The fall baking bug

Yup, it’s that time of year again.  The time when the fall baking “bug” nibbles on me just a little bit.  I used to bake a lot a few years back when I had two kids at home who enjoyed desserts.  Nowadays I rarely bake anything - but when the rainy days of Autumn set in, I usually get the urge to put something delicious in my oven and wait for the aroma to fill my home.  Today it was the All-American Apple Pie!  I used a recipe from a new book I got (real cheap) online by Dorie Greenspan, “Baking from my home to yours”.  Believe it or not, there are dedicated bakers out there who have committed to baking up to four of her recipes a month until they have made them all!  Yep, you can find these dedicated bakers at Tuesdays With Dorie - a blog here on WordPress.  I was SO tempted to join in the fun!  I even bought the book (which is a requirement) but then my better sense took over.  I knew there was no way I would be able to make all the goodies… and after preparing them, just WHO would have to eat them?  So, I didn’t sign up to join the Tuesday Bakers.  But here are some pictures of today’s accomplishment — the All American Apple Pie.

Mixing the apple filling

 

Ready for the oven

 

Cooling on the counter ... YUM!

Lookin’ pretty tasty, huh?  Personally, I can’t wait till I can dive in and give it a try :)  

One of my favorite Food Network stars is Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa.  I am thrilled that she has new episodes starting this coming weekend :-)  Believe it or not, there are a group of Ina Garten fans online also!  They have committed to making two of Ina’s recipes (from any of her cookbooks) every month and then showing the results in their blogs.  They’re called the Barefoot Bloggers!  Again, I was soooo tempted to sign up with their group as well.  I have all of her cookbooks and LOVE her food… but I just knew that keeping up with it would be difficult - so I fought off the temptation. 

Now it’s time to think up something nice for dinner… something that goes with Apple Pie!!!

A letter to me

A Letter to Me

 

I’m no longer a huge listener of Country Music.  I used to absolutely LOVE it years ago, but sort of drifted away from listening regularly.  Recently I heard a song by Brad Paisley entitled “A letter to Me” – a song about a guy who wished he could have written his seventeen-year-old self a letter with all the knowledge and experience he has now.  What an interesting thought.  What would I tell the seventeen-year-old Mizsuzee?  It might go something like this….

 

Hey Suz,

Believe it or not, I’m the one mortal person who really knows you, and I hope you will pay some attention to what I’ve got to say!  Yeah, that’s right, turn down Seals & Crofts and have a listen.  It’s great that you’re doing well in school – those good grades will come in handy when you apply for College.  Yes, I know that’s already in your plans, but when you think about turning down the offer to go to Seattle Pacific U, RECONSIDER!  Get that Bachelors Degree – you will certainly thank me for it in the long run.  Don’t be afraid to leave your little home town, or feel like you need to go to Community College only.  And please don’t use the very lame excuse that you don’t want to go away to college because you can’t leave your boyfriend. 

 

Boyfriend.  Hmmmm now that’s another subject.  First, I’d like to tell you that the guy who dumped you and told you that you were “too boring” – well it might be smart to pay a little attention to that statement.  You really ARE sorta boring.  That guy – the one who shares so many of the same values, morals, and goals – He’s worth trying to keep!!  In a couple of years, you’ll be thinking about how great it would be to be married.  Girlfriend!  TAKE YOUR TIME!  You are NOT an old-maid at the age of 20.  Actually, it would be pretty smart on your part to wait till you are 25 or later to even think about marriage.  When you begin to seriously consider the lifelong commitment of marriage, please have a heart-to-heart talk to the ‘candidate’ about a few super important subjects : Parenthood, your dream of being a stay-at-home mom, the importance of God and the church in your life, your idea of the traditional role of a wife and mother, money management.  If the candidate’s ideas stray a long way from yours – PLEASE tell him “thanks, but no thanks.  This is what I want, this is what I believe is best for me and my future children.”  Stick to your guns.

