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Friday, June 26, 2009

BLOG – Jenn’s Birthday Dinner, 2009

Yesterday, June 25th, was my daughter Jennifer’s birthday – as she calls it the anniversary of the date “she popped out” or I “popped her out”. (Not too far off, it was only 5 hours of labor – thank you, Jenn!)

So, I invited Jenn and her husband, Matt, to come to my house for a “light dinner”. I heard on the weather reports that it was supposed to be a warm day, and the sun to finally come out, so I decided to go with foods I could get ready early and refrigerate until time to eat the meal.

Here’s the menu:

Mock Tuna Salad
Red Potato Sald
Italian-style Marinated Carrots
Ginger’s Chocolate Overkill Pie
Plus Trader Joe’s Soy Cream Cherry Chocolate Chip Non-dairy Frozen Dessert
Sparking Wine

I found the Mock Tuna Salad recipe here. Although it is meant to be vegan, and almost was, I did use actual mayonnaise as I already had it and it was open in the refrigerator. BTW, this was the only part of the meal that was not vegan!!! (Side note - I don't like dill pickle in my tuna, so I left that out.)


For the potato salad, I used a “recipe” that was once demonstrated during a Labor Day weekend Saturday morning news show – GMA or Today or ??? I can’t give you specific amounts as I just do it by eye or feel each time. Also, this tastes different everytime I make it depending on brands and amounts of each ingredient.

Red-skinned potatoes (enough to feed the number of people plus some for leftovers!)
Oil
Mustard
Dill
Salt
Scallions, sliced

Cut up the potatoes into pieces as close to the same size as possible, keeping them somewhat large. Boil them in water until they are fork tender. Remove from heat and drain in a colander. I then return them to the pan because the heat, but not the burner, to help evaporate the last of the water.

The rest of the ingredients should be put on the potatoes while they are still hot. Then chill until serving time – if you can wait that long!

As I said above, the brand/type of oil and mustard will change the flavor. Also, I have used red onions, chopped fairly small, in place of the scallions. The dill can be fresh or dried.


The marinated carrots are from a recipe that can be found in the original edition of “Cooking the Whole Foods Way” by Christina Pirello. I looked for it on her website, but it is not there. I haven’t checked the new version of the book, but I sure hope it is there. I regret I cannot post it here as I don’t want to infringe on the copyright. Maybe you can find the book at your local library (or if you’re nearby and want to make it, you can borrow my copy for a few days.) The ingredients are few and it is simple to make – the cooked carrots are soaked in a vinegar/oil/garlic/herb concoction. Delicious and easy.




I’ve left the best for last. A few posts ago now, Ginger of the blog Wild Ginger presented us with the most yummy-looking Chocolate Overkill Pie – 100% vegan. Trust me - you don't have to be a vegan, or even a vegetarian, to love it - if you love chocolate to the point of ecstasy!
Loaded with protein, calories, and deliciousness! You can find Ginger’s recipe here. I realize Ginger recommends a coconut frozen product, but the TJ’s one is Jenn’s favorite, and believe me, it went very well with the pie.

If you’d like to see all the pics I took, you can check out my Flickr set here.

There you have it, a 99.9% vegan meal that was delicious and satisfying.

Please go check out Jenn’s blog to see what she has to say.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace, Judi

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

My Blog Won Another Award!

OK, Blogger is not making me happy today. First, this was supposed to be published automatically earlier this morning, but that didn't happen. Second, and this may be Blogger or Facebook - yesterday's blog entry never made it to FB. I may be a computer geek, but some days I hate computers! Ranting is over, on to the good stuff for today.


Julie of Julie Magers Soulen Photography has awarded me the Premio Meme Award. I am honored to be a recipient! Thank you, Julie!


The rules of this award state that I am to give 7 facts about myself and pass it to 7 people. Here we go!


1. I am a computer geek that works with IBM mainframe and midrange systems software.

2. I love knitting, crocheting, sewing, counted cross-stitch, and many other crafts.

3. Although it's beautiful to look at and photograph, I hate to have to shovel snow.

4. I have two wonderful, full-grown daughters, a terrific son-in-law, and another very nice young man that I hope will be my second SIL someday - I am blessed.

5. A friend and I both turned 60 this year and threw ourselves a huge party with folk-music, singer-songwriter David Roth as the live entertainment.

6. I visit Maine often and may just move there someday (even though there is probably more snow each winter than where I live now!)

7. I drive a Prius, currently getting 48.4 MPG.


Now to pass this award along to 7 deserving blog owners (in no particular order):















Peace, Judi

Monday, June 22, 2009

A Blog Love Thank You and A New Treasury

Recently, some of my fellow Etsians held a blog-to-blog treasure hunt contest, and I was one of the winners! I won an amazing ACEO (Art Cards, Editions and Originals) from Marlene of lazyhawk.etsy.com and here it is:

It is titled “Lazuli Bunting”. What a wonderful addition he has made to my small collection of ACEOs.

I hope you will check out Marlene’s shop to see all the other wonderful work available there.

So this week, the same bloggers are having another contest. This time the hunt is on for beautiful flowers. Please check out these great blogs and the Etsy stores of the owners:

Marlene: blog shop

Kathy: blog shop

Allie: blog shop

Pam: blog shop

Carole: blog shop




Other exciting news, last night I was able to “snag” another treasury. Here’s a screen shot to tempt you to go looking You can find the real deal here until Wednesday at 4:05PM EDT. If you have an account on Etsy, please don’t forget to “Click-n-Comment” . Thanks!

Peace to all, JudiA

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Games People Play

Just a quick update - I've added a Sudoku game in the right sidebar for your gaming pleasure. Please don't blame me if you can't get anything else done!

Peace, Judi

Edit 06/22/2009: Thanks Ginger for the link to the "rules": http://www.sudoku.name/rules/en

No math involved, just some figuring what to put where.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Love Em All

Happy Wednesday,

I curated a treasury of some things I love on Etsy. You can reach the real deal here until early Friday morning.



Meanwhile, here's a screen shot of what's included.


Peace, Judi

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A New Image




Not for me, although I could use a new image. This old one is getting very wrinkly and worn out!


No, I've created a couple of new images, from the same original - one for cards only and the other for larger prints. Hope you enjoy them.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

NEVER TOO EARLY

Both of my parents died due to complications from Alzheimer’s Disease. There are several other relatives and friends who have also been afflicted, some living, some late. It is heartbreaking to watch as they begin to lose control, and don’t understand what is happening. Then as the disease takes over, the family members are crushed even more as they are no longer recognized by their loved one.

I hope in my lifetime this disease will be eradicated. Great progress has been made in recent research projects towards understanding how the disease progresses. Our support is needed more than ever to continue to fund this research and help those already afflicted.

Although the actual walk event isn't for a few more months (09/27/2009), I hope you will consider a small, albeit an early, donation. You can click on the donor box at the right or click here to be taken to my donation page.
Thank you in advance for your support.

Peace, Judi