Monday, October 12, 2009

Itchy Scratchy..


I had oodles and oodles of fun at the beach on Sunday. Although in my haste to see my lovely visitors, I completely forgot to slather on sunscreen.. so I kind of came back with a rosy crimson souvenir of my own... and today it itches incredibly!


Itchy Itchy in my Halloweenish Superstitious t-shirt... I wish I could make like a bear and just grab a corner or tree to lean against and scratch into a raw blissful oblivion.. but then again... that would also be very painful... so I'll happily and playfully just squint at my itchies.. at least I'll have a nice tan to start Fall / Winter with... thank you Irish skin and blazing October Florida sun!

Today was quite a late and slightly busy day for me. Despite such.. it was blissful. I slept a bit late after staying up til 1am working on work @ home. I first woke at 4am and took Mister to work. I came back home at 5am and immediately went back to sleep. I slept til 9am (the late part). Normally I sleep til 8ish on my days off. So I awake and hurriedly prepare for my day of grocery shopping and errands. I had prepared to gather materials for my art show on Friday. But after looking over my list I changed my mind and to save that for later in the week. (yes, I am quite nervous...)

Saturday Night I had the most wonderful fresh salad with ranch dressing... this salad reminded me that I should create my own fresh salads this week in which I stocked up with greenery at the grocery. Once arriving back home, clearly I was starved... so I decided to put my salad dreams into action! Time to get choppin! And Buttermilk Ranch to boot! oh yeah!



A snapshot of my salad for lunch... iceberg lettuce, grape tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, farm cheese and country ham. Yum! I love all the beautiful colours! It's almost too pretty to eat! But don't worry... I did not put an ounce to waste. So filling!


I spent the remainder of my day washing dishes, cleaning the kitchen and various rooms and preparing laundry as well as doing more work at home...nothing exciting or eventful.. maybe even a tinge stressful (the work part) but all in all I'd say it was a good day. Nearly blissful in fact.
Given a taste of what it would be like to work from home...it will happen one day. I know this. I pray of this. I have big dreams... which is where I will end today's blog post with... as I sit here and scratch. Keep your eyes on the prize...no matter how big the Itch!


“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
(Hebrews 10:23 NIV)


Sunday, October 11, 2009

By the Sea.



Sunday is a day of Rest and Bliss - I had both. Early Sunday morning started off completely creative. I love being one cool Auntie. And my adorable little cousins were in town visiting and I could not resist making them a little something heartfelt and a perfect wearable souvie that Florida souvenir shops could not rival with...  So I created 3 mermaid treasure necklaces for 3 little mermaid Ariel's.



Little treasures... I started with tiny corked glass vials. Going on a Ship in a Bottle ... Letter from Sea in a Bottle kind of idea. Although these little bottles would contain seaworthy finds that their Auntie found during her long times spent beach combing...



Every treasure needs shiny beads.. I filled the vials with lots of sea coloured beads. Beads that reminded me of the ever changing hues of the beautiful Gulf waters.


And a lovely mermaid charm for measure.... each vial is filled with a piece of white coral and a shark tooth all found locally along my near daily beach combings.



And voila! 3 Mermaid Treasure Shell Necklaces... for my little mermaids... Ah, the day is starting out perfectly! I can hardly wait to see the girls and present their little happies and spend the day there!


Lauren and Kirsten shows off their beach combing bounty!

After a warm welcome of little hugs and giggles...we all hit the beach and immediately began beach combing and soaking in the sun. Quickly I had 3 girls running up showing me all sorts of shells they had found and I would tell them the proper shell names such as Florida Fan Scallop, Jingle Shell, Kitten's Paw...

Little Lauren... the makings of an aspiring Beach Bunny...

and of course, I taught them my most favourite beach combing challenge... searching for Shark's Teeth... in which these girls are bright and quick on their feet because not 2 minutes after I had shown them the ropes, they would bring back hand fulls of Shark's Teeth! Look Kim Look! :)


The Little Mermaid Kelsey

And of course sun and swimming was had too!  The water was perfect! Clear, calm, blue and warm!


And even the big kids had fun too! ;O) My cousin Clif and wife, Leta, who I dearly enjoyed seeing and enjoyed the company of catching up.


And by the day's end... I was blissfully exhausted and sad to go... But ever so glad I could spend my Sunday with dear loved ones I only get to see on winter Holidays. Thanks guys for including me into your vacation holiday! I had a blast! Viva Fall Break!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Stroganoff.



