What’s up with THAT??

 I don’t watch the award shows much.
On occasion, something will hold me captive tho.

Beautiful dress…
the pose? ….was just weird.
Even for Angie.

and this… was hilarious.
Not a word was spoken, but Oscar winner Jim Rash had the audience roaring when, just moments after Angelina Jolie announced that he had won an Academy Award, he mocked her strange pose on the stage.

I’m sorry, I  usually don’t like when people make fun of others…
but she was asking for… something.

This will also sound catty, but seriously,  she needs to eat. ..
she’s starting to look like a frail bird.

Brad, on the other hand, is just looking bored.

 

Saturday Junk Hunting

 We’ve just returned from a ride to the Putnam, CT  Antiques Mall
for a little junk hunting. For more info about the area, click here…

  Brought the manchild, but he was less than thrilled

due to the dose of poison ivy his face is sporting.
We picked up cannolis and scones from Victoria Station as a consolation prize.
I am proud to tell you we came home with nothing but those pastries.
No kidding.  You know, there’s just so much STUFF
I’m willing to keep up after, and I have finally realized
that every time I bring home STUFF, no matter how good the
bargain, it’s just one more thing I have to find a place for, dust,
frett over, or forget about until it gets in the way.
I think I just heard a hushed Amen from the mancave.
Anyway, there was some neat STUFF that I almost
woulda taken home if the prices were better.
LOVE this quilt, look at the work! 
But the price tag was $475. – not happening, but oh, did I love it so.   

 Would have loved this too, but where to put it…and another dust collector.
When did I decide to get so practical?  Another Senior moment?

Loved this truck too… but do you see that price tag? $250.
It was behind glass, sorry for the blurr.
I would have bought this in a heartbeat for my Fairy Garden project this summer…
but not for $75.00.

Loved this, no place to put it.


 ADORED this whole little kitchen set up…
how perfect for a little lake house…
or the back porch!!!  Alas, kinda pricey.  
If you can’t read the fine print, a 1907 $5 note, for $70.

 I love the beautiful colors of the broaches, pins, jewelry…

It’s clear the slow economy hasn’t brought down the prices much.
Once it was determined we didn’t need anything there today…
we did what we do best after junk hunting.


As we were leaving Victorias Station bakery and cafe, I noticed half the town had their pink boxes in hand.

My Happy Camper.  This is his good side.

The sky has been blustery and sometimes grey today,
snow flurries here and there… and bright sunny blue too.
You know the saying…
If you don’t like the weather in New England, 
just wait a few minutes and it’ll change.

rocks

Connecticut has lots of them.  Take a walk in the woods almost anywhere in the state and you will find remnants of the old stone walls, when Connecticut was mostly farmland and the rocks found abundantly in the soil were used as fencing for livestock.

 

This Old House has many walls surrounding the fields and along the road.  Mike is Type A squared, if you know what I mean… and so the crumbling old walls drive him nutz.  It’s important to me that we don’t ever sterilize this place, as I am much more bohemian than he… so I have fought against rebuilding them all.  However, with the expertise of Steve, (who long time readers of this blog will remember as the guy who rebuilt all our fireplaces and chimneys and foundation and porch floor)… the stone walls surrounding the fields are getting put back together the way they were 100 years ago… and that’s OK by me as long as we’re keeping it authentic.

 This morning after a winter hiatus, Steve returned with his side-kick, Cooper… and will finish the front roadside wall.  This is a section already completed by Steve a few years back…

and this is the section across the driveway he’ll be taking down and putting back up.
It was a portion of wall that someone had re-done in the past forty years or so,
but not in keeping with everything else.
I think Mike actually loses sleep when things don’t line up. 
Every now and again I notice just how very ugly all those power lines are overhead. 
Some day perhaps they’ll all be underground.  Not here, yet.

 Coop could care less about symetry…
Hey, whatever puts milkbones on the table, says he.

Speaking of rocks… my little perennial rock garden at the side door is starting to shape up.
During this winter that wasn’t a winter
I’ve been able to walk Ben at the beach more often,
and I’ve gathered treasures along the way to fill it in.

