Tales from Dorry

This Has Been a Long Week!

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 17:15:00 +0000

Recently, my husband and I caught a nasty cough. I often find myself wanting to sleep it off, but with a stuffy nose, achy body, and needy cats, it is hard to do so. With my husband being sick, we both end up going stir crazy. With our favorite author Brandon Sanderson's new release on Tuesday, we ended up reading "Words of Radiance," aloud together. While I would have liked to sleep instead of read, I couldn't resist this novel. We have been waiting for this one for three years now. We had recently re-read "The Way of Kings" the first in the series. So naturally, the sequel and our great anticipation of it could not wait another week!

Nathan reading aloud to me while I make lunch

So between sniffles, blowing noses, coughing, and sneezing we have managed to read to page 368 (out of the 1088 pages!) and Nathan went to work this morning! What am I going to do? "Catching Fire" was released today on Blu-ray and we plan on watching it with his family, but why would we want to watch that with the book waiting for us?!
Here is what I have been doing. . .

Reading Winnie-The-Pooh is always a comfort with a nice cup of tea, while I wait for my husband to get home to read Sanderson's sequel.

My chair is looking comfy with my afghan project, huggy pillow, books (you can see the massive Sanderson Sequel below "Pooh"), water bottle, tea, tissue galore, basket for tissue landing, and heater.

I am in need of a proper end table and have been feeling guilty about using my piano bench. I have been careful about using coasters, however.
In the meantime, this is what I want to be knitting!

DIY No-Fuss Christmas Wreath

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 19:38:00 +0000

I have never been much of a Christmas decorator. I usually just wanted to own ornaments and wrapping paper, nothing more. This year, I have really been getting into the Christmas spirit.
I don't have a lot of money to spend on nice Christmas decor, but I ran across an idea on Pinterest where you can make a wreath out of fabric and a coat hanger. So here is my instructional.

What you will need:
a metal wire coat hanger (I used a small one)
Scrap fabrics
scissors

Here is my method:

First, take your coat hanger and work it into a circle. You can see that mine is a little lopsided. This doesn't really matter, because you are going to tie fabric strips to it, leaving the brain to think that it is a circular wreath.

Second, decide whether you want reds or greens and then snip and strip the fabric into several two inch wide strips. This is just to make it even more no-fuss, you can rotary cut the pieces if you want. I didn't even bother with ironing out the wrinkles. Maybe I am just lazy. Meh, whatever.

Third, take your long strips and cut them into smaller strips about five to six inch long. Grab them up at random and tie them onto your coat hanger. I put a little bit of red on my wreath, but it was just to add festiveness to it.

Next, hang it on your door, over your fireplace, above your favorite couch, or wherever it most suits you! I loved the way my green wreath looks on my red front door.

Lastly, enjoy!
Bonus: with the leftover fabrics, you can put them in a mason jar, tie a red ribbon around the jar and you get a second Christmas decoration to place anywhere you please! I can't decide if mine belongs on a shelf with my husband's model ships or beside the lamp on my DVD/Bluray shelf.

You can bake it!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:55:00 +0000

A co-worker of mine asked me a simple question that got me to thinking, "Are you going to bake it or fry it?" This was a question about not just any food, but the all time favorite American staple: bacon!
"We are talking about the same type of bacon right? The one that comes from pigs?"
She wasn't lying. "Sure! Just pop it into the oven at 400*F for about ten to twenty minutes. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, place a cooling rack on it and place your bacon on the cooling rack."

Now why didn't I think of that before? No flipping the bacon either! And if you spray the cooling rack before putting the bacon on it, it will slide off easy when finished baking.

Now who is up for baked bacon? I've tried and tested this two times now with success on both occasions.

Before

and after!

And here is a shot of Nathan's cat wanting attention. It was the only empty chair in the kitchen.

As you can see, Nathan was reaching over to get a piece of bacon off my plate while I snapped this one.

How to Make Chicken Soup when You Are Sick

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 20:06:00 +0000

And your husband does not cook and you know you would rather eat soup all week than something that comes out of a fast food restaurant when your leftovers are all gone.

This morning I slept in (8:00). Nathan made me coffee and called the library to tell them I was in bed and very sick. What a sweetie. He told me he wanted to go to Fatz and buy me enough soup to last me a week. I had made him a huge stockpot full of soup two weeks ago when he was sick and miserable. He told me it had been a lifesaver for his poor and swollen throat. So now I am the one sick and I would rather not spend money on Fatz soup even though I know it would be a big help. This is my method of making soup while I am still miserable and it helps every now and then to get up out of the recliner; at least it reduces the amounts of aching I feel than when I am inactive for too long.

Ingredients:
*A package each of boneless skinless chicken thighs and breasts
*Two pots
*2 boxes of Chicken broth
*Carrots
*Noodles
*2 garlic cloves
*Salt & Pepper to flavor
*Olive Oil

First, start with a huge stockpot and fill it halfway with water. Get this pot ready to boil and in another smaller pot, boil your chicken.

Go rest. Yes, that is right. It will take a while for both pots to boil, so take a timer and set it for 15 to 20 minutes and go rest! When it dings, go check the pots. For the chicken pot you will want to lower the temperature so that it does not boil over.

Second, while you are in the kitchen, cut up just two or three carrots, because you will not have the energy to do any more.

Now go rest again for 20 minutes more.

Third, when the timer is done, go chop some chicken.

Now rest again.

Chop some more chicken and a carrot if you are nearly done with the chicken. Hopefully the chicken will be so tender that you can just slice each piece against the grain in two or three slices each and then pull apart shreds with the grain. This is how I usually chop BL/SL chicken breasts and thighs anyway.

When you have had all you can handle at this point, go rest some more. The timer is only to help you not fall asleep, creating a disaster in the kitchen (like having the pots boils down and then burn everything in the pot and ruin dinner).

You are almost done! Chop the rest of the chicken, if there are any left, or the rest of the carrots, and pour in a package of noodles, the boxes of chicken broth, and bash two garlic cloves with the flat of your carrot chopping knife (I use a chef's knife). Just plop those cloves into the pot. You can extract them when you see them later or eat them whole because you know they are really good for the flu/cold.

Last step, I promise! Stir in a splash of olive oil. It helps keep the bottom sinkers from sticking to the pot and burning. This seems to work well for my stainless steel pots.

Now cover the pot, reduce to lowest heat setting, and go rest as long as you want. When you have finished eating your dinner portions, simply put the entire pot in your fridge (if it is a large enough fridge) and scoop out portions from this pot all week until you get the volume down to the size of your largest storage container.

Enjoy!

They Say That Dryers Eat Socks. What Eats Bookmarks?

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:27:00 +0000

We are always concerned with socks and the missing pair being kidnapped or eaten by the household dryer. What about bookmarks? Since moving across town back in November, my shoebox of bookmarks was declared missing and instead of using a regular bookmark, I have had to resort to using random household objects among anything that is flat, small, and basically declared trash or useless.

In the past two months I have gone from using a square of

to a piece like this

an unused one of these

a piece of

A friend once suggested that the next was his favorite

(it is a PCI slot cover which goes on a computer case and can be found randomly strewn in my husband's office). I put it to the test and now heartily disagree with him on that one. I found it heavy and bulky when reading a paperback or thin book. Oh, and I lost that one too!

The next image is my latest bookmark

A twist tie!!

I wonder how long that will last.

I have never grown attached to any particular bookmark. I don't have time to. By the time I have finished a book, I may have used four to five different random bookmarks.

You may say to me, "But you work in a library where bookmarks basically grow off trees!!" Yeah, I know. That just shows how lame and pathetic I am. If I take one home, it will only survive a few minutes even if it comes home in a book. It is destined to go missing, just like all the others.

So my question for you is this:

What is the most random household item you have used for a bookmark?

Nothing Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:37:00 +0000

Tonight, after getting home from Cashiers and feeling achy and tired and wanting to battle that tickling feeling in the back of my throat, I decided I could not give in! I wanted to get to work right away on a soup. It could be my last good meal of the week if I catch a cold. So I looked in the fridge, there was nothing, well almost nothing. I looked in the freezer, same. The pantry produced a few canned goods, but nothing to make a full and filling meal. I really needed to go to the grocery store. I did not want cereal for dinner; not this time. Plus milk and dairy products are not that good for mucous and colds. So I have read anyway.

