Posts from — October 2011

We spent yesterday in Jerome with Connor. If you’re not familiar with Jerome, you can CLICK HERE to learn all about Arizona’s famous mining and ghost town – turned artist and tourist town.

Besides roaming around downtown, we also toured the Jerome State Park and checked out the mine shaft at The Audrey Head Frame Park.

This is the mine shaft you can look down… it is deeper than the Empire State Building is tall… just a bit of a drop!

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Weekly Tip #2

When making something with raw ground meats, such as meatballs or meatloaf, you need to know how the mixture tastes before you cook up an entire meal.

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On Sunday night, Peggy and I attended a wonderful event at a fun new venue called The Accidental Yard, in Old Town Scottsdale. Doesn’t she look so pretty standing in front of the door that is the address of The Accidental Yard? Although I’m not actually certain that the door opens or if it really leads anywhere… since we followed the cute signs and walked around the corner to the entrance.

The property is between the Cavalliere Blacksmith Shop (est. 1910) and the Mission Restaurant and Lounge on Brown Avenue and Second Street. The Accidental Yard will encompass about 10,000 square feet on the L-shaped property that includes the two buildings and a yard that stretches to an area behind the blacksmith shop. The property had been vacant for years. It is being renovated by co-owners and founders, Joe and Kelly Garcia, into an urban garden that will soon have an attached coffeehouse, bakery, and restaurant. Joe and Kelly, are long-time vendors at the Old Town Farmer’s Market and Kelly owns Butter & Me Cupcakery.

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If you live in Arizona, and you don’t already follow Chow Bella, you really should! Doing so is the best way to stay up to the minute on all food-related happenings. You can CLICK HERE to go to their web page. Or CLICK HERE to go to their page on Facebook and then get updates by “liking” them. Or you can always follow Chow Bella on Twitter.  If you’re saying to yourself, “Why should I trust you and bother to do any one of those things?”  Well, if you’re going to be that way… here is just one fun reason why… from Chow Bella today…

Nine Awesome Ways to Get Candy Corn-ifed for Fall

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I found this lovely orange Kuri squash at the Phoenix Public Market in downtown Phoenix. It was almost too pretty to use, but I finally caved and made it into an equally lovely soup. Any winter squash will work just as well; butternut, pumpkin, acorn, whatever you find or have on hand.

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I am finally letting my subscription to Family Fun magazine run out. I’ve been in denial for …oh, let’s say the past 8 years, that my family status (meaning the ages of my two remarkable and incredibly talented children) has long passed the prime target audience of this great magazine. Kinda like a 25 year old still subscribing to Seventeen Magazine… it’s just sad!

But, if YOU happen to have young kids or grandkids, you NEED to get this magazine! There are SO many great ideas for crafts, vacations, recipes, backyard fun, parties, and on and on and on! But since my “kids” are 20 and nearly 24 – it is seriously time for me to let it go. Well, now we celebrate everything in normal adult ways. Like, for Halloween, we could throw a party for friends and family or have a quiet night with a horror movie marathon (choose movies through hellhorror.com or equivalent websites). However, I still miss the magazine since it provided great fun ideas.

As a matter of fact, Family Fun was born the same year as Connor – founded in 1991 by Disney and it is the country’s number one magazine for families with children ages 3-12, with more than 2 million subscribers. Now, if one of my two were to get married and have a child (BIG HEADS UP…that is the “right” order – BTW!) then, I will immediately re-subscribe! Until then, I shall reminisce with a couple of my favorite Halloween ideas taken directly from the pages of my beloved Family Fun… Oh yeah, and here are my truly awful photos from when I could not remember how my own camera worked at 4 AM… yeah, good times!

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I have issues! Camera issues sleep issues, calendar issues, phone issues, and worst of all… website issues! It must have been the full moon. At least I hope so because the full moon only lasts one day and these issues need to cease! Let us address each issue, one at a time.

Camera – I had complete short-term memory loss on how to work my own camera yesterday morning when I took the photos for tomorrow’s post. A small portion of the problem could have been that it was about 4 AM when they were taken and that was after I had gone to the grocery store to get the coconut I could have sworn I had in my pantry. Obviously another memory loss issue on the coconut! One happy side note…when you shop at 3:30 AM, there is only you, the cleaning people, and the stocking staff in the store… kinda awesome!

Sleep – Already noted above, I cannot sleep! I fall asleep fine, but if something wakes me up, that’s it – I am up! Hate that! I really and truly hate that!!!

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I’m off to tape a television segment today for Channel 3-  Your Life A to Z.  It will air tomorrow, Friday, October 14th, at 10:100 AM.  So, instead of posting a recipe, I have some miscellaneous, fun, and important items to tell you about. 

For the last couple of days I’ve been sharing with you items from my weekend shopping extravaganza with Peggy. Both of us are in love with birdcages and we found the perfect one for Peggy’s house. She had an open corner in her dining room and we decided the birdcage would fit perfectly there. She will change it out throughout the year and create holiday and casual vignettes, using the cage as the canvass.  Above you can see what we did for her Halloween Birdcage Vignette and below is a closeup. Doesn’t that look great?!

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Yesterday I told you about the new trend that has retail stores selling “found” stuff for big bucks.  Well, during my shopping excursion with Peggy last weekend, I found some stuff on my own that has been, or is currently, being offered in Pottery Barn’s “found” section.

One of the very first things I remember PB offering was these soda crates for $24 each. Somehow they’ve sold out of them and they are no longer available in stores or on their website.

I lusted after them, especially when I saw the way they were being used in the dining room at Estate, a gorgeous and delicious restaurant in Sonoma, California. Even so, I wasn’t willing to pay $24 each for old crates.

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Have you noticed the “new” thing in stores and catalogs like Pottery Barn are these “found” items for sale? Sure, I want to buy just about every one I see, but those prices… ouch! Well, I found my own treasure this past weekend while out on a girls’ shopping afternoon with Peggy. This super cool vintage chemistry set! I can only imagine what “finding” it at PB would have cost me… I paid $25 for it. Why I thought I needed a vintage chemistry set, I do not know, but it was one of those things that caught my eye and I could not pass it up. It is perfect for Halloween decor, so at least it has a purpose for the next few weeks.

Since I decided to place it on the living room fireplace hearth, it inspired me to go to town on the mantel. I spent an hour or so this morning at the .99 store looking for cheap stuff to accessorize with.  Another thing that I’ve been admiring at Pottery Barn are these News Text Pillar Candles, but then again, do I really need another candle in this house… the answer is NO… so I made my own text candles.

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