Wordless Wednesday: Kitchen Bell

Kitchen Bell at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

Wordless Wednesday

But, Louie!

Here's another one of my favorite pictures. We have a doggie door that the dogs use at least 1,000 times a day. Thank God, I would hate to have to open and close the door each time! Louie likes to sit in the doggie door with his front feet and head outside so he can scope out what's going on in the yard. So what we see on the inside is Louie's butt.

And Miles will just pace around back and forth inside behind Louie with his legs crossed, waiting for Louie to move so he can go out. Never fails to crack me up!

But, Louie -- or should I say "Louie's butt!"

Yay! My Weekend Retreat Cardi is Done!

I am so thrilled to be done and have something for myself to wear!!! I really do love this flecked yarn. I noticed at the store last week that in addition to Black, it also comes in Coffee (brown), Claret (burgundy), Buff (beige), White, Spa (light) Blue and Frosty (light) Green. It's 100% acrylic so it wears well and washes nicely, and it's very affordable Red Heart yarn.

I found these cute buttons that have a woven look to them.

My youngest sister has requested a long-sleeved shrug for her birthday in this same yarn. Although I have a few good candidates, I am still looking for just the right pattern. I think one with a shawl collar would be nice. Can't wait to get started!

Movie Review: Julie & Julia

Went to see "Julie & Julia" starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I read the book about a year ago and had heard they were making a movie. So often when I have read the book and then eagerly await seeing the movie, I am sadly disappointed. This was not the case.

684 pages of recipes
plus 32 pages of index

They did a beautiful job! Meryl Streep was absolutely wonderful playing Julia Child. She really had her warbling voice and mannerisms down. Stanley Tucci was so terrific as Paul Child. I remember watching Julia Child cooking on TV years ago and it never once crossed my mind that she had this beautiful romance and sex life going on. They were truly made for each other.

Amy Adams as Julie Powell and Chris Messina as her husband, Eric Powell, were so endearing. What a supportive husband he was through this project. The way he dived into her dishes as she cooked her way through "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" was adorable. It is so great to cook for someone who appreciates it -- and will try anything!!! And, oh, we women can be so dramatic. The scene where she ends up laying on the kitchen floor in despair looked like something that may have happened in our house a time or two. Totally believable.

I loved the way they moved back and forth between 1960s Paris and 2002-03 New York. The scenery in Paris was beautiful and the quaint little apartments. How the hell did they turn out such amazing meals in these miniscule kitchens with such tiny, tiny ovens? I am so going to make the Boeuf Bourguignon (beef stew in red wine with bacon, onions and mushrooms) and I'd like to try the Pate de Canard en Croute (boned stuffed duck baked in a pastry crust). I don't think I've ever even had duck -- I wonder if you can substitute chicken for the duck ... is this culinary blasphemy?

When we got home from the movie theater, I grabbed my copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" off the shelf. I bought it on October 2, 1995. I know this because I try to always stamp my keeper books with a book plate stamp for my name and I record the date. I guess I hope that my daughters and grandchildren and so on and so forth will someday look inside the cover of an old cookbook and think Nana bought this so long ago ... it's an antique!

All I can say is I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and can't wait to have it on DVD so I can watch it over and over. It really made me want to cook something! Bon Appetit!!!

Knitting Journal

I decided to use this blog as my online photo knitting journal. I actually keep a real paper journal with a page dedicated to each of my completed knitting projects. It includes photos, project descriptions, who I gave the item to and when, what yarn and/or pattern I used, etc. Sometimes I actually write out a pattern stitch; sometimes I just list the book in which I found the pattern. I always take photos of my completed projects, including close ups of details. Occasionally, the recipient will send me a photo of themselves wearing their gift and I'll include that, too.

It has been a wonderful record of my knitting progress as well as gifts given so I don't chance any repeats. It's also a great reference for patterns and pattern stitches.

There is a tab at the top of this page next to Home that reads Completed Knitting Projects. If you click on that, you can see my photo knitting journal. I am still uploading photos, but am nearly done.

