is there any more pie?

3331

Posted on January 16, 2018 by is there any more pie?

3331. That’s how many pieces there are in this new quilt I’m piecing together.

Because it was a “Mystery Quilt” I had no idea what I was getting into or how many pieces I would end up cutting and piecing and ironing and sewing to other pieces…

But it’s January and I am thinking of how pretty this will look on one of the beds at the lake this summer. So that keeps me going. The colors make me think of mountain sunsets and blue-sky mornings and the dark shade on the beach at dawn.

It’s quiet here. Banjo Man and I are feeling much better, but we’re still more than happy to stay close to home and rest up. Yesterday afternoon we drove south to Walmart to pick up all the important things, like chicken broth and walnuts and quilt batting and yogurt. I’ve been making lots of soups in the crock pot this month. Today’s creation? Creamy chicken and mushroom. I’ll start with this recipe and make it thicker, I think. With broccoli and no carrots. And maybe some cauliflower rice for thickening.

Tomorrow and Thursday I will be taking my mother to various medical appointments, so it’s good to have dinner already made and in the crock pot when I stagger home.

Have you tried cauliflower rice? Or should I say riced cauliflower?

I’m experimenting with it. The jury is still out.

We are expecting the arrival of a new appliance in about an hour, so I need to get dressed and make sure the house looks presentable. And then it’s back to this…

I only need to make 49 more.

Posted in quilting, rhode island | 4 Comments

first date, 48 years later

Posted on January 12, 2018 by is there any more pie?

This is the anniversary of my first official date with Banjo Man. In 1970.

It is also the anniversary of selling my very first piece of writing. In 1986.

And the day I received my first check from my book publisher. In 1987.

January 12th.

My lucky day.

So what’s going to happen today, you ask?

Good question.

Since we’re still recovering from the Texas Virus That Lasts Forever, we are not going out for a romantic dinner.

And I am not cooking a romantic dinner.

But…I think we’re going to town to buy a new dishwasher! Our old one broke a month ago and we’re tired of washing dishes. Yes, I know that having to wash dishes by hand is not a real hardship, but we’re tired of it anyway.

So far I’m not really crazy about January. The cyclone bomb blizzard, the Arctic Freeze, the Texas Virus and the non-delivery of propane to heat the house (we had to wait a long, cold week, along with the rest of the state, and stay in our offices with portable electric heaters)? And that’s only the first twelve days!

I started to write a blog post five days ago only to discover my computer was updating some major Windows programs. When it was over, my Start button no longer worked and my Edge browser–and the easy way to get to my photos for the blog–was gone. Four hours of intense computer manipulations resulted in…nothing. Except a headache and the urge to toss the laptop out the window into the snow.

I am hoping that the little repair in town can fix this. Microsoft is certainly no help.

We are supposed to get a lot of rain tonight. The kind of rain that, if blocked by the piles of snow around the house, will flood basements. Ah, yes, something else to look forward to.

But because it’s my lucky day, I’m not the least bit worried.

lucky numbers

Posted in family, rhode island | Leave a comment

a note from the arctic freeze

Posted on January 7, 2018 by is there any more pie?

The good news: the bomb cyclone winter storm is over.

The bad news: it’s 0 degrees this morning, with a wind chill factor of -26.

The good news: we have electricity.

The bad news: we are low on propane and therefore conserving heat by using the propane fireplaces very little and using our electric heat a lot. We look forward to Monday’s delivery!

The good news: we are recovering from the virus/bronchitis/Texas bug that we got in Austin.

The bad news: we are recovering very, very slowly. This thing is hard to get rid of!

The good news: Son Ben is safely back home in Texas.

The bad news: we miss him.

The good news: starting tomorrow, the arctic blast is over and normal winter temperatures will resume.

The bad news: it’s still January.

Posted in family, rhode island | 2 Comments

so far so good

Posted on January 4, 2018 by is there any more pie?

Earlier this morning. Ben cleans off the car.

I know that many of you out there in Idaho and Nebraska and points west of us are shaking your heads over a January blizzard. You’ve been through them a zillion times.

You. Know. Snow.

And you know all about arctic temperatures and mighty winds.

You’ve been there, done that, over and over again.

For some reason this storm seems more intense, more dangerous, than others we’ve experienced here in New England. The snow is coming fast and heavy. It will stay fast and heavy throughout the day and into the evening. We’ve been warned that there will be a coating of ice on top of all of this (15″?) snow, and then a certain plunge to temperatures of -20 for three days.

A windy rainstorm last fall exposed our state’s faulty electric infrastructure. A minor storm caused power outages across the state, outages that lasted up to one week. No one could believe it and yet…

The governor and those in the know have told everyone to prepare for living without electricity for the near future. The worst is yet to come in the next three hours. “Warming centers” have been set up in every town, though how anyone is expected to get to one is beyond me.

We have propane stoves, so we are not going to freeze. We are prepared with lots of water and all sorts of food. We’re not going anywhere and will be fine. We have batteries and candles and cell phones and blankets.

