Sunday Summary

 

Monday:  There’s nothing like starting the week with a 1:00 job.  I love having the time to peruse the Web and make my latte in the morning.  It’s especially nice when the job is over by 2:00.  I did do some work from the couch, though.

Tuesday:  Off today.  I never really want to work, but I have to.  You know what I mean?   You have to support the shopping habit . . . and the grocery bill.  Today was nice because I did have to do some editing.

I am also proud to say that I renewed my library card today.  It expired a year ago.  Obviously I have gotten out of the habit of visiting the library.  I need to stop spending money at the book store; so this will work out nicely.

Wednesday:  The good thing about freelancing is you have time during the week to go shopping when you don’t have a job.  The bad thing about freelancing is if you don’t work you can’t afford to shop.

Apparently that didn’t stop me.  I picked up this beautiful book at Anthropologie.  I’ve looked at it several times before.  I told myself I didn’t need it because I already do a lot of the stuff in there.  Insert pat on back here.

I don’t want to be too much of an overachiever; so I’m going to try to make sure to hit one a week.

I also made Braised Red Cabbage with Apples, Onions, and Raisins from the Weight Watchers 50th Anniversary Cookbook.  Here’s  a secret:  I used currants instead.  No big diff.

I may be not so thrilled when it comes to radishes, but I do love cabbage.  My mom used to make green cabbage with ham and lots of black pepper.

Thursday:  I think we know each other well enough; so I don’t mind telling you that I had a hot dog for breakfast.  I’m sure I’ve established that I’m not really a morning person; so by the time I got up and woke up and actually had breakfast it was close to 11:00.  Besides, my job was at 1:30, which means I had to be there at 1:00, which means I had to leave at 12:30, and it was easier to pack my cereal.

I’d like to say the hot dog was the highlight of my day, and it kind of was.  I had to stop at Williams-Sonoma to pick up some Olio Santo aka Best Olive Oil Ever.  There’s a new Michael’s next door; so I stopped in.  I couldn’t have been in there more than ten minutes, including a stop in the bathroom, and I had at least 8 different salespeople ask me if I needed anything.  Two of them offered twice!  One even approached me from behind; so I ignored him, and then he still cornered me by a display case.   By the third time I was approached I actually stopped making eye contact.  By the seventh I started getting testy.  In my book, it was tantamount to harassment.  All of this for a lousy tube of super glue.

Friday:  After a nice morning at home with my latte I went off to Van Michael for a cut and color.  And when I say cut, I mean cut . . . I think my hair is five inches shorter.

My friend Lily came over for dinner, which consisted of Tex-Mex Beef and Bean Dip from Cooking Light’s Crave!

We also had a Southern Pimm’s Cup from Garden & Gun for the Drink of the Week:

Saturday:  I was in heaven for the afternoon:  AJC Decatur Book Festival.

I discovered Mirabelle the Boston Terrier.  She looks just like my Phoebe, and there are books, clothes, and greeting cards!

On top of that, Decatur is home to my favorite little book store:  Books Again.  Let’s just say they were having a sale.

Uh, only two of those belong to Jake.

Afterwards we went to The Iberian Pig for dinner.  I didn’t love my cocktail, the Aviation, but everything else was superb.  Don’t ya just love tapas?  You can sample so many dishes.  Variety is the spice of life.  We had Bacon Wrapped Dates, Albondingas, Veal Ravioli, and Croquetas de Queso.

Sunday:  What. A. Day.  It started out slow, but then we went to Costo, Pike’s Nursery, and Whole Foods.  Then we came home and planted our new blueberry bush and did yard work.  I. Am. Pooped.  But here’s hoping we are blessed with many blueberry muffins, cheesecakes, pies, and jams.

We haven’t had much luck with fruit in the past.  We have an apple tree that self-pollinates, but we didn’t realize that; so we bought another one to go with it.  Well, let’s just say that someone, not me, didn’t drill holes in the pot and the poor thing drowned with all the rain we’ve been having.  Then, just a week or so ago, I bought a patio peach tree that apparently produces inedible peaches.  Just my luck.  That has since been returned.  Thank you very much.  I have had a little success with the lemon true, although no lemons have actually turned yellow yet.

Good Deed of the Week:  Smile at a Stranger.   How easy is that?  I do this every day.  I see a lot of strangers when I’m walking the dog and in and out of office buildings.  I’m not perfect, though.  I’m only going to smile (and I say hi) if they’re looking up and willing to make eye contact.  I’m not into accosting strangers for the sake of being friendly.  See above remarks about the Michael’s employees.

