Orchid Something.......

It amazes me to find so many different kinds of pastas in this world! I was introduced yet again to another name this week by my gourmet cook friend: Orecchiette

Toss it (cooked) with a vegetable called Rannini, a bit of Italian Sausage, and some garlic and red pepper flakes.....

.....and you have a delicious dinner!

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon.
~Doug Larson

Satiated!

Yesterday I drove to a friend's home, and in her gourmet kitchen she first prepared an exquisite breakfast for us:

Golden bacon fried to crisp perfection.....

.....a tasty quiche made with a potato crust (have I ever mentioned just how much I love potato anything?).....

.....and an ambrosial salad that tasted fresh from the garden! Most delightful!

After much partaking of food and catch-up chatting (she just returned after a several month absence), we returned to the kitchen where she honored me by letting me help her cook up a batch of Boston Cream Cupcakes. A few of the ingredients:

organic sugar

Nielson-Massey Vanilla (the gourmet vanilla)

Milk, butter.....

The cream filling.....

The Snitcher!!!

Baking the cakes.....

.....to perfection!

Filling the cakes.....

Chocolate Ganache Glaze (no words can describe :-)

Final step.....drizzling.....

Incredible!

Beautiful!

Messily delicious!

Heavenly!

If no one sees you eat the chocolate, you didn't.

~Susan Branch

Frost

Frosty huckleberry twig
Frost diamonds on the snow

Frost strands on the car mirror

Frost is the greatest artist in our clime - He paints in nature and describes in rime
~Thomas Hood

Beyond Twitterpated

Remember my twitterpated friend?

This is her engagement necklace. He proposed last week!

We are all very happy for Rod and Andra!
Congratulations!

A Moment on the Lips.....

Darrell makes a delectable chocolate pastry for the greater expansion of my hips.....

It disappears from my plate in a twinkle of an eye!

.....still dripping off of my lips...YUM!

My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M's and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.
~Dave Barry

Mt. Rainier

A clear shot of the mountain last weekend, taken along our private road.....

The mountains are calling and I must go.
~John Muir

Nifty Gifty

This summer Amberlynne and Andrew gifted me with a labor-saving attachment for my Kitchen Aid: It makes applesauce!

Cook the apples, whole or cut in half, in a large roasting pan with a bit of water. I did a whole box of apples this time.

When soft, feed them through the fruit strainer attachment, seeds, stems, the whole enchilada!

One end dumps out the applesauce.....

.....the other end dumps the seeds, cores, stems and peels!

.....ending up with a bowl of perfectly strained applesauce!

The whole process took me an hour! Compare that to the several hours it would have taken the way I usually make it! I love it, Guys! Thanks!

A Taste of Photoshop Elements.....

Remember the last picture from yesterday's blog? I didn't like the green light that showed up on the barn....... caused by my camera looking into the sun, I think. So I took this photo today to try out my new photo program. Following the original photo, you will see just a few of the many, many possibilities of artwork with this program! Uh oh........ another time pig comin' up!

This last one is my personal favorite.

It is the watercolor feature.

Look like fun?