Monthly Archives: July 2008

Borrow a cup of flour?

Posted on July 21, 2008 | 2 Comments

A few weeks ago a neighbor called and asked if I had flour. I’d just made pizza dough a few times and only had about a cup left so gave it to him for a sauce.

This afternoon I went to make Macaroni and Cheese and got everything out except I only had whole wheat flour. OK, let’s give it a try. It was a very strange color, especially with the cheese in the sauce but as it baked, it cooked into the shells and looked and tasted fine in the end.

I believe you have my recipe (I’ll check). It was highly unusual for me to be out of flour. Oh well, the mac and cheese was healthier that way, even with the butter and cheese. Dee

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Mamma Mia!

Posted on July 20, 2008 | 1 Comment

This morning I let Jim have a lazy Sunday morning and sleep in as he has a crazy week ahead.

He wanted to see Dark Knight but it was sold out for the next two shows and there were long seat-choosing lines so we chose Mamma Mia! I thought it was great and Jim enjoyed it as well. So what if James Bond can’t sing well. There’s only one really bad one where he was forced to go out of his range, but hey, he had the cajones to do it! I give him much credit for that.

If you want a silly summer musical with Meryl Streep and Christine Baranski singing their lungs out and having the time of their lives, this is one to see!

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What a day

Posted on July 18, 2008 | 2 Comments

Our frig went on the fritz today and I ran out for ice and ran into several police cars on our 1/8 mile street. They told me to hurry before they closed our street for an indeterminate amount of time.

So I ran to the local drugstore and got 20# of ice and when I got back the repairman had all our frozen stuff out on the counter, which we packed up quickly and put in two coolers.

Didn’t do the frig and I think everything’s bad as the milk was bad…. Then we found out Jim’s cousin Val (Zoe’s hip surgeon) wanted to have dinner tonight as she’s in town with her parents.

Then we found out the reason for all the police and mounted police et al is that the President is in town and they closed all the streets around here so if I wanted to feed Jim and Val and her parents all the food went bad AND our street was blocked so we couldn’t enter or exit the property!

Val’s appointments ran 1 1/2 hours late so we’ll meet for breakfast instead. I just ordered a pizza.

What a day.

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That’s It!

Posted on July 18, 2008 | Leave a comment

Paris has taken over the hamburger, to wit http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/dining/16paris.html?em&ex=1216526400&en=152f3e8d233ff725&ei=5087%0A

What say we do our own riff on the Croque Monsoeur? Or hachis parmentier (Shepherd’s Pie) or steak frites. Wait, we’ve already done the last one and pubs in the UK have taken over Shepherd’s Pie.

What do you think?

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Care to Spin the Wheel?

Posted on July 18, 2008 | Leave a comment

Feels like Vegas. As job offers begin to roll in we need to decide what part of the country we’ll be living in, in less than two weeks. Roll the dice, spin the wheel, we’ll go where we’ll go.

I haven’t packed a thing yet or started throwing away any paper (cooking magazines, etc) I manage to collect on any horizontal surface to Jim’s chagrin.

We had a nice evening capped off by dinner at a local Mexican eatery where the spinach enchiladas were very tasty. Tomorrow we’re having a friend and perhaps Zoe’s sister dog (who locals named Zoe II for there was already our Zoe living here) over for dinner.

Hopefully a last quiet weekend, the calm before the storm. Actually we did quite well in Vegas, our brief honeymoon destination. We walked the Strip and put a quarter in every hotel’s slot machine. Spent $4 total and ended up with $6. Not bad! It was quite hot out so we spent the winnings on bottled water.

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Today’s Story

Posted on July 17, 2008 | 3 Comments

I ran into a local artist yesterday at the grocery store, of all places. His name is Kermit Eisenhut and hopefully we’ll meet at more than the checkout counter. OK I’m an old married lady so don’t go getting ideas. That’s his TX boot below – I’m new at this so kind of fudged the photo placement.

Today Jim is off out west at an oil and gas interview. I’m here taking care of business at home and with the dog.

Tonight there’s an event for residents at a local restaurant with a free drink and free appetizers. Don’t know when Jim will be back (we share a car) so a neighbor and I are going to go over. It’s always good to catch up with fellow residents.