My kitchen is a Kitchen of Improvisation. At one point or another, I never have the exact or enough ingredients so as always I tend to get creative and improvise with what I have. And usually these meal decisions are made last minute since the men folk do not like pre-planned meals.. at all... These last minute improv results can either be really good or really bad. And of course I'm not posting the bad ones...and if it turns out bad.. thank the stars for Pizza Delivery!  But usually 99.9% of the time things turn out really good.. and usually better than what the existing recipe called for. Last night was one of those moments.

Mister wanted Beef Stroganoff. We had beef yes, but in large 3 lb. frozen quantities in which even my most peppiest spirit could not endure the thought of having to hurriedly defrost out a pound and repack the remainder, it was pushing 7pm for crying out loud! I also did not have a Stroganoff seasoning packet nor sour cream. But what I did have was a pound of Turkey, Google and Ingenuity of Improvisation!

I decided that I would substitute the turkey for beef as I have often done in the past in many dishes, for health purposes. Though... how do I make stroganoff with out the seasoning packet... Google to the rescue! I looked up a scratch homemade recipe and off to work I went..  Here are my results:

Turkey Stroganoff

Defrost 1 lb. of Ground Turkey meat.  While the meat is defrosting, boil up some rice or noodles (pick your poison) Some people like noodles with stroganoff.. I do.. I like egg noodles with mine. :) but..


I was out of noodles.. so rice it was. I used two packets of two different kinds of rice since I only had two packets of both left. White and Brown... also begin chopping up a quarter of a red onion (or a regular onion.. red was all I had.) And isn't this lovely?


I love the vibrant colours of red onions. Anyway... once you've finished crying..er.. I mean chopping up the onions. Set aside. At this point, both the meat and the rice should be ready. First drain the rice and set aside. Just reuse the pot that you boiled the rice in to cook the meat in, because after all... why dirty up another dish and make more work for yourself later?! Am I not right?


The meat is ready for the skillet..er.. pot.. Toss the meat in and while the meat is sizzling, add in several dashes of oregano, black pepper and the chopped onion. Let cook until done. At this point, add a Family Size Can of Mushroom Soup and a good dash of milk to help aid in the creamy consistency. Let this mixture get good and bubbly.

So.. I was out of sour cream... so I bet you are wondering how in the world am I going to make this have that creamy tart taste of stroganoff? Well we being cheese connoisseurs of sorts, I have a serious stash of a variety of cheeses.


Goat's cheese being one of them. I like Goat's Cheese. It's rather tart but smooth and creamy. Much like sour cream. So... I again improvised... cut off a good sized slice of Goat Cheese and add into the bubbling soup mixture and stir well until the Goat's Cheese melts completely.

At this point, the Goat's Cheese will have thickened up the Stroganoff bringing it to completion. Let it brew for a few more minutes. And ring the dinner bell and get out of the way!


Turkey Stroganoff was excellent! Even if improvised! I'd nearly prefer this to the real mccoy. As the Mister seemed to agree as well.. and there was not a drop left in the HUGE pot of it that I made. So I bet you are wondering what accompanied the Stroganoff?


Why a big pot of mixed cut (French and Country cuts) green beans of course! We have to have our daily serving of veggies. And in my opinion, nothing goes well with warm thick comfort food than green beans... (oh my.. I think I'm turning into my Grams..who is a habitual green bean cooker..)

Hope you enjoyed another recipe from the Kitchen of Improvisation. Stay tuned.. I'm sure there will be many more on the whim recipes! :)  Now where is my Nobel Prize?

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Blues, Greens, Wraps and Studs



Photo copyright of Kimberly Davion - Little Tree Frog - Florida

This is my day illustrated in photographs. I'm at a lack for what to blog about today. It was not a particularly exciting day. Nothing extraordinary happened. Just the same old grind - Wake up. Get Dressed. Go to Work. Have a Good Day and Smile. So this is my day...


Photo copyright of Kimberly Davion - Cereal with Blueberries - Florida

I rarely get to take snapshots of food or meals I may have prepared or enjoying since I can never think to grab my camera or it immediately is devoured. Luckily this morning, I thought of such during the first few bites of my cereal - Special K with Fresh Blueberries and fat free milk. Yum! That is one thing I do enjoy about living in the land of Endless Summer. We usually have seasonal fruits available to us year round. Which is refreshing.. to say the least. :)


Photo copyright of Kimberly Davion - Little Tree Frog - Florida

Being at your most vulnerable is not the place you want or need to be when discovering small and possibly sticky wildlife.  The bathroom is not the place to discover a cute little tree frog sunning on the window. But thus was such the case for me this morning... there he was.. cute as can be.. and I was worried he may change his mind on sunning and hop over to have the thrill of his life. Eep!