It’s a beautiful day here in Connecticut.
Last year at this time we were buried in snow and many had no power.
Life*is*Good
I hope you’ll take the time to get out and enjoy it some.

I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours – Part 2

   I showed you my refrigerator the other day, and I spoke of making some changes to my diet for better health.  I also admitted there has been plenty of junk food consumption over the years…we are equal opportunity eaters, if you will.  Slowly I am making changes to my diet and that of my family so that we are eating less processed foods, more whole foods, swapping poor diet choices for healthier alternatives.  Doing this post was not meant to critique what we all have in our refrigerators. It was a fun way to look at our perks and quirks in the fridge.

 I  did not say, we don’t eat any junk ever.  I am not a fanatic.  I am a realist.  I have a teenager and a young adult living in this house and a husband who loves his meat and potatoes, butter, bread, condiments,  etc.  We are not all going to convert to whole-organic-pure food only.  This is a process, steps taken toward better living, better health.

Last night I read a comment from Anonymous.  Why is it  that whenever someone wants to critique, they cloak themselves under Anonymous?  It’s not really a question, I already know the answer.

 Dear Anonymous… I appreciate your comment, actually…  it’s useful information.  Being a critic without putting your name to it, though… is off-putting.   Just saying.

Anonymous said… “Your food choices are bewildering. On the one hand there is organic whole milk, eggs, clementines, and raw probiotics but that’s as far as the real food goes. Then you have chocolate milk, processed juice, cream cheese (which is not real), rolls of some kind under-pressure, and condiments with sugar/salt galore. Your body must be so confused and inflamed. BTW that earth balance isn’t real food either, better to use real butter sparingly. Sorry for the critique but you opened up your frig, brave woman. “

That being said…. I thank you all for participating.  I love this post, you have all braved  exposing what is definitely a personal item in our homes.  I love hearing that you have a two pepsi a day habit, even tho you are a thin, health conscious runner!  And that I see just as many condiments in your fridges as I do mine.  One of you has a frig dedicated to sausage making from various meats and you relish it! (literally!) …. and I like hearing what you are doing to fuel your body with healthy stuff too.  It gives me ideas, and it makes us all realize how much more alike we are than our differences.  Commeradery, there it is.

  This is life, this is us, thanks for sharing.
Since our daughter’s competition was last week, she can eat ‘normally’ for the next two weeks before going back to her training diet. In the fridge, we have a strange blending of our food, her training diet and not-training diet food … so we have everything from milk and coffee creamer, to beer and a couple of half bottles of wine, containers of home-cooked dog food and fresh salsa, lunchmeat, homemade soup, three dozen-and-a-half cartons of eggs (training food), and way more condiments than we use. This is an eye-opening exercise, and I plan to clean out the fridge and get it more organized as soon as I have another cup of coffee.  – Connie
 Me:  (Glad to see I’m not the only one with more than two mustards on the shelf  – I had four. Why? I have no idea.)  
Mary’s Refrigerator

Our new motto is “eat fresh, eat local, eat better, eat less and live longer.” We been trying to shop the local farmers markets whenever possible. We’ve just about eliminated butter and white flour from our diets by opting for olive oil and wheat products as better choices. We are also watching sugar intake. For example, did you know that 10 grams of sugar, which seemed low is actually equal to 2+ teaspoons of sugar? That’s high when you consider the American Heart Association recommends that women have no more than 6 teaspoons a day, for men it’s 9 teaspoons – and I don’t believe those numbers consider diabetics. So it’s making us read our labels – closely!  We’ve recently decided to try to eliminate as many canned goods as possible too by opting for glass, mainly because of the cancer causing seepage from the linings of the cans. Thus, this summer I’ll be a “canning queen,” especially when it comes to tomatoes & peaches!

We have our vices too!! LOL!!!
It usually involves a sweet treat at night or sometimes a glass of wine (for me) LOL!!!
That’s how we’re rolling in 2012!!!