So, I’m not cooking tonight but have put a couple of french bread pizzas in the freezer for Jim if he’s tired and doesn’t want to come over. Oh, the photographer Jesse will be there so we’ll meet for the first time. ‘Til now, we’ve only had a blog/email relationship.

Texas Bluebonnet Boot

Texas Bluebonnet Boot

So y’all have a great day and keep in touch! If she were still alive today Mrs. Lady Bird Johnson, who brought green and flowers to the State of Texas would approve of Kermit’s Bluebonnet Boot. So would former president LBJ. Take care.

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Rosslyn

Posted on July 17, 2008 | 1 Comment

The chapel was amazing. We had to take a train, two buses and walk by

The apprentice pillar

The apprentice pillar

a stinky cow pasture to get there but it was winter and there were only 30 people there at the time.

They used to get 3,000 people a year but now get at least 100,000 and it’s a very small place. All due to the Da Vinci Code book and movie, of course.

If you look behind the altar there are three pillars. Behind those pillars on the left is the master artist’s pillar with vertical columns and to the right is the apprentice pillar with a diagonal design.

Story is the master went touring Europe to see how to craft this great pillar and while he was away his apprentice carved his own. Once he returned he saw the greatness in his apprentice and killed him.

The Chapel is incredible, begun by a historic French family including Knights Templar. Masons carved nearly every inch of the structure with pagan, Christian, Jewish and Latin enscriptions.

If you do go and want to enjoy viewing it, please go in the winter when crowds are sparse. The restaurant in the hotel on the corner made a great soup and sandwich so that was a bonus. The cow pasture had just been manured and 1/2 hour of walking was an assault to the nostrils.

But if you don’t mind driving on the wrong side of a car on the wrong side of the street through multiple “roundabouts” that go the wrong way, go ahead and drive.

Check out the Rosslyn Motet online. Researchers looked for clues in the carvings and wrote a Motet based on them. Our friends from Scotland went to see a performance at Rosslyn Chapel.

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Scottish/Italian Photo Tour

Posted on July 16, 2008 | 1 Comment

I overreached. From left to right first is Glasgow Cathedral founded by St. Mungo in the 6th century. Next is Doune Castle (known to Monty Python fans as Castle Anthrax and others). Next is Rosslyn Chapel, followed by on the bottom row, the William Wallace Memorial in Stirling (see the castle), Melrose Abbey in the Borders and Santa Maria dei Fiore, the tallest building in Florence.

We went there for 24 hours on a cheapie fare. What can I say? We’re now globetrotters. Don’t get me started on Greece and its food and gorgeous waters. D

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Posted in Editorial, Scotland

The One O’Clock Gun

Posted on July 16, 2008 | Leave a comment

Every day in Edinburgh (pronounced Edin-burra) except Sundays and holidays the one o’clock gun goes off at Edinburgh Castle. It allowed city residents and ships in the harbor to synchronize their watches, so to speak.

It also allowed a little dog at Greyfriars Church on Candlemaker’s row to stroll from his master’s grave to the local pub where he got a free lunch. Parents and grandparents, get the book and movie “Greyfriars Bobby” for the little ones.

So why is it a one o’clock gun? Because the Scots are notoriously frugal and a 12 o’clock gun would have used up 12 cannonballs each day. Thus the one o’clock gun.

The restaurants and museums in Edinburgh were incredible. I’ll do a photo essay for you one of these days.

Take care and write in and let me know what you’re interested in.

I miss living in Scotland. I always told local residents that I’d never seen grass that green. They invariably said, it’s grass, it’s green. Big deal. D

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Dinner

Posted on July 15, 2008 | Leave a comment

Boneless pork chops (on sale), boiled or roasted red potatoes and fresh corn from the market. I’ll add a bit of John Henry’s TX BBQ rub to the pork. Potatoes in 400 degree oven with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper for 30 minutes, turning at 10 and 20 minute mark.

Check out David Rosengarten’s Tastings (Google it?) for new info on fresh corn on the cob.

Looks like another storm is brewing here, as everything went dark. Thanks for visiting! D

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