This blog post is dedicated to Abigail, who suggested it.
In my small kitchen with limited storage, where every single item save my cherry pitter have multiple uses, I have an entire half cabinet devoted to Koozie storage. Yes, Koozies, those wonderful little insulators that keep your canned or bottled beverage cold. I did not set out nor intend to have so much of my precious kitchen space devoted to these items, but like other things in life, sometimes that’s just how it goes. Continue reading
Saturday’s plan was to sit and watch college football most of the afternoon & evening, which never fails to inspire me to cook a big pot of something and maybe even bake a batch of bread to go along with whatever is in the pot. This Saturday, with it’s line up of conference championships, inspired me to make some recipes from college friends. That and some Double H andouille sausage I picked up at the Holiday market. Pat asked if I was going to make gumbo with the sausage. Considering I have at least 3 different batches in the freezer and it not being a favorite of at least one household member who says watching football with her parents is sort of like this beer commercial, I decided against it. She was already in for a long day of football with us (First SEC Championship, then the ACC & Big 10 games) and I didn’t want to antagonize her. Besides, gumbo takes time – not just the time to chop all those vegetables, make a broth and a roux, it needs to simmer for a few hours and is really best after all the flavors have had time to meld – next day gumbo is way better than fresh gumbo. Instead, I went for jambalaya, which is infinitely easier and far quicker. You can start chopping your veggies and an hour later, your jambalaya is ready to serve. Not so with gumbo. Continue reading
We are big college football fans in this house. HUGE. If you have spent any time around us in the fall, you know that we may actually be slightly rabid college football fans. Going to a SEC school will do that to you. This year though, our alma mater Auburn, is having a bit of an off-season. Unwatchable seems to be the word most of our fellow alum use when describing this year’s football team. It’s gotten so bad that I’ve just given up watching college football altogether, rather than seem like a fair weather fan who can’t watch my own team. Considering how busy we seem to be on Saturdays, it’s worked out okay.
I spent last week having a touch of cold. It didn’t take me out, it really wasn’t that bad of a cold, I just didn’t feel 100%, more like 86.7%. By Friday, when my friend Allison came into town for a visit, I was feeling almost myself, about a 98.8%. We went to a lovely party and when we got home, I noticed my voice was a little gravely, but I thought for sure a good night’s sleep would cure it.
I woke up Saturday morning not being able to speak above a whisper. And even that hurt. Edie’s dream, where her mother couldn’t cheer her on obnoxiously from the sidelines of the soccer field (I may strongly dislike soccer, I may be a soccer mom against my own will, but it does not show in my enthusiasm for cheering my daughter on.) quickly turned into her worst nightmare, when I got another mom on our team to cheer for her in a most cheerful and enthusiastic manner. As she turned and smiled at the woman to acknowledge the cheers, she also managed to sneak in a sideways ‘eat shit and die’ glance at me that confirmed her own personal hell. It’s those little moments that make motherhood so sweet.
I came home from her game, took a hot shower and collapsed into the lazy boy in our bedroom in front of the tv. Seeing how it was a Saturday in November, there were no less than 3 college football games on our cable less television. I proceeded to spend the rest of the day rediscovering my love affair with college football. While it’s always good fun to watch the ole ball coach play, the hometown team of Virginia had a ball game going on with Miami that sucked us in, followed by the last two minutes of the Florida- Louisana-Lafayette game which really just geared us up for that Texas A&M- Alabama game which was glorious on so many levels – watching an underdog pull off an upset which in turn upsets the entire National Championship picture. Even better was watching the downfall of our rival school. I even decided to go ahead and try to watch the Auburn game, but I was having to stream it and with technology getting the upper hand by deciding to freeze up the screen what felt like every 10 seconds, I took the hint and bagged that idea. Sunday morning found me reading everything I could about the previous day’s games – it had been a wild day in college football and definitely a good one in which to jump back in and reacquaint oneself.
It seems losing my voice helped me rediscover my love of college football, which in turn helps me get some serious pre-holiday knitting done. It’s been a rough season for my team, but the end is in sight. I can’t say the same for my whisper voice right now, but it’s a great excuse to take it easy and sit & knit with a nice hot toddy while I wait for it’s return.
Chicken Wire & Paper Flowers 