You’re HOW old?

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Barb

I had lunch yesterday with two great friends who were checking out a place to celebrate their…. ahem….. ?-0 birthdays together with old high school chums.  You know.  One of those birthdays that ends in “0”.  I’m sure it must be 40.

 

See?  Not a day over 39, I’d say, wouldn’t you? 

It was a really cool place.  The couple that own it are very cute.  I’m sorry I didn’t get pics of them.  Sometimes my camera is just along as a fashion accessory.  They had very cool cupcakes behind the glass at the counter (sorry, no pics) and when Pam asked if he made them, his response was, “No.  My wife does the cupcakes.  She’s sweet and I’m savory.”  Cute guy.  They work in the kitchen together it seems.  She came out later (no pic) and brought us more tea.  She was a cutie too.  They looked like they were about 12.  Perhaps I am not a good judge of age?

However, I did get pics of the food.  Before it was half eaten.  Aren’t you proud of me?

Dede and Pam had this.  A great salad with bacon, bleu cheese and I don’t know what else.  But I took a bite of Pam’s when she went to the car to get her iPad (you didn’t even know, did you, Pam?) and it was really good.  And zucchini soup.  Yum.  I didn’t taste that, but it smelled really good.  And chips.  Just in case things were getting a little too healthy.

This is what I had.  Flatbread pizza.  With ham, bacon and pineapple.  They called it Carribbean pizza.  I called it good.  The crust was really crunchy and the sauce was yummmmmmyyyy.

Just in case you want to check it out…….

Look for this sign.  They are only open for brunch/lunch.  But they do private parties at other times.  And catering.  And the food was great.  I even found a website so you can check them out for yourself.  And view more pics of food.  Trio’s website.   I’m all for helping with your dining out experiences.  Keeping you posted about things you should try.  And if you don’t live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I apologize.  You’ll have to make your own flatbread pizza.  But at least I made you hungry today, didn’t I? 

It’s what I do.

Happy eating,
Barb
P.S.  You might notice a slight change in the blog today.   I now have a domain name and you were automatically redirected there today.  The header changed slightly too.  The new URL is justsayinsew.com.  You might want to update your bookmark, but it is not necessary.  You will automatically be directed here via the old link.  This is just a little easier to tell your friends.  Just sayin’……… sew!

Posted in food | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Organization Post #574

Posted on August 18, 2010 by Barb

Here I am again.  Miss Organizer.  It’s a curse.  I can’t stop organizing.  Maybe I should just give up and sew.  But I promised I’d show you the fun things my niece, Janna, brought me recently.  We had the best day together!  Well, at least I had the best day.  I put her to work, so the jury is still out on how she felt about the day.  She may never ask me to make her a quilt ever again.  Guess I’d better take advantage and take a  l-o-n-g  time to finish this one.  Maybe I can get a couple more organizing days out of her?  I better not push my luck.  Besides….. she reads the blog.  My secret is out.

This is Janna.  She’s putting together the cool 3-drawer cart that she bought me at The Container Store.  If you don’t know about this fabulous store, you need to get familiar with it.  They have the best organizing stuff ever.  One of my most favorite places to shop.  I could go seriously crazy in that store.  I have to stay away.  We’d be broke for sure if I shopped there very often.  I can’t contain myself when I go to The Container Store.  Really.

Notice Boo is just happy with the bag.

See?  He can play all day in a bag.  And I have no idea what he’s looking at.

Janna also brought me these fun, collapsible cubes.  I love that you can see what’s stored inside them.  And that they collapse when not in use.  Did I mention how cool the stuff is that you can find at The Container Store?  What?  I already told you?  I just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.

Janna brought me these cute containers for corralling things on my shelves too.  I love how bright and cheerful they are!

And then Janna took everything off my shelf unit and organized it.  She’s a wonderful helper!  I hope she comes back often.  She’s fabulous in the sewing room.  And I just love spending the day with her.  Even if she did nothing.  Just sayin’…..

See how very organized my shelf unit looks now?  And not only that, it’s pretty.  I absolutely love the bright, happy bins!