It was either going to be me going to the store or me putting on my thinking cap and putting effort into a decent meal from nearly nothing. I have done this many a night when we had to stretch our bills and make it just one or more days until payday.

Tonight, it wasn't because of a lack of funds, it was a lack of strength to walk down those twenty-five stairs to the car, to the store, and back up the stairs with groceries. Nuh uh! Not tonight! I was going to make something and it was going to be great!

I set about pulling out a nearly empty bag of carrots, three potatoes, fresh parsley that would not be fresh in a couple of days, half a shallot, two tablespoons of butter, two cloves of garlic, a can of tomatoes (which had habaneros in it and made me think about my tickled throat and a possible cure), a lone Kaiser roll, small chunk of Romano Cheese, and my pot, cheese grater, potato peeler, prep bowls, chef's knife, and my flimsy chopping matt.

I was going to make a "nothing soup." I have had great success with them in the past. Making soup, and a lot of it, from almost nothing and the bottom of my fridge. All those things that may go bad soon get put into the pot and in a way that is necessary to make it taste good. I have stopped using dried herbs and spices a long time ago and use fresh herbs, fresh garlic, and onion for every dish. It is fun and makes me feel like a kitchen goddess, all powerful over the fresh foods and ingredients, and all knowing of how good the foods will taste when chopped with precision and blended how they should be.

So I don't really know exactly how things will turn out, and tonight was just one of those nights I had no control over. Goddess-of-kitchen-bubble bursted.

I melted butter in my pot and then added the minced garlic and shallot and sauteed them while hovering my face over the pot and taking deep breaths (you should try it! It relieves sinus pressure, tickled throat feeling, and opens the airway passages). I love garlic!

So after sauteeing for about three minutes and breathing deeply and with great satisfaction I moved on to dumping in the chopped carrots, peeled and chopped potatoes, and chopped parsley. I rolled it around in the pot for two minutes before adding in the can of tomatoes and a water/chicken broth/chicken bouillon mixture.

I did not forget to add salt to this pot, like I am very notorious for doing with most all of the times I had made "nothing soup." I figured it needed to boil until the potatoes and carrots were soft. Which was about twenty minutes.

I decided to try a small sampling taste after I let it simmer for ten minutes. My lips tingled, my eyes watered, my nose ran, and my mouth said, "OOPS!" I should have used only half the can. Maybe adding some romano cheese and olive oil will help some. So I did. It smelled lovely and delectable and almost a masterpiece.

I let it simmer some more and cut the roll in half and grated some of the cheese onto each half before placing it in the oven to broil. I had the table set and ready for dinner with another cringe and very little hope as to whether Nathan will like the flavors or not. I was confident of only one thing, Ok two. One, that it will be very spicy, and two, that the bread was going to be great dipped in the soup. Maybe I could manage...NOT to kill myself. I knew Nathan would survive. But would I?

The result:

Nathan loved it and especially the Kaiser roll dipped in it, but I got that feeling like I wasn't going to survive one bowl! I was slurping one spoonful per six gulps of tea and a mouthful of bread all the while telling him, "it's too spicy, I can't believe I did that! My mouth, OH! My mouth! QUICK, more tea! HAND ME THAT CHAPSTICK!"

After Nathan finished his second bowl, I decided to try eating big spoonfuls in quick succession and then eat bread and drink sweet tea after it was done. That theoretical plan did not go over well. That is when I really felt like I was going to die! And I did not get close to finishing one bowl. ALL of the leftovers are for Nathan's lunch tomorrow and for whomever wants to take a helping if he doesn't finish it.

I have learned a great lesson!

Romano-cheese-toasted Kaiser rolls are my new best friend and tomatoes with habaneros are NEVER a good idea for a soup for two!

Tomorrow I am going grocery shopping! This calls for a remake and it will be in the crock pot with no peppers. Ok, maybe one very ripened and skinned jalapeno for flavor only, and maybe I will leave it whole so I can remove it and not eat it and I will write down my exact ingredients and amounts of each for future reference. Nathan can make his own pot the spicy way if he wants a replica!

Rice and Chicken with a side of Green Beans!

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 02:34:00 +0000

My mom is known for her "Chicken and Rice" dinners as we called it. When it was my turn to cook and Mom told me it was chicken and rice night, I knew I could use only the chicken, rice, and green beans. So I found ways to change it around and add a little something special to it. If only I had had Rachael Ray's recipe for chicken and leek with rice pilaf! I have perfected my southern green beans so I do not use Rachael's recipe (As you know I botched her recipe and threw out an entire pan of beans!)

Tonight I made a very tender chicken breast with leeks simmered in white wine with my green beans (from the can and cooked with salt, pepper, olive oil, and a pinch of sugar!) and a very delicious and moist rice pilaf.

This is the first time I have ever been able to get Nathan to eat a second helping of rice and want leftovers for lunch the next day! No joke!

He only came in twice to see how long it was going to take (forget that it is called 30 Minute Meals 2!), to which I told him, "not thirty minutes!" He left the room mumbling, "ok so forty-five" which still was not close to the real deal. It took an hour and twenty minutes, about forty-five minutes was spent on the prepping in my small kitchen. Did I mention I have a very small kitchen table, no island, and only one space between my stove and sink for prep?

(Can you see what is wrong with this picture? If you guessed $14.50, then you are correct! I have never spent that much on five chicken breasts ever! Last week I spent less than half that amount on the same brand and same amount)

I had so much fun feeling all chef-like and getting out the prep bowls, karate chopping the chicken breasts, even though Rachael does not say to do this, to make them flatter and of course to make them tender. It works better that way! I do not own a meat tenderizer. And yes, my hands do get sore and sometimes bruise, but it is so much fun!

So after pounding the living daylights out of the already dead chicken breasts, I sing and dance to music in my head (I should really invest in a docking station for my Zune player) while finally beginning on the three dishes. First the green beans, then to saute the shallot in olive oil for the rice and then simmer the chicken in the third pan. I cannot tell you how long it has been since I have had more than two dishes going at once. A LONG TIME!

I am not usually proud of my cooking at all, but tonight I was proud! I got all three dishes finished at the same time! WAHOO! Ok enough celebrating.

So I add the rice to the shallot and oil mixture and saute that while flipping the chicken. I add white wine to the rice and let it evaporate while I pull out the chicken and stir olive oil, pepper, salt, and a pinch of sugar into the bean pot.

Once I got the leeks sauteing, I added chicken broth, water, and thyme to the rice, boiled it and then covered it and set the timer for twenty minutes.

So that is the time Nathan comes in announcing I have been at this for an hour now and I wave him away and tell him it is almost done and that I would get him when it is.

The chicken was added back to the pan with the leeks. "Nestle the chicken in with the leeks" Rachael tells me. I am pretty sure I did it a lot less gracefully than she described it. I dropped them in and jumped away to prevent burning. Then added white wine and simmered.

My favorite part came next. When the timer rang, I added lemon zest from an entire lemon and chopped parsley to the rice. It was so fluffy, smelled like nothing I have had before, and not at all gummy or sticky! And I was using a Calphalon stainless steel pot! It did not stick to the pot.

My favorite line from tonight was when I scolded Nathan (oh yes I did!) for ruining the chicken when I found him adding red pepper flakes on top as I turned to the stove to serve myself. "I am not ruining it, I am enhancing the flavor!" I did finally convince him to try the leeks and he did enjoy them. He also added red pepper flakes to his rice and tried adding them to my chicken as well, "you have to try it!" My mouth was on fire and I spat incoherent phrases (don't worry, no cursing ever comes from my tongue) and downed my entire glass of lemonade before everything returned to normal. He got food and entertainment. I was pleasantly surprised and cannot wait for next Wednesday! I will not know what recipe until the day I cook it. I pick it randomly and while sitting in the grocery store parking lot searching for pen, paper, and recipe at the same time.

