Ethereal, yum and once-in-a-while treat

 - These vegetables from my Blue Apron box were so pretty that I snapped a photo of them.  The ones on the upper right are Fairy Tale eggplants.  Love that ethereal name!  They were among the vegetables included in the Summer Vegetable & Queso Tostadas.  Each box contains three recipes and the ingredients you need to make them.  Each recipe serves two.

- I made the tostadas while at the mountain cabin, but didn't take a photo.  I know - that's not like me.  They were yummy.

- And I love how they give you step by step instructions on making everything.  I'm a good cook, but love this once-in-a-while treat.  They only ship to the contiguous United States, but I expect there are other companies elsewhere that do this kind of thing.  It probably sounds like I am advertising for them, but this just seemed like good blog material.  :)

Pretty drinks, clean plate club and dragonfly

- Friend Leisa and I went to Cafe Sunflower in Buckhead (Atlanta) to toast her birthday (which was September 12).  These are the most beautiful drinks, I think - mine is on the left: Cucumber Fizz (cucumber juice, organic Ginger beer and sake).  Leisa's was a mixture of something or other with beet juice and a shot of sake.  Favorite question of the evening - to the waiter:  "Is that drink very beety?" 

- This was a special of the evening - eggplant with a crushed walnut crust on an aioli sauce.  So good!  We both got that and joined the clean plate club.  :)  Did anyone else hear that growing up?

from Google images

- This fun little toy is "Miss Tanaka" - a dragonfly who flies into the air if you press her suction cup to a smooth service.  As the suction releases, she flies straight up.  We tried it at the dinner table last night and it worked!  :)  I spotted this while card shopping and knew my friend would like it and she did.  

It's Friday!  So glad for the weekend to be here.  Hope yours is stellar!

Border beauty, shovel art and not your typical Greek salad

- I am revisiting the mountains and the gardens beside the river this morning.  The neighbors next door grew weary of all the rain during July 4th weekend and packed up and left on Saturday.  So that Sunday morning, in a break from rain, I walked the garden.  It borders my sister and brother-in-law's property, so I didn't feel as I was intruding too much.  Love the happy profusion of plants and flowers along this border.

- And the shovel art!  Click to enlarge to see the insect-like creature someone made that started with a shovel.  The neighbor is a master gardener and as much as we were unhappy that someone built a house on that corner property, we do love seeing all the flowers.

- I am certain I've posted this salad before, but here it is again, before being topped with feta cheese.  It's Greek Salad with Lemon and Oregano from the Smitten Kitchen.  I adore making this salad and will make it again this weekend - I bought the stuff last night.  And I used Vidalia onion instead of purple onion, because I like it.  If you click on the red Smitten Kitchen link above, you can read her happy news.  It made me smile this morning.

Happy Friday, y'all!  Hope you have a great weekend!

Thank you (I think), recipe from the wallet and always smiling

Some random good things from the week...

- As I was preparing to depart for home on Christmas day, my brother-in-law loaded this huge bag of  broccoli that a neighboring broccoli farmer gave them into my car.  Oh my.  I didn't know what to say.  So if you're presented with too much of something, you can always...

- ...make soup!  This cream of broccoli soup was good for lunch yesterday - a blustery day.  Last night I made mashed potatoes with broccoli.  It'll be broccoli all week.  :)

- Niece Abby's husband, Curtis, made a batch of my dad's famous barbeque sauce (a recipe dad always kept in his wallet.)  :)  My sister and I think we should make a cookbook called, "Recipes from the wallet" in honor of the number of other recipes he kept in there.

- I'll be leaving my two Christmas trees up until New Year's Eve - I've enjoyed them that much.  But it's probably time to slowly pack up the other things, such as the holiday salt and pepper shakers.  I've enjoyed them, too, for their unceasing smileyness.  :)

And I enjoy the weekend!  I hope you are looking forward to your weekend, too.  Have a great one.

Saturday farmers' market, jaunty and surrounded by children

- The Peachtree Road farmers' market inside St. Phillips Cathedral on Saturday.  I got a jar of Strawberry and Lavender jam from the woman beyond those huge mushrooms there.  Should the jam go in someone's Christmas stocking or should I keep it?  I vote for keeping it.  :)

- This purveyor of yogurt was wearing a jaunty straw hat with a sprig of holly in it.  Friend Laura thought he had a vaguely Johnny Depp appearance.  I'll let you decide.  Sorry for the fuzzy iPhone photo - click to enlarge.