Janna organized a bunch of things in this cube too.  It’s fabulous how you can see what’s in there.  Makes it easy to find things at a glance.

And look how cute the little cart is tucked under the cutting table.  Janna put lots of things in the drawers too.  It’s a fabulous little storage option.

This plastic bin was full of stuff when Janna arrived.  An empty container is a good thing! 

Boo agrees.  Well, sort of.  He actually thinks empty containers need to be filled up.  With him, of course.

And then…… the very best part…….

Janna sat for hours sorting and folding the fabric in my fabric drawers.  When she started they looked like this:

But when Janna got finished with them, they looked like this:

Christmas fabrics!  All folded and neatly in one place…..

And look at these nicely organized browns and lights and yellows and greens.  It’s fabric utopia.

Reds and blues and a few purples.  Nice drawers, eh?  Janna could hire out to help with sewing room organization.

But she did all this so I would work on her T-shirt quilt.

And I did work on it a bit.  But it doesn’t look much different than the last time I took pics, does it?  I quilted about 3 blocks.

And I added the musical borders to this small piece from one dark shirt.  Janna would love for me to finish her quilt in time for her birthday.  It’s September 7th.  She failed to mention which year.  I think that’s my salvation.  I really think I can finish it by 2011, Janna.  I have a feeling she’s not laughing right now.  But I have a big grin on my face.  Ha!

I better be careful.  I might be able to pull out one more day with Janna if I play my cards right.  And I love days with Janna.  Even if she just visits with me while I sew.  And I promise I’ll work on the quilt some more real soon, Janna.

Just as soon as Boo moves off of the fabric I need……

Love,
Aunt Barb

Posted in Boo, quilts | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

And the Winner is……….

Posted on August 14, 2010 by Barb

The winner has been drawn.  Totally random.  Unorchestrated in any way.  Boo helped.  I decided from the very beginning that I didn’t want to influence the results.  One click on the Random Number Generator and what ever happens, happens.  Thus the help from Boo. 

He had a little trouble focusing on the job at hand…..

Just slightly distracted……

That’s it Boo….. the mouse.  Just focus on the mouse and click the button.

Yes!  The mouse right there, Boo.  Just focus and click the button, please.  Use your paw…. you can do it……

Success!  Good job, Boo!  Isn’t his little nose just the cutest?

And the results are…….

Yeah, Number 5!!!!  I tried to “get the widget” to display on the blog, but spent way too many hours trying to figure it out.  Finally gave up and just decided to photograph the computer screen.  Some things aren’t worth hours over.  But oh, yeah.  I’d already spent hours.

Oh, you want to know who Number 5 is?  Well, you could go back to the posting about Sally’s apron quilt and figure out who left the 5th comment, I suppose.  Oh, phooey.  I’ll just tell ya.  It’s Susan!  Susan wrote that she “needs Sally’s pattern because her daughter is getting married, because her house never got finished, because it’s too hot and her flowers are all wilting, because she didn’t sleep well last night, because she hates changing cat litter and because her Grandmother never wore an apron.”  Now that’s a lot of reasons to need a pattern!  When she got my email telling her that she won, she wrote back “No no no no no no way!” and then “I am screeeeeeaming!”  I think she was a little excited.  Then she went through the whole, I’m undeserving of winning, yada, yada, yada.  That others wrote really cool apron stories and she wanted them to win, etc.  But it’s random…. the winner was not based on their story – in fact the rules stated that you didn’t even have to do a story!  So Susan is the winner!  And I know she will enjoy having Sally’s pattern.

By the way , I had so much fun reading all the great apron stories.  We absolutely must do this again.  And it gave me the chance to reconnect with an old (from grade school) friend too!  I had no idea she was reading.  Those are the kinds of things that keep me motivated to write.  So keep those comments coming in between giveaways too.  It energizes me and makes my day every time.

