2 Really Good Things Happened Yesterday!

The first really good thing ~ my sweetheart made Clear Toy (AKA Barley) Candy for me. It's pretty much just hardened sugar but if you want something sweet it's the ticket. I have been kinda grouchy lately and I think he wanted to sweeten me up! It's cooked in a pot on the stove and then poured into molds.

We don't have fancy molds but these are tiny muffin tins and the candies come out like discs.

Above is the finished product ~ only there's not as many of them now!

The second really good thing ~ The doctor's coat I ordered for my grandson's 3rd birthday arrived. I was able to give him a doctor's bag with the instruments on his birthday which he really liked (I guess every little boy likes to play doctor!). He looks great in the coat ~ very professional I think. The coat has Dr Baggs embroidered on the pocket.

The bag with the instruments has Dr. Baggs on one side too but you won't get to see it. He wouldn't pose for us yesterday. Oh well, that's OK, there will probably be many more opportunities.

Here he is getting ready to do some "doctorin" on his mother.

A note from my doctor!

As disappointed as she is Corinne won't be blogging actively for some time to come. I have been her doctor for a long time now and I have never seen her in such distress. The arthritis pain she is suffering from is at times extreme. When not extreme it is a relentless agony and does not permit her to have a good night's sleep or be active throughout the day. Medication has not helped, in fact each one tried has worsened her situation for days after taking it.

Sincerely,

Corinne's doctor. 

OK ..... you're right he didn't write the note! I just want you to know I will be back. Bits & pieces for awhile and then in full force. It is important to me that you understand the couple of entries I did were not just ~ been there, done that ~ I really liked blogging and can't wait to get good at it.

Thanks for understanding and please keep checking back ~ I will return and I will be in good form too. I expect I will have knee replacement surgery ~ let's see how much of that I can capture.

Cheers,

Corinne

Easter Dinner

I'm (only) 2 days from the event, I'm moving slowly lately!

The only reason this is worth saying is because I haven't cooked a meal like this by myself for a very long time!

So, the day has arrived and the table is set waiting for the guests.

See the place without a blue Pyrex bowl? That is for my two (will be three in a week) year old grandson.

When the guests arrived we were given a large bouquet of red tulips ~ looks better than the fake yellow roses (did they trick you?)

It's not Easter without a little bit of "dress up"

From left to right Xander, his uncle Marty (Martin has MD), maternal grandfather Gary and paternal grandfather Walter.

We served a cheese, cracker & grape plate (you can see it in the photo above. Then I served Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers. This is a favorite and they are not as hot as you might think.

Served on a green Fire King platter.

Then we went to the table, the first course was a Spring Salad with Yogurt Dressing served with baked Cheese Crackers (boy were they good!). Plus a Vegetable Smoothie Drink.

Then we moved on to the main course. This included Spring Vegetables with Shallot Butter, Roasted Carrots with Coriander & Fresh Mint, Rice Pilaf with Leeks & Tomatoes, Roasted Turkey Breast and an Apricot-Raspberry Glazed Ham.

This was obviously a meat lovers plate! Here is my son Adam, his wife Amy and Alexander (aka Xander) enjoying their Easter dinner.

Then on to dessert ~ this was Lemon Ice (this is a wonderful easy dessert) and Egg-cellent Sugar Cookies with of course tea or coffee.

The clear dishes are Anchor Hocking Manhattan. I love using them, they are elegant and stylish. They look good with any table setting too!

This was truly a wonderful day!

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Not like today will be ......... I have to do our income tax! See you in a couple of days (probably).

Easter is coming ~~ way too fast for me!

Thursday night I had a visit with my doctor about my extremely painful knee. He is going to give a nudge to the orthopedic surgeon but in the meantime he gave me a prescription for the pain.

 I thought "this is great, I have Easter dinner to prepare and instead of limping around in pain I'll be floating along smiling ---- WRONG!! I took the first pill Thursday night, then first thing Friday Morning, then 4 hours later (as directed). I felt a little faint in the morning and then became violently ill by lunch time.

 I was out for the rest of the day which is not the way the noncook wanted it to happen. So here I am today with 2 days of prep work to do in one.

