Category — Random

It’s time to play “What the Heck is That?!?”   Here is a refresher of how it works – I post three closeup photos of items found in my kitchen. You leave a comment telling me what you think one, two, or all three of the items are.  And remember, a wrong guess is immensely more fun for everyone than no guess at all!

As with Round 1, there is one small restriction. Marissa, you may not post your guess or guesses until after 6 PM (Pacific Time). I am fearful of your knowledge of my kitchen. Connor, you can play whenever you want, I have no fear of your observation of my kitchen, nor do I believe you will even see this – until weeks from now… if ever.  Sigh…

I will post the answers and full photos of the 3 items tomorrow. Let the game begin!

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… me!!! Yes, it’s true that yesterday I received a Christmas gift from me, for me. I bought myself a grape hod! You ask, “What is a grape hod?” It is a metal or woven basket that was used in the vineyards of France to gather grapes. The vineyard worker would strap the hod on his back during the harvest and gently toss the picked grapes over his shoulder and into the hod.

Two summers ago when we were in Wisconsin staying with our friends, Jeff and Jen, Jen and I went to our favorite home decor store in the town of Minocqua. It was there that we spotted a gorgeous vintage grape hod that was hanging on the wall filled with a gorgeous floral arrangement. We fell in love on-site, but when we saw the price tag – well, let’s just say that it was a couple of thousand dollars out of our price range. CLICK HERE to get an idea of what I’m talking about.

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Bake Sale

Yesterday’s Les Dames d’Escoffier International bake sale at the Phoenix Public Market was a grand success! Yeah, we made $744.00!!!! Man, we can bake! But I must say, a whole lot of credit goes to Gwen, my sales partner, that girl can sell! I would even buy a beet from her, and I HATE beets!

I took pictures of the tables right after I set up my cake pops and by the time I got down to the end where I had set them up, there were only 5 left for sale! I was making a few sales down at the other end for a moment or two… but wow!

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You won’t find me in the kitchen today. No, I’m off to my favorite one-a-month sale with my BFF, Peggy!  HERE is where we are.  In fact, at the minute this post goes up, we will be scouting around for new finds. The sale runs all weekend long, so come if you can, you’ll find The Perfect Christmas gift!  Here are just a few of the treasures we found last month…

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… I will be manning the booth at an awesome BAKE SALE at the Phoenix Public Market. The decadent baked goods have been made by the talented women of our local chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International.

The sale begins at 8:00 am and ends at 1:00 pm.  The lovely, Chef Gwen, and I will be selling the treats during the second shift, beginning at 10:30, so please come by and see us in action!  We are fun and we are funny!

What? You still need more enticement to come to the market? Here are a few of the luscious items we’ll be offering:

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Peggy and I love to go to a once-a-month vintage sale held on 7th Avenue in Phoenix. It’s called Sweet Salvage and the next monthly sale is this weedend. Last month I spotted this lovely silver platter – turned chalk board. Instead of buying it, I knew that I could make my own, since I have chalk board paint and I have a couple of nasty old platters that I’ve been storing. For what, I did not know, until I saw this lovely piece.

Honestly, I kinda wish I would have bought that one, it is so pretty with the handles and the rectangular shape… maybe it will still be there!

Until then, here is the one I made with my tattered old round tray.

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So, my new little game, “What the Heck is That?!?” proved to be quite pop-pop-popular! That makes me happy! And I learned a few things from it…

Firstly, I need to make it harder and get even more “close up” with my photos.

Patti, who was the first to place her guesses (within 8 minutes of the post going up) got the first two correct, right off the bat!

My daughter’s memory isn’t as good as I thought. FYI, Maris – all these items are in the glass-front cabinet over the kitchen desk. I was sure you would remember “smelly” item #3!

Some of you were very “creative” in your guesses. Which I LIKE! Such as, “a carved something or other.”  Um, yeah, that’s vaguely correct and yet, so wrong!

And no, Sara, I do not sew – not even a little bit!

Oh, and yes, that is a close-up of red cabbage as my intro photo today – SWEET!

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Neither Dave nor I have been home together since last week, so there has been no cooking of any sort occurring in my kitchen all week long! On top of that, not much progress has been made on the Christmas decorating front. I think I am in denial that Christmas is less than 3 weeks away. The cart by the pool and this cute vintage toy bin, that I recently found, are the ONLY two decorations I have up so far. Seriously, no tree, no nothing yet!

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Happy 24th Birthday to my gorgeous, talented, loving, conscientious, kind, beautiful, wonderful daughter, Marissa!

I’m hoping you won’t mind all these pictures I’m going to post here. From this top one taken during the last months of your senior year at the University of Arizona… to this one when you were the only ballerina in black tights – when you were just over four years old.

Then there is this next picture, taken on your fourth birthday. You were obviously NOT happy that there was snow on the saguaros on December 1st in Arizona! Some things don’t change – you’re still always saying it’s too cold.

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Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

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