 

Back to the college education….  I know you think you want to go into Nursing… and yes, it’s a very commendable profession.  But you are going to get extremely tired of working all sorts of odd hours, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.  The hours will get old in a hurry.  Maybe the original dream of Marine Biology wouldn’t be such a bad plan, either.  I think they keep much more human hours! 

 

Don’t let FEAR run your life.  Don’t be so afraid of leaving home, being alone, or failing at something.  Always remember to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path”.  That’s a promise! 

 

Signed -

Your 50-something self

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plants around the house

How can it be?  Autumn is already sneaking up on us and beginning her marvelous color show.  I’ve always loved this time of year.  Actually when I was living those four years in Southern California, I desperately missed the transforming of the seasons.  I missed the huge differences in the length of the days… waking up to cool, crisp mornings, and most especially the gorgeous autumnal changing colors.  Here is a snapshot taken this cool, rather cloudy afternoon, off our back deck, showing just the beginning of yellow taking over on the leaves of the wild cherry trees.

Hint of yellow just showing up on the wild cherry trees.

In a way, the beginning of Autumn is bittersweet.  It means the end… the death of the lovely flowers of summer.   Here’s one of my hanging baskets - obviously on it’s last leg.

The end of the line for the Verbena basket

While most of summer’s flowers are at their end, others are breaking into full bloom!  Here’s a mum basket I purchased and positioned at the front of our home.  LOVE IT! 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I may have inherited a love for plants, both indoor and outdoor, from my Mom.  I can hardly believe she’s been gone almost four years.  I know she’s happy in Heaven, probably enjoying nurturing a garden there! 

Last week I tried for the first time to propagate African violets from leaves!  I followed directions in my much-loved garage sale indoor plant book… took the leaf cuttings, dipped them in rooting hormone powder, and have planted them just as instructed at a 45 degree angle into the soil.  Now patience must take over because it can take up to three months for the “plantlets” to appear.  Here are my two African Violet plants, and the 4-leaf experiment — in progress. 

African Violets on my kitchen window sill

Leaf cuttings from my white/purple African Violet

This summer I allowed one of my indoor plants to grow like crazy without any trimming like I usually do.  About two weeks ago I noticed there were two red “tassel” like things hanging off of it!  I’d never seen anything like that before - in fact, I don’t even know what the name of the plant is!  Well, the tassel like things have BLOOMED!  Here are a couple of pictures showing the suprising flowers from the mystery plant. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They are an amazing, tiny, perfect, pink and red, sort of fuzzy, flower!  If anyone has a clue what this plant is, PLEASE tell me! 

I do love my indoor plants — I can keep them safe and protected from those darned deer!  For some reason, the deer have ignored my big pot of mums - for which I am eternally grateful!  Ok, enough about my plants and how I love them! :-)  Any other plant lovers out there?

Just my views

Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC

My blog is not a political blog.  I know I’ve said that before, but 99.9% of the time it’s true.  Heck, we all have political thoughts and feelings and views, but 99.9% of the time I don’t express mine.  Well, this is my blog and I can change the direction of it for one day if I want

 

J!  One reason I don’t talk much about politics is that I don’t dwell on political things… I mean, I don’t live, eat, and breathe what’s going on in the political world, even though I do feel like I keep myself fairly informed.  But this week (and last) I will admit to being totally intrigued in the US political process.  Maybe because this is the first year that my English/Canadian/now-American husband will get a chance to vote in a presidential election – and maybe I’m watching it through his eyes.  We watched every minute we could of the Democratic National Convention last week.  This week we watched as much as possible of the Republican National Convention.  I actually loved it all.  It’s a time when people like me, just regular everyday citizens can watch first hand the culmination of months of campaigning turn in to a real nomination for the highest office our country holds.  I enjoy the speeches, the commentary, and the patriotism that shows up during the conventions… I even love the “roll calls” when each state’s spokesman tends to give a blurb about his or her “great state of……” before they actually cast their votes.  Last week I enjoyed seeing the Obama family and the Biden family and hearing what everyone had to say.  I had no idea that Joe Biden had lost his first wife in a tragic car accident and had taken the oath to become a Senator at his injured son’s bedside inside a hospital.  I thought Barack Obama’s address to the folks in Denver – and the nation – was a good one.  The man can really speak; there is no doubt about it.  He is eloquent and comfortable in front of a podium. 

