the spoon and the thimble

Kim is making these glass ornaments and acrylic boxes filled with your choice of Broadway Playbills, books, movies, albums, video games, children’s books, Harry Potter doodads, Mah Jong tiles, really anything you can think of! She sells them through her Etsy shop, facebook, email, craft fairs and text. The latest hot sellers are filled with the last several seasons of The Muny and Fabulous Fox shows. Shows or books can be added as your collection or experiences grow as the top will pop off the ornament, and the acrylic boxes have removable lids. You can order them filled with the most popular titles or your custom list.

The ornaments come in two sizes: the smaller holds 15-35 books, and the larger holds 40-65.

The boxes come in three sizes: the 2″ holds 20-35, 2.5″ holds 50-100, and 3″ holds 50-150.

You can choose the ribbon color and a tag with recipient’s name, theatre, year, etc. Reach out for prices or order through Etsy! https://allbanners.etsy.com

Well, these were surprisingly delicious! I hardly ever use ground beef anymore, and I am so tired of chicken that I put these on the menu this week. Teenager said “Carrots in tacos are just weird” but ate them with gusto anyway! The black bean, onion, chili pepper mixture was TO DIE FOR yummy. I didn’t have a poblano pepper, but a can of green chilies worked just fine! Enjoy!

http://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/recipes/a39363/carrot-and-black-bean-crispy-tacos-recipe/

I NEED soup in the winter, and I make a pot at least weekly. So I get tired of my recipes. Here’s a vegetable soup from Alton Brown that’s a little different. Because it has green beans in it, and my daughter claims to not like potatoes in soup, I didn’t think she’d like it, but I was happily wrong. It’s delicious. I used the french haricot vert thin green beans and little golden potatoes cubed small. Definitely a keeper. . .

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/garden-vegetable-soup-recipe.html

Truly delicious and also meat-free. I’m not too big on preparing fish, so this will be a great “Friday in Lent” recipe for my family.

Martha Stewart Roasted Zucchini and Tomato Pasta recipe

Roasted Zucchini and Tomato Pasta

Roasting the zucchini and tomatoes rather than sauteing them intensifies their flavor.

PREP: 35 MINS TOTAL TIME: 35 MINS SERVINGS: 4 INGREDIENTS 2

 1/2 pounds zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2 ­inch pieces

1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, cut into 3/4 ­inch chunks (I just dump a container of grape tomatoes on the pan! They don’t even have to be super-fresh.)

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced (or jar if you hate chopping garlic)

5 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 pound long fusilli or linquine (or whatever you have; I used angel hair today.)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees. On rimmed baking sheet, toss zucchini, tomatoes, and garlic with 5 tablespoons oil; season with salt and pepper. Spread into single layer; roast until zucchini is lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes.

2. In large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, about 12 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking water. Return pasta to pot. Toss with remaining tablespoon oil; cover.

3. Pour reserved pasta water onto baking sheet of cooked vegetables; scrape with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Stir vegetables and juices into pasta. Add parsley and Parmesan; toss to combine. Serve with more Parmesan.

My children tell me that I “push” my food too hard to their friends. I guess I always want to “sell” whatever I am making. My girls already like it and are perfectly willing to let their friends “take it or leave it,” but, for some reason, I want them all to TAKE IT! I mean, it’s good. Why wouldn’t you want to eat something that’s GOOD?

I found this recipe for “Cauliflower Saute” while paging through magazines in my sister-in-law Mary’s lovely sitting room many years ago. We had been teaching together for a year or two, and she had introduced me to her husband’s brother, whom I decided almost immediately to marry. Sometimes Mary and I rode to school together, and after school we stopped in at her charming house to have tea. When I found this promising recipe, Mary copied it out for me on a little recipe card. Now it is a treasure as Mary died from cancer a few years after serving as a bridesmaid at my wedding.

Cauliflower Saute (I promise your kids will like it if THEY JUST TRY IT!)

• 2 medium head cauliflower
• salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• chopped parsley (optional)

1. Remove outer leaves & stalks from cauliflower. Trim off any blemishes. Separate flowerets into small bunches & put into enough boinling water to cover.
2. Cook cauliflower 15 to 20 min. or til just tender. Drain thoroughly.
3. Melt butter in lge. skillet. Saute cauliflower until lightly browned. Arrange in serving dish. Sprinkle with parsley, if desired.

It’s sauteed in butter, people. It’s best when it gets a little browned. My kids gobble it up. So do I. Mmmmmmmm.

I just had to share this awesome find: This lovely company addressed all 110 of my Christmas cards for me! For FREE! You can just upload your spreadsheet of addresses (well, I had to copy and paste my columns into their spreadsheet; still, it only took a minute.). I don’t know why, and I bet they’ll charge me once they’ve got me hooked, but I see that they are still doing it free + 15% off your order. Hurry! 🙂 The company is Minted. And the paper quality is also better than you usually get from photo card companies. I am just so pleased (guess they should be paying me to promote them!). 😉