i’m trying to keep these alive

Posted on June 12, 2012 by is there any more pie?

I have five more days to worry about flowers.  Some need shade, some need sun and others don’t know what they want.  We’ve had a lot of rain, so we move these pots from under the deck to the patio several times a day.

I can do this.

The father-of-the-bride created this for the wedding.  Well, not really for the wedding.  He’d wanted to make a place for the garbage cans and a beloved old sink (go figure) for twenty years and the wedding forced him to get busy.

I am going to make a skirt for it.  A skirt of white tulle, of which I have 27 yards.

A wedding website said, “Tulle is your best friend.”  I will keep you posted, as tulle and I intend to wrap the crappy old porch railings before the bride makes her entrance.

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the bridal shower

Posted on June 11, 2012 by is there any more pie?

What do you do with a bride who wants a very, very small wedding??  A bride who doesn’t want to be the center of attention, who prefers an intimate family luncheon at her favorite restaurant?

Why, you throw her an enormous bridal shower, of course!  SURPRISE!!!!!! 

 

As Mother-of-the-Bride and Matron-of-Honor (and what an honor it is!), I knew what I had to do: invite everyone I know, organize tons of food and wine and iced tea and figure out a story to get the bride in the right place at the right time while wearing the right outfit.

Her grandmother hosted the shower, planned the menu and cleaned like crazy; Grandma’s house was the perfect setting for twenty-two women to party.  The bride’s future mother-in-law made the special favors.  Harley Chick and her daughter Jackie took over the kitchen (bless their hearts) and Ellie (aka Dancing Mandolin Player) spent days decorating.  Lillian created a flower centerpiece to match the napkins.

Leah’s party favors

Chandelier by Dancing Mandolin Player

Flowers by Lillian

 Banjo Man valet-parked everyone’s cars so there would be no trace of visitors in Grandma’s driveway.  He hauled tables and chairs and punch bowls and food all afternoon.   The man deserves a special place in heaven.

I made the women play the what’s in your purse game (Angela won with 89 points, far and away the top score, with a key to a Tuscany rental in her possession).   We signed quilt squares (yes, I had to stick a quilt in there somehow) and ate a lot of cupcakes and chocolates.

Chocolates by Sweenors

 And the gifts were amazing.  Handmade photo albums.  Purple nightgowns.  Knives.  A red blender to lust over.  A Betty Crocker cookbook  (raise your hand if you got one at your bridal shower a zillion years ago!).  Glassware.  Cookware.  Blankets.  Dish towels!!!!

Harley Chick Karen, Mary and Grandma

And here are more pics, thanks to Harley Chick:

Thank you so much, everyone.  You made it such a special day.

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a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do

Posted on June 9, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Some of you know my youngest son, Sarge , is in the Army (which he loves).  We’d all hoped he could join us next weekend for his sister’s wedding, but the Army had other plans for him.

He’d been getting his men ready for Afghanistan.  Their mission?  Clearing bombs from roads.  Sarge would be manning the bomb-probing equipment.

Gulp.

Needless to say, this is not a job description a mother wants to hear details about, but Sarge was looking forward to going down range and assured me he was prepared and well-trained.

Okay.

A recent phone call may have changed all those plans.  In a base of 900 men with only 1 opening for Ranger school, Sarge was selected to go.

Wow.

We learned that when he was in India, he was chosen to brief the Indian generals on the equipment they brought with them.  Back at base, he briefed the visiting Chinese generals.  And then recently, assigned to brief the Army Chief of Staff.

The kid knows his stuff.

I guess he’s all grown up now.

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seen on a music store bulletin board…

Posted on June 8, 2012 by is there any more pie?

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cupcakes are hot

Posted on June 7, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Everyone wants them for their weddings.  In Austin there are cupcake bakeries and cupcake food trailers and people line up to buy exotic flavor combos of cake and frosting.

I wanted cupcakes for the shower dessert so I could use two of my nine tiered servers and therefore tell myself and Banjo Man I need to keep them because they are oh-so useful and pretty.

I cannot decorate a cupcake.  I can’t do much with frosting, period.  So far, for forty-two years of baking, I’ve managed to fake it.  When I needed three dozen cupcakes for the bridal shower,  I asked my friend Harley Chick for advice.  She said, “Call the cake lady,” hauled out her three-inch thick mother-of-the-bride notebook and looked up the phone number.

To keep the cost down, I asked the cake lady for a simple white frosting.  Then I went to Michael’s and bought three bouquets of silk gerbera daisies for $2.99 (minus 40% off).  I clipped off the daisies, leaving a 2″ stem.  The cake lady put a simple leaf design of buttercream frosting on the cupcakes and I stuck my daisy “picks” into the tops before serving.

(Some of the guests put the flowers in their hair.  Festive!)

