Le Pouce – Photo of the Day

GotMyReservations - Le Pouce Thumb Sculpture in Paris

Sculptor César Baldaccini’s sculpture Le Pouce (The Thumb) stands in direct contrast to the modern office buildings in the La Défense section of Paris. Built in 1965, it literally puts a finger on the pulse of Paris’s business district. You can read more about César Baldaccini here.

Eiffel Tower — Photo of the Day

GotMyReservations --Eiffel TowerI was able to snap this photo of the Eiffel Tower while we were on the open-air bus tour. Sometimes you just get lucky…

I’m linking up today with The Tablescaper for “Oh, The Places I’ve Been” and Budget Travelers Sandbox, so stop by and get some more inspiration for your travel bucket list!

 

Alycia Nichols, You Made My Day

I said it. I said “Uncle.”

I have spent my day in a funk after visiting my orthopedist and coming to a decision about my arthritic knee. He told me that I have to say “uncle” before he’ll consider doing knee replacement.

BandOhio

I’ve been suffering from what I call marching band knees for many years — my knees are shot from too many years of abuse and too many years of being overweight. I had arthroscopic knee surgery in 2002 and my doctor told me I’d be begging him for a knee replacement in five years. Well, it’s been eleven years, and I have been determined not to wimp out. Everyone said that it would become clear — that I would know when it was time for a knee replacement.

Sometimes life’s lemons are sweetened with sugar.

I still don’t know about the knee replacement, but I do know that I was in a bad place today. And then along came this wonderful post from my friend, Alycia Nichols of Tablescapes at Table Twenty- One.

Click into the photo to see Alycia’s amazing tablescape!

In February, when we were putting the final touches on our April 2013 trip to France, I posted about these cute placements I saw online. Then I dragged my traveling companions all over Paris trying to find these pink and green ones because my blogging buddy Alycia liked them. For those of you who don’t know Alycia, she is the kindest commenter out there in the blogging universe, and I wanted to thank her for her generosity with her time for other bloggers.

Click into the photo to see the full post.

What she created with a silly quartet of plastic placements is truly amazing and I am thankful once again for her thoughtfulness. Sometimes people outside of the blogging community don’t understand the sense of community and friendship that develops in the blog world among people who may never meet each other in person, and my friendship with Alycia is one of those connections that surpasses reason.

So, if a knee replacement will get me back to Paris, and London, and Rome, and Venice, and Florence, and Berlin, and Prague, and Istanbul, I’d better buck up and do it. My travel bucket list goes on and on… and Alycia and I need more stuff for our tablescaping stashes!

Please visit Alycia’s beautiful tribute to Paris. You won’t be disappointed.

 

 

 

Monday, Monday — Can’t Trust Myself with a Refrigerator Filled with Leftovers

It’s Monday and it’s Twinkie Day — but not in my house. It’s leftover week at the Farm.

Thankfully, Twinkies are not one of the things that float my culinary boat.Unfortunately, there are too many other foods that do, and many of them are residing in my fridge right now.

2008_12_4-Leftovers2

I threw myself a birthday party on Saturday with about thirty of our closest friends attending. They are more like family than friends — we love each other, we fight with each other, we confide in each other, we travel together, and we raise each other’s children and grandchildren as needed. And we love to eat — thus the loaded refrigerator.

In the privacy of my own kitchen after everyone has gone and Music Man has gone back to work, I can go back to the leftovers and savor them.

The Metro Potato Salad from Mariano’s — red potatoes with the skins still on, dill, eggs, finely chopped celery for crunch, a little vinegar for acid and lots and lots of mayo. Heaven. I have to portion it out carefully so that I don’t eat two cups of it at one sitting.

The hot wings are happily congealed in all their greasy goodness in Tupperware. I made them from some leftover frozen wings and some leftover roasted chicken from another party. Nobody ate the legs and the wings at the other party, so I bundled them up and froze them. I knew they’d make a good quick appetizer for another event and there they were in my freezer when I needed them. I put some fresh BBQ sauce on them and threw them in the crockpot and we were in business. At five or six pieces per sitting, I’ll get four happy meals out of those leftovers. Can’t help but smile when I think about it.