Until then, hope you enjoyed my adventure as much as I did.

Waterzooi de Poulet

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 02:56:00 +0000

So Rachael Ray has some really great recipes! I cannot stay away from her book. Tonight I had planned on making another one of her thirty minute meals. It never is thirty minutes. Not in my kitchen anyway!

Today I made Waterzooi de Poulet and Rachael's "Southern Green Beans." Waterzooi is basically a white stew or chicken stew made in Germany. It has leeks, potatoes, chicken, herb bouquet, heavy cream, chicken stock, and carrots. It is meant to be served with a baguette or dinner roll for dipping. I had some not too long ago at FATZ and had been excited to find out that Rachael had a recipe. This was my long and exciting journey to my new favorite stew!

As soon as my shoes came off, I began preparing the leeks just like she suggested and it was beautiful! After that I rinsed and patted them dry and set aside while I peeled and diced both the potatoes and the carrots. Easy!

Butter was melted in the pot, veggies added, and then things started to go awry! I realized how much two leeks, two carrots, and two potatoes made a lot in my pot. I still had 6 Cups of broth, four 8oz chicken breasts, and 1C of cream + egg yolk to be added. I stared at my pot hard and long and wondered how much my veggies would shrink down from sauteing. After the five allotted sauteing minutes I got angry and shouted,"I'm doomed! STUPID POT!" You must know that around here, when I say "stupid" I am really really upset and about something and it usually is when I am in the kitchen cooking and feeling like things are not going well for me.
The pot I was using is a very nice Calphalon stainless steel and the largest one I own since ruining my Calphalon stock pot/veggie steamer base pot last year. It is a 3.5 quart pot.

This just couldn't be happening! was all I kept thinking, all the while calling the pot stupid and letting out enraged moans/grunts and stirring the veggies some more before adding the chicken stock, which only proved my fears that my pot was too small. With the stock added, it could not simmer covered. It could simmer, just not covered.

I went to Nathan pouting and explained that my pot was too small and then headed back to the kitchen. He followed after me to see. "Dorry, it looks great! What is wrong?"
"I need to add another cup of cream later and all of that chicken has to go in the pot and then poach, covered for TEN MINUTES!" I was talking a little fast and in panicked tones.

Nathan stood there calm and cool and began to work. He took out a cup of broth after he added the whole chicken breasts and proclaimed, "you see how little one cup effects the level of this pot when I remove it? Adding a cup will not make much difference, we will just have to stir carefully." We?

I was still stuck on the fact that poor me did not own a bigger pot and I reminded him of this fact. I have tendency to see things in black and white and not read between lines or think of alternatives or see past the problem to the solution. While I was thinking through routes to get to Wal-Mart and buying a cheap larger pot to get me through this meal, Nathan was helping me come up with a solution that was already there in front of me.

While we let the chicken poach, carefully, in a full to the brim pot with the lid on, he helped me break off the stems of the 1 1/4 lb of green beans for the side dish.
He didn't stay for long and went to take a shower while I cooled down and heated up the beans in a pan with water, washed dishes, and cleared off the table for the next round of prep for the waterlooi. Nathan returned. Whether it was with hopes of it being done or to help, I'm not sure. I was not done and it was nearly 6:30.

"I'm sorry!" I whispered to him as he peered into the pot.

"Nathan, I really do not think a cup of cream will fit, do you see how high it is already! AND you have to stir it constantly and let it THICKEN, which means it will GROW! " The chicken looked done so he wanted to continue with the entree.

"It will work. You have to chop the chicken now don't you?" The chicken had indeed poached ten minutes by now.

I consulted the book for the umpteenth time to find him to be correct. And he hadn't read it at all at this point! I pulled out the chicken, again working myself into a frenzy, and started chopping while Nathan whisked the heavy cream with the egg yolk and added broth to the cream. He added that to the waterzooi while I continued chopping. "It says here to stirr the waterzooi constantly for two to three minutes, I think it has been two to three minutes."

I handed him the chicken all chopped and ready in a large bowl while I went back to the beans that Nathan so graciously strained for me. I added bacon and let it grease up before adding beans back into the pan and stirring.

The most memorable line from tonight was then, while I was washing a few dishes to make room for the last stretch of my marathon, when Nathan let out what he was thinking and obviously holding back,

"This looks all yellowed and there is green in the pot! I really do not think this is my thing, but I will try it!" I married a picky eater, but have forgiven him a long time ago! I told him it would be OK not to like it, "I have never made it before so it may taste awful, I don't know!" While I finished the beans Nathan set up the coffee table and put the rental movie in the BluRay

After saying a blessing, we ate and hit play. I loved the stew! It tasted fantastic! The kaiser roll was the best thing to dip in it and the leeks made it heavenly! Nathan got a second helping and brought in the green beans which I was sure still was crunchy and not at all finished, plus it smelled very much like the red wine vinegar had attacked it or something. I was right. It was crunchy and the vinegar was overwhelming it! It was TERRIBLE. I only had one bite, Nathan had one bean. We threw the pot out.

The movie was great, clean, and funny too! We watched The Big Year with Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin. I have never seen Jack Black play in a comedy where he toned it down some and wasn't all over the place and acting like he had way too many cups of coffee, or something! It was by far the cleanest movie I had seen all three of them play actually.

The meal was distracting to me. I did not pay attention to the first five minutes of the movie for the delicious Waterzooi de Poulet.

The best parts of tonight? Nathan loved it! I look forward to my next experiment and wonder if I should try one more Rachael Ray or pull out my World's Best Recipes or Joy of Cooking. I hope to own a bigger pot and hang two shelves to make more room for prep work for next time!

Beef Bourguignon, Part Deux!

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:16:00 +0000

Rachael Ray claims that beef bourguignon is a 30-minutes meal! I beg to differ on that one!

When I first started out to search for all the wonderful ingredients I had an inkling it would take me at least and hour and half. I was right!

Not only did I get out all the ingredients and have them mostly prepped and ready to go, as much as is possible in a kitchen with very little space for prepping, but I also had all the proper tools and pots out and in their places. (My tea kettle is still sitting on top of a bowl in a mysterious looking way as a result of me having to use every single eye on the stove) With everything ready, I nervously heated my cast iron frying pan without anything in it and with a lid on, which goes against all the rules of stove top cooking for me! Ah well, if this was how Rachael Ray does it, then I was going to do it too!

What happened next was when and where my disaster started. You know how it is when you enter a roller coaster ride, how there is no going back and no stopping until you are at the end. I felt a bit like this as soon as I put the bacon into the empty frying pan. No matter how much prep work I had done and how ready I felt I was, I really had to keep moving like a roller coaster must in order to maintain momentum needed to finish the meal!

I also felt like I was in the middle of a battle. The beef would be sizzling and popping while the noodles were in a raging boil. I would stir the noodles one minute and find out I needed to add more ingredients to the beef. When I thought I was nearly done, I found myself gazing at the kitchen table and stack of dishes and wishing I were a bit like Matilda for just this once and be able to clean and clear off all surfaces telepathically. All my dishes were being used or messy and table was unable to be set.

Fortunately, Nathan came to my rescue or was following his nose and drained the pasta before stirring in the butter, parsley, and chives at my request. Maybe it was because of the foreignness or the lovely fragrance seeping from each pot and pan, or simply out of kindness of his hear, he then moved to the stove and opened the lid to the pan and stirred in some flour to thicken the sauce, then moved on to the next pan and stirred the beans. I have never been able to get him in the kitchen to help me with dinner until now.

"You are taking way too long, dear! Come sit and eat with me!"

I sat and after a blessing we dipped in to the beef and pasta. I was so nervous.

It was delicious! A very messy, deliciously, wonderful beef bourguignon! Surreal even! After nearly two years of meals that I merely threw together as fast as I could just to get out of the kitchen for whatever reason called me away, I have found I still have the touch!
Thanks Nathan for believing in me and enjoying my first times with random, foreign recipes and menus. It was fun!

Beef Bourguignon

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:52:00 +0000

So I have a problem. My problem is I have too many books, too many ambitions, which leads to more books on those ambitions, and no desire to stick to just one ambition or one talent.

