I really had good intentions for today. I was going to work at the Food Pantry, come home, clean house, get my kitchen in order for when Kristoffer came over to cook dinner for us tonight, then sew on Lian’s smocked dress…
Well, it didn’t quite go as planned… when I got up, it looked like this outside…
[If you click on the pictures, they will enlarge.]
It was a heavy wet snow and the leaves on our Magnolia tree were almost touching the ground…
The winds were blowing 30-40 mph, making the wind chill factor 13 degrees! My hubby asked that I not go to the Food Pantry today… I obeyed him and thought I’d clean house for a while and then head to my sewing room… Well, one phone call led to another and one email led to another and before I knew it, my hubby had come back home. Shortly after he arrived, Kristoffer was here. So much for sewing…
I helped Kristoffer in the kitchen…he was making us his version of Sesame Chicken. My part was steaming some broccoli… Well, let me tell you, this boy can seriously cook! It was better than good… it was Delicious!! (Notice the capital “D”) Here is his handiwork…
…and here’s what I added…
Kristoffer brought over his “cookbook” and showed me how many times he’s tweaked this recipe… lots of scribbles on the page. There were lots of other tempting looking recipes in there… maybe we should ask him over once every 2 weeks for a special dinner… :o)
After dinner he helped me install a new version of Bitdefender on my computer… but it took 3 times to get it installed… and 3 hours to do it… crumb!!! Now it’s after midnight and I never made it into my sewing room…
So… I guess the only part of my post that has to do with sewing, will be how I used scissors to trim Reuben’s hair… sorry… maybe sewing will fit into my day tomorrow… He never holds still when I want to take a picture of him, so they aren’t very good at all…neither is the haircut, really… but at least he doesn’t look like a sheep dog now!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Hi Jeanne,
So sorry I’ve been MIA on your blog lately; I’ve been reading, but not commenting, sorry. Too much going on… I wanted to pop in today and say that I hope you can find some sewing time. I’ll be sewing, so maybe we can sew together virtually? Not sure if that is the right word, but you know what I mean. I wanted to sew Gracie/Talyssa’s new dress two day ago, but because I put it at the end of my list it didn’t get done, maybe today.
We got no snow to speak of yesterday (few flurries); it went south and east of us (I believe…). I didn’t think you’d get snow either.
Wishing you a sewing filled day!
HI Cindy,
Oh no… I wanted to be first at writing you, but now I’ve blown it… I get my emails and up above them are 2 little boxes.. one called Social and one called Promotions… I usually don’t pay any attention to them, but a few days ago I saw the numbers beside them had gotten larger, so I opened the Social one up… It was Cindy Rice Designs, Cindy Rice Designs, all down the page… I saw where your father passed away and I am so sorry Cindy… That picture of you and your brother was so adorable and he looked like he was very much loved! I know this is a hard time for you and I’m so sorry I wasn’t alert to what was happening in your life. Please forgive me. I can pray now that you find comfort and peace in the memories you had with him. I wish I could give you a big hug.
My dad died of a brain tumor when I was 17 and I still get teary eyed over things I remember about him. That was over 40 years ago. I will keep you and your brother and your mom (?) in my prayers…
Our snow is almost all melted but it’s still pretty cold outside… a wind chill factor of 26 degrees… but it’s supposed to warm up this weekend. Yay!
I plan on sewing today, but first I have to do the dishes from last night. We moved from dinner to the computer and they never got done… oops!
I hope you enjoy your new Gracie… she looks adorable. I almost got her, but passed on the very last day to order her.
Blessings and a big hug,
Jeanne
I am sorry you lost your dad so young, Jeanne. That must have been so, so hard! Thank you for your prayers during this difficult time. I know that time heals, but our missing our loved ones doesn’t seem to lessen as time goes on. I was so close to my grandma and I miss her as much today as the day she passed.
Life is good when life just gets in the way of what we had planned to do. That seems to be my story, too. I was sewing away yesterday afternoon when we got the tornado sirens here in Central Virginia. We’ve had tornado watches before, but never the warnings telling us to take cover now! We were spared, thank goodness, but that shot my enthusiasm for sewing. You’ll get back on track! Feel blessed that you have good reasons for not being able to sew as often as you like!
HI Karen,
Yes, the joys of Spring coming, also brings with it the threats of tornado’s. I remember a year or so ago, we had tornado warnings out for Southern Illinois. They had been popping up all around us. For the first time ever, I boxed up my dolls and was debating about taking them to the basement… I felt sort of silly doing it, but they are very special to me. I also packed up all my patterns that I have drafted over the years… They are pretty priceless and I’d be at a huge loss if I ever lost them…
I do hope to get back to my sewing and soon! I just finished my dishes… so maybe in a little bit I’ll be in there… sewing to my hearts content!
Thanks Karen,
Blessings, Jeanne
When a forest fire threatened my neighborhood, I packed my antique Hester Bateman spoons and my dolls. I know I can buy more dolls, but they wouldn’t be the same. Fortunately the firefighters were great and the fire never came close.
HI Marilyn,
It probably seems silly to anyone “except” dolly lovers… :o)
~ Jeanne
It was a rough day for many. Thankful you were safe. I think the in between season started when winter fights with spring. Much too soon but instability is in the air.
HI Jan,
I think you are right… Winter is fighting with Spring… I hope Spring WINS!
Blessings, Jeanne
It looked just like that at our house too! Nobody went anywhere, although I have some friends who live in St. Charles and north county, and they didn’t have a single drop of anything!! The sloppy snow is all gone now, and it will be much better this weekend, they say.
That son of yours should be a chef! Wish we could smell that dish—-and had some to eat too! Could you figure out how to sell his food on your Etsy page???;)
Rueben is such a cutie, and probably feels a ton lighter! Happy sewing today—I’m going to get that church dress of felicity’s finished no matter what! Have to check out that sewing snaps tutorial you have.
