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April Is Grilled Cheese Month!

/ still a dreamer / 3 Comments

Even grilled cheese can be healthy.
Take a look at this beauty I made for lunch today.

On The Baker 7-Grain bread, I layered Organic Valley white cheddar, roasted sweet pepper and avocado. Couldn’t be simpler and soooooooo delish!

In need of a little celebrating this month? Have a grilled cheese!

p.s. Why organic? Read all about it!

It’s National Potato Chip Day!

/ still a dreamer / 6 Comments

I learned from a commenter on my friend’s blog earlier that today is National Potato Chip Day. How could I not celebrate? The thought that there might be thousands – no, millions – of chips out there, waiting hopefully for someone to take them home and celebrate … well, it was more than I could bear. It would be like living around the corner from a good friend and not taking them out for their birthday. Sacre bleu! Did you know that Americans consume 1.2 billion pounds of potato chips each year? It’s the nation’s favorite snack food!

So I took a stroll at lunchtime and selected a bag of eager celebrants, and off we went. Knowing it’s their special day just seems to make them that much more delicious, but piling a big handful on a plate with a yummy veggie cheeseburger really made their day. It’s not too late to celebrate National Potato Chip Day if you’re reading this post today, March 14. Literally millions of eager chips of every flavor are waiting for a chance to party with you. Don’t let them down ….

As for the history of the potato chip? According to Punchbowl, an Irish chef named George Crum invented potato chips in Saratoga Springs in 1853. One day, a picky customer kept sending his fried potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining that they were too thick and soggy. Crum responded by slicing the potatoes so thin that they couldn’t be eaten with a fork. The customer was so pleased with Crum’s crispy creation that they became a regular item on the restaurant’s menu!

Now should you be disappointed because you’ve read this post after National Potato Chip Day, take heart – you can still celebrate food. March 18th is Oatmeal Cookie Day, the 19th is National Chocolate Caramel Day, and March 23rd is National Chip and Dip Day. Why, it’s an endless cavalcade of feasting! Sláinte!

Catching the Light

/ still a dreamer

How often have you been in the presence of a small magical moment and wished you had your camera? It doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking … sometimes just a brief few seconds in which the light was brilliant and soon would pass?

As I enjoyed the luxury of journaling this morning, the sun had risen and was angling its light on the small pool of light blue marbles in the plate on my coffee table. As Spring approaches, I put away fall and winter candles and decor, and had just recently encircled a vanilla pillar candle with a small pool of blue in which this little bluebird could wade. The sharp sunlight was just dancing off these simple blue gems, and both they and the textured glass plate beneath were sparkling.

There was only a small window of time to catch this light before the sun rose further. I couldn’t help but smile broadly at this scintillating vignette … photographing it was just a reminder of how happy we can be when we are truly in the moment. It still never fails to amaze me.

Check back soon and I’ll show you who I captured in this warm, morning light.

Calendars As Rotating Art

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

To look in my home, especially my office, you might think I had a touch of what the white rabbit had in Alice, except I don’t have a watch; I have calendars. In my office there are four, in the kitchen, one, in my drawing room, one, and in the back/TV room, one.

Where do they come from? Two are calendars for which I’ve done the graphic design, another is a gift from a friend, another an annual gift from a sibling, another a gift from a supplier, and the others came to me as fundraising appeals, some because I donate to them, others hoping I will be inspired to do so.

Why do I have so many up? Because I love great photography and inspiring art. In fact, I have even more that don’t have their own regular space, but must rotate and share with another one. But what is so wonderful is that the art changes every month. So I have gorgeous horses, wildlife, nature photography, ocean photography, American Indian art, wolves, and more. It’s a constant procession of images I love looking at. It just makes me happy. As each month comes to an end, I get excited about the surprise to come when all the calendar art throughout my home changes.

The only calendar that I seriously look at for the days of the month is whatever I have hanging in the kitchen in any given year because that’s where I write everything. (Yeah, still kind of analog in that regard, but I do have a few things in my Entourage calendar.) The rest just please and inspire me all year long. It’s a good thing.

Happy Place … the Baking Place

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

I recently asked blog visitors to let me know what they are looking for when they use the search term “sad place” and come to my site, but I got not one reply. So I’ve decided to do a short post on the opposite end of the spectrum, “happy place.”

Here’s a happy place for me … all the ingredients lined up and ready to bake. This was in preparation for baking a chocolate layer cake for Christmas dinner. I was trying a new recipe as I am often wont to do … so many recipes, so little time … and the recipe sounded terrific. But I made a mistake. The recipe called for shortening. I used butter, my shortening of choice. The texture came out rather strange, perhaps because they meant to use something like Crisco? Not sure, but since I don’t use that, I guess I’m going to have to read more carefully next time and choose only recipes where they specifically want butter. The mocha buttercream frosting, however, came out delicious. Next time I will up the amount I make by 1/2. Who doesn’t love plenty of frosting?

Baking Round 2 was my favorite brownie recipe that I’ve made for years, dressed up with dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries. This was for a gift, but I did have to sample just a wee slice. To make sure they were safe for consumption, of course.

I am a happy baker, always from scratch, and a happy cook. Nowadays, I don’t have the time I once did to bake and cook, and I have to say, I miss it. I have a great collection of recipes I’ve made over the years, and I collect new recipes for all kinds of food, especially desserts. In fact, you might think I was creating extensive meals for a big family 3 times a day, to look at what I’ve clipped, saved, and hope to make.

But we all need to dream, do we not? Me, I dream of relaxed time in the kitchen … a happy place. I wish I were there more often. But it’s always possible. Maybe even tonight.