I won a gift from AFRICA!!!!!

A few weeks ago, lovely Lynda from Tanzania, Africa had a give away. I submitted my name for it and WON. I won an awesome gift consisting of some ginger tea ( I LOVE tea) and an African CD, plus Lynda wrote me a sweet note on a postcard.

You HAVE to check out Lynda's blog. She lives on a Bazillion acres farm in the foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro with 2 lovely children and her husband. Her home is gorgeous and they survive without regular electricity. (They do have generators, though.)

Food, Fun and Farmlife....in East Africa is the official name of her blog. Check it out. Life in Africa is way different from life in Maine in so many ways. But it's also so much the same in other ways.

Thank you, thank you, thank you my friend Lynda.

Check out the stamps it took to mail it to Maine. Do the math. 

800 X 10 equals 8,000/=  to mail it out.....whatever /= is.

8,000 anything is a LOT!

Thanks!

Going Green...

Organic material shrug enhances a layered wrap around skirt with chunky clogs. Hat by Rhody Dendron.

Some of you know that I like to make stuff from other stuff. If you read my Going to the Beach post this summer, you saw some evidence of that....(scroll way down, past the guy in the bikini thong, you pervert.) (I don't know who put those photos onto my wholesome blog! Still a mystery to me....)

Here are a few of the 'people' I made with Mother Nature's help and put in my display case at school. I needed something to put in the display case because it will be a while before the kids make anything display casable.

Enjoy....

Iris leaf spandex leggings with sleeveless muscle shirt and white Shape Up shoes. Hair by Old Spice.

Pleated Mini-skirt with textured leggings topped by a layered shell and a natural seed choker. Earth shoes in nutmeg color. Hair by Herbal Essence and hat by Pacific Sunwear.

Possibilities are virtually endless!  (Wiggle eyes are not organic. Sorry Al Gore.)

More gag gag.....

OK, so I want to be open minded about this. As much as the meat ensemble gagged me, (see my previous two posts) (the smell alone, which I can smell from here...), I remembered seeing her perform on TV with Elton John during the Grammy Awards and I remembered being very impressed with her talent.

I'm impressed with anyone, first of all, that can play the piano. It's always been a fantasy of mine. And secondly I'm impressed with anyone who can sing. I can't sing worth a lick.

(No comments, Birdman...)

She can do both quite well.

If you could take the time to watch this video, hang in there through the beginning and watch her sing with Elton, well.........I am speechless...

Well done, Stephani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

More where's the beef...

Just to keep you in the loop, I found an image of the back of the dress.

That's some rump roast!

photo credit

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's all over the news....Lady GAG GAG is coming to town..... 

MY town.....today at 4 pm.....and it's not about my blog. (I hope)

Who woulda thunk it?

Click here to see the info....

PS....I will NOT be there.

Where's the beef?

Lady Gag Gag

When I was younger, my grandmothers used to tell me that I needed to put a little more meat on my bones.

Little did I know that this was all I had to do.

Now they tell me.....

"If we're not supposed to eat animals, 

how come they're made out of meat?"

-Tom Snyder

Boring, boring, boring......

Debbie asked if I was on vacation again. I wish. No. The start of school is very busy and I'm ready for bed at 6:30 p.m. Don't know how I'm going to watch Project Runway tonight.....

AND my life has been boring, boring, boring. 

So, 'having said that' (I hate that phrase....who made it up? Someone had to be the first one to use it...), I will now post a photo of dinner one night.

Told you I was boring.

But check out dinner.....

SPAGHETTI SQUASH from our garden. Is that the craziest thing going??

I wash it, cut it in half, remove all the seeds, poke holes in it, place it cut side down on a plate, put it in the microwave for 15 minutes full power, take a fork and pull out the strands.

A veggie that's like spaghetti!!! Who knew? ( Well, 'I' did, but only about 15 years ago. Never heard of it before that.) (Pretty bad when I say "only" "15 years ago". ) (sigh)

Spaghetti sauce made from tomatoes in our garden, string beans are from the garden, swiss chard from the garden sauteed with onions and garlic in some Extra Virgin Olive Oil and home made meatballs from the cow we used to have in the yard. (Just kidding on that last part.)

I wish we could have the garden all year 'round.

You say tomato and I say tomato......

Yeah!!!! After not one frickin' tomato last summer, we are now inundated! 

