Weed Whackers, Coffee Machines, and Crock Pots

    

It started a couple of weeks ago.  The “Weed Whacker” died the day before my husband had to leave for a two week business trip.  Our yard has a mowed yet shaggy around the edges look to it right now.

Then last Thursday, the DVD/CD player in my Mini Van (Yes, I am still driving a Mini Van…but I love it and it’s paid for.  That is a topic for another day.) ate my brand new, only listened to twice Jack Johnson CD.  And actually, it ate 6 of my favorite CD’s because the player is jammed and won’t open  up.  Now I love living here in Greensboro, but I have to say the radio stations here are the worst!!  I miss my CD’s.

Technically, my Crock Pot didn’t die but I did give it away to my daughter to take back to school with her now that she has a budding interest in preparing tasty food.  So I have been temporarily “crock-less”.

And on Saturday, my best friend, my Mr. Coffee Coffee Maker (dressed in Red) decided he didn’t want to make coffee for me anymore.   EMERGENCY!!

Au revoir, mon ami.  It was fun while it lasted but you’ve been replaced.

The red was a fun color but I never quite got used to the nuclear green, glow in the dark, clock on the front.  My new Mr. Coffee is sleeker and very handsome.  It’s black and stainless steel and the clock doesn’t look like it’s radioactive.  Which is a good thing.

And while I was in the black and stainless mood, I replaced my Crock Pot with this lovely model. 

And I almost forgot.  The kitchen faucet decided it was done corroding underneath the sink and decided to leak lots of water under the cabinet and onto the wood floors.  Luckily my 16 year old son brought that to my attention with “What’s up with all the water on the floor?”  A bucket and some beach towels, and a trip to Lowe’s later that evening and the next day their wonderful installation program had my new faucet installed.  That was a fun day!

I dread finding out how much it’s going to cost to fix/replace my DVD/CD player.  But it has to get fixed soon.  These Greensboro radio stations are making my ears bleed.  I know I am “old school”…I only have an i-Pod shuffle so that rules out hooking up a pod to my radio like my kids do in their cars. 

And now I only have “Weed Whacker” shopping to look forward to. :)

Belgian Chocolates

 

My husband is finally home from his business trip to Germany and Belgium.  He missed our 25th Wedding Anniversary while he was gone.  And the poor guy has my birthday to contend with later this week.  But he was off to a good start at getting out of the “Dog House” with these various boxes of Belgian Chocolates that he brought back with him.  So delicious.  I told him he could keep the Ritter Sport bar. :) 

I need three boxes of chocolate like I need a hole in my head but even still….I’m not giving them back.  But I will share. 

Now that he is home we are going to try an plan a getaway trip.

Not sure where we’ll end up but I’ll keep you posted!

My First Blueberry Tart

I went to the Farmer’s Market and found some beautiful blueberries today and took some home with me.  I decided to try and make a Blueberry Tart.  My first attempt and oh was it tasty!  So easy and I now wonder why I haven’t been making these my whole life!

Here is a link to the recipe I used.  I found it on a blog called TasteFood.  So easy to make and simple ingredients.  And to make your life easier….do what I did and use a Pillsbury Pie Crust. 

Yes, that’s Cool Whip you see there.  Sorry, I went for ease and convenience today.  As delicious as this tart is….it would be better with real whipped cream.  Next time.  :)

United States Cheese Boards

Look what I found today!  I was browsing around and I came across a blog today called A Cup of Joe.  It is one of my new favorites.  It’s written by Joanna Goddard.  This is one very successful blog and she’s originally from Michigan like me!  On her blog from yesterday, she posted about these  cheese boards.  This is the kind of thing that gets me excited lately.  :)

Look at these cheese boards!!  They are available on ETSY in a shop out of Brooklyn called AHeirloom.

I can’t decide which one is my favorite.  The Michigan Cheese Board might take first place because they actually included the Upper Peninsula.  That doesn’t always happen.  I am sure that makes all the “UPer's” (pronounced “yoopers”) happy. 

