This was my horoscope on Tuesday.

How perfect is that? Oh, here are the last few words you can’t see, “… nourishment and warm feelings.”

It’s perfect because I already had on my calendar two dinner parties this week.

Peggy and Anne were over last night and my dear friend, Karen, who was a bridesmaid in my wedding 27 years ago, and her husband Bob, are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. Got to Love It!

Are you ready for the onslaught of Meyer lemon recipes? I hope so, that is what I’ll be making for quite a while now!

Don’t have Meyer lemons? Not to worry. You can use regular lemons in any of my recipes that call for Meyer lemons.

I saw a photo of a version of this salad on Pinterest and was inspired by the use of a trifle bowl to serve it in. I created the recipe from scratch but stole the visuals and serving idea. If you don’t have, but have always wanted, a trifle bowl – Crate & Barrel always has them in stock.

It’s so pretty and springtime fresh and it turned out to be a delicious main course salad. I’m sure Peggy and Anne will attest to that. It would be lovely as a side salad on a buffet too.

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In case you’re not local and just in case you haven’t heard – we’ve been freezing here in the desert this past week.

Literally freezing.
It’s not right.
This is the desert!
That land of saguaro cactus and yucca, not ice and snow!

Winter is our prime time! It’s what we live for, perfect weather! Not freezing temps that damage our desert-loving plants. (Yes, those are sheets covering plants and trees in my backyard.)

We aren’t supposed to be moaning and groaning about the weather now, that’s what we have 6 months of summer for … 115+ degree days … that’s our moaning and groaning time.

I am not happy! Not happy because it forced me to get out and try to pick as many of my Meyer lemons as I possibly could pick in one day. I wasn’t able to get them all. Close, but not all. The photo above represents about 1/4 of the crop I got off the tree.

My dad took home a full crate plus a full shopping bag.

The tree was the most prolific it has ever been. Here is what it looked like on Thanksgiving day.

So many lemons, that they were laying on the ground, still attached to the tree. The weight of them brought them down that far.

In late November and early December, I picked all the low lemons and took several bags to Les Gourmettes, to share with the teachers and students there.

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Five years ago yesterday, a loving little boy, I have known since he was in preschool, officially turned into a young man, an adult.

January 5, 2008, was Joey DeBolske’s 18th birthday.

Joey was in Colorado that day, celebrating and skiing/snowboarding with his father, Kevin. He was in his element. Joey loved to snowboard, he loved his dad (this was an annual trip Kevin made with friends, and this was the first time he had invited Joey to join him), and he loved Colorado.

In fact, he was considering attending college in Boulder, the following fall, after he graduated from Saguaro High School (my alma mater) later that spring.

Five years ago today, on his way back home to Arizona, that little boy, who had grown into an amazing young man, whom we all adored, who is the son and oldest child of my best friend, Peggy Murrietta, died in a horrific bus crash in Mexican Hat, Utah.

The photo above was retrieved from Joey’s cell phone. It is time-stamped 1/6/08, taken on the mountain that last day. Peggy so treasures this photo, knowing that Joey was living life to the fullest, doing something he loved to do.

Also left behind, are Joey’s adoring siblings; Samme (then 16 – now 21), Natalie (then 13 – now 18), and Steve (then 11 – now 16).

Joey was the consummate big brother. He was their protector. Their defender. The peace-maker. Their beloved big brother.

Joey was all that and more, not only to Samme, Natalie, and Steve, but also to his beautiful mom, Peggy, and to his friends, including his buddy and my son, Connor.

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The other night, two of Marissa’s best friends, Kaley and Lindsey, were over. They wanted to cook or bake, but my cupboards are currently pretty bare.

I had been thinking of baking up a batch of Chai something. Not sure what, but I’ve really been craving Chai lately. So we settled on Chai Granola, mostly because I had everything needed so no trip to the grocery store would be necessary.

They threw it together while I instructed (bossed them around) and snapped photos.

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I saw this beautiful loaf of bread, more like a bunch of rolls actually, on Pinterest, and instantly knew I wanted to make it ASAP. The wonderful blog it originated from is called The Italian Dish. Check it out, I know you’ll love it.

I had to hold Dave, Marissa, and Connor back from diving into this when it came out of the oven. I did not bake it for them – I brought it as a hostess gift to the lovely Joanne and handsome Mark, who had us over on New Year’s Eve.

Use you imagination, and you could take this basic recipe, shape the dough into balls, and make any number of designs.

From a festive tree for next Christmas to a heart, for Valentine’s Day.

Thank you, Mark and Joanne, we had a fun evening, even if I was a bit sore and tired which resulted in us leaving before midnight.

Which reminds me – I have not given an update on my pelvic injury in a while – I am doing so much better! I have been walking on my own, without the walker, since last Thursday. I’ve even ventured upstairs a time or two when I’ve needed something up there. Most importantly, I’m driving, so life is just about back to normal! I should be completely healed in about two weeks.

Thank you again for all your kind deeds and lovely thoughts and prayers. God is good and so are you! xoxo [Read more →]

She Cooks She Made Something!