Anyone have a good recipe for spaghetti sauce?

I have a good recipe for tomato soup, which Mr. Downeastdoingstuff (pictured above) has, for some reason, taken on as his specialty. He has one other specialty...... Zucchini bread. 

I told him, "if you could follow directions for cooking/baking these two delish items, you can basically cook anything."

"Heck", I told him, " you cook everything from now on and I will select 2 things that will be my specialty!"

He said, "No."

I said, "Yea, you can."

He still said, "Nope."

So that's it. I'll gladly munch on his two specialties.

Tomato Soup

(I'm pretty sure this recipe came from a prehistoric edition of Bon Appetit.)

~3 Tbsp vegetable oil

~1 medium onion, finely chopped

~2 lbs. ripe tomatoes, (unpeeled), sliced

~1 Tbsp tomato paste

~1 bay leaf

~1/2 tsp finely chopped garlic

~2 tsp cornstarch

~3 C chicken stock. (He uses 2 cans of College Inn lower sodium chicken broth.)

~black pepper (recipe says freshly ground, but then, all recipes seem to say that.)

~herb salt. (or whatever)

~1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and cut julienne. (He doesn't usually do this.)

~1 Tbsp fine chopped fresh parsley (He uses dry parsley.)

~1 Tbsp fine chopped chives

~1 tsp honey

-Heat 3 tbsp OIL in a 4 Qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add ONION and cook til translucent.

(most of my kids in school don't know the meaning of this word.) Add all the sliced TOMATO and cook 3 minutes. Stir in TOMATO PASTE, BAY LEAF, and GARLIC.  Cover and cook 10 minutes, stirring often.

-Transfer mixture to food processor and puree. Return puree to saucepan. Combine CORNSTARCH and 1 tbsp OIL in a small bowl. Stir into puree. Add STOCK and bring to boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes. Season with PEPPER and HERB SALT. Stir in julienne TOMATO, PARSLEY, CHIVES and HONEY.

(Mr. DEDS always DOUBLES this recipe because, to be frank, it makes a piss poor amount otherwise, IMO.)

*******You know what? I know he uses a food mill somewhere in this recipe because I always have to wash one. Maybe after the food processor? Maybe to get out the skins and seeds? Who knows? So. use one somewhere......

I always make RICE and mix it in just before serving. Serve with some crusty bread and it's a great meal.

Enjoy.

Godspeed 'Opihi'.....

My good friend D had to say goodbye to her beloved dog a few days ago. Her sweet, tail wagging pup went in and out of this antique door many, many times. 'Opihi's name is Hawaiian in origin, but I'm sorry to say I don't remember what it means.

She was almost 16 years old. I know D did everything she could to take care of her over the past year in her declining health. I know 'Opihi will be sorely missed. 

I'm sure D's chickens will be wondering where their crazy friend is.

D spent many years in Hawaii and when I heard Israel Kamakawiwo'ole sing this song quite accidentally today, I thought of D and her pup. 

He did a beautiful rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow, which I'm sure is where 'Opihi is, looking down on us all........ (click on this video)

So sorry, my friend.

EARL aftermath.....

We battened down all the hatches, bought batteries, got gas for the generator, brought in all the cushions from the deck furniture and ate all the sweets in the freezer just in case....

All night long..........it just rained.  I don't think a gust of wind appeared unless a car drove by.

But the Princess and the Pea made her appearance on the deck cushions.

Can't be too careful....

Good bye Hurricane Earl.

Dang, it's hot.....

I’ve been in school two days. No kids yet, they don’t start laboring until after Labor Day.

And it’s been 195 degrees both days.

213 degrees up on the second floor where my room is.

In Maine. 

Why, Florida must be in the 300’s I would guess.

Is this Global Warming?

Is this like that Twilight Zone episode where the sun is cascading toward the Earth and all the crayons and oil paintings are melting?

Is this what it’s like in a Sweat Lodge, whatever that is? 

I think it is.

Time for another Sapphire-tini.......

Ahhhh.

Sapphire-Tini

1/2 oz. Blue Curacao

3/4 oz Bacardi Coco Rum

3/4 oz Banana Liqueur

2 oz Pineapple Juice

Fill Cocktail shaker with ice. Pour all ingredients into cocktail shaker. Shake and strain into a chilled Blue Gemtini glass.

Enjoy!