This also involves my desire to find a cookbook with all the wonderful recipes that call for fresh foods and chef-like qualities to them.

Last week I found/remembered I had a beautiful and nearly new copy of Rachael Ray's "30 Minute Meals 2." There are very few pictures, but I am ok with that. That means more recipes to fit in all those pages.

I sat down and read through the recipes from cover to cover and marked all the pages that I knew Nathan would like. The best way to get great results and even greater applause in a house of two is to read off the list of each flagged recipes and their ingredients. Since Beef Bourguignon sounds great in just the title alone, it does say "beef," I somehow figured it would be a hit.

Nathan of course chose that above all the additional mouth watering titles. Either that or it was because it was the first one I read and his ADD didn't allow for any more to filter through.

Today I made a trip to the grocery store. Everything was so easy to locate. Over half the ingredients on my list involved fresh produce and meat. It was searching for the kitchen string that had me feeling very weary and aching in my legs and feet. I went down every aisle not only looking on each shelf, but also at every cluster of brightly packaged hanging "extras" down the aisles as well. With no success. "What is up with that?"I found myself saying this with great annoyance to my tone before realizing I had said it loud enough for other shoppers around me to hear. By that point I did not care! Nor also could I find packages of frozen pearl onions.

I walked by the deli section to pick up the meats and was greeted by the deli manager. A light bulb that I didn't know I had was going off.

"Do you know where I can get kitchen string like for tying up bouquets of fresh herbs?"

"I have some in the back," was her reply, "how long of a piece do you need?"

"Really just enough for a bouquet of fresh herbs."

She went into the back and I was beaming as she presented me with half a yard of kitchen string. She handed it over at no cost to me and I clutched it to myself like it was gold and thanked her over and over. My feet were glad too!

I gave up on the pearl onions and bought the only thing I could find. Frozen onions. The back of the bag's ingredient list: Onions. This was very helpful! They were very white, like pearls. Maybe that was what I needed.

Once I was home I found out that a google image search shows how wrong I was in my assumption. Pearl onions are tiny dollhouse sized onions. Pearl refers to their size more than their color. Oops. I will search again tomorrow in the next grocery store. We do have three Ingleses to choose from and a Bi-Lo. Maybe I will have better luck tomorrow at my search.

I am praying God gives me the grace and strength to endure another search and to come home energized enough to go through with my plans.

Budget Christmas Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:07:00 +0000

I have found Christmas to be oh so very hard to budget. My husband and I have never been able to afford to buy each and every person a gift on both sides of our family. Here are some things I have found make easy and thoughtful gifts, even when I have desired most of all to buy those very nice and shiny gifts you see in department stores and malls.

Make a gift basket for the couples in the family. Be creative. Get a small gadget for the guy and make something pretty for the girl. If you sew, knit, or crochet, make something small for the lady. Put together a movie night basket with a bag or two of popcorn and one of those cute $5 movies from the Wal-Mart movie bins (you can always purchase the movie on a separate tab and put a receipt in an envelope and stick it under the tissue paper in the basket, in case they have that movie already).

Make your own hot cocoa mix, put it into miniature mason jars with marshmallows on top, use pinking shears to make lid covers from fabric or buy pre-cut fabric, and tag the with instructions written in your neat handwriting on card stock. Buy dollar store mugs to go with it. Nice Goodwill purchased mugs will also work fine (and you can get them for as low as 50 cents!).

Bake! My mom has been baking her lovely crescent rolls every Christmas since I was three or four years old. It never gets old and everyone loves to use them for their Christmas dinner and day after Christmas dinner (she makes a lot). Last year I made braided bread loafs and cookies. I am told they were enjoyable.

If you knit, crochet, sew, or do any sort of craft, make nice items for loved ones. This does take a lot of preparing before Christmas. I like to start a few months in advance normally. It is an investment buying the equipment and materials to make these gifts. Fabric can be expensive, but buying sheets and leftovers at a thrift store or Goodwill is a good start. I have been purchasing fabric, yarn, and tools since I first started my hobbies so this year I have a lot less material I have to purchase to make them.

Make a kit for that family member that does sew, crochet, or knit. If you have a quilting or craft magazine, purchase the amount of fabric, yarn or other material needed to make that item and throw in the magazine as an extra gift. Keep it simple though. Try kitting a ten-minute table runner, throw pillow patterns, and small items like pin cushions from scraps.

For those who have husbands who are good at woodworking, or if you are good at it yourself, come up with ideas for shelves, benches, small tables or coffee tables, or jewelry boxes even. It means a lot when you tell them who made it! Refinish an old wood chair or furniture you find in a thrift store or flea market. Paint it in wild colors.

Give an indoor or outdoor potted plant and decorate the pot.

Whatever it is that you are giving, of any type of budget, put it with a nice and thoughtful note, letter, or card telling that person how much they mean to you.

This year I am keeping things much simpler than the previous years. I have found only "under 1 hour" items to make for the most part. All other longer-to-make items I have either already had put together months ago, or am finishing UFOs from earlier this year or last year.

I hope this was helpful and that you have a very merry and blessed Christmas!!

Sigh...I love my Job!!

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 02:50:00 +0000

I realize I have something very rare! The ability to say with a happy sigh, "I love my job!" I also realize that it is rare for someone to be living out their dream job twice in a lifetime. My first one being the position in my library back at home, the second and current dream job in the quilt shop!

In the past year I have been blessed more numerous times than I can count, but among those blessings I have been given one that was very unexpected for me.

It started out as simply a small email from a friend of mine saying she found out through her daughter's piano teacher that a position became available at A Stitch in Time. In that email there was a copy of a Facebook status (from the owner's daughter) which held the description of what exactly the shop was looking for. It said in brief, "Can you sew, like computers, and need a job?" The email had a brief description of times, days, and an email address to send the resume as well as the shop's physical address.

From midnight until 3:00 AM, I spent my time researching and composing a resume that I felt was professional enough for applying the next morning. I tried to sleep, but only woke up every so often to check the time.

By morning time, Nathan got up and I was awake in mere minutes with, "I wrote a resume, there is a position available at A Stitch in Time, the quilt shop by the antique mall, I am going to drop it off soon after they open at ten, I want to make sure to get it there as soon as I can, I don't want to be the last person to hand one in, do you think I might have a chance?" I did not need coffee that morning. I also did not want to get my hopes up, but I was just a wee bit excited. Ok A LOT excited.

Not only did I get there at exactly 10:00 AM, but I also emailed a copy to the owner's daughter. By Saturday afternoon, I received a phone call from the owner asking when would be best to interview me. I had an interview that very next week.

I do not remember much of the interview but felt like I had not said enough or made much of an impression. I left the store not knowing when I would hear back and if I had any chance of either a second interview or being hired.

About two weeks passed and I was asked to come in for a second interview, this time with two of her employees. The interview went well, was comfortable, but the more I replayed the interview, later, the more I felt I had not really said or done much to make any impressions at all.
Later that night, or maybe it was a day and night later, I received a call saying I got the job! I still remember the shock. I was feeding ducks, emptying a duck pool full of brown water, gathering eggs, and walking around in grub clothes and rubber boots at my sister-in-law's house while talking on the phone with my future boss. Could she hear the ducks in the background? was all I could think of while listening to her voice. They were rather loud!

I never would have dreamed of this! I did not feel professional, had only answered the job listing because I thought "it couldn't hurt to try," and had never before in my life written a resume and really had no idea if it came close to professional enough to get me hired!
I had planned on just enjoying a summer free from school and then one day go around job hunting. My summer was still school free, that part of my plan went through well, the next part was a God send! I didn't job hunt for one minute. It came to me and forced me to go out of my comfort zone and make that resume I was "one day" going to write.

I have been working for Maxine at A Stitch in Time for nearly four months now, have been enjoying my job immensely, and get to experience the joys that come from working under a beautiful Christian lady and Christian co-workers. And to think there was a time when I used to say, "I could never sew, it looks so boring!" I only added a sewing machine to my wedding registry because I thought I might need it for hemming and mending Nathan's pants! That it would be a house-wifely thing to do and I hated hand sewing!

