Parking

This was parked in the street the other morning.

This was parked in the living room.

Pie Time

I did make a pie when Ernest came home. 

It was a delicious Blueberry Crumble pie, from the Ms. American Pie cookbook. But mine turned out rather soupy. Next time I make it I will use a lot more cornstarch.

I was entranced by how the cornstarch settled into the stem end of the blueberry, like a little star.  My people thought it was odd that I was taking pictures, but they should be used to me by now.

Although the pie was not quite as successful as I would have liked, I don't blame the cookbook. There are some fantastic pies in there.

I made the Banana Cream a few weeks ago and it was divine.

This is Either Heaven or Hell

11 books waiting for me at the library, with 2 more on the way. 

Homeeyore

The other night I dreamed that Homer had lost his tail.

It's rather a scrawny tail compared to the rest of the cat, but it's the only tail he's got.

Whoopsie Daisy

I weighed myself before going to bed last night, which is generally a mistake, but it was even more of a mistake than usual as I mis-stepped getting off the scale and landed on my butt in the bathtub with my legs hanging over the edge.

How embarrassing. I thought of calling for help but others were watching a movie downstairs and wouldn't have heard me. I ineffectually flailed my arms and legs like a turtle on its back, until I realized if I moved my legs into the bathtub I would have better luck getting out.

No major injuries, although my left arm is a little sore this morning.

The Other Cats Demand Equal Time

"Why does the big fat one get all the attention?" wonder Fifi and Tiny.

Fifi has been an indoor cat her entire life. She's the kind of cat that shouldn't go outside. She is scared of everything. You breath near her and she jumps. She was never even really interested in outside but she has been observing Tiny's activities and has gotten the tiniest bit curious. Last week I mistakenly didn't latch the door securely, and when it slowly crept open a couple inches, she made an escape. Twice! The first time Tiny was also out on the patio, watching the action. Fifi scared herself into the garage, and then into a pile of stuff next to the door. I finally managed to get the door open and shoo her in. The second time I found her in the garage and easily lured her in with the rattling of Feline Greenies. I must be more vigilant about securing the door!

Tiny is an extremely curious creature. In her other home, she went outside on a leash. When a dog joined the household, Tiny decided the dog's door was hers. So when she came to us she was eager to explore the great outdoors. When Frank opened his car door one morning, in she went and explored the car from front to back.

All right ladies.

Pizza Revision

Remember that horrible little pizza I had? Unfortunately, there was another one in the freezer. Fortunately I had enough stuff in the fridge (including extra cheese) to jazz it up a bit.

It was a slight improvement. But I won't be buying it again. 

The Return

Ah, I'm sure he has missed Southern California traffic. He is very tired of explaining to east coasters why you need a car here, and why it must be smogged. A classmate just spent a few days at UCLA and finally understands. 

Of course we went to In-n-Out. The burger and animal fries disappeared before I had a chance to take the traditional picture. 

Home again, home again, jiggedy jig. With two 49 lb. bags, a small pack, and a mandolin. His girlfriend is storing his dress robes and the other instruments. I guess he can borrow his dad's guitar if he feels the urge. He shipped his computer and everything else is in storage. I was responsible for none of this organization, which is absolutely delightful. I love how Ernest just took charge of the whole college process and all I have to do is (ouch) pay the bills. 

We spent a fun afternoon playing Frank's collection of games: Settlers of Catan (I won for a change), Fluxx (Ernest, 5 of 6), and my new favorite, Cards Against Humanity (too much fun to keep score). Now Frank and Ernest are playing Eclipse, which is completely beyond me.

Tonight he is going to Hogwart's Anti-Prom, not an official event but just a get-together for kids who don't want to go to prom, hosted by a family with a wood-fired pizza oven in their backyard. 

Hey, Handy Honey, can you build us one of those? 

Awwww, it's nice to see him again. 

Back to Normal

Homer's had a rough week.

He had an incident with the dog-in-law on Sunday. Normally there is tolerance between the two. But this time said dog jumped on the couch next to a sleeping Homer. Imagine being abruptly woken from a delightful cat nap to be stared in the face by your mortal enemy. Homer rocketed off the couch, coughing, and vomited. He was too traumatized to do anything more than sulk under a rocking chair.

The next morning he binge ate, vomited again (he did go back for a refill), then went back under the rocker. That was also the day of his regular monthly vet visit. When I moved the rocker to get him, he ran upstairs and tried to get under the bed in the sewing room. Francine must have told him about that - it's one of her favorite hiding places. But Homer was a little too large and his rump was sticking out under the bedspread so I was able to capture him. He was grumpy for the vet, too. Usually he is a sweetheart.

He stopped hiding but he has been picking at his food all week. Yesterday things were a little better as he requested some ham from my pizza and stole Francine's kibble.

Today he seems back to normal: he scarfed the breakfast and begged for kibble twice. He is a little confused because when he leads me to the kibble cupboard I don't open it. I've started leaving a container on the counter instead.