This week, I was not sure it could be as interesting and, well, exciting as last week.  Until I got to learn more about Senator McCain’s running mate - Until I heard Alaska’s governor Sarah Palin speak.  I was totally blown away!  I loved this woman, the fact that she is a regular person with all the same challenges in life as the rest of us.  I live in a very “liberal” state, and many of my very good friends don’t agree with me on the issues.  But that’s OK, because here in America we have the right to feel any way we want on any particular subject.  I love how Sarah Palin actually made moves to decrease the excess spending in her state’s government (ie: selling the executive jet) and has Alaska’s budget in the black!  I love that she and her husband didn’t let a diagnosis of Down’s Syndrome stop them from having their precious baby boy.  You know, I have spent my entire nursing career taking care of prematurely born and sick newborns.  Many of which were Trisomy 21 – or Down’s Syndrome kids.  For me, it’s just impossible to be ‘for’ abortion.  Not after I have spent nearly 30 years of my (at work) life, trying to save those who were born too soon.  In fact, I’m one of those people who honestly believe God has a plan for all of us.  Yup, all of us. 

I was moved to tears last night when I listened to John McCain as he described how his life and his attitude and his direction changed, after having spent five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.  He is honestly a man who has spent his entire adult life serving the country he truly loves.  I’m just a regular everyday citizen, and I know that in the long run, my vote for John McCain won’t end up counting because my state never gives its electoral votes to a Republican… but it won’t stop me from casting my vote in the direction that I (your regular everyday citizen) feel it ought to go. 

This post is about food!

Well, not entirely, but it did get your attention didn’t it?? :-)  I’m just starting to catch my breath after the whirlwind of activities the past few days!  On Saturday, we attended the college graduation of dear DIL at Western Washington University.  Summer graduation is normally not as big as the traditional spring one, but it was still pretty packed in the auditorium.  As luck would have it, the day was gorgeous and sunny.  Here’s a pic of the happy graduate and her proud husband!

 

 

After graduation, we all went out to lunch at Anthony’s - a fantastic fresh seafood restaurant.  The halibut and chips were ohhh so good!   Unfortunately we couldn’t stay as long as we would have liked, as we had an afternoon wedding to attend!  I took some photos at the wedding but they didn’t come out at all… I think it may be time for a new camera - one that can actually zoom in and still take a clear picture!   There’s something to be said for weddings, I think.  I mean, every time we go to one, I listen to the words of those wedding vows and silently make them my own -again.  It’s easy to forget what all we promised to, years ago… in sickness and in health, for richer for poorer… and all that.  Ok, I’m a softie - I love weddings!   The reception was a lot of fun too - great food, music, and lots of friends from dear hubby’s workplace.  We ended up staying much longer than we thought we would. 

The next day it rained.  Actually, it poured.  Evidendce: 

Puddles accumulating on the deck~

Mist through the trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the rain inspired me to cook up a batch of my home made veggie soup!  Since August is one of the best months for local produce, I had oodles of fresh veggies in the fridge, waiting to be turned into a delightful rainy-day treat!  I grabbed a little of this and a little of that - and voila~  SOUP!  I will admit it was REALLY tasty… and, it ended up being our dinner more than once, there was so much of it.  I think what made the soup so yummy may have been the addition of the CHEESE MUFFINS I made to go along with it!!!  While the soup was really good (and oh-so-healthy), the CHEESE MUFFINS were “to die for”!  Of course that is being said by a self proclaimed cheese freak (AKA-me!). 

