this is..my favorite thing from nature

Lately, it's been these...

Sadly, the season is over this year, and too many of the figs never really ripened. I still have one container in the freezer from last year that I"m hoarding. I see them being eaten in January as a winter treat.

Thanks to cloth and fodder for this week's theme, and to Angela at threebuttons for hosting the meme.

This is...a recipe I want to share

One of my favorite recipes...and an easy easy one

Asian Marinade for Chicken Breasts (from Nancy @ Gardenweb)

Chicken done in this is flavorful and leftovers make a great salad the next day. This is enough for 5 lbs of raw chicken breasts. m notes..you can use this for chicken w/bones also

1C veg oil
¼ C sesame oil
¾ C soy sauce
1/3 C minced garlic
4 Tabsp minced ginger
2/3 C minced cilantro 5-6 green onions
1 tsp grd blk pepper

I put the onions, ginger and cilantro in the food processor and pulse till chopped fine.
Combine all and marinate chicken breasts, up to 24 hrs, but at least 1 hr if you can
I have also put marinade in a freezer bag with chicken and frozen (good to do with the left overs -m notes Nancy means that yes, you CAN freeze the raw chicken in this marinade and then thaw to cook on demand)

The weekly This is...comes from Angela over at Threebuttons. Go on over and see a list of players!

This is...

Something I'm surprised I like...Cleveland Ohio. Today's This is...comes from Victoria at Earl and Cookie and more players can be found over on Angela's button on the right column...the one that says This is. She's the hostess aka ThreeButtons.

taken on our March 2008 trip

I'm rarely surprised at food I like since I'm more surprised if I DON'T like a food. Shall we say I'm pretty much an omnivore.

But Cleveland to this East Coast snob was called The Mistake on the Lake. Puhleeze. But then DH booked us into a Residence Inn there on our way to Chicago, knowing I like a ResInn, and I was won over. Not just by the hotel, but the spaciousness of the city, the icy lake, the full moon, and oh yeah...the food.

On that March trip the Westside market was closed but I vowed that we'd be back for a shopping visit. Our first dinner in Cleveland was a Cambodian restaurant the small but uniquee Phnom Penh...again, who knew? This recent trip found us going to Little Italy and dining at La Dolce Vita, not once but twice. We went into a bakery first, to be sure of getting some pastry before they closed, but ended up getting free desserts both times at La DV. That's another story.

We each had our first taste of Sicilian olives and dh was won over to the olive camp. I had a Sicilian pastry, name escapes me, that sadly was only made on Sundays. No luck for more on our return on Thursday. So that too is for another trip.

original by crazy lembu

The Westside Market...oh yeah, we got there too. Check out that ceiling - very much reminded us of the market in Budapest. Pork up the gazoo and yes Judy, pierogis - tho not in the kind I'm used to. Occasionally there are small sacrifices to make in life. ;-)

Cleveland...try it, you'll like it!

Thi is...my favorite film

Thanks to Hokey for this week's theme. First one that comes to mind is one that I've seen about 3 times...but consider the length - 227 minutes.




But then there was this one that got me pants-wetting laughing. (One of my sons worked in the convenience center round the corner and he got those ...Gotta come in and cover calls. )



Lately, I've love this series but have yet to see the last one. I'll rewatch #1 and 2 first.



Ok film buffs, check out the list over at ThreeButtons. It's also on that button that says This Is over on the right. You can have your own private festival du cinema today if you like.

This is..my favorite kitchen tool

Yikes...the kitchen per se is my great joy in life. Last night we had dinner with friends - she's an architect and he's a builder and they LOVE our kitchen, which makes me glow!

I have a couple of Wusthoff knives that I couldn't do without and have become quite attached to the Sankoto. But it is my Cuisinart that really has no substitute in my mind. I bought my first back in the 60s and have never been without one since. I tried another brand - once - and immediately went back to Cuisinart. Just the regular home edition, tho I have a mini that I also use a lot esp for vinagrette since I can mince that garlic small enough to disappear along with the herbs du jour.


Good reminder..iIn fact I think I need to make some hummus today. To see what others use a lot, check the This Is button over on the right. Lots of blogs on Three Buttons list, lots of players.

Footnote: Yes, almost always available somewhere for < $100. US.

This is...what I do with 10 spare minutes

I have a lot of these now that I'm retired but ...

Mostly my spare moments come while I am in the house. I am fortunate that I don't have to do much or go many places where I have to wait. If there is that possibility, I usually have a bag with a magazine to read - something to look at in short bursts.

