Archive for February, 2007

Well Oldest Daughter came thru the gall bladder surgery just great. She was in and out of surgery (laproscopy) and home by noon. I guess if she didnt learn anything else from me she did pick up “there’s no place like home”…especially when the other place is a hospital! I talked to her husband last night and she was resting. I am sure she will be more sore today than yesterday as she still had some very good pain killers by the time she got home. I will go over (she lives 30 miles from us) today just after noon and take them some food and see what I can do to help, if anything. And then take Little Man to the dentist and back home in time to pick Middle Daughter up from work.

I was very excited to hear from Husband last night and he will be home sometime Thursday – maybe late – but home just the same.

Now I figure I better post a recipe or else. I have been so neglectful of this blog lately…running in and out like a mad woman.

I am making these for breakfast. I picked up a half a flat of fresh strawberries at a roadside stand yesterday on the way home from the hospital. Enjoy!

Strawberry-Yogurt Scones

2 cups flour
3 TB. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking soda
4 TB. butter, cold, cut into 1/2 in. cubes
3/4 cup chopped fresh very ripe strawberries
3/4 cup plain yogurt

Frosting:
2 TB. half and half
confectioner’s sugar

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Stir together dry ingredients. With a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in strawberries. Stir in enough yogurt to be able to form dough into a ball (up to 3/4 cup).
3. Turn dough onto floured surface and with floured hands, knead a few times. Press dough into a rectangle, about 1 1/2 inches thick. Fold rectangle into thirds, like a letter. Press dough into 9-inch round. Cut into 8 equal triangles.
4. Place scones into scone pan or on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Remove to rack to cool.
5. Whisk confectioner’s sugar into half and half, adding more sugar until desired consistency is reached. Frost scones while warm.

Makes 8 scones.

It started out fairly normal but then WHAM!  Tuesday I spoke to Oldest Daughter a couple of times and knew she felt pretty sick but she is not one to really complain so I didnt realize how sick.  Wednesday morning she called and wanted to know if I minded driving her and her husband to the ER.  She was now throwing up.  But no fever so really thought it was something more serious than a virus.  And indeed it was.  Pancreatitis.  Due to gall stones.  So after an ALL day trip to the ER, meeting an INSANE surgeon and deciding he was NOT cutting on anyone we knew. We came home, called our gyn (both of us see him) and got a referral to a normal person who is also a surgeon.  Oldest Daughter’s gall bladder removal surgery is scheduled for Monday morning at 7am.  So off we will go.  I am sure it will all go just as planned.  She is young and healthy otherwise.

This weekend will be all about getting my ducks in a row and doing whatever she needs me to do to help her get ready for this.  This is her first trip to the O.R., or really the hospital period except for having her arms set when she was a little girl and went head first over the handle bars of her bike.  Please wish her well!

So I will do my best to get back to blogging next week. I have sewing projects to share and recipes…see you soon!

I will give you a little history on Seamus. We were given him by one of my very good friends at the local green market. Seamus was a barn kitty and from a litter of 6. He is a beautiful black cat. He has had a very eventful life. First of all he is not a “people kitty”. He tolerates me and my husband and really cant believe the children are still here! After all he has made it perfectly clear that their presence annoys him to no end. I will list his “accidents” over the past two years.

1)He was bitten in the EYE BALL by a water moccasin. He spent two weeks on the foot of our bed lingering between life and death. And then hopped of one day and demanded to go outside. And here I had been bringing food and a litter box TO him, he was too sick to walk the length of the hall to go himself.
2)Our neighbors dog put him 25+ feet in a tree where he stayed for 4 days before we found him. This neighbor climbed the tree and rescued him. Husband was gone when we found him but said he thought it unnecessary to climb all that way. He said he would have eventually come down but I saw no evidence of that.
3)Second snake bite, not as severe. This snake that I wasnt able to identify, caught him on the jaw and his head swelled and he was feverish but never really down.
4)Now this trip to the vet was due to an absess on his hip. Evidently he found something to fight with and lost. Though I didnt see the other party so who knows.

