Guest post on Recollections of a Vagabonde

At my mother's request, I just published a guest post on her blog here. Check it out!

More owls...so many more owls...

Since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I'd share more of the owls that I have collected  since my last owl post.


Let's start with the most recent owl acquisition ~  this really cute owl sketch that I bought at a little art shop in Bar Harbour, ME.

No matter which of my front doors you chose to enter, there will be owls waiting for you...

And then once you come inside, you can enjoy the fire and see all "whoo" is on the mantle...how may owls can you find?

And then if you go to the kitchen or dining room, guess what? More owls!! I think I even forgot to capture a few...like the bag clip from my nephews that actually hoots...

And then of course, there are personal owl accouterments...

So that's all the owls for now. But there will more be later! I have owl latch hook, cross stitch, embroidery, needle point, long stitch, weaving, pillows, etc all yet to be completed...

And lest you think I've gone owl crazy (which I guess I have a little bit), I still have my collection of squirrels and mushrooms!

Goodbye for now....owl be seeing you...

Gnome update

For the few of you who have been to my house, this isn't news...but my friendly little garden gnome is now joined by some colorful mushrooms...

And here's Fluffy's view...

Also, my mother recently put up a post about my place and there's a picture of my deck in the post. You can see her awesome blog (which was just featured in a magazine!) here...Recollections of a Vagabonde

Peach-Almond Crisp

I am sooooo behind in blog posts. I have quite a few to write up and promise to write some more soon…
I went to the Memphis Farmer’s Market today and went a little crazy buying vegetables. The weird thing is that there was hardly any selection of fruit. I did get a lot of yummy peaches – the white kind.
I decided to make a recipe in one of the cookbooks I had in college that my parents brought back to me on my last visit…Light Desserts. These cook books are all from the late 80’s. There are good light recipe ideas but it is amazing how much more selection of low-cal food there now is to use that there wasn’t then. Oddly enough, while my parents were here we visited Burke’s Books and saw one of the exact issues they brought me. And it was selling for $10!
So here is my altered version of Oxmoor House’s 1989 Light Desserts “Peach-Almond Crisp” on page 113:
Peach-Almond Crisp
Ingredients

• 3 medium-size ripe peaches, peeled and sliced (about 3/4 lbs)
• 1/4C of Splenda granulated
• 1 1/2t wheat flour
• pinch of nutmeg
• drop of almond extract
• vegetable cooking spray
• 1/4C oatmeal, regular oats uncooked
• 1 1/2T brown sugar
• 1T white flour
• pinch of salt
• pinch of cinnamon
• 1/2T Brummel & Brown yogurt spread
• 2T toasted almonds, chopped

Instructions

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently. Place peach mixture in a 1/2 to 1 quart baking dish that has been coated with cooking spray.

Combine oats and next 4 ingredients, stirring well. Cut in margarine (Brummel & Brown) with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add almonds. Sprinkle mixture evenly over peach mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

I don’t have a pastry blender but I know Karen does so I am sad that I can’t just walk down the hall and borrow it. Sigh. I just used forks and a blender with pastry attachments. It seemed to work okay.

Somehow I misread the directions and baked at 350 instead of 375 so the top wasn’t as crispy as it should be. I ate two of the three servings (with ice cream!) but when I reheat the final serving, I will heat it in the oven at a higher temperature. Did I mention that I burned the first batch of toasted almonds? This happens to me EVERY time I toast almonds. EVERY. TIME.

For any of you who actually want to make this, here are the stats:
Serving Size: 3 servings
Amount Per Serving:

• Calories: 147.8
• Total Fat: 4.0 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 17.5 mg
• Total Carbs: 28.5 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.6 g
• Protein: 3.3 g

Living in Memphis

The last few months have been a flurry of activity and travel and temporary living. Since I left California in mid-January, I have been in ten states (OH, KY, TN, FL, GA, NC, SC, AL, AR, & MS) and next week I add another one – MO. I have lived in a corporate apartment and then an extended stay hotel. I have stayed on a cruise ship and many, many hotels – mostly either Holiday Inns or Hiltons, with a few alofts thrown in too.
But this week, I am moving into my home in Memphis. I don’t want to change the title of my blog because in my heart, I am still “living in Long Beach” as I really miss all my wonderful friends out there. My friend Karen is visiting to help me with the arduous task of moving and unpacking. She is here for a week and I am pretty sure it will not all be done before she is gone but she sure is helping out a LOT. We plan to take tons of pictures and I’ll post about the whole ordeal, I mean, experience soon.
But here’s a picture of the house to tide you over for now…

Wait…did you look really closely? Did you see my new little friend under the tree on the corner???

My 365 Project - January 2012

Whew! What a crazy month it has been. Sorry that I haven't posted but did I mention that it has been C R A Z Y ?!?!!  Unfortunately, I missed one day of my 365 Project and didn't take a picture. However, this was the day that the cats and I moved from the west coast from the east coast. So to me, it is fitting that this day is blank. Now this day really stands out on the calendar that is my daily life in pictures. I'll always remember THE DAY.

I am hoping to get into a semi-routine shortly and start blogging again to catch everyone up with my life. And I have another cookbook challenge entry to post about that Karen picked. I'll give you a hint...it is gelatinous...

My 365 Project–December 2011

Here are my pictures for December. I still haven’t missed a day but some of the pictures aren’t great. I definitely need a new camera. If you have no idea what my 365 project is, then you can read about it here in my original post.