If you’d like to buy one of Sally’s patterns, you can easily do it from Quilter’s Dream.  Just go to www.quiltersdreamtx.com and send an email via the “contact us” tab saying you want Sally’s pattern.  They will be happy to mail one to you.  I should also tell you that this Fall, Sally will be teaching this pattern at the shop.  As well as a few others.  If you live in the DFW area and love this pattern, I highly recommend taking this class with Sally!  You will make new friends and have a great quilt at the end.  The new class schedule for the Fall comes out at the shop on Monday and will be on-line in about a week.

If you don’t like the results of the giveaway, blame Boo.  He’s a big cat and can take the heat.  Next time maybe we’ll let Miss Kitty push the button.

But right now she’s too busy languishing in the shade to be bothered.

Congratulations, Susan!
Barb

Posted in Boo, classes, Miss Kitty | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Organization Post #573

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Barb

OK – maybe I haven’t actually posted 572 times about organizing.  But it feels like it to me.  Why is it that we think if we get the right organizational tools, we will somehow be miraculously organized?  And we (read I) think that if we (I) find just the absolute right thing, all will be perfect.  Serene.  Neatly organized.  Stress-free.  Unflawed.  Ideal.  Complete.  But maybe that’s just me.

A few days ago I read a blog – Aunt Polly’s Porch – where a gal had a new organizing tool.  She showed several pictures of it.  And suddenly I had to have one.  She even told where to buy it!  So I was meeting my friend, Suz for lunch that day and decided she probably needed one too.  So I convinced her that we had to go to Michael’s after lunch.  And this is what I (not we) bought.

 

Isn’t it cool?  Here’s another view…..

Like it looks really different if I spin it around so you can see the other side.  I think I’m on a quest for the most pictures that can be posted in one blog.  But don’t you need one?  I’m sure you do.  Forget the fact that apparently Suz did not need one.  She was way more disciplined than I was.  But it was on sale.  40% off!  It just jumped into my arms.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  And Suz really did try to make me forget it at her house later that day.  She really wanted to keep it.  Why, I bet she has already driven back to Michael’s and bought one of her own by now.  She’s just not tellin’.

And very soon I’m going to show you all the cool things that my niece, Janna brought me recently from The Container Store.  I could spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars there.  And I will tell you all about how she folded and organized my fabrics.  And show pictures, of course.  Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

But for today, I’ll just stick with this little organizer from Michael’s.  It’s in the scrapbook department, by the way.  You might need to know that when you head out to look for one after you read this.  They had 11 more of them at the Arlington store.  Just sayin’.  I think you need one.  I really hate to be all perfectly organized alone.  Neat.  Unflawed.  Complete.  Stress-free.  Ideal.  You need that too.  I just know it.

And don’t forget our first giveaway!  You can still enter by commenting on the post entitled “A Talented Friend.”  Just click on it in the column to the right and leave a comment.  Boo will be spinning the random number generator about 2:00 this afternoon.  And then I will notify the winner via email.  As soon as I hear back from them, I will post their name here.

Boo is resting up for the big event.

Good luck!
Barb

Posted in Boo, just stuff | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Breakfast for Dinner

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Barb

Someone mentioned to me this week that it had been a long time since I’d posted anything about food.  So I thought it was probably time for another food post.  Which required me to take the camera to the kitchen to photograph last night’s dinner.  While it was being prepared, of course!

First I should explain.  I was having a conversation yesterday about one of my favorite restaurants – Le Peep’s.  It’s been quite awhile since Dear Hubby and I have been there and it is definitely one of our favorites.  For breakfast.  But this was dinner!  However fixin’s at our house were pretty slim last night.  So after convincing Dear Hubby that picking up a $5 pizza on my way home didn’t sound good to me, I started thinking again about Le Peep’s.  That’s when I decided that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Breakfast for Dinner!

So here are the simple ingredients:
 

I probably should warn you right now.  If you can’t handle canned salmon then you probably shouldn’t read any further today.  Dear Hubby and I happen to love canned salmon.  And it is a good ingredient to have on hand to use in a pinch.  The rest of the ingredients are just eggs, butter, olive oil, cream cheese, salt and pepper.  Simple.  And very breakfasty.  Except perhaps the salmon?  But this is my take on a favorite of ours at Le Peep’s and it sounded good to me. 