Here's to a good weekend. Ernest's returning so there will be lots of cat petting and snuggling!

Dinner Diaries: Recycling

I really do love to cook dinner. Baking is more of a science (I will have a cookie story for you soon) but with savory dinners, oh, one can be creative and adaptive.

I would love to incorporate more vegetarian meals into my repertoire, but I have a couple meat-n-potatoes guys so...  

I've had quite a spell of using leftovers or, as I call it, recycling.

I always take advantage of what's on sale. Really cheap pork steaks made Pork Swiss Steak. Leftovers saved for the weekend taco trifecta (my fancy name for a choice of 3 taco fillings). 

The most boring dinner, but they all love chicken, rice and broccoli. Chicken left over for the taco trifecta and also chicken tortilla soup. Three meals from one 99¢ /lb. chicken!

London broil. Pasta recycled from the pork dinner, and the leftover steak pays it forward to the tacos.

No photos, but after the tacos there was still pork and London broil left! So they recycled themselves into a not-shepherd's pie. What would you call that, a cow/swine-herd's pie? I was a bit skeptical about mixing pork and beef together but I was encouraged to do so, and the results were tasty. 

Lamb Chop. Green beans don't need no stinkin' casserole, just the onions! (Potatoes later recycled into breakfast burritos.)

Recycled those green beans into a niçoise style potato salad. Spinach and strawberry salad made up on the spot, along with pan fried salmon. 

The leftover salmon will turn into Ina Garten's salmon cakes. 

So, what have you done with your leftovers recently?

Blueberry Pie Day

Today is Blueberry Pie Day. I remember a couple of very fine blueberry pies.





But I just don't want to make one today.  I'll wait until the weekend when ERNEST GETS BACK!!!

Apricot Shmapricot

Don't these look disgusting? I've had unsulfered apricots before but not like this. These were almost black and smelled burnt. I was going to put them in Meredith's granola but I don't want to ruin the delicious morsels of oaty goodness. Time for a trip to the store. 

All Eyes Upon Me

I feel sure they want something. 

Homer undoubtedly wants food. 

Fifi has discovered that there is an outside and she wants to go there. Since she has been an indoor cat all her life and is the scaredy-est cat in the world, there's no way that's going to be allowed. But she has made two escapes when the door has not been closed securely, fortunately cornering herself in the garage. She is lured back in the house by the rattling of the kitty treat container.

Sigh.

This is the Ham that Never Ends

I purchased a fancy ham for Easter. The pig was raised in a local walnut orchard, butchered at a university, and smoked at a nearby charcuterie. While expensive, it was delicious. And I had a ton of leftovers!

There was no bone. Well, I'm glad I didn't pay for a bone at that price. I managed to make some ham and bean soup without a bone. Claudia has a delicious recipe for white bean and ham soup. Lately I have been making the Hambeens 15-bean soup, which I have discovered that 75% of the family likes better than split pea soup. The 25% that likes split pea better has been off at college, so no problem there.

Some ham found its way into a pasta dish.

There were lots of meals of ham 'n' eggs and ham sandwiches and ham snacks. 

And you know that Homer likes ham. It might be his second favorite food, next to bacon.

Finally I was down to just a few handfuls, and they went into a quiche.

But wait, it's not quite over. Because there is leftover soup and quiche in the freezer now.

Thank you Mr. Local Pig, for the song ham that never ends.

Knit Wits

M-I-L and I are knitting away.

Handy likes to perform quality control and tell us if we've missed a stitch.

I am in charge of finishing and embellishments.

I put too much fringe on her scarf and had to take some off!

This boy has sure grown up. I call him The Padawan now. He desperately needed this new hat, so his mom could wash his old one!

We've got to get cracking. Only 8 months until Christmas!

The Oblivious Sentinel

Tiny was on yard duty. And doing a damn fine job, in her opinion.

Until her butt back was turned.

What Do I Want?

I've got a birthday coming up next month, the big 5-5. Handy asked me what I wanted. Besides not cooking going out to dinner, I couldn't really think of anything. I have enough stuff, I said. He is aware of my feeble attempts to declutter.

He was delighted with himself because he thought of the perfect thing that wouldn't take up any space. He would have my car detailed. Isn't that more of a him thing than a me thing?

I'm not too fussy, I mean I have been happy with new toilets (and here too) but we don't need any more of those.

He did accomplish a small home improvement task for me this weekend. Something that has been bugging me for years. Replace the moldy caulking around the sink. I have asked for this off and on with no response, but finally a piece of it came loose. No, I did not yank on it to make it worse. Much.

It's so beautiful now! I told him it could be an early birthday present. 

Hmmm...the house needs painting.  I wonder... 

Missed Call

It looks like I missed the call from Jesus. 

A Mom's Gotta Do...

...what a mom's gotta do.

Celebrate the birthday without the boy. 

He managed all right.