error have convinced me she was right!

When the mushrooms are dark in color and soft then you can salt & pepper them and cook a little longer. Stir mushrooms veggies and meat all together. You can see this is quite a hearty dish. Sometimes my brother is doing the no carb thing, he just dishes up the finished sauce into a bowl before I add the pasta. The finished sauce is so thick that photos can't really convey how much hearty food there is in the final dish. This is a great, stick-to-your-ribs kind of dish!

De-glaze the pan with the wine. This means add the wine so that sizzles when it hits the pan, and use your spatula to work up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, they will dissolve into the wine and add to the flavor of the sauce. Add the chicken stock and heat for about a minute.

Add the pumpkin and stir together. It will be thick. Add the cinnamon and nutmeg, get warm then...

Add the cream and stir together. It's ok you can scroll back up and look again (that's my favorite step, adding the cream, it's so silky and luxurious!

add two generous handfuls of Parmesan - more than it looks like here, I was adding it slowly trying to get the camera to catch the action. The original recipe says the Parm is optional and to pass it at the table. Don't make that mistake. I have found that adding the Parmesan cheese to the sauce at THIS stage, and letting it melt into the whole, is the key to making the pumpkin taste right in in a savory dish. It needs that salty pungent Parmesan flavor. If you just sprinkle it on at the end, the flavors are not going to meld with the sauce.

Add the fresh sage.

Add the pasta, stir together & serve while hot.

You might want to check out my post about how to Reheat Leftover Creamy Pasta
http://thefragranthand.blogspot.com/2009/08/dress-up-reheat-leftover-cream-sauce.html

Laugh - It's Good For You!

2010-11-08T11:28:00.002-06:00

This made me laugh SO hard!

Have a Happy Monday!

Chicken Meatballs - Pretty Food

2010-11-05T19:17:00.001-05:00

Cookin' with Kim makes these WONDERFUL chicken meatballs. I was trying to make something half as good as hers. Find Kim on Facebook, here and if you live nearby you can order them from her from time to time. I started with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen - and made my own alterations. The result was tasty but needs to be refined so the recipe isn't ready to be shared but I got some photos that I liked.

Spruced Up Blog Elements

2010-11-03T20:07:00.006-05:00

Thanks to Laura at Laura Edwards Design I have an improved blog header & a cute, sparrow divider to mark the ending of posts. Laura does full blog redesigns but I was attached to what I have already and she was able to work with me on that too.

Thanks Laura!!!

Check out her other work at Laura Edwards Design and her personal blog at Cameron Crazy Mom.

Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys - Halloween

2010-11-02T13:09:00.006-05:00

I was doing some of my very best directing here, trying to get the broody cowboy look.
I made up a whole back story...

something about someone stealing the cowboy's dog.

Mostly my attempts at motivation produced smirks like this.

And a very typical tough boy "punch-in-the-face" shot.

Pumpkin Shots

I tried so hard to get a profile shot & finally got one at the Church Carnival

I love the concentration on his face in this one. He was trying to knock down blocks with beanbags - he hit 5 best score I saw while we were waiting... (bragging Mama)

This one cracks me up. He's running to get to the next house, but doesn't he kind-of look like he just robbed the Tombstone Savings & Loan?

This one might be my favorite shot of the night. This is Halloween from a parent's perspective & ya know a cowboy in silhouette, kinda iconic...

Dirty Jobs: Pumpkin Carving

2010-10-31T16:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween!

Wishbone

2010-10-25T06:00:00.000-05:00

Baking Day

2010-10-24T17:55:00.001-05:00

Post Updated

2010-10-24T12:03:00.003-05:00

Added dishing up photos to post/recipe for Chocolate Pudding Cake
http://thefragranthand.blogspot.com/2010/08/chocolate-pudding-cake-no-eggs.html

Emma

2010-10-24T10:53:00.000-05:00

I know I've been quiet

2010-10-24T10:49:00.004-05:00

I've been crazy busy. Well at least I've been tied up. My last several weeks have been a survival game. Ethan and I have been repeatedly sick, I was getting ready for a visit from Robert's Aunt, Uncle & Second Cousin from Canada, and during their visit I've been sick. I think this is the 2nd time I've been on my computer since they arrived. Even this little pocket of time I only have because I was too sick to accompany them all to New Orleans this weekend.

Don't get me wrong, they have been wonderful and it has been so nice to have them, here! I only wish I had been well enough to be a proper hostess.

