Brunch

The best part of Brunch?

homemade Bloody Mary's.......I LOVE these!!!

My version has plain tomato juice, worcherstershire, lemon pepper, celery salt, tabasco,and some green olive juice. My garnish of choice is a pickled asparagus spear or green bean, but green olives are good, too, if that's all you have. (I once had one at a high-end place that was garnished with a whole shrimp! FANCY!)

The first one with vodka....the second (and third?) without....

I don't have these very often (the sodium count is insane!) but when I do, I don't even even need other food. They are a Brunch in themselves.......

Boy, is my mouth happy today!!!

Ashes to Ashes

I have two co-workers, 60ish brothers, who tell the most wonderful, twisted tales from their very unusual, eccentric growing up years. They are two of five brothers who apparently had one crazy adventure after another while growing up including their college years. Their Mother must have had the patience of a Saint! They weren't bad boys, just very mischievous in very clever and witty ways. I have known these two guys and their wives for 20+ years and the wives say that even now, in their early 60's, every Christmas is just hysterical with each brother trying to outdo the others with the funniest/cleverest/wittiest gifts. I wish someone in the family would write a book....I'd be the first one in line to buy it!



Sadly, one of the Brothers passed away about 2 years ago. His ashes have now been divided up among the other Four, and I'm now hearing tales of what each one is planning to do with "Brother", and how it will be done.....for instance, "Brother" loved the movie "The Great Escape"....do you remember it? Remember what the prisoners did with the dirt they removed from the tunnel???....Yep! that's right! (it had to do with a few spoonfuls at a time in the cuffs of their pants...) I'm quite sure "Brother" would be both pleased and proud of all the plans presently being made on his behalf. Talk about carrying on family traditions!



Anyway, all of this has gotten me thinking about what I would like my family to do with "me" someday when the time comes. Why not put my blog to good use and put my final wishes in writing for my kids? At least they can't say they didn't know what I wanted....you'll all be my witnesses!


Dear 3 Children Of Mine:
I know I've sort of mentioned a version of this before, but I've seen the eye rolling and weird faces so I know you haven't taken me seriously (as usual!). Therefore, please take notice of what I'm about to tell you here and I really and truly mean it, so pay attention!!

1. Cremation, please

2. NO FUNERAL!! A fun and happy party/memorial with lots of food where you can make fun of me all you want since I won't be there to hear it, would be just fine. And if you use any photos, just make sure you use pictures that make me look thin, OK? (I hear photoshop is really good...)

3. Divide up my ashes between you 3 and all the Grandkids. And since I hope to be around for at LEAST 30 more years, I could possibly have teenage GREAT-Grandkids by then, so I'm thinking those little snack-size ziplocks should probably be just about right.

4. Each person should pick out some kind of tree to plant in their yard and sprinkle my ashes in the hole before planting it. Then everyone will have a "MIMI" tree to remember me by. My preference would be some kind of fruit tree, maybe apricot or nectarine, or something that blooms with flowers, but I guess I'll leave that up to each one of you.

....And that's it! See, that wasn't so bad was it? (quit laughing Josh)

And if any of you 3 are really laughing at me I promise you I'll drop all my leaves as often as possible so you'll have lots of raking to remember me by!!#*&$#!

Proud Mom

My kids continue to amaze me.......



They've all been adults for quite some time now (my baby is turning 29!) and even though I try not to boast (I know how annoying that can be) sometimes I just can't help it!



You know how when they're tiny every little thing they do is just amazing? Then as they get older they'll say something that's just so profound you can't believe that your child just said that? Or in high school or college they'll write something that just blows your socks off and you think "That's MY kid!!" Or they make career/life choices and you think to yourself "Well, thank goodness, I must have done something right!"



Daughter and I did NOT have an easy time during her growing up years. I would often go to bed at night weeping, wondering how on earth we were ever going live through her teenage years and what would become of us and our relationship......



Well.....Daughter is 35 now, and amazingly (to me) we got through those tough times by the time she was 18 (a miracle!) and have been very close ever since. Today I think she would agree that we are best friends. For many years now she has often amazed me with her wisdom in so many situations (I'm sure being a mom to 3 girls of her own has plenty to do with that!) I have often thought (weirdly) that I wish she could have been the Mom first instead of me....I could have learned so much from her. She is a much better Mother than I was........shoot.....she's a much better person than I ever was!


Anyway.....please go over to her blog and read this post........

