Category: Decor

Delightful and Delicious Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles and White Gravy and Hey, Take a Gander Into a Messy Pantry...No Judging Though

1/2/2016

Hi Y'all!!!!!!!!!

How's everybody been????!!!

Little Boy Blue (4 year old grandson) in the first snow before Thanksgiving.

Miss Me???!!!

Marvin Miller's sheep in the back forty early December.

I've missed sharing with y'all!!!

Angie went white tissue paper and ultra shiny with doo dad curly doodle thingamajigs for the Christmas wrapping this year.

And guess what!!!

I made an AMAZING
Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles
and
White Gravy
recipe today!!!

YES!! TODAY!!! I KNOW!!!
I was soooo excited, I just knew no matter what,
I had to share this with you!!

And it all started with the wrong bag of
potato chips in my pantry.
I accidentally bought these "Salt & Pepper" Kettle Chips yesterday for snacking during the Rose Bowl.

Typically I always buy these...

"Sea Salt"
Kettle Chips.

But the bag I accidently threw into my cart at the grocery was
"Salt & Pepper" Kettle Chips.

Shockingly, the Chicken and Waffle Recipe I reeeeeally wanted to make after googling this morning, featured...

that's right...

Salt & Pepper Kettle Chips!!!!!

Did someone just hear an angel play a horn?

Let me tell you, as soon as I discovered this Chicken and Waffle recipe and saw I had everything in the kitchen to make this.....I screamed to get my camera and started taking the most craptastic pictures ever!

These are the fixins for
Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles
and White Gravy!!

Quick Note: This recipe is for two servings only.
If you want to feed more than two people, double or triple the recipe like I did!

Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles and White Gravy
Featured on bakerbynature.com
Recipe author: dinnerfortwoblog.com
Yield: 2 servings
Serving Size: 1 serving
Fluffy buttermilk waffles topped with crispy fried chicken and creamy white pepper gravy.

Ingredients

For the chicken:
1 large boneless, skinless, chicken breast, sliced in half lengthwise
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 cup salt and pepper kettle-cooked potato chips, finely crushed
For the waffles:
1 large egg white
2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 and 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
For the white pepper gravy:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons scallions, chopped, optional

For the chicken:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat; set aside.
Place the chicken breast on a clean work surface. Rub the chicken breast halves with mayonnaise then generously coat all sides of the chicken with the crushed kettle chips. Don't worry if they don't all stick! Transfer the chicken to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the outer crust is slightly browned. Transfer chicken to a plate and store in the microwave or a warmer drawer until needed.
For the waffles:
While the chicken is baking, preheat your waffle iron.
In a small bowl, using a hand mixer, beat egg white and one tablespoon of sugar on medium-speed until light and fluffy and soft peaks begin to form, about 1 minute; set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, remaining sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the batter and pour in the melted butter and buttermilk. Whisk until mixture is smooth and no lumps remain. Using a spatula, gently fold in the egg whites, stirring just until incorporated.
Using a 3/4 cup measuring cup, scoop batter, and pour onto heated waffle iron. Cook until waffle is browned and crispy on the outside, about 5 minutes. Repeat for the second waffle. Once the waffles are done, place them on a plate and store inside the microwave or a warming drawer.
For the white pepper gravy:
In a small pan over medium-heat, melt the butter and whisk together with the flour for about 2 minutes. Add in the milk, salt, and pepper. Let simmer until thickened; about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Assembly:
Place a waffle on a serving plate. Top with chicken, then generously pour gravy on top of chicken and waffle. Repeat for the second waffle dish. Top with chopped scallions, if desired.
Serve warm.

Now I found this recipe from the bakerbynature.com website.
Check her website out, especially under Dinner recipes, her dishes look great!!
The recipe is from a newly published cookbook called
Dinner For Two
by Julie Wampler.
This is Julie's website: Dinnerfortwoblog.com
I bookmarked Julie's blog, it looks awesome!!

We start with the chicken....

There's only 3 ingredients to the chicken:

Boneless/skinless chicken breasts

Crushed Kettle Chips

Mayo

And now, for a very special love note to my sister-in-law:

Dear Kim,

USE MAYO!!!!

Love always,
Angie

We begin by crushing those potato chips!!

A large 13 oz. bag of potato chips crushed to a bit less than 4 cups.

Enough for 4 chicken breasts.

Slice the chicken breasts lengthwise.

Again, note...I fourpled the recipe.

I mean, I used 4 whole chicken breasts instead of 1.

Fourple is a word.
In the Pretend Word Dictionary.

Rub the chicken halves with mayo...

And then coat the chicken halves into that crushed
Salt & Pepper crushed Kettle chips.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes...
and the yummy chicken should come out looking like this...

Ahhh man,

can't you just taste that salty, peppery potato chip coating?

Okay, chicken is warming in the oven...let's get these buttermilk waffle ingredients pulled together.

Whip the egg whites and sugar until soft peaks form.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda & powder and salt.

Do you think my picture here would win me an award for
Most Boring Picture Ever?

I think so.

Shut up.

Anyhoo, make a "well" (FANCY COOKING WORD ALERT..."WELL") and throw the eggs and buttermilk in the...fancy "WELL"!

Whisk it all up and fold in the whipped egg whites...
this will make the mixture all fluffy...

Throw the mixture in the waffle maker.
(By the way, if you don't have a waffle maker, my advice is to get a waffle maker or borrow one and forget to return it, you won't regret it.)

Now make up that peppered white gravy with butter,
flour, milk, salt and pepper....

Whisk and cook until the gravy thickens...
yummy!!

FINALLY....NOW let's build a Waffle with Oven-Fried Chicken and White Gravy!

Light Buttermilk Waffle

Plus Salty Crispy Coated Chicken

Topped with creamy
White Peppered Gravy

Equals
Complete Deliciousness!!!

I'm telling you, this recipe is foolproof!!!
The salty chip coating on that juicy chicken breast, layered on a fluffy sweet waffle, topped with savory, tasty, finger lickin' good pepper gravy!!!

Foolproof!!!!!

I'm a complete fool and even *I* couldn't mess this up!!!!!!

If you want to print the recipe, highlight, copy and print the recipe up above or click on bakerbynature.com and print the recipe from there.

I hope you make this recipe sometime!!!
If you do, let me know how it came out!
Kids will LOVE this chicken with the potato chip crust!!

Okay, so anyway...
remember when I was talking about this bag of
potato chips
in my pantry earlier??

Well, I thought I would share pictures of my very,
very messy pantry with you.
I am clearly of the "Not Proud" folk of the world.
More like the "Dis be me, no excuses, I yam what I yam" folk.

Do NOT proceed any further if you are a judgey person :)

SHUT UP!!!!!!!
I told you it was messy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyhoo, let's start with the Pepsi with real sugar that I keep in the pantry.
These are "teeny" Pepsis as
Tim says.
Small cans.
It helps Tim to not drink so much pop.

On the lower shelf are the extra dishes used for this here food blog, neatly organized.
:)

The lower shelf also brings us a menagerie of freezer baggies, internet recipes, and kitchen appliances.

The middle shelf here is stuffed with onions, potatoes, and canned goods.

Hey!
I bought a boatload of shallots for Christmas and then decided not to make the recipe....

Anyone need any shallots???

As you all know, I am not a baker.
I hate it.
Makes me itchy scratchy like poison ivy.
For some reason, baking ingredients takes up an inordinate amount of my pantry.

WAIT WAIT!!!!
See the box of Whoppers up there??? I made a Chocolate cake with Whoppers at Christmastime! Here, let me find a picture.

SEE!!!!
I did it!!! And I didn't even swear or threaten to throw the mixer out the back door!!!!

I lied. Of COURSE I swore and threatened to throw the mixer out the back door.
Duh.
Do you even KNOW me?

Let's move along to the other side of the middle shelf.