Strawberry Huller

Another one of my favorite new kitchen gadgets this summer is a Strawberry Huller. We eat a lot of strawberries. One of our favorite light desserts is cleaned, hulled strawberries simply dipped in fat free whipped topping (like Cool Whip).

I bought this Strawberry Huller a few months ago from Sur la Table for $6.00 and we use it all the time. It's fast and easy. Yesterday I had a pound of strawberries that were getting slightly past prime so I hulled, sliced and sugared them (about 1/2 cup sugar) in the afternoon and by evening, we had wonderful fresh strawberries in strawberry syrup to eat over vanilla bean ice cream. What a yummy ending to the day!!!

Knitting with Skanks

A while back, I was rolling yarn balls from leftover pull skeins. My sweet Hubby offered to help -- he's really good at it.

When we were finished, he noticed another skein of yarn on the coffee table and asked me, "Are you done with that skank? Do you want me to roll it too?"

Oh, yes, he did! Apparently, when I said skeins, he heard skanks. Hmmmmm.

Big Stix Afghan

Finished the Big Stix afghan that I've made as a wedding gift and shipped it out today. I have to say, as someone who loves instant gratification, this was a very satisfying project. I will make many more of these and it really did only take about 6 hours total to complete. Knitted size is 40" x 60" and I added an edge of single crochet with a size Q hook around the border to keep the edges from rolling. Fringe is about 8" long. It's amazing how soft and cozy it feels.

I was so thrilled with the Speed Stix size 50 knitting needles, I wanted more patterns to try. There are a few free patterns available on the Lion Brand website -- mostly afghans. Then I found a booklet available for sale that I ordered on eBay -- Quick Knits for Big Stix, 9 Fabulous Projects in 1-10 Hours or Less. I think the Cropped Jacket on the cover is so cute. Unfortunately, there wouldn't be too many opportunities to wear this in Arizona, even in the winter months, but I'll make it and send it to someone where real winter happens.

Product Review - Perfect 10 Hair Color

I've been coloring my hair for many more years than I'd like to even think about. And, sadly,  there has been more gray hair to cover every year. I've always had a hard time spending money at a salon, even on a haircut. Yes, I frequently sit in the cheap bastard section on most things! So I have always colored my own hair, usually with Clairol Nice'n Easy. It generally takes somewhere in the 25 to 45 minute range for the color to set and I even hate that it takes that long. There's always something I'd rather be doing than fussing with my hair!

So I recently tried Clairol's Perfect 10 Hair Color. It does cost a few dollars more than regular Nice'n Easy, but it only takes 10 to 15 minutes, people. The 15 minutes is for gray hair, but it's only 15 minutes!!! And the color is gorgeous. I tried #6A Light Ash Brown (Instant Cocoa) and it's the best, most natural looking color I've had in ages. And my hair is soft, very soft, which is so nice because the gray hair comes in on the wiry side. See what you young girls have to look forward to? And you just color your hair for fun.

This is strictly my opinion -- I am definitely not getting paid to give a good review of this product and I purchased my own box of hair color. I was just very happy with the results and thought I'd share ...

What's Cookin' - Grilled Chicken Salad

One of our favorite things to have for dinner is a grilled chicken salad with all the fixin's. We have these pasta bowls that are 9" in diamater that we serve in so it can be a pretty good-sized salad as you can see by the photo of my hubby's recent salad.

We buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts and cook them on the gas grill -- hubby's method is cooking them slowly over low heat so they stay juicy. Then over romaine or iceberg lettuce, we add fresh raspberries, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, tomatoes and avocado.

I have an unfortunate love of all kitchen gadgets and was compelled to buy this Chef'n Flexicado Avocado Slicer at Sur la Table a few months ago for $5.95. It works pretty well and we eat a lot of avocado -- on salads, sandwiches, burgers, etc.

Anyway, back to the salad. My favorite dressing, which is so good on this salad and everything else, is Girard's Fat Free Raspberry. Hubby makes a mix of Italian and Bleu Cheese on his. We always feel satisfied, full and righteous after having this healthy dinner. And company seems to like it as well. My father-in-law always asks us to make this when they visit.