Saturday, March 28, 2009

Always have your camera ready!

My creative well for blog inspiration has run dry once again.

I'm sharing pictures sent from one of my pet loving friends who knew how much I'd love seeing these precious fur babies. Thank you Liette, you made my day when I received this one! I hope the pictures put as big a smile on your face as they did mine!


Up, up and away!

Is this a great day or what!

Uh oh! I knew we shouldn't have walked this way!

Wow, this is the softest dirt I've ever dug into!

Owww, let go! I'm sorry already!

"When I get out, someone's gonna DIE!"

Have a great day!
Diane

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Freaky Foodie Friday Trainwrecks!


Welcome to this weeks Freaky Foodie Friday Trainwrecks! Michael had such a fun idea for this week! Rather than our usual virtual potluck, our theme is food mishaps or food bloopers. I know this will be fun to read, but maybe not so much fun to remember!

No pictures were ever taken of any mishaps in my kitchen. I was too busy trying to rescue whatever I had burned, sloshed or dumped. Let's see how many bloopers I can remember.

Cooking has never been one of my favorite pastimes. Before I was married, I could make cookies and cakes by following a recipe but very little else.

Not long after our wedding, I was attempting to cook dinner when my brother in law dropped by for a few minutes. I went outside to talk to him, but didn't think to turn the stove off. Yes, that was my first burned meal as a newly wed and I've had many others since then.

Hubby called from work one long ago evening craving popcorn. He had an errand to run, and wanted to drop by the house to pick up a big bowl of popcorn to take back to work with him. I put the oil in the pan on high. (Wasn't this a brilliant move on my part!) The oil wasn't heating up quickly enough while I watched it, so I thought I had plenty of time to take care of an accident our new puppy had just made. I picked up the oops, glanced up at the stove and saw flames dancing around in the pan, burning the knobs, buttons and bottom of the top oven. Our front door was open, so as I ran for the stove, I looked out the door, saw hubby and screamed "it's on fire!" I was holding the tissue wrapped puppy poo in my hand and threw it out the back door, (I think it flew into the neighbors back yard). I reached for the handle on the pan just as hubby screamed "no - don't touch it!" I was going to move the flaming pot out to the back deck. He grabbed something to cover the handle and put the pan on the floor. We put the fire out, but he burned a big round circle in the linoleum and was quite proud of his quick thinking. (I wouldn't have put the pan on the floor.) Insurance covered the damage, but it took forever to have the floor repaired.

One evening I was making a lime molded jello salad to take to a potluck at work the next day. I poured the liquid jello into the mold and watched in disbelief as it all ran out the bottom of the Tupperware mold. I hadn't double checked the seal. That mess ran off two sides of the counter and cabinet, then all over the floor under and around the stove. The mess was unbelievable.

So much for the mayhem and madness of my foodie trainwrecks.

I have a cute one to share about my daughter in law. My son and daughter in law got married last June. His kitchen remodel wasn't completed before the wedding, so they were without a stove for a few months. When the new stove was finally installed, she was baking up a storm. She had just taken cookies out of the oven as my son got home from work. He grabbed a beer and a cookie and they called me to come over and sample the fresh cookies. (BTW, I don't understand how anyone can drink a beer and eat a cookie, but I digress...) My DIL left the room for a moment and my son said the cookie was a little bit salty. I took a bite and couldn't eat anymore of it. I looked at him and he was foaming at the mouth with the beer and baking soda in the cookie, but was gamely eating it. (You know that's LOVE, to finish the whole stinking cookie that is making you foam at the mouth!) My DIL came back in and asked how the cookies tasted. I asked how much baking soda she added to the recipe. She looked puzzled and took a bite of my cookie, which she promptly spit out and ran for the recipe. She had used tablespoons instead of teaspoons of baking soda. My son and I thought this was hysterical. My DIL, not so much!

Please drop by Michael's @ Designs by Gollum for the list of participants to this weeks Freaky Foodie Friday!

Enjoy!

Diane

Friday, March 13, 2009

Pink Saturday

It's Pink Saturday and my favorite colored day of the week. Time flies past so quickly, it seems like I just wrote a Pink Saturday post...

