Toby and the gift

Mackenzie sent the book, "I Could Pee on This and other poems by cats" by Francesco Marciuliano.  I enjoyed opening it...

Thanks, Mackenzie!  I look very handsome here but I left Debbie a present in front of the dishwasher tonight and peed on the rug to boot.  That will show her not to be gone all day...whooping it up in Las Vegas...

Winter in the Midwest

You Cali people keep bragging about your 80 degree weather… Well, here's a weather update from the midwest!

The cats won't even leave the porch because the snow is too deep (several inches).

It's warming up here. This morning it was 5 degrees, as opposed to -4 yesterday, when I dropped Ted off for work. And tomorrow, we're supposed to almost get up to freezing with a toasty 30 degrees. By Saturday, it might even be warm enough to rain instead of snow!

When the sun is out it's bearable, from inside the house.

The mornings are the hardest, since the sun doesn't come up until almost 8:00, and I have to be out of bed by 6am to get to class on time.

Sunrise this morning. You can see a sliver of moon and a planet (Venus?) there on the right.

Yesterday and today classes were cancelled at the University from 5pm to 11:30am, so I don't have class this morning. The cancellations are due to the dangerous wind chill of 30-below. Local elementary schools have also been cancelled the last two days.

I heard on the radio that some kids are stuck at school in Alabama because they can't get the snow cleared out for the buses. The kids had to spend the night there last night. I seem to remember a similar story my mom told me from when she was growing up….

Anyway, I'd much rather be in California right now. I wish there were a job there for Ted!

Another Summer Day

Heading out

Big waves today.  Too bad I didn't catch any.  Water was nice though...

Forget Florets - Roast the whole cauliflower

I am going to do a Debbie and Mackenzie and show you that yes, indeed, on rare occasions my oven does get used by someone other than Sherrie.
I saw this recipe on Facebook last night - and today I went out and bought the ingredients.  Here's the finished product:

You start out with a whole head of cauliflower (I started out with 2 because I like leftovers (but there is plenty of dip for two heads so no need to double the recipe like I did).  Here are the ingredients:

•  1-1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 2 T. chili powder.  I reduced this to 1-1/2 T. and it was plenty.
• 1 T. cumin
• 1 T. garlic powder
• 1 t. curry powder
• 2 t. kosher salt.  I used regular salt.  It was fine.  With all that chili powder, you're not tasting the salt.
• 1 t. black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 and lightly grease small cookie sheet w/vegetable oil.

Trim base of the cauliflower to remove green leaves and cut the stalk flat with the head.

Combine all ingredients in a medium size bowl.  Don't waste any lime.

Dunk the cauliflower into the bowl and fill in the voids with a spoon or your hands.  You can store the excess in the refrigerator and reuse.  Sherrie and I are going to try it with brussel sprouts later this week. 

Bake the cauliflower for 30 to 40 minutes until the surface is dry and lightly browned.

It says to let cool for 10 minutes, but I would only let it cool for 5 or less, because it wasn't very hot when I ate it.

I made a cheese sauce to dip it in, but I don't think it really added to the dish, and it definitely added to the calories.  Enjoy! 

Thursday morning - 9:30am

This is why I love surfing in the winter...

Thanksgiving (OK, kinda late but I just found the camera cord)

Dagmar hid the camera cord from me. I finally found it on her desk (she was sitting on it due to her menopausal memory loss)....her words - not mine.

This is just a start - more photos to come. 

Mom & Dad's New Place - Part II

After our group visit to TM, we refueled at Greg's Grill, a river-front restaurant, in The Old Mill District.  We had a window seat and watched it snow on the river.  Barb ran across the street to REI and found a belt to hold her pants up while the rest of us heard the story of how Robin met Clem and their subsequent wedding.  On the day they got married, Robin told Clem to go ahead to the church as she might or might not show up for the wedding.  As they recently celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary, she obviously showed up!

With full stomachs and pants well secured, we headed off to Lazy Boy.  Barb had determined that we needed an "apartment-sized" couch.  And we found an acceptable one pretty quickly (there were only three models of that size).  Finding a couple lounge chairs was more complicated as there were a million models.  A few photos follow:

And the Barbara Bear said:  this chair is heated!

And the Debbie Bear said: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

And the Momma Bear said: I'm not too sure about this one!

And the Jamie Bear said to the Momma Bear: Hey, wanna try out the ejector seat function?

Finally, after trying all 234 chairs in the store, Mom found the ONE.  The cranberry-colored fabric is the couch color and the pillow comes with the couch.