I have come a long way, but none of it would be possible without those who pitched in to get that machine, however lower end of a model and brand it is, and my mother-in-law for showing me the basics of sewing and inspiring me to go further in my sewing as I began to dream bigger. She still supplies me with her grocery-store-trip, quilting magazine finds, for which I am eternally grateful! I also owe a lot to my husband for standing by my side and encouraging me in all my sewing projects and especially the encouragement he gave when I felt I was not cut out for this job.

I had a lot of people rooting for me and telling me they knew I could do it. Thanks for all who believed I could do it when I thought I was not good enough for any job, much less a dream job!

One last thanks goes to a friend of mine who loaned me her copy of a rag quilt, tote bag pattern while I was in my first semester of college at SCC. My love for bags and the sheer need for distraction and therapy from the looming and sometimes overwhelming amounts of homework drove me to my fabric, rotary cutter, and machine for a few minutes at a time each day for one week. After that bag, I was working on a new project once every other week. It was viral for me.

I now fear putting away my machine like I used to when I had finished a project. It now takes up permanent residence on a desk height shelf of our dining room closet. While it is a lovely sight to greet each day, I await the day I upgrade to a Babylock machine and say good-bye to my worn-out Singer. It has served its purpose well, but is drawing close to its end. We are saving as much as we can toward my new "baby." (For those who were thinking about buying me anything for Christmas, rethink the gift and see Nathan!)

God has truly blessed me in this job. I get to help people all day long, whether by keeping things straight in inventory, shipping items to the lady who orders something over the phone or the internet, cutting fabric, ringing them up, or simply walking around the shop helping a customer find that perfect fabric that will complete the current project in hand.

Life is for living!

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 16:18:00 +0000

Recently, Nathan, our friend Jake, and I took a week's vacation to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We had been planning this trip since last October. I do not think I really knew just how beautiful the coast of NC was until last week. It was a refreshing week, full of excitement, new discoveries, and sand. Haha. From the moment we embarked on our journey to the time we set foot on the beach, I knew it was going to be a great time for all three of us.

Never would I have though that something as simple as sand and water would bring on much excitement, energy, and laughter. Nathan discovered a hobby of sand castle building, while Jake and I watched and photographed those memories. I may not have had the best time with my sun burn from day one, but I sure got a lot of laughs watching Nathan play in the sand and try to get us to join him. I did help gather shells for his second castle, provide a pen and sticky note for the planning of his ziggurat, and help build a barrier wall for his last sculpture, the Coliseum, though I did complain that the breeze, sand, and sun were making me miserable.

One of my favorite past times at the beach house was cooking the meals, when the guys allowed it, and watching the faces of Jake's and Nathan's as they savored the bites or inhaled the meal, depending on what I cooked and how hungry they were! Breakfasts were either at Sonny's Restaurant or home cooked French toast. Lunches were usually simple and dinners spontaneous. The kitchen was perfect for whatever meal I planned.

I find myself trying to think up what my high lighted moment or day of the week was, but I cannot. I enjoyed every moment and every day. Sure I may have been miserable before discovering a trick that helped me handle my sun burn, but I still found myself living the life of a beach vacationer. Going to the beach was a lot of work to trudge out over the dune, while carrying a camping chair and stumbling over my feet in sand filled crocs, but the glorious view, the sounds of children laughing, and the smell of salty sea was what made the work worth it. Not to mention the relaxing times I had sitting in the chair or walking beside the lapping water. I regret not getting out in the water more often than I did (just once).

Some of the things we enjoyed that week were discovering the history of three of the light houses, enjoying spontaneity, going on a forty minute free ferry ride, watching crabs play hide and seek with the people and dogs on the beach, sitting in the hot tub relaxing, laughing, and reminiscing on life, playing Smash Brothers on Jake's Wii, watching movies and shows after dinner, going out to eat for breakfast some mornings, visiting Kitty Hawk, flying/walking Nathan's kite, flying/putting together Nathan's foam Wright Flyer, and never once planning any farther ahead than one day!

We are now saving up for next May and another trip to the Outer Banks. It is a long drive, but part of the fun is in the anticipation of the vacation. Nathan is planning his next sand castle, better ziggurat, and more elaborate Coliseum. I am setting aside titles for audio books, looking into making a better camera case, and investing in better beach shoes (crocs make me even more clumsy than I am already!).

I look forward to next May and all the memories we will make. God was so good to us that week and gave us some awesome moments with each other.

Plans

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Since getting my driver's license, I have so much I want to do now. For lack of time, I will just list them. Remember, this is a list of wants, not musts. I may never get to do or maintain some of these all the time, but I certainly look forward to being available whole heartedly when I can.

+clip coupons and find grocery deals around town in one go (even if it means splitting the shopping up into two stores stead of one)

+make soup for the broken hearted or sick and drive it to them

+babysit =-)

+visit loved ones and dear ones

+be a part of a Bible study

+take more library trips!!!!!

+spend more time in a store than I am normally able to (remember, my husband formed the "slow wives club" on Facebook)

+meet friends for coffee

+get out more often as a way to chill and just get out when I need t0

+get to doctor's appointments faster and easier.

+save stamps and pay some bills in person (three of which can be done in town with no fees)

and

+and just be available to help or be there for the beck and call of loved ones and dear ones.

these are things I have always aspired to do if I ever had wheels. I think Nathan may have to fight to get the car for a while. I promise to keep all my aspirations within reason and within a certain limit!!! I realize gas is not cheap and easy.

I also realize I do not even know how to pump gas and cannot remember when the last time I did it!! I won't be able to get far without. Will I even remember to check the gas meter? Is that even what it is called? lol. It is funny how much I did not notice until I truly became an independent driver on this day. It is all so surreal still. Still has not sunk in yet and still I feel it was not me that drove myself home and to the grocery store alone and even to pick up my own husband from work (in the dark!!) while snow flakes were floating to the ground.

Well...It is off to bed now. If I can sleep.

New Hair and New Trials

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 01:23:00 +0000

As some may know, for about a year now I have tried selling my hair online on auctions. I had several interested buyers and one serious buyer, who at the last minute backed down.

I figured that if I was going to cut my hair short for my next cut, why not at least try to get money for it? I was going to re-list my hair this week after reading an email telling me that my auction had ended, for the umpteenth time. But then I thought, "why re-list? I could just get rid of it now!" No one could tell me not to. After all, it is my hair and my choice. I made my decision somewhat on Monday. I repeated my decision in my head over and over again. Wednesday I told my husband I was going to get it cut. No auctioning it off! I could not wait any longer. Saturday morning I was grumpy. When Nathan asked what was up, I said, "I want my hair gone, it is too much!"

"OK! Make and appointment and I will drop you off and you can instant message me from the phone when you are done." We share a cell phone and have not been able to afford two phones.

A friend of mine suggested a small place behind our Hardees in town. I found it on Google Maps and dialed the number. The owner and beautician set aside 11:30 AM for me when I described that I needed a shampoo, cut, and style. I had printed off my picture nearly a year ago of Reece Witherspoon from the movie Sweet Home Alabama and took it with me. After kissing Nathan goodbye, I entered the little hut of shop with a bounce and a beaming smile. This was it; no turning back!

My hair went from a total of approximate 25 inches, from roots to tips, to around five or six inches in an hour when it took me over two years to grow it to the length it was. I messaged Nathan with exclamation points and waited for a response.

Ten minutes rolled by and Nathan did not respond. Twenty minutes later I called our next door neighbor and asked if he was in town and if we was had he seen Nathan's car parked in our lot. He said it was when he was there a while ago and that he had walked up to our apartment to give us some jalapeños. Nathan had not responded to his knocking. I began to worry. Was he still alive? I had sent several messages by this time. Should I walk?

I no longer cared how my hair looked. I just wanted to know that Nathan was still alive and well. I decided to walk home but could not cross the river. My legs shook when I tried crossing the bridge. I began to feel dizzy.

I turned back and sat at McDonald's to think. My phone beeped and meant only one thing to me:"Low Battery!"