I also have followed Flylady's concept of ...you can do anything for 15 minutes...so sometimes those 10 min gaps are spent clearing off a 'hotspot', meaning a pile of anything in whatever room I'm in. I can also wipe down a kitchen counter or a bathroom in 10 minutes. I can also clean up yet another spot I've noticed where the cat has thrown up. Sigh.

photo from cheryl

Mostly I use the time at home to get another glass of water, or get rid of another glass of water previously taken in. Water in, water out! Hydration is good but... ;-)

Oh yeah, and in the car at traffic lights I file my nails. I keep emery boards around everywhere. Nothing exciting in those spare minutes but maybe if you click the "This Is" button on the right you'll find someone who has a great activity for those 10 precious moments! Thanks to hoppobumpo for this week's topic.

This is... a work in progress

Not a lot to show on the desks today since I got the Fairy ATCs out to the post office along with a swap postcard. But this is what it looked like mid day yesterday.



The template I found on line for an ATC envelope, and then the finished cards. I really stuffed the envelope and hope my partner likes the extras too.




Today will be a peach festival midday and a good bit of house lounging. What kind of fun thing will you be doing today?
* * * * * * * *
Thanks for this week's theme goes to DebbieHill. To see all the players on Angela's meme, click the button on the right that says "This is" and you'll see a LOT.

This is ...my trade secret

Hmm...this is a hard one. The main thing I think I am pretty darn good at right now is cooking sooo....




After all, it is my blog title! Good equipments certainly helps anyone, but I think any reader here knows I love my kitchen. (Once more, many many thanks to my dh for making it happen. And thank you for putting up with my pot and pan collecting...)

Click the "This is..." button on the right to see more players of Three Button's game. Thanks to Amelia for this great theme. Try saying the name of her blog outloud...

This is ...my favorite painting

I stood in a rather short line to see the Vermeer exhibit when it came to Washington DC in 1995/6. I was one of the first group allowed in that day and I walked from room to room with few people around. When I saw this one, it took my breath away, and I was able to sit on a bench opposite the painting for about a half hour. By then more groups had been allowed in and it was time to move on.

In that time, I fell in love with The Geographer.





Although his gaze is directed toward the window, he is not distracted by something he sees outside. His facial expression and his posture indicate that he has just arrived at some important insight following a phase of concentrated contemplation. Staedel Museum Frankfurt.

When I met the man who is now my husband, after knowing him indirectly for quite a few years, I recognized my geographer. Past life? or just plain love...I'm not sure, but I'm happy.

What's your favorite painting? and does it have a story?

This is ... what scrambles my brain when I try to understand it

I know it's a big, bad program.
I know I may be out of its league.
And #&#%% it, it's the first software program that has stumped, or rather overwhelmed me.

Mostly I have had no one to teach me, nor have the classes I attended been quite what I thought they would be. I finally got Photoshop Elements by buying the inexpensive Bamboo tablet. I took a PE class....but can you believe it was a lecture class with no computers provided? That was fun stupid imho. Just think of listening to a droning voice for 3, yes, 3, hours talk about Photoshop.

So now I find a get library books, or tutorials on the Web, try to walk myself thru it, and have moderate sucess. But even better, I now have found someone who knows the whole CS and I am going to ask him to come over and walk me thru a couple of things. I don't want to teach myself the longest way to do stuff if I don't have to. He gets a good dinner, and I get hands on advice. I now have hope. I may go blind in the process, but I have hope.


This meme comes from FlightlessBoyds and she even had 2 options. And ThreeButtons has a list of the players so you can check out more brain scrambling things. Prepare your brain!!

This is...

...my favorite childhood memory. This week's theme comes from Danielle at TeacupsonTreetops. Thanks for a sweet one.

I truly don't think I have almost any toy, possession etc still around from my childhood so I have to go with a memory.



My Lithuanian grandfather used to take me mushroom hunting in the woods across the street from the house where we lived in Pennsylvania. My grandparents lived in the other half of the duplex next door. I was under three when this happened and I'm sure my Nana was glad to have me out from under her feet since my grandparents were raising me while my mother worked and my father was a soldier during WWII. (My mother worked in Philadelphia and only saw me on the weekends when she came home.)

I can remember the light thru the trees and the smell and sound of walking on decaying leaves and twigs. PopPop knew the mushrooms well and I wish that talent had been passed down to me. Alas, he died when I was 3 yrs old and that is also the first time my heart was broken. There is a certain autumnal light that can surprise me with this memory on occasion.

I still love mushrooms in any shape or form! Want to see what others treasure? Check Angela's list at Three Buttons.

This is ....the space in which I create (and created)

This week's great theme comes from Michelle, the Quilting Mick . My primary creative space is my kitchen.



