Creole Wisdom

should you stop reading this blog due to the content?

Because along with my apron or purse. When I'm in the kitchen or at a restaurant I've got my camera with me, too.

I baked these for two reasons: I was craving them so badly.  And I just had to see that perfect color of purple that blueberries make when they are baked.

Just about died.

Recipe. So, I realize that it's the book link, and I think I should of added some type of crumble topping to these. I'll be back later with my mom's favorite/recommended recipe.  These were good, but not food orgasm. 

the best kind of party.

Sigh. Was it mean of me to post photos of cake like that? It was delicious, like red velvet always is.  Happy birthday celebration for Katie at her and Greg's place. It was so fun. Karen. Kate. Katie. Me. Sitting, cake eating, and champagne/coffee drinking. So wonderful. I loved Karen's up-do. I missed Becky and Alicia. I could not finish my cake. So Kate eat the rest of it. The night was so fun. We chatted. We laughed. I love them.

girls in lakeland (part 2)

 
Last morning on the lake: wake up and look out at the gorgeous water.  Then, naturally, go for a final jet ski run :)  I drove this time, a crazy 30 mph!  But that's kind of fast when you consider the force of those machines and the big waves.  Maybe I'm not as wild as Kate who prefers to go 60!

Get ready, say thank-you to Karen's family, and head on down that crazy bumpy road to... a coffee shop straight out of Gilmore Girls.  Very sweet.  Delicious food and the biggest desserts you have ever seen!

Around 4pm I headed back on the road, following Karen and Alicia with Kate in tow.  It was great to have a few hours to just catch up.  It was so fun to drive down the road and see the city come into view after a few hours... it was good to be home.  Sunburned, crazy bleached out hair, and dry skin besides it was a fabulous weekend!

girls in lakeland (part 1)

Drove the hundreds of miles from the city to a sweet little town called McGregor.  I did not get lost, the car did not break down, and I had the windows down the whole way.  It was an easy drive minus the crazy bumpiness of a gravel road right before Karen's cabin.  I am not a country girl! Paved roads = easy driving.

Karen, Kate, and Alicia came out and were waving at me when I arrived.  How can you not love a greeting like that? I got on my bikini right away, and walked out on the porch...

See? I told you I wasn't playing.  This is the best place on earth to live. Since we are deprived from normalcy during the winter months... it was time to get our share of vitamin D.  I need it, oh I need it!

We spent the afternoon lounging, riding on the jet-skis, and "roughing it" by munching on: fresh Washington cherries, brie on carr's crackers with raspberries on top, mango slices, and gigantic strawberries with fruit topping.  Did I forget to mention the hint of lime chips, thick salsa, and pink champagne? We don't mess around.

In case you are wondering, the lovely ladies are: Sam (Karen's high school friend), pretty in Irish green Karen, Alicia, your's truly, and boo-boo.  Our photographer/entertainment/Kate's big bro and SAE (how's that for an introduction?) Ryan took that lovely shot. 

Ryan did better than well stuck in a cabin full of crazy ladies.  He can out talk anyone (and I mean ANYONE), and was a countless source of laughs.  I believe my favorite quote from him was: "the most beautiful a woman looks is when she has just given birth... to your baby!" LOL.  Hilarious!

When evening rolled around we promptly changed from sundresses to our fourth of july gear- which for me included the AOPi yoga pants that I wish I could quit.  A sick addiction, as I have an image of myself wearing them in a four season's eque nursing home someday.  They are that good!  Karen's family was such a treat to be around (her mom, dad, sister, aunt, uncle, and cousin all stayed up the road at the "big cabin").  They were so kind to us, and treated us like royalty! Dinner was fantastic, and I gasp, tried a veggie burger.  It tasted good.  Alicia and I could not resist snail hunting on the beach as the night began to arrive...

Before we knew it it was fireworks time.  Of course we had to sing American songs before the show started... nothing will beat Ryan belting out "I'm Proud to be an American" in the "Creed" style.  Too funny.  There were certainly some good fireworks and sparklers... stay tuned for part 2!

good food & flowers

Can I just begin with how shocking it is that July is here already? Sigh. At least I have Christmas to look forward to, and winter will be much less harsh now that I have a car.  Thank you mom!