Vinegars,
oils, honey, raisins and a paper bag make up this space.

Look up on the right hand side on the wall there....

On the wall is this tea towel with measurements
and a vintage
Leave a Note box
with a broken
clock hand.

Let's see if someone left a note.....

Oh look. Someone did.
It says:

Dear Angie,

You are more beautiful than any of the Charlie's Angels and Ginger from Gilligan's Island.

Love,
Tim

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.................

Anyhoo,
I kind of have a thing for olive oils.

I try to buy the best I can afford.

On sale of course.

The other side of that shelf is the cereal and crackers.

It actually looks reasonably organized.

Huh.
What'dya know.
Weird.

Oh. Retract what I said about reasonably organized. In back of the cereals and crackers are a heap o' pasta and rice and such.

I will say one of my resolutions is to actually cook up items like these more, instead of having the expiration date tick tock by and then all of sudden I'm like WHAT THE WHAT, HOW DID THIS EXPIRE FOUR YEARS AGO AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT!!!!!!

I do love me the Zaza's Pasta and I keep stocked at all times!

Made right here in Iowa City,
it is!

On the top shelf of the pantry is the paper products,

craptastically organized as you can see.

And on the floor is a menagerie of crockpots and paper towels....

And the other side of the floor is bakeware and ice cube trays.

Ice cube trays.

Ice cube trays.

I have a fridge that makes ice cubes yet I feel the need to keep ice cube trays.

Ice cube trays.

Ice cube trays.

It's times like this I really have to wonder about myself.
Ice cube trays.
Four of them.
In packaging still.
Good golly.

Lastly, this is my sliding pantry door.
Straight outta the carriage stall of our 1870s barn.
Washed it down before they installed it with a garden hose and Dawn dishwashing soap and called it guuuuud enough.

We kept the original hardware and track. It sounds like a freight train when opened :)

In fact, everything is original.....

From the handle and the notch on the side...

To more notches and grease stains...

And all the imperfections...

This door is absolutely perfect to us.

Okay kids, that's all I have for today!!!
Heck, it was enough,
wasn't it???!!!
Next time, I'll thrill all y'all with my laundry room!!!

Dude, I'm kidding about the laundry room.

Seriously, seriously kidding.

Happy New Year!!
Have a great weekend!
Hopefully it won't be another three months before I post again!
Stay warm and we'll talk at ya soon!!

Pretty Pictures and a Super Fantastic Pasta with Kale Pesto and Roasted Butternut Squash!

8/6/2015

Hi Guys!
THE FOLLOWING PICTURES MAKE ME HAPPY AND I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THEM.

This is a picture of Tim's Grandmother's kitchen window in Albuquerque about 30 years ago,
one of my favorite pictures ever.
Marguerite would change the glass out seasonally.

Can someone come to my house this weekend and lay this exact sidewalk by the summer kitchen, please? Hello? Bueller? Bueller?

artpeople.net

mariakillam.com...check her blog out, she's a fantastic designer and colour expert.

This entryway intrigues me. Even the carpet,
but especially that railing.
I want to tour the rest of the house.

Maria Killam is a designer and colour expert.
This is her living room. Talk about put together!

On the other hand, this entryway intrigues me too.
I'm nosy.
I want to know what's upstairs and what's on the main level here.

I saved this picture because I think the walkway might be realistically doable for me down the road.

mariakillam.com

This is gazpacho. Doesn't look like any gazpacho I've ever seen. Yes please, I'll take two bowls, er I mean glasses.

And when I get tired of that porch, I will retire to this other porch, also attached to my imaginary dual-porched house.

I'll eat that gazpacho out here on my pretend porch, by the sea.

Something is driving me crazy though....um,
WHO has floors that clean?? In a kitchen??? Who???

And I will wash up those gazpacho pedestal glasses in this here kitchen in that imaginary house by the sea.

Okay, now we get to a delightful dish that makes me super happy too.
This light refreshing dish is full of flavor and just a delight to eat.
Pasta with Kale Pesto and
Roasted Butternut Squash.

Lottery Hill Farm in Vermont.

This dish is one of the top five things I've made and devoured!!
In fact I made it for breakfast the other day, I was craving it so much.

So this dish is from
Melissa Clark with the
New York Times!

And here's the fixins for this
refreshing pasta dish!

Also, I used a whole wheat,
locally made pasta.

Oh gosh, I think this style is called corkscrew or twizzler or something...I'll remember before I'm done with this post.

Rotini, maybe?? Oh heck, I'll just google...
Okay, just googled,
it's either fusili or rotini.
Anyhoo, use whatever you have in the pantry.

Here's the recipe....Just click HERE to go directly to the New York Times recipe.

Pasta With Kale Pesto and Roasted Butternut Squash
MELISSA CLARK...straight outta cooking.nyt.com

Time 45 minutes
Yield 2 to 3 serving

Here is a one-pot meal designed explicitly for the hungriness of a long-distance runner, with garlicky kale pesto and sweet roasted butternut squash. Making the pesto with kale instead of basil gives it a structure the basil-rich original lacks, and it interacts beautifully with the crisp-and-soft smoothness of the roasted squash. A terrific dish.

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ pounds butternut squash
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling
¾ teaspoon kosher salt, more for squash
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small bunch (about 1/2 pound)lacinato kale, center ribs removed
8 ounces pasta (penne rigate works well)
⅓ cup toasted pine nuts
2 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
Freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Use a vegetable peeler to peel squash, then halve it lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Dice squash flesh into 1-inch pieces, place on a baking sheet, and toss with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Spread pieces into an even layer, making sure there is space between them. Roast, stirring squash pieces once or twice, until golden brown and tender, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; have ready a bowl of ice water. Drop kale into boiling water and cook for 45 seconds. Use tongs or slotted spoon to transfer kale to ice water. Bring water in pot back to a boil, adding more if necessary so there is enough to cook pasta.
Drain kale well, then wrap tightly in a dry kitchen towel and squeeze thoroughly to remove any excess moisture. Roughly chop leaves. When water in pot comes back to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions.
In a food processor, pulse together kale, nuts, garlic, salt and lemon zest until mixture is smooth and salt has dissolved. With motor running, slowly drizzle in the oil until fully incorporated. Taste and add more salt dissolved in a little lemon juice, if necessary.
Drain pasta, reserving a little cooking water. Toss pasta with kale pesto and some pasta cooking water if necessary to help it coat pasta. Add cheese, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve topped with squash and more cheese.

So we'll start by toasting the pine nuts in the oven for
10 minutes at 300 degrees.

Angie's Public Service Announcement:
Do not,
I repeat
do not
have heart palpitations when you see how much pine nuts are at the grocery.
Just
#1 Breathe
#2 Cover your eyes with your hands and
#3 Buy them, they are essential here...

Just wanted to mention that I bought Lacinato kale,
or what is commonly referred to as
Dinosaur kale,
instead of the more traditional curly kale.

Either one works fine, for sure!!

First, prep all your ingredients.
Cut, chop, toast, grate and shred.

Olive oil up that yummy cut butternut squash, and salt and pepper them and bake
for 30 or so minutes....

Now get your boiling water in a pan ready for the kale

and then have a bowl with Ice cubes and water beside....

Throw that kale into the boiling water for
45 seconds or so...

...And then throw the kale into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking...

it should look a gorgeous bright green!

Drain the kale on a paper towel and squeeze dry.

Throw the pasta in the boiling, salted water...

Now chock the kale, toasted pine nuts, the garlic, and lemon peel in the food processor and pulse away!

Now drain your pasta...

you're getting close!!!

It should smell heavenly,
just heavenly,

and look like this.

Toss
the pasta with the kale pesto....

Add a tiny bit of pasta liquid, if needed, to keep things nice and coated...

