It’s many years later. Ha. 

I’m still knitting socks, so often. 

Today I went back to knitting a blanket. 

TWD White Loaves

Don't my White Loaves look gorgeous? I've never tasted a better piece of bread. I have always used a bread machine and those loaves can't be compared with what came out of my oven. So delicious. I loved the density too. I was able to slice it very thin with a regular knife. Sooo glad this recipe made 2 loaves, because the first one was gone in a snap.

I love looking at this photo. I think it was suppose to be browner.

Notice that white hook looking thing? It's called a dough hook thingy. It's been sitting in my cabinet for the past 15 years. I've never used it before this recipe.

Here's the dough rising.

Here it's rising again.

I can't wait to get started on the next project.

Happy Anniversary Lilly and Themo

60 years ago you married. 60 years and 6 months ago you met.

You two have a great-granddaughter. She is named after your mother, dad(me too) and you, mom. I wish you had had a chance to meet her as well as your 4 grandchildren. They have missed you. Not in so many words, but in what you could have given them...

I found your letters to each other and am writing a novel of your 6 month whirlwind engagement. I must admit I have had them for 30 years and only now have been able to read the first two.

love you

A Dorie Recipe

Pumpkin Stuffed With Everything Good, that's the title of this delicious looking meal from Dorrie's Around My French Table.

Mine looks like goo-over-easy.

It was delicious, and 3/4 of us ate it, and 1/2 0f us ate the next night. I had it for lunch, and brought it to grad school for dinner. Yum-bo

Some of what I used: sausage, chunks of bread, and cream.

It was so tasty.

A Dorie Recipe

Chicken in a Pot round 2

Celery, little carrots, scallions, an onion, 2 large potatoes, parsley,and of course, the chicken.

I lightly cooked all the veggies in special olive oil from Greece, then browned the chicken in butter.

Then I placed the vegetables in the pot under the chicken and added the herbs and some pepper. So far, so good.

I finished with a much smaller round of dough on top of the pot to seal it. I hope things go better this time. Time will tell, 60 minutes to be exact.

Tick Tock

This was delicious. So yummy. The potatoes picked up the flavors and didn't need a thing. BTW....I cooked this with out salt, none. This was a success. It reminded me of the stove top version I've made a gazillion times. The seal and oven cooking really ramped up the taste.

A Dorie Recipe

As usual, I was listening to NPR on the way home, and Dorie Greenspan was on. I loved the interview. I immediately ordered Baking From My House to Yours from Amazon. I love that Amazon Prime.

Then I downloaded Around my French Table onto my Kindle Fire.

My first attempt at a Dorie recipe was on the front cover. That chicken dish with the crust around it.

Why show the book cover and not your food, you might say? Ahemm, not a pretty sight. First the crust looked like some kind of growth that needed to be lanced. Then, I used chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken. It wasn't a pretty sight. In the recipe, Dorie says to unlock the seal at the table so everyone can delight in the aroma. [The dough is circled around the top of the pot and the cover seals it shut.] The result was not what I expected. We all had a good laugh.

The taste? Let me just say it was delicious the next night, after I cooked it more and added a few more veggies to make up for the lack of chicken pieces and the resulting juices that weren't there.

I bought a whole chicken and will try again tonight. I'll take pictures this time.

Recipe #2.....the chocolate cake from the cover of the Baking Book.

Again, no photo. The cake looked beautiful, and tasted great. Still looking for a perfect chocolate cake. There are some small round shortbread cookies I want to try next.

I'm thinking of joining a group cooking the recipes in another Dorie book, Baking With Julia. Julia is of course, THE Julia. Two recipes a month and posting them. Why not, just add it to my growing list of things to do.

My Christmas Miracle

We thought that our sweet Golden, Cabot, was on her way to heaven. She has had trouble walking and has been getting injections for arthritis to help her 14 year old body. Suddenly she started falling down, walking into things, not climbing stairs, and mostly looked awful. Now what? I hate those 2 words used to describe euthanasia, p_ _ d _ _ _. See, I can't even write them. When ever I hear them, I cringe. We decided to let her live out her life at home and deal with the mess.

Cabot - sick

For 3 mornings I was afraid to check on her, fearing the worst. Then my Christmas Miracle came. I woke up to her loudly drinking water on her own!! at her bowl!! standing up!! Yikes!

Later in the day she got thirsty again: ho, ho, ho!

Each day has been better than the one before. Today she even went for a solitary walk after her potty break. Her food and water bowls are now back in the kitchen and for the past 2 nights she has climbed the steps up to our bedrooms..(heat rises in our house, he,he)

Here she is sniffing the camera, looking for treats.

New feline...Autumn. Can be nasty and mean,

especially to step sisters, Bella and Cabot. Is quick to startle, so watch your back, literally.


It took her a month to stop hissing, and screaming at all of us. She still hisses at my sweet deaf and near sighted golden retriever, Cabot. She doesn't even know the cat is walking by her, let alone screaming at her. So funny. Autumn either loves you or hates you.

I just started using a SMART board at school...fun. I also use an ELMO, no not the red fuzzy one.

It's a document

camera that projects an image to the wall, it can also be connected to a computer and project the pages, videos, everything.

The latest quilt top. Coming Home charm pack from Moda. I have 4, soon to be 5, quilts going at the same time. I envy those who can start and finish 1 project at a time, then go buy fabric. There must be a name for people like me, and people like them.

Started PT today for my knee, surgery from August. Feel better already.

Tomie!!

I met Tomie DePaola today....yea! I was so pleased to finally meet him. Jim and I went with Sarah and her son, John. Tomie was at the Concord Museum in Concord MA. He was having a bad day and wasn't able to talk much, but his assistant and his(I think) publicist, helped out and they did most of the talking. We had to leave our books for Tomie to sign later and we'll be able to pick them up in 2 weeks. Oh my! What a turn of events.

The museum store ran out of Tomie's new book,

Strega Nona's Gift, bummer. I bought two others and 2 from home for him to sign.

The explanation for Tomie's problem was blamed on his upcoming surgery and being off pain killers for the past week. I hope everything goes well.