My phone vibrated, which meant that Nathan had messaged me, and I sighed. Surely he had seen my messages. "Are you done?" Well, apparently he did not see my previous messages. At least he was alive. I messaged him back, with no response. Another five minutes passed and he messaged again, "Are you there?" My question to him had been no different only fifteen minutes before. No matter how many times I messaged, whether I logged off or back in again, he still asked me questions as if he had no idea I was responding.

I had to think fast. The more I waited the closer it was to a dead battery. I began to wish I had a pocket of change, a pay phone, and memorized phone numbers for when it died.

The first person I thought of was my mother. I called her and asked if she would log into gmail and chat with him. This was something she was familiar with. She tried gmail and called me back to tell me he was not logged in. My phone was beeping out low battery reminders every two minutes, or so it seemed. I stepped her through signing me into Meebo told her what to say to Nathan. His name did show up as being "online." She typed word for word what I had asked her to say and was telling me something when my phone died. I had no way of knowing if he got the message.

I refused to give up then. I could not walk home as I told him through my mom that I would be at the Dollar General. I could not borrow a phone to call anyone because all my contact numbers were in my dead phone. I could hitch hike or ask someone to give me a ride to downtown Main Street. There was still a good possibility that he did get my Mom's message. It was best to sit at the intersection of the street by Hardees and Main Street. Staying there would be true to my word of meeting him at Dollar General.

Eventually he would think to get me. Nearly two hours had passed since I last saw him. Did he really think a hair cut would take that long? I sat down in the dirt at the corner of the Dollar General parking lot, thinking that it would be best to sit on a soft area, if I was going to be sitting for a while. I knew he would come, it just was a matter of time before he did show up at that intersection. I prayed and just sat there watching traffic. A calmness spread over me as I sat and just enjoyed the warmth of that day. Any other day and it may have been cold! God was on my side.

In ten minutes of watching and praying, I did see his car. Nathan was on his way! I jumped to my feet and waved. He made a hand gesture to the parking lot! He saw me!! I would have no need to cross the street and walk to the hair shop where I may be too late if he turned around and headed back.

What happened next, I cannot explain. I broke down and sobbed as he pulled into a parking lot. I don't know why I cried or why I became hysterical. God had answered my prayers. I do not remember the ride home at all. It is a blur in my memory. I may have tried explaining to him why I was crying or what I had been thinking or that I had no way of getting over the bridge safely on my wobbly legs. I really do not remember. The only thing I do remember is this: Nathan asked me the question that pulled me back to earth, "well, do you like your hair?"

I do not remember how I responded to that. I am sure it was in the affirmative. I do like my new hair style. Nathan led me to the bedroom to sit and talk. He left me alone and I cried some more. I needed reassurance that I really was home at last. That it was not a dream.

He came back with the Oreos I had hidden in a kitchen cabinet. I smiled weakly and told him I really just wanted to be held tightly. I ate an Oreo anyway and held onto him tightly while he patted my back in gentle strokes. I began to tell him, between tears and sobs, what had happened while I waited for him. What I had thought, what I felt, and how I called my mom. Nathan told me he had received the message from my mom that my phone was not working and dying and that I was at the Dollar General waiting for him.

I felt better, but needed to rest. After a short rest, Nathan made me sit with him and watch an episode of Stargate SG-1 while we ate lunch. I was not very hungry, but did eat to please him. I did enjoy the episode, curling up under a blanket, sitting in our living room in his arms, and not having my hair snagged every time he moved his arm.

From that point on, I had a better day and played around with my hair enjoying the short length. I laughed much, danced to music while taking care of house work, hugged Nathan every time my path took me to where he was, continued to count my blessings, and remembered to call my mom to thank her for rescuing even from another state!

God was watching me. I never lost hope. I knew Who was sovereign, in control, and a mighty God. I could handle this trial again if I had to. Even if all that remains is to sit and pray. I cannot help but think of Christ's disciples and the one task He asked them to do at the Garden of Gethsemane: "Watch and Pray."

Being stranded could be far worse. I have it easy living near downtown. Maybe next time I will have my pocket Bible in my purse. I had moved it just that morning to make room for a brush!

Romans 8:28 remains my "motto" for every situation. Meaning, it is the verse I keep close to my heart when anything has occurred that is not according to my plans.

"28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Things That Go Bump in The Night

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:02:00 +0000

It was a calm and peaceful night. A man and wife were sleeping sound, the cats were curled up purring at their feet. The wife was enjoying a beautiful dream when she heard a shout and felt the bed shift. It was with heavy eyelids that she opened her eyes in time to see the silhouette of her husband's body soaring overhead. She did not cringe nor scream because she was still unsure if this was part of her dream.

CRASH!! The tap lamp on the bedside table flickered to illuminate the explosion of events. Her husband cleared the edge of her side of the bed, landing into the wicker end table and crushing it beyond recognition. Books slid off the broken table, bouncing into each other on their way down. Pens were flung in many directions. Though in reality it lasted merely seconds, the wife felt that the event was never ending.

Concern swept over her as she tried helping her confused and bewildered husband up onto the bed to check for cuts, scrapes, or her fear: broken bones. Finding the tap lamp on the floor she shed some light on that corner of the room by their bed, to see again the mangled state of her end table and various objects that had rested on the table now all over the floor in heaps.

She did not care about the table though. Her only interest at that hour lay in her husband's health.

He lay with his head in her lap mumbling apologies and sounding sincere. "Never mind about the table, dear, are you hurt?"

"No. I'm fine. I am so sorry! I can fix it." It was obvious he was still in a sort of sleep-like state. The old table had seen its last days, as it was broken beyond repair.

Her husband's back had a scratch and his hand was scraped a little, other than that, he was fine. Tucking him back into bed beside her, she turned off the light, and marveled that he did not sail through the window, which stood directly beside the location of his crash landing.

They slept for the remainder of the night, awoke to a new day, and lived as though nothing out of the ordinary happened the night before. To most, this would be horrifying. To this couple, every night is a new adventure and a mere obstacle they encounter in their life together.

The Crash Site

Location of Window

Beyond Repair

A Replacement

*not the end*

Essay

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:26:00 +0000

I am currently writing an essay on William Faulkner: his life, work, and awards. It is no easy task and is a tedious process when I must pay close attention to at least twenty different grammatical forms while composing. With all the guidelines I have to take into account before I finally submit the essay, I feel there is hardly any room for my own writing style. Sometimes I wonder if some rules are just for political correctness. I realize some of it, like the citations, are for legalities. Most of my teachers keep saying things like, "When you are in a university,...."

My mind is currently swimming (or drowning) with these terms, phrases and rules: ellipsis,... flagged quotation,... son of citation machine,... publishers,... copyrighted,... date in which you obtained the website,... fifth space indentation,... L7 (in my writers handbook),... see page 389 for the rules on what to do in case there is no page number, author, or publication date,... MLA formatting,... May, June, and July are NOT abbreviated in MLA format citation all other months use only three letters and a period....and most importantly, after all rules are stated, DO NOT MEMORIZE THESE RULES. I believe it is a little too late for that.

I am so OCD about it all that I am afraid to forget a rule. Yes, yes, I hear my teacher's voice telling me, "Do NOT worry about the grammar until AFTER you have written the first draft." Well, I guess should have written my first draft before she said that in class. :-) Truly, I am one who has become paranoid about forgetting a punctuation mark, how to quote in text, and whether I will find an author of a citation or not. And what is that rule about URLs? One cite mentions that website citations require URLs while our writer's guidebook tells us an URL is not required. Another source tells us it is up to our instructor.

Ok, for real, I just need to take a chill pill and throw all rules out the window and just get it down. Haha! "Good luck with that one, Dorry!"

Ok, back to work...after a coffee break! ;-)

A Present from Australia

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:11:00 +0000

Last night was perfect. A dear friend of mine from across the world sent me a most lovely, thoughtful, and perfect gift for my birthday. I did not expect anything from her.

Sometime in February and March, I had to give up eating gluten and wheat. Karen sympathized and knew how much I was saddened by this. I had bought a $30 bread machine the previous springtime season and was in love with making breads and baking home made gifts.