Looking good, yes??
Also, you can not even imagine how wonderful this smells with the toasted pine nuts and lemon peel, garlic and kale....fantastic!!

Oh my goodness gracious,
now add the roasted butternut squash...

Shred some of that fresh Parmesan on top....

I can still smell the lemony pesto
with the sweet butternut squash
and the saltiness of the Parmesan.

Like I said earlier, I made this twice in one week cause it was so light, refreshing, delicious, a perfect combo of everything summery.

OH! You can eat this warm or eat it for
lunch the next day cold.
Either way it's terrific and I really hope you try this recipe out sometime!!!

Okay, so closing out, I would like to share a couple of other pictures that make me happy (none of the pictures showcase potato chips or cheesecake though, that's for another day :)

So the weather last week was
a-changin' to the south there....

Tim was sitting on the deck...

rather
enjoying himself with a
cigar,

a glass of wine,

and the Bible,

his usual evening
accouterments.

I looked over at the sitting area off the deck, under the tree,

and stated how peaceful it looked that night,

with a newly mowed lawn.

So Tim decided that would be a good vantage point to watch the storms in the southern skies.

At least one cat thought so too,

and joined us as well.

And the sky that night was quite lovely to see, when you're far, far away...

Okay, so that's all I have for today!
I really do hope y'all try out the
Pasta and Kale Pesto recipe sometime soon though!!

So have a good rest of the week kiddos,
stay cool,
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!

Angie's Share Day - And no, you won't be bored. Yes you will.

6/15/2014

Angie's Sharing Day
This post is about reeeeeeeally boring stuff.
But it's the best I can do.

It's not like I'm an exciting Charlie's Angel.

But if I was,

I'd be Kelly!

Strike the pose!

What???

I knowwwwwwwww.

Dis gonna be a long, boring, stupid post. I kind of warned ya ahead of time though.

Know what else is boring?

This pot roast that I put in the oven.

The recipe is called
Awesome Red Wine Pot Roast.

The name of the recipe should have been called Completely Normal, Nothing Unusual Pot Roast.

That there's a $15 cut of meat.
$15!!! I'm still in therapy for that.

Speaking of boring......

...I still have an inability to do dishes, even in the new house.

Boring.
Boring.
Boring.

And they just keep piling up and up and up.

Sinks shouldn't be for worky type of stuff anyway, they should be used for fun stuff....

...Like letting yittle toddler boys named
Little Boy Blue play water games in them.

Speaking of water and boredom.....

...My dang plants are soooooo needy.

They demand water every single day.
I'm really bad at regular watering.

Oh, I interrupt this riveting blog post to share a request being made by Giblet Pearl aka Gibby...

"meow meow. meow meow meow meow. meow meow. meow."

Translation in Human language: "Uh yeah, could you possibly not run that ding dang vacuum cleaner when I'm napping? I would appreciate it. Thank you. You can leave."

I love Before and After Projects!
Mainly seeing other people's.
This was mine though. We've had this wash commode for over 30 years. Tim's mom had it for years before that. It worked for us when I was decorating with a ton of cool old stuff and antiques in the house.

Before...

We are old as dirt (well Tim is...heeeee :) and are decorating with less now. Less stuff means less cleaning. (Angie likey that part, do I hear a holla?!!) So.....

After...

Before.

After.

I did switch out the hardware too, which updated it a bit
but still kept a vintage vibe.

Remember when I said we were living with less decor now?

Well, it had to go somewhere.

This was one of 350,000 loads.
That's a lie.
It was more like 879,468 loads.

Baby the kitty says, "Gee crazy sweaty lady, you not gonna pack me up and throw me in the back of that van too, are you? Are you?? I scared."

Of course not, Baby.
And Santa is staying too.

Hey, do you know who DID exaggerate?

The person who posted this crock pot Sweet Potato recipe online and said the sweet potatoes came out "buttery" and "sweet tasting".

The sweet potatoes came out tasting like plain old sweet potatoes. (This pic was taken before they cooked.)

Man, that's like 10 minutes of prep work I'll never get back. Oh well. Win some, lose some.

I am OBSESSED with
french fries.
OBSESSED.

First, I soak the raw cut russet potatoes for about 30 minutes in warm water with some Sugar In The Raw
in it.

I guess Sugar In The Raw is also know as turbinado sugar.

Oh I'm fairly certain it's not healthy like kale or quinoa.

Don't care. Remember, I am OBSESSED with french fries right now.

Anyway,

I fry them twice and use a
candy thermometer.

I let the oil heat up to 350 degrees and fry until they are barely light brown, barely.

Takes about 4-5 minutes.

I then let the fries set aside on a drying rack while I fry the other batches.

Ahhhh, now Round 2 frying is the best part.
Heat the oil up again to 375 degrees and throw a batch of those already fried, lightly browned fries in.
Fry just a couple more minutes at the most until the brown color you like appears....

Throw the fries on a rack...

Season them up with whatever you crave...

We likey
salt and pepper and cayenne.

Yum!

Crap, now all I want is fries. Again.
Argh.

Must think about something else now.
Must think about something else now.
Must think about something else now.
Must think about something else now.

I KNOW!!!

Glen Campbell!!!!

Wichita Lineman...one of the best
songs ever!!!! c1968

So, quick question:
Am I the only one who marks her light switch plates?
No really. Just wondering.
Why play a flick-of-the-switch guessing game at 5:30am every.single.morning?
I have more important things to do like check Facebook while waiting for the freaking coffee to get done in the coffeemaker. Duh.

Lastly, I just wanted to show a picture of Little Boy Blue
on Easter morning.
LBB never, ever gets candy, especially at 8am in the morning.
He kept looking at us adults very distrusting, like we were going to be taking away his goodie basket any minute.

It was super warm Easter morning, so LBB's dad took him out to the new deck and played songs for him on the guitar. Boy Blue played with his stash of matchbox cars while his daddy strummed along.

Okay, so that's all I got for today other than, oh my goodness gracious, this 2006 Chevy Impala LT with 132k miles that I just listed yesterday is in ridiculously immaculate condition.

Check this car out on the Inventory page!

OH, one more thing!!!

Does this booth make your heart sing?

Everything you would ever ever need
to set up an authentic vintage kitchen
IS - IN - THIS - BOOTH!

It's all so neatly organized, all in excellent condition, some sets of stuff I've never seen before,
and it's all pretty pricey too.

This space is in an antique mall in Oronoco, Mn
just north of Rochester.

I thought the antique mall staff were going to come over and tell me to move-it-along, I was spending so much time in that space. Just lookin' and touchin' and daydreamin' and frankly, gaspin' over the prices. Oh well, it's fun to look.

Besides,
I had bought my own self a set of vintage glasses earlier that week right here in Kalona.

Now how awesome are these!!!
Just say they're awesome, that's all ya gotta say to make my life complete. They really are awesome, though :)

Okay, that's really all there is left to this totally riveting post!
Now try to pry yourselves away from these most excellent captivating pictures and witty commentary (cough, cough) and
have a great rest of the weekend!!
Talk at ya soon!

So They Make These Receptacle Things To Help With Crappy, Messy Laundry Rooms Called BASKETS! Also Baaaad Food Pictures, Cute Babies And The Big Finish Of Hot Dogs!

9/9/2013

Floppy Magoo Recipe #1:
Does this look yummy to you?

It doesn't, does it??!!

This was supposed to be Apple Crisp.

It was more like
Apple Flop.

Apparently the "topping" was supposed to be a "crumble" not a smear of goopiness.

And apparently this was supposed to have "flavor" too.

Floppy Magoo Recipe #2: This Squash Bread Stuffing was more like Let's-Dry-Out-Your-Mouth-And-Dehydrate-Your-Whole-Body-By-Sticking-A-Bunch-Of-Bread-In-There-With-A-Tiny-Bit-of-Vegetable-And-Bacon-And-Call-It-A-Stuffing Dish.
I felt like I was in the Sahara Desert.
Waaaaterrrrr, I neeed waaattteeeerrr.

