NEW MOON

According to the calendar, tonight is a new moon.  I probably won't be able to see it because the weather calls for rain and cloudy skys ALL WEEK LONG.  Still, rain will bring the flowers, and I can't wait to get out in my garden and start cleaning up from the winter and planting my veggies and annuals.  Of course, in this part of the country that means another two months.

*Sigh*

But I'll leave you with a picture of the new moon anyway.  I can always dream about it.

PICTURE GIVE-AWAY

For many months now, I've had a grocery bag hanging from the door knob on my office closet.  It's not unusual for bags (gift, grocery or canvas) to hang from door knobs in this house.  In fact, once, when I still had a day job, my husband sent me pictures of every bag on a door knob in the whole house.  It gave me a very welcome laugh at work.

But this bag had treasure in it.  Forgotten treasure. 

I tend to buy little pictures in gold frames.  Don't ask me why--I have no idea.  I guess I just like them.  But the thing is, I've run out of wall space for these treasures.  So how about a give away?

Here they are.  All you have to do to enter, is leave a comment. and on Friday I'll pick a comment at random and announce the winner

I love you, Mr. Robin ... but ....

We've had mild temps for the past week (mild being over 40).  The snow, that's been at least two feet deep for at least six weeks, has finally started to melt (or evaporate--I'm not sure which) and slowly my yard is beginning to reappear.  Of course, now it's supposed to rain for the next week, but that doesn't bother me as much as snow.  And, for writing purposes, it's much easier to work when it's NOT sunny and pretty outside.

The daffodils have poked through the dirt, but even that isn't much of a sign of spring.  Last year my daffy daffs poked their little heads out in January.

What really makes it seem like spring is one the way?  Birds.  Suddenly there are a lot of birds around.  And they're tweeting.  AND WAKING ME UP BEFORE I WANT TO BE UP AND AWAKE.

Of course, this is just a prelude to April when there'll be even MORE birds sitting on the pine tree outside my bedroom window and starting to squawk about 4 a.m. and continue until at least 7.  Cute as they are, hopping around the yard, looking for worms or looking for building materials for nests, couldn't they sleep in until 8 or 9 and THEN become industrious?

Oh well.  I suppose it's a small price to pay for sunny days and warm temperatures.

If you live up North, have the birds returned to your town?

Doesn't Everyone Want To Smell Like A Toilet Deordorant Cake?

Why is it whenever I like a product--really like it--it gets taken off the market? (Garlic flavored "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter," Reynolds plastic wrap with the easy slider cutter; ice tea flavored Gatorade?) And if they don't take it off the market, they "improve it."

Lots of things DON'T need to be improved, and I ran across one yesterday when I went to ... ahem ... color my hair.

I've been using Nice'N Easy #116A for about 18 years. Okay, I tried to be a redhead for a while, but even though there have been redheads in my family, it just didn't suit me, so back to #116A it was. I've been very happy with the product. They changed the conditioner a few years back, which was okay (but they give you a million times more than you need, and I usually just toss out the newest tube.)

Hubby always complained about the smell. "Ick--like chemical green apples." I got used to it and after a couple of hours, the bathroom doesn't smell anymore and life goes back to normal. Yesterday I used the NEW AND IMPROVED Nice'N Easy #116A and ... quite frankly, it stank. Stank like those little deodorant cakes you hang from the side of the toilet bowl. But ... eventually the odor dissipated and life went back to normal.

EXCEPT -- I could smell my hair. Just a whiff now and then, but it's really revolting. I took the cat to the vet and all the time wondered ... can the vet tech smell my hair? I was awakened in the middle of the night and what did I smell? MY HAIR. LIKE THOSE LITTLE DEODORANT CAKES YOU HANG FROM THE SIDE OF THE TOILET BOWL.

I've been quite happy with this product for almost two decades. Maybe this bottle was a fluke. But next time I use it, if I end up smelling like a deodorant cake, I'm switching brands.

Anyone got a suggestion?

Oh, how I love brown transferware

A couple of weeks ago, I was in Michael's looking for something to hang christmas ornaments (yes, I do realize I don't need to do so for another 10 months), and saw they were selling calendars for 30 cents.

Yes, THIRTY CENTS!

Well, I'm not one to turn down a bargain when I see it.  This calendar is about collectibles, and this month's picture was of brown transferware cups with a couple of quails.  When I saw it, I immediately knew I had to have it.