Mizsuzee's homemade veggie soup. The black thing is a ladle :)

CHEESE MUFFINS! ooh-la-la

This was my first (but certainly NOT the last) time making the delectable CHEESE MUFFINS :)  I have to give credit where credit is due– I got this recipe from the “Pioneer Woman’s” website.  I love her blog, her photography, and her recipes.  Here’s the link if you would like to make some CHEESE MUFFINS of your very own! One thing that makes the recipe section of her website so neat is that she takes snapshots of every step of preparation.  She makes it all look so easy, and honestly, the CHEESE MUFFINS were super easy!  Ohhhhh, which one of her recipes shall I attempt next???? 

Remind me to remember this day - next January!

Yesterday we took a day trip with son #2 and dear DIL, up to the Mount Baker area.  It was one of the hottest days of the year, but what better chance to take in some of the breathtaking scenery?  We took a picnic lunch along too.  It seemed like a lot of other folks had the same idea, as we passed what seemed like zillions of other cars and motorcycles taking advantage of the stunning day.  I took most of the photos of Mt Shuksan (9,127 feet in height) and ”Picture Lake” - which is supposedly one of the most photographed mountains in the USA.  You will see why it’s called Picture Lake in the next couple of photos.

Beautiful mountain, but there was a bit of wind blowing on the lake. Check the next shot, where the wind stilled for a moment.

 

THIS is why it is called Picture Lake! Stunning :)

 After our quick picnic lunch, we drove a bit higher, to the base of Mt Baker - well, as close as a person can actually drive  to it.  It was up there where the snow is still alive and well - EVEN in late August!  Here’s the proof:

 

 

 

 

 

 

By looking at these shots, you can only imagine the amount of snow that lands up there in the winter! 

Time for a picnic! What scenery!! :-)

After the photo session, we headed back down the hill in an effort to make it to the neighborhood barbecue in time!  We have only 8 homes on our street, and of course everyone was invited.  Sorry to say, I didn’t take my camera, but everybody showed up for a nice evening of good food, good chat, and good neighbors!  It stayed quite warm far into the evening hours - warm enough that I was using a plastic plate as a fan for most of the night!  Sticky and sort of humid… very summery!! 

So, like I said at the beginning of this post, remind me to remember this day - when the long, cold, gray, wet winter days make their appearance again.  I know I’ll be able to feel  the sunshine when I look at these pictures!

A computer free day

Yesterday I had a computer free day!  It was not by chance, or because my computer suddenly crashed.  It was a conscious choice - and by the end of my “CF” day, I realized that I really loved it!  I had accomplished more in one day than I’d done in ages.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes when I log on, I get “lost” cyberspace.  After checking my email accounts (yes, I have several), and doing a bit of research on whatever subject I may be interested in at the time; and possibly doing a bit of on-line banking (oh how I do love the convenience of that!); and checking on what books I have on order at the local library; well, after all that, I often go off on a wonderful, time consuming tangent - blog reading!!  Yes, a happy journey into blog-land is one of my favorite things to do on-line.  But yesterday, none of that was happening.  Nope.  The computer didn’t go on.  Didn’t fire the thing up.  No booting or uploading or downloading or any of that stuff.  Yesterday I did domestic things, some of which I’d been putting off for ages.  Or as my English husband might say “for donkey’s years”!  (That’s a funny expression, isn’t it?!)  Anyway, I had a great day yesterday.  Well most of it was great.  It became “great” after  we got home from the vet’s office (veterinarian, I mean) - which is such a traumatic event for our cat, that my OWN stomach gets tied up in knots over it.  So, aside from the vet, I had a marvelous, domestic, satisfying day! 