- The sanctuary of my church on Sunday morning.  When the service started, I realized the two children in front of me and the one at my side were going to fidget during the whole service.  And then realized how happy I was to be surrounded by fidgeting children.

Holiday hybrid, circle, chance encounter, etc.

- Love this Thanksgiving hybrid turkey, snapped at a hybrid kind of food place, Hankook Taqueria (Korean food with a Mexican format) while waiting for my take-out lunch.

- Sitting around a table with my "circle" friends at church and thinking how dear they all are to me.  We sign cards for Janet's son, in Afghanistan for a third time, passing the cards around the table.  She includes cards for each soldier in his Army unit, too.  I am thankful for their service.

- Leaving the church 8:30, having had no dinner yet, and thinking I will at least get home in time to see who was eliminated on "Dancing with the Stars" (a guilty pleasure.)  But I pop into the grocery store  to quickly pick up something to nibble plus one Thanksgiving ingredient that tends to sell out.  The store is virtually empty, the cashiers idly chatting with each other.  A woman is perusing the greeting cards when I pass and looks up.  We burst out laughing - it's my dear friend Barbara G. - we have a 30 minute catch up in the store.  Totally worth missing my show.  :)

- A man stocking vegetables smiles when I ask him where the French Fried Onion Rings in a can are and walks me to them.  You have to have those for Green Bean Casserole - it's the Southern way.

- This last one is for Joe.  Of course I thought ahead and recorded Dancing with the Stars.  As I eat my frozen ravioli dinner, I watch and there is Joe's Kylie Minogue, as a singing guest.  She sings "The Locomotion" while dancers swirled around her.  I catch her in an awkward pose, but it's the thought that counts.

Food talk, let's make it Italian and some cake + bonus

- On a rainy, too busy day at work, a coworker and I discuss how the weather puts us in mind of Italian food.  Discussion ensues.  I mention how I like Bambinelli's - a family owned business run by Italian Americans, originally from the Bronx, New York.  (Love their story - see link.)  My coworker says he and his grandson have regular outings and they usually choose Italian, too.  It's their thing.

- Friend Leisa and talk during our respective commutes home and commiserate about our day.  She suggests dinner and I tell her how I had the Italian food discussion at work.  Pizza, she'd like pizza.  Oddly enough, it takes me a couple of minutes to think of Bambinelli's.  :)  She got her pizza; I got lasagna.  Yum.

- And she brought me a piece of pound cake that she made.  See wrapped pound cake peeking out of my purse in the photo above.  I'll have it today at work.  Full circle.

A lovely thing:  a seasoned couple at the table across from us were celebrating his birthday.  The owner, Bonnie, brought them Cannoli, complete with a burning candle, to share.  And she took their photo as they beamed at the camera.  Lovely.

Q is for Quaich and Quinoa part 1 and 2

- This is a Quaich (pronounced "Quake", from the Gaelic word "Cuach"), a traditional Scottish drinking vessel used to offer a guest a cup of welcome and also as a farewell drink, usually a dram of whisky.  These days they are used for celebrations like weddings and christenings in Scotland or those having an association with Scotland by heritage like me.  Note:  that's my quaich resting on my family tartan in the photo above, with coffee in it.  I am commissioner for the state of Georgia for my Scottish Clan, which is a fancy title for one who gets saddled with the tent at Clan gatherings in Georgia.  :)

- This is what my niece Rebecca has for breakfast every morning.  Quinoa with kale, topped with radishes and poached eggs, with a splash of vinegar.  So I was home at lunchtime yesterday waiting for a technician to show up.  (Sigh. Another story.)  And decided to make it for lunch.  Note - I used my microwave egg poacher, steamed the kale and cooked the quinoa the old fashioned way.

- And this is how it looked all combined.  It was pretty good!  I felt so organic and in a peaceful state of mind when the technician showed up at 2:10pm, after the noon to 2pm window he was supposed to show up in.  It's easy to be forgiving when you're loaded with super foods and ready to seize the afternoon.  :)

It's Day 17 of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge featuring the letter "Q".  Things that give me pleasure!  (Except for that whole waiting for the technician thing.)  :)

Bell tower, young chef and teenagers

- It's Random Photo Thursday. My brother-in-law's cook shed on their farm in northern Florida. The bell at the top is from his family's summer lake cabin - they took it with them when the cabin was sold. His late mother used to ring the bell for the boys to come home for dinner when they were out rambling around the lake. Twenty years later, it was located and hung here.

- A mom at last night's potluck telling how the burden of preparing food was lifted by her 15-year-old son, who made the rice and the chocolate chip oatmeal cookies - both perfectly cooked. I think how it will be so valuable for him in life that he knows how to cook.

