Through The Tulips Words of 'Wiz'dom

November 29, 2011

Thankful for Leftovers

Filed under: Food — gardener @ 10:55 am

I cooked a Thanksgiving dinner this past weekend and Marcel and I are still enjoying the leftovers and it’s Tuesday. I know that some people get tired of eating turkey and ham after the holidays, but it’s something I never seem to mind. I guess because it’s something we generally only eat during Thanksgiving and Christmas- but I love it. It also gave me a little bit of a feeling of being home- even when I wasn’t technically home.

Marcel said he could eat it every single day- I couldn’t help but laugh because I’m not sure I would want to do that- but it’s great for now.

October 31, 2011

Operation Health

Filed under: Food,Health/ Fitness — gardener @ 8:50 am

I mentioned a few posts back that I was really going to try to start getting back to health and making better choices- I’ve gained 10 pounds this year- and I know why. I am trying to start making little changes that will add up to bigger ones, but not doing everything at once because I think it will be overwhelming with everything that’s going on outside of that at the moment.

So far so good- I’ve not been doing everything perfectly- but I’m doing much better than I was, which means I’m making progress- I’m happy about that. I still have a way to go before I get back 100% on board to making all the right choices- but I am getting there. My body is important and it’s time I started treating it so again.

October 17, 2011

Moving Forward

Filed under: Food,Things I Love — gardener @ 1:04 am

The vacation coming to an end also means that I’m going to be really busy getting everything ready for the launch of my business. I’ve became ‘official’ right before mom and dad arrived and have been doing some planning and such, but the planned launch is the beginning of November. That’s when the site should be launched, even though I should be open for business before then.

I’m also thinking about ordering some Trade show table covers and setting up at a few craft fairs in the area in hopes of drumming up some business. After all- I need to market myself and mostly the goodies and hopefully that will be all I need to have the orders start rolling in.

September 25, 2011

Food, Food and More Food

Filed under: Food,Health/ Fitness,Travel — gardener @ 7:43 am

That could be the story of my life lately- FOOD, FOOD and MORE FOOD! There are days (like today) when I see photos of myself and I feel so disappointed with the fact that I haven’t reached my goal yet in terms of weight loss. I also know this is because I’m not doing the work and the fact that I have allowed everyday stress and pressure to get the better of me, which has resulted in less than stellar food choices. I own that fact- but for some reason it seems to be more than a matter of ‘just doing it’– my brain seems to be short circuited. I know – it sounds crazy, but it’s true. That’s how I feel at the moment.

I came across a picture of myself the other day- one that I had in my address book as a reminder of where I don’t want to be again- and while I look nothing like that anymore- I still see myself has having a way to go. It will come- I know it will and I also know I’ve got to stop being so hard on myself- but I also need to reel in the reigns that is my life and start working through all that’s happening in my grey matter.

Right now- there is fun to be had with mom and diddy- so the best I can do is try to make healthier choices- and skip the chocolate.

September 22, 2011

Try a New Food (101 in 1001)

Filed under: 101 in 1001 days,Food — gardener @ 4:58 am

Number 33 on my 101 Things in 1001 Days list is to try a new food. Since I’m vacationing and traveling around to places that I’ve never been with my family- I thought that it would be a great place to really try something new- a traditional food for the area I was in.

We spent some time in the Black Forest area of Germany and it was there that I had the opportunity to try Spaetzle (which is a Germany dumpling/ egg type noodle). I didn’t find it to be really flavorful on it’s own- (quite bland to be honest), but mixed with the juices and sauce of the meat and mushrooms that it was served with- I loved it. They are definitely not a ‘light’ dish- but I can see myself making them this winter as a comfort food dish- served with some stewed beef and mushrooms. MMM MMM good. I came across this recipe which looks pretty tasty- (although I’ll leave out the nutmeg), that I may try this winter. Or I may ask my friend Andrea- who is part German if she has any great recipes for it passed down through her family. Those are always the best recipes.

September 6, 2011

101 in 1001 – Something Outside My Comfort Zone

Filed under: 101 in 1001 days,Food,Things I Love — gardener @ 2:20 am

Number 8 on my 101 in 1001 List was do something outside of my comfort zone. At the time I made the list-I had no idea what that something would be, but it ended up being starting a business.