And then there’s the veggie cassoulet. It was an experiment which I’ll share later on this week and boy, is it good. There’s at least five servings of beans left in the fridge, too. Mmmm…

The leftover cheese is almost gone already — I needed a quick jolt of fatty protein after church yesterday, after all — and the rest of the vat of iced tea I’m finishing as I write. I took the leftover cookies to church, so they’re not around to tempt us, but we’ve still got fruit salad for an army. When I say army, I probably mean two sixty-something adults who live on fruit salad this time of year. It won’t last long, either.

Got My Reservations -- Grilled Beef

We grilled up all the leftover shish-ke-bob meat last night and froze it on trays so that it can be pulled from the freezer in individual batches; I envision salads topped with marinated chicken breast pieces, beef stroganoff, and maybe some pork-fried rice coming out of those leftovers. There’s a lot that can be done with leftovers — try this fab recipe from my archives.

Leftovers a la Pastitsio

I read somewhere that people are entertaining at home again. Maybe leftovers are why.

Wordless Wednesday: Literary Love in the Denver Airport

GotMyReservations -- Denver Airport Walt Whitman quote

Photo credit: MKane

I’m linking up to parties at 5 Minutes for MomCreate With Joy, and A Room With a View for Two. Please stop by to visit these inspiring bloggers and check out some of the links on their party today!

The Sunday Review: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and The Reliable Wife

I have read a lot of novels set in English villages, many in the years before I actually experienced them. They usually have a predictable group of inhabitants, including an often curmudgeonly-but-charming primary character, surrounded by secondary characters who revolve around him or her.  Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson is one of those novels, yet it is much more at the same time.

MAJOR-PETTIGREWS-LAST-STAND-ppbkA widowed British army officer lives in his family cottage in the small town of Edgecombe St. Mary and is proud that he lives an upright, circumspect life in his retirement, filled with golf, gentlemanly shooting, and books. The unexpected death of his brother changes everything, and leads him into an unlikely friendship with the local shopkeeper, a Pakistani woman who is also widowed and shares his love of reading. As their relationship changes, Major Pettigrew must take a stand about many traditions and cultural issues that confront him as a result of his friendship with Mrs. Ali, and from there comes the title of the book.

It would not surprise me if modern day villages in rural England teeter precariously between acceptance and prejudice when confronted with residents from other cultures, as Simonson illustrates in this novel. Although she builds snapshot-like caricatures of many of the characters in the book,  I’ve seen the dichotomy for myself in the tiny hamlet of Sissinghurst, where the local convenience store and the curry palace next door are both run by Indian or Pakistani owners, right down the street from a traditional English pub and a chips take-away shop. I’ve also been treated as a brash American, even when doing my best to blend in and follow social mores. Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand takes the  literary construct of the English village life and gently smacks the reader in the face with white gloves; as you read, you hope against hope that people will do the honorable thing. This book is all about how much you will tolerate; where does your prejudice get in the way of your honor, and where do you draw your own line in the sand?

I thoroughly enjoyed Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand and highly recommend it for readers who enjoy this genre. For more insight into this book, read Alexander McCall Smith’s review here. I listened to it on audiobook and enjoyed Peter Altschuler’s narration;  you can also get it from Amazon.com here.

From sweet and heart-warming, we move to a twisted, Gothic romance. I decided to read A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick because one of my favorite bloggers is doing a series on books about wives. I had already read The Paris Wife and American Wife (see my review in the link), so it was only natural that I would also want to see what came next. We were all in for a surprise !a_reliable_wife

Do not click into the links if you don’t want spoilers!

Emily at The Bookshelf of Emily J hated The Reliable Wife, Ariel at One Little Library had mixed feelings, Angela at Persephone Writes didn’t finish it, and Audra at Unabridged Chick loved it. That in itself would have been enough to make me want to read it — but I’m really glad I read it myself before reading their reviews, because I couldn’t put it down.

