food, memories, and playing with watercolor

 

red beans

DH made a batch of red beans and rice last week. I LOVE red beans and rice! And his is the best... even better than they serve in the restaurants at home (New Orleans). It was the perfect meal for these cold, dreary, rainy winter days. 

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And this past Monday would have been my sister's 85th birthday! She passed away at 51 of Cancer.  I was only 10 when she married at 19 and moved to Mexico City. But as the years went by, she eventually moved back and we were just beginning to know each other as adults when she died. 

my favorite photos  (as I remember her)

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Photo taken from my TV set 

I watched the Inauguration of President Biden and was amazed at how well it was done (considering the circumstances). IMO his speech was excellent and the songs beautiful and appropriate (This land is your land, this land is my land...). And that poem from that young poet laureate... well, it gave me chills. 

I'm sure that things will not be easy for President Biden, but just having him in charge after the last 4 years of chaos does my heart good. 

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And these last 2 entries are just things I like... and am willing to share with you.

grand daughter and Moose 

Grand daughter and Moose (their Great Dane) enjoying her last day before going back to college. 

sketch and water color

Practicing my watercolor (which needs a lot of work) on a sketch I had made years ago for the cover for my book... before I found an actual picture that I was happy to use. I really need to take a watercolor class one day. Started one in 2017... but  before the second class I was in the hospital with acute appendicitis.

Oh well, maybe one day.  BTW, my friend who owns a kiln fired my batch of cheeky chickens last week... (10 chickens and 1 fox) so at least they have had their first firing. They will need another after I black bird them... and that may be a while since I'm out of blackbird.

OK, enough sharing for today. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. The weather had been a  bit bleak this week, but my concerns for our country (politics and the pandemic) seem to have lightened... :) 

Hugs (virtual),

Rian

Hurricanes, red beans, and a funny mistake

what I saw on my weather App

Sunday afternoon:

2 hurricanes heading into our kids areas today. Hurricane Douglas hurdling towards Hawaii at the moment. And Hurricane Hanna coming up through south Texas. Son is on Oahu where he said the sirens just went off. And daughter is in the Hill Country a little north of the Texas coast. Hopefully neither will get the brunt of the storms... both may lessen in intensity by the time they actually arrive where the kids are. But as a mom, I will still wait to hear word from them later this evening. 

*Having written this yesterday afternoon, I have since heard that both hurricanes did little to the areas where the kids live. However, I will say that the picture above looked very ominous to me. My son and his wife live on Oahu in Kailua (where that green dot on the screen is). The island looked very  small to me compared to the size of the hurricane. Anyway, as a typical son, he texted me this morning with the words, "didn't die". *

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Saturday DH made a delicious batch of red beans and rice  - which we had for supper both Saturday and Sunday along with some fresh challah bread and butter. We usually have enough beans for 2 meals and some left over to freeze.
  Then Tuesday I plan to make a big pot of African Chicken Peanut soup - to eat and to freeze. This recipe we came across several years ago and my daughter and I have made it ever since. It uses peanut butter in the soup at the end. Yes, sounds strange, but tastes delicious!

Oh, and I need to tell you of a funny mistake we made in ordering our curb side groceries this past week. DH added some sour cream to the list online... thinking he was ordering a 16oz tub instead of the small 8 oz tub. Well, you should have seen our faces when we pulled this out of the grocery bag.

5 lbs. of sour cream!! Didn't even know they made tubs of sour cream this large. What would anyone ever need 5 lbs of sour cream for.... maybe a restaurant??  Any suggestions - outside of returning it? I hear that you can freeze sour cream (although I've never done it).

That's it for this Monday's post. Life goes on... a little different than it used to be... but we're adjusting.  Things change. My hair is getting long. I can now make a small ponytail. Seems like I will be going back to my ponytail days (or perhaps a long braid like Willie Nelson?). Have you made any adjustments to your normal routine - that you may keep - besides the stay at home, social distancing, and wearing a mask requirements?