I finished up laundry that had been hanging around since last week, then did all our laundry from THIS week.  This time I got out the iron and ironing board and had them ready for use, as soon as the (thankfully few) items that needed a bit of pressing came out of the dryer.   Have I ever mentioned that laundry is my favorite household chore?  Well, it is — I get such pleasure in sorting, washing, and drying.  Used to be I’d have fun toting the wet clothes outside on a nice day and actually ENJOY hanging them all on the line.  Since I have no line here, that small thrill has been put on hold.  What I don’t  seem to like, is the putting away of all the neatly washed and folded stuff.  But, it was all done yesterday. 

Then I tackled the under-the-kitchen-sink mess.  I took everything out, wiped it all down, and returned the stuff that was needed.  Woohoo!  I hate a messy under-the-sink area!!  From there I moved into swiffering the kitchen floor and dusting.  Dear hubby, who was also off work yesterday, joined in the “fun” with the vacuum.  Then it was time to ORGANIZE my recipe drawer.  Wow.  Now this was gonna take some time. 

I LOVE to cook… and therefore I LOVE to collect/save all sorts of magazine clippings, handwritten recipes on cards, and of course cookbooks!  Well, the recipe drawer was a disaster, and it was not one that could be fixed in a matter of twenty minutes.  Nope, I had to go through each and every one and decide just which “pile” I would put them into.  There was the “Save for Later” pile.  The “hey, I just may make this in the next couple weeks” pile.  And the “I know I’ll never make this” pile, which was really a garbage sack.  It was actually fun going through each and every one… and when I was done, well I have a nice neat recipe drawer again!  Yup, a feeling of accomplishment for sure! 

After dinner, we settled in to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.  This is something we love every 2 years.  Yup, every two years there is either a summer Olympics, or a winter one - and we watch them all!  It really was a spectacular sight - very well done in my humble opinion, by the Chinese.  We didn’t make it until the end, the lighting of the Olympic torch… so we DVR’d it and watched the rest this morning.  SO glad we did! 

In summary, I enjoyed my computer-free day so much, that I’m going to make it a regular thing.  Maybe once a week or so, I’ll proclaim it my CF day.  I have a feeling I’ll amaze myself with all the things I will accomplish. 

Friday update

No word yet on the home in California — no problem, I’m more than willing to wait it out!   In the mean time, we keep researching other properties, just in case…

Spent yesterday with son #1 and his girlfriend, as we attended the Steely Dan concert at the Chateau Ste Michelle winery in Woodinville.  It was my first experience at Ste Michelle, and it was great!!!  The only problem was the rain.  Yup, it wouldn’t hold off just one more day, so by the end of the concert (which is held outdoors, rain or shine) we were drenched.  Yeah, we had raincoats, hoods, umbrella, waterproof blanket - all of which kept us relatively dry till the end, when we waited in a long line up for the shuttle bus that would take us back to the parking lot.    At any rate, I loved the festival atmosphere, the fact that it was at a winery and we could enjoy some of the great Chateau Ste Michelle vino, and the music too of course!!  It was fun to hang out with “the kids”.  :-)  Heck, they were some of the youngest people there — lots of 50 somethings and quite a few “old hippies” showed up also!  Definitely a day to remember.

Here’s a picture of the outdoor concert venue and what it COULD have looked like - on a sunnier day!

Here is some of the wine we sampled last night, although the vintage was probably 2007.

We play the waiting game

We got a call last night from our wonderful Palm Springs Realtor, telling us that one of our offers was NOT accepted.  The owners (a bank) took an offer that was higher than ours.  Oh well.  It’s ok, there are no tears shed here.  Now we wait until at least next week to hear about the other house.  By the way, the house we did not get was the “fixer upper” 3 Bedroom, 2 bath.  The one we are now waiting on is the 2 BR/ 2 Bath in the golf course community.  If both of these places fall through, we will keep on looking online - until we feel like the chance for getting a ‘great deal’ has past.  I’ve always thought of myself as a patient person, so I’m more than willing to wait and see what happens.

This week it was back to work for both of us.  Kind of a rude awakening, after two glorious weeks off!  Of course I wasn’t able to ease back in to it all gently…. no - we are having an unprecedented population explosion at work!  Every single bed in our unit was full - so full that some babies were moved to “overflow” units.  Considering we have a total of 60 beds for ill or premature neonates - and they have all been full, well that means some busy, busy days. 