Set in bleak Wisconsin and bawdy, tawdry St. Louis and Chicago at the turn of the 20th century, A Reliable Wife tells the story of a trio of obsessive, depraved people who are interrelated in their passions and their unhappy psyches. Ralph Truitt has advertised for “a reliable wife” to join him in the company town that is supported by his factories and enterprises (reminds me of Kohler, Wisconsin). A packet of lies arrive along with Catherine Land, who we quickly find out has plans to murder him for his money — but very slowly, with arsenic that cannot easily be detected — in order to live in style with her younger lover. Robert Goolrick leads us skillfully through the dark twists of this plot and I was surprised how it turned out — and novelists rarely surprise me.

Because at its heart, this book is about sexual obsession and love and what they do to relationships, good and bad, Goolrick packs in the sex. Reviewers complain that the role of the wife is demeaned by this novel, that being a wife isn’t only about a sexual relationship. Others have looked into Goolrick’s past; his autobiography tells us that his own relationships have not been very successful. I did not find the sex to be gratuitous, and felt that it was important to the telling of this gritty story.

Readers who love finding literary allusions will see many; I kept thinking the people from Taliesen in Loving Frank were going to stop by to visit and add to the macabre scene in Truitt, Wisconsin, and I hoped through the whole book that Catherine’s secret garden would rescue her.

A Reliable Wife has been optioned for a movie, and is currently in development. Its wintry snowscapes and luscious scenes of illicit love combined with this Gothic tale will surely make an interesting film!

I encourage you to go back and read the comments on A Reliable Wife after you have finished it, and leave a comment of your own for the book club. If you are interested in reading along with the series, the August 1 novel is The Aviator’s Wife by Melanie Benjamin, a novel about Charles and Anne Lindburgh. I’m adding it to my list!

 

 

Wordless Wednesday: Climbing Honeysuckle

If you build it, they will come.

I built this trellis specifically to hold the New Dawn Rose and the climbing honeysuckle that were already in my hedgerow when we moved in. They are happy campers this year with the weather we’ve been having here in Chicagoland! I have more blossoms on both plants than I’ve ever had.

Got My Reservations - Climbing Honeysuckle on Trellis

The individual petals on the honeysuckle are just gorgeous and oh, that pink…

Got My Reservations - Climbing Honeysuckle

 

I’m linking up to parties at 5 Minutes for Mom, Create With Joy, and A Room With a View for Two. Please stop by to visit these inspiring bloggers and check out some of the links on their party today!

Cloth or Paper? That Is the Question…

You thought I was talking about diapers, right? Surprise, surprise! We’re going to talk about napkins today.

These napkins from Pottery Barn are perfect for Fourth of July and can also be used all year round.

I started using cloth napkins almost exclusively when my children were small. They were past the smash-the-food-in-your-mouth stage, but not much.

This is not either of my kids, but I couldn’t resist the combination of this child’s face and the devilish editing done to the photo.

My school lunch box was often a topic of conversation at the teacher lunch table as I pulled out my cloth napkin and stainless steel silverware from home. It just made my 15 minute lunch “hour” feel a little more luxurious and also protected my clothing from spills. Our staff spent a lot of money (that could have been used more effectively on FOOD) to supply our staff lunchroom with paper napkins and plastic silverware that were just thrown away, adding more to the chronic waste disposal problem. When I was done with my lunch, I washed my silverware and containers, put everything back in my lunchbox, and I was ready to pack a new lunch for the next day — it was a win-win. If my kids were still at home, I’d do my best to send them with cloth napkins to school as well.

Click into the link for a tutorial on how to make your own napkins for your children’s lunch boxes.

So, when a friend recently put out the question on Facebook whether or not people used cloth napkins, I was the first to chime in. I told my napkin stories and read the comments of others, but I didn’t actually tell her how many napkins I have.

But because you are my peeps  in the real-world, bare-my-soul platform that is my blog, I’m going to go public.

I don’t know how many napkins I have. I have lots.

GotMyReservations - A Nice Italian Red

I have eight of these.