"That's MY kid!!"

recycling at "Cousin Craft Camp"

My Sister and her 2 youngest girls came from Seattle for a visit last week. The girls are the same age as my Granddaughters and these cousins love to spend time together. They only get to see each other once a year ( twice, if they're lucky!) and are pen-pals between visits. The Seattle cousins and their Mother got tired of feeling left out of all the fun stuff going on with the So. California cousins so the 3 of them spent a week at Daughter's house, picking up another cousin on the way. It was a fun-filled, week-long slumber party, with Sister and Daughter and 6 girls ages 8-13. Two younger cousins, 4 & 5 yrs. old occasionally joined the fun, too. (Luckily for Son-in-Law, he was working out of town for the week!)

The girls came up with a name for their special week: "Cousins Craft Camp"......

*There was a Sewing Day: all the girls made flannel blankets.

*There were several Craft Days: one day for making multitudes of bookmarks and another for recycled notepads and journals.

*There was a Beach Day...after all, we do live in So. California!

*There was plenty of time spent in the kitchen whipping up snacks, treats, and "gourmet" meals.

*There was lots of wet Trampoline jumping with water balloons and a hose.

This was my contribution to the festivities: Have you ever seen one of these?

If you work in a large office or a school you've probably used one for binding things.....

We had saved lots of fun packaging and everyone found their favorites....

Hmmmmm........lined paper or plain? Binding across the top for a notebook or on the side for a journal? So many choices and so many great results!

On the last day of the "camp" we went to my other Sister's house for a Swim Party/BBQ with lots more family members. We took along the Spiral Binder and supplies and made custom notebooks on the spot for Uncles, Aunts, and Great-Grandparents... "Do you have Wheat Thins? I love Wheat Thins!"..."What kind of cereal do you have?" ......"Chocolate! I need something with chocolate!".

Our little spiral binder was a huge hit with everyone....and as Daughter pointed out..we'll never need to buy another spiral notebook ever again!!

If you have a crafty kind of family or are looking for something to do with a group of kids I highly recommend this idea. Just think of all the possibilities!......

Now that we're done using it for a while, I packed up the whole kit and kaboodle and lent it to a co-worker who has 3 teenage Granddaughters visiting this week. It's been just as big a hit at his house as it was at ours......

That last day of "Cousin Craft Camp" was just as fun as the first day.....no one wanted it to end and there are already plans for next year.....maybe in Seattle this time around! We're already counting the weeks.......

the cobblers children have no shoes.......

I walked into Daughter's kitchen the other day to find #3 Granddaughter (8 3/4 yrs.) making cookies in her suddenly little, teeny, tiny horse apron that I think I made for her in kindergarten!

I said to her "Abbey! What on earth has happened to your apron?! Did it shrink? (HA! wishful thinking, Mimi!) I think it's time to make you a new apron!"

She happily dug through my stash and picked out (of course) puppies and kittens.

A few days later....

TA DA!!......much better!

I have made so many aprons in the last few years (well over a hundred I'm sure) I don't know how I've managed to neglect some of those people that are right under my nose every day......

Oh, wait!.....I feel an opportunity coming.....after all, there are plenty of rapidly growing Grandkids around here.....I think it's time for me to take an apron inventory....so I can GO FABRIC SHOPPING!!.....and MAKE MORE APRONS!!!

to each his own.....

In my never ending quest for thin-ness, (or I guess I should say thinner-ness since I long ago came to terms with the fact I'll never actually be thin), the thing I struggle with the most is my constant craving for salty snacks.

It's not that I don't love dessert and sweets because I do...especially anything chocolatey. It's just that when I'm really craving something, it's usually crackers or chips or fries or anything salty and fried. I guess you could say I have a salty/fat tooth instead of a sweet tooth.

In this hot summer heat wave we're having I'm constantly eating plenty of fruits, veggies and salads, so that's no problem. But today my salty/fat tooth was really acting up so I came up with a new "creation".

I happen to love brussels sprouts, but if you are one of those people who are horrified by the mere thought of them, consider yourself warned!

I separated a pound of them into leaves......

Misted them well with olive oil spray, sprinkled with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper....

Roasted them at 350* for 15ish minutes (stirring a few times) until they were browned and mostly crispy.

33 yr. old Son declared them "DISGUSTING!!"

I thought they were DELICIOUS! Crispy and cruncy and salty and delicious!

I ate the whole batch....because you're allowed to eat the whole batch of "chips" when the chips are 99.99% brussel sprouts!

Now what else can I make "chips" out of around here?........

ponytails, bobbins, and a bargain

I came across these "bobbin wraps" on the Clotilde website (sewing notions).

Aren't those just those little stretchy ponytail thingies? What a great idea to keep your bobbin threads from unwinding! But maybe not such a great idea to spend $2.49 (plus shipping, of course) on a bag of 24......

So I went to Wal-mart, and guess what I found in the hair accessories aisle for $2.00! A pack of 42 stretchy ponytail thingies.....and no shipping charge!

VOILA!!

A handy-dandy great idea AND a bargain! Two of my favorite things wrapped into one......