Well, my day got a little better. I've done about 38,000 loads of laundry, cooked a bit and have found the energy to post some interesting stuff. See that loveliness above? That's my granola. The little one called me while I was at work yesterday to say she was eating 'my food' and with a full mouth told me 'this stuff is delicious!!' I envisioned chewed up granola spraying the phone and dining room table.

I could not get it off the cookie sheet fast enough. Her little hands were all over it. What, you may ask is in my granola....I will tell you.

preheat your oven to 375 degrees

about 3 cups of rolled oats

about 1-2 cups of crushed nuts (I used walnuts, pecans, almonds and sesame seeds)

1/4 cup of honey

1/4 cup of veg oil

1/4 cup of brown sugar (I have used brown sugar splenda before and it was good)

about 1/2 tsp of salt

dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg

1 tbsp of vanilla

you mix it all and spread it on a cookie sheet (line it with something because it will stick like crazy)

it only takes about 25 minutes to be done. Leave it longer for a smokier, crunchier granola....don't do this if you are including dried fruit.

AND I GOT BOWLS!!! The one on its side, I got that one because it is small but deep and the pattern is sparse, I love that. The yellow one is Pyrex. Heavenly. I feel about Pyrex and depression glass like I feel about mirrors. I like to think mirrors hold memory's of the images they catch, I think Pyrex and really all old china do the same.

The bowl with the floral trim is AWESOME. I wish I had a better picture. I will have to google it's stamp....Marlborough-Royal Petal-Grindley......fancy schmancy. That bowl was $6.5o

Those gorgeous mugs are Fitz and Floyd. 5 of them were marked $.99 and one was $.69. Now, I know that was a steal.

Thrifting is glorious. I also got myself a blazer, a pajama top and sleeveless top to go with my aubergine suit.

This beautiful mess is oat burger fixins. YUM. I got a veggie burger for lunch yesterday and that made it virtually impossible for me to not make some this weekend. I have been wanting to for a long time and I am glad I did tonight. This recipe called for baking. Next time I will definitely fry and not use so much onion. I think I will add some chick peas next time too.......or make chick pea and black bean burgers. The vegetable burger dimension has opened to me and
I want to experience them all. The ones I am eating now is SCREAMING for some cilantro, a squeeze of lime and did I mention fewer onions. Don't get me wrong...these are good, but I'll find a better recipe and post it later.

Cloudy Saturday morning

I had a rough day at work yesterday and came home to two unresponsive, kids with no respect. You know how you ask them a question and get no answer...you get the blank stare....or you tell them 4 times to clean up the living room and explode when they are playing in their bedrooms and not even covertly but very loudly and defiantly. UGH. Then I watched the "Strayed' with Gaspard Ulliel and Emmanuelle Beart which depressed the hell out of me. Then the Hannibal Lechter movie with Gaspard Ulliel was on some movie channel and that made me feel much better because he was ridiculously crazy in that movie. I fell asleep watching that.

So, I am hiding in my room..hiding from my children...about to take a shower and have a lovely morning grocery shopping and thrift store shopping. I need bowls. we have three bowls in this apartment and I am sick of it.

An inspiration....really?!

Since starting this blog have have gotten three comments....two today! Thanks to Ms. Single Mama and Single Mom Seeking. When I started this blog I really didn't know what direction it would go in. There is not clear message. It's pretty random. I write about my life, I guess, but that isn't very interesting. I decided I would write for myself and would be grateful if my thoughts meant anything to anyone. Hopefully, readers will continue to find my blog and like what they read. How amazing would it be if my blog was for someone else what my favorite blogs are for me!!!!

housekeeping

I want this book:

http://www.mrsbeeton.com/index.html

since last week........

I think posting and talking about these photos will produce the best post for right now. See, I woke up at 11:30 last night with that disgusting head cold, angry nasal passage thing brought about by diseased, caustic nasal discharge. It's so nasty. I just put my dinner in the oven, yes at 11:30 am, because I am not sure how much longer I will be conscious.

Here is what we have done on this long Presidents' Weekend.

I have an affinity for silverware and servingware. I don't so much like silver picture frames of trinkety things. It's the various kinds of knives, forks and spoons that get me. The handles, the bowls of the spoons, the tongs of the forks and the blades of knives are gorgeous and I love a good mix of styles on my table at one time. Imagine my surprise when looking through a coat closet at my parents' house, I found a jar full of old silver.