They were so cute I might do them again for the after-wedding party, though it might be fun to plop them into colored cupcake papers.

 

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what would virginia do?

Posted on June 6, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Painting of Virginia, by her daughter Phyllis.

 That is the question I ask Banjo Man whenever he stomps to the phone to give his adult children advice.  It brings him to a screeching halt, then he flashes me a sheepish look and says, “All right.”

Our children will never know how many times their paternal grandmother’s example has spared them a lecture from their father.

Virginia was Banjo Man’s mother.  And today is her birthday.  She died at age 94 and her large, wonderful family miss her terribly.   As do I.  She set a fine example for a mother-in-law by never meddling or gossiping.  I never heard her speak an unkind word.  Her children were brilliant, her grandchildren beautiful and smart, and thankfully she never flinched at the sight of a messy kitchen.

She taught me how to can, how to make apple butter, told me where pickles came from, and how to make chili.  When she came to visit, she brought her apron and her own paring knife.

I will forever be awed by her good nature.

[please excuse the glare of the flash on the painting]

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keen-wah, a luncheon favorite

Posted on June 5, 2012 by is there any more pie?


I’ll be posting about the surprise bridal shower in a few days, but I’ve promised to share this recipe I served at the luncheon.  For gluten-free and vegetarian guests, it’s especially yummy.  I tossed the diced avocado with lemon juice before adding to the salad (made the night before, without the dressing).  It’s an easy, do-ahead addition to a pot luck.  And it’s pretty (to the left of the flowers, in a trifle dish).

A big thanks to:  http://tastykitchen.com/blog/2012/05/quinoa-salad-with-roasted-tomatoes/

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Avocado
1-1/2 cups Quinoa
1 pint Grape Tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
1-1/2 Avocado, diced
1-1/2 cups baby spinach
Salt and Pepper
Tahini Dressing
Boil two cups of water.  Once the water is boiling, add the quinoa and turn the heat down to simmer the quinoa.  The quinoa should cook for about 15 minutes.  Fluff with a fork when it’s done cooking and allow it cool slightly.
Preheat the oven to 425F.  Cut the grape tomatoes in half and lay them in a single layer in a glass baking dish.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Roast the tomatoes for 25-30 minutes, or until they start to caramelize.  Allow the tomatoes to cool slightly.  (Make the dressing while the tomatoes roast, see recipe below).
Mix together quinoa, tomatoes, avocado, and spinach.  Drizzle with tahini viniagrette (I used about 2/3 of what I made) and season with salt and pepper.  Mix well.
Tahini Vinaigrette
1/4 cup Tahini
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 whole lemon, juice (about 4 tablespoons juice)
1 teaspoon honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Whisk together the dressing ingredients.  Make the dressing about 15 minutes ahead of mixing it into the salad.

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hitting the wall

Posted on June 2, 2012 by is there any more pie?

The Narragansett wall, that is.

Here’s DMP, taking a break from silk flowers and real flowers and vintage flowers and tulle. It’s not all work here, folks. After the sunset, Banjo Man joined us for a short music jam in the basement.

Guess who’s coming for dinner tonight?

They always bring a lot of enthusiasm to the table.

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it’s a dirty job, but…

Posted on June 1, 2012 by is there any more pie?

…someone has to do it.

I owe Dancing Mandolin Player big-time.  I think I should cook all of her meals this summer (she likes beans and lentils!!).  And wash her car (wait a minute, I’ve never washed a car!!) and scrub her bathroom and peel her peaches and husk her corn and turn the pages of her music while she plays her mandolin.

Tomorrow I’m taking her to a colonial seafaring town for breakfast.  And to a garden tour in Connecticut.  And to  Acoustic Music in Guildford to sample new and vintage mandolins.  And then, she says, she has more planting to do.

Oh, my goodness.  The wedding is going to be gorgeous.

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guess who’s here!!

Posted on May 31, 2012 by is there any more pie?

Yes, Dancing Mandolin Player is in Rhode Island!!  She has come to rescue me from Floral Wedding Decoration Incompetence Syndrome.  Here she is unloading bags of silk garlands from her suitcase.

We went to Home Depot for plants. I had never been in the Home Depot Garden Center before.  DMP thought some of the flower baskets needed water, so she found the Home Depot hose and watered them herself.  She also very kindly asked for my opinions on various pretty flowers.  I had nothing to say except, “I’ll stay right here and guard the carts.”

I bought extra potting soil and extra plants so we wouldn’t run out of flowers so I wouldn’t have to go back to the Home Depot Garden Center by myself and buy more. We had so much stuff in the car that we almost couldn’t fit in another couple of flats of flowers at another garden center. And when we opened the door to the car the Home Depot plastic pots fell out and rolled under the car and DMP panicked and dove to the pavement to retrieve them.

We decided we really didn’t need to go to Walmart after all.

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