Floppy Magoo Recipe #3:
Chicken on Nachos.
So I was TRYING to make something
original.
Something that no one has ever made BEFORE - ever in all the culinary history of the world.

Shut up!!!!

I SWEAR on a stack of Grandma's Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks that the crap laying on those chips is real food!!!
F.
O.
O.
D.
Food!!!

Not poo!!
Food!!!!
It was supposed to be Chicken Nachos.

Tim wouldn't eat it.

He's a snob.

Floppy Magoo #4: Could someone come over and clean my kitchen?

What about my kitchen from a week ago?

WHY CAN'T I KEEP A CLEAN KITCHEN??!!?
And why does my mother-in-law leave her empty wine bottles on my counter all the time??!!??!!

Heeeeeeeee. I'm just teasing.

Those aren't my mother-in-law's.

Those are my mom's!!

Dear Ma,

Please Do Not take me out of the will. I was kidding for Pete's sake!! It's pretend, it's a blog, I LIE sometimes!

Love,
your favorite daughter Angie

Hey LOOK!!! My laundry room is a little clean though!!!!

GO ANGIE, IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, GONNA PARTY. LIKE IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY. Re-looking at this picture again, I know it looks messy but BELIEVE ME, this is CLEAN! For me.

I discovered "receptacles" y'all!!

The fancy word for them is "BASKETS!!!"
They are helpful in corralling laundry!!

Still partying, like it's my birthday, keep partying, even though it's not my birthday!

And one month after discovering receptacles, how is the laundry room looking,
you ask??!!

GO ANGIE, IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY, GONNA PARTY, oh I'll shut up now.

YAY!!!!
Still clean!!!!

Kind of.

Cloooose enough!!!

Completely random photo of
birds on a wire in the yard a month ago!

Floppy Magoo #5:

*shaking head*

I have no explanation.
Move along now.

*shaking head*

Floppy Magoo #6: These combo potatoes didn't look too bad before going in the hot oven, did they?

Well, we didn't eat them. They came out limpy-magoo and flavorless. Even the cats wouldn't try one. They sniffed and walked away.

Completely.

Utterly.

Serious.

Human mom crayzee. She can kiss our smelly feeeet.

Okay, let's move on to more
deeelish things....

Our beautiful, soulful niece Annabelle and her family came over for dinner one night this summer!

Annabelle &
Little Boy Blue played
and played
and played!

And Annabelle's parents brought a bee-utiful baby boy with them...our new baby nephew Graham!!

This yittle chunky baby was not even two months old!

That is one well fed yittle tiny baby boy!!!
Look at those chunkmeister legs!

However...
Little Boy Blue
was intrigued by this new baby boy his Grandpa was holding and talking to...

yet confused why HE wasn't the recipient of the holding and cooing.

So everybody
practiced the art of compromise.

Oh my gosh, don't even get me started on our two new baby nieces who are one month apart!!!
They look like yittle tiny burritos I love them so!

Baby Niece Kathlynn is six weeks old here....and Baby Niece Matti is two weeks old!!! Oh my gosh, Ima eat those two babies up they're so darn yummy!!!
And the kicker is Tim and I got to snuggle all three brand new nieces and nephew within a few months of each other! Blessed is what we feel!

So I'm going through my roll of pictures and I
spy this picture....
Now why would I take a picture of my dirty work shoes and dirty work shorts at the end of the day with that super lovely birthmark on my leg?

Well, the next picture told the story.

No it didn't! It didn't tell the story!!
These pictures were taken FIVE WEEKS AGO! Heck, I can't remember what I ate for breakfast much less why on earth would I photograph dirty clothes?

The only thing I can think of is to prove that I work hard.
Really? Why would I think dirty clothes prove that?
My cats go outside CLEAN every morning and roll in the gravel and dirt for hours. Does THAT prove that they are hard workers? On the contrary. They're lazy, spoiled felines who do things like roll in the dirt and gravel for hours. For fun. Just Because.

Clearly there's no closure to THAT conundrum so let's keep moving on...

It's very important
what I want to show you next....

Orange
and
yellow handled silverware!!!
Picked these up at auction. They forced me to bid on them. Cause they're awesome.

Also I wanted to show you the
summer kitchen.
We use it as an outdoor sitting room/office.

See that Radio Flyer wagon by the door,
in the left hand corner up there....

...It cost like
30 million dollars!!!

Seriously, have you priced wagons lately??

When did little red wagons get so expensive?

Back in my day, you could buy them for a nickel and stick of sugar I'm pretty sure.

So this is the ceiling of the summer kitchen.

I have a few vintage frames just hanging around up there.

And on the floor is this handmade,
all weather, turtle rug...it came from a Florida flea market.

Washes and wears great! Perfect for a summer kitchen.

I'll tell ya what I like A LOT is this set of rattan nesting tables.

Cute AND functional.

Picked up this set for $25 at a used store this summer, what a steal!

Now this is a 1940/50s metal outside set that I had purchased several years ago. There is a chair too.

I still have the original floral plastic cushions but traded those out for these more comfy ones.

This is a set of 4 cottage prints that look better in person than this picture shows.

Okay, since all these fantastic pictures and text were just sooooo exciting today,
I feel I must end this post with a bang!

Did you know you can put hot dogs in the crockpot!!!
True dat!

It's so much better and easier than cooking 56 hot dogs over a hot grill while everyone else is having fun!

Worked perfectly by the way!!
Throw them in on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours.
They get all nice and warm and taste like the dogs you get at the ballpark! The outside ones even get some lines on them. Yum!
Crap. Now I'm hungry.

Thanks for humoring me guys!
Oh! I did make some beef fajitas that were absolutely fantastic so I'll be sharing that recipe next time.

Stay cool and we'll
talk at ya soon!!

Super Boring Randomness On A Cold Snowy Day

1/30/2013

Oh my goodness,
you know this post is going to be a snoozefest when the first picture is the inside of Angie's washing machine!

But look in there!

That's a $10 bill there
AND
another bill!!!

I got excited...it could be like two $10 bills, that's like TWENTY bucks total!!

Twenty bucks! Twenty free dollars!
The world is at your fingertip with 20
FREE
dollars!!
Happiness is just around the corner.
All wrongs suddenly become righted.
and YES MONEY DOES BUY HAPPINESS EVEN IF IT'S ONLY TWENTY DOLLARS!

WHAT THE WHAT????

$11???

What kind of crap is that?

Somehow
that $9 difference is a big deal.
It's the difference between me buying that really cute pillow I've been eyeballing and not buying that really cute pillow I've been eyeballing.

Eleven bucks.

Eleven bucks buys me a gallon of milk, two dozen eggs and a bag of cat litter.

Oh,

and dashed dreams.

Oh well,

at least I have cute blue~and~white napkins.

Seriously? You wake me up and no treats are involved? Gibby not happy.

And a cute
Thanksgiving Day kitty
named
Giblet Pearl
who is a little annoyed I woke her up with the
clicking camera.

Hey, I'm curious.
Do you ever get out the broom just so the kitty in the house can be temporarily entertained?

No?

Well, I don't either.

I just got those pictures up there off internet.

Do you think my fridge needs more stuff
on it?
Is it looking a little bare?

Gibby
is caught red-handed.....

...being naughty.

I love how Vinny in back there
is just sitting like,

"Dude. You are gonna be in so.
much.
trouble!"

I love chunky, colorful glass.

Like this Blenko glass vase.

See that nice sheen on it?

That's called kitchen grease.

I'd like to get serious here for a minute if you will allow me.

I was just kidding about the getting serious thing.
Isn't this 70's vintage Bob's Big Boy cute??