J was fabulous and took me out to a wonderful dinner at Cafe Ena.  After a very long day at work, not much sleep the night before, and a lunch consisting of an apple (sad, I know), this meal was much appreciated.  I ordered the salmon, and it was blissful...

Now you know I had consumed my fair share of that delightful beverage when I said to J, "these planktons are so good," goodness!  I think I meant to say plantains.  Life is hard.  He thought it was so hilarious he ordered the trés leche cake for dessert. 

If you live here, go there for a dinner date. Not too crowded, good service, and killer food.  I'm not joking.

Yesterday I met dad for dinner at his place.  Afterwards, I dropped in to see J.  I knocked on the door, and when he opened it, he was standing there with these...

Sweet.  He's so remarkable, and remembers so much of what I say.  I am almost shocked, but I suppose you pick up more when you're not running your mouth 24/7.  Several weeks ago I said to him, "if I could be a flower, I would be a sunflower!" LOL.  I am a spaz, but they are so pretty, no?  Sadly, a homeless woman thought this bouquet was for her when J bought it downtown on his way home.  These blossoms make me smile.

We spent the rest of the night laughing and watching a PBS story.  That is so lame, I know, but they are really good!  Don't lie, I know you watch them, too.  Nothing beats when J was telling me about someone he knew, "they were so trifling."  Yep, my buzz word has finally rubbed of.

On another note: Happy 4th.  I'm heading up for girls weekend maximus at Karen's cabin.  I've got two bottles of champagn, fresh berries, and tank full of gas.  Be back with photos and stories galore. xo.

I have plans.

For this gem. Picked it up at a yard sale (so typical, and I am kind of embarrassed to admit.  yes, I shop those. love them).


In case you are wondering... it is an antique typewriter/letter press drawer/case. Good for photos.  I need to pledge it like crazy, and figure out all the dimensions (oh. damn. that means I have to do maff*).

*math. damn. 

I felt like making:

Could not figure out for the life of me how to do those fish photos justice. I guess black cardstock is the way to go.  I am glad I have done more handwritten journaling in the past year.  I think it matters.  The layout (lo) on the right is the cover page for my senior year album.  I made four of these for all my college years.  Glad to have that done.  I kind of took the idea from Kevin and Amanda.

The layout below is from forever ago, like uh, maybe a year. I am so bad.  I found it in a drawer today [trifling!], so that needed to be finished up.  I hurried and added the journaling and secured a few things with glue dots. Love that green paper so much, it is much brighter than what I usually go for, but I am glad I went out on a limb.

Cannot tell you how much I love the lo on the left, and right!  Both were so fun to put together.  I used a bunch of fun fonts in the second one, all downloaded from da font.  Check it out, and they are all free, how neat is that?

Kind of threw this one together.  I think it's missing something, we'll see.  Sometimes I put lo's away after not finishing them- and then take them out six months or a year later just to add that finishing touch I could not figure out previously.  I used vellum on this.  Remember when vellum was really, really hot? I still love it.

This is my all time favorite photo from graduation: all the senior AOIIs and I. I just love it. Wanted to keep it simple, like I always do.  Originally I had some dark brown paper that had owls and clocks on it (how appropriate for a graduation layout), but it didn't help the photo stand out- so I nixed it.  Maybe I'll try it with a black and white version of the same photo.  We'll see. Those giant "{" are S.E.I, a company that I love. I thought for a while they might be disappearing, but they seem to be coming out with good stuff now, so that is good.

I did a similar lo to this last summer, about my trip to Boston.  I love the look of long, linear photos lined up in threes or fours.  Here I wanted to capture all the blues I noticed out east, sorry if the n*pples freak you out. It's art, okay?!? LOL!

I love when I get into a scrapbooking spurt. I love getting it done, using my stash, and learning more about my printer, which is almost as complicated and difficult as a two year old child.  That was fun.

biographies.

Don't know what it is, but this summer I've been into biographies. 

