Friday, February 4, 2011

ORANGETASTIC!

I seriously love the color orange. Where my obsession came from, I can't tell you, but it's there. I'm pretty sure there is some bit of orange in every room of our home, pleasing me to no end.
I got the cute little bird figure from Foreign Accents, the same time as the glass eggs, which glow orange, by the way. Orange makes me happy. What's your favorite color? The blue of the sky, the yellow of sunflowers, the green of a spring lawn, or the red of a strawberry? They are all good, don't get me wrong  (and I know I left some out)--in my book, it's orange that is fantastic!

I must exude my love of the color, otherwise how did my bridge teacher know to give me an orange folder? I used it under this lemon ice box pie I just made for our company tonight.
The recipe for this pie comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Agnes & Muriel Cafe Cookbook .
If you've heard the story before, feel free to skip ahead. It was the Thanksgiving after 9/11, and after serving a brunch to our family, we flew to Atlanta, staying in a highly discounted room at the Four Seasons. Remember that time when no one was flying? If you can imagine the Atlanta airport was mostly deserted. We celebrated our Thanksgiving dinner with Matt at Agnes & Muriels in Midtown, not too far from where he was living at the time. Typically Matt gives us gifts reflecting his city of residence, such as the prints from London this year; in this case an Atlanta restaurant cookbook. During the ensuing years, I've made countless recipes from the book, none of which have disappointed. Sadly, I've learned that the restaurant changed hands and shortly thereafter subsequently closed. I'm glad I have this book to remind me of that time.

So, we're having the lemon pie, but what else are we having you ask? Well, it's a good thing I love to cook, and have some patience, because I needed it when making this Emiril's Gumbo yesterday afternoon. I'm not sure I knew what I was getting into when I printed this off the Food Network site.  I decided to make it yesterday so the flavors would blend, otherwise I'd be in the kitchen rather than typing. While making the roux I thought 25 minutes of constant stirring would never end. And now I'm wondering if it will be good because I've never had it before. Hmmm.....Making the french bread for a second time while the gumbo was simmering was a breeze in comparison.

My menu decisions are mostly based on what is either in the refrigerator or the freezer. In this case some very tasty andouille sausage was lying in wait, as were the frozen lemon juice cubes. You may recall Pat and Ruth were kind enough to give me some lemons from their tree back in late December. I had the squeezing marathon, putting the juice in ice cube trays until needed. Same goes for the extra chicken stock from yesterday. I was surprised to learn that a standard ice cube tray holds two cups of liquid. Now you know.

Having my sewing machine up all the time is also making me happy. I can make things to my heart's content now without having to lug everything to the dining room table. Score! Because we always use cloth napkins, you can never have too many. How about these new bold napkins I made this morning?
Nothing could be easier than making napkins, or maybe I shouldn't tell you that because if you receive them for a gift from me, you'll think I'm a slacker. Difficult, very, very difficult. Better? Looking at the photograph just now I see I mislaid the large spoon. Should be on the outside. If you ever have trouble remembering where to place the silverware keep this handy hint in mind--set them in the order in which they will be used. Perfect!

In case you were wondering,

  • My computer is in top notch form once again. 
  • I got my acceptance letter today for Lake Wales Art Show (a relief).
  • Bruce worked from home for two days, however he's back in the office today.
  • Baxter FINALLY got his grooming done today. He was a little ragamuffin. 
  • Neither Jonathan or Alissa have jobs yet. I'm getting nervous. :(
I'm thinking if I have guests on Friday night every week, I might just keep a cleaner house. Fat chance. Instead of cleaning this morning I made the pie, which was no slouch as far as stirring is concerned, leaving the vacuuming until NOW. 

So long, and always look on the bright side of life.....

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