He's a bank!

Maybe that's where I'll hide that windfall from the washing machine this morning.

And how about this vintage 1970's
Curad boy??

Now, how cute is he???

The back of his head is a bank too.

This is in my kitchen.

Because baseball collectibles should naturally be in a kitchen, yes?

See how I keep that girly vase up there though? Hehehe

Now this thing is a vintage 60's popcorn megaphone.

Spectators purchased these at pro baseball games and they held popcorn.

After one was done snarfing the popcorn, you punched out the bottom and it became a megaphone so you could yell at the players.

Below the baseball shelf in the kitchen, sits the all mighty communication board.

I think we're a little late on that Chicken Dinner at St. Patrick's Church from 1960.

See the top right hand corner of this board?

Therein is a turn-of-the-century picture of a lady and her bicycle.
Love it!

Here's the picture,

out of Cedar Rapids.

Man, those ladies were heavily garmented back then,
weren't they?

For those of you new to this blog...garmented is a word...in the Pretend Word Dictionary. Look it up.

Next to the top secret communication board are two pictures of old houses.

The top house is a pencil drawing from the early 1900's,

the bottom is an old photograph maybe circa 1920's.

I love pictures of old houses
and old people
and old cars
and old Christmas stuff and...
well, you get the drift.

OH!
I know what I was going to show you!!

See this? Isn't it cool?
I bought it at an antique shop in Hermann, Mo.
It's a handmade boat dock on driftwood.

Look at the detail of the boat dock...

And the detail of the pelican...

Well,
see Vinny here?

Vinny ATE THE HEAD OFF THE PELICAN LAST NIGHT.
WHO EATS THE HEAD OFF A PELICAN FOR PETE'S SAKE??!

Well, I glued the pelican head back on and it's safe for now.

As another nod to my nautical collection,

here's an advertising thermometer in the shape of a captain's wheel.

OH!

Here's a vintage shell lamp in my kitchen I wanted to show you.

And look at these two adorable vintage birds.

Tweet.
Tweet.

Guess what I found in my barn?

This cool vintage
Iowa plate!

Interesting, hmmm.
1. A field of ripened corn.
2. Where the Indians roamed.
3. Corn fed pork.
4. Ready for market.
5. The capital.

As we all know, Iowa is so much more than, uh, "Ready for market."

Okay, now see this recipe box?
It's from Tim's family.

This recipe says
Rice Salad.

Soft Chocolate Frosting...yum!!

Coconut Cake...oh my!

Yummy
Hunk Pickles!

Hot Milk Cake...what??
I'll take TWO please!

I like chunky, texture-y things like this memory ware vase that I've had for years....

And this shell vase thing...with wings apparently.

This art piece and throw are texture-y and chunky...

And this artwork is full of texture...I love this picture.
I paid $7 for it at a consignment shop.

And who doesn't love chunky beef stew as in
Beef Stew with Paprika and Beer?

Except I won't be sharing this recipe cuz it was just meh. Okay. All right. Nothing to groove on. Typical. Not out of the ordinary.
Done or raw,
fills the craw.
Type of thing.

Should have tasted more interesting with all these ingredients though,
don't ya think?

Well, I better get back to work now.
The electricity has been going on and off all morning due to this heavy wet snow and ice storm.

This picture does not describe the miserableness of the snow out there...it is snowing and blowing terribly...I can't even see my neighbors' houses.
And apparently my spatial meter is off because I reported to Tim this morning that there were no drifts in the driveway.

Tim informed me that the snow there was 3 feet deep and I may want to reconsider my definition of snow drift.

Okay, this was taken out my front door right now at 1:10pm.

Yowza!

Okay guys, thanks for humoring me with this ridiculously boring post!
Have a good Wednesday....stay safe if you're in a
stormy area!!!
Talk at ya soon!!

Our Most Favoritist First Birthday Ever, Scanty Fallish Decorating, And A Quick Trip To Amana

10/25/2012

Last weekend was such a fun time!!
We celebrated Little Boy Blue's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

And all the newly minted 1-year-old wanted to do was climb the mountain of presents to get to that colorful twirly gig decoration thing! With his laser-like focus, he succeeded by the way :)

In other weekend news,

I sparsely
fall-decorated
the dining room.

I put together a quick
Halloween
table centerpiece....

This is a real Gerbera daisy.

I paid $10 for it but the florist said it would bloom for three more weeks....

Look at those cute votive holders!

I think I can use a couple of them at Christmas time too.

WHO?????

WHO????

WHO are you looking at???

Okay,
now see these INNOCENT turkey salt and pepper shakers?

They don't hurt a soul! Gobble, gobble.

But Vinny has decided they are enemies and must be hunted and destroyed
every ding.dang.day!

I CAN'T KEEP ANYTHING NICE AROUND HERE!!!

Did ya notice this handmade Halloween booklet on the table?

This is the front cover of this fun, quirky booklet....

This is the back cover.....

You open up the booklet and each page is a campy, quirky Halloween themed page.

And
this is the last page.

Well, I changed up the display on the vintage Record Player/Radio/Short Wave Radio console too...

A closer look at this season's tabletop display....

This is my collection of vintage drink stirrers back there.....

And a few wine stoppers given to me as gifts....

When I got out of the antique business 5 years ago, I made certain to keep this funky barware.

These stirrers are so fun to pick up and check out...

A lot of these are from the 60's Vegas casinos and hotels.

And this shaker is just too cute.

Course the top is missing.

The top is ALWAYS MISSING off these vintage shakers!

And I can't help it but I do love this vintage aperitif glass...silver and black with that art deco stem.
LOVE!!!

Oh by the way, remember Vinny The Turkey Hunter?

He also likes to destroy expensive wrap paper on the dining room table.

"You want me to do WHAT? Get off this wrap paper? No way Jose."

"Here,
if I act cute, will you leave
me
the heck
alone?"

Finally I was able to wrap the baby's present! This is the front side...

...and this is the meticulously wrapped back side.

I think I should have ironed that wrap paper before using it.

Oh! Putting this vase away for the season, but isn't it soooo pretty? I am mesmerized by bright, shiny, colorful things.

Seriously, all people ever had to do over the years was give me a marble for birthdays and Christmas and I would have been satisfied.

Shhhhh, we won't tell them that though. All Laura Ingalls Wilder wanted was a stick of sugar too.

So anyway, on Sunday Tim and I jaunted over to the Amanas to visit the shops, it was such a beautiful weather day!

Hello
My Main Man,

Stud Muffin,

Hard Worker,

Money Maker,

Person Who Will Eat My Unfortunate Cooking Mistakes,

Person Who No Matter How Much He Eats Never Puts On A Pound And That Is Sooooo Not Fair,

Dad Who Is Never Allowed To Say "Bratwurst" Again Like Chris Farley Per His Kid's Orders,

Good Looking, Studly Grandpa Of The Coolest Little Boy Ever.

We only went to three or four places.

Look at that blue sky, will ya!

Tim likes this shop because they have lots of manly man antiques, you know, boring stuff like toys, signs, and sports memorabilia.

I'm KIDDING!! It's not boring

if you're a dude.

Actually I know the owner and he's so nice and his stuff is super nice, TOP QUALITY! His stuff is rare and hard to find and it goes for top dollar because of that rarity and condition.

I do loves me this collection of animal milk glass plates though :)

Now how many times have Tim and I walked or drove past this house and did not realize it was full of antiques..an antique shop!

The answer is A LOT!

They need better signage.

Now, if you get out of the car and walk up, you see this.

Looks like a house and that antique sign on the left is hidden by tree branches by the way.

Cute display by the unassuming front door.

Heck, we didn't know what to expect...we didn't even know if we were going in the right door.

Yup, we were in the right place!
This is the beautiful, primitive side....

And this was more within Angie's budget....