Now I would LOVE to keep him in for the rest of his life. He and Mo too. Mo is a loving, precious cat and the exact opposite of Seamus in personality. However, neither of them have ever wanted to be housebound. They howl and scratch and demand to be let out. Seamus did spend last night inside and used a litter box I fixed for him. He is eating and drinking and seems to have recovered from his procedure yesterday. And honestly hasnt put up much of an effort to go out. The vet said to keep him in at least 3-4 days. Tall orders. He did add “if you can”. He’s been Seamus’ vet for a long time and knows how he is.

So there he lays in my chair on a blanket (his absess is oozie) and looking very regal as usual. Here is a picture of him on a happier day in the garden.

When I talked to Husband last night (he’s on the rig now)all he said was “good luck with the ointment.” Yep, I am gonna need it. I am sure it will take all four of us, me and the three children to apply it. The first time may not be bad if we catch him off guard. But I dread that second time!

Oh well…just thought I would share. I am really hoping he will get used to being in and want to stay in.

As I promised weeks ago, here are some vintage pieces my mom gave me. I will cherish these…what great gifts!

This is an apron my mom embroidered when she was just a little girl. She says between 5 and 7 she thinks. Amazing! Why don’t little girls today know how to do such wonderful needlework? Many reasons I suppose.

NOTE: The apron top was attached to your clothes with safety pins…I have seen this on Colonial clothing but found it very interesting for something made in the 1930’s. 

This is something I embroidered when if I am remembering correctly I was about 10.

This is an embroidery my dad did when he too was very young. My granny told me that’s how she kept him busy while she made bread or worked around the house. She would get him started and this would keep him out of trouble while she was busy. He had to be pre-school age. His dad and mom both sewed beautifully. My grandfather was a farmer and after harvest he would make quilts with my granny. He was just as great at handstitching as she was. I am the proud owner of several of their masterpieces.

This is a quilt square (one of two) I have that my grandfather’s mother made. What treasures these all are!

That’s from a Porky the Pig cartoon from WAY back…yeah I must have a fever still.

Never will I say again ~ “Oh, I don’t have nose problems. I never get stuffed up. I don’t think it’s a good idea to use so much nose spray.” Well, I am here to tell you I got really used to breathing and I do NOT like NOT breathing. So I have been spritzing and spraying like a pro.

I think it is safe to say we have the real old fashioned flu. INFLUENZA. Bad thing. It is much more than a common cold and slightly less than the plague.

Oh, to feel well again. Come Spring. Come warm weather.

One of the most sublime experiences we can ever have is to wake up feeling healthy after we have been sick.~ Rabbi Harold Kushner

Lookie what I got for Valentine’s Day!

Isn’t it lovely??? I am so happy! We have needed a new stove for many years…well, wanted more than needed but let’s don’t split hairs. It is great…baked perfectly. And is NOT electric. I do NOT prefer electric stoves. Anywho, it was delivered yesterday morning and Husband got it all hooked up and cooking by noon! I love that man. A LOT.

Even though Benjamin is still poorly, we went ahead with his Birthday/Valentine’s Dinner. A few days ago we took him on his birthday trip to Houston – zoo, museum, beach at Galveston.

Rode the ferry, saw the lighthouse…

…ate at the Cheesecake Factory, shopped at The Galleria (video games of course!). But a boy turning 11 also deserves a home cooked, homemade birthday.

At our house, you get to make the menu for your birthday dinner. Pizza and cheesecake…great choices!

Husband is the dough/breadmaker in the family so he took care of the pizza. It was excellent!

A couple hours after I ate it, I thought about the fact that it was on my lists of “DON’T EAT THIS”…tummy ache!! But not to complain…everyone else enjoyed it so much. A good time was had by all!