I’m going to post this while I still have electricity.

At 11 am: He’d rather be in Texas.

Posted in family, rhode island | 2 Comments

what the heck is a bomb cyclone?

Posted on January 3, 2018 by is there any more pie?

I am so not a fan of January.

Once again, Banjo Man and I were sick as we left Austin. Banjo Man had been suffering with a cold and cough for days and went willingly to an Urgent Care Clinic in Round Rock on Friday when I told him that’s what the plan was.

He didn’t even argue or have a counter-suggestion, which shows how sick he was. Diagnosis? Acute bronchitis. Cure? Antibiotics and magic cough suppressant pills.

We knew he was sick when he couldn’t go to the Saxon Pub to hear his favorite musician, Johnny Nicholas, at the Wednesday night happy hour.

Fast forward a few days to Sunday, when he and I–along with daughter Nancy and Son #1 Ben–headed to the airport to fly back to Rhode Island. Now it was my turn to be sick. The night before I suddenly realized I was coming down with a head cold (something Will, Son #2 was suffering with).

I had no choice but to fill my carry on bag with tissues, huddle in the window seat and pray that my ear drums wouldn’t explode. The ear drum thing was touch and go. I will admit to weeping silently during the last half hour of that flight to DC. Once we landed I told Banjo Man that I really wanted to get a room in DC while they went home without me.

He thought I was kidding.

Not.

We had a three-hour layover and Banjo Man wrapped me in his little travel blanket. I bought some Claritin and hoped that it would work for the next–blessedly short–flight to Providence.

I survived just fine. Without tears. Yay for me.

It was 4 degrees in RI when we landed at 8:30 PM. It had been bitter cold for more than a week, so we had little hope of our car starting. We’d left it at the Hampton Inn, so we needed to get the shuttle. Banjo Man said he’d go by himself, see if the car started, then come get us. If it didn’t start we wouldn’t hang around for hours waiting for AAA but would instead rent a car at the airport.

We had a plan. Unfortunately we didn’t have a shuttle. It was New Year’s Eve and the shuttle driver was in high demand driving Hampton Inn folks back and forth to local restaurants.

But after all that worked out, the car started! I love you, my old Highlander.

I couldn’t get out of bed Monday. Or Tuesday. Just the typically vicious head cold we all hate. Today I am sitting at my computer, something I think I can manage for another 30 minutes or so. Improvement! I still have a killer earache but that’s going to have to wait because…wait for it…we’re getting snowstorm tomorrow.

Not just a snowstorm. According to the weather channel and the local news reports, we’re getting a “snowicane”, a “cyclone bomb” and a nor’easter, all wrapped up in one miserable snow happening.

Something about air currents meeting each other as Canadian arctic winds meet the snow storm as it barrels up the coast. On Saturday it’s going to be minus 12. MINUS 12!

Ben was supposed to fly home to Texas tomorrow, but we changed his flight to Saturday. Tomorrow will be horrendous and then Friday we’ll be digging out, dealing with 45-70 mile an hour winds and probably no electricity.

Not a good day to fly, even if flights are leaving the airport.

I’m sure Ben wishes he was back in Texas, dealing with unusual 25 degree temps and keeping the water running so the pipes don’t freeze. Piece of cake compared to a bomb cyclone of snow. The good news is that Ben has been able to spend lots of time with his grandmother, which was the whole point of his trip to RI.

We’re doing the usual things in anticipation of no electricity (and therefore no water). I should say Banjo Man is doing the usual things. I can’t imagine exerting myself by even going into the kitchen and filling pots and pans with water.

Very pathetic.

We will have heat from the two propane fireplaces (one upstairs, one down). We certainly have a lot of quilts.

See you on the other side…

Posted in family, personal female whining, rhode island | 4 Comments

merry christmas from texas

Posted on December 24, 2017 by is there any more pie?

I’m taking a break from assembling casseroles for Christmas morning breakfast. I don’t know when that became a tradition in our family, but it had something to do with trying to get some food in my children in between the 5 AM present extravaganza and Christmas dinner.

They always hated being separated from their new toys and forced to sit at the table and eat some protein and fruit.

In fact, they still talk about the injustice of it all.

And now I torture my grandson, though I sprinkle blueberries on the French Toast casserole, underneath the praline topping. He skips the egg-hash browns-cheese-bacon casserole, but his father and uncle gobble it up like they’ve never eaten hash browns before.

This year I’m using disposable pans. No one needs to be scrubbing anything on Christmas Day!

Our daughter is flying in this afternoon and from her texts it looks like the planes are on time and the weather is clear.

Thank God.

Tonight we’ll be at the Armadillo Bazaar again, for our Christmas Eve tradition of Bill Kirchen’s music and a bit of last minute shopping. It’s festive and fun and so typically “Texas”.

I am way behind on blogging and I’m sorry. I’ll catch up as soon as I can. I borrow Banjo Man’s computer when I can, but photos are scattered between the phone and the Kindle, and it can get complicated.

Banjo Man and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with love, joy and peace.