You know how I loves me creaky old stairs in antique shops and figuring out where they lead...

BOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANGIE LIKEY!!!!

Of course I loved this place!!

It was two houses and two stories put together!

Oh my gosh, I thought long and hard about several of these pieces, but one can only have so much crap in their house.

And I STILL have a lot of crapola in my house.

But I wanted those textured planters on the bottom right. The green, yellow, red and aqua ones. That's all.

But then
I
became

distracted

by this other

stairwell full

of old jugs

and crocks

and bowls.

Okay, last boring antique picture, I promise...

And it's not even that exciting but I did pick this black and white deco-looking bread box up in Stillwater, Mn a few weeks ago.

Don't know how I'll use it,
I just know black and white is hard to find in bread boxes.
This looks more stylish than most vintage bread boxes.

Okay, true to my word, no more boring antique pictures!!!!

Gotta get back to work now anyway.
Imagine that...I've been blogging when I should be working!! Okay now I'm really going!

Stay warm for those who are in the areas with the cold front coming in...have a good Thursday night and we'll talk to ya soon!

Good Times and Silly Pictures at the Stillwater Art and Jazz Festival

10/13/2012

We went to an
Art and Jazz Festival
in Stillwater, MN last weekend.

Look!
Cute doggie at festival!

Cute
LITTLE
doggies too!

Tim and I visited Stillwater, Mn for the first time back in May of this year. You can read it about it HERE. This time we wanted to be right on the riverfront.

Location. Location. Location!

We stayed at the
Waterstreet Inn,
which is that brick building there on the right.
The festival was just outside the back door of the Inn, on the banks of the St. Croix River.
Location, location, location.

Because of location, we paid a bit of cash (kaching) ouch for this super loverly Victorian room.

Uh, yeah. Purty. Ain't it?

When choosing location, one can't always be picky but one will usually pay three times more than what they should.

This is where we took our brandy in the evenings.

I have no idea what that means, I just thought it sounded Victorian stuffy.

The bathroom is in an
OLD BANK VAULT though,
that was kind of cool.

Oh hello Tim!
Find any money in there?
Crap, didn't think so.

In all seriousness, this Inn is overpriced, but we would stay here again because of location....walking distance to EVERYTHING, tons of cute shops, top rated restaurants, coffee shops, lots of used bookstores and antique shops. And it WAS clean.
Just, uh, a bit outdated.

We hung out and listened to some good live music throughout the weekend at the festival.

We also saw some pretty cool art.

I wanted to buy this buffalo but it was 20,000 dollars.

So I didn't buy it.

There was urban art...

Beautiful contemporary
glass art....

I picked these colored glass magnets up at the booth above. Shiny. Pretty. Angie can't resistie.

There was cool, mid-century modern wood art...

Lots of photo art booths....

More metal art...
I wanted these fish!

But they were $1900.

Each.

So I didn't get them either.

However I peeked in their booth....

....and I looked a little closer and spied some cool stuff that wasn't $1900.

So I bought one.

What is it you ask?

It's a wine bottle holder.

See,

it holds wine bottles...even empty ones like most of these are.

How cute and practical is this!!!

And the metal was finished with an automotive clear coat!!
That's why it's so shiny.

All this obsession with bright shiny things reminds me of this cute,
well,
I think it's a bracelet.

But I'm using it as a wine bottle decoration.

Boo.

Anyway, back to the festival weekend,

fortunately there were food trucks too....

we were starving after having eaten breakfast a few hours earlier.

Wok on wheels...that name kills me.

Sweet and sour chicken and chicken on a stick wasn't too bad though.

Later on, we checked out some shops downtown before it got too late...

We saw this store with fun yellow confetti looking stuff on the windows and thought we would venture in.

Oh, who loved this shop from the get go???
This was the entry.

The next thing you notice is this cool Halloween display.

And then you look up and see THIS IS A
BIG
SHINY
BRIGHT
STORE!

And they offer soda and coffee and tea and wine.

And cupcakes!!!

Everybody is happy in this store.

Grumpy people not allowed apparently.

Maybe everyone's so happy cuz there's candy in this store.

Everywhere.

Bright, shiny candy!!!

After a bit of bright, shiny
overload,

we stepped out into another shop nearby called Cherry Berry.

Whoa!! Bright, shiny overload in here too!

But I LOVED IT!!

We decided to tone things down a bit and hit a couple different antiques hops.

I don't know what shop this was,

I just loved the entry.

The antique shop nearby was cool though.

Care for a couple of yellow figurines for a hundred something dollars?

No, me neither.

I did like this chandelier though.

And how about this motor oil can?

Love it.

Obviously I really like this cupboard.

I did buy these four champagne flutes for cheap there.

Not vintage, but heavy and etched and
art deco-ish.

I have no idea why I bought this Kerr canning jar.
But it spoke to me.
It said in a sneaky whispered voice, "Pssst. Angie. Yeah, you. Buy me."

Holla if you remember these Halloween treat bags!!!

Maybe I'll fill this $1 tin with candy canes this Christmas.
Or nuts.
Or love.
Or change from the bottom of my purse.

Tim picked up the coolest stuff from this antique shop....a full line of vintage Evel Knievel things.
Including the sky cycle!!!

Evel lived a VERY interesting life.
Ima do a blog post on him soon I think.

Man, I love this small picture.
It's the top to a vintage calender. But I LOVE that aqua frame.
LOVE!

Well, after a fun day of doing fun stuff, we went to a fun place and ate fun things but I will spare you food pictures this time. I'm certain ya'll are about ready to doze off from all these totally thrilling pictures...

....such as this heart stopping picture of a coffee shop we visited the next morning...

But it was very cute and lively....

And it had the
Best
Chair Ever!

Love it!

Before we left town,

we spur-of-the moment stopped at this Isaac Staples Mill.

We didn't know what it was.

We saw this non-descript sign and door that said "Antiques" and "Open" so we walked in.

And the heavens opened up and the angels started singing....

There were stairs and floors and booths and lots and lots of antiques!

After meandering through the first floor, we took these stairs to the second floor.

And then we took this ramp to the 3rd floor....

...where this barber chair greeted visitors...
come to think of it, maybe this is a shoe shine chair? Hmmm, anybody know?

...and more stuff.

The original wood floors were awesome.

Creak
Creak
Creak

The whole time. Creak.

There were landings....

...and stairs that went down to them.

See this bike on the wall?

Does it
or does it not

look like the bicycle from the Wizard of Oz?

Huh. Am I right?

Huh, huh?Am I right?

Personally,
I prefer this biercycle from the festival.

Much less scarier.

Quite honestly, after seeing the Wizard of Oz bicycle, we figured it was time to head on out, back to Frytown.
We didn't have any bicycles to fly, so we just drove back in our car :)

Okay, thanks for humoring me by reading this guys!!!!
Hope everyone's had a good weekend!
Have a great rest of the weekend and we'll talk to ya soon!!!

I Feel Like A Rich But Lazy Person With A Monday Off

9/4/2012

Man, two days off in a row??!!
Sunday and Labor Day Monday!!!!!!!!
I feel like a SUPER R-I-C-H person!
Super rich but super lazy too.
Ima not lose any sleep over that last one though :)

So what did I do on my two days off you ask??

Well,

I took those
2/$1
bell peppers and threw them on a baking sheet.

And I roasted them until they became charred.

Then I put them in a bowl and covered them with plastic wrap for 15 minutes.

Then I unwrapped the peppers and peeled them and de-seeded them.

I then put two each in freezer bags and dated and marked them and threw them in the freezer.
These will go into dishes that require roasted red peppers this winter and it will save me a ton of time I could be using to peruse magazines or researching recipes or trying out new lipsticks.

Okay, that lipstick thing was a lie...do you even KNOW me??!!

Okay, we did other things besides
roasting red peppers....