Above, is the set my mother uses (off limits to me). We use this on holidays for the big dinners she cooks. Gorgeous.

I love these matching, tarnished pieces. My mother and I agree that the tarnished pieces are the most beautiful. This pattern above seems so functional and attractive. They make me think of a conservatively set 19th century American table.

We are doing well on the "eating healthy" thing. Here is the oldest eating chili at Target.

More home made healthiness. Baked french fries, tossed in extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and Old Bay seasoning. My oldest loves Old Bay. http://www.oldbay.com/Recipe-Landing.aspx The fries were great. I top them with the cucumber yogurt dressing.

Smoothie making is going strong. The girls do well with supervision. Here is the little one making a mango, strawberry concoctions. We get our frozen fruit from Trader Joes. I love the organicness of Trader Joes and can tolerate the prices, but........while they are great about low fat, low sodium, low carb selections of products, there are not so many low sugar options. We make due, but I would like more selection. I do love the unsweetened soy milk and the goat yogurt.

I bought a futon for the living room. We have an 'infestation' problem in the building, so I refuse to buy real, lovely furniture. Oh, and I have kids so unless I am buying very high quality stuff, they will destroy it by merely looking at it. The futon came from a discount furniture store and cost $186. You see we put an immediate use to it. We brought it home on Friday night...tied to the top of the car. The little one interrogated the man who put it on the car. She had to make sure it was not illegal to drive with a futon and frame tied to the roof of our Camry. We made it home in time enough for me to assemble it and for a friend of theirs to spend the day with them on Saturday.

Bill Cunningham's column "On the Street" is wonderful. I never remember to read it then can spend hours..literally..watching his articles.

Why I love him:

"I'm not a good photographer. To be perfectly honest, I'm too shy. Not aggressive enough. Well, I'm not aggressive at all. I just loved to see wonderfully dressed women, and I still do. That's all there is to it. "

"Women's Wear has been photographing socialites and celebrities for years. But the difference for me is I don't see the people I photograph. All I see are clothes. I'm only interested in people who look good. I'm looking for the stunners."

"I go out every day. When I get depressed at the office, I go out, and as soon as I'm on the street and see people, I feel better. But I never go out with a preconceived idea. I let the street speak to me. "

BTW, Mr. Cunningham, I have ALWAYS loved high collared coats...not nehru or mandarin, but high high high.

His latest article:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/02/08/fashion/20090208-street-feature/index.html

crazy sky, clouds, water, ice

Camille Seaman. Wow. Her images are like nightmare sets for people like me who think of where is the last place in the world I would want to be. I swear. The photographs are so beautiful they are painful to look at. Impossible to look at and believe they are real. The things our world can do confuses the hell out of me. Completely. I would be in total fear of loosing my life if I was looking at that iceberg. Like, I would take my own life, dive into the frigid water, because I couldn't handle the beautifulness. What is with the colors of the sky and the water and the ice and the freaky light?!?!??! What is happening???? Unfortunately, I couldn't find any of the tornado skies to post here but if you click on the link you will see those stormy images that will haunt me for the rest of my life. I think I love her.

http://www.camilleseaman.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=3258&Akey=WX679BJN

last post, last meal of the day

Before I settle down to "Flight of the Concords" and a good hour of laundry sorting, I am enjoying my last treat of the day...well maybe there will be a glass of wine later.

I promised my kids I would make smoothies after dinner, so I did. Oh, I made a whole chicken, chicken in a pot, today. My young one said it was the best dinner she ever had in her life. She said this between spoonfuls of gravy straight from the gravy bowl...which was a big teacup because I don't have a proper gravy boat...that I like to use. I do have one I like to look at. I can not wait for them to see my mother so they can tell her how good my gravy was. My mother thinks she makes the best gravy in the world...it is better than mine, but mine was goooood.

I've posted enough today to last me quite a while I think. Good Night.

juicer heaven

I am adding this to one of the things I can't live without.

Orange Juice and bad budgeting

I swear, if I had $10 to my name I would spend it on some food I craved. I just bought $10 worth oranges just to share the experience of squeezing them with my youngest. We went to three stores looking for a good (cheap) juicer and only found a small hand held one. I think I may have to buy an electric one.