Droid Test

As I was driving into work this morning, I snapped this picture. It proves that the days are getting longer and that Spring is around the corner!

A Rambling Blog

I realized today I'm horrible at blogging.  I have good intentions.  I mean to post something, but then I think "oh I have nothing to say" or "I don't have any pictures to share" or "I don't have enough time". 

Since blogging was one of my New Year's resolutions, I really need to get on top of my game.  So I read up on blogging and how to blog successfully, and well after a ton of articles it all boils down to "be yourself".  So I'll be me and just ramble on about the trival details that interest me.  There are a myraid of topics to cover and perhaps I'm painting myself into a corner by trying to focus on my crafty nature.  Well no more.  From this point forward, be forewarned that there is no telling what direction my wandering mind will take us.   

I also realized that I don't have to take a picture to share a picture.  There are billions of graphics and pictures out here on the internet that I can use to pretty up my posts.  I like this one today:

It just screams adorable and snuggles and love.  And I am giving all of you readers an internet ((HUG)). 

I also had a good/bad thing happen to me recently.  My wonderful droid phone kind of crashed and had to be restored to its' factory settings.  Though it was a PITA, in the process I updated and uploaded some new things or newer versions, and guess what...Blogger is much friendlier now on my droid.  I no longer have the excuse for not having the time to type out some thoughts to share...I can share anywhere that my droid is.  How very exciting.  I think, though I'm not positive, that I can upload pictures from my phone.  This is indeed a miracle if it works.  Look for a "test" of this feature soon. 

Borscht Soup and Salad Nicoise

Yummy food can be simple food.  I've been wanting borscht ever since I opened my Christmas presents to discover I had an immersion blender.  Every time we eat at one of our favorite local restaurants, Chef's American Bistro, and I see his heavy duty immersion blender in his kitchen, I always look at my husband and say "I want one of those".  LOL

So I started off with Red Borscht, knowing I had all the ingredients on hand.  And then after spending a few hours watching the Cooking Channel on tv, I decided I had to make a salad with green beans...don't ask me why, it was just I'm easily influenced and everybody who is a celebrity chef was making a salad with beans!

Here's the recipes in case you want to follow along at home:

Red Borscht:

Ingredients:

1 package of pork sausage

1 container of jarred beets (I had some I had canned)

3 carrots, peeled and chopped

3 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

3/4 cup water

1 small head red cabbage, cored and shredded

1 (8 ounce) can diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon white sugar, or to taste

1/2 cup sour cream, for topping

Directions:
Crumble the sausage into a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until no longer pink. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Fill a large pot halfway with water(about 2 quarts), and bring to a boil. Add the sausage (drained of grease), and return to a boil. Add the beets, and cook until they have lost their color. Add the carrots and potatoes, and cook until tender. Add the cabbage, and the can of diced tomatoes.
In the grease from the pork sausage, cook the onion and garlic until tender, then add to the pot.  Cover and cook until all vegetables are tender.  Turn off the heat. Let stand for 5 minutes. Taste, and season with salt, pepper and sugar.
This is where the immersion blender comes in.  Call your husband into the kitchen to manhandle the heavy pot around and begin blending.  Drop spoonfuls of the tomato paste into the soup and make sure it's well blended and the texture is creamy and smooth. 
Ladle into bowls and garnish with sour cream.  
This borscht can be served cold or warm.  I also froze half the batch to serve another day. 

Salad Nicoise

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce (use what you have on hand, I just like romaine and it tends to be in my fridge)
• 6 hard boiled eggs, halved
• 2 cans tuna fish, drained
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1/2 pound of green beans, steamed or blanched (I used the steam bag in the microwave and then rinsed them with cold water)
• 2-3 potatoes cubed and boiled (cook these the same time and in the same pot as your eggs, be sure to rinse to cool them off) 
• Salt
• Pepper
• Dijon mustard
• Olive Oil
• Lemon juice
• Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the dijon mustard, juice from half a lemon, salt and pepper together, slowly blend in the olive oil using a whisk to make a dressing.  Add the chopped olives and sit aside.

Layer your salad, starting with the lettuce.  Top with the dressing.

All in all a yummy dish and my husband didn't complain about eating a salad!  He says it was a manly salad with all the potatoes and green beans and tuna fish.  :o)

Happy New Year

Ahhh, the New Year is fast approaching.  This is both the time to reflect and the time to look forward. 

I’ve had a busy year.  I’ve traveled to visit the wineries (and a fabulous restaurant One Block West) in Winchester, VA and an all-inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic. 

I’ve connected again with Alina Kay.  Gosh I love you and have missed you. 

I’ve had the opportunity to grow closer with my fabulous friends, and I’ve had the opportunity to make some new ones.  I’ve also reconnected with some people that I missed out on knowing all that well the first time around. 

As an introvert with some minor social skills friends are massively amazing to me every day.

Isabella has grown and flourished.  She’s a social animal who loves to travel, visit and even be boarded at her favorite Kennel, Indian Bridge.  The ladies there spoil her rotten. 

My husband remains my true love and I’m thankful and appreciative of him and who he is, even when he‘s wrong.  LOL  For our first year of marriage, I think we’ve done quite well adjusting and growing. 

I’ve made strides with my crafting and discovered that Craft Shows can be quite successful for me.  I’ve created a website and then recreated it, so I’ve even improved my web skills.  You can check out Two Crafty Women and let me know what you think.

I’m thankful for all of you who are in my life and I consider myself blessed each and every day.

For the New Year ahead, I have made my goals and resolutions. 

My first one is to be more diligent about organizing my time and activities.  I have so many things going on in my life, that sometimes; things get missed (such as this blog).  I also want to make sure I make time for my friends, my crafts, craft shows, volunteer work and of course my husband. 

I also want to strive to continue my connections with all my friends and get to know each and every one of you even better.

I want to travel even more.  On my short list is a trip to Memphis to see the King.  Hopefully we can swing by and see Alina Kay and her family on the way.    Here’s my mom before she passed away, at the gates of Graceland.

Another one came as a reminder from someone who suffered a tragic unexpected loss this past year.  I’m putting this on my list of things to do early in the New Year and it is actually a good idea for everyone.  I’m going to prepare a checklist and contact information on what to do if one of us passes away.  Insurance doesn’t help if my husband doesn’t know how to claim it.  Bank accounts and savings are not any help if he can’t access it because the state has it frozen.  As much as many of us don’t want to think about passing, I know we all don’t want to leave our loved ones unprepared. 

Love and Best Wishes for a Safe and Happy New Year. 

Isabella's New Harness

As you may (or may not) know, Isabella is my five pound Papillion. 

Little dogs should never be walked with collars, as their bones are fragile - one yank on the leash and you could accidentally snap your dog's neck!

So when Isabella was much smaller (one point five pounds) I started looking around for harnesses for her.  Factor in that little dogs stay cold, even in the summer, and I needed to keep her "dressed" as well, so I was looking at clothing options as well.  In the search process I discovered that there really isn't a lot out there for really small dogs, and what is available is outlandishly expensive!

Enter my stubborness, sewing machine and some hardware purchases and Isabella's custom made harnesses were born!  When she's out and about, I have had many people remark that I should sell the harnesses I make ( I even had one local lady who runs a hair salon that I do not frequent, offer to display them)!  So, since I had to make Isabella some new harnesses, I made a few extra this month and will list them on my website, and I will not be ripping people off. :o)  If there winds up being enough interest, I'll make more.

 Here is Isabella modeling her newest harness!