Yeah, I was going to say that I cooked, but then as I was typing up the recipe, I realized I didn’t really cook at all, but I did put together a freezer pie! No true cooking was involved, but I did stand at the kitchen counter, use the walker to maneuver around the kitchen and pantry and I made something from scratch! That’s saying something after two full weeks of kitchen nothingness!

I made a quick and easy Eggnog Pie. The recipe makes two pies, so one went to our Annual Lorts’ Christmas Party last night, and the other will be served either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, here at home.

Lorts is my mom’s maiden name, she is the oldest of eight, so it’s quite the bash! My Uncle Mike (#6 of the 8) and Aunt Sylvia always host in their beautiful Paradise Valley home. There were three generations represented. My mom’s generation, mine, and my kids. We do the “white elephant gift stealing thing” which, as you might imagine, gets a bit out of hand. Good Times!

Then this morning, Marissa, Connor, and my daughter-from-another-mother, Alyse, went to Oink Café for breakfast. There, the four of us split two bacon doughnuts. Yes, you heard that right, Maple Glazed Bacon Doughnuts! So rich and decadent that half if more than enough! OH, SO Good!!!

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Due to my fractured pelvis, Christmas decorating has been severely scaled back this year. In fact, if it weren’t for the help of my very patient (I can be kinda bossy, I’ve been told on more than one occasion) and ultra kind BFF, Peggy, there may not have been much more than a tree. Peggy decorated at least six different areas of the house for me in those first couple of days after my return home from the hospital.

Another day, I had my dad take me to Home Depot to buy a couple of fresh evergreen garlands and a huge boxful of free fresh-cut greens (cast-off trimmings from trees they had sold), and a couple of handfuls of little tree truck rounds that had also been discarded.

I used the fresh greens throughout the house and put the rest in the canvas cart on the front porch.

A couple of other new additions to the porch are this vintage sled and ice skates, not that we’ve ever had or will ever have enough snow or ice to sled or skate here in the desert, but they do look darn cute and festive.

Plus, this huge red lantern I found for a steal, back in November, at Home Goods.

Come on in. The first thing you’ll see is the decked-out Chinese wine barrel that sits in the center of the entry. To create something similar in your home, you just need to find some used whiskey barrels and then you can create a number of different decorations in your home. Barrels can make lovely decorations, especially when they’re designed correctly.

Atop it is a cute and easy idea I stole from Pinterest. So easy – just use double-sided tape on a candle, then sprinkle glitter on the tape. Turns a plain-Jane candle into a Christmas candle in a matter of minutes. After the holiday, just peel off the tape.

If you venture in a little further, you’ll run into the sofa table. One of the garlands graces it, along with a few more new little touches.

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These pinwheels are an adorable, festive, and savory appetizer fit for any holiday table. When I made them for the Christmas Craft Party, I wasn’t able to find the lovely green spinach tortillas. I hope you will search them out if you whip this up for Christmas, the mix of green and white tortillas makes for a lovely presentation.

Tomorrow and Saturday – are the last two days of my 12 days of Gifts from the Kitchen series. Hope you’re excited!

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Before I begin my recipe post for the day, I want to say thank you to all of you who have reached out to me here, through email, phone calls, texts, and Facebook.  Your care, concern, offers of help, and well wishes for my speedy recovery make me humble and grateful to my very core. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You really know how to make a girl feel very loved! For updates, check out the bottom of this post and those in the coming days. xoxo

Here is another quick, easy, and super tasty holiday appetizer for you.

Crab Rangoon Dip

16-ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup diced green onions
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 pound crab meat; such as Phillips brand from Costco

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

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I am writing this from a hospital bed on Sunday evening. What happened, you ask?

Yeah, um, I kinda fell, about 20 feet off an extension ladder while putting up Christmas lights… no big deal.

OK, it is a bit of a big deal. I fractured my pelvic bone in two places. Do you wanna hear the whole sordid story? Sure you do! We all know how much people love to tell their accident stories to anyone within earshot. Of course, I do too, so here goes.

Let me begin by acknowledging that we all have our fears and phobias. I, for instance, am deathly afraid of fire. Strange for someone who uses fire in the form of a gas range every day, but I’m not afraid of that sort of controlled fire.

I’m afraid of fire in fireplaces, or campfires, the sort of fires that can easily and quickly get out of control and rapidly spread. In fact, thirteen years ago when we moved into the home we now live in, I insisted, against a lot of opposition from Dave and the kids, that we switch from a real Christmas tree to an artificial tree because the house is a 2-story and I couldn’t even think of the kids sleeping upstairs with a real (and eventually dry, crispy, fire-hazard) tree downstairs.

That said, let me quickly assure you that I am not in the hospital due to a fire. I mention the whole fear and phobia thing to let you know that my husband, Dave, is afraid of heights.

Because of that, every Christmas when we put up the lights on our house, he puts up all the lights except for the ones on the two high gables. I climb the extension ladder and put those portions up. He deals with extending the huge ladder and securing it and I climb it and put up those lights. He also holds the ladder while I climb up and while I’m up there… holding it the entire time until I descend. Above is a 2008 photo of the side gable, which I did first this year and, as usual for the last 12 years, all went well and without incident.

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