You see, I've got this thing for brown transferware.  I collect it. I've got some really old pieces, and some quite new ones.  I have a bunch of brown transferware plates hanging near the ceiling in my dining room. (Here's just a sample (above).) 

 But even cooler, when I studied the quail pattern, I realized I have a piece of quail pottery in my transferware collection.  My mother's friend gave it to me to sell back in the days when I had a booth in an antiques arcade, but I loved it too much to part with it. 

As you can see, it's marked FURNIVALS QUAIL 1913 -- I don't think it's that old--but I've been wrong before.  It has other markings, but I haven't yet investigated them.  I just like it and think it's pretty. 

It's getting harder and harder to find the older brown transferware for reasonable prices (probably because so many decorating magazines keep telling people it's worth a LOT of money).  Then again, my definition of a reasonable price is a lot lower than these magazines.  And have you noticed that the magazines based in New York tell you that something is reasonable when it's under $2-3,000.  Yikes!  What real person has that much to blow?  Not this girl!

But that won't stop me from keeping my eyes out for more transferware.

What do you collect?

HGTV Magazine?

Yes, just what we all need--another time sink.  It's not enough that I'd live in front of my TV 24/7 watching Spice Up My Kitchen, Divine Design, Rental Property and International House Hunters, now they want me READ all about the shows I've missed (like Neighborhood Curb Appeal, ad nauseam) in HGTV Magazine.

And you know what:  I'll do it!  Just let me sign up for it.  Now.  In fact, yesterday!

I've actually dumped a lot of my magazine subscriptions.  These days I'm only getting Victoria, Tea Time, Celebrate, Romantic Homes, and yes, I've sighed up (after a long absence) for yet another subscription to This Old House.  (And for some inexplicable reason, I'm getting Country Living again . . . but I never asked for or paid for it.)

Actually, that seems like quite a few magazines, doesn't it.

Hmmm.

What magazines do YOU read?

A Clock With Roman Numerals

What is it about Roman Numerals that's a royal pain when they show up at the end of an old movie (I can never figure them out.), but is cool on the face of a clock?

I searched for over a year for over a year for the perfect clock for a certain place in my home.  (Think of that old silent film where Harold Lloyd hangs from the minute hand of a giant clock hundreds of feet above a busy street.  And NO! I am not old enough to remember it first run.  It's th classic shot biographers of the actor always use.

I have a beautiful oak Grandfather clock my Dad made for me and--yes!--it has Roman numerals, too.  I have to be honest; I have NEVER seen another oak Grandfather clock--they're usually made of a dark wood (walnut or cherry).  That makes my clock all that more special.  (And as it ages, the color is mellowing, too.)

Do you have a clock preface?  Arabic numbers, Roman numerals, or (ick!) digital?

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

A Dish To Pass

I collect Syracuse China Americana dishware. It all started when I visited a bed and breakfast in Stowe, Vermont. They served their magnificent breakfasts on that dishware. When I saw a piece at a yard sale, I decided then and there that I would like to use the same dishware.

Ah, but finding pieces of this restaurant (think diner) quality china has not been so easy. In the past 10 or 12 years I've managed to find:

2 dinner plates
14 cake (or sandwich) plates
6 cups and saucers
4 soup cups
1 salad bowl
3 relish dishes
1 coffee mug
2 roll plates
and an assortment of odd-sized plates.

I traveled to the Syracuse China outlet store on a number of occasions, but in all my searches I only found one piece (the salad bowl). I was told it was no longer a popular pattern and had a limited run. Since then, of course, the company has folded. So now my only option is to buy used pieces.

I bought most of my pieces at yard sales, antique stores, and thrift shops. I have yet to really look online--mostly because restaurant china is so darned heavy the shipping charges would be out of this world. (Okay, I did peek on Replacements Inc. (which sells odd pieces of china) and would be a good source--if I wanted to pay astronomical prices. That's not my goal.)

I have other dishware (Stoneware--that chips like crazy), but because I so enjoyed my time at that Vermont inn, I long to eat off the same tableware at my own home. I wonder how long it will take to find/accumulate all these place settings.

Is there something you collect that seems like an impossible dream to find?

Saved: One keyboard

I've had a lot of computers over the years, which also means I've had a lot of keyboards.  I think I've ranted before about the horrible flat keyboard that came with my iMac.  I cannot (and WILL NOT) get used to it.  Ever.  It was made for man.  A man who bites his nails.  I don't have long nails, but I they do go over the tops of my fingers on occasions, and when they do:  TYPO CITY!

