pasta with brie, basil and tomatoes

Pasta with Brie, Basil and Tomatoes

Serves 8

 photo credit: thepioneerwoman

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes quartered

4-5 cloves garlic minced

1 lb brie, with rind removed torn into (1-inch) pieces

3/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground pepper

1 pound penne pasta

1 cup fresh basil leaves julienned

Put tomatoes, garlic, brie, oil, salt and pepper into a large bowl and toss gently to combine. Cover and set aside at room temperature to let marinate for 2 to 3 hours.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook until al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain well (don’t rinse) and transfer hot pasta to bowl with tomato mixture. Add basil and toss gently to combine. Serve immediately.

Recipe from Linda Allen, Tampa Florida

grouping

Every Sunday after church we have been going out to breakfast

trying a new restaurant each week.

Two weeks in a row we have been offered a seating choice new to us . . .

"Good Morning.

I have a small table for two in the corner or . . . 

we are doing grouping at the round table"

We have met some very friendly people during these breakfasts.

I say - give grouping a try.

{by the way: There are a lot of Canadians spending the winter in Venice}

between colorings

I totally have to thank Sunny Simple Life for this great tip.
Seems like I need to color those pesky grey roots more often these days.
Here a a temporary solution that I recently tried and was amazed that it worked so well.

Take an eye shadow that is close to your hair color. 

Use the applicator to "paint" the hair near you part where the grey shows. 

It will last and last until your next shampoo.

Hard to believe but true!

Leisure House 01

After much ado of which I will spare you the boring details

we have finally moved into our new 

winter get-away home in Venice, Florida.

I look forward to blogging about it in future posts

but for now this quote from Southern Living Magazine 

is a perfect introduction . . . 

{master bedroom}

"I never wanted the seriousness of a real house or anything 
in it to be so precious or valuable that it must be revered.

We like to think of ourselves as living as if we were on vacation."

times three

A new necessary bathroom accessory in my house is a magnifying mirror.

I recently bought one while shopping for our guest bathroom and decided to take a look.  

First of all – ouch – wrinkles are bad enough but magnified X3 they are painful to look at.

This winter we are spending four months in a retirement community and I have seen a lot of makeup mishaps on our new “older friends”.  I bet you can just picture what I am talking about.  

Hopefully my new mirror will help avoid these.

So . . . I put on my make up as usual and then looked in the mirror.

Woops – get out a Q-tip and clean up all the mascara smears.

Then smooth out that eye shadow.

Now blend both eyebrows with a brush.

A little more concealer under the eyes.

Much better. {why didn’t someone tell me?}

I guess I will have a love-hate relationship with this magnifying mirror.

A new necessity.

prayers

We are saying prayers for our friend's sweet little granddaughter. 

She is having some pretty serious surgery tomorrow and our hearts go out to them.

{Nissen Fundoplication and g-tube placement}

Everything will be all right in the end... 

if it's not all right . . . 

then it's not yet the end.

We love you guys.

super bowl meatballs

Mini Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
with Blue Cheese and Hot Sauce
makes 80+ mini meatballs
(a perfect football game treat)

photo credit: Epicurious 

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup Frank's RedHot Buffalo Wing sauce {I use 1/2 cup}
2 pounds coarsely ground chicken
2 large eggs
2 ribs celery, minced (about 1 cup)
1 2/3 cups dried breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons coarse salt
Blue Cheese Dressing, for dipping
Celery sticks, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Evenly coat a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and set aside.

2. Place butter and hot sauce in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook, whisking, until butter is melted and hot sauce is well incorporated. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl; let cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

3. Add chicken, eggs, celery, breadcrumbs, and salt to bowl with butter mixture; using your hands, mix until well combined. Roll chicken mixture into firm, 1-inch round balls and place on prepared baking sheet; arrange the meatballs in rows so that they are {almost} touching on all sides. Transfer to oven and bake until cooked through, about 15 minutes.

4. Take out of oven and let stand 5 minutes before removing from baking sheet. Place on a serving platter and serve with dressing and celery sticks.

Martha Stewart Show January 2011

choose joy

Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn't Enough

Ever wonder why some people seem to experience deep and authentic joy in their daily lives--even in the tough times--and others can't seem to find it no matter how hard they search? Is a joy-filled life really possible?

The answer is yes! And it's possible for every woman, no matter what her circumstances may be. In this inspiring book, Kay Warren teaches women what joy really is, where to find it, and how to choose it in the good times and the bad. With compassion and wisdom, she shows readers--even those who live with the constant companions of discouragement and depression--that true joy is deeper, richer, and more accessible than they might think. Perfect for small groups or individual reading, Choose Joy will empower women who feel like their emotions and well-being are at the mercy of others by helping them understand the life-giving truth that joy is within their grasp--every day. {quote from amazon.com}

I will be attending a 4 week DVD series at Venice Presbyterian Church where Kay Warren will discuss having deeper, richer, more stable and accessible joy. I am a pretty shy person so interacting with 40 new women will be a stretch for me but I am hoping to learn and grow along with them.

cheese burger baked potato

We are thinking about having a "Baked Potato Bar"
at our next July 4th gathering so will be trying out a few recipes.
Here is the first one - it was delicious . . .

image credit: ambitions of grace

Cheese Burger Baked Potato
4 Servings

Ingredients

2-4 large baking potatoes

1 1/3 lb ground beef

½ onion chopped

8 oz can tomato sauce

2 Tbls ketchup

2 tsp spicy mustard

2 Tbls brown sugar

1 tsp Worcester sauce

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground pepper

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

Wash and then bake potatoes at 425* for 1 hour.

Brown ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 8 to 10 minutes or until beef crumbles and is no longer pink; remove from pan and drain well. Sauté the onion in same pan. Return beef to skillet. Stir in rest of ingredients (except cheese). Simmer 10 minutes.

Remove potatoes from oven and cut each one in half.

Serve by spooning beef mixture over baked potato half and topping with shredded cheese.

{our potatoes were very large so ½ potato each was plenty}

cedar

Our sweet grandson {in Cambodia} has just turned two years old.

There are some very cute photos of him on his mom's blog . . .

we live in all we seek

In October were fortunate to spend a month with him in
Bangkok and then Cambodia
and now we miss him {and his family} very much.