Posted in austin, family, texas, travel | Leave a comment

day 2, new orleans, 2017

Posted on December 21, 2017 by is there any more pie?

If it’s morning, it must be time for beignets. I was running late, so I joined Banjo Man and N&N just as the beignets and coffee were being served.

Thankfully they had ordered for me.

I have a great picture, but I can’t find it. So picture square fried doughnuts covered in mounds of powdered sugar and you’ll pretty much have the idea.

We looked at the Mississippi and posed for the camera.

20171216_092123

And then we strolled along Decatur, towards the French Market where there is lots of junk (and souvenirs and jewelry and art work) arranged on tables. It pretty much always looks the same.

Banjo Man took N&N to the Mint to visit the museum and the Louis Armstrong exhibit, but I had been there several times before and decided to stroll around the Quarter instead.

View from the Mint:

I loved those different colored trees on the balcony,

More signs…

Not tempted at all.

For Son #2.

Dream catchers:

And then…music! The Preservation Hall Band played from 12-1 in the Dutch Alley near Café du Monde. I got there early so I could get seats for all of us. Made friends with a lovely young med student from Quebec City and a 76-year old Brit named Tony. We bonded over coffee, having been successful at getting seats at an iron picnic table before the crowds arrived.

It would not be the last time I was early for something, but that’s for tomorrow’s post.

Have I mentioned it was cold? And windy? And damp?

Oh. My. Goodness.

Preservation Hall Band. Pure joy. Pure professionalism.

Oh, the day was not even close to being over…

We ate lunch at Antoine’s, a famous landmark of the French Quarter. There would be oysters and shrimp and gumbo and mint meringues topped with ice cream, hot fudge and pecans.

They are so hungry, too.

Antoine’s holiday dessert.

We took a cab to the oldest African American Catholic Church in the United States: St. Augustine. There was to be a concert at 4, so we got there early and snagged seats down in front. Don Vappie and his group were the jazz performers. And they were joined by a three-generation member of the church who sang Ave Maria in Creole.

Looted during Katrina.

Guess who spotted the banjo.

Oh, we weren’t done yet…

We needed wine and cheese and bread and snacks, because the Nebraska Women’s Volleyball team was playing for the National Championship at 8 PM. We were going to have a watch party, come hell or high water.

Go Big Red!!!!

It had been a 10,000-Fitbit-Steps kind of day. With music!

But the food…

This was getting worrisome. The antibiotics from the skin infection made me ravenous. I mean, REALLY, REALLY HUNGRY ALL THE TIME.

This is not like me.

The combo of Great Food Everywhere and a drug-induced appetite could only mean disaster. The 10,000 steps daily would be critical, as would some degree of willpower.

Willpower??? In New Orleans????

I think not.

Posted in family, food, music, travel | Leave a comment

day 1, new Orleans, 2017

Posted on December 20, 2017 by is there any more pie?

Katie’s restaurant in the Treme neighborhood.

Banjo Man researched lots of restaurants before our trip. And the number one on his list was “Katie’s”, a short cab ride from the hotel to the Treme section of town.

(You remember “Treme”, right? From our November tv-binging of all six seasons?)

I kept thinking we would run into one of our television “friends” around every corner. I miss them.

This is some kind of giant loaf of French bread stuffed with shredded BBQ shrimp. And yes, he ate the whole thing.

Here’s the appetizer that was featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives:

It’s a large beignet stuffed with…something. The sauce was delicious and the whole thing was totally decadent. Thank God we shared it between the four of us.

The waiter told us the flooding from Katrina had reached 7′ high on the walls of the restaurant.

When in doubt, order a shrimp po’boy.

After a very yummy meal, we headed back to our hotel and walked across Bourbon Street to Fritzel’s, a traditional jazz club. It’s a small place with great live music, but it has always seemed a little strange, due to the German (World War II) era decorations filling the walls.

A bit creepy.

But that has changed (rumor: new ownership) and those questionable artifacts have disappeared, thank goodness.

We waited a while before finding room to squeeze together on a bench and then listened to a set from the Frizel’s All Star Band, who were of course terrific.

By that time, my 2:30 AM wake-up had caught up with us, so it was time to cross the street and return to the hotel and our comfy elegant little room.

We were off to a good start.

Looking for more info? Check out: http://www.katiesinmidcity.com

Posted in family, food, travel | Leave a comment

and here we are again

Posted on December 17, 2017 by is there any more pie?

I’m blogging on the Kindle so this won’t be a long post. We flew to New Orleans very early Friday morning and have been eating and walking ever since. And music! It’s everywhere and thank goodness it is.

Banjo Man’s sister and husband flew in to join us Friday afternoon. They were in the city 43 years ago for a conference so…it’s been a while. They rediscovered beignets yesterday, much to their joy.

We are taking them to our favorite places.

Instead of letting them go to bed early we dragged them across the street (just kidding, they were good sports) to Fritzel’s for a couple of hours of traditional jazz.

More tomorrow, after I borrow Banjo Man’s laptop…