Designing in Life

Not for the Faint of Heart!

How I got a cold is a mystery to me.  I have tried to be so very careful, but sometimes even that doesn't work.

I found this at my local food co-op.  It was intriguing, because my favorite tea is  lemon-ginger, and I thought combining this with the tea might taste pretty darn good, which I think it does.  Approach with caution, though.  This stuff is incredibly strong.  Strong enough that Nick says he can't drink it.

I think it's perfect if you have a cold, and suggest you seek it out if you can find it.  Just remember though, this stuff is not for sissies.

 

To the Moon – No not You Alice!

This came in the mail from my sister the other day, and I found myself deep in thought with memories of the past.

This was published in 1969, and is  filled with amazing photos of the history of manned exploration in space.

I bet some of you remember crowding around little black and white televisions in your classrooms watching that very first US manned space craft.

Although this is all history now, one caption under a photo still rings some truth about us.  "Nine hours after his arrival, man had littered the moonscape with his paraphernalia – TV camera, flag, laser reflector, solar wind sheet, special stereo camera and the sun-powered seismometer.

Floral Fantasy

Not quite sure what I would do with this design, but I do think it's a bit of retro fun.

Luck – Is Mine Changing?

Someone gave this to me at Christmas, and I just found it.

Okay, so it's not $5,000, but I'll take the 10!

Chicken Soup

Luckily, I'm not on top of Mt. Washington right now.  But looking out at the thermometer from the kitchen window, its 0.  And you know what that means?  A nice hot, steamy bowl of chicken soup.

Soup is one of the easiest meals to make.  And really, one of the best things about making soup, is that once you get the hang of it, you can use the basic recipe to make any flavor you want.

Here is what you'll need:

Basic Chicken Soup Recipe (makes 4 or so cups of soup)

4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth
2 teaspoons olive oil or butter
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 of a small onion chopped/diced
1 chicken breast cut into small bite-sized pieces
1 carrot (or 6 baby carrots) chopped/diced
2 stalks celery chopped/diced
2 sprigs parsley chopped
1/2 – 1 cup frozen peas

Sautee onion, garlic and chicken pieces on medium heat for 5 minutes.  Remove chicken from pan, leaving any bits of garlic and onion.

Add carrots and celery, and sautee for 5 minutes.  Add sauteed chicken and sautee together for 1 minute.

Pour broth into pot over the sauteed chicken and vegetables and add the parsley.  Let simmer for 10 minutes adding peas to the last 5.

(You can add rice or noodles to make it more hearty.)

And its as easy as that.  Just add some crusty bread and a salad, and dinner is ready.  And guaranteed, you'll forget how cold it is out there! 

 

Turtle Memories

Last night's conversation turned to Sparky, our now "living free and large" turtle.  We miss him.  You might think that a turtle is a turtle is a turtle, but I'm here to tell you, Sparky had a personality.  We found him to be (along with our cats) funny and cheap entertainment.

We never planned on keeping him after rescuing him from a swimming pool.  And when we found him looking longingly out the front window where his aquarium was, we knew where he really wanted to be.

So on a warm June afternoon, with granddaughters Chloe and Phoebe, we took Sparky about a half mile from our home to a beautiful pond.  Spotting many Eastern Painted Turtles with heads popped out of the water, we knew Sparky would be happy, and feel right at home.

We said our goodbyes, and sadly released him knowing it was the right thing to do.

The odds of a turtle surviving the first year are 1 in 100.  The odds of a turtle living after its first year are 100 to one.  He's a lucky guy, and I bet he knows it.

 

A New Life – A New Beginning

How many of you have been laid off, let go or just plain fired during your working years?  Well, until a few weeks ago, that would have been 0 for me.  But things change, and businesses go in different directions – or so I was told.

The company I worked at for 12 years was sold in September.  The founding owner died in November, far too soon to enjoy his retirement.

Two veture capialists, one from New York, the other from California bought the business with promises of keeping all the existing employees.  So much for promises.

So here I am in a far-too-late-in-life unemployed situation.  But I have never been a quitter, and really do believe that when one door closes another opens.  Finding myself with some time on my hands, I am reigniting this blog, and will let you know what I'm doing.

I have been working on some kid's designs for a while now, with the intention of trying to sell them.  I've moved forward with this notion, and am back to creating more.  Here's one.

Wish me luck on my new life's chapter!

 

Pear Chips – My New Favorite

Admittedly, this was not my idea.  My friend Martha (no, not that Martha, the other Martha) gave me a plate of these at Christmas, and I fell in love with them.  Trust me, they are very easy.

Ingredients:

Two pears: Your choice of variety, not ripe, nice and hard.
Optional: Sugar of your choice (I used palm sugar).  Salt of your choice. (I used Kosher, but think that sea salt is better)

Preparation:

On the thinnest setting, use a mandeline (you can cut them freehand, but getting them thin is hard) and cut the pears, removing the seeds after they're cut.

Baking:

2 Pears cover 2 trays.  Put parchment on trays.  Layout the pears as close together as you can without too much overlapping.  The pears will shrink considerably, but will dry out better if they don't overlap too much.  Sprinkle salt and sugar "lightly" on pears.
Bake at 200 degrees for about 2 hours, moving and rotating trays about every 20-25 minutes between oven racks.  This helps dry them evenly.  After 2 hours the pears may not seem crisp, but when they are removed from the oven and left to dry, they will crisp up.

Enjoy, and eat fast.  They don't last too long!

 

Happy Spring to All

It's spring on the calendar, but sure is summer outside.  82 degrees for the 20th of March in Vermont is more than a little odd.  I'm not complaining though, because I am taking full advantage of it.

We had visitors this weekend.  Beth, Jim, Chloe and Phoebe came on Saturday and were off for some spring skiing on Sunday.  A short and sweet visit, but we sure did have fun.

Chloe checked out the fossils embedded in the stone on our front pathway.

Phoebe had a ride on Pop Pop's shoulders.

We flew a kite.

And Chloe took many photos of our neighbors.

On Sunday, Nick and I hiked up Snake Mountain.  The bonus for this early spring hike was that there were no black flies.

A perfect day, and a perfect weekend.  Happy Spring!

Spring is in the Air

I say this as the remnants of snow are melting outside from Friday night's snowfall. 

The temperatures are ranging wildly from 20 degrees to (predicted for Wednesday of this week) 68, and the weather is just unpredictable.   What we do know in Vermont, is that March can bring some crazy windy days (today is an example) and that some of the largest snowfalls of the winter season can happen (although there are none in sight for at least the next 10 days).

Here are a few spring sightings.

Peacocks and a peahen crossing the road not covered in snow.

Irises starting to poke out of the ground in search of sun.

Our cat shadow basking in the warm sunshine.

Since the sun is out, and it will be in the 50s by 1:00, I will be working on a spring project today – washing the winter dirt off some of the windows, so that I can enjoy the increasing brightness and warmth of the almost-spring sunshine.