Oh, DSW

This morning I received a reminder about a $10 off coupon that's gonna expire on June 2nd. "Don't let it go to waste" it reads... blaaaah TRIGGER! We don't WASTE things in my family of origin! So here is what I have my eye on...

God... yes, these are all platform and 5 inches high!

Madden Girl Mayville Platform Sandal

$39.94 (originally $70)

I don't have any red shoes. I love the weaving pattern of these.

Madden Girl Mellony Floral Pump

$29.94

Compare at $65.00

 

These for some reason, remind me of my grandmother and my sister (my sister has a scarf that reminds me of these pumps. They look so feminine!  (and I love the price... and the name)

 

Madden Girl Trebel Pump

$44.95

Compare at $60.00

 

These scream party to me. I know I've posted about these in the past.  I mean, under some black jeans! Too bad I don't "club" anymore. And that most of my friends are married :)

 

Madden Girl Mayville Sandal

$44.95

Compare at $70.00

 

God, and I love brown. I think I could wear these a lot.  Again, I love the weaving pattern.

I've also come to the conclusion, that I don't think I look good in flats. I don't think I know how to walk like a girl in them. I think heals help me shift my hips! ... just throwing that out there :)

Poor New Parents in the US.

Michelle Obama's taking back the garden!

I love this! Perhaps we can all get back to the basics!

American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America A Walk in the First Garden Local Grown...at the White House The White House is famed for its Rose Garden, but First Lady Michelle Obama has now brought back the tradition of growing vegetables there, too. This stunningly illustrated volume follows her journey from planting to harvest, in a celebration of America's home-grown bounty. Recipes included! American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America Michelle Obama

Today's Amazingness

DSCN1105, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

a Red onion, purple and green kale, vine ripe tomatoes, radishes, celery and please, lets not forget the GINORMOUS zucchini!

Wood

Wood, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

I took advantage of the last few days or "freedom" to polish all of my wooden stuff with some mineral oil... god I love bamboo and acacia!

Menu Craziness

Menu Craziness, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

I'm not even pretending that a) I'm a good speller or b) I can spell in another language...

But it always cracks me up when I go into an ethnic restaurant and just see blatant spelling errors. I certainly would pass my menu copy through a native speaker before sending these off to the press... I mean, eggs plant?!

My Dream Cabinets

My new motto in life is "don't wait until tomorrow, what you can do today."

I really exercised this when my refrigerator dies almost 1/2 year back. I had some back and forth with the husband about a replacement. I knew that I wanted a French door fridge with the freezer on the bottom. But I didn't feel like I wanted to wait until we "bought a home" before I could have my dream fridge. So we bought my 95% dream fridge despite the fact that we are still apartment renters... and I could not be happier. This fridge brings me happiness every time I open it up... still!

Fast forward to my "dream home" cabinets will be filled with beautifully simple glass ball mason jars filled with all the colors of nature. Dried beans of all shades. Nuts, grains, dried fruit. "Why wait until you buy a home Petunia?!" I asked myself on Friday! I ran out and bought 2 cases of mason jars of 2 sizes. I ran to Whole Foods and bought my favorite beans, all 100% Organic and on Saturday while the husband was working, I re-arranged my kitchen. I put spices in a drawer, and made this old spice cabinet into my dream mini-cubbard. Cinnamon sticks in a 1/2 pint jar, and slivered almonds. Red lentils, oats, chia seeds. All the colors of nature bursting out of my face!
  The top of this cabinet is filled with other grains. Baby steps. But I LOVE it. And it makes me happy to be exactly where I am, just for today!.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary!, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

Beautiful flowers for my anniversary.

We wont' be cruising over Houston :(

ABC has canceled:
GCB & Pan Am

... well, that sucks!

 

If you can't take the heat...

Man, did I have a bit of a "heat" problem yesterday!

I guess THIS cheap plastic should never go in the heated dry cycle of the dishwasher...

 

                                                        And this is what happens when you leave a spatula handle on a very hot Le Creuset pot...

Sunday's Sunshine Bonanza!

 

1. Basil
2. Broccoli
3. Cabbage
4. Carrots
5. Cucumbers
6. Nectarines 
7. Onions
8. Peaches
9. Radishes
10. Squash
11. Strawberries
12. Zucchini

Saturday's Bounty!

I'm really coming to love our local farmer's markets.  And it still amazes me that the vendors and farms that were not organic had so few, if any buyers! I feel change brewing!

Saturday's booty consisted of:

1) Organic Ugly soft tomatoes (that made a terrific pasta sauce)!
2) Organic Celery
3) Organic Purple kale
4) Organic Cauliflower
5) Fresh - never been frozen wild Alaskan Halibut.



Since the only real fish I've ever indulged comes from a frozen bag at Costco. And the price of this 1 piece of halibut was probably as much as I've spent on the entire bag at Costco. But holy crap, did it taste amazing. Never have my hands cooked a fillet of fish of that quality!

I salted and peppered the fish and squirted some lime juice on it, and fried it up with some butter.

Then I put a cilantro pesto lime butter over it. Roasted some broccoli at high temperature for about 15 minutes and voila! A really amazing dinner!

CILANTRO PESTO
1 bunch cilantro 3 cloves garlic 1/2 c. olive oil 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper 1/4 c. pine nuts (or walnuts) Wash cilantro, dry. Mix ingredients in food processor until smooth.

