bless me, I have sinned...

I have been over a week without a post and that is not a forgivable sin. All I can say, by way of 'splanation is that I was doing this.












and some of this.







and a little of this.





then of course, there was time spent doing this..

There is an old southern saw about how when I stand, I lean,
when I sit, I sit loose
and when I think I fall asleep... well, I have been thinking.


Trying to get to the bottom of why I am not doing but instead am ......
thinking loose

Gill and Mark are here and I forgot my camera!

Since there are no pictures of the fun last night from me.. for that you have to go to Gill's blogs. I have a way too long list of places we might go, and will have to edit it severely but last week I ate with this guy.. You will have to excuse the fuzz, we were being "discrete New Yorkers" and I was facing the wrong way to be the photographer.

It was Mario Batali eating at his restaurant Otto. His website seems to be having problems, and my computer is warning me away, so I won't link, but if you have the food network, you know him. I don't really know what HE was having but we were having the Vongole pizza which has clams in the shell on the top and is to die for.
Here we had already removed the shells... I am just not good at remembering to take a picture first.

For dessert, I had the olive oil ice cream, and I would eat this every day if I could. It is combined here with the salty carmel or caramel... and it was good.

Lest you think that I was the only one eating dessert, this was the blackberry nectarine something or other that Joey ordered. How he keeps his shape? WAY too much exercise...sigh.

Harriet Homemaker

Hasn't been a "harriet homemaker" post here in a bit.
SO ...
Semolina bread from this book, which is the most used book in my cookbook library .. It is good, but the Main Recipe one is the best so far. It sure is pretty, though, isn't it?





And as a second course, we have this...Knit in wonderful cotton from Colourmart it is a little more refined but it is still the "warshrag" from the first Mason Dixon book. Colourmart, by the way, is a great source for cashmere and other interesting yarns, and at $15 including shipping for a huge cone of the cotton, it is a bargain too..

I love this book. It is one of those books that every time I go back to it I find something else to knit from it.

It is the source of my Bathroom Rug, which I remain very happy with and which Romeo is even happier with than I am. He spends a portion of each day just lounging about on the rug. He has such good taste.


SO.. there you are, I have turned into someone who knits washcloths and rugs for bathrooms and bakes her own bread. I can hardly wait for the new Mason Dixon book to arrive at Amazon. I am hoping my new Amazon credit rewards get here before it does!!!


Next I am going to start running the vacuum......or not. That might be a bridge too far, even for me.

She just doesn't GET it!

Here I am, all asleep in my nice comfy box. It is the latest fashion and the sides are SUPPOSED to pooch out like that.
It has NOTHING to do with my midsection being larger than the vet would like. It has EVERYTHING to do with STYLE.
Sienna, however, doesn't GET it! First she brings all her toys and piles them up around the box.

Now, I ask you, is that an improvement over a pristeen perfectly shaped box? NO!

Then, just when I think things can't get any worse, she sees something in my right ear that she wants to clean up for me. Now, I will grant you, that I am not particularly invested in clean ears, and she seems to care much more for them than I do, but really... can't a boy get any nice napping time here?










Then as a final indignity, she just STARES at me. What is she waiting for? A TIP???? I have a tip for her, once more with that tongue in my ear and you will find out about how hard I can punch!

I do have to admit, she is very patient. And I guess there is a possibility that we might play a game of chase in a few minutes. But I draw the line at cleaning out HER ears. She better learn how to do that herself.

Peas and beans... oh yes

I love peas and beans. I remember growing up in the North of the US and only having one kind of peas, what I now call English Peas but I then just called peas. I used to mash them with my mashed potatoes to the great disgust of the rest of my family.

While I lived in the Southern US for many years, I learned to delight in peas, Crowder Peas, Lady Peas, Field Peas, Cowpeas, Black-eyed Peas and the myriad of beans available there also... Butter Beans, Cranberry Beans and lots more.

You have to eat black-eyed peas (pennies) and collard greens (dollars) on New Year's Day to insure wealth in the coming year.

I rarely find these in the market place here, but last week at the local farmer's market there they were, Cranberry beans! I got the last ones, somewhat picked over but I was so glad to see them that I didn't care. Aren't they beautiful?? And cooked like in the south, with bacon and onions and a little hot sauce and pepper ... oh my what goodness!

They do lose their color when cooked, alas, so this raw state is when they are at their most beautiful, so admire them here and eat them later.

The pea story I tell most often is that my once-husband was a Southerner...Laurel, Hattiesburg, Jackson Mississippi... with limited experience eating in the North. When taken to a restaurant in my hometown, he asked for a list of the vegetables available with dinner.

The waitress listed, among other veggies, peas. "What kind of peas?" he asked. "Peas" replied the waitress. "Yes, but what KIND?" he asked again. After giving him a long hard look she made a small circle with her thumb and forefinger and showed it to him while saying VERY clearly......."LITTLE ROUND GREEN ONES!" I continued to kick him under the table and he ordered carrots.

You still don't get much but little round green ones up here, so whenever I find them I buy them and freeze them. I've never see Lady Peas here, and I do miss them.

Everyone knows I am a sucker for Artichoke

Photo from http://www.lamachine.co.uk/ by Matthew Arnold, who are somehow linked with Artichoke on this one..

Well, I wish I were in Liverpool... and that is something I couldn't quite imagine saying a month ago
La Princesse, a giant spider has crawled up onto a builcing in Liverpool and, despite what appears to be totally beastly (Maybe arachnoidal) weather, has gone for a walkabout.

The pictures on the web are sketchy right now, I think the weather snowed?? and certainly rained while she was perched on the building

I wish I were in Liverpool... this is much more exciting than the Telectroscope. I want something that moves on THIS side of the Atlantic...

Tiffin Wallah

New restaurant to me.... Tiffin Wallah on 28th Street. It was a foodie afternoon. Met Blogless Nicki to go to Kalustyans. For those who have never been, it is foodie heaven. They have everything you ever even thought you might need in the way of spice, baking supplies, nuts, dried fruit, chutney, oils, vinegars.... the list is endless and it is all crammed into this crowded but organized place. It is all encompassing, even by New York standards.

So, having spent more than I wanted to and carrying a big fat bag, we went to Tiffin Wallah.
The poor guy sitting next to me had to put up with me taking pictures of his food, but SERIOUSLY folks, have YOU ever seen a dosa like this one?
Thank goodness he was good natured about it. Then we got our food and more pictures were taken...

This was a combo, and it was seriously good. There were two more samosa style pieces under the bread..

This was Nicki's and no that is not a doughnut, though I have to admit we had to taste it to be sure...






And when I came home and let Sienna out to play she was so happy she kissed everyone in sight.

the large and the small of it

on the left, Romeo, 6 years old, 17 pounds or so

on the right, Clementine, 6 years 6 months, 7 pounds or so

This morning they had a fight, a first class, chase'em and kill'em fight with hissing and yowling and chasing and all of the accoutrements.

This afternoon, here they are in the sun. Wonder what it was all about and who won. I'll never know, but I REALLY would like to. My guess is he really pissed her off, because she is fast when she wants to be and he hates to run and there was a lot of running going on.

Glad it is over.