It's just the dark Before The Morning

2010-10-13T14:38:00.005-05:00

I've been having a hard time of it, lately. My husband has been working & traveling a lot, I've been struggling with some day to day things with Ethan and on top of that Ethan and I keep getting sick. I've gotten to feel (again) like we're just trying to get through every day. I got a new CD, today & the words of this song jumped out at me and encouraged me. I've listed the lyrics below the video if you just want to read the words.

Before the Morning
by Josh Wilson

Do you wonder why you have to,
feel the things that hurt you,
if there's a God who loves you,
where is He now?

Maybe, there are things you can't see
and all those things are happening
to bring a better ending
some day, some how, you'll see, you'll see

Chorus:
Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning

My friend, you know how this all ends
and you know where you're going,
you just don't know how you get there
so just say a prayer.
and hold on, cause there's good who love God,
life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time,
but you'll see the bigger picture

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

so hold on, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the dark before the morning
yeah, yeah,
before the morning,
yeah, yeah

Once you feel the way of glory,
all your pain will fade to memory
once you feel the way of glory,
all your pain will fade to memory
memory, memory, yeah

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

Would dare you, would you dare, to believe,
that you still have a reason to sing,
'cause the pain you've been feeling,
can't compare to the joy that's coming

com'n, you got to wait for the light
press on, just fight the good fight
because the pain you've been feeling,
it's just the hurt before the healing
the pain you've been feeling,
just the dark before the morning
before the morning, yeah, yeah
before the morning
source

Another Class: Cooking Up A Memory

2010-09-23T10:37:00.003-05:00

I've signed up for another scrapbook class. I should be focused on other things right now, but the class was too "me" to pass up. Cooking Up A Memory and it's taught my Molly Newman at reneepearson.com.

In the class we'll learn how to create an album of recipes that includes recipes, photos, and the stories behind the recipes. We are also spending one week learning about food photography (food is HARD to photograph!!! There are a number of recipes I haven't blogged because the food looks great on the table but awful on film!)

So doesn't that class just sound very "me" I had to take it!

What's Your Superpower?

2010-08-31T13:23:00.016-05:00

Today @HomeschoolSue who is also known on her blog as The Homeschool Chick tweeted the following.

I love that! As a Mom I DO feel like I have superpowers. Sometimes I feel like the superhero's alter ego who doesn't get CREDIT for having superpowers, but I have them. I think that God has endowed each mother with the potential, the aptitude, the giftedness that will be required to mother the particular children that He gives us.

I find confidence because of the conviction that I am the person chosen by God as the best fit for my son. This is something I have spent time thinking about. I have a lot of super powers, but I think the one that is the unique key to being the right Mom in my family is that I keep getting up.

You know in the movies where the big villain/bully is telling the little guy he's just trounced to "Just stay down." Well I'm the scrappy superhero who keeps getting up.

Even when I feel intimidated, or defeated or like I'm spinning my wheels and getting nowhere... I may even have myself a cry, but then I shake myself, I lift up my head, I get up and go at it again.

And you know, it's the scrappy ones who triumph in the end.
What's your superpower?

Chocolate Pudding Cake - No Eggs

2010-08-26T17:44:00.018-05:00

*************Updated 10/24/10 Photos Added***********
It would make me seem very smart to say that I thought of making this recipe because of the current egg scare, but it wasn't until after I MADE the cake that I realized, "Hey, there are no eggs in this cake, cool!" This is an old fashioned style pudding cake, you can't cut it, you have to spoon it out. It has a wonderful chocolate cake on top and chocolate pudding on the bottom. It's real fudgy so I suggest you serve it with vanilla ice cream. When you eat leftovers, if there are any, heat each serving in the microwave. I was planning to make fruit crisp for my family, but suddenly I got a craving for this. It's a good recipe to answer chocolate cravings as it uses standard pantry items. This recipe is from The Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts.

Chocolate Pudding Cake

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3/4 cups granulated sugar (that's 1 1/2 cups total)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (that's 1/2 cup total)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon vanilla (that's 1 1/2 teaspoons total)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon powdered sugar (optional decoration)

NOTE: Sugar, Vanilla, & Cocoa powder are used in 2 different mixtures. I have listed these measurements separately to help you remember.

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine flour 3/4 cup of granulated sugar, 1/2 cup for cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium/large mixing bowl. Add milk, melted butter and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla; stir until smooth. Stir in chocolate morsels. Spread evenly in a baking dish.

