Not Quite Through With Tacoma

IF YOU LOOK closely, you will see one of Chihuly's putti in the lower left (semi-center). The putti are Renaissance figures that were usually cherubic and carved from wood. Dale Chihuly decided to construct them from glass. They are so sweet and mischievous, reclining above octopi or holding hands while swinging above ribbons of glass. (this is another BlackBerry photo)
If I already told you I won tickets to the Museum of Glass, I apologize. I really want to go visit and see them produce the glass. I guess, for a price, you can even make your own and if you goof up the pros will "rescue" it for you. Now that's what I call an authentic souvenir.
This adorable pink bicycle was propped up against a perfect gray/blue background. The Northwest is BIG on bikes.
What else did the city hold for us? Well, we had dinner in the restaurant below our hotel - Pacific Grill - and had a delicious dinner. The establishment was even kind enough to move our party of two away from a party of 1,000 talkative chatterers. My dinner? Prawns with tiny, skinny spaghetti. Don't think it was angel hair pasta, but close. My compadre had clams or mussels in a very light garlicky sauce. Delicious! And then we had Julia Child's perfect fudge brownie with Madagascar vanilla ice cream for dessert. This started us off on ideas for a party to mark Julia's magnificent contributions to our world of food. We are planning the perfect gathering - food and guests. They all complement each other. The food will taste even better with the right mix of people.
And guess what else we found near the Bridge of Glass? That's right: a used book store. When in doubt, choose something by Henry James. I have never read "The Ambassadors," and I'm sure it will be delightful. It will be my "after gardening book."
Now, if you'll excuse me, I am off to Ace Hardware for some house primer - and no, it's not for the house. I'm going to paint a huge annual report we got. Thin, cheesy paper; but Judy Wise is always painting even newspaper with house primer and then going on to paint it with exotic colors and stamp it and then use it to all sort of things with, and I want to try it too - femminismo

Life Is Beautiful!

I'VE been going a little crazy, thinking about *TIME* recently. There isn't nearly enough of it and it goes by much too quickly. No wonder men searched for the Fountain of Youth. Even when they didn't have blogging to waste ... errrr... *stimulate* their hours, time still went by too quickly back then.
It has been cold with the full moon and clear skies here in our part of Oregon. I have been using my new camera a bit more, trying not to hit the wrong buttons on the small metal contraption. I've still resisted reading the manual! (shame on me)
Wednesday night I talked the Mister into going to see "Julie & Julia" with me and we howled during parts of it. Meryl Streep is extraordinary. Is there anything she can not do?
Note: the woman in this photo is the "real deal."
I got some shots of the moon on Wednesday (above), hanging in the trees, and one this morning as it set in the western sky. Cold and frosty, there was just enough moisture in the air to frost the leaves with what looked like fine, fine sugar.
Today I reconnected with cousins and aunts and uncles as we marked the loss of a mother, sister and aunt - my Aunt Dorothy - at a memorial service. The minister said a lot of good things and Aunt Dot's daughter spoke about her. I will always remember her laugh and the way she loved to entertain and feed people and the joy she took in the life she had.
Someone made those no-cook oatmeal and chocolate drop goodies for the reception afterward. (You cook a chocolate fudge mixture, stir in uncooked oatmeal and drop them by spoonfuls onto a pan.) Those made several of us feel like small children again, since most of our mothers always made them, so maybe there is a Fountain of Youth! Or at least a pan of youth.
On the way home from the memorial service, the sun was setting. It was truly glorious. It gives you a good feeling about tomorrow when you see something as rich and beautiful as a golden sky with triumphant beams shining down. It makes you think perhaps we are destined to end our time upstairs in the heavenly condos, wearing white robes and eating bon bons all day and not gaining an ounce! But make those bon bons chocolate oatmeal drops for me, please - femminismo

I Thought It Felt Funny (like odd funny) ...

EVERY good story starts somewhere. Mine started with a colleague requesting my favorite biscuit recipe. He had decided to conquer biscuit making but the recipe he had turned out a doughy product.
His mother had said she would leave him with a good recipe, but after she passed away he found out he didn't have it. I thought I could help him because I had a good "receipt" for biscuits with the secret ingredient of cream of tartar. I traditionally made these for my family whenever I made stew. This was my apology for stretching the meat with a lot of vegetables they usually didn't care for. Biscuits and honey-butter can make up for a lot of sins.
So I got to looking for my favorite recipe. Nowhere to be found! Wouldn't you know? Julia Child was my backup. I got out her book on breads and found a great, simple recipe - filled with a lot of "don't worry if it's goopy" and "don't knead more than 10 times even if it's very tempting to do so" ... stuff like she'd say.
So I mixed up the flour, baking powder and salt and then worked in the shortening with my fingers. It felt so good! It had been a while since I'd worked with shortening and flour. I love the special magic these simple ingredients can concoct.
I poured in the cup of milk, mixed it just a little, dumped it onto the floured towel (with my hand, the way Julia said to) and kneaded it exactly 10 times - well, 11. I couldn't resist! It patted it out into a perfect circle. What a great mixture, I thought to myself. It was so satiny!
I cut 2-inch circles and laid them in the greased pan and slipped them into the warm oven. Yum! These would be great with butter and marmalade.
Fifteen minutes later the timer went off and I opened the oven. Tiny little flat circles; flat! What had happened? I blamed the oven immediately. I had made my share of biscuits over the years. I had never had them fail this badly before.
By the way, have any of you smarty pants noticed what I should have noticed before I mixed up the second batch according to Martha Stewart's recipe? (Yes, I'm fickle when faced with failure. I abandoned Julia after it was clearly my fault - if only my eyes had been a little more discerning.)
I laughed and laughed at myself. How could I be so blind? What a stupe! What a knothead! Good grief, I thought. It hasn't been that long since I baked something ... has it? Well, apparently so. I can no longer tell the difference between cornstarch and baking powder - although I thought it felt funny when I leveled off the tablespoon with my finger.
Here's the difference in the size of the batches. The second set tasted great but still weren't as high as my usual recipe. I blame Martha for that. She uses too much shortening in her recipe. I'll try Julia again and apologize.
I put apple crisp in the oven before I started typing this, and I think it's about time to go check that and see who I can blame if it hasn't turned out. A cup of tea sounds like "a good thing" right about now, too.
I hope your cooking disasters don't waste as much flour, shortening and time as mine did. Cheers - femminismo
p.s. When we can't laugh at ourselves we're really in trouble!