DC

This past week Hubs spoke at a conference in Baltimore, and under the auspices of entertaining me, my sister joined us. While Hubs stayed in Baltimore, she and I took a train to DC and spent two days there. By day we wore ourselves slap out through our museum hopping activities and by night revitalized ourselves at the Fairmont Hotel watching the Bachelorette. So fun. We especially enjoyed the 3 hour, 2-margaritas-a-piece lunch at Oyamel Cocina Mexicana (http://www.oyamel.com/). Highly recommend it.

Psalms 27:13

I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalms 27:13

Abba, Father- help me to see you in all circumstances.

When I am in prosperity, let me see You. 

When I am afflicted, let me see You. 

When I am restless and bored, let me see You.

Especially when I am mired in sin and have lost sight of you, let me see You.

 

For I dwell in the land of the living. Remind me to believe that I will see your goodness in all things.

 I am Yours. Do not let me go...

Chicken Enchiladas

I have spent the morning scurrying around the house trying to complete all of my chores. Our godchild's mother is at the doctor's this morning for an ultrasound. Rumor has it that she may induce today. Since I am leaving town tomorrow, I am doing what I can to make this rumor materialize. Praying my heart out. I am certain that she is sick of me texting her.  So hoping to see him before I head out of town.

In this midst of the scurrying, I realized we probably needed to have something for dinner tonight. Given that its been a while since I've been to the store, dinner was looking like frozen pizza. However, I had some leftover chicken, and jalapenos in the fridge. I also had these items in the pantry:

Of course, time was put on hold and  a new recipe was created. This is quick and pretty yummy. Freezes well. I bet it it would also be good with ground beef and taco seasoning added.

Chicken Enchiladas

1 and 1/2 large cooked chicken breast, shredded

1/2 can of fat-free refried beans

1 small can of sliced black olives, drained 

1/2 jar Borders medium salsa

2 small jalapenos (do not deseed), finely diced

1/4 c purple onion, finely diced

4 flour tortilla

1/2 c enchilada sauce

Vermont extra sharp cheese, grated

ripe tomato, chopped

Mix first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Heap mixture equally into center of tortillas. Roll tortillas and place seam side down in baking dish. Pour enchilada sauce over enchiladas, top with grated cheese and sprinkle tomato pieces on top. Bake 350 for 15 minutes.

Pesto

I love pesto, especially homemade pesto using the basil from our garden. There are so many ways to consume it: as a pasta sauce (especially over cheese-filled ravioli), slathered on Publix's wheat french baguette bread topped with tomatoes or just as a dip. Over the years, I have tried different pesto recipes but recently I found one from Ellie Krieger's The Food You Crave that I like the best. Now, I am all about easy as long as quality is not sacrificed. With that in mind, I made some adaptions to her original recipe.

Basil Pesto:

1/4 c pine nuts

1 clove garlic, peeled (I only use fresh)

3 c of lightly packed fresh basil leaves (I use a mix of regular and spicy basil)

1/4 c freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I use a bit more- see below)

1 T fresh lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil ( I use finest I can buy - always use first cold-pressed)

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (ground sea salt or kosher is best)

I totally disregarded her instructions and made up my own because she has more time on her hands than I do.

First, when you harvest basil, stick them in a vase with water and leave out by your sink. They will keep fine like that for a couple of days. Do not wash until you are ready to use. I find that refrigeration produces black spots quicker.

If you have time, toast pine nuts. Otherwise, skip this section and just use raw pine nuts. Also, if I am out of pine nuts, I use whatever nuts I have on hand- such as almonds or pecans. You can toast on a pan under the broiler or in a skillet.  I prefer a skillet, stirring occasionally until they are golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside. 

In the photo below, I did a whole bag of pine nuts at once because I am always making pesto. The leftover goes into the fridge for the next time I make a batch.

Now, I am not a grater. If it can not be grated using my Kitchen Aid mixer or Punkin, it does not get grated. Hence, I cut about 1/4 or more of Parmesan cheese and drop the block into the food processor.

In the food processor, combine the garlic clove, block of cheese and nuts. Run it until it is chopped and well mixed. Scrap sides down.

While processor is running, put in your basil.