I have loved to cook since I was a young teenager and saw Julia Child on tv, slapping her hindquarters and saying you need to show the butcher where you want a cut. Butcher? that wasn't a concept in the rapidly growing suburban lifestyle. But a seed was planted, I learned how to make a great quiche, and still have the recipe for African Pickled Peaches from a 1960s Gourmet magazine. Living all around the world only opened my eyes and taste buds to all sorts of food and cooking styles. It was wonderful.

Fast forward to 2001 and I am married to my 2nd husband and he says the magic words...Anything I can do to make your cooking easier... And we plunged like fools into renovation. There is a whole Flickr collection of 11 sets about that project.

By this point, dh had built me an island to test out the concept and I finally had a cooktop that could boil water. We also bought and installed some Ikea drawers to see if I really liked having drawers. OMIGOD, did I!!!



I'm here showing how happy I am with the test island and marvy Fisher and Paykel cooktop. Note the little jar of chimichurri sauce on the red formica. Yum!



June/July 2004 the back porch and deck were gone, and then the foundation for the addition was laid.



There was a lot of this kind of examination of the blueprints



to get to this point.



But by fall I was chiseling away at the stone for the new bathroom.



And Christmas 2004 was simple.




By Jan 2005, we were waiting for the soapstone counters.



and on a bitter cold day they arrived.



The final time was over 14 months from breaking ground till the final punchout items.

It tested a new marriage, but we learned pretty well then that we are on the same team, and that our different ways of thinking CAN be complimentary, not combative. We didn't want to make our contractor the enemy either so we had to talk, cry and work our way through want WE wanted vs what I want and what you want, so that we could put a united front in discussions. That was hard because until something came up I know I couldn't always see what I wanted. It was easier to see what I didn't want. (Life lesson for me???)

But this IS my creation and my creative workspace...and I love it.



Want to see other spaces? come on, you know you do!! Then check out Angela at ThreeButtons . She maintains the list of players.

This is...my favorite (recent) travel memory

Great theme this Sunday comes from Hila.

Well, as many of you might know from reading my blog, I've done a lot of travel in my life. But one recent trip stands out because of how much my dh and I learned about each other. He had always wanted to go to Budapest because he had a college friend who escaped Hungary after 1956. Budapest was part of a whirlwind 9 day trip via Austrian Air to Prague, Vienna and Budapest. The only thing we missed was snow.



I loved the cold, brisk weather, and we both loved the food and even more so the people. They seemed a bit closer to the 'harder, old days' than say Prague but we agreed...Budapest was on its way to being the 'new Prague.' Communism's scars ran deep. The old skin hadn't been totally shed in Dec 2006, but I bet today there is less and less of the old mentality.



And what did we learn? We learned that we could travel well together on a vacation that called for three languages, none of which I spoke, three currencies, three metro systems and a long overnight flight for a man who doesn't usually sleep on airplanes. Thank you Ambien. And when I had travel overload, and brain burnout, he was clear and certain. We found in each other a good balance in travel, which isn't always the case at home... ;-) And so? we try to travel a lot!!! Here's more to see more of this trip.

And if you want more good vacation memories check Three Buttons who maintains the looong list of players.

This is ...my pet

This week's theme comes from Two Peas in a Pod.

In reality, this is the one who owns us, but if you have a pet you already know that. If you don't have a pet, then consider who owns who....carefully. This is Sebastian, our Lilacpoint Siamese. He's "mature", 16 I think.



He was one of a pair of brothers we got from a family who were giving the two away. the couple had had 3 boys in 5 yrs, and were expecting boy #4. The cats didn't stand a chance...tho the couple had doted on them for 5 years pre children.



The two boys were inseperable, i.e. Felix would not leave Sebastian alone, and was always grooming him and fussing over him. The vet told us Sebastian was a ...gasp!..poor groomer. Well, he might have been less than diligent about his grooming but it turned out he was diabetic. Sigh. Felix flew away to live with another catlover who was desperate for a cat, and we began the twice daily insulin shots.



He was not happy when we renovated the kitchen - 14 months of bedlam.




Sebastian has now 'outgrown' his diabetes, but I believe it was the energy work I did on him. Whatever, the shots are history, and he is a happily aging cat who tolerates me and loves my dh.

This is most of his life these days.He is happiest asleep on dh's lap while dh reads. Not a shabby way of life...



There are more pets to see on Threebuttons list. Have a look at the blogroll of This is...

This is: something I got, but still haven't used.

Well, after thinking about this one, and trying to narrow it down, I'll got with the one that is causing me grief. Good theme FlossyP !

This pantry


and this shelf in particular.