I’ve just finished reading two fantastic books, and will review them today in my “Books Read 2008″ section.  Ok, I will freely admit it.  While I think I have darn near the best job on earth, I LOVE MY DAYS OFF!!!!  I sat outside this morning in the lovely sunshine and finished my book, all while taking in some much needed Vitamin D.  I read somewhere that you can’t store up Vit. D  — which is a shame, since we get essentially NO sun here for 8 months a year!  Oh well.  That’s what pills are for I guess.   One thing I am determined to accomplish this summer is to make some more jam.  My dad LOVES raspberry jam, and since there are oodles of raspberry farms near here, I think it may be just about time to get busy on that task.  Yes, I think I’ll plan a “day of picking” - raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries too.  I can’t let summer get away from me like I did last year!

We’re home. Two offers in. No responses yet.

We had a great week in the California desert!  Not only did we do A LOT of searching for real estate, we reconnected with some old friends!  We went out to dinner one evening (to the California Pizza Kitchen - where none of us had pizza!) with our former neighbor Vi and another former neighbor Cathy.  It was fantastic to get to see them and catch up with what’s going on in their worlds.  We also hooked up with a former nurse colleague of mine who is again working with babies in the desert.  Cheryl met us at the Yard House - a huge pub whose claim-to-fame is that they have over 100 different beers on tap.   We met up with her last Friday evening, and wouldn’t you know it, it was the opening day/evening of the new Batman movie.  The place was packed to the gills, mostly with young adults.  Myth #1:  Everybody in Palm Springs is old.   Myth #2:  Palm Springs is dead in the summer.   Ok, so I thought it was going to be like a ghost town!  I was wrong.  I can admit it :)  Anyway, after dinner at the Yard House, the three of us headed back to the home we rented and hung out in the pool till about 11pm.  Lots of time to chat and sip a beverage or two. 

I  hate to admit it, but I was really sad to be leaving the desert on Saturday.  I remember now why we loved it there, even though the temperature was up to 114 the day before we left!  However, I must say it was also great to get home to our lovely 74 degree sunshine - the kind you can actually sit out in and not DIE!    It was so good to get home to Jinx the cat as well.  I grabbed our little old digital camera this afternoon and took this (not great quality but cute) video of Jinx in his favorite past time, chasing mice — or birds — or squirrels.  I love this crazy cat!!!

So, we did make two offers on homes.  No, we have never made two offers at the same time before!  One was a foreclosure - bank owned.  It’s a bit of a ‘fixer upper’ but that didn’t scare DH or I.  He is truly “Mr Home Handyman” and we really see the potential in this place.  Partly because of it’s location, partly because we can envision it “all done up” real cute and mod.  Here are a couple pics:

3 BR 2 Bath circa 1977

 

Dead hedge in front of house

 

It’s got a pool, but sure needs landscaping front and back

 

Master bath needs a bit of updating!

The other house we made an offer on is in a “country club - golf course community”.  It’s about the same size but 2 Bed 2 Bath.  Newer and needs a bit less in the way of updating… still needs paint and a thorough cleaning.  This house has a pool also, and needs a bunch of landscaping, especially in the back.  The picture of the pool area is on my previous post under “pool area of house I really like”.  This house is in pre-foreclosure or “short sale”.  Short sales are NOT “short”!!  They normally take much longer than those that are in foreclosure.  So we may not hear back about this house for a couple of weeks.  Here’s a front view and one of the kitchen:

Front yard, needs a bit of plant trimming

This house is 8 yrs old. No fridge. Great tile that needs some major grout cleanup

We may not get either of these places - and that’s ok.  If it doesn’t work out that we purchase either one, then that’s the way it’s supposed to be.  I firmly believe that.  I’ll write more when we know more!!