HI Linda,
Today the snow is almost all melted away and we are just left with lots of mud puddles and soppy ground… The weekend IS supposed to be really nice here too… maybe even 70 degrees!
Kristoffer really is a great cook… he and Rebecca both… It was really delicious and I’m not kidding when I say, I think it was probably the tenderest, tastiest Sesame chicken I’d ever had. He said usually Sesame is deep fried, taken out and put in the saucy stuff again and then deep fried again, but he just did ours once and it was so tender and lightly coated… you tasted the chicken and not the coating so much.
Reuben still doesn’t look perfect like he would at a groomers, but I have a $934 root canal and crown bill, so the groomer will have to wait…
I hope you get Felicity’s dress finished today.. just think how good you’re going to feel when you put it on her…. :o) :o)
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
Such beautiful snow photos! Almost black & white with a hint of muted color.
Your sesame chicken looks delicious. Makes me jealous since we have been without a stove since Sunday. There was a pop and our oven went out as well as the burners. We turned the breaker back on and found one of the ovens wouldn’t work and one of the burners could not be turned off. Was in the middle of making Chicken Marsala, so I finished it on the burner that worked correctly and switched to the other rarely used oven. Then we turned off the breaker in the garage when finished. The microwave is on the same circuit so that wouldn’t work either until we unplugged it in the cupboard and used a heavy duty extension cord to another plug. I’ve found that you can survive with just a microwave. Hopefully, the repair person will be here this afternoon to fix the stove switch. It’s only three years old. 🙁
HI Joy,
Boy, it sounds like your oven woes just kept getting worse and worse… I hope the repairman can fix it all up and you can get back to cooking again. I LOVE Chicken Marsala…
You CAN survive with just a microwave, but it’s really hard to survive WITHOUT one… ours went out last summer and we were trying to find one…it was terrible without it!
Thanks and I hope things get better quickly!
Blessings, Jeanne
The weather here is interesting, too. Saturday is was possible to wear short sleeves outside and today it is 33 degrees and we have an inch of snow and it’s snowing now.
The dinner Kristoffer cooked for you looks delicious. You should definitely take advantage of asking him to cook sometimes. Winter is a great time to try out new recipes. I have a few more I want to try.
Reuben looks so cute with his haircut. Funny that he doesn’t like to be groomed. All of our dogs loved being bathed and groomed even though it always took us a few hours to do everything and then would prance around showing off. Maybe if you do little bits over more days he’ll get more used to it.
Not every day goes as planned. Hopefully you can get back to sewing today. I always bake cakes from scratch and yesterday made an orange chiffon cake because I had an extra dozen eggs and a citrusy cake sounded like a good dessert. so sometimes spur of the moment plans are great.
HI Laura,
We have strange weather like that here in Southern Illinois. They always say, “Wait a day and you’ll probably like the weather…”
Kristoffer has always had a thing for cooking… and he does make some great things. I remember these little soft walnut cookies he made one time and they just melted in your mouth… :o)
He hates the sound of the buzzing that the clippers make, I guess. We had to buy a muzzle because he hates it that bad… He had some big knots on his lower legs and feet, but my conditioner got them softened up enough that I think now my hubby can give him a bath more often, use the conditioner and it will keep them away better. It took us so long on the feet that his Acepromazine was wearing off by the time we got to his head…so it’s not the greatest… maybe next time…
Your orange chiffon cake sounds light and airy and delightfully delicious! Hope it was good!
Blessings, Jeanne
The second picture would make a great DIY Christmas card for next year. You may have others that are even better. You are great with borders (see your Ebay auctions) — you could make a wonderful Christmas card.
I hope Kristoffer has been looking at food blogs. With your experience and his cooking, he might consider starting his own blog.
Here in Boulder the snow is melting fast and I should be able to work in the garden this weekend. This is just prep work — but the Farmer’s market will be open in 6 weeks.
Thanks Marilyn,
I have so many pictures of that gazebo… year after year, snowfall after snowfall… I should make a card from it… :o)
Kristoffer loves to watch the cooking channel and he told me he’s recently found Pinterest… He likes to use what he has… he was telling me about something he made recently… he crushed up blue chip tortillas with something else… I can’t remember… Then he took pork chops and dipped them in a beaten up egg mixture, then dipped the chops in the crushed tortilla chips, then did that again. He baked them and he said they were great!
Our Farmer’s Market opens up on April 2nd… it won’t be long!
Thanks Marilyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
Love the snow pictures and I’m not afraid to say, I love snow and I miss it!!!!! (as long as no one is hurt out in it or any little critters are too cold.)
Wow, Kristoffer’s Sesame Chicken looks so delicious. His presentation looks great too. What a talented young man!
Reuben looks absolutely adorable. Such a sweet looking little fellow. Our pets bring us such joy, don’t they?
Meant to comment on your witnessing calves being born… I would have found that to be a “moment” too. Baby animals are so precious and cute looking.
Hope you get to your sewing room today for your own enjoyment, Jeanne. Have a great day.
HI Paula,
Well, sorry, you can have my snow…I don’t want it anymore! :o)
I got the plates out for dinner last night and was getting some hot pads out… Kristoffer said,
“Wait, I’m going to plate it for you…” and he did.. He took a measuring cup and packed the rice into it and then flipped it out onto the plates… then he put the chicken on and around the mound… and then spooned out the sesame sauce on top of it… We were quite impressed. About half way through, I remember saying, “Oh, I’m going to be so sad when this is all gone…” and I was!
Well, I don’t know about “adorable,” but he does look 100% better to us…
I’m heading to my sewing room very soon….
Thanks so much Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne