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Archive for October, 2011

A Monday List

Posted in Captain Cavedweller, Musings, tagged , , , on October 24, 2011| Leave a Comment »

1. It definitely looks like fall in our neighborhood today. How did so many of the trees don entirely new coats of color overnight?

2. Because it looks like fall, I just want to stay home, drink spicy tea (thanks, Brandi) and sit by the fire like a warm, lazy slug.

3. I spent the entire weekend repainting my bathroom. A project that should have taken two hours, in my head. Things are sparkly, lovely and completely delusional in my head.

4. Because I spent the entire weekend repainting my bathroom, polishing, scrubbing and putting things back to rights, the rest of my house looks like a stage 3 disaster zone.

5. My BFF brought me pumpkins yesterday afternoon.

6. Because she caught me in the midst of my project, I was completely disoriented by the fumes and even more loopy than usual. I didn’t even ask her to stay long enough for a cup of tea.

7. Captain Cavedweller bought me the most wonderful rug for the bathroom for my birthday.

8. Because of that blasted rug that didn’t match my walls, I had to repaint the bathroom. Which was so much easier than returning the rug for a different color.

9. I’m trying to meet my self-imposed deadline of finishing my two holiday books before Halloween.

10. Because of my self-imposed deadline, I don’t see the disaster in my house getting any better anytime soon. In fact it may get worse as I make the final recipes for my holiday entertaining book and snap some photos.

She Who Isn’t Quite Ready For It To Be Monday

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Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Christmas Salad)

Posted in Recipes, Salads, tagged , , , on October 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

A few years ago, I was looking for a festive, fun salad to make for a holiday dinner. Coming across a recipe for a broccoli cauliflower salad it sounded good right up to the raisins.

I’m not so fond of raisins. Apparently the feeling is mutual. So we avoid each other at all costs. The last time I ate a raisin was when I was 8-years-old and my mom made me eat a bowl of Raisin Bran. I was so sick all day. And we happened to be in Disneyland. It goes without saying, I’ve held a long and ardent grudge against raisins.

I also wasn’t wild about the dressing used on the salad which involved onions (ick!).

So I improvised and this is what I came up with. Even Captain Cavedweller likes it and that is saying a lot!

The colors are fun and festive and really do look pretty on a holiday table.

(Yes, I realize it is a bit early to be thinking about Christmas but I am in the downhill slide of finishing up my Holiday Entertaining tips book so my head has been firmly entrenched in the holidays for weeks, now).

 

 

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad (Christmas Salad)

2 cups of fresh cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 cups of fresh broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces

1/2 cup toasted sunflower seeds

1 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup buttermilk ranch dressing

Cut up broccoli and cauliflower florets, stir in cranberries, sunflower seeds and dressing (I just use the bottled dressing, but you could make your own if you are feeling the need to work extra hard). Sprinkle a few extra seeds and cranberries on top in the center and serve.

She Who Likes Easy Recipes

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Real Beauty

Posted in Family, Musings, tagged , , , on October 20, 2011| 1 Comment »


“You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen.  But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your soul’s own doing.” 

~Marie Stopes

I read this quote and it really got me thinking about youthful beauty compared to that of later years.

I see beautiful older women who radiate loveliness from the inside out. I want to look like that when I’m 60. My Aunt Robbie is one of those who just gets more beautiful with age, and she is almost 80! I used to think beautiful old people just happened, like some magical transformation.  I now know better.

When I was 16, I thought I was homely, fat and about as far from beautiful as a girl could get. What I wouldn’t give now to look as I did at 16! That was before chicken pox scars, before too many recipes made with butter, before (gulp) middle age started settling in.

Why didn’t anyone tell me how traumatic it was going to be to hit 40? Things you take for granted and have become completely used to just being have suddenly turned on you overnight. Gravity has become an enemy, every single thing you eat shows up not only on your scale, but also in the tone and texture of your skin, and wrinkles… oh, I won’t even get started on wrinkles. Or gray hair.

And for goodness sakes, why didn’t someone warn me about the need to be slathered in lotion a couple times of day in an effort to fight off the awful effects of aging skin? If I put on anymore at bedtime, I might slide right off the sheets.

I’ve come to the conclusion that being outwardly beautiful in middle age or older is a lot of hard work. You can’t just coast along hoping things will go well. You’ve got to dig trenches, arm yourself for battle and charge headlong into the war! It isn’t a fight for the weary or faint-hearted.

It takes fortitude!

It takes strength!

It takes patience!

Which is why I might just go sit a while and think about my game plan while eating some chocolate truffles. Maybe I’ll work on ways to enhance that inward beauty while I’m at it.

She Who Is Not Loving Her Wrinkles Today

 

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Brainy Quotes

Posted in Referrals, tagged , , on October 19, 2011| 1 Comment »

Many of you know I like quotes. Funny quotes, inspiring quotes, serious quotes. I like them all.

As in like them a lot.

As in I post quotes every day on my facebook pages.

I recently started using a new website to find quotes and I am really liking it.

Take a peek at Brainy Quotes and see what you think.

Thanks to their easy to navigate website, I find 22 quotes that I’ll be using at the beginning of each chapter in my new holiday novel.

She Who Likes Quotes Quite Possibly Way Too Much

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