Some of you may know that I’ve recently started a cupcake business and am in the process of getting everything off the ground. It won’t be officially launched until after we complete our vacation with mom and diddy- but it has definitely been a continued learning process and a step outside of my comfort zone. I know there will be many challenges ahead that have me walking outside of that comfort zone we all find ourselves in- but I’m ready for the challenge.

August 7, 2011

Host a Tapas Dinner with Friends (101 in 1001 List)

Filed under: 101 in 1001 days,Food,Things I Love,Women — gardener @ 4:05 am

Things have been somewhat busy around here, so I’m a little behind in sharing here all of the things I’ve been able to check off my 101 in 1001 list- which you can find here.

Number 36 on my list was to host a tapas dinner with friends, so on July 30th- that’s exactly what I did.    My friend Bobbi and I were officially the hostesses with the mostess, but we had it at my home.  

It wasn’t tapas in the traditional Spanish manner- but it was more a mish-mash of everyone bring something to contribute in mini.     The idea was to have a lot of little things and mostly to laugh and have fun in the midst of friends.   

Since Bobbi and I were the ones hosting- we provided all the drinks- the tiny tapas containers to present the food and also we created quite a few goodies to add to what ended up being a huge table of food.

The picture to your right shows two of the the many things we had-   grilled shrimp with seaweed salad inside cucumber ‘baskets’.    I also made marinated chicken breast bites wrapped in bacon- and Bobbi made this delicious (colorful and spicy) mango salsa to go along with them. It was the perfect combination.

We ate Orange Cream Cupcakes-  Oreo Cheesecake bites- and some sinfully delicious Peanut Butter Brownies with Fudge that were to die for- literally.      We also had stuffed olives, grape truffles, cranberry cream cheese muffins, blueberry muffins, ham-cheese roll-ups,  roasted nuts in various flavors, veggies tray, zucchini rolls, zucchini bites, meatballs, curry chicken breast, dim sum and the list goes on and on.  You get the idea though-   There was a LOT of food!

It was a lot of fun and I do believe everyone else enjoyed themselves as well.   Some came early to help set everything up, and most everyone offered to help clean up,  which I thought was very sweet considering the huge mound of dishes that I had to do. 

I have new ideas for another party but that won’t be until the first of the year sometime- during the winter months when there isn’t much to do- but I’ll share more about that at another time.

July 11, 2011

Summer Days

Filed under: Food,Health/ Fitness,Things I Love — gardener @ 5:05 am

I am one of those people who get really excited when summer rolls around for many reasons. It isn’t just the typical great weather, but a combination of things that make me smile and one of those things is summer fruits. Watermelon, fresh strawberries, cherries, nectarines and the list goes on. I love them all. I love eating them and also think it’s great to give organic fruit of the month as gifts to people who don’t necessarily ‘need’ any traditional type gifts but who love good quality fruit. Tonight on the menu- a delicious fruit salad, filled with summer fruits and a touch of mint.

July 8, 2011

Create a New Cupcake Recipe (101 in 1001 Days)

Filed under: 101 in 1001 days,Food — gardener @ 9:03 am

One of the items on my 101 in 1001 days list was to create a new cupcake recipe. I have been experimenting with cupcakes quite a bit lately and have become quite obsessed with them, so new recipes are a given.

The new recipe is an Orange Creamcicle Cupcake that I hope will be a huge hit amongst those I love and others. It’s a orange-vanilla cupcake with an orange-vanilla cream icing and orange curd filling.

What’s your favorite cupcake and why?

June 19, 2011

Learn to Cook Something that I’ve Never Cooked Before- (101 in 1001 List)

Filed under: 101 in 1001 days,Food,Things I Love — gardener @ 6:42 am

One of the things on my 101 things in 1001 days list was to Learn to Cook Something I’ve Never Cooked Before. When I created the list- I didn’t have anything in mind- but on May28th I ‘officially’ completed this item on my list when I made Lemon Curd for the first time ever. It was the filling for some Lemon Meringue Cupcakes that I was making to keep myself busy after losing my uncle and it also being the birthday of my aunt and best friend for years- We lost her suddenly in March of 2010, so it was a hard day and I needed to keep busy- cooking was my way to do that.

The Lemon Curd turned out great and so did the cupcakes. I’m now moving on to other curds- and will attempt Orange Curd in a few weeks, which will be the filling for some Orange Cream cupcakes that I’m hoping will taste as good as they sound. We’ll see about that.

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