Many years ago, my grandmother bought a pair of sweet bisque figurines for me at Disneyland. I always thought of the girls as "sisters" and treasured them because Grandma bought them. Now I'm sharing them with you for Pink Saturday. The "sisters" are standing next to one of my mom's plates.

Please visit Beverly's blog at How Sweet the Sound to see the list of Pink Saturday participants.


Enjoy!

Diane

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Potlucks and Tablescapes!

I'm combining a St Patrick's Day Tablescape Thursday with Foodie Friday this week.

Please visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for the list of other Tablescape Thursday participants.

I started with a green tablecloth, then layered a crocheted tablecloth over it. I bet you've already guessed that I would use green and white Spode Botanical plates for a St Paddy's Day tablescape! Pressed glass sunflower plates are perfect for salad.


One of my favorite mosaic birdhouses with a few little visiting leprechaun's!

Such a sweet plate!

I'm addicted to Spode's Botanical pattern and have the same plates in green, blue and red or cranberry colors. Most were found in TJMaxx, Marshall's or eBay. I bought the green plates from Replacements.com.

The Spode Archive Collection
Georgian Series
'BOTANICAL'


Can you see the sunflower pressed into the glass plate?


A last look...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to our early St Patrick's Day Foodie Friday virtual potluck celebration!

Please visit Michael at Design's by Gollum for the list of other Foodie Friday participants.

I thought about potluck recipes for days and suddenly remembered a favorite from many years ago. Do any of you remember Jello Poke Cakes? It was always a family favorite.


The sparkly sugar glitter is pretty cool, huh?!?


Would you like to try a piece of cake?


Yummm!


Jello Poke Cake


1 white cake mix
1 (3 oz.) pkg. Jello
(I used Jello Melon Fusion)
1 c. boiling water

1/2 c. cold water

Cool Whip

Prepare cake as directed in a pan of your choice. (Don't forget you'll be pouring liquid gelatin over the cake later.) Cool pan 15 minutes. Poke cake with fork for small holes, or handle of wooden spoon for larger holes, every 1/2 to 1 inch. Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Add cold water. Spoon over the cake slowly so the Jello mixture soaks into the holes. Chill 3 to 4 hours. Top with Cool Whip.
(Recipe courtesy of Cooks.com)


Enjoy!

Diane

Friday, March 6, 2009

Pink Saturday!


Welcome to Pink Saturday, hosted by Beverly @ How Sweet the Sound.

The weather was wet and drizzling a few days ago so I went shopping for pink!


A pair of pink Johnson Bros plates with a big pink rose, little blue flowers and green leaves. I think they'll add a bit of whimsy to my St Patrick's Day tablescape!


Ah, so sweet!

Cups and saucers in my favorite Spode Botanical pattern.

A couple of new mugs, also in my favorite Spode botanical pattern!


I finally broke down and bought New PINK kitchen scissors! This may look a bit peculiar, but my hubby is a kleptomaniac for scissors and measuring tapes! I think the pink will stand out when I'm frantically searching tables and drawers because he took off with the scissors again. He always denies having them, then has an "oh yeah" moment as I wave them around and complain. The old black handles just disappear on whatever they're lying on.


Now, please click on Beverly here to visit the other Pink Saturday participants.

Enjoy!

Diane

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Dog Logic


The reason
A dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his
Tongue.

-Michael Combs

There
Is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.


-Ben Williams


A dog is the only thing
On earth that loves you more than he loves himself.

-Peter Dorsett



The average
Dog is a nicer person than the average person.

-Andy
Rooney


Anybody who
Doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.

- Franklin P.
Jones

My dog is worried about the
Economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog
Money.

-Joe Weinstein


If you pick
Up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is
The principal difference between a dog and a man.

-Mark
Twain


Dogs are
Not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

-Roger
Caras



If you think dogs can't count,
Try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two

Of them.

-Phil
Pastoret


This was an e-mail that I received from a friend. It put a big smile on my face, so I'm sharing it with all of you to put smiles on your faces too.

Enjoy!

Diane

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