Giving up gluten myself made it hard to enjoy baking when I wanted to taste it, make special breakfast breads for toast with our eggs, and rolls to accompany our dinners. I gradually stopped making it altogether to avoid eating bread and gluten. I had looked into getting a grain mill and making rice flour to make gluten free breads when I found how cheap it is to make rice flour. All I would need is a bag of rice!

My dreams of baking gluten free were dashed when I found that the mills were not conforming to our budget and too big for our lack of kitchen storage. My bread maker has stood sadly in the corner next to my KitchenAid stand mixer collecting dust together. I often would couple the two together and make four loaves at one time. I knew I was going to miss those days of baking.

Karen, bless her heart, really hurt for me that I had to give up my favorite kitchen art. In the meantime, She and everyone around me were plotting a birthday surprise. She told me I would receive a card instead of her previously planned care package she kept speaking of to me on aim. She had no money to send a gift like she had wanted to after all. I never wanted much from her to begin with and was eager to receive a card, handwritten all the way from my dear Australian friend!

For a week and a half, Nathan and I planned to have our friend Jake over for our favorite pot roast night. I wanted to make it very special. I meticulously, as always, set about planning the order of how I would make it all, set the table early (but not too early that the cats would have time to play all over the table), and even pulled out my handmade table runner. I had not suspected a thing at all.

Arriving merely seconds before Nathan did, Jake brought with him a package in blue, red, and yellow paper with "happy birthday!" block lettering all over it.
I asked him, "um, what is that?" I was unprepared for his (now obvious) thought through and careful answer with a broad smile to go with it,
"A late birthday present from Karen New."
I remember shouting a little unnecessarily loud, "WHAT?!? but HOW? You have got to be kidding me!? You knew?" I was quite taken aback and in complete disbelief.
He smiled. I may have screeched or squealed as I took it out of his hands, I can't quite remember. He never said "for you" so I still had doubt. Nathan's birthday after all is only four days before mine.
"For me?" I think he laughed and Nathan entered.

As I set it down on my kitchen table, I had a feeling I was supposed to wait for a special timing of hers to open it. I ran to my laptop to leave a message on her Facebook wall still in disbelief and shock.

For a moment it lay there forgotten while I finished preparing dinner, eventually transferring it to the dining rook while I mashed the potatoes and whisked the gravy some more.

Dinner was a hit, the package lay on the dining room table and, momentarily, I would look at it and wonder why Jake and Nathan did not give me a sign of some sort, motion me to the box at least, and ask me if I wanted to open it or why it was still wrapped. This box was perfectly square, wrapped very neatly (Jaker style), and beckoning my fingers.

For the moment, however, I enjoyed dinner with the boys. A meal meant for an entire family that lasted mere minutes for only a setting of three.

Sarah called me then. Apparently she had tried calling several times while we ate, likely a bit frustrated that I did not hear the phone ring nor answer it. I finally heard it ring and upon answering, received frantic tones of "Get on Skype, Karen wants you to open the present!"

Wait, WHAT?!? I hung up with her shortly after she accepted my apologies and love, pulled out my laptop, logged onto Skype, and had everything set up while Nathan brought out my camera. I was a bit nervous at this time. What was I supposed to do when I opened this gift? Cry? Look shocked? Would I look shocked? What if I already guessed what it was during my fits with the potato masher and gravy whisking? If my guess is right can I still sound believable? I think she would have liked it if I cried. I can't fake a cry though!

With the Skype successfully working and set up and with Karen and her babies watching me, I opened my package and saw the first words of "KitchenAid" and nearly died! I knew what it was. An attachment for my stand mixer that would grind away my multiple bags of rice I had put away when I found out I could not afford a mill. I am pretty sure my jaw dropped. I know I screamed/squealed/screeched a bit. I never expected anything from Australia for my birthday to begin with, but even though I wondered about a mill, when Jake showed up bearing the gift from Karen, I never guessed it would come in this form!

Nathan proceeded to film and take pictures of me, Jake, and Copper, who positioned himself in the "head-of-the-house" chair (which he quite looks like he belongs there, too). Words can simply not describe the gratitude and love for Karen that I feel now. She gave me a most delightful gift. Not just in the present, but in the thought and concept of what she knew meant a lot to me. She not only gave me a mill, she gave me bread and future gifts to those with whom I love and want to share my baking.

Here are some photos Nathan took during the surprise. I now know why he took them and why Karen wanted to see me open the "pressie."

setting up the Skype video call to Australia and glaring at Nathan a bit

"All set, Nathan?"

