Surprise!

This blossom just appeared, out of the blue, on my Christmas cactus in the dining room. Only one; bright and white. This occurrence almost made my heart stop. As we prepare for Easter, albeit so very differently this year, my mind has fast forwarded to Easter dinner. "We have to pick up a ham" I said to Mr. G.; "it's just us, though" he countered. Easter dinner has always been a BIG deal in our family. In fact, his mother made Easter weekend a BIG deal as far back as I can remember. When we were in high school, dating, one of the first times I ever visited his parent's home was on Saturday before Easter, I was invited to dye eggs and help to "get the table ready". It was at that time that I met Mr. Goodneedle's sister, brother, and his brother's wife and son for the first time. The Easter table was quite a production: the best china, crystal, linen and fresh flowers. Mom (as she became to me later) would always go to great lengths to find little Easter treats and keepsakes for each place setting. (I have boxes of them to this day, they're all special and precious.) As the years passed and our own children grew they always went to Grandma and Grandpa's on Easter Saturday to dye eggs and help to get the table ready, there was great excitement building for the next day. Depending on how many out of town family members might have been visiting sometimes two tables were set! These memories warm my heart and I'm certain they have the same effect on our grown children today. As the years passed and Mom couldn't put on the BIG deal Easter weekend event anymore it moved here. We were more than happy to host similar activities for the family, extended family and now for our own grandchildren. Until now. "It's just us, though," he said, or so it seems. No, we won't be hosting Easter dinner this year at a large table or two but, it's more than just us. This blossom, coming now, on a Christmas cactus inherited from my dear mother-in-law has bloomed; one single, white, bloom. Happy Easter, Mom! 🤍

Life is Good!

Which Came First?

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? As you well know we can go around and around on this one and not come up with an answer that everyone can agree on. One thing that we can agree on, though, is that my life has become a lot easier since the arrival of the Instant Pot at Chez Goodneedle. Our son and daughter-in-law have had one for quite some time. I heard all the great success stories of their wonderful, healthy meals prepared in a fraction of the time. Who couldn't use more time? I was intrigued but not convinced that I needed one. After all, it was an electric pressure cooker! I had never used a pressure cooker. My childhood memories of a pressure cooker were of a mysterious cast-metal locked bomb pot with a bobbing, sputtering valve on the top, sitting on the stove's front burner on Sundays; ours always contained a pot roast. I recall my mother warning us to "stay back" when the pressure was released as if this whole procedure was dangerous to the point of being life-threatening. Because of that healthy fear, I was never interested in pursuing the art of pressure cooking as an adult. I felt lucky to have survived those weekly threats. Then our daughter requested one for Christmas. Soon after she began extolling the virtues of Instant Pot cooking and I saw her dedicated Pinterest board grow with pinned recipes. She would happily report about her yogurt making and the delicious soups and meals she was turning out in the limited amount of time she has after work, to the raves of her family. Okay, I did some research. Maybe this would be something that could earn its space in our kitchen. I remember that same back-and-forth in my mind that I went through before we ever got our first microwave. Did we need this? Could we get along without one? Hadn't life been okay in our Instant Pot-free home up until now? I also remember that a week after getting that first microwave I couldn't imagine life without one! Our Instant Pot arrived last week. So, which came first, the chicken or the egg? The chicken. I cooked a whole one for dinner, start to finish, in 45 minutes; it was moist, flavorful and delicious! Next came hard boiled eggs. In the pressure cooker they were done in the same amount of time as if I had done them on the stove top-- but, the difference is, these peeled perfectly! Never again will I have a mutilated egg. And then, on Saturday afternoon, I whipped up a positively wonderful homemade Tomato Basil Parmesan soup to enjoy on a rainy, cold evening; employing both the pot's saute and pressure cooking functions, leaving only one pot to clean up afterward. Score! Stay tuned, the Instant Pot adventure continues, my own Pinterest recipe board is growing every day.

Life is Good!

 

Whipped Cream

What's your most embarrassing moment? I might have just had mine this past Friday evening.  I had organized a small dinner party for a friend who was returning to town for a brief visit after moving away a few years back. Two of her friends in attendance I met for the first time when they walked in the door, there were six of us gathered. We had a lovely time and lingered over dinner, all of us finally adjourning to the kitchen as I sliced up the Chocolate Chess Pie that I had baked for dessert. The refrigerator contained a bowl full of freshly whipped and sweetened cream for dolloping. I opened the door and reached for the bowl... it slipped from my grasp and hit the floor. I doubt that any of you reading this could even begin to imagine the distance or trajectory that whipped cream will travel before depositing itself at its final resting spot(s). It wasn't pretty. I was covered, literally... shoes, legs, skirt hem; the floor was bathed in frothy whiteness as was the wool hooked rug in front of the refrigerator door. I cleaned up the mess as well as I could while urging my guests to carry their now unadorned pie back to the dining room while I attended to the task at hand. Of course they waited for me. I cleaned up as much as I could and hurriedly made the kitchen presentable. Over the weekend the rest of the cleanup occurred: little dots of cream were removed from the pendant lights hanging over the kitchen island, from nearby and not-so-nearby cabinets, from underneath the refrigerator, from inside the refrigerator door, door shelves, door gasket, etc. I'd like to try and forget that this mishap ever happened, especially while attempting to be the perfect hostess... unfortunately those tell-tale sticky specks won't let me, they're mocking me. Looking on the bright side: it could have been worse, it could've been spaghetti sauce!

Life is Good!

Anticipation

We made pizza from scratch for supper last night. 

Gregory created his own: a little bit of sauce and a LOT of cheese;

he could scarcely wait until it was done baking.

Between last evening and lunch today not even a crumb remains.

Life is Good!