 Mom also selected a little table and lamp to sit next to her chair.

The table; I did not get a photo of the lamp.

Next, it was on to the Sleep Number bed store.

Mom and the salesman--determining her "sleep number." 

Robin joined Mom for a quick nap.

Dad's bed

Finally, we settled on a twin bed for Mom and a queen-sized bed with a frame which can raise and lower the head and foot of the bed for Dad (I'm having a senior moment and forget what it was called).


On Sunday afternoon, Jamie, Barb, and Mom courageously dragged Dad off to the Lazy Boy store and showed him the couch.

And Papa Bear gave a GROWL, which they took for approval.

And Papa Bear after many grunts of disapproval finally found a chair he liked and pronounced this one JUST RIGHT.  

AND NOW CAN WE GO HOME?  And upon hearing this proclamation, Momma Bear and the two cubs headed back to the den along with Papa Bear who was relieved to be finished with his annual shopping excursion.

The End.

Grandma Could Make This

I just saw this pillow cover on Anthropologie.com, and it reminded me of the one I made from Grandma's quilt! I couldn't get the image to copy, so you'll have to look at it on the Anthropologie website (just click on the link where I wrote 'this pillow cover').

It originally sold for $88 - $98!! Sheesh!

Cat vs. Plant

After having the stomach flu for 3 days, I was anxious to get out of the house yesterday, so Ted took me to Panera and Home Depot (a good 35-40 minute drive around here).

At Home Depot I picked up a couple of those rejected mixed paint pots for 50 cents each (score!) and a couple of house plants - something our new home has been desperately missing.

The plants are small starters and were only 2.50 each (another score!). I got a small leafy green one and a spidery-palm type. Here's what the spidery one (Dracaena marginata) looked like when we went to bed last night:

(Not my photo - I didn't know last night that I would be needing
a 'Before' picture.)

We were awoken at 1:45am by the horrible sound of a cat puking on the carpet in the hallway. I would have left it until morning if it hadn't been on the carpet, but I got up and turned the light on to find a pile of puked up plant bits.

When I came downstairs to get the cleaning supplies, here's what my plant looked like:

Milo chewed the end off of almost every single leaf. That little....

So, Mom (Jamie), remember to take plants into consideration when cat-proofing your house in the next couple of weeks! Also, Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Persimmon bread--An episode that you'll never find on HGTV

The day that Barb, her room mate Sherry, and I went on the homes tour in Redlands, we spotted some persimmons for sale in front of a house down the street from Barb's.  Well, Vince's mom has given me persimmons over the years and I love them.  So when I saw they were five for $1, I snapped them up.

There are two persimmon trees in this yard, one on either side of the walkway.

Here's the persimmons; there is a coffee can with a slit in the lid to collect the money.

Sherry had never tried persimmons so when we got back to Barb's house, I cut one in slices.  Well, they were terrible--sour, bitter, and they made you pucker up.  We spit them out.  I mean you couldn't even swallow them, they were so bad.

I went on-line and did a little research and found that there are several varieties.  The fruit that I purchased is known as Hachiya.  It has a high tannin content which makes it bitter and astringent unless it is completely ripe (mushy).  Kaki is the variety that Vince's mom has given me; it is best eaten (like an apple) when it is still firm.

Ah hah!

So the remaining four Hachiya have been sitting, ripening on a tray in my kitchen for about a month.  They were getting pretty mushy--the recipe that I used said that they should feel like a water balloon--so today was the day to use them.

This photo is blurry (sorry) but shows the pointed bottom of the Hachiya variety.

Peeled--isn't this a beautiful color?

Cut in half, you can see a few tiny seeds at the base of the fruit (blurry photo, sorry)

 After I cut the persimmons into slices, they were still pretty firm and the recipe called for "puree."  So I tried the blender--which did not work well.

Then I remembered the new food processor!

Just the thing--pulverized those babies!

Added the puree to the dry ingredients, eggs, and butter

Tough to see but the dough had a lovely peach color.

Added Craisins instead of raisins...

And chopped pecans...

 

Then, into a 350 degree preheated (but very dirty oven)...and tackle that mountain of dishes.  Sigh.  At least I got to lick the bowl (the dough was yummy).

How'd it come out?  Recipe is from the internet, so you never know...

Big disappointment!  I ended up with two BRICKS.  One loaf was under cooked; the other which I baked a bit longer was almost burnt on the outside and still way under done on the inside.  Sheesh.

I think I'll stick to the raw Kaki...