Oh mince! I had forgotten about those beets! I had to find something to do with them, n’est-ce pas ? Nothing hurts me more than tossing food because I forget about it. I could have done something I knew well how to, but I did not feel like making neither a soup nor a salad , although these sounded both good too. I was in fact looking forward to something new to use my bunch of soon-to-fade beets . So when P. walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning to tell me I take that we stay here this weekend, don’t we? , he gave me a brilliant idea. Inspiring! Of course, we were staying in! There was really little chance that anything more exciting and adventurous could happen with my turned-black foot still bothering me — and that’s a mild way to put it as I have never had such a pitch black bruise. Within a few days, I’ve mastered the hopping technique like a pro and I can even cover distances in the house — from stove to couch — quite fast. I think I even like it. “ Gnocchi ?  read more »

Again, I should REALLY be in bed. My preggo butt will be T-I-R-E-D tomorrow.

Especially considering I'm in a new job and should really be trying my utmost to impress all and sundry.

But I can't sleep without sharing this cake.

So here it is....from the Best of the Best of Bridge, this is what I craved. I was all set to make a much healthier dessert (a very good one!) from Self magazine. It's a lovely apple caramel strudel in phyllo, done with a creamy caramel sauce. As long as you eschew the cooking spray for butter, it's a GREAT dessert.

But then I saw this one. And it was like the helpless moth, fluttering blindly, yet oh so lovingly, toward the flame.  read more »

For many fans, a trip to the stadium is as much about the sights, the sounds and, most importantly, the food, as it is about the field.

Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics with Ina Garten Thanksgiving Countdown Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast Homemade Gravy Sausage and Herb Stuffing Celery Root and Apple Puree The Food Network is doing a much better job than I am at getting organized for Thanksgiving. There have been slews of Thanksgiving shows with lots of turkey tips. Here are some of the T-Day shows that have been on: Sunny made a turkey breast. The Neelys smoked a turkey and served it with barbecue sauce. Giada is cooking Los Angeles style. Does that mean she cooks in her bikini while sipping cucumber infused water and nibbling on some green recycled appetizer?  read more »

The sun shone down on windy lane cottage on a beautiful summer day. All the flowers were dancing in the garden as a gentle breeze brushed across the tops of their heads and ruffled their curling leaves. Birds twittered in the tree tops and bees hummed as they flitted here and there, darting in and out amongst the dancing flowers.

Christabelle Woodland loved living in such a snug little place. Here she felt warm and she felt safe and she felt, well . . . happy. I wonder, she thought to herself, what it is that makes me feel this way. Where is it that I can find bliss? What is bliss? Where is joy? What is joy? These questions kept swirling around and around in her little fairy mind and so she set off to find out the answer amidst the to's and fro's of Windy Lane.  read more »

Today's vegetable recipe: Simple celery soup that tastes like something 'more'. Weight Watchers 1 point. Awhile back, I puzzled over a tidbit in a magazine. "To have fun," it asked, "would you prefer to go to a party with lots of old friends or one where you'll know hardly anyone?" Turns out that if FUN is the desired experience, then partying with new people is the ticket. (Okay, yes, I know, who can make such a generalization? and why is new fun better than laughing over old jokes?  read more »

Today's vegetable recipe: Simple celery soup that tastes like something 'more'. Weight Watchers 1 point. Awhile back, I puzzled over a tidbit in a magazine. "To have fun," it asked, "would you prefer to go to a party with lots of old friends or one where you'll know hardly anyone?" Turns out that if FUN is the desired experience, then partying with new people is the ticket. (Okay, yes, I know, who can make such a generalization? and why is new fun better than laughing over old jokes?  read more »

Memorial Day weekend is Marc and my wedding anniversary. (...)

FOR TODAY, OCTOBER 20, 2008 ...

Outside My Window...
The wind is just a howling. It started yesterday. This will really bring the leaves off of the trees now. They will be looking quite bare after this I expect. We really have had a fairly nice autumn, much nicer weather wise than the summer was.

I am thinking...
About my friend Margaret. She is leaving to go on a trip to Egypt today. I hope that she has a lovely and a safe time. I think she's very brave. I have long wanted to go there and to the Holy Land. It must be exciting to see the Pyramids and walk on the Sahara Desert and see and do all those things I've only ever seen pictures of in books. I can't wait to hear about everything she saw and did when she gets back!  read more »