Dishing it Out

I love casserole dishes. I'm not talking the all-in-one meal alone---I love casserole dishes---what they are baked in. Now that it is pretty much just the two of us around the house, I am using these oval bakers a lot more. They never held enough for the small army I had to cook for all those years.

Here are my two favorites. The green drip Hull (marked HP Company) has a great lid and is in the oven right now filled with Mac 'n Cheese. The gold lustre baker is just beautiful and glows in the romantic light of the oven (!!).

I also love Pyrex dishes with their glass tops. Pyrex ware is making a big comeback on two fronts: 1. Leftovers are a staple of many frugal kitchens these days and 2. plastic containers are passe in today's green kitchen. Here's a great site that lists Pyrex finds, catalogs all the patterns and is a place to share Pyrex Love.

The Red Thread

One of my friends at work is going to China in the next few weeks to pick up her adopted baby girl. Following a Chinese tradition, the new mom-to-be is making a "quilt of 100 wishes" for little Megan...asking all of her friends to supply a 9x9 piece of special cotton fabric for a quilt and a small piece of the fabric and a wish that will then be made into a scrapbook so Megan can see how great the anticipation and excitement was when she joined her new family and circle of friends.

I chose this playful fabric loaded with little fish and then embroidered the Chinese symbol for "daughter" on the cotton. In red. Chinese people consider red a very lucky color---especially for children. I then found a great Chinese legend about how a red thread connects those destined to meet and how that thread may twist and knot but will never be broken. I printed that out and machine-sewed a long red thread on a 12x12 scrapbook page, connecting two fabric hearts.

Remember the whole Madonna wearing the red thread around her wrist Kabbalah craze a few years ago? I wonder how that worked out for her.....

Nice and Cozy

There are many great "how-to" tutorials on the Internet for coffee cup cozies, teapot cozies and ipod cozies...but here are a few interesting and unusual ones I have seen lately.

Ice Cream Cone Cozy from The Object Project

Skip to My Lou's crayon cozy

Lip balm cozy found on Carina's Craftblog. Won't melt in your pocket or get tossed in the laundry!

Where's the Beef?

Reading "Little Red Hen".......also known as "Chicken-Chicken."

My Mothers Day

No laundry. A little cooking. Lots of sun.

Mother's Day Jane and Liz

My mother circa 1955. She was around 16 or so. I've heard through the family grapevine that she looked a lot like Liz Taylor (think National Velvet era) back then. What do you think? That's young Liz below. My mother is absolutely beautiful today so I have no doubt she was just as stunning pre-me. I love you, Mom!







Happy Mother's Day!

Holy 'Mole-y

Last Saturday we took a trip to the local Farmer's Market and came across this treat. Made right in front of you guacamole! Check out the huge wooden bowl where guac-guy mashes the fresh avocado. Then he adds a puree of peppers and cilantro. Then fresh lime juice, salt and a little bit of olive oil. And finally fresh chopped tomatoes. It was delicious. And check out guac-guy's avocado green shirt and tomato red shorts!