Wine Clubs are Fun

I1 Papavero Primitivo 2009, Puglia IGT, Italy. Puglia is the heel of Italy's boot if you look at a map. That's where this wine comes from. It's Italy's hottest region with lots and lots of sunshine. You'll notice the bottle is empty, lol. Well to say we enjoyed it would be an understatement. It's on one of my favorites list. We joined a wine club about a year or so ago. The Wall Street Journal Wine Club. You buy a case at a time at a much reduced cost. You can select a mix of wines, or stick to a particular type. The fun is trying different wines. The card you see tells you about each of the wines, where they're from, what type of grape it is, what types of food it's best served with etc.
You get a notebook when you join and an extra gift. The first time we joined we received a very fancy wine opener and case. We've not used it much truthfully. It's large and somewhat a pain to get out and put away. We lost interest in the club after awhile and stopped our membership. They weren't good at sending the cards which annoyed me. However, just recently they contacted us to see if we'd like to rejoin and made us a really good deal. And so...we did rejoin. The above specialty glasses are quite nice were our gift this time round. They will indeed be used. They're small taster glasses, very nice stemware from Italy.

Do we know how to detect notes of this and that in a wine, either in taste or aromas? Not really. But, we do know what we like. Hubby says I'm better at picking up on scents and flavors then he is, and perhaps over time I'll get better. But, it is fun even without those abilities. On the back of the card you're to make notes, so you know what you liked and didn't in order to know what to purchase or not purchase in the future.

Notes on this bottle read: Great with Pizza. So, you see this isn't a stuffy thing for us. lol My note continues to say, "Plum does come out as it warmed up, some chocolate aroma's. $10.00 bottle. Buy Again

Buying it from the club in our case of mixed wines we paid less than $10.00, but with each bottle, we check the price her on the net to add to our decision whether or not to purchase again. You can see, my notes aren't those of wine connoisseur at all. They say if you like a California Zinfandel, you'll love this wine; it's Italian Cousin.

Definitely a wine I'd recommend, and hope to enjoy again.

Secondly Longest Running Work in Progress!

Opal Ghan. A co-worker gave me a pillow from her sofa and requested a ghan. I've made ghans for her previously, before carpal tunnel and arthritis were an issue. She doesn't like open stitches of any kind, she likes solid. When I was younger that wasn't an issue, but it is now. That's my excuse for this being the 2nd longest running WIP I've had in all my years of crocheting and knitting. I started this ghan with one idea in mind. I rarely use a pattern when making ghans, as I like to wing it. I'm actually good at that, good at seeing what something will look like, and guestimating how much yarn to purchased. NORMALLY that is. Somehow with this, I was really off. I was coming along nicely with the project, probably about 2/3 of the way there, when I grab the bag to select another skein of yarn and realized............YIKES! I didn't have enough. m I'd had it long enough I knew there was no reason to even try and match yarn, plus....couldn't ask her to buy more or give me money to do so. Sooooooooooooo, checked my stash and decided the taupe (see 2 side panels), would blend nicely. So, frogged the whole thing (except squares), though I did take apart those that had been joined. ARGH

Rip it, Rip it, I really hate frogging. Often if I run into a snag I'm able to change midstream without having to do that. Not this time. And so, the project continues. Here you see it in stage 2. The other problem I'm dealing with is working from both ends of a skein of yarn, can't risk running short with this 2nd design. So, I do a bit on the middle, then a bit on the side panels, then make a square or two. Not at all the way I like to work. I need to constantly keep counting and measuring to be sure the 3 pieces will come together properly.

The other problem I'm having, I don't like what I'm working on. I'm not a fan of the colors and I find working on something I don't like, or am not excited by difficult. I am however forcing myself to keep this out in the open and work on it a bit each and everyday, even as I work on other projects. Breaking it up like this helps.

Someone please pour me another glass of wine!

RAV

RAIN, memories of Mom

Rain, I don't actually like ran; it ruins good outdoor time, can alter ones travel plans, cause flooding can be dangerous...........But, RAIN makes me think about Mom. When I was young, most of the families in our neighborhood had electric ranges; Mom had gas. So when we'd have a rain storm and the electric would go; she'd warm up soup on the gas stove for all the neighbors. They'd walk through the yard with a pot of soup in hand and she'd put it on the stove. She'd laugh, cause she didn't really like the gas stove; thought it dirtier than electric--but it did have some advantages. In those days gas was considered old fashion, and all the new appliances were electric. I have an electric range; but hubby keeps wanting to buy a new one, a gas one. Gas is all the rage again it seems. All the cooking shows on TV talk about how superior gas is for even heat, all the chiefs use gas not electric.

That's not the only memory though that comes to mind with the word RAIN and my Mother. Back in the day before people spent hard earned money to buy special irons, or pay for distilled water (that was certainly a luxury only the wealthy could afford); Mom would put out large pots or bowls when it rained to collect rain water to be used in the iron and to water the house plants. More natural for the plants, without chemicals and all, and apparently better for an iron also; as the chemicals are what clogged up an iron.