GotMyReservations -- Celebrating Storks and Babies

I have eight of these.

I have eight of these.

GotMyReservations - 4th of July Glass and Napkin

I have eight of these, too.

GotMyReservations - Cloth Napkins

I have 32 of the green napkins — eight of each pattern — and you’ll see those next week. I have yet to put these away in my stash because I’m using them for a party. I have big plans for those Waverly green and brown ones as well.

GotMyReservations - Linens Stash

Unlike some of you, I haven’t built on an extra room in my house to store my stash, but this is only part of my collection.

This post started this morning when I was ironing these napkins. I have twenty of them and a matching tablecloth, all from Tuesday Morning.

GotMyReservations -- Fruit Napkins

Beautiful French-style cloth napkins with a border print from Tuesday Morning.

There’s a certain calm to ironing linens which I enjoy, and it brought back memories of working side-by-side with my mother. She taught me how to sprinkle (remember sprinklers?) the napkins prior to ironing and stack them up so that they share the moisture. They were much easier to iron after sprinkling, but today I just spray them with my spray bottle from Walgreens. Not quite as romantic as these mid-century laundry tools.

Anyone remember this stuff?

My new napkins had a lot of sizing in them, so I washed and ironed the whole set together. They will get softer and softer and require less ironing the more that I use them.

I was shopping for a shower gift this afternoon for a new bride. She chose beautiful napkins and placements that are 100% polyester. I put them in my shopping cart at Bed Bath and Beyond, but after trundling them around for a while, I went back and put them away. I cannot in good conscience buy polyester napkins for a naive young girl; it’s a waste of my money and she will not be happy with them. The goal of using cloth napkins is to — ahem! — actually use them. 🙂

Does this whole post mean that I never use paper napkins? Of course not. There’s a time and a place for everything, and ribs drenched in barbecue sauce require paper. I’m not a martyr to being green. I just love the feel of a cloth napkin on my skin. I know you can make a case for the green-ness of paper napkins; they are biodegradable and don’t use water to launder them and don’t put laundry chemicals into our aquifer. But they are not the same as the collected loveliness of a set of cloth napkins, especially one that has passed down to you from a relative. There’s another whole post to be written about collecting family linens…

I’m linking up with The Scoop at Confessions of a Plate Addict today. Be sure to stop by and get the scoop from these talented bloggers!

 

 

Market Fresh: Dilled Cucumbers

We’ve been haunting the local farmers’ market getting market-fresh fruits and veggies. I picked up some gorgeous cucumbers and a wonderfully pungent batch of fresh dill and there was no question what to make — dilled cucumbers!

I find that sometimes I forget the simple pleasures of summer veggies in my zeal to try something new. Dilled Cucumbers is an oldie-but-goodie that should be in every cook’s summer menu plans! Try this favorite recipe to cool down your summer table.

Dilled Cucumbers

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 4 Servings

Dilled Cucumbers

Low calorie and delicious, dilled cucumbers just hit the spot for an easy summer meal.

Ingredients

  • 2 cucumbers
  • 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (sour cream works well, too, if you prefer)
  • 1 tablespoon flavored white balsamic vinegar (try Honey Ginger Balsamic)
  • 1/4 cup dill, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons coarse salt

Instructions

Prepare the cucumbers. I peeled mine this time, but I don't always. Sometimes I make stripes with the peeler. It totally depends on your mood. Some people cut out the seeds, but I don't always do that either.

Cut the cucumbers into 1/8 inch slices and put them into a colander. Toss the pieces with the salt and let them drain into the sink or a bowl. The salt dries out the moisture and makes them extra crisp. Let the cucumbers sit while you make the dressing.

In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, vinegar, and dill. Blend the dressing together with a wire whisk or a fork.

Pat the cucumbers dry with a towel and add them to the dressing bowl. Toss to coat the cucumber pieces with dressing.

Chill and serve, or serve immediately.

https://gotmyreservations.com/2013/07/01/market-fresh-dilled-cucumbers/

 

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