That's why I'm glad I do the majority of my typing either on my PC or my laptop.  Oh, yeah--I don't use my laptop's keyboard, either--not if I can help it, at least.  It, too, was designed for a tech guy who bites his nails.  And that mouse--forget it!

The keyboard that came with my Emachine is WONDERFUL.  I love it so much, I bought a second one that I use with my laptop.  Even when I travel, I take that keyboard with me.  It's just so ... wonderful.

The problem, though, is that quite a few of the white letters have worn off the old black keyboard, and are beginning to wear off from the one I use with the laptop.  Two years ago, I bought some rub-on letters and applied them to the old keyboard.  They worked, sort of.  I painted them with clear nail polish, but eventually they wore off.  They weren't very pretty, either.  *Sigh*

I was in the craft store the other day, looking for cute kitty stickers and instead found stickers of old typewriter keys.  Aha!  That will be just great for my keyboard.  So, I bought them, brought them home, and applied the stickers to the keys that had worn off, and again painted them with nail polish.  Hubby had a look and shook his head.  "That looks dumb.  You should just put all the letters on."

So I did.

What do you think?

What kinds of creative things have you done to keep something useful from ending up in the trash?

Anybody got a good fish chowder recipe?

If there's one thing I've given up ordering in restaurants, it's soup.  Why?  Too salty.  But for the last year or so, I've been making soup like crazy.

I am not a huge fish fan.  I like cod and haddock, and that's about it.  (Although I've heard raves about deep sea bass.  I'm just too cheap to order anything "market value" in a restaurant.)  But several years ago, on a trip to Maine, I got brave and ordered fish chowder.  It was DE-LISH! 

I've been thinking about that fish chowder for a l-o-n-g time.  The last time we had lobster, I kept the skeletons (what other word is there for it?) and boiled them up to made lobster broth, and then I froze it.  Now every time I see that container of broth, I feel like i ought to make the fish chowder.  The problem?

I can't find a fish chowder recipe I like.

The chowder I had in Maine was not milk-based, but every recipe I've found in books or online is.  I suppose I could just make a milk-potato-fish chowder and would probably enjoy it.  But what I guess I'm leading to is this:

Does anyone have a good fish chowder recipe?

Oh, how I love LUNCH!

Too often these days, my working day (where I actually tear myself away from my computer) starts about 12:30 pm -- after lunch. To me, lunch is the best time of the day. It's always filled with possibilities. Will it be leftovers? Sandwiches? Aloo Matar (curried peas and potatoes) with naan? Still, I think I love to have a sandwich best.

For years, I had lunch with my Mom and Dad on Tuesdays. The menu was the same for a long time. Dad's egg-salad sandwiches. Nobody on Earth made egg salad like my Dad, with just the right amount of mayonnaise and chopped green olives. Yum!

I like crunchy stuff in my sandwiches. That was also because of my Dad. I'd come for lunch on a Tuesday and there wasn't much in the fridge. We used to joke that he could make half a dozen chicken salad sandwiches out of one wing and an onion and celery. Yup, the meat to crunchy ratio was pretty low, but I got to like them that way, and now when I eat out, I try to order extra onions because they NEVER put enough in the chicken or tuna salad.

Lately, we've been eating ham sandwiches on rye bread. Or rather, I have. My husband buys a ton of cold cuts--ham, cheese, salami, hot capicol, and mortadella--then only eats the mortadella. I don't like to waste food, so guess who eats the rest of it? But I've got to have crunchies in my sandwich--and here's where the green leaf lettuce comes on. I like it. A LOT of it. In fact, Frank says, "Have some ham with that lettuce sandwich," but I think it tastes just fine.  A friend of mine suggested I try cucumbers either with or without lettuce for a crunch factor.  Now that's an idea!

What's your favorite lunch?

I never saw it before in my life!

The other day I was passing by my bookshelves in the living room.  This is where I keep most of my non-fiction:  cookbooks, decorating book, etc.  (And boy, are there a lot of books there.)  Something didn't look quite right so I bent down to a lower shelf and found a fat squat book:  SuperCookery:  Potatoes and Vegetables.

I have a LOT of vegetarian cookbooks.  Not that I'm a vegetarian, but I just happen to LOVE vegetables. (A lot more than my husband. In fact, I could probably BECOME a vegetarian and not miss meat (well, except for pork).)