It’s a toss up.  I live in North Carolina now and that one is pretty nice too.  It might be nice to have if we do any tailgating this year. 

Although I have to say Texas and California are pretty cute too.

  

And if you don’t see a state you want, they do custom orders too!

Making Pasta

Fettucini for everybody!

I actually tried to make my own pasta the other day. My husband has been traveling and this is only one of the many ways I tired to entertain myself while he was gone!

How hard could it be? I’ve seen Mario Batalli do it many, many, times on his show.

Here is the recipe I followed:

Pasta Dough

3 cups of all purpose flour

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. salt

Make a well out of the flour on your work surface. Using a fork, carefully scramble the eggs and incorporate small amounts of flour as you go. Be careful not to break the “wall” of flour or your egg mixture will run out. Keep mixing the flour into the egg mixture until it is difficult to use the fork. Then start to use your hands to mix together the dough.

My dough was very dry and crumbly so I decided to add another egg. This helped but it was still too dry. So I added a tablespoon of cold water one at a time until the dough came together and I was able to work it with my hand. I ended up adding a total of 3 tablespoons of water.

I rolled out the dough as thin as I could get it.

But not thin enough though I guess. I think I needed one of those hand crank pasta machines. Then I folded the dough and sliced it into fettucini ribbons and set them aside. I boiled up a big pot of salted water and cooked them. They seemed to thicken up in the water and although they tasted fine, they were too thick. They would have been nice in a Chicken Noodle Soup or I am guessing Chicken and Dumplings although I don’t think I’ve ever had Chicken and Dumplings. What do I know? Don’t listen to me.

The only thing I do know now is nobody (which consisted of just me and my son) wanted to eat a plate of these.

I promise to stick to buying my pasta at the supermarket. Some things just aren’t worth the time!

A Beautiful kitchen Re-do

I came across these beautiful photos of a kitchen re-do a couple of days ago. Did you happen to see these? They were first featured on Shelterpop (And you can read all about the transformation at that site.) This is where I found another link to the blog of the Designer who created this beautiful kitchen. Her name is Linda Merrill and she has a wonderful blog called Surroundings.

Two of my favorites are shown in this shot. A beautiful black and white tile floor and a burlap skirted countertop. The Designer explained that she created the counter top out of an old door she had in her garage and then she made the burlap skirting to go around it. I wonder what she’s got stored underneath there? I love how she uses this as a bar for when she entertains.

Here are the BEFORE shots. At least she starts out with the gorgeous floors. But the cabinets look dark and dated.

It’s amazing what a difference new hardware and painting the cabinets made. And look how she used beadboard wall paper on her walls to brighten them up and to add some personality. Did you notice how she used more burlap for her window treatments? I think it’s the French flair she gave the space that makes me like it so much. Just lovely!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our Wedding Anniversary.

We hit a milestone.

25 years!

Way back In 1985 we were married on a sunny and perfect Michigan day.

Many friends and family joined us.

Great food, great music, and great fun.

And dancing. Lots of dancing.

I did the “Gator” in my wedding dress.

An insanely fun day.

And we were the last to leave our Reception.

Didn’t get to our hotel till 4:00 AM

Had to leave for the airport at 6:30 AM

Can you say hangover?

12 hour flight to Hawaii sitting next to another passenger drinking whiskey and smoking cigarettes at 10:30 in the morning. I am gagging.

Aloha! Pick up convertible car rental. Oh my hair!

Arrive at The Turtle Bay Resort. Can I go to bed now? Please? Wake up 15 hours later.

Spend the week exploring the entire island of Oahu. Gorgeous! Another Mai Tai? Yes, thank you!

One week was not enough. Vow to return again someday.

Fly home to Detroit and move in with new husband’s former room mate in a 1 bedroom apartment for 3 weeks as we wait for new condo to be finished.

Move to new condo. Pose for photo shown above. This is the beginning of something wonderful!

Happy Anniversary to me and my very handsome husband!