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.

 

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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.

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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:

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I loved those different colored trees on the balcony,

More signs…

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Not tempted at all.

 

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For Son #2.

Dream catchers:

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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.

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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.

 

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They are so hungry, too.

 

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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.

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Looted during Katrina.

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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.

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day 1, new Orleans, 2017

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

 

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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.  

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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:

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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.

 

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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

 

 

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and here we are again

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

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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…

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winter window

Posted on December 15, 2017 by is there any more pie?

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I intend to do this as soon as I get home in January.

 

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thank you, sir alexander fleming

Posted on December 14, 2017 by is there any more pie?

Sir Fleming, a Scottish physician and microbiologist, invented penicillin in 1928 and I thought he deserved a shout out from a 66-year old retired writer in Rhode Island who is presently quickly recovering from a rather nasty bacterial infection.

Boy, when antibiotics work the way they’re supposed to it really does feel like a miracle.

Thank you for all of the emails and phone calls.  It was a little scary, I admit, but I’m doing just fine now.  72 hours after the first Cephalexin the red swelling on my arm had disappeared, the pain is gone and I even had a little energy, which was enough to do a little laundry and pack up some Christmas presents for Banjo Man to take to the Post Office.

Today I’m actually going to get dressed in decent clothes and go to town to get my hair cut.   In a few days we head out of town for a joyous family Christmas reunion.  It will be the first time in 10? 12? years that my three oldest children will be together at Christmas.

I wish I could bake him some cookies.

 

fleming

My hero.

 

 

 

Posted in a more pie opinion, family, personal female whining, rhode island | 2 Comments

the big easy beckons

Posted on December 13, 2017 by is there any more pie?

Banjo Man and I are off to New Orleans soon.  The “City That Care Forgot” awaits us.

 

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New Orleans, 2016

 

There will be gumbo.  And music.

 

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My personal breakfast band.

No one is more excited than Banjo Man.  He has read hundreds of restaurant reviews and planned every meal.  He wants to try new places and be more adventurous.

I’ll let you know how that works out.

So we are packing for New Orleans and Austin, as we hop a plane to Texas after we’ve had our fill of gumbo and jazz.  Is it possible to have too much gumbo and jazz?  I think not.

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the quiltmaker’s gift

Posted on December 11, 2017 by is there any more pie?

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My French Friend Janou sent this to me for my birthday.  It’s about a quiltmaker who only makes quilts to give away and a greedy king who will do anything to get one of them.

MFFJ thought I would love reading this to the Funny Grandson, a kid who really loves his grandmother’s quilts.

Be still my heart.

Here’s the inside flap:

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The story is wonderful and the illustrations are brilliant.

As I am working through my least favorite sewing chores this morning–stitching labels on quilt gifts and readying boxes to take to the Post Office–reading this book with my morning coffee was a reminder of how special quilts can be.

Loved it.  Thank you, my friend.

 

 

Posted in books & music, family, friends, quilting, rhode island | 1 Comment

time to make the cookies

Posted on December 10, 2017 by is there any more pie?

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Sam and his parents indulged my need to make Christmas cookies Friday afternoon.

Thank you.

Check out these “trees”.

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They looked better on the internet than they did in real life (not exactly a surprise) but Sam loved decorating them.  I made a batch of shortbread dough, rolled it into a triangle shape, and then (after chilling a bit) cut them into 3/8″ thick “trees”.  Half a pretzel stick was inserted to make a trunk, then they were baked at 300 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

While they were baking, Sam and I made the green frosting and discovered my 37-year old mixer had died.  The motor just made a “whirr” sound, but nothing happened.

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End of an era.  Purchased from the Spiegel catalogue and used with great joy.  It came with a food grinder and a blender.

So I got out the little hand mixer and we soon had plenty of green frosting for the trees.

And we attempted to make candy cane cookies, though at first it was a bit of a disaster.   Sam, a Play Doh veteran, turned the dough into all sorts of shapes and we ended up with a tray full of yummy butter cookies.

I also learned that Sam loves pretzel sticks.

Here’s my trusty shortbread recipe.  God only knows how old it is and how long it has been in my recipe box.

1 cup softened butter
3/4 cup of sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Gently mix in flour mixed with salt.  Chill.  Roll about 3/8-1/2″ thick on floured board.  Bake at 300 for 20-25 minutes, until dry but not browned.  Note:  I baked my trees 30 minutes until slightly brown so they would be harder and therefore easier to spread frosting on.

 

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All finished.

 

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Rest in peace.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in food, friends, rhode island | 2 Comments

birthdays with friends

Posted on December 9, 2017 by is there any more pie?

Today is my birthday.  It always (except for my 40th, which was painful) makes me happy to have survived another year.

Let’s face it:  being alive is great fun.  Or should be.  If you have the health to enjoy it, you should count yourself lucky and celebrate.

As my dear friend Omar Beshir used to say, “Every day I wake up is a good day.”

Banjo Man and I have just returned from town and now it is snowing pretty hard.  This storm is only supposed to last until tomorrow morning and has no wind to accompany it, so it’s a pretty, wintery scene outside.

My birthday isn’t turning out the way I’d planned (errands and lunch or dinner out), due to complications from having had my first pneumonia shot 9 days ago.  I had a sore arm for a few days afterward, but nothing terrible.  But yesterday I woke up with a large red area on my upper arm and for days I’ve felt really tired and achy.

It’s easy to ignore feeling tired and achy, but not so easy to ignore a burning, hot, red spot on your arm.   After a long wait at CVS’s “Minute Clinic” this morning, I learned I have a bacterial infection from the pneumonia shot.  I now have a large bottle of antibiotics to take for the next 10 days.  I should be feeling better within a couple of days.

So Banjo Man and I are looking forward to a cozy afternoon and evening here.  He has a new Scotch to sip, I am in the middle of a good book, and both of us will be on the Giant Couch later on with our quilts, tv remotes, and the new season of The Crown.

Tomorrow I’ll celebrate with my mother and daughter and Banjo Man–hurray for pepperoni pizza!–when the sun comes out and I’m feeling more energetic.

I have my birthday cards displayed on the pie safe and they make me smile every time I look at them.  Last September the Band Chicks surprised me by celebrating my December birthday a few months early.

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Linda’s flags of peace.

We also celebrated Retired Mountain Lady’s October 1st birthday, along with a baby shower for Mandolin Ann’s upcoming grandchild.  There were presents galore!!!

We Band Chicks know how to have a good time. 

Julie gave me this really cool pie pan.

IMG_0036There are more pies in my future, obviously.

Speaking of pies, dinner tonight will be one of my own chicken pot pies presently in the freezer.   I always think of those chicken pot pies as “emergency” food and today qualifies as the perfect time to bake some yummy comfort food using very little time or energy.

And speaking of baking…yesterday afternoon my friend Sam came over and we made Christmas cookies together.

There is nothing on earth more fun that baking with a 4-year old.  Photos tomorrow.

I’m gathering pillows and blankets and heading to the couch to watch a sappy Hallmark Christmas movie or two.  Thanks to modern medicine, things are looking up!

 

 

 

 

Posted in friends, rhode island | 2 Comments