When I say I found this little book, I mean it:  I found it.  I'd never seen it before, or at least I don't remember ever seeing it.  I took it into my husband's office and asked him, "Did you buy this book?"  He said, "Never saw it before in my life."

Hmm.  Do you think the book fairy dropped it off one night while we were sleeping in heavenly peace?

I opened the book and there was a yellow Post-It note inside that said:

Mom,
I knew you were looking for a book about cooking with vegetables.  I thought this one was pretty nice.

(Check is inside the book.)
~Allar

At least I THINK it was signed Allar.  While the note was printed, the signature was not and it was pretty incoherent.  More important, I flipped through the pages to find the check.  Darn.  Mom must have taken it out and cashed it!  And since there was a post-it note inside the book, there's a good chance I bought the book at a garage sale.  But if so, why don't I remember it? I usually devour cookbooks (not literally, thank goodness), and this one is just the kind of thing I enjoy.

And I did enjoy reading through it, and marked a number of recipes I'd like to try.

Have you ever forgetten you've bought a book?

Can One Learn To Love Wine?

There's so much romance connected to wine.  It's been celebrated in story and song for thousands of years.  And I just don't like it all that much.

My sister-in-law hit it on the head with her description of most wines:  "Tastes like shoe polish remover."

The problem is, I don't have an educated palate--and neither does my husband.  (Who, by the way, taught me to like whiskey and gin.  I like them both waaaaaay too much, too.)  My parents did occasionally drink wine when I was a kid.  Pink Catawba.  Not exactly high brow, eh?  But they liked it and offered us kids a sip now and then.  (Maybe that's why I don't like wine.) 

When we were courting, then-date (now husband) and I went to several wine tastings thanks to free tickets from our workplace.  Our reaction to most of the wines?  Tasted like shoe polish remover.

Taylor Wine Company used to have marvelous wine tastings, where they even served hot hors d'ouevers.  That's where I learned about cream sherry.  (Don't drink it very often anymore.  Drank too much of it once and then combined with pizza ... well, we won't go there.)

Red wine?  I have tried it on many occasions, but I remember the first time.  I'd been feverishly working on a novella the entire day and kind of forgot to have breakfast and lunch.  Had three HUGE glasses of wine with dinner and ... see paragraph above.  (God, nothing worse than a red wine hangover.)

That's not to say I dislike all wine, but I admit it, I like the sweeter ones, like asti spumante.  Champagne?  Never did much for me.  Too dry.  My current favorite wine is canei, which I first had at my aunt and uncle's home.  They always have wine for guests when they entertain, and it's not often I turn down a glass of canei.  (In fact, I think I've done most of my wine drinking at their house.  See paragraph above for red wine hangover.) 

Despite his uneducated palate, hubby is a faithful follower of the wine column in our local paper (mostly because it's written by the daughter of an ex-work buddy.)  In November, hubby read all about beaujolais nouveau and how marvelous it's supposed to be, and how it cannot be sold until a certain day in November.  Hyped up over the marvelous description, he bought a bottle and took it to my aunt and uncle's for Thanksgiving.  We cracked it and sipped.

It tasted like shoe polish remover.

We'd both like to learn more about wine.  Got any ideas on how to do it?

Happy National Pie Day!

Did you know today is National Pie Day?  Even more shocking, did you know there's a National Pie Council?

I didn't either, until I read about it in yesterday's USA Today.  Seems like it's a big deal, too, with pie championships, recipes, happenings, festivals, and even pie seminars.

Who knew there was a wonderful world of pie-dom out there?

The truth is ... I'm not a big pie eater.  One thing I learned from one of the many diets I've been on -- if you don't like something, don't eat it.  Therefore, it's quite easy for me to turn down pie.  Most pies.  Every once in a while I like a slice of lemon meringue pie.  At Thanksgiving, I'll eat a slice of mince pie.  Once in a blue moon, I'll have a slice of apple, and once in a blue moon pecan pie, but that's as far as I go for dessert pies.  I'm a cake girl.

 Still, I wouldn't say no to a meat pie.  (And no one on earth makes a better meat pie than my Aunt Sunny.)  I love the meat pies you get in British pubs.  (Yum-yum.) Although I've never been able to work up the courage to eat a steak and kidney pie.  (Kidneys process urine.  Enough said.)  I've got several pot pie cookbooks.  Maybe I'll make a pot pie for supper to celebrate the day.

Do you like pie, and if so, what's your favorite slice?