Salad

baby spinach leaves

sliced pear

feta cheese

sprinkle of pecans

pinch of salt

a few cranks of black pepper

little drizzle of olive oil

smatterings of balsamic vinegar

Almost no cutting, just assembling. Delicious, healthy, fast.

Salad Soapbox:

At a restaurant you may have found yourself thinking while ordering, "let's not go crazy and just get a salad." Beware, not all salads are created equal. Be careful of the drive-through ones, or the ones at steak houses. Just because it's a salad, doesn't mean it's good for you.

Iceberg lettuce - the fourth phase of water. It does have fiber in it, but that's all.

If your salad is comprised of iceberg (romaine is a little bit better, but spinach is the only one that can be counted as doing something really good for you) lettuce, cheese, chicken, croutons, cucumber, and a tomato, you may as well get a chicken sandwich and be satisfied.

In my book a salad must have some of the following to be counted as a healthful choice:

broccoli (my favorite vegetable)

carrots

onions - green or red are my favorite

nuts

oranges

beans

olives

peppers - Sam's has them for sale 6 red,yellow, orange peppers for $7. Wow.

avocado - has three times as many nutrients as most other high nutrient vegetables

RIPE tomatoes - I have a theory I haven't looked into, that unripe tomatoes don't have near as many nutrients and that's why they don't taste like anything, cause they don't have anything.

So when I go to the drive through I skip the salad, get a burger and really enjoy it. And get my veggies at home.

And fries don't count as veggies, though I have tried to convince myself that if I put on enough ketchup, maybe the combo will count?

No it doesn't count.

for my brother

Funny things on pillows seem so great to me. My brother in law, Pona, was accepted to law school. I was so overjoyed I had to embroider him a pillow. No, it doesn't really relate, "Congratulations for getting in to law school" but who really wants that on a pillow?

If you don't get the pillow click here and here.

What I'm eating lately

Grapefruit smoothies. Grapefruits are such a great price right now and so delicious, and so packed with vitamin C in this cold/flu season. So I've been taking the tender flesh out of them, put them in the blender with a little sugar and some frozen fruit. Here pictured with frozen strawberries. Yesterday I blended 3 grapefruits, 1 orange, 2 cups frozen strawberries, and 1/4 cup sugar. Paul got this little cup, and the rest I kept for myself. I usually share it with the kids, but I gave them bananas - that's at least some fruit. Since I have been pregnant or breastfeeding for 5 of the last 7 years means I need a lot of nutrients, and yesterday I was feeling like my body needed an extra boost. And what a tasty boost. I felt like a million bucks all day.

Try some, you'll like it.

Boone liked it too.

Funny or not?

In my opinion, funny.

I think the president would also find it humorous.

Lately

I've been enjoying embroidery and feeling very Valentine's festive. I love the Christmas decorations and it makes me sad that the celebration is over. To ease the pain, I jump right into Valentine's Day. Here is my latest loving creation.

One on each side of the front door. I got the frames at Goodwill more than a year ago and painted them with a blue wash. I think I'll change out what's in the frames depending on what time of year it is.

When I was a girl, I loved cross-stiching. I haven't done it in so long, because I didn't like the look of it. Now I'm liking it again, and I still love the process. I did these on a long car ride to see my Florida brother and family. Made the 20 hours of sitting much nicer. And no, it didn't take all 20 hours.

A few Christmas pics:

My parents came to visit after Christmas. It was lovely. You can see in the back my piano Valentine's decor - already up. The white XOXO is sheet music, "She's always a woman to me". Because I often feel like I must be as crazy as the woman in the song, and I imagine Paul singing it, and that he loves me in spite of my temperament.

Miscelaneous stuff

Every year this excellent church

converts their basement to a Bethlehem bazar. It's pretty fantastic. All the people are in character and very knowledgeable about their station. The lady selling brassware can tell you all about oil lamps, the people at this 100 year old, hand written, Hebrew scroll can tell you all about how the scroll is read. It's all very Christmasy. (Sorry about my lousy pictures - I don't know what's wrong with me.)

This is the lady who wrote the kids' names for them in Hebrew.

This girl is smashing grapes with her feet.

Here's Maggie making olive oil from olives.

Their costumes are fantastic.

You really feel like you might be in Bethlehem. The floor is covered in wood, there's salted fish and little breads. Everyone says Shalom greeting you. Everyone asks if you've heard about the baby who is said to have been born - the king of Israel.

Isn't this expensive? Isn't this crazy tons of work? Yes, but people here in the South, really love Jesus. There are even camels, and real frankincense and myrrh.

I've been fretting about all the sewing/projects I wouldn't get done in time for Christmas. But then I decided that what makes Christmas special is not the beautiful table runner, and painstaking hand-made gifts. What makes Christmas special, is the pie.

This is what is left of the cream cheese pumpkin pie that Paul made. It was so delicious. I made a cheddar crusted apple pie. It's already been devoured. However, I decided I prefer a regular crust, the texture is better. For the record, Paul's crust was flaky and tender. Wow. I didn't know he could make pie crust so well. I was impressed.

Here's the bedding I made for Boone from this duvet cover I cut up. I added the owl.

And for the few of you that check my blog and notice that I haven't been posting lately, and not many pics of Boone... that was intentional. Boone is so cute and darling, but for the last 3 weeks he's been having some terrible baby acne. I kept thinking I'd put up pictures the next week, when his acne cleared up, but it still hasn't. So now I'm swallowing my pride and letting you see my angel. Please look past the skin. He is an absolute dreamy, perfect baby.

He's growing so fast. He smiles when you kiss his face. His cheeks are so chubby. He almost never cries, and when he does, is easily soothed. He sleeps about 18 hours a day. He goes right back to sleep at night after his feeding. Really, he's been no unpleasant work. When he wakes up, I eagerly go to snuggle him. I love him being around. Who do you think he looks like? I can't decide.

These are a few of my favorite things

Citrus Scented Turkey and Cranberry Sauce

Pear, Walnut, and Feta Cheese Salad

Butter Rolls

Rum-glazed Candied Yams

Chipotle Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Caramelized Onion Mashed Potatoes

Green Beans and Pearl Onions with Tarragon Vinaigrette

Savory Spinach and Artichoke Stuffing

Cranberry Apple and Sausage Stuffing

Sourdough Bread Stuffing

Pear and Sour Cherry Flat Pie

Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie

Cheddar Crusted Apple Pie

Pumpkin Roll

Cranberry Pecan Pie