Under a Red Roof

Zen

April 1, 2019 in Cooking + Baking, Friendship by Colleen | Permalink

Welcome to Monday and April (!). Tonight’s dinner was a pretty Thai salad with protein noodles made from wild Alaskan pollock. I am always trying to find ways to reduce carbs (so I can indulge my sweet tooth without having sugar overload), and these were a great surprise find at Costco. The noodles were yummy and just right, but oooh-eee was the dressing spicy. Thai chilis are hot to trot!

Speaking of that sweet tooth, look at this killer caramel crunch corn flake brownie from a recipe by Cupcake Jemma. She makes all kinds of awesome looking treats, and these were my first to try. Good gracious are they RICH! Greg and I brought them to D & D night with the cousins (My gnome Kittra is going strong!), and we struggled to finish one brownie each, which is saying A LOT. But, wow, wow, wow, are they tasty!

Handsome hubster in silhouette.

Look at those clouds, like some heavenly zen garden in progress, or, perhaps coming apart.

What?

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Spring is doing it’s best to tease us, with balmy 70 degree days followed by snow and below freezing temperatures. I don’t particularly mind, as I have still been able to make progress out in the garden. The crocus have already passed and tulips and every other manner of bulb is peeking from the ground. I am eager for their sweet pops of color and hopeful Juniper doesn’t trample too many with her joyful romps in the yard.

Hoping life is lovely where you are!

Tags: Cooking and Baking

Peak

March 28, 2019 in Quoting by Colleen | Permalink

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.

Henry Ward Beecher

Tags: Colorado, Quoting

It’s movie time…

March 26, 2019 in Watching by Colleen | Permalink

Lucky – a man near the end of his days, Lucky follows a rigid and routine existence in a small California town. Yoga, the same seat at the diner, puzzles. With fear of the end, he moves forward, sometimes awkwardly, always with intention.

Paddleton – two loner best friends live a small existence of regularity and routine, watching the same movie over and over, making pizza, playing their favorite game. All is upended when one learns he has a terminal illness and asks the other to help end his life. So touching!

Shirkers – Teens make a movie only to have it disappear along with the strange friend who helped them with its creation. Decades later, they seek to learn what happened.

On Body and Soul – One of the most magical films I’ve seen in a long while. Co-workers discover they share a strange dream time connection which sparks a tenuous romance. A stunning meditation on love and the beauty and sanctity of life. A word to vegans and vegetarians – contains scenes from a slaughterhouse. I should hope to die in such peace.

Dean – A man struggles to find his mojo, creative and otherwise, after losing his mom and breaking with his fiancee in short order.

The Other Son – A Jewish and Palestinian family learn their sons were mistakenly switched at birth, the anguish and reconciliation.

Dead in a Week (Or Your Money Back) – A man inept at suicide outsources the job only to discover he might have something to live for.

The Breaker Upperers – best friends help cowards end their relationships for a living, via cowboy songs and elaborate schemes, depending upon how much the client wishes to pay. All is rolling along nicely until they meet a former victim in need of a friend.

p.s. The woman on the right looks like Bethie, one of my best childhood pals. Love….

Tags: Movies

Relaxed

March 25, 2019 in Being, Cooking + Baking, Friendship by Colleen | Permalink

Greg and Juniper looking particularly relaxed and happy after a weekend chock full of activity.

Friday night we watched the cousin’s kidlets while they enjoyed a rare evening on the town. There was MUCH play – of the football catching, block building and demolishing, and video gaming variety. There was also Boss Baby (funny!) and pancakes and bedtime stories. Once we tucked the kiddos safely into bed, we binge watched some Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (lives up to its name!) and wished there was ONE single platform for ALL video streaming, as we have zero interest in paying a multitude of fees for our television. Sigh. Incentive for us to watch the kids more often, I suppose!

Up early Saturday morning for a long-awaited visit with some of our besties, Michael and Mary. They brought their dogs, Jesuscito and Lupita, and Juniper thought they were the cat’s pajamas. We can sniff and play all day, inside, outside, run, run, run. Only one thing – do NOT touch my food, okay? Okay. Good.

I made all kinds of goodness – a pork roast, salad, spinach and ricotta gnudi (the flecked with green rolls whose name translates to naked – a jacketless ravioli). The prettiest, hands down, was the delicious orange and fennel cake because, lucky me, blood oranges are still in season and gorgeous, gorgeous!

It was a sleep over, so there was more food adventure in the form of crumpets for breakfast (sore-ee no photo). I had never made them and wondered if I had it all wrong, but they looked right and tasted like WOW! I do believe they will be on a more frequent rotation. Yes, I do.

Did I, after years of swearing I would, remember to take a picture of the four of us? No, because I always get so caught up in the being and doing of fine friendship and cooking and baking that I forget. Even though the camera is close at hand, within eye shot, even. Not the worst to happen, really, so fully immersed in the joy of our togetherness. Yes. But dang, too. I’d like to have us rounded up for the ages. I really, really would.