We rented Midnight in Paris....both our girls love this movie so I thought I better check it out.

We LOVED it!

Delightful
is what it is.

And there's a French flea market scene in the movie...
that's Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams talking over there and the other woman is the dealer lady.

So of course on Monday, Labor Day, Stud Muffin and I visited the
Uptown Bill's Labor Day Flea Market
in Iowa City.

This particular yearly flea market is very small but quirky.

Had the usual suspects like vintage pottery.

And some cool toys.
This was a boxed Midget set, vintage c.1960.

For $125.

Yup.

$125.

And this particular dealer was selling this very, very cool bench for $465.

Yup.

$465.

It was gorgeous though for sure.
Very unique and artistic!

Plenty of single chairs to get your groove on.

Including these two cuties.

Need a picture?

Plenty here!

Unfortunately these were all old lady looking prints and no mid century modern pictures.

Now we're talking
vintage contemporary!

Now THIS dude had some interesting pottery pieces....

But his red Haeger rooster was $145.

Really?

Now I used to be an antiques dealer and you know,
none of us ever made a killing on anything.
But $145 for a Haeger rooster?
ESPECIALLY when I wanted it real bad.
Boo. Is what I gotta say to that.

There were fun children's vintage games and toys...

And there was vintage Christmas and I did not buy one dang Christmas thing. Not one thing. I wanted to. Especially that cute beaded Santa over on the right there. But I didn't.

Hey, these two lamps creeped me out.

The light bulb goes on top like normal.

But then another small bulb goes in those white eyes or flower looking things on the front there.
*scratching my head*

I wanted this,
I wanted it,
I wanted it!!

Whaaa!!!!!

I should have bought it!

Leave me alone, I'm in a depression now.
sniff.

I'm still depressed but I'll finish up this
here post.

Bicycles.

Cheap canister set of my fave colors.

Some of these colors are in that #$#$*&^@ footstool I should have bought.

Anyone have a snot rag I can borrow?

Anyone need three scary doll heads?

Okay, now THIS is making me smile again and am forgetting about that awesome plaid footstool.

BOO!!!!!

\

Hehehehehehe :):):)

Love it!

Linda Blair called and wants her heads back.

Okay, so what DID I buy then you ask,
huh?

Well, I bought this gorgeous abstract oil painting.

For TWO DOLLARS!!!!!

I kind of likey it on my dining room wall!
I'm gonna leave that $2 price tag on there forever.

Oh yeah, Tim broke the bank and bought a $2 Flip Car from 1989.

We had to fight for it but he IS stronger than me so I gave up real quick.

So after sweating like pigs at the flea market, we grabbed ourselves some lunch and then wandered back home...

...and to my chagrin, the laundry still looked the same as when we left.

Hey though, YO!!! I got a new washer!!!
Cause I am RICH!!!!!

Actually our washer broke Friday morning.

Q: How did I know it broke?

A: Cuz there was 2 inches of water in the laundry room.
At 4am in the morning.

So I call up the local Appliance Barn at 8am and say I want the absolute cheapest washer with the least amount of technology and knobs they have, delivered today.
Nice lady said it would be $530.
I fell on the floor.
Then I picked myself up and said two years ago I bought a dryer from you for $250. She laughed and said washers are more expensive than dryers.

I'm still gonna need therapy for this by the way. $530 PLUS a delivery fee.
Now I KNOW washers and dryers are typically way more expensive than that but I am cheap people, C-H-E-A-P!

Anyway,

it was still mid-afternoon on Monday and I thought I would go out and start packing the barn up.

Beings that it was hit by a tornado and all and needs to come down.

Double sigh.

I peeked back in the narrow middle room

(formerly held cattle and horse grain back in the day)

and sighed.

The wind was strong that day.

Then I saw this green hula hoop and it made me smile.

:):):)

And these two little impish vintage Tappan salt and peppers made me smile too when I opened up a door to the Hoosier cabinet.

Then I figured I better stop taking boring pictures of crap in my barn and get inside cuz my allergies were FLARING big time!!! BIG TIME!

Plus after all,
it was Day Two of the loooong weekend and I wanted to make sure I partook of the "lazy" part of having
Sunday and Monday off.
Sunday AND Monday!
Still giggling at that!!!!
Back to reality on Tuesday but it was a nice dream the last 48 hours!!

Hey, have a good Tuesday
and we'll talk at ya soon!!!!!

Just A Quick Cat One Here And Then On To Show And Tell

6/7/2012

I'm an early riser.
I typically wake up happy.

Credit: malariaworld.com

I do my best work between 5-7am every morning.
I'm clear headed, creative, productive and like to get a lot of work done during those two hours.

The cats, however, have other ideas for me...

Here we are now. Entertain us.

*Sigh*
This is 18 year old Holyfield who is always the first to jump on my work table, before the coffee's even done brewing.
We play a game every morning for 25 minutes where Holyfield tries to lay on the keyboard of the laptop and I push him away. He then tries to lay on the keyboard of the laptop. I push him away. Again the keyboard. Again pushed away. And again. And again. And again. Over and over.
Holyfield calls it "getting petted and loved on".
Angie calls it "pushing the cat away from the keyboard."

And Vinny here insists on being wherever my camera is.
All.
The.
Time.
This is no
exaggeration.

Told
ya.

Vinny's brother Pepper, enjoys attention too.

But what Pepper enjoys more is...

...corralling his brother Vinny every single morning and leading a loud, raucous meowing chorus of
FEED US OUR TREATS YOU OLD LADY!!!
NOW!!
MEOW!!!

Now I know you think I must be embellishing about these annoying cats in the morning...
magnifying the reality.
But Ima tell you,
THEY JUST WON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!

Case in point!!!!!
You didn't believe me, did you?

And then after repeating the following;
five hundred times every morning...
"Get off your brother!!!"
"Get off Holyfield!!!"
"Get off my keyboard!!!"
"Get off the kitchen counter!!!"
"Stay out of the oatmeal!!!"
"Stop biting my feet!!!"
"You've had enough treats; no more!!!"
"Stop eating Holyfield's treats!!!"
"Leave the dog food alone!!!"
"Leave the dog alone!!!"
"Are you in or out? I'm tired of this Grand Central Station stuff!!!"
"Leave the ##@*&% mouse outside, that's disgusting!!!"
They finally settle down and I get some peace and quiet.

Right about 7am,

when my clear headed, productive, creative mojo is waning.

zazzle.com

But, they're all keepers. Especially Holyfield.

Who you will see has assisted me in presenting the following
Show And Tell items we picked up on a weekender in Stillwater, MN.

Let's start with this small stained glass cross we picked up at a really quirky bead and gift shop.
$20.
Not bad eh?

The craftsmanship is beautiful, the gold detailing in the corners is not visible in this picture.

Tim bought this and I almost fell on the floor cuz he NEVER spends money, well other than a pop and an occasional cigar.

This is that fun and quirky bead shop where we bought the cross.

Love it!

Moving on, this is my absolutely favorite tickle-me-pink thing I bought on the trip.

A super cute red and white french fry basket.

Ca-ute!!!

Look at that cute plastic-y basket weaving!
Don't ya just want to fry up some fries, throw them in there, slather them with salt and ketchup and GO TO TOWN??!!!

Don't ya??!!
Yes??!!

Actually, I bought this basket at an antique mall in a cute town called Cannon Falls, right outside Stillwater. This mall was a bit pricey.
However......this basket was just one buck!!! One buck!!! Doing a dollar dance here, lalalalallalala, dolardollardollardollardollar. *head spinning round*

Know what else I bought there?

This big plasticy spoon rest.

It's like a foot long.
As in inches, not sandwiches.

See, it says Betty Crocker on it!! How cool is that??

That sticky stuff above Betty there is the remnants of the sticky price tag.