I melted down the pesto and added lime and butter to the mix!

My Women's Siriano T-Strap Wedge

While I was shopping for flats, I spotted these out of the corner of my eye! 

 

The amazing things are: 

1. They are made by Christian Siriano who appeared on Project Runway... ok, I had to look that one up.
2. They are blue sandals.
3. They were 50 % off!
4. The sandals that I used to have are really old and ratty.
5. I needed these! 
6. They seem comfortable.
7. They got good reviews on the website :)
8. They came in a Wide size.
9.  They go with many of my outfits!
10.  They go with many of my outfits!!!!!!!!!!!!

Flat Finds

To make a long story short, I ended up in Payless yesterday in desperate need of some flats. I have many pairs of heels, but the only "flats" I had were very ratty Keds looking sneakers that have seen better days... nothing I wanted to wear while walking though a mansion in the middle of La Canada (That post to follow).

I was hoping to find 1 pair that would go with the lovely dress I was wearing... and boy did I hit the jackpot!

I found 2 pairs!

 

I have always likes the "wrapped" look of shoes. The 1 pump in the back I waited a few months to buy when cause the store was out of stock. There was something about it that felt so, me!  So when I found these two puppies, and for like 16.99 I couldn't resist.  I'm not usually TOO into bows, but the little brown bows weren't too over the top for me.   

When I wear my high heels, I feel, powerful and sexy. Having the flats on made me feel, dainty (dainty = marked by delicate or diminutive beauty, form, or grace).

Minding Frankie

Well, Maeve Binchy did it again. Kept me entertained with a lovely story as I roamed the streets and freeways of California. And no, I'm not reading while sitting in traffic. Maeve has a brilliant women narrating her audiobook with the sweetest Irish brogue.  This is her latest novel, about a community that banded together to mind (what I believe is an older generational work for watching or babysitting, I often remember my grandmother use that word) baby Frankie, who's mom dies of cancer while giving birth to the baby.

Maeve brings together many many characters from her others books; The Copper Beech, Evening Class, Scarlet Feather, Quentins, Nights of Rain and Stars, Whitehorn Woods and Heart and Soul... If you are a person who hates when a book ends cause you miss the characters, this is the author for you!

And this lady writes... NOVELS. And each person's lives are intertwined with each other's. I love it.  One day, I would like to start from the very beginning, and listen to each book from the beginning of the series to the end. Although you would have NO problem picking up a random book and diving right in, as each of her books can stand alone.

If you do pick this up (ideally from your library) then make SURE to get the unabridged version... honestly, why anyone would choose an abridged copy is beyond me! You lose MOST of the story with those "cliff note" versions!

Kale Is Kool

Kale Is Kool, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

Spread the word! A gift from my sister :)

Inelegent Kale Smoothie!

Inelegent Kale Smoothie!, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

This is what happens when you overfill your hand blender cup... I had to "upgrade" to a bigger container. Looks... well, I don't know how it looks. But it sure tasted green!

Time for New Food in the Fridge Soup!

(in Scotland, this is called a "must go soup")

• 1 cup of white beans, soaked
• Remaining disgusting chicken stock base that we used to buy
• The last can of mushrooms in my pantry
• The last of the shredded carrots from 3 weeks ago
• 1/2 of the remaining purple cabbage left in my fridge (oh my god, does 1 head of cabbage shred to!)
• The remaining stalks of celery in the fridge
• 1/2 the green and purple kale in my fridge (stems removed and ripped into pieces)
• 1 onion
• Water
• Homemade chicken stock from freezer.

I sauteed the onions, carrots, mushrooms, celery. Then added the beans. When the beans were no longer hard, I added the kale. 

Done. And Very tasty. I'm gonna jar some up and keep in my freezer. Its a HUGE potful!

Sparkles!

Sparkles!, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

Don't these SCREAM New Year's Eve?!

Care Package

Care Package, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

Yup... a 32 year old decorated this box. If only you could see the other sides... and I had a BLAST!

Brazilian Nuts

Brazilian Nuts, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

Calm down... these are the ones you eat... wait. Scratch that. Dirty birds.

I have always seen these nuts. First in some huge mixed assortment of unshelled nuts that my dad would bring home from the supermarket. Something about the cracking of the nuts with the nut cracker was always fun. I masted almonds and walnuts, but always stayed away from the funny looking bumpy ones...

Fast forward to a few days ago. I had gotten my own assortment of mixed nuts from Sprouts as a "healthy" trail mix. And these huge guys were all in my little cup. I don't know why I hesitated to eat them, (I always yell at the husband for not trying things). As I took nibbles... I couldn't exactly place what these huge nuts tasted like and then it sort of hit me...

like POTATO CHIPS... unsalted, but that is the essence I got. And well, I'm a person that really likes potato chips :)

Super Duper Lilacs!

Super Duper Lilacs!, a photo by Petunia21 on Flickr.

I spotted LILACS last week at my local farmer's market. $12 I cried! (I only had like 5 bucks left in my pocket). The vendor told me they were from Antelope Valley where the ground freezes, which I think lilacs need to grow.

I have not had lilacs in my home since I lived in NY where we had a lilac bush. I guess $12 is a steal compared to buying a ticket to NY, staying with my parents, missing work, and praying for a non-rainy season where most of the buds would end up on the ground anyway.

YAY!

They smell amazing. You will find me for the rest of the day with my nose in them :)