Deb’s Refrigerator –
Me: Deb! we love Maries dressing and A-1 Steak sauce too!  
Sorry, Anonymous.  
Patti’s refrigerator –  Okay, you begged and pleaded, here my 1950ish refrigerator with 50 pounds of venison/pork sausage which will be turned into beautiful smoked sausage. It will be stuffed into casings on Wednesday and smoked for about 8 to 9 hours.  Wish you were here to taste it!!!
Me:  Patti – we’ll all be over on Thursday around 4, ok?
Lisa’s refrigerator –
 Disclaimer: I did not clean or organize my fridge in any way. What you see is….real. Eek!

I eat pretty much whatever I want, but when possible I buy light versions (sour cream, cream cheese, milk). I try to limit the amount of processed foods we use, but I won’t lie – we do use them. You’ll note that the veggie drawer has celery, carrots, grapes and broccoli which are all staples in our house. A large assortment of cheeses in the cheese/meat drawer. We only buy organic milk (it’s the only food I’m a real stickler about for organic). The eggs are actually all from our hens – they have started laying again so we have a surplus! In fact, the big bowl you see on the top shelf is full of hard boiled eggs, which we eat as snacks a lot. The boys love them. You’ll see lots of tupperwares in our fridge at all times, because I cook full dinners. One of the tupperwares is full of barbecue chicken – from one of our chickens that I cooked last week. The other is full of homemade mac and cheese. And Pierce’s lunch is prepped and in his lunch box to the left (behind which are some of our home canned pickles and salsa). And to the bottom right – our grass fed organic beef cow arrived yesterday – we got 56 pounds! So I’m defrosting the first batch and toying with the idea of a casserole involving tomatoes, beef, cheese, green peppers and corn chips crumbled on top. The blue pitcher in the back just has ice cold water.
We also have a Soda Stream and make some of our own sodas – lately I’ve been liking their green tea.
You may also note my vice…..Diet Pepsi/Diet Coke. I can’t quite break the habit of 2 a day. Nobody’s perfect! Especially not me!
 

Me:  Lisa, I like you even more now that I know of your diet soda habit.
and oooh, how I’d love that casserole recipe!
 

 
 
 
 
 

Jeanne’s refrigerator…
Me: LOVE THE COKE, JEANNE!   My favorite!!  Reminds me of my grandmother’s house many years ago, and is great for a yucky tummy.
 
 

Ok, so what I’ve noticed….  We all seem to try to balance the good with the mediocre food stuff with the evil. I see lots of fruits and veggies, we all have condiment issues, I’d say we’re all doing a decent job with the balancing act.  Are we fanatics? Hell no.  Is that necessary?  Everything in moderation sounds reasonable.  We each have individual needs, deficiencies, health concerns and goals.  Our refrigerators reflect that, don’t ya think?  
 

Thank you for getting naked here at This Old House.
  I always appreciate the effort 🙂

Over-exposed?

Oh, come on now…
…have I really only inspired ONE of you to send me a
fridge pic?
I was kinda hoping to see the messy ones,
the empty ones,
the anal ones,
whatever ya got!
I guess it really IS sorta like being naked  🙂

If you’re a health nut and have some tips, share them.
If you want to make some changes, tell us about them.
If you’re already making dietary changes, big or small,
let us know about them by including them with your pic.

Let’s inspire each other here….I think it’s important.

 

I’m giving you one more day here…
someone.. anyone!… won’t you join my one other brave soul?


I’ll show you mine if you show me yours….

