Sitting Duck

Leaving work the other day, I encountered this duck all comfy and cozy in the parking lot. He looked lost if you ask me, and I didn't see any other ducks nearby. However, he didn't seem to mind me taking his photo with my cell phone as I drove by.

Perfect Piccata

Was looking for a quick chicken recipe to try out with ingredients on hand. Found a Chicken Piccata recipe, from Sara Moulton, and it turned out very good. I've tried other piccata recipes before, and the sauce never turns out quite right - but this one was very flavorful. I'm not a huge fan of left-overs, but didn't mind having this a second night.

Catch Phrase

There are so many catch phrases in use these day - several of which I'm convinced have gained popularity through American Idol. Below are a few I consider a bit overplayed - one of these days I'm going to keep count of how many times I hear them in a given week :)

• Make it your own
• Be true to yourself
• At the end of the day.....
• Keep it real

Pretty in Pink

This week I received this beautiful handmade baby quilt from my grandmother. I love it - the design is really neat, and fabrics are subtle and sweet. Can't wait to use it! Need to purchase some nursery furniture next....

Muffin Mania

I tried a few new recipes over the last week. First, I made 2 different types of muffins from the muffin book I got for Christmas - apple cinnamon (pictured), and lowfat blueberry. Both were very tasty, and healthy too. The apple cinnamon used part wheat flour, part white flour, and the blueberry muffins used lowfat yogurt and only egg whites.

Last night I tried Giada's Tuscan Salad recipe, which I saw yesterday's Everyday Italian featuring 'light and healthy' fare. It was extremely good, and I will definitely make it again. It includes romaine lettuce, blanched green beans, cannellini beans, black olives, red onion, parmesan curls, and is dressed simply with olive oil, lemon juice, and salt pepper.

Then on a not-so-healthy note... I decided to try a recipe for a Cranberry Upside-Down Cake. Over the holidays, I was flipping channels and saw this cooking program 'Weir Cooking in the City' on a new digital public TV station called Create. The cake was inspired by a chef at Chez Panisse, and looked very fesitive. However, one glitch - it seems no one has fresh cranberries stocked after the holidays. So I reverted back to the standard upside-down cake fruit, pineapples. Will sample the results this evening - it smells very good and I just love that gooey carmely top.

Holiday Bake-off

Have a few posts to catch up on from the holidays... We had fun one Sunday baking Christmas cookies to send to family and friends. We made 6 different kinds this year - including sugar cookie cutouts, spritz, star-shaped shortbread, espress shortbread coins, chocolate chip, and ginger snaps. All-in-all, they seemed to turn out pretty well. We spent the next evening wrapping and prepping them to mail out :)

Roman Art

A few weeks ago we printed and framed some photos that we took while traveling in Italy this spring. I really like these gallery style frames, which we purchased at Pottery Barn. We hung them above the computer desk in our den. On another wall we have two Africa prints (one a giraffe, one an elephant), from Cost Plus. Ah, sabbatical seems so long ago....

Oh My Darling Clementine

Clementines are such a wonderful snack. So juicy, convenient, and best of all mess-free. We've enjoyed three 5-lb boxes since Thanksgiving! The last batch was the best, the peels were thick, and the fruit was so fragrant. But there is only one left :(

Crafty Fall Fun

I finally got a chance to put together an autumn wreath this weekend. Made it using a 24" grapevine wreath, an assortment of fall flowers/leaves, and a trusty hot glue gun. It was a little difficult keeping the cats away during construction (they love to nibble on any plant-like material be it real or fake). And I only suffered one slight burn from the glue gun - oops. I think I now have a wreath for each season.

Race to the Finish!

While Mom and Dad were visiting the other weekend, we decided to enter the 5K walk in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, in downtown Phoenix. It was a huge event - over 30K people! It was a lot of fun, and the weather was very nice, if not a little warm. We treated ourselves to breakfast at Chompie's afterwards - as it turns out, so did many other race-goers :)