 Here is one of my accomplishments ~ other people wouldn't share this, they're not nicely decorated but because I've never done anything like this before I'm proud of them.

I also made lemon ice, I will spoon the ice into Anchor Hocking Manhattan Compotes with a sprig of mint, then put the compote and 2 cookies on a salad size Manhattan plate. Walter tried a cookie and I had a spoon full of lemon ~ looks like this will work out OK. Better get back at it.

Happy Easter everyone!

It's just fog!

It was lovely to wake up this morning and not hear rain, no sun though ~ well I'm sure it's up there somewhere but from where I stand I'm left wondering.

So the noncook (or uncook) ~ that's me , went to the grocery store today with the list I complied last night from all the recipes I'm following for the "scariest" Easter dinner ever! Now you know I'm not a cook and you're probably saying she's not a blogger either! I guess I'm supposed to take my camera everywhere, no fretting -  I'll learn. Here is a past photo of the only other time I cooked.

(This is cooking with Hope & Grace)

My knees are hurting so much I didn't even stop in the thrift store! I KNOW! It may be the first time in my life I didn't go to one when I could have. Since I have looked at some awesome finds on other blogs I thought I'd show a past find (fairly recent).

This little gem is a Newcomb College Pottery Coaster.

I couldn't believe my eyes thrown in with true junk! I was trying to imagine the rough route it had taken to get to the bin it was in. ............. I grabbed it! It was in perfect condition!

The letter marked showed it was made in 1910. I sold about a month ago through an auction firm in New York.

Finding things like that just keep adding fuel to the fire.

Would you believe ... another rainy day!

I got stuck with a big job today ~ Easter dinner! There should only be 9 at the table so that helps. I'm working on the menu now, looking for easy dishes where a number of them could be made ahead. I think I've found what I need, their stuff looks great in the pictures I can just imaginge what mine will look like. I think I'll give everyone a pair of very dark glasses to wear when they come to the table. Yeah, yeah don't laugh, I'm not the cook in the family. It's like the perfect storm hit ~ it's our turn to do a holiday meal, my personal chief got sick (get well soon Walter) and I can hardly walk because of my friggin knees. Bon Appetit!

The first blog I wrote I showed a piece of folk art by Ransford Naugler. Here are two more, these are half birds ~ meaning they are flat on one side so they are perfect for hanging on the wall, not that you get the bird's front or the back end only. The first pic is of me and Ransford, see all the pictures on his wall behind us ~ they are pictures people sent to him of the art he made for them. He is a great guy!

This one is Walter and Ransford with the other bird ....... check out how Walter's wearing his hat, he's looking to start a new trend like the teenagers do wearing their pants to their knees and their belts 5" above their waists!

It's probably best to write about current things but it's raining, I have two score knees and there is a lot of catching up to do!

The door is opened a little wider.

It's a rainy day and since I don't have a dog to make me go outside, I'm staying inside where it's warm and the wind doesn't go through you. It's not as easy as it sounds to be without a dog. We've had dogs since Walter & I have been together, sometimes as many as 3. I'm not completely onside with my husband's decision to not get another one but I'll humor him for awhile. If we never get another one then the saying "saved the best for last" is true. As wonderful as our other dogs were Picasso was the king. He brought a smile to everyone's face, even people who didn't like dogs liked him. I still miss him so much ....... see for yourself what a looker he was (he was more beautiful inside).

I guess it's not fair to only show his picture. Here is his sister Maggie Muffin, she was a great dog too but she was very bossy and had Picasso under her "paw".

I couldn't find a picture in my folders of the bloodhound we had but I know I have one. I'll find it and post it later.

I want to share my collections with everyone, I think collecting completes a person. We all have the primal need to collect and gather and those who do not give in to this are at serious risk of becoming boring. J/K

Here is a collection of pee pot tops ~ yes! you read it right! And where would be the best place to display this collection? ~~~ Yep! You guessed right, in the bathroom -  I knew you were smart!

I have them on two walls of our upstairs bathroom. As you will see I still need more, I've filled in the spaces with framed funny postcards from the 1940's. It's cramped quarters taking the pics so they're not perfect.

It's time to stop having fun here and go have some fun on eBid.net

Later, Corinne