With processor still running, add lemon juice. If you want to squeeze your own lemon juice, have at it. Just put lemon in micro for a couple of seconds so it will be easier to glean all of the juice.

With processor still running, add olive oil. Try to use a good quality extra-virgin olive oil since it does give it a lighter taste.

Stop processor, scrape down the sides, add salt & pepper. Whirl it for a couple of seconds more and then serve or refrigerate or freeze in ice cube trays.

Heaven Stormed

So, yesterday morning Punkin and I sat in the neurosurgeon's office armed with a page and half of questions. I started off explaining my concerns about the compatibility of MRI monitoring of cyst and cochlear implant. The neurosurgeon stopped me.

"There is no cyst"

Me: "I am confused- how can this be?"

Neuro: "What appeared to be a cyst on MRI is actually the spinal-fluid filled hole where your tumor was removed. A mistake was made in how the scan was read."

Me: "How can you be so certain?"

He went on to draw a diagram and explained at length how and why he was certain. Both Houston and I were convinced. 

Me: "So you do you feel comfortable with me forgoing these MRIs?"

Neuro: " I do. We can monitor with blood work and CTs. Go for the cochlear"

What a confirmation. We are meeting with the implant doctor on September 9th to discuss surgery dates.

"Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen."

I Timothy 1:17

No Centerpiece like the Hydrangeas

At the beginning of the summer, Punkin and I installed a hydrangea bed on the North side of the house. So worth the effort! The soup tureen belonged to Punkin's grandmother. The photo does not do justice of just how fabulous hydrangeas look in it.

Nothing like McCarty pottery from Mississippi and french blue hydrangea. Makes me want to fix mint juleps and garlicky bruschettas and serve on deck.

Step Away from the Paint - Part II

The corner cabinet in the pool room? Came with Punkin when I married him. 

Punkin is one smart cookie but as a decorator, all I can say is:

Bless his heart. Bless it.

I so wish I had before pictures of what this contraption looked like before I got a hold of it with paint. I do have a picture of the glass door, so you can image what it looked like:

My curtains and pillows have a leaf design that I love. It is bluish grey with brown. I took the pillow to Lowes and matched base color to the bluish-grey leaf. I then went over it with a rag using a cheap antique glaze.

Copper knobs from Lowes:

Filled the top shelf with glasses that I purchased on a trip to Mexico. On the second shelf is a alabaster bowl that I stole from Mama. 

Here are some pictures of few things that I have added or changed around the house.

 First up is in the guest bathroom upstairs. My sister is quite the monogram Queen and has monogrammed many things for me over the years, so I decided to pull out a "Bee" towel that she did for me before I married:

I fell in love with this monogram art while on a trip in California. 

On the towel rod I have a plain thin waffle towel and then over it, a white linen hand towel with our monogram on it in white. I love the look of white on white or ivory on white. 

For our master bath, I love look of this fern that I dug up in our backyard. Fortunately, our bath is quite small, which means the fern gets a lot of moisture when our showers steam up the room. He is quite happy.

Moving on to the kitchen...

 Now, most of us shop at flea markets or estate sales to find those wonderful old pieces that add character to a home. I adore shopping at estate sales, but quite frankly, there is nothing quite like shopping at Mama's.

 Every since my ancestors landed in the New World, they have been saving everything and passing it down from generation to generation. Most people inherit money but in our family, we inherit memories. And fortunately, to my delight and Mama's distress, most of those memories are sitting in Daddy's attic. The twining rope used to tie the tomatoes? American Revolution era piece.  The mattress in the guest room? Why, General Lee, for whom I was named, slept on it before he left for the war. 

Oopsie, it looks I am rambling here, so I digress...

After shopping at Mama's two weeks ago I came across an Ironstone hand-painted platter and saucer that belonged to my great-great-great grandmother. Both items were hung over the mail center in our kitchen along with a painting my parents brought back from England:

I also found this fabulous antique bronze floor lamp with a base made out of black marble. I bought a new lampshade from Bed, Bath and Beyond. Am telling you, it pays to shop at Mama's.

The foyer receive a little makeover as well. I pulled out an old side piece that had been sitting in our basement and painted it black. The orchid in the McCarty bowl is from Fresh Market. The photo hanging over the table? My grandfather as a young boy and 3 generations of fathers and grandfathers standing behind him.