Guess how much I paid for this.
It was more than a buck.

Five bucks.

Not too bad eh?

Not only is this spoon rest functional but it doesn't break the Bank-O-Angie.

Q: Hey, could my background display tablecloth be any wrinklier???!!

A: No.

Oh don't even get me started on these appetizer plates!

You know how I loves me the dishes!!!

We bought these at a store named appropriately enough "The Dining Room Shop" or something like that.

The label on the front tells you they are appetizer plates for the top of your glass.

The plates are safe to place on the top of glasses because of this foam thing on the bottom.

Myself, I just love the colors in these plates.

So soothing.

I even used them already for the Pizza Stuffed Mushrooms.

OH!

At this antique shop I paid a buck for the following item....

Gulf Oil paraffin wax!!!

Now I collect oil and gas related stuff but I never thought I would see Gulf Oil on a paraffin wax box!

Hilarious!

Aren't the colors great though!

And here's the instructions on the back.

Love it!

Again, only paid a buck.

Now we went to this antique shop...it was humongous, never-ending, super busy, full of life, and fun!!!

It had three floors!!

The third floor was nothing but furniture. Furniture everywhere!!!

Hundreds and hundreds of pieces, big and small.
It was kind of creepy and gothic up there.

All I bought was a $2.99 vintage Christmas bulb though.

Yes, I paid $2.99 for this tackmeister, tackthousand, tackiest-ever bulb.

I know you want it.
You can't have it.
It's mine.

I saw it first.

Okay, last thing to show you...Tim picked this up...again, oddly hilarious.

Readylite Emergency Battery Candles.

Candles that look like batteries.

And size "D" batteries to boot according to the box.

Crazy!!!

And they really are candles.

This is the side of the box.

And the back with the candle instructions...
remove paper before lighting.

Um, okay.

So, that was the extent of our shopping excursion,
that didn't include food anyway. :)

Hope everyone has a good Thursday!!!
This IS Thursday, isn't it?
Yes. Yes, it is. Just looked at the calender.
It's Tim's Dad's birthday!...Happy Birthday Richard! Don't party too much today, cuz you know, no one's gonna come bail you outta jail :)

Have a good one guys,
talk at ya soon!

A Day In The Life Of A Fish Taco Dinner

5/15/2012

We had a Fish Taco Dinner Saturday night.
I will post the "non-boring" (cough, cough, gag) photos, directions and recipe next post, eh?

Well, we had a few visitors for dinner,
including Little Boy Blue,
who came over with his Momma and Daddy and stayed overnight.

As soon as that ca-ute little family rolled into the driveway, I whisked Little Boy Blue out to the shop to go say "Hi" to Grandpa....

I'm so happy to see you Grandpa!

And then I propped him on the shop counter
where he met a new friend...

My Grandma needs to get a life.

They didn't engage much though.
They were both shy.

Grandpa, will you buy me a 1971 Chevelle Super Sport some day? It'll be our little secret.

When LBB's momma came to check on him, we made her hold the baby so he could watch his Gramps work.

The baby loves
Tim's shop!!!

Little Boy Blue is seriously entranced with his Grandpa's work and shop.

Well, I needed to start on the fixins for the fish tacos, so I brought Wee One into the house.

We were greeted by Auntie Sweetness...

Please Auntie, don't eat me up. I taste awful...like liver. Or kalamata olives.

Wee One pretended like his Auntie was an alien who wanted to eat him all up...

so he ignored her.

And then I started on the fixins for the fish tacos.

Did I mention I will be posting about that next time?

Oh stop it.
I know you want the
4-1-1 right now on the recipe and such, but I only have so much time.

In all seriousness, I have been busy...BUSY!

The cars are crazy I tell ya!
I'm a hard worker, but I've been having to work especially hard every day doing this.....

Credit: bestweekever.tv

Cleaning on...
aka detailing out...
lots o' cars!!!
That's me all right; that little monkey just a workin' away.

In fact Sweetness asked me today on my lunch what'd I'd been up to.
I replied, "Having my butt hang out of car trunks and doors. If there's a hinge, there's my butt hanging out of it."
I think she was horrified at first.
But then laughed uncontrollably.
Oh real funny Sweetness, real funny.

So anyway I set the table for this fish taco dinner.
And you know how I loves me the table settings and centerpieces and table decor and tablescapes and dishes and glasses and don't EVEN GET ME STARTED!

So I thought these nice chunky colorful pieces would make a nice centerpiece with chunky candles deposited in them.
All of these pieces were Tim's super cool,
classy Grandmother Marguerite's glassware...man, she loved to set a table and boy could she!!!

I added Marguerite's colorful water glasses to the table settings...

And then I added plates and cloth napkins...keepin' it casual though, after all, this is fish tacos we're talkiin' about here...

So while I was finishing up the fish tacos,

Great Grandma finished up feeding Little Boy Blue,

although LBB pretty much wanted to run the show on this one.

Mom! Dad! Can you buy me a toy like this; Grandma says they're called measuring spoons.

We set
Super Boy
up to the dinner table with some toys to keep him busy...

And then we started digging into the fish tacos...

But then I made everyone turn around so I could take a group shot.

And then we dug in and ate and ate...

Watch me blow bubbles and make silly noises Grandma. I can do it. Watch me.

The next morning, we were still stuffed and Little Boy Blue was in a fantastic mood.

So I put him out in his fun walker-gizmo-thinga-ma-job outside for a change of pace.

And I asked Tim to watch him while I cleaned up dishes from the night before...

Gramps, whatch ya doing? Wake up Gramps, pay attention to me.
Let's go out to your shop and I can watch you work.
Hey, I want to touch your facial hair and laugh at it. Hey Gramps, wanna play airplane? C'mon. Make those funny noises.
Why you tired Grandpa, you should have your sole attention on me at all times cuz I am adorable.
Oh FINE, I'll just sit here and bounce and play with these giranimal things. My super cool, young-lookng Grandma will come rescue me soon anyway.

Okay Guys, that's all I got for now.

Have a good Wednesday!!!

It's Tuesday night at 11pm and I think I just turned into a pumpkin. Only it's one of those pumpkins with warts and all.

Photo credit: Better Homes and Gardens (bhg)

Yup,

that about says it all.

:):):)

Catch ya soon amigos!

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Delightful and Delicious Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles and White Gravy and Hey, Take a Gander Into a Messy Pantry...No Judging Though

Hi Y'all!!!!!!!!!

How's everybody been????!!!

I've missed sharing with y'all!!!

And guess what!!!

I made an AMAZING
Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles
and
White Gravy
recipe today!!!

Pretty Pictures and a Super Fantastic Pasta with Kale Pesto and Roasted Butternut Squash!

Angie's Share Day - And no, you won't be bored. Yes you will.

Before.

After.

So They Make These Receptacle Things To Help With Crappy, Messy Laundry Rooms Called BASKETS! Also Baaaad Food Pictures, Cute Babies And The Big Finish Of Hot Dogs!

Super Boring Randomness On A Cold Snowy Day

Our Most Favoritist First Birthday Ever, Scanty Fallish Decorating, And A Quick Trip To Amana

Good Times and Silly Pictures at the Stillwater Art and Jazz Festival

I Feel Like A Rich But Lazy Person With A Monday Off

Just A Quick Cat One Here And Then On To Show And Tell

A Day In The Life Of A Fish Taco Dinner

Author

Categories

Archives

Hi Y'all!!!!!!!!!

​​How's everybody been????!!!

​

I've missed sharing with y'all!!!

And guess what!!!I made an AMAZING Oven-Fried Chicken with WafflesandWhite Gravy​recipe today!!!

Before.

After.

Author

Categories

Archives

How's everybody been????!!!

And guess what!!!

I made an AMAZING
Oven-Fried Chicken with Waffles
and
White Gravy
recipe today!!!