Another blog featured praise for Kelly Corrigan's The Middle Place. I knew after shortly exploring the author's website and viewing a few more youtube readings that I needed to pick this up.  I feel connected to the author's story- her love for her father, their connection, it's something I know and live.  Her ability to keep on keeping on through illness is inspirational.  Her storytelling style is entertaining, and I could hardly put it down.

I have seen The Glass Castle in enough bookstores to have lost count.  I've picked it up dozens of times.  But I had reservations.  But then yesterday I read a post on a message board, and about 20 people loved it.  So I bought it today.  I've already read quite a bit.  The book is easy to read, and Jeanette Walls' story is both entertaining and repulsive.  I cannot believe people are out there living like this in our country!  I am again thankful for smart parents who had enough sense (or is it luck?) to go to school, get good jobs, and wait until they could afford a family to start one.  There is such a frightening aspect about poverty. It is my own personal nightmare.  Absolutely terrifying.  Jeanette Walls has gone on to be an accomplished writer, and has no bitterness for the awful circumstances of her youth.  Her story is worthwhile.

we are/always

Boo-boo (yes, that's Kate) came over last week.  I was tired, it had been a long day, a day when I considered taking a mammoth nap once I pulled into the driveway (in the car. I know. sad)  But, she suggested dinner.  And I felt invigorated.

Here's what we whipped up, spinach and parm stuffed chicken.  Delightful. 

Can you see how good it was? I will certainly post the recipe readers.  Here it is, keep in mind this is not low-cal, but is anything really divine? No.  Plus there's the protein factor, so go into this guilt free:

You will need:
6 cups (6 ounces) fresh spinach
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/4 cup freshly grated parm cheese
Salt
Ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of ground red pepper
2 chicken breasts, split (or just stuff under the skins, like I did)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method:
•Preheat oven to 450 degrees
•Cook spinach, drain, and chop
•Melt butter, saute onion in pan and add mushrooms (for 5 minutes)
•Mix parm, salt, pepper, nutmeg, red pepper and spinach
•Add onions and mushrooms. Mix with fork
•Stuff mixture under skins/inside of chicken pieces
•Heat pan, add oil, and cook chicken 5 minutes on each side
•Transfer to baking dish, bake 20 minutes then turn and then 20 again
•Enjoy : )

And I love having friends that I can cook with.  I love Sunday dinners with Emma, and brownies with Karen, achieving "stiff peaks" with Katie... it is all good.

this one is for dad

Happy Father's Day!  Love this day.  Love celebrating great men who are fathers.  Love that each father's day I think back to the last, and we've always done something fun: San Fran, Park City, Madeline Island, Palm Beach...

This year it was lying low.  Dad mentioned wanting a small table for his patio, and Target had a great sale on folding ones.  Here is his sweet outdoor space, and I did put those Pottery Barn chairs together myself- granted they were basically assembled, but I also picked out the pillows.  I did good huh?  Dad loves it, and that's all that matters.  Now my mind is circling about a rug to cover up those ugly spots.

Dad made a fantastic meal- his great bbq ribs : ) I brought over cookies he requested- a gigantic batch of peanut butter ones.  Seriously, the batch was enormous! I thought mom's kitchenaid might give up, but alas it came through.

Claire joined us for dinner, and it was lovely. I know she had a fun time, and it was great to see her. I am so glad I have been able to maintain my buddies from school and sorority life. We also saw Night at the Museum II in the afternoon, and I loved it.  Owen Wilson is so funny, no matter what role he's in.

My father is such a wonderful person, and the best dad in the world- of course everyone else says that, and it's good!  He's the best dad for me, and often says, "you're my favorite daughter" [I'm his only daughter!] I feel so blessed to have a great father who has been more than present my entire life- what a great example he's been to me: for picking boys who will treat me right, for having high standards, for learning how to laugh, for learning how to cook... I think it's so unfortunate that fathers are becoming so absent in today's world.  Men need to step it up, and women need to require that men step it up but standing up for themselves/children.  I say, bring back the dads!  We need them, we love them!