Photo copyright of Kimberly Davion - Wrap for Lunch - Florida

Another food snapshot..this time it is lunch - a homemade wrap stuffed with bean paste, brown rice and white chicken wrapped in a garlic and herb tortilla and leftover red and white sauce from the Happy Pig left in the fridge at work. And no, I did not steal someone's sauce. It was mine that I left for such an occasion as to spice up some slightly drab but delish meal I may have brought..


Photo copyright of Kimberly Davion - Buckle Studs - Florida

I spent the remainder of my day at work doing photo shoots of new inventory. In which case I always enjoy. I dearly love Macro Photography more and more each day. Its quite addictive and challenging.

That is it.. most of my day narrated in photographs... I'll spare you photos of the rest of my day which will later include the gym and a brief commute home. Although I may post dinner later.. who knows.. I hope you enjoyed. Blessings.



Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Mediterranean Salsa. Cha cha cha.



Tonight I wanted something wholesome, healthy and filling (and no..not really any Fall foods as I have been craving) I needed something asap to recover from a knarly migraine... so I made from scratch Mediterranean Salsa.

How to make the Salsa:
Mix 1 cup finely chopped tomatoes, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp basil leaves, 1 tsp oregano leaves, and 1/2 tsp onion salt (actually instead of onion salt, I literally chopped up a quarter of a red onion. And I added the tiniest pinch of table salt). Mix all ingredients in a small bowl. Let stand for 30 minutes to allow flavours to blend. Serve with pita chips or eat as it is.

Note - I did not wait 30 minutes nor eat with pita chips or pita bread... I just dug in... though I did add a dollop of homemade from scratch refried beans that I had left over from Monday's Mexican Night.

Though it took some preparation time, I really enjoy homemade refried beans so much better. Even Mister loved these (who despite eating like an entire NFL football team, is rather picky) He liked the smooth creamy texture but minus all the fat and preservatives from the canned kind at the store. I completely agree! So creamy, fresh and tasty!

How to make Refried Beans from Scratch:
I used an entire bag of dry pinto beans. Soak and cook beans as directed on package. (to quicken - you could use canned beans) Once the beans have cooked to completion, add beans, a finely chopped red onion, a dash of oregano, and about two tablespoons of olive oil or canola oil into a blender. Blend into a fine choppy bean paste. (you may have to slowly add water during blending to help with the smoothing consistency).

Once the beans have been choppily blended, heat a well-oiled skillet with olive oil over medium heat. (Careful not to let the skillet get too hot or on high heat, this could scorch the bean paste, leaving a really gross burnt taste in your finished product.) Slowly stir your bean paste until it has become thoroughly heated and slightly bubbly.

Again take this heated paste and return it back to the blender, it may have thickened greatly, so you may need to add another tablespoon of oil into the blender mix and water during the blending process. Also during this time, add salt to the mixture to taste. Blend well until the paste becomes smooth and creamy in consistency.  At this point, the refried beans are ready to use for cooking creations :)

This recipe makes a lot! But you can totally put the refried beans into a tupperware container and keep in the fridge or put the rest in the freezer and use as needed. Note - it becomes more flavourful as days progress in the fridge. This is a great and far healthier alternative to the gross canned refried beans. It may take a little work in prep but totally worth it in the end! Enjoy!

Dreaming of Fall.



Photo copyright by Kimberly Davion - October 2008 - Mingus Mill, Smoky Mountain National Park

I can't help but find myself dreaming of Fall today... it all started from a conversation about the weather with the Mister. He was informing me that this coming week a cold front would be blowing in and would be setting record lows for Florida during this time of the year. This news immediately sent wonderful thoughts of cozy cardigans, pumpkins, candy corn, brisk air and fall baking... yum!

Then this morning I checked the web cams at Purchase Knob to only discover that Fall Colour has arrived! Oh how jealous I am! Not only am I pining for Fall but now the changing of leaves in the dear old Smokys.

So much for living in the land of Endless Summer... I shall go and pretend of Fall - crank down the a/c, put on a cardigan and bake warm comforts... least til the cool air eventually arrives..