Today is the anniversary of mine and Husband’s first date…33 years ago.  It is also Benjamin’s 11th birthday.  So Valentine’s Day is pretty special for us.  We will have strawberry muffins for breakfast,

open Valentine’s cards and gifts then this evening Husband is making homemade pizza ~ in the shape of a heart of course. And I made Benjamin’s favorite cake…Cheesecake!  Just plain old cheesecake.  I hope he is able to enjoy his special day because he is still under the weather.  Husband and I are getting a new gas range today.  It should be delivered about 9:30…Happy Valentine’s to us!!!

Thirty three years…seems like just yesterday. As corny as that sounds, it is true.  I believe we have another 33 ahead.  He’s the best.  Enough said.

So tonight was my night to cook. So I dug around in the pantry to see what sounded good…while fresh would be much much better but canned artichokes hearts are the next best thing. I threw a little something together. I sauted boneless skinless chicken breasts in a little olive oil and butter. Added a touch of onion and garlic (a little never killed anyone huh?)…some chives, parsley and salt and fresh cracked black pepper. NOTE: My new favorite salt is Himalayan Pink. Cooked a pot of fettucini and set aside in some ice water. To the large skillet of chicken and herbs I added two cups canned artichoke hearts, a jar of hearts of palm (sliced), a can of sliced water chestnuts and a bunch of fresh asparagus tops and a couple cups sliced mushrooms.** Added back the pasta and heated it all and dished it up.

**Boil the bottoms of the asparagus and freeze the liquid to add to soups or anywhere you need a tasty broth.

not the puppet.  Lamb Chops the puppet always scared the beejeezes out of me. Anyway…since lamb was on my list of allowed foods we thought we would give them a try.  Even at $12.99 a pound I enjoyed the heck out of them.  I now have to search for a better price somewhere.

Husband made a lovely rub out of toasted cumin, cardamom, fennel seed, and black peppercorns.  He ground all of it and then toasted it in dry skillet. Then he mixed it with cayenne, olive oil and ginger.  He rubbed the chops with this and refrigerated for about 3 hours.  Then grilled them.  YUMMY.  He served it up with a REAL Caesar salad with homemade croutons, bagguettes and cilantro risotto with saffron, basil, oregano, parsley and beef broth for the liquid.

It was all amazing.  We enjoyed it with a nice bottle of Turning Leaf Pinot Noir. Yep…I am spoiled.

Well, we almost recovered from the stomach stuff when I decided it would be an interesting turn of events to have anaphylactic shock.  Yep…eating a delicious supper of brisket and corn on the cob and WHAM my throat slammed shut.  Well not completely shut.  I could squeak out that I couldnt breathe and that we had no Benadryl.  So off we go to town to get benadryl or to the hospital which ever seemed appropriate when we got there.  I opted for the meds and stood in the isle at Walmart and drank liquid Benadryl.  I dont know if it really is a miracle drug or if I just relaxed knowing I had it.  But I began to breathe a little better.  So we paid and the drove around a little to see if I would be okay.  The next morning we went to see the family allergist.  I have never had a food allergy in my life so I was fully expecting after being poked in the arm 73 times that it would be nothing…a fluke.  That would have been too easy.  Here is a list of things I MUST avoid: Soy, Nuts of any kind, Cow Milk,  Field Peas of any kind except purple hull (huh???does that seem weird to anyone else?), Cantaloupe, Tomato, String Beans, Shellfish, Garlic.

These I can have small amounts of: wheat, tuna, salmon, beef, citrus fruits, coconut, raspberry, cauliflower, potatoes (sweet and white), cabbage, rye, onion, sesame seed, sunflower seed, English peas, celery, grapes, barley, mustard and plums.

All very interesting, HUH?  So I can live on coffee, chocolate, apples, lettuce and water.  YUMMY.  Kidding.  Such is life.  I will do the best I can and eating out wont be much of an option any more.  And the allergist said: READ LABELS…it is very VERY important that I do not ingest soy…that was off the charts. Do you have any idea how much stuff contains soy??? Or soy oil.

So I suppose I will have some new recipes to post soon.

Oh and by the way…my throat is sore and the flu is going around.  YEAH.