This Week's Blog Post

My week was quite uneventful, much better than last week when I broke one of my favorite wine glasses, the coffee carafe (this was super bad) and a handheld mirror (like I needed more bad luck)! For as long as I can remember I have had a problem with dropping things, hence I never purchase expensive dishes or drinkware. It must be some freak sensory disorder.

On top of that, I have purchased 2 coffee makers since then. One worked for 6 uses and the next one makes coffee that tastes like coffee flavored water. I like my morning cup to be seriously strong and flavorful! Ugh!!!!

Eyeglass Chain Request
One of my customers requested an autumn jasper and a fancy jasper eyeglass chain with no metal beads.

I am now pondering if I should make more like this, sans metal beads! It gives the chain an understated look which would be more appealing to some wearers.

Hyacinth Bloom
My hyacinth is showing itself super early! It has such a cool look before the vibrant purple flowers show themselves!

Luckily my baby eastern redbud and kousa dogwood trees survived our strange winter and incredibly dry earth. They are not ready to bloom yet but there are some buds on them! Both are spawns of mature trees on my parent’s property so it will be nice to see them survive.

Vegetable Strata
I made a strata many years ago and loved it, but have not made one since.

So I ventured over to allrecipes.com for ideas. After printing 2 recipes and pulling the aspects of each that we like here is the recipe Jim and I created:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 ounce package of mushrooms
5 whole wheat English muffins split and toasted
½ cup feta cheese
¼ cup parmesan
2 cups shredded cheddar
½ lb asparagus cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large zucchini, quartered
1 cup chopped peppers (any color of choice, we used sweet red, yellow and orange)
8 eggs
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste

1. First sauté the mushroom and zucchini for approximately 10 minutes in the oil to evaporate their moisture.
2. Then grease a 9 x 13 inch pan and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover the bottom of the pan with the toasted muffins, cut side up. Tear up the remainder of the muffins to fill in the empty spaces.

Cover this with 1 cup of cheddar and 1/4 cup feta. Then toss in the mushroom, zucchini, asparagus and pepper.
3. Whisk the eggs, parmesan and milk. Add salt and pepper if desired. Then pour this over the vegetables. Top with remaining cheddar and feta.

4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until ready. Test using a knife in the center and when this comes out clean, it is done.
5. Enjoy!

This is packed with protein and vitamins! The only unhealthy aspect to this is the high cholesterol count. It is super delicious and also cuts up beautifully the next day making it a great leftover dish for any meal of the day!!!!

Posing With A Car
My mail made me laugh this week! So purchased my car back in September and the salesman talked me into posing with my car. Don’t only bikini models do this? I felt ridiculous!!!!

Should I have laid on the hood of the car? Well this picture finally arrived….6 months later and is the cover of a lovely 2012 calendar! I knew having this pic taken was going to make me laugh and it certainly did!

New Nail Polish
This is my newest nail color. It is Vintage from Revlon.

It is a beautiful raspberry like tone! I am only showing my pinky because I am self conscious of my fingers. My knuckles are really big and embarrassing! I am also not the best self manicurist!

Thank you for stopping by! Have a marvelous week! I am quite excited for it since Mad Men is finally coming back. More Don Draper...Woohooo!!!!