- A friend sent this explanation for the bird festival in my feeder and planter each night: "It's time for nesting birds to send their young out into the world, some of them for the second time this season. The appearance at our feeders of juveniles of various species is at least entertaining, and certainly educational. Enjoy these "teenagers" as they begin to achieve independence and look for their own apartments!"

Poppies (I think), pizza substitute and give-away

- Poppies? I'm not sure. The one on the right looks like a poppy, but the one on the left looks a bit like a carnation. Photo taken from a neighbor's garden. When I see this flower, I always hear the Wicked Witch of the West in my head saying, "Paaaah-pees" when she throws them in front of Dorothy and crew to make them sleep in that field in the land of Oz.

- Watching a friend dig into a salad loaded with pizza toppings: shredded mozzarella cheese, green olives and mushrooms. There is red sauce on the side. When questioned, she reminds me that she is allergic to gluten, so this is the closest she can come to having pizza. She tops each bite of salad with a little pizza sauce.

- "Paris : distribution gratuite de concombres et de tomates." This is why it is so much fun to be facebook friends with American in Paris, David Lebovitz: his wall post this morning gives notice of "Free give-away this Saturday of cucumbers and tomatoes on the Champ de Mars in Paris (bring football padding to deal with the crowds!)" I guess!

Looking for food, finding food and wee neighbor

- This guy and a friend were looking for something to eat at 7:30am in the small patch of grass in front of the printing company. Odd that they picked this spot. It must have been a big migrating day, because some geese flew overhead later in the afternoon, honking away, during my walk at Stone Mountain park.

- Needing Monday comfort food, I had those sliders for lunch at Hankook Taqueria around the corner from my office. Cholesterol on a plate, but so good!!! My favorite part was the cucumber kimchee, which added a cool crunch in the middle.

- This is the little bird who has made a nest in the fern hanging by my front door. She flew out as I approached after work. The zoom feature of my camera caught her looking bigger than she is (and more red than I knew before.)

Glisten, south Georgia and like

- From Friday walk, these trees are still blooming around the park near my office, the scattering of blossoms make the tree glisten. The markers below the tree give a detailed account of the Civil War battle fought on this spot.

- In south Georgia on Saturday, where there is bright sunshine, amazingly friendly people and always the faint scent of barbecue smoke in the air. Mom and I try a barbecue restaurant for lunch called "Granddaddy's Barbecue" - she critiques the pulled pork as not being quite smoky enough. I ask how many stars she would give it out of a possible five. "Three stars," she decides.

- Telling my mother on Mother's Day that I like her. She smiles and says she likes me, too. :)

Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday and tradition

Mardi Gras! by Bob Trammell

This is a re-posting of my post from last year on Fat Tuesday - I was looking for an image and stumbled upon Bob's painting in my pictures and thought, "that post was pretty good and informative. So let's have it again." :) So eat a lot today, friends, it's Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll be having the eggs for dinner as usual, but will keep it all in perspective as noted on the third thing.

- Today is Fat Tuesday at the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans, and the day before Ash Wednesday. Tradition says that people eat all they want of everything and anything they want on Fat Tuesday, as Ash Wednesday is the beginning of the Lenten fasting period for Christians. The Fat Tuesday I spent in New Orleans one year was easily the most fun I ever had anywhere.

- On Ash Wednesday in New Orleans, the revelers will wake up to a city with perfectly clean and strangely quiet streets. The ankle deep trash that is allowed to be dropped in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras will have been swept away by people hard at work during the night.

- My church traditionally serves up a dinner before Ash Wednesday service that features egg and pancake dishes - no meat. In Googling the question as to why we eat eggs, no meat, on Ash Wednesday, I came across this answer on Yahoo answers that sums it up from someone called Arcana 1, and puts it into perspective: "The choice is up to you. The Catholic Church advocates many practices of avoidance and fasting on certain days of the year. It is actually a carry over of the Church's ancient days' adventurism. But honestly I tell you this...Do good acts to all men, respect your parents and elders, do not cheat. Pray and have solid faith in your God. These acts will get you through hell even if you eat eggs or consume meat on Ash Wednesday. God Bless you." That sounds simple enough. :)

Compensating, special treat and talented

- It is 15 degrees Fahrenheit in the Atlanta area this morning. They say on the news that if you step outside you'll turn to ice immediately. Just kidding, but I imagine it to be so. Anyway - I just want to drink hot drinks all day like this Turkish tea I had recently. It's cold, y'all!

