Hootenanny - "A Spontaneous party"

When Life Gives You Stale Bread, Make Croutons... Really!

2011-04-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

This morning I wanted to make a yummy sandwich concocted from the many Easter leftovers. I thought about a basic ham and cheese sandwich, classic. Then I thought of making ham salad like my dad used to make, although I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it like he did. He was from the mid-West and I think that’s a requirement to make ham salad and the like. Then I was studying the plethora of cheeses we laid out this last Sunday, and doing some type of open faced grilled/broiled cheese sandwich. Yum! Egg salad, maybe...

So I swiveled around to the bread box, because killer bread is what makes all sandwiches....right? Hum; that sourdough loaf is stale, this bag of garlic/rosemary is stale, and so on.

“Bummed”

I can hear my husband now, “We waste so much food in this house!” When the reality is is; we eat allot, we feed allot of people. So for as much as I buy and prepare, we really don’t throw away allot, he just likes to add it to ‘how all the lights are always on making our house look like a Christmas tree’.

I love croutons, and make them from time to time for salads, but never have I made several weeks worth in one sitting. I get out the serrated bread knife and start cubing. Seriously, bowls and bowls of cubed, stale bread. Tossing them in olive oil, sprinkling them with more herbs and seasonings and spreading out in several batches on a large cookie sheet. Baking them in a hot, 450˚ oven, the house smells fabulous!

Now, I know croutons are not calorie free, but moderation, yes?

I find myself back in the fridge, pulling out the lettuce, celery, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs. Back to making something yummy for lunch at this point, and maybe a bit healthier. ;~)

Mule Days - Bishop California

2010-07-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Fun was had by all at Bishop Mule Days this past Memorial Day Weekend. Mules, Donkeys, Jack Asses had us all entertained.

Weather was perfect, warm, a bit breezy but the surrounding mountain ranges covered in snow took our breath away.

Looking forward to next year's trip already!

2010’s Color of the Year

2010-05-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Pantone’s pick for 2010’s trend color is #15-5519 - which is consider Turquoise - one of my favorites.

The soothing blue-green coordinates with sooooo many other colors; browns, grays, black, yellows, metallics, and you can adapt Turquoise to so many different styles; South Western, Contemporary, Retro, Sixties.

Plus... think how tan you look when wearing it!

I’m thrilled with this year’s choice from Pantone. The way the delegations come about is a little complicated. Pantone watches the designers and fashion forecasters and they in turn watch Pantone. But the Pantone color wheel is what the designers and retailers reference when placing orders with factories.

Their article is attached as well as a few products from Hootenanny featuring this lovely color. Enjoy!

http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/Pantone.aspx?pg=20705&ca=4

Texas Road Trip!

2010-04-13T19:55:00.000-07:00

So the Texas road trip was quite an adventure. 23 days total on the road. We thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of it. From stopping at my favorite Trading Post in Quartzite to stock up on moccasins (a girl can never have too many), to spending a morning in Tombstone (it was so much bigger as a kid), to trying not to pet & kiss the cute "border inspecting" dog (she was such a beauty).

Got to the big event, "Antiques Week", in Texas, set up our booths and got into the groove. That super Southern Hospitality spills out of everyone. Every morning we took back roads into our venue, saw our pals the donkeys and longhorns hanging out in their pastures of Bluebelles (another site to behold). Made wonderful new friends with our neighboring vendors. And the most dangerous thing of all... going shopping in the other antique booths. Using more self discipline than I've ever known, I controlled my buying. I don't NEED anything, but I wanted EVERYTHING. Just had to keep visualizing my husband's fury if I came home with it all...

There is next year you know?...

Big Fridge • Little Fridge

2010-03-13T09:06:00.000-08:00

Being a family of 5 and sometimes 6 or 7 when my step children lived with us, we went through allot of food. The kitchen is definitely the main hub of the house and we all like to cook and eat. Therefore, we have two refrigerators. “Big Fridge” and “Little Fridge”. Big Fridge held all the main things, gallons of milk, all condiments, meats, cheeses, veggies. Little Fridge held beverages mostly and sometimes the oversized jars of pickles or the like, you know, Costco size jars.

One sleepless night a few weeks ago, I lay in bed, unable to sleep and I realize there is this constant hum of what sounded like an overworking appliance. Early the next morning I came downstairs to realize it was Little Fridge. It must have been running this hard for along time, one because our electricity bill is HUGE and two because it really is always overstuffed.

I immediately pulled everything out and shut off the power. Silence. I didn’t realize how noisy it’s always been. Then I realized I had to make room in Big Fridge for the surplus foods. OK, so this is to become my day’s project. Purging, cleaning, reorganizing for most of the morning and the Big Fridge is full but organized and Clean!

Funny thing is, we’re fine without Little Fridge, we don’t need the extra extravagant space. Unless we end up in a situation where we have money to burn, we really don’t need to have two appliances doing double duty. Explaining this to my family wasn’t easy, we all became attached to Little Fridge. But really it just made us lazy. We didn’t have to dig for something, nor eat up a left over before we opened up something new. At the end of a large meal, we’d just pop the large stock pot (now 1/4 full) into Little Fridge out of convenience and not transfer the food into a small container.

I’ll have to see the effect this has on our PG&E bill, I’m sure it will be noticeable, maybe not huge, but it’s a start.

Getting Ready for a Show

2010-02-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

I'm off to a show in Texas. The Round Top Antique Show. Having never been, I'm really excited. It will be Spring while there. So the planning of what merchandise to bring and how to build the booth consumes my head for weeks. Almost everything my husband wants to throw out, I come up with a way to use it to display products on it. I also get excited about new items I plan to present. My daughter, Chelsea, is helping put herself through college by hand painting wine glasses and decorating them with Swarovski Crystals. She is so talented and I am thrilled to have her involved in my business.
I'm also looking forward to the road trip. It will take about 3 days. Crossing through Arizona, my home state, then New Mexico and on into Texas. Although the original show is in Round Top (been around since 1967) my booth is in the new Marketplace in Warrenton, Texas. "Down the road a bit"

Check out this website for more info on the show http://www.showdaily.us/Warrenton.cfm

I'll keep you all posted!