Rainbow Brite

I've just finished an afghan and pillow set for a coworker who is due in February. She doesn't intend to find out what she is having so I tried to make it gender neutral but I wanted more colors than green and yellow. This is also the first time I've attempted to make a crocheted pillow and I think it turned out really well. The pillow will probably get added to the list of items I need to make for Julie when she has children. With every thing I make that list keeps getting longer and longer.

Life in the not so fast lane

Our weekend was very busy and for the most part fun-filled. Saturday morning I had a eye doctor appointment and was surprised to learn that I have "dry eye syndrome". The only symptom I had was my contacts sometimes bothering me. Normally eye doctor appointments don't bother me but she really messed around with my eyes (including turning my eyelid inside out!) so by the time I was done my eyes were really bothering me. But there was no rest for my weary eyes and it was off to a friends house for a Southern Living At Home party combined with products from my friends monogramming business. It's mainly baby items (bibs, burp cloths, diaper bags) but she also has home items (monogrammed napkins and fingertip towels) and stylish tote bags. I ended up getting a bib & burp cloth set for a shower present and also decided to treat myself to a monogrammed tote. :-) Next we went home for lunch and then off again for a baby shower. I won't go into too much detail since the main audience of my blog was there but needless to say we had fun. Liz scored the best table at Macaroni Grill (the bar rocks!) It was much quieter and we had no wait. As a bonus smoking isn't allowed in restaurants so we didn't have to put up with that either.

Sunday started off as normal with church and sunday dinner. Jack and Julie left around 3 to shop in Commerce before heading back to Greenville. Graham and I followed around 4 and also decided to stop in Commerce. After a quick shopping excursion to Bass we continued on our way only to get about 10 miles up the road before we start hearing a funny noise. I asked Graham what it was and he said it was the road but it seemed too loud for that so he pulled over to check it out. Let me interject here that we were driving my 1989 Volvo which has seen better days but still runs fairly well (or at least she did). He carefully got out of the car (people were speeding by at 70+ miles an hour) and looked under the car. Mini-V (as she is affectionately called) had decided to break a weld and the exhaust system before the catalytic converter had come disconnected. Other than a harley-esque sound and major vibrations she was fine to drive so we started back up. Jack and Julie had since passed us and were waiting up ahead at a weigh station to follow in case we had any other issues. Well no sooner had we come to the weigh station did we start hearing a scraping noise. We pulled over at the weigh station and Graham and Jack once again dove under the car to see that Mini-V had decided she no longer needed an exhuast system and we were now dragging the pipe. They tried to get the pipe attached back to the car so we could drive home with it (with a coat hanger no less!) but that was a no-go so they decided to pull out the entire thing and then take it with us. After much tugging, tooling, and beating everything came out although we decided to take only the catalytic converter and the pipe connected to it since nothing else would fit (and since Jack said the catalytic converter had platinum in it.) I was hoping there might be enough metal for a ring.

Jack and Graham sacrificed themselves by riding in Mini-V back to Greenville with Julie and I following in their Maxima with the dogs. Mini-V is now residing at a local garage awaiting an all new exhaust system. Fortunately the mechanic can reuse what we saved so it won't be near as much as it could have been. We're hoping she'll hold out at least until Christmas and then maybe we'll get a new car. At this time this is what I'm hoping for although I haven't test driven it so who knows what I will think once I do. If I do get this car I can say with all assurance it will not be silver. I am tired of that color and would like a nice red.

Broccoli Super Salad

Another recipe post for your dining pleasure. We had this tuesday evening with Ham & Macaroni and Cheese. It's one of Graham's favorites so I usually make a full recipe even though it's just the two of us. I think it tastes even better the next day.

1 bunch broccoli
1/2 C. Roasted Sunflower Seeds, Unsalted
1/2 C. Raisins
1/4 C. Chopped Red Onion
3 Strips Bacon, fried and crumbled
2 C. Cubed Mozzarella Cheese

Dressing
1 C. Mayonnaise
1 T. Vinegar
1/4 C. Sugar

Modifications
I always leave out the red onion as neither Graham nor I are fond of raw onions. You can substitute Monterrey Jack for the Mozzarella cheese. On tuesday I used 1/8 C. Splenda instead of sugar. I generally use less Splenda than sugar because it sure seems to be sweeter even if they say it measures cup for cup. I couldn't tell a difference but next time I plan to increase the splenda to 3/16 C. since Graham said he preferred it a bit sweeter than it was.

The Milk Hates Me Corner
For those that are lactose intolerant this is a great salad recipe because the dressing doesn't have any dairy products. There's nothing worse that seeing a great looking pasta or vegetable salad somewhere only to find out the dressing is made with milk, buttermilk, sour cream, etc. If cheese is a concern that can also be left out. I personally don't feel like it contributes that much but then again, I'm not that big on cheese.

Latest Crochet Project

Earlier this summer I made matching sweater & toque sets for a couple I work with that had twins (boy & girl). My boss really liked the sets so I offered to make one for her baby (born in April). There's a reason I rarely do the same pattern more than once. It gets boring! But, having a finished project is always nice and I know the sweater and toque will be enjoyed.
In case any of you are closet crocheters I've linked to the pattern book in the title. :-)

Meet My Favorite Whisk

This whisk was a wedding present and I have since learned I cannot live without it. It's great for mixing up sauces and the curved edges are perfect for getting flour that gets stuck on the side of the pan. Also, since it's flat it doesn't encorporate a lot of air into what you are mixing. I tend to use it for just about anything I am mixing.

Williams-Sonoma, although a bit pricey, has the nicest version of this I've seen. I like that the handle is solid and not wire wrapped. It's also a nice thick handle that's easy to hold and you don't tire as easily, especially important when beating something for a long time.

(If you click on the link it's the 10 inch flat whisk)

Recipe Time

I have a super easy very tasty chicken pot pie recipe. My mother was kind enough to give me her cookbook (electronically) and this is one of our favorite recipes in it.

5 C. Cooked Chicken, Salted & Cubed
2 1/2 C. Chicken Broth (Left over from cooking the chicken, of course!)
1 can celery soup
2 eggs, hard-boiled, sliced
1/2 stick margarine, melted
1 C. Self Rising Flour
1 C. Milk
1/4 C. Mayonnaise

Place chicken in greased 10 x 13 casserole dish. Mix broth and soup and heat to boiling. Arrange egg slices over chicken. Make topping from final 4 ingredients. Mix well and pour over chicken. Bake @ 425 got 45 minutes.

Note: This will look really runny before you bake it. When it comes out it will have thickened and the topping will form a crust over the chicken.

I've altered the original slightly to fit our tastes. I'm not a big fan of hard boiled eggs so I leave that out. I add whatever frozen veggies I have on hand (ex: peas & carrots). I don't usually measure, just whatever looks right. This freezes really well although I would suggest freezing it before adding the topping and then add it when you are ready to bake.

What I really love about this is that with the addition of the veggies it's pretty much an all in one meal. You really would only need 1 side dish.