Hoppin John

Forgot to post the picture of the Hoppin John I made on new Years day. Blackeyed peas are for luck in the new year..It is not something my mom made so I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe. I put it on brown rice to help the healthiness. Cabbage is for prosperity in the new year and the pig is because it is delicious. This is the plate I took to my next door neighbor. She can't really cook for herself anymore, so enjoys sharing our bounty now and again.

don't stand naked in a frozen fountain

 

well, what did you think I meant? This was the scene this morning in the backyard. This scene 10-12 years ago would have made the girls run grab their Barbies and their ice skates.

 

Not a good day to ride dolphins naked.

 

 

Cary asked me to come hang her Christmas present for her. I found some great mirrored panels for her for her kitchen. Candy and I decided to make it a treat the Baby Mama day. When Candy gets on board you know the food will be excellent.

 

 

Yum and beautiful. That would be butternut squash soup, crostini, pasta salad, fresh berries and the final touch, baby camellias.

 

 

She loved it! the salad was penne with shrimp, artichokes, snow peas, baby green beans and arugula. Soooo good. That is sparkling cider which we toasted to 2014...peaceful days and QUIET nights.

 

 

David had a lunch meeting so he will have to enjoy the leftovers later. Brody slept almost through lunch. He is major teething so was a little fussy. Didn't get a pic of him:(

Here are the panels.

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

oops forgot to mention

With all the good soups I have been making lately this came as a welcome surprise.

Sophie knew I had been looking for old soup spoons. She ran across these at Odds and Ends, one of our favorite junk shops. Miss Evelyn who owns it drives a hard bargain. Fortunately when Sophie had some time off over the holidays, Miss Evelyn was taking time off too. Why is that good? Her daughter was running the shop and she has a different attitude than her mama. She's more like "please take that junk out of our door!". So Soph got them for 25 cents . There are 15 of them so I can serve soup to 14 of my dearest friends and family. May even use them on my Hoppin John that I have cooking right now.

Dogs and food

 

Dear 2014, Welcome to my blog. Hope you come up with some better material to work with than your predecessor, 2013. Of course there were lots of good things and many things that were funny. But there were some really gut wrenching awful things. On the last day of 2013, I helped my friend pick out a headstone for her husband.. Let's not go there again, Ok? First off we have to deal with this blood sugar, weight loss thing that 2013 left for us to deal with.

 

 

Ok, I got major credit for this one. And I get major credit for this next one, because not only is it bursting with super foods (be careful this soup might punch you in the face), but it contains kale.

 

 

After a disastrous foray into homemade kale chips :/ Ed declared that kale would never cross his lips again. This soup was so good that he ate a huge bowl.

  I went to Kroger to load up on healthy food to have on hand. It was hard and I was not alone in my mission. All over the store people were crowded around the fresh veggies, the organic aisle and the whole grain bread display. The yogurt section was clogged with people reading labels and trying to select the healthiest possible choice. And so many choices. Greek, active live cultures (is that safe?), low fat, no fat, no sugar, plain, liquid yogurt(!), granola included, whipped(?) and is that the brand that keeps Jamie Lee Curtis regular? And if it is Greek yogurt, why does it have a Japanese name? Just saying. I bought one tub of Greek , all natural vanilla yogurt. It was ok...tasted a bit like someone had stirred a bit of vinegar or club soda into my cup.

 

So it was with pride that I glided into my line at the check out. This was a buggy to be proud of. I smiled as I laid out my fresh veggies. I beamed as the whole grain crackers and hummus rolled down the black belt. I groaned when I picked up  the loaf of Oatnut, whole grain bread...dang that thing was so heavy. I gloated as I watched the person ahead of me unload sale Christmas candy, chips and sugary sodas. In fact my groceries were so healthy I halfway expected them to jog home.

On to dogs...

 

 here are the Woolverton dogs. Cute and cuter.

Gibbs and Ellie

 

 

Toby and Truffles

 

 

I was napping between them.

 

 



 

 

 

 

Sugar wars

 

It is with a heavy heart that I bid a "bittersweet" goodbye to some old friends.

 

 

My end of the year blood work indicated I must lighten up. Look at all those luscious goodies. Yes that is fried chicken on the left. Sister Schubert you were like a sister to me. Haagen-Das say it isn't so. Chocolate chess pie, potato chips, eggnog even Mr. Hershey my dearest friend I'll miss you. But to my soul mate Irish potato, this isn't good bye. I can see you on the weekends but, only baked not fried. It will all be worth it to live long and get to see my babies live their lives and be a part of it. Wish me luck.

 

 

 

 

holidays

 

Whew! The day after Christmas. I always loved that day when the girls were little. The toys were all still new and exciting. I hardly even saw them. They were either writing in a new journal, making a Harry Potter potion or taking care of a new baby doll. Total bliss. I could rest up . Well I still enjoyed this day. Relaxed and then went to see a movie. We saw Saving Mr. Banks. It is about the making of one of my childhood favorites, Mary Poppins. Mom you have to see it! So I have some catching up to do and Ed has the fire going so here goes.

 

 

Let's talk Solstice Party . A long standing tradition with Woolverton and McNeil families. We were sad without Bill. Sophie and Paul hosted and made the night special and not too maudlin. Poppers popped . Crowns emerged . The food was fabulous. Wolfs, Mcneil/Patricks collaborated.

 

 

We exchanged gifts. All were great, but here are highlights

 

 

A play pizza set which was a joke but he couldn't put it down.

 

 

Chris' huge rice crispie treat. He of course at some of it forthwith

 

 

Lord of the manse with his gift

 

Ivy and Shelby, too cute

 

The house was so great

 

what can I say?  On Sunday we had lunch at Majestic Burger.

 

 Amy came too. So happy to have her at Broadmeadow

 

 

Now Christmas day. I know I've left out a lot .

 

Bryan and Ashley

 

waiting to eat

 

 

Beautiful girls

 

Happy to have Ivy and Shelby

 

 

Winners of the best hair contest. Even though Ryan looks a little special in this pic

 

 

Brody's first Christmas and first present in the name draw! I was lucky enough to draw his name.

 

 

Here we all are. You can see Sophie in the mirror if you look closely. Just lack the Voda, Rhodes, Middleton component. See you at the beach.



 



 





 

 

 







 

 

 

 

kiss kiss

 

One of the most anticipated events during the holidays just happened! A phone call from Kissing Santa himself. He usually says something clever like "Ho, ho, ho, hello Amy"

 

Before you laugh, let me take a moment to shed some light on his history. In my early artistic years, I went through a prolific paper mache period. This rare remaining piece may be all that is left of my paper legacy. There used to be a cat, pig and three wise men. Jan fell in love with this guy, who is based on a huge Chianti bottle. His very well endowed lips inspired his nick name. Stop by Jan's and give him a kiss. Then you can have a Hershey's kiss out of the coffee can covered in a laced up  Santa boot. Did I mentions my felt artistic period? It was right up there with the folded page Sears catalog Christmas tree.