I bet you weren’t thinking refrigerators, were ya.
So…
 As I’ve taken this pledge to feed myself and my family
a healthier menu, I’ve noticed the contents of my fridge have changed some.
 Eating healthier has gotten more expensive,
but the benefits outweigh the cost.
There are many of you out there who know how to shop
for the healthfood bargains…
I’m not one of you.. yet.
First, you’ll notice the ridiculous amount of condiments on the side door there…
I’ve got to get control of that, just sayin.  
And there’s the Maalox, which I hope not to need now that i’ve stopped eating
so much JUNK.  Because I have always eaten JUNK, not just the good stuff,
which I also love.  I was an equal opportunity eater. 
There is now organic whole milk for the manchild,
HINT essence water instead of soda for him too…
Aloe vera juice which I drink mixed with apple juice,
good for the stomach, don’t ya know.
Our chickens give us all those pretty organic eggs…
I’m using olive oil spread instead of butter on most things…
Plenty of fruits and veggies,
ground flax seed, which I ate too much of in the first week of adding it
into my diet and the gastric results were…. gass-tly.
I’m also drinking Almond or Rice milk instead of  cow’s milk lately
and the yogurt is lactose free.
I’ve also cut out most of my gluten intake (wheat) and dairy.
Both are not easily digested and I’m giving my digestive tract some relief.  
Why am I mentioning this?  Well… as I hit my forties
my body started whispering, and sometimes clamoring…
HEY girl… start thinking about what you’re tossing down the hatch, will ya?
I heeded the warning, and I’m feeling better already.
My husband will cringe if he sees this post.. because he’ll notice
the smudges on the butter shelf top right,
and all the condiments not lined up properly. 
Maybe I’ll go fix those just for him.
Because sometimes… RARELY… that’s how I roll.
SO… if you’re so inclined..and I bet I won’t get any of you to do this…
send me a picture ASAP of your fridge, with an explanation .. or not.
Doesn’t have to be health conscious… if you’re a milk, butter,
beer, bratwurst kinda person, that’s OK too!
Kinda makes you feel naked, doesn’t it?
Notice the marinating chicken midshelf?
Awesome recipe below…
Citrus Marinated Roast Chicken
recipe by Fine Cooking Magazine 

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 4-lb. whole chickens, each cut into 6 pieces (4 breasts with rib bones, 4 leg-thigh pieces, 4 wings)

4 large lemons

2 large oranges

8 medium cloves garlic, chopped

3 Tbs. chopped fresh oregano (or 1 Tbs. dried, crumbled)

3 Tbs. soy sauce

1 Tbs. honey

1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Pour the olive oil into a heavy-duty nonreactive roasting pan large enough to accommodate the chicken pieces in one layer. Arrange the chicken in the pan with the breasts in the center and the legs and wings around the edge.
Cut 1 of the lemons into 6 wedges. Finely grate the zest from another lemon to yield 1 tsp. and then squeeze the remaining lemons to yield 2/3 cup juice; transfer the zest and juice to a small bowl. Cut 1 of the oranges into 8 wedges. Finely grate the zest from the remaining orange to yield 1 tsp., and then squeeze the orange to yield 1/2 cup juice; add to the bowl with the lemon juice and zest. Scatter the lemon and orange wedges around the chicken pieces, but don’t put them on top of the chicken or they’ll interfere with browning.

Stir the garlic, oregano, soy sauce, honey, and pepper flakes into the citrus juice. Pour the marinade evenly over the chicken. Cover with plastic and refrigerate, turning the chicken pieces occasionally, for at least 6 hours and up to 12 hours.
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425°F.

Turn the chicken so all the pieces are skin side up. Sprinkle with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 375°F and continue to roast until the chicken is golden-brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Transfer the chicken and the lemon and orange wedges to a platter. Pour the pan juice into a fat separator and let sit until the fat rises to the top. Discard the excess fat and pour the juice into a 10-inch skillet. Boil over medium-high heat until reduced to 1-1/2 cups, about 10 minutes.
Serve the chicken with the citrus wedges, passing the reduced pan juice at the table.

…Really?

  Bobby Brown  leaves the funeral of his ex wife and mother of his child because his “entourage” of nine is asked to move to seating not reserved for family.  Instead of complying and showing some level of respect for his dead ex, who it is said he introduced to the world of drugs and in fact the family still harbors resentment for his early starring role in her drug habit….. instead… he leaves the funeral ..and his daughter.. behind. Ofcourse, the media grabbed on to that little nugget right after the services and ran with it.

   Bobby, this time, pal… you shoulda sucked it up.  At the very least, your “entourage” should have insisted you stay and waited politely for  you back at the ranch.     Just sayin.

            ***