First the salmon.  If you’ve never used canned salmon, I’ll warn you right now that there are bones in it.  Dear Hubby says you can just eat them, but I’m not crazy about crunchy eggs.  Makes me feel like I missed getting the egg shells out or something.  I like canned salmon better with the biggest bones removed.  WARNING:  FAIRLY GROSS PICTURE AHEAD.  There.  You can’t say you weren’t warned.  (It’s OK, Sally.  There are no peppers involved in this recipe.)  Here’s what the bones look like:

You could just about do a fingerprint sample on my pinky from this picture!  Up close and personal with the bones.  They are pretty easy to remove if you carefully flake the salmon apart.  After removing the bones, I just flake up the salmon with a fork so that it looks like this:

While you’re flaking and removing the bones from the salmon, you can be heating up your skillet on the stove.  With a little olive oil (probably about a tablespoon) and a couple tablespoons of butter.  The good stuff.  And I use a cast iron skillet.  Because as you know by now, I’m a big Pioneer Woman fan.  Huge PW fan.  And she’s a cast iron skillet kind of gal.  So I had to have one too.  It’s great for cooking eggs.

Then throw some of the salmon in the heated skillet and listen to the sizzle.  You actually just need to get the salmon heated a little.  I was taking pics and trying to stay ahead of what I was doing and my salmon got a little browned.  That was OK too!  While that’s sizzling a little, crack 4 eggs into a bowl and beat them together slightly with a fork.  I was just making dinner for two.  So I ended up only using about half the salmon.  We might have salmon patties for dinner tomorrow night!  And 4 eggs was plenty for just two people.  You could do more if you have more mouths to feed.

Add a small amount of salt and pepper to the bowl of beaten eggs. 

Dump the eggs into the pan with the salmon.  Then add some globs of cream cheese.  Globs….. such a technical measuring term.  I use the 1/3 less fat cream cheese.  Because I’m all about using less fat and being healthy with my cooking.  Not.  But I do think the 1/3 less fat stuff is softer than regular cream cheese.  So I pretty much use it for any recipe that needs cream cheese.  At our house the theory is that anything with cream cheese in it is good.  And just FYI, if you need softened cream cheese for a recipe?  You can pretty much take this stuff out of the fridge and use it immediately.  No need to warm to room temp for it to be softened.  Just a little cream cheese tidbit for ya.

Cook the whole mess until the eggs are starting to set.  Then scramble it around a little.  Loosely.  You want there still to be globs of cream cheese and you don’t need to incorporate the salmon completely.

It should look a bit like this when it’s ready.  Quick.  Easy.  Simple ingredients.  A fast breakfast…….. for dinner!   I served it up with just some quartered apples and pears that I had on hand on the side.

Here’s a little tip I learned from Rachael Ray.  Cut the apple into quarters and then on each quarter, hold your big fancy knife on an angle and just chop that core right out.  I did the pears the same way.  Simple. 

See?  Here are the pears done the same way.  I’m all about taking lots of pics to really show you these things in detail.  No fancy apple coring equipment needed.  Just one big fancy knife.  A Santuko or Sashiko or Sudoku or whatever this knife is called.  It’s a great knife.  And I always get the name confused with that game.  Santoku.  That’s the knife!  (I had to google it.)  If you don’t have one, you need one of these knives.  Great knife.

Here’s dinner!  And Dear Hubby declared it very good.  He is so easy to please when it comes to food.  But I thought so too.  And probably better for us than $5 pizza would have been.

Don’t forget to leave a comment on yesterday’s posting to be entered in the drawing for the free pattern!  Just click on “A Talented Friend” in the list at the top right to get there.  I’ll be drawing for a winner on Friday, so you still have 24 hours to leave a comment and be entered.  Our first giveaway on the blog!

Happy Breakfast (or dinner, as the case may be),
Barb

Posted in food, recipes | Tagged , | 3 Comments