2) In a small mixing bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup cocoa; gradually stir in boiling water and remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla ( I ALWAYS goof & put all the vanilla into the thick batter - if you make this mistake don't worry, it still tastes good.) Carefully pour mixture evenly over batter in baking dish.

3) Bake 30-35 minutes or until done - the toothpick test doesn't work with this cake because it's supposed to be pudding underneath. Don't worry this cake has no eggs so you don't have to worry about the eggs getting cooked enough. Sprinkle with a dusting of powdered sugar & spoon into dessert dishes with vanilla ice cream.

This would probably also be good with some berries, I'm allergic so I can't test that theory but if you do, let me know.

Call From The Principal

2010-08-25T09:53:00.016-05:00

Mother's of school-age children know the drill.
The house phone rings in the middle of the morning, everyone you know calls your cell phone. It's probably another telemarketer or the phone company wanting to put you on a different plan... until you see the caller ID & it's...

...your child's school!
Your heart leaps into your throat. You are at once filled with dread. Your initial thought is "WHAT did he do?!" second is "I hope he's OK!" So with butterflies pelting your insides, you grab the phone and say, "Hello?" in a voice you hope is nonchalant, cheerful & natural, you'll settle for anything that doesn't reveal the truth, you've read the caller ID and begun to panic.

The voice on the other end of the line announces that he is the assistant principal of your child's school, and that your child is with him in his office. Now your heart falls from your throat to the pit of your stomach as you acknowledge that you are indeed the mother of the child in question.

"I was just calling to let you know that Ethan has switched lockers & he is all set."
You thank him very much and hang up the phone.

So that's it. Ethan had a locker where the lock was a few inches above his head, difficult to SEE even more difficult to unlock. So now he has been moved to a nice low, bottom locker just like I requested. Hooray!

Do you think teachers & school administrators know? Do you think they know how we panic every time they call? They must know. I like to think that the kind ones blurt out their purpose as quickly as possible to put us out of our misery.

If you're new to the whole experience, you'll soon know what I'm talking about, and If someone from school calls and begins to beat around the bush - that's when it's REALLY time to panic.

Middle School Boy

2010-08-23T09:25:00.002-05:00

Ethan started Middle School, today. How can that be possible?!

Heather & Emily

2010-08-21T21:24:00.007-05:00

This is my dear friend, Heather. I finally got to see her daughter, Emily, when I was in California this summer. Isn't she a beauty!

I had a lot more embelishments on this page, but took them off becuase Emily is so pretty, I wanted her pictures to shine.
Here are the steps I used to create the title.

I used a text title.

I added the cat head & body & positioned the layers so the body was behind the title and added a shadow behind the kitty.

I added two heart swirls & added shadows to make it stand out from the other layers a little more.

And finally I used a flower sprinkles element and clipped it to the title layer so that it looks like the flowers are painted on the letters.

Another digital scrapbook page from Just The Basics class at ReneePearson.com

Template from Sketch Collection 22 (provided with class) by Jen Caputo for ScrapbookingGraphics
Digital Elements from A Sweet Day kit by Ellie Lash Sugarplum Paperie found at SunshineStudioScraps

Picture Summer Day 30: Endlesss Summer

2010-08-19T20:40:00.003-05:00

The final assignment for Picture Summer was to capture a sunset. Here's mine. Texas skies certainly are spectacular!

More Reasons To Love Kindle

2010-08-18T19:57:00.005-05:00

This is a YouTube video comparing several popular E-readers it wraps up with a show-down between The Kindle 2 and The Nook. It is about half an hour in length, but is of interest because it shows the different way you accomplish different tasks on The Nook and on the Kindle. I am pleased to see that the Kindle sweeps the competition (since I own one and am unlikely to spend a wad of money on another e-reader anytime soon.) I also actually learned 2 capabilities that I did not know about (ability to search Wikipedia being one of these.)

I found this video at The Reading Edge Podcast Blog

I Still Love My Kindle

2010-08-07T12:26:00.007-05:00

Sometime in June an update to the Kindle 2 operating system was released, included in the update was the ability to share highlights over Twitter and/or Facebook.

This new feature allows me to share passages on Twitter (or Facebook if I want.) This particular passage I wanted to share with my brother, who isn't on Twitter:
I highlighted the passage, clicked to share on Twitter and off it went! It looks like this:

Tweet Link

Twitter linked to the passage of text I wished to share (and now I have a link to it that I can email to my brother.) The quote must have a limit as to lenght as the final word is missing, the last line should read "shortly after."

Link to Quote

Isn't that cool!