It also seems rain water was a special thing to do for ones hair. She'd rinse our hair in rain water when she had enough. No need to pay for hair conditioners and rinse when you had rain water on hand. Now days, I suppose the rain water is full of junk and so perhaps that wouldn't be so advantageous?

AND, let's not forget the ever NOT stylish but wildly popular plastic rain-bonnet! Now for those of you younger then me, this may not bring back a memory; but if you're as old as dirt like me...well then, that's another story. Do you remember rain-bonnets? The one pictured is the more stylish model, however the one I remember most was folded back and forth like a fan with little plastic ties and fit into a plastic sleeve that measured about 1 inch by 3 inches. They snapped back folded when you pulled on the ties. Mom hated those things, older women always wore them back then. You know older women had their hair done once a week, or once every other week and so couldn't risk their style getting wet. No proper lady would go out and about without a rain-bonnet tucked neatly in her hand bag. Anyway, every-time Mom would see someone put one on, she'd tell me to shot her if she did that when she got older. I found this rain-bonnet a few years ago and was going to include it in a gift as a joke to her. I never did give it to her; though I know she would have rolled her eyes.

Then there was the time the family was camping during one of the summer vacations and it was raining and raining and raining. We were at Lake Erie, and Dad was outside trenching around the tent to try and keep the tent dry. He wasn't a happy camper, actually I don't believe anyone was. Mom grabbed the old 35 mm movie camera and had me open the tent flap so she could film Daddy trenching with a little camp shovel. As she's filming it, we all got to laughing and Daddy said this was his most favorite thing to do, next to swimming across a lake with man eating Piranhas. Needless to say, the mood was much better after that. And, it wasn't too long after that, that the sun came out.

No, I really don't like rain; but I do have some pretty fond memories. Thanks Mom.

New Look in the Bedroom

The different light in the room makes the colors look a bit different. We decided we really needed to upgrade from a queen to a King. Seems we always sleep better away from home when traveling and generally...we have a King when we travel. The previous room was Red and Gold, we're more muted now with gray and tan. The walls are an a shade of off white that is almost a pale gray, carpet is tan and the drapes are a lighter shade of the tan. The room is small and so we've opted for the bed in the corner to free up a little floor space.
Here's a little different look before I put up the tiebacks. Again the light here is a bit different than above. We both feel like we're sleeping better which is nice. It's not a traditional style mattress, it's foam and therefore we don't feel each other getting up and turning over. Highly recommend you look into this if you're in the market for a new mattress or bed.

Put on your Apron

Put on your apron and join me in the kitchen. I make egg casserole in batches typically. At Christmas I make tons of it. I don't bake, I don't make cookies, I make egg casserole. Everyone gets a casserole or 2 or 3 for their families from me on Christmas Eve which they then can cook for Christmas morning brunch. We have a fruit salad and champagne with ours. It's a long standing family tradition.

I also make egg casserole for all home Ohio State Footfall games that are noon games. It makes a great tailgate breakfast/brunch also. There we serve bloody mary's with it. Others in our tailgate group bring fruit salad, and potatoes to go with it.

My daughter made a bunch of this a few years back for her classroom, added fruit salad too. It was part of her lesson plan on table manners. They all learned about setting the table, putting a napkin in your lap, keeping your elbows off the table, not talking with food in your mouth, and not eating until everyone was served. They loved this lesson as the final was them serving each other the brunch she had prepared for them.

My Darling Daughter made another batch of this not too long ago for her teachers. She's in a new city now and so this was new to them. It was a business brunch and her egg casserole was a huge success.

My niece recently facebooked me to ask how to make it. She made it for her dorm in Texas. She's an RA there and made it for her group, and there too it was a huge hit.

6 eggs
6 slices of bread cubed
2 cups milk
1 cup grated sharp cheedar cheese
1 pound cooked sausage.

Combine and beat eggs and milk and cheese, add bread, add cooled cooked and drained sausage. Pour into a greesed baking dish(casserole pan etc.) and leave in fridge over night. Cook at 350 about 45 minutes, until golden brown on top and your knife/toothpick comes out almost clean.

Options:
add onion, spice to your liking, mushrooms, green or red peppers

Serve with breakfast rolls, juice, fruit salad and enjoy!

Meow

This afghan (catghan) was made for my niece's daughter who is now 14 years old; so it's been around awhile. This was her baby ghan, made with good old Red Heart Yarn and crocheted from mostly granny squares. I wanted to put eyes and wiskers on at the time, I remember...but, didn't want anything she might put in her mouth and choke on so it remained a little bland. It needed a little repair. Not bad after all this time and many washings. Still looks pretty good. Definitely a testimony to the durability of Red Heart Yarn....acrylic washable yarn.

Just joined a meme (WIPW), fun idea. This was a work in progress in terms of the repair, so I'm counting it here.