Please take care - always - but especially during these unusual times. (My SIL went into the hospital with a broken leg a few weeks ago. Now she has Covid-19) 

Hugs,
Rian

a few cat pics...

It's Sunday morning and I've spent it drinking coffee and reading blogs. Well, not totally, I also cleaned up my computer room a little - while looking for a recipe that I had mislaid.   I've nothing much to write about today. DH is in the process of making us a batch of his wonderful Red Beans and Rice.... so the house smells wonderful.

I had come across what was promised to be a 'secret recipe for rice pudding'.  I love rice pudding, but like everything else, some recipes are better than others. So I'm going to try this one.  It calls for using arborio rice and a vanilla bean?  Sounds interesting.

This is Texas and while I was freezing on Wednesday (weather was in the 40's I think) and DH had turned off the heat in the house, today it's supposed to reach the 80's (more my speed). Sometimes I just get so-o cold that the only thing that will warm my blood back up is a very hot shower.  When I get this cold, I can touch DH on the arm and he will say, "God, you're freezing... how can you be alive?" But my daughter is the same way.  DH and the boys seem to be more hot blooded.

Well, it should be a good day to work on my hanging herb baskets. I try to keep basil, parsley, rosemary, and lavender in hanging baskets by the front door. This way the entry smells sweet and they are close by for culinary use.

A few cats pics:

 





    Tux among the towels

Jack playing...

Jack and Tux...

Waiting our turn...

Playing with bubbles...

                                                                                               

Playing with Mardi Gras beads...

Rose loves plastic bags...

Monday...

I have this card...

DH and I have this card.  We bought it a while back... too funny.  Seemed fitting sentiment for a Monday morning... and a busy week ahead.  Also reminds me of the song I have on my iPhone by the Irish Rovers called "The Unicorn"  (in the song, it's the unicorns that miss the boat).

Thanks for the photo editing advice some of you sent. I will be checking out some of the programs in the next few weeks. Don't think I'll have time this week with pottery deadlines and doctor's appointments. 

The weekend was fairly uneventful. I'm reading three books at once, "The Racketeer" by Grisham, and two cozy mysteries, one of the Midnight Louie series and a Pie Shop mystery.  I keep the Racketeer by the sofa and the 2 cozies by my bedside. This way I'm ready for long commercials or reruns in the evening (in the den)  and always read after I get into bed at night.  We don't have a TV in the bedroom. Tried it once years ago and decided that we definitely didn't like it. Oh, DH did make a huge pot of red beans and rice Sunday... it was great!!

books I'm reading

BTW, I still can't change my font style or size within blogger.  I'm sure it's something I did that caused this. But I went to tools at the top of my windows and enlarged it a bit.



Happy 4th 2012!



Happy 4th of July!

Sitting here drinking my sweet tea... neighborhood parade just went by... and parade music is still ringing in my ears.  Everyone has their flags out.  This picture is an old one from a previous 4th.  We no longer have that flag pole.  It was taken down and never replaced when we had the wood painted.  But we did have 2 smaller flags out.  Guess we need to get around to replacing that pole.

Parade music reminds me of Mardi Gras at home (in New Orleans). I was never a big fan of the parades, but loved the music.  It made you feel happy... and carefree.  Unfortunately I've never liked crowds... and believe me, it gets crowded ! 

If I had to think of what I miss most not living at home (besides family, I mean), it would be the food.  I do love red beans and rice, po-boys, gumbo, and good seafood... like fried catfish and boiled crabs (I especially love soft shell crabs).  But we try to get our 'fix' when we go down for a visit. 

It should be a quiet day.  We don't have anything planned.  The kids may come over, but may not.  We never know.  I plan to bake a chocolate pie later this afternoon... just in case.  Besides, DH and I love dark chocolate cream pie!

Oh, just a tidbit of info here: Grand daughter called this morning at 7 am (we were still asleep) to tell us the exciting news...  the box turtle we gave her a few weeks ago just laid eggs in its pen!  So hopefully (with a lot of luck and nothing weird happening) we'll have baby turtles in about 50 weeks (I think?).

Again - HAPPY 4TH!