Saturday, December 31, 2011

Holiday Cooking in the Nest

Acorn Squash-Apple-Roasted Pecan-Cinnamon side dish (for the human)--tastes like a baked apple. Delicious!!





Cranberry Muffins (for the dogs)


Hannukah canapes made by Catholic me for my Jewish friend's Moroccan vegetarian Christmas Day dinner--Goat Cheese, Cream Cheese and Carrot Spread on Kosher Marble Rye (for the humans)
 
Missing photos of the Peanut Butter-Honey Nut Cheerios treats (for the dogs). Happy eating in 2012, everyone!

And really, Pantone? Tangerine Tango 17-1463? Well, now that the Year of Pink is over, I can paint my bathroom the sea glass green I've been waiting for all year. The only person I know who can wear tangerine is the vegetarian Jewish friend of the Christmas Day Moroccan dinner. Great, one woman out of several billion on the planet. 

To ring in the new year, we are serving breakfast for dinner--raisin challah french toast and mimosas. Despite the arrival of the Tall Golden Boy, 2011 has not been a great year in the Nest, with the heartbreaking loss of our pupgirl, which still sears, and the current cancer crisis of our Sweet Piebald Kitty, which I haven't written about because I vowed my blog would not be a whine fest/cry fest. Please let 2012 be better. 

Friday, December 23, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

St. Mary Mead or Sea Harbor?

Okay, here's a completely useless post on the completely useless question of which fictional town I'd rather live in: St. Mary Mead or Sea Harbor.

St. Mary Mead, England: Picturesque small village where Miss Marple lives and a short list of dead bodies pile up whose murders she solves. Country beauty might be outweighed by a higher-then-average chance of being murdered by some outwardly-normal-appearing-yet-bloodthirsty killer. On the other hand, as a nosy spinster lady who talks to her cats and dogs, volunteers, and drinks tea, I'm practically a resident already. On the third hand, those thatched cottages are probably quite damp and cold in the winter. On the fourth hand, most are living in what Barbara Pym would term "genteel poverty," and goodness knows I fit that bill. It would be nice to be surrounded by others in the same boat. And need I mention charming men with charming accents? On the fifth hand, no one would look askance at eccentric spinster lady taking her dog(s) with her everywhere.

Sea Harbor, MA: Picturesque small village on Cape Ann where the Seaside Knitting Studio is hub for a diverse group of women who are best friends and who solve murders while eating good chow every Thursday night and never spilling food on the very expensive yarn. Shore beauty might be outweighed by a higher-than-average chance of being murdered....but dinner on the Endicotts' deck every Friday sounds delicious. Downside--they are the kind of knitters who assume anyone who knits must want to master every item that can conceivably be knit, and they practically force poor Cass into making a shawl. I get my dander up very easily, so this would cheese me a bit if they tried to push me into knitting socks. On the other hand, being surrounded by people who know you intimately and still care and check on you to make sure you haven't been murdered sounds good. On the third hand, no one apparently suffers to live on a budget in Sea Harbor, so there's no way I could live there on my paltry salary. On the fourth hand, long walks on the beach with frolicking dogs sounds perfect (can you tell I'm in one of my tired-of-living-in-the-hot-desert funks?). On the fifth hand, less-than-charming Boston accents (no offense).

Hmm. Can't decide. I think I'd be happy in either place. As long as I wasn't one of the murdered victims. That would stink.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas Mouse

Our receptionist made lovely, little, three dimensional boxes to house the invitations to our company holiday party. Nestled at the bottom was a chocolate Christmas mouse. He looks a little demented in the photo, but in real life was actually quite cute. And tasty.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

DoodleBug Goes to Work

CD has been practicing his hospital manners while we wait for his badge to arrive by volunteering with the breed rescue from which I adopted him. I must say, he's pretty darn good at it. His first two weeks he made about $30 or $40 in donations. But last week, he made over $50. He's getting good at giving people The Eye that Mesmerizes them into Petting Him. He's also practicing restraint from leaping into the air because he's so darn happy.

And note the gorgeous Tom Bihn Citizen Canine with which some wonderful person on Ravelry RAOK'ed me. I totally love this bag. It's incredibly well designed (as all TB bags are) and will be indestructible (as all TB bags are). I sent them some photos of the boys with their new dog park bag, and they published my review of the bag on Ravelry--the first Citizen Canine review. Woo hoo! That's a first for me, and I really, really do love this bag.

Here are some photos of Golden Boy at work. Faces and names blocked out to protect the innocent (and because I don't have their permission).





And 7 goldens in a row from two weeks ago (no CD that day).

Monday, December 12, 2011

O Crafty Christmas


In order, the patterns are:
Christmas Trees by Lily/Sugar N Cream
Winter Coaster by Doni Speigle
Snowbaby Cloth by Down Cloverlaine (Elaine Fitzpatrick)
Polka Dot Stocking by Priscilla Hewitt