Drivin' 55

On Sunday, I grabbed a box of chocolate cake mix and whipped up some cupcakes. After they cooled and were iced, I ran over to my Cricut to add a little holiday charm. With a piece of scrap paper and my trusty cartridges, I found the heart I wanted to use and ordered my machine to produce 6 hearts. Next, I poured through my huge inventory of stamps and found this charming stamp by Stamps by Judith . Voila! Now for today. Whew! I feel as though it should be 11 PM. Off to an early meeting with the staff at Whole Foods! I picked up some ground bison for my lasagna. Of course, I could never just pick up one item, so $55 later, I finally hit the road. When I walked in the door, I spied my husband's ever growing chin. Red. Swollen. Painful. I said get your butt to the ER. After a small fortune later, he was diagnosed with Cellulitis. Had he waited yet another day, the ER doc said he would have looked like a pumpkin by tomorrow. Poor baby! Back to the store to drop off his two n...

Yes, it is true!  Tyler Florence from Food Network made me blueberry pancakes, maple sugar pepper bacon and caramelized bananas.  How did this happen, you say?  In short, my children gave me tickets to The Metropolitan Cooking Show in Atlanta as a birthday present.  Being a diehard Tyler Florence fanatic, I opted for the special show to gaze upon my favorite celebrity chef.  Not being a shy gal, I ran up to the mike to ask my very probing question.  “What is the secret of making risotto?” Here I am on the big screen asking my question to Tyler Florence. My question monopolized a good portion of the Q & A time.  Sorry, Tyler.  But I just had to know! As Tyler began to plate up his creation, he called to me over the loud speaker! Yes, me.  He called ME!  Running up to the stage, he handed me this wonderful plate and wished me a very happy birthday.  Sorry for the blurry photo, but we were shooting without the flash....

I am enjoying the onset of Spring so much!  Springs in Atlanta are always fantastic, but this year Spring is just fetching.  Yes, fetching!  It is not uncommon for a hard freeze to hit and kill the blooming trees, but by the Grace of God, we have not suffered the cold, freezing nights.  As winter wanes and spring blossoms, I love to watch the changing patterns of the sun.  Sun rise and sun sets move in a westernly pattern across the skies.  Strangely, I long for the long shadows of fall.  I cannot explain how those long shadows just captivate me.  That’s it.  I just wanted to share my love of the many, many blossoming trees here in Atlanta and the fact that I have to squint to keep the sun out of my eyes as I write my blog for tomorrow. Psstt…tomorrow, I have a date with my favorite celebrity chef, Tyler Florence.  Yes, he is coming to Atlanta and he’s all mine!  You better believe that there will be photos…lots of photos!! ...

This recipe comes to you from my good friend, Becky. It is a staple in her dinner repertoire and I think you will find that you love it as well as I do. Here's what you need. 4 - 6 boneless chicken breasts, large family size cream of chicken soup, either one large container of sour cream or 1.5 of the medium size containers. These were on sale so it was cheaper to buy them this way. Either a tube of Ritz or Town House crackers. Store brands work just as well. 1 teaspoon of poppy seeds. Half stick of butter. I forgot to photograph the rice. This dish works very well with white rice. Preheat oven at 375 degrees. I chopped one clove of fresh garlic. A little extra virgin olive oil ... twice around the pan. Add the garlic and saute. I prepared this dish for 4 individuals. 3 chicken breasts worked fine, but Becky's family is larger and she will use as many as 6 chicken breasts. Season with salt, pepper, paprika. Even though I photographed the parsley, I didn't use it! Saute...

Feeling a bit creative in the kitchen tonight, I whipped up a simple, light and very yummy meal in no time at all. Since my visit to Sam's Club on Saturday resulted in over 2 pounds of fresh asparagus in my fridge I knew I must use it or lose it! Last night I seasoned half of it with fresh garlic, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil and grilled it. Leaving the other pound of this yummy veggie, I knew I had to take advantage of the remainder in my fridge. Here's what you will need to get started: half box of thin spaghetti 1 pound of fresh asparagus - cut into 2 inch pieces half pound of fresh peas (I bought these at our local Adam's Farm ) 1 or 2 cloves of fresh garlic - minced or chopped half onion - chopped finely fresh Parmesan cheese - the good stuff, not the stuff in the green container tiny bit of red pepper flakes and lastly, my favorite, extra virgin olive oil Now I don't have to tell you to cook your spaghetti as usual. Two minutes before your spaghetti is done...