soup's on !

who doesn't love vichyssoise? who doesn't love saying that word?! with summer just around the corner, literally hours away, i'm in the mood for cool and simple .... i did not follow the recipe from the link, but from my old copy of the _moosewood cookbook_ by mollie katzen. my copy is an old edition, and i could not find it on their website (my copy was purchased on ebay for $7 including shipping). but, they have lots of great cookbooks!

i intended to make some other food things today, but time just got away from me. i did soak my bulgur to make tabouli tomorrow. also, i have lots of tomatoes for another batch of gazpacho. my last batch was okay. i'm going to try something different with this next batch. i also have some chicken breasts i want to cook so i can have the meat for sandwiches, etc ....

my fish still doesn't look good, but he was a bit more active this evening. he's only on day 2 of his "treatment".

if anyone was wondering ....

... wondering what a sick fish looks like ....



for starters, a fish hanging out at the bottom of the tank is abnormal behavior. and the red ... not good either. i took a sample of my fish's water and this picture to the fish pro's today. my chemical levels were good, but the photo declared my fish has a bacterial infection. and though the fishy is ill, and i am taking the steps to change that, the guys at the shop said my fish may or may not live .... blah!!!!!



these are the fish meds, including some sea salt i already put into the tank. i also had to take out the filter as it contains carbon. carbon will remove the medicine from the water. it's a 7 day treatment ... we'll see ....

caution, TOMATO heavy posting .....

though the first day of summer isn't until the 21st, it already feels hot enough here to me. and though i live very close to the local farmer's market, for some reason, i've never really shopped there until this weekend. well, let me just say, i have a new love ... vegetables, which i already loved, but local and fresh and inexpensive! and for a girl that can only grow tiny cherry tomatoes in a pot on the back porch, the farmer's market is like an endless garden .... !



i'm just waiting for those babies to turn red .... yesterday, when i visited the farmer's market, i got some tomatoes to make a caprese ....



the basil was compliments of my back porch.

so, today i was still craving the idea of ripe tomatoes, that i didn't have to grow, so off to the farmer's market i went again .... this time, with thoughts of gazpacho in my head.



now, what's wrong with this photo? let me just tell you. i had put the joy of cooking on my christmas wish list. well, santa ran out of shopping time and found this miniature version instead. unfortunately, when your tomato is bigger than your reference material, .... (sigh)(sigh again ....) ... mom!?!

but, inspite of my cooking and assembling hurdles i still managed



... to wreck the kitchen ....





now, for the flowers ... the first batch are 7 stems of gladiolus for $5 from the farmer's market. they are absolutely beautiful!



and then a random shot of misc. flowers from today out at the market ...



whew! i'm tired now!

who are you looking at ?!

i often post my adventures in the kitchen. it seems that chicken & i are not the best of friends. the last time i cooked a chicken, because it sure seemed a good idea at the time, it turned into a huge late night icky mess. i cooked it in my crockpot, which was a bit small for the chicken i crammed into it. it slowcooked all day, and i finally took it out at night. late night. when i reached into the crockpot with my tongs to lift the chicken out, the tongs sank into the body, and the whole thing fell apart and off the bones. it was nasty to say the least.

it was a parts is parts fest. i've never been one who likes to eat meat off of bones, much less pick through all the tendons and fat and bones. but, in the end, i had a nice container full of chicken.

this time, i thought i would go a different route and roast it instead, thinking i would somehow avoid the whole mess. the only thing i avoided was the crockpot full of liquid. i still had to dig through all the parts. ick. and to make matters worse, i didn't really know what i was doing. i didn't know how long to cook it, or at what temperature, or anything.

maybe i should stick with what i'm good at ... cheese toast and eggs, with salsa and a big glass of milk.

hola amigos !

it was a certain someone's birthday last saturday, so my dad went all the way to mexico to buy her this beautiful blue sombrero ! ... and of course justin had to get in on the act, and found some miracas to wear with the sombrero.


and even though it was mom's birthday weekend, she found something for me at an estate sale sunday morning. all the pins are enameled and are from the 50's or 60's. we thought they were so cool that we went onto ebay to look for some more. it seems that lots of folks think they're pretty too, because bidding was fierce for collectors of this kitsch.


on my way back from there to here, i stopped to visit some friends for an overnight visit .... meet leanne & will. i met leanne about 11 years ago as a work study student at penland school. i can still see her in her blue painted boots and colored hair, offering me a beverage choice of boxed red wine or canned beer, from under her bed in the crafthouse. those were some happy days!




i love her work! she even sells some of her pieces on ebay. but i was fortunate enough to pick a couple of treasures from a shelf in her studio.

the engelfishy turned 38!



and , i had my first houseguests ... the nasties (snowbunny, hairball, and oz). they are in the midst of a 10 day roadtrip, and came through town on their way to savannah. it was great fun to see them again!

happy birthday goomba !


..... are you happy now?! ;)