- Someone brings in a pound cake with a lovely glaze over it to the office. Decorated with sprigs of rosemary all around it, with sugared cranberries in the middle. It is a thing of beauty, but I am not above being the first to cut into it and blowing the South Beach diet for it. :)

- A friend's son, fresh in from playing basketball, playing a beautiful tune from memory on his grandmother's piano.

Pilgrims, mad dashes and abundance

- My pilgrim salt and pepper shakers make me so happy that I move them around to different areas of the kitchen. After the holiday, they live among the crockery inside the cabinet and still make me smile as they peer around the dinner plates.

- Realizing I am short one egg, I tear up to the grocery store on Wednesday night. A woman in the parking lot offers me her cart, saying they are short of carts inside. She tells me this is her third visit here that day. We wish each other a happy Thanksgiving and go our separate ways.

- During this morning of pot stirring and thinking of everyone I will see in a few hours, I have reflected upon those early adventurous souls who made friends with native Americans and sat down to eat together, sharing their abundance. I am thankful for them and for all I have. Happy Thanksgiving everyone (including my friends outside the States.)

I will be with family for the next few days - have a great weekend, my friends!

Weekend visitors, watched pot and apple scent

- Some inside visitors over the weekend due to the first frost of fall. They look as if they are longing to go back outside and with a high temperature of 68°F predicted for this afternoon, they will.

- Mastering my mom's four-minute egg - somewhere between soft and hard boiled. The secret seems to be watching the pot until the water boils and then setting the timer for four minutes. That old adage, "A watched pot never boils" is true unless you busy yourself with some other task in the kitchen and pretend as if you are not watching. :)

- Somehow ending up with too many apples, and so there are about a dozen of them in the refrigerator. And enjoying the blast of Fuji apple scent I get when I open the fridge.

Meatless Monday, happy man and great snack

- My Greet-the-Sun Breakfast Pizza was so good on Saturday morning that I had it again on Sunday morning. In honor of Meatless Monday, the recipe can be found here.

- A man in the produce section of Publix, exclaims with delight when he discovers that you can buy onions already sliced. I smile and say they are just so much more expensive that way. But it's convenient and I just want to watch the game! He throws me an incredulous look when I ask if the Falcons are playing. :) I point him toward the crumbled bleu cheese and he is on his way; a vision of happiness.

- A delicious end of the day snack in lieu of dinner: a red Anjou pear, toasted walnuts and some sharp white Vermont cheddar cheese. Yummmmm.

Clamoring, passing it up and crunchy day

- These geese who live at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia. They are literally clamoring for treats - other visitors must know to bring food. They had a lovely little dance going on there though.

- Feeling so virtuous when a vendor brings in ice cream as a treat for my office and I pass it up for my sliced apples and vanilla yogurt. And it was pretty good.

- A hastily put together dinner of red bell pepper strips and hummus. A crunchy kind of day.

New treat, the guards and low key

- A woman who works at my volunteer organization has fresh figs to share and invites me to have one. Oddly - I don't think I have ever tried a fresh fig before. It is sweet and delectable. She tells me that she likes to serve them as appetizers halved, with a bit of goat cheese on top.

- A media personality is filming a program called "Swift Justice" at Georgia Public Broadcasting. I ask the guards, as I am signing out, if they ever see her and they say that I just missed her. They are so accustomed to my smiling commentary on everything that they laugh out loud when I describe why I do not admire this woman. But I am pleased that the show brings revenue to GPB.

- A couple of weeks ago I was signing out at GPB and looked up to see a man I do admire waiting to sign out - Ambassador Andrew Young. I did a double take and he smiled politely. What a nice man and so nicely low key.

Beer can girl, the long way and what looks good

- This mural I am calling "Beer can girl" painted on the back of Manuel's Tavern in the Virginia Highlands neighborhood of Atlanta. I found a blog from the artist, who says that Pabst Blue Ribbon beer seems to pop up everywhere in her life and she doesn't even drink it.

- Taking the long way home from work so I can stop by the DeKalb Farmers Market - an international "world" market. It is a festival of fresh produce, dairy products, and so much more. I love their manifesto, part of which reads: "No matter how technologically advanced we become, we cannot escape our fundamental relationships with food and each other."

- The cashiers there are always lovely and my cashier this day did not speak much English, but ran a smiling commentary on my purchases of fresh basil, brussel sprouts, salmon, fresh mozzarella, cage free eggs and hummus. I only stopped by for the basil, but this is the kind of place you walk around in, while dodging shopping carts, to see what looks good.

Have a lovely weekend, friends!