Some of these I bought, and some were gifts, but you know with this kind of non-basic food, you usually don't end up using the whole kit and caboodle in a recipe. And what does that lead to my lovelies??? Yes, another jar in the fridge, another jar half empty/half full, whatever you call it, it's just another jar in the fridge. I have a lot of jars in the fridge and it drives me nuts.

I had one of those plans to use one 'new shelf item' a week, but I kind of got backfilled so to speak, meaning the fridge said NO More!! I want one of these shelves cleared to use for pastas so it's time to get working on these again. I have, at least, stopped buying most of the 'interesting' items I used to buy. Well, mostly stopped buying....Food lovers who like to cook have low resistance for this sort of thing.

Want to see more unused goodies or baddies or ...check out the list at Threebuttons.

This is ...the pair of shoes I'd sleep in...sortof

All in all, I am happier barefoot and if we didn't have an old cat who is prone to regurgitation, I'd be barefoot a lot. But this is as close as it comes....my old slippers that are wonderfully warm in the winter with socks and are soon to be replaced by Crocs. But sleep in Crocs??? not hardly.

So thank you HipHop and Banana Bread for this different one.



Wanna see more? Check over at Three Buttons for a long list of players.

This is ...my latest discovery

Laura Brino

She's already been discovered with two cds and gigs about the east coast but I met her in a hair salon Friday. One of those random moments when you say....gosh, I need a haircut...how about just running in this one. And you have a serendipitous moment that lights up your day and makes you smile to be alive.

She is one of the nicest, most genuine young women I've met in some time. Grounded and gorgeous. Multi talented without a lick of pretension. Take a listen to her, and enjoy. I wish you could talk to her and enjoy her presence.

Oh yeah... I got one of the best haircuts I've had for a long time too. The way I remember my hair looking when it looked good.

This is...my perfect dinner party guest list

This week's theme comes from Lily and Agatha.

I have to say this one has had me stumped all week. I don't do dinner parties anymore, probably because I have a dh who works from home and so while I love to cook, I am doing more 'daily' cooking than I ever have. Plus, as life has gone on, I think I'd rather just have dinner with people I know and like. In the end, I came down to the decision that if I HAD to have a dinner party, it would be an open buffet with lots of the women I like. Mostly women in their 60s but a bunch of 40 yr olds thrown in. Talk would be REAL even tho there would be plenty of fluff to get the laughter going. And yes, in the end, as it usually is...there would be 'laugh till you wet your pants' howling about the perennial subject...sex.


What do they say???? "If you didn't laugh, you'd have to cry."

The food? Well, I've gone thru the vegetarian friends, the gluten free friends, so far no one who kept kosher but I suspect I'd make about 3 entrees, chicken, fish and vegetarian with a big salad...and choc raspberry bars and lemon bars. If it came down to only 6 coming, I'd FINALLY make molten lava cakes and have ice cream and homemade caramel sauce or dulce as a backup.

Now that I write...you know... I oughta just DO this! (and yes it would help if I could spell Silliness.....)

This is... my jewelry box(es)

Anastasia suggested this week's meme subject to MemeMama, aka ThreeButtons. Fun idea.

Mostly, I wear my wedding ring, either of two sets of earrings, a simple gold chain and one bracelet. All but the chain came from dh; the chain came from xh's trip to Kuwait. All are gold - I've never cared for silver and it never looked too good with my tawny coloring.

Sadly, this week's theme has reminded me that the rest of my jewelry hasn't been sorted out since the last time I did a clear out. Ok, the basket is out...I guess today is the day to look, organize and see what is still wanted. Find a new home for the rest. I guess this is the story of my life right now - she said wryly.

This is...

my demon. al-kuḥl - ironic, these days, that it was a gift of the Arabs.

I was asked recently if I was doing much writing, and was encouraged to share my truth, especially with younger people. Well, since most of the blogging world is younger than moi, I thought why not.

In my early days..15 on...alcohol was fun, and I was proud that I could hold my own and drink more than the guys. Little did I know that was a red flag. By the time I was 42, drinking was the be all and end all of my life and I had no idea how it had come to that. Slowly, steadily and progressively as the description of the disease describes. I lost many things,including my marriage, any relationship with my children, my ability to work and but mostly my sense of who I was. Death on the installment plan.

When someone told me it never had to be this way again, I really didn't get it. But I went into a detox mostly because I was at the point of not wanting to live but not knowing how to die fast enough. That's a cliche but when you've lived that cliche you know why it's a cliche. My life truly has never been the same and it is almost 21 years later. 12 step programs are free and full of people willing to listen, to laugh and to cry with you but mostly help you change.

So while this is about me , if it touches something in you that you don't like looking at, remember there is another way of life. Really.

Thank you drewzel for a moving start to this week's "This is..." meme.