peals of enthusiasm

disbelief and shock that she did this.

~~~

Today, after taking care of my morning chores, I emptied all bags of brown rice I had pushed to the back of my shelves and ignored all these days. I cried while watching the rice trickle down into fine dust and collecting in mounds in a bucket under the mill. I cried not because of the process or the gift, but that God had arranged such a bizarre meeting that occurred nearly two years ago and a friendship that is lasting and forever!

As the tears rolled down my cheeks, I asked "why? Why Lord do you see fit to bless me?"
Without Karen's perfect planning, with Jake's, Sarah's, and Nathan's assistance, I would not have enjoyed fully that night I will remember. I wished I could have hugged Karen and Sarah while I did hug Jake and Nathan for the planning.

Thank you Karen! You gift and friendship mean so much to me! God has blessed me in knowing you and I look forward to meeting you in person one day. I only hope I do get a chance before I die, but I know I will be worshiping Christ side by side with you in heaven even if it is never possible to fellowship together on earth during our lifetime.

Today...

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:45:00 +0000

Today is finally here. Today is the day I delivered our last car bill to our waiting mail box. All too excited and eager, I had to snap these photos.

I feel like celebrating! I have been waiting three years for this moment and now it is finally here. Do I feel any different? I have to say I think my expectations for this moment is not quite how I had imagined, but I definitely have trouble believing this day. Just a few moments ago the mail car drove down the dirt road to make its rounds and take away the anticipated last bill. I eagerly wait for the online statement to tell me it has been taken out of our bank account. I feel like shouting and squealing. It feels great to be debt free and fully own our car!

This is the month I have been waiting for.

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:27:00 +0000

I should be getting our last car bill in the mail any day now. I have trouble believing that this is the month we pay it all off. "Can it be real?" I keep asking myself. Never have I been so eager to get that bill in the mail than right now.
Nathan teased me this morning on aim, telling me he wants to get the car he has been drooling over every time we pass the Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep car dealership. The one that is red with white stripes and has only two doors. He claims it will take six years to pay it off and that it will be a good economy car for just two people. I did take him seriously. I also got a little bit upset when he said that in two weeks he will test drive it. After going on for a few minutes, he finally said he was only teasing. It is one joke I never laughed at.
He does still, however, desire to test drive it for fun during our stay-cation. So when people ask me what we did on our vacation for fun, I will definitely tell them that we found a new hobby: test-driving red cars with white stripes.
We are hoping this will help us save money for a deposit on a home. I also pray I may be able to sell items I have made or find a part time job. For sure, with the car paid off, we will finally be able to afford for me to get my driver's license (insurance is expensive for first time drivers).

Five Bags

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 23:20:00 +0000

I still cannot believe I have finished these and that they all turned out well! They are sling bag purses. I am going to design larger ones eventually for market bag/tote bag size. I also hope one day to find a one-hole hole punch and add snaps to the design instead of velcro. I think it may sell better if I do it that way. I would add magnet clips, but it costs around $3-$5 per magnet fastener whereas around 10 snaps come in a package at wal-mart for about $2. For now, velcro works well and is easy to add to the design.

These bags I worked on in an assembly line, cutting out the fabrics per bag on day one, sewing the lining and outer shells, adding Velcro, and basting and pinning on day two to get it ready for finishing, and then early this morning between breakfast and saying goodbye to Nathan I added the bottoms to the bags and was finished. Even though they are complete and tagged with labels, I am at a disadvantage. I do not know what to do with myself. I could design more, but my hands cannot take any more. They have had all they can take these past three days. I have always had cramps from knitting and crocheting, but never from sewing. Maybe five at one time was too much. But then again, my #2 bag motto is "there is no such thing as too many bags!" My first one: "you do not hold a bag, you wear it!"
This one is my favorite. I am going to make another one just for me.

This one turned out nicely.
I have been using this fabric for a long time now and I think this may be the last of it! Hooray!!
I took this fabric from an old skirt. It looked ugly as a skirt, but I like it better as a handbag. The first one I made was with this material and is my current purse. I can match it with anything.

I wished there was more of this material. It is the cutest one in my opinion and would look great as a market bag.

I hope to make more once my hands have healed.

Sew Cuffs onto Capris from An Old Pair of Jeans

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 02:26:00 +0000

Tutorial

I recently was given a bag full old jeans from a friend of mine. She thought I might fit into them, but they ended up being too long for my legs. Instead of hemming them, I thought I would add style to it by converting them into capris and adding cuffs. I have been wanting to try this for a while now. I found it to be very easy, fast, and relaxing. It was a nice break from the usual routine.

I hope this makes sense...

What you need:

small amount of leftover fabric
blue jeans or old pants
thread
pins

Instructions:

Mark where you want to cut your jeans/pants to your desired capri length.

Lay the pants flat and draw a straight line at your marked position and cut across. Trim them if you feel they are lopsided.

Measure the circumference of the cut edge. Add 1/2" to your measurement. Decide on a width of your choosing adding in 3/4" for seam allowances. Mine was 16" long by 4" wide.

Turn your capris inside out and pin the right sides of the fabric strips to each leg making sure to match raw ends together all the way around. I like to place the ends of the fabric lengths are as close to the inside seams of my capris.

It should overlap where the two ends meet. Pinch the width ends of the fabric together and pin. Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinched width ends to close the gap.

Sew a 1/2" seam around the capris. Fold down and press. Fold up a 1/4" of the bottom of the cuffs and press. Flip the pants right side out and fold the cuffs up all the way. Press the folded edge. Sew a 1/8" seam at the fold of the cuff before sewing an 1/8" seam at the top to set the cuff in place.

You now own a "new" pair of capris that no one else has! How does it feel?

The Method to My Madness

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:24:00 +0000

This morning,-doesn't it always occur in the mornings?-I felt stir crazy and did not feel like sewing. I don't know, maybe I needed a break from sewing or maybe it was my hair being loose, my feet bare, or the fact that I was still in my pajamas. Whatever the cause, I needed to do something and I could not sit still. I was tired of Facebook and the internet. Tired of sitting, tired of working on homework, and just plain tired of the ordinary.

I began pacing and trying to come up with an inspiring and colorful new bag to sew or sew one from my list of "musts," but found that nothing I appealed this morning. And besides, the room was terribly messy with too many chairs and objects I had to step over or around. Why can't I seem to be organized with all my fabrics and supplies?

A light bulb of inspiration turned on at that inquisition. There must be some place I can put ALL my material and tools! I began to reach far into my mind for some brilliant idea of a place or nook I could keep all my fabrics. At the time, they were all scattered and in several rooms. Our chairs, table, end tables, coffee tables, dresser drawers, closets, multiple tote bags, and a china hutch side door were all hosts to mounds of fabric and sewing supplies.

I did not used to be in this predicament. The only fabrics I owned were scraps as I did not sew often and when I did sew, it was only to make a small something or a pillow: the only objects I could master. Then in March, I became infected with a bug. A tote bag bug. And then it became a problem.

This is what I did to solve my problem and satiate my hunger to do something.

To put things into perspective for you: Scrabble, our small cat demonstrates just how small of a place I used to keep the majority of my fabrics before I turned into the tote bag monster.

Here is what I did with my china hutch, side-door nook. Cute, isn't it? These are only a portion of the machine sewing books people have given me. I use these more frequently to gain ideas, learn techniques, and be inspired.

And here is where I put my stash of fabric. That's right! Inside my dining room "pantry" where I keep extra pots, pans, dishes, and tea sets. I did not think I would ever finish. But here it is!

Look! Look! My mess is hidden! I am completely thrilled!!

It feels great to be able to look at ALL of my fabrics in one time and in one location. Now I am able to see what I can blend together in a pattern instead of marching around in circles before giving up and just making something with whatever I touch first.

One day I would like to have those stack-able white metal shelves meant for dishes and pantries, maybe for my birthday? They are expensive to get in one go even using Wal-Mart, Big Lots, or the Dollar General as my supplier.

"Why are you cast down, O my soul?And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance."
~Psalm 42 :5

our third

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Fri, 14 May 2010 05:35:00 +0000

As I sit here next to Nathan who is sound asleep and snoring (somewhere around 2:00am), I think to myself, "is this real?" I am in constant awe of all the blessings God has bestowed on us these three years. I still find myself marveling that God chose him for me. Why me? I love him so much, even with his snoring, teasing, and picking on me. He is truly a blessing. Nathan and I both agree that we cannot talk about our daily life or events without using "us" and "we" or "our." Our lives belong together and we do pray God grants that we remain alive together in marriage for many years to come.

To celebrate our anniversary, Nathan took me to the Jarrett House of Dillsboro, NC and kept it a secret until arriving there. I was truly amazed and had no idea we would be dining there! The food was amazing, southern style, and delicious. The style being simple made us feel at home. We found ourselves talking over the food and praising the restaurant and all the work that was put into it. I was truly pleased. It was expensive dining, but an anniversary calls for out of ordinary and going all out once in a while.

(the porch at the Jarrett House. Sorry no indoor shots, I forgot to bring the camera in amid all the excitement and squeals as Nathan pulled up next to the sidewalk and I hopped out. I beat him to the restaurant from our car!! A first!)

Last year we ate at a barbecue restaurant in Dillsboro and though that seemed like the lowest, I truly enjoyed sitting in a booth that had Harrison Ford's and Mickey Rooney's signatures on menus laminated and mounted on the wall beside us. The style was very simple and southern at the Smokehouse, but that is barbecue style for you and even still, I remember having a great time. All you need for a good time is a wonderful person with you. And truly each anniversary has been wonderful and we look forward with anticipation and secrets to each one.

Nathan, after dinner, still had a secret up his sleeve. We drove all the way to Asheville on that beautiful day. Not knowing where we were headed I sat back, talked my head off like usual, and took some pictures of the lovely scenery and the tall overpass just before reaching Asheville. I wasn't sure we would be stopping in Asheville, Waynesville, Cherokee, or beyond all, but as we came to the Builtmore Park exit I guessed we would be visiting either some shops or the theater.

(Nathan enjoying his sneakiness and surprise. )

(Somewhere in the direction of Asheville, as I was guessing aloud and taking photos. )

(A freak of a tall bridge over the highway near Asheville. )

We do not go to see movies often, well to some standards, and so it was a special occasion that we did go to the very nice Builtmore Regal Cinema. The tickets, though $10 per adult for later than 6:00 showings, were worth every moment to be there comfortably next to my hubby and watching what we had been waiting for: Iron Man 2. Call me crazy for wanting and hoping to see that film on our anniversary, but really, being comfortable, non formal, and having a great time is all that really matters when I am with Nathan on a date.

We really did have a great night! I hope I never forget all these great times of our first years together.

(what is it with cats and cameras?)

Here is a picture of the bouquet of flowers Nathan gave me for our anniversary (the small pot of flowers beside the vase was a mother's day gift from my father-in-law. He gives to everyone on Mother's Day, even the non mothers). I have no idea the name of the flowers and neither does Nathan. Anyone?

a little behind lately

noreply@blogger.com (Dorothy ("Dorry")) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:34:00 +0000

I have been so busy all of a sudden. Sometimes I wish I could catch up. But as soon as I think I am going to have time, I get lost. At least that is how feel at the moment.
I went to Wal Mart today to shop and got a few things to help relax. I bought toile (pronounced twall) material for the first time, cut it into squares to make a tote, and then got to work on homework. I fear the homework will never be done by the day it is due. Why then am I spending time on blogger instead of doing more homework? Everyone needs a break now and then and I type super fast.
prayer request: I am battling migraines and all the usual tricks are not working.