Eat Well and Savor.

Scallops with Herb Sauce

and Garlic Roasted Carrots from Weight Watchers Quick Meals made me ask myself why I don’t have scallops more often.  The herbs in question were parsley, basil, and thyme, and they were joined by the usual suspects: lemon, garlic, salt and pepper.  

I went looking for the recipe for scallops because I needed something to go with my Coconut-Ginger Yellow Rice from The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook by Jillian Michaels.  I went looking in JM’s book because I knew she had a thing for coconut milk and oil.  I had some leftover coconut milk and I hate to throw things away.  I’m sure this comes from the fact that growing up we never wasted anything.  In fact, every Friday night we would have mustgoes, i.e., everything in the fridge must go.  Then we would have popcorn and milkshakes and watch the Dukes and Dallas. 

Eat Well and Savor.

One More Super Bowl Suggestion

I thought I should jump on the bandwagon with all the posts about the Super Bowl.  Frankly, I kind of forgot that it was tomorrow.  Obviously, I am not a football fan. 

Here is my football history in a nutshell:  In elementary school I went to high school games with my brother and sister that are nine and ten years older than me.  Of course they were there with their significant others, so I got 50 cents and hung out with my friends, who also happened to be the younger sibling of said significant others.  That was the ’70s.   By junior high, which was the ’80s, I was a whiz with the Mattel electronic football, but that’s where my interest ends.  Well, don’t get me wrong, I am from Columbus, so I was born a Buckeye.  Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye.   I wear my scarlet proudly and I’ve even been to a few games.  

Anyway, none of that means that I have anything against the food!  I thought Ellie Krieger’s Five-Layer Mexican Dip from The Food You Crave would be perfect.  It was tremendous!  Layer 1 was pureed black beans with onions and the like.   Layer 2 was corn  with more onions and the like, and some cilantro.  Layer 3 was avocado with lime.  Layers 4 and 5, not so exciting, tomatoes and cheese.  I was a little disappointed that the cheese wasn’t melted, but it didn’t matter.  There’s just one problem with this dip:  I had more than one serving.   Also, I thought the avocado would be the star of the show, but it turned out to be the corn.

Here’s a look inside.  Just to be sure I get my point across:  This was REALLY delish.

Well, I couldn’t just have chips and dip for dinner, so I had to come up with something to go with.  My friend Avery loves Mexican.   She and her husband probably have it once a week.  Another thing they have on a regular basis is shrimp cocktail.   Somehow that made me think that the two go together.  I know, you are continuously amazed by how my mind works.  When I came across a recipe for Spicy Southern-Style Shrimp in Great Cooking Every Day by Weight Watchers, I had to go with it.  I’m not really sure what makes this southern.  There’s a lot of ingredients in here and there really isn’t one stand-out ingredient.  It was good, but not great and next time I will definitely take off the shells.  The recipe said to leave them on because it makes is more flavorful.  In my opinion, not so much.

 

Well, I suppose it goes without saying that I have no idea who is playing tomorrow, but I do plan to record it, so I can see the commercials and Madonna.

Eat Well and Savor.

Best Grilled Cheese Ever

More than once lately I’ve found myself saying something along the lines of this:  really, I need a recipe for that?  Apparently the answer is yes. 

Since I am picky about how I eat onions, I never would have thought to put caramelized onions on my sandwich.  Enter Ellie Krieger and The Food Your Crave.  The Sweet and Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwich that I made wasn’t exactly spicy, though.  I also have an aversion to too much spice, so I whimped out and went with just Monterey jack instead of the pepper jack.  It was perfect for me, along with cheddar and tomatoes it was yummy.

Thanks to the conditioning of many years of school lunch, I must have tomato soup with my grilled cheese.  I managed to find a recipe for Fresh Cream of Tomato Soup with Basil in Weight Watchers Best Eats.  Lately I find myself foolishly making tomato recipes that would be way better in the summer.  Alas, that conditioning drove me to it. 

As a result, my tomatoes seem a little more orange than red.   But they look lovely boiling away with the leeks.

I cannot lie.  The end result was just okay, but it served its purpose. 

Rest assured, I will be picking up a jar of onion jam for the next time I make grilled cheese. 

Eat Well and Savor.