Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Random Musings

While preparing meals during the past week I discovered a few things that made me wonder why I hadn't discovered them before.

One night I was having fresh green beans. As I was cleaning the beans, I grabbed my food scissors and snipped off the root ends, a handful at a time.

Quick! Easy! Painless! So why for the past 30 years have I been using a knife to cut them off?

DH bought a bag of redskin potatoes last week. Parsley-buttered is about the only way I ever serve redskins. I was surfing the net and came across a little recipe that used Lipton onion soup mix -- just dump the mix in a bag with 1/4 cup of oil, toss in the 'taters and shake 'em up.

Lay them in a single layer on a sheet pan and cook in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. DH loved them! Now why have I never cooked them that way before? Not only is it super easy, but a similar recipe is even on the box! I have never paid attention to the box before. I guess an old dog can be taught new tricks.

All of my new jackets arrived this week. I am thrilled with them all. While ironing this one tonight, I thought I'd show you what I love most about these clothes.
The inside of the garmet. Yes, the inside of the jackets is what I like best.
Just look at these seams. Every seam is neatly covered with bias tape. This is a detail that is usually reserved for high end items. I just love that I can get details like this on a moderately priced garmet. Oh, did you notice that my nail polish matches the jacket?

It's no coincidence. I plan to wear the jacket this weekend and I thought it would be nice to work the nail color into the whole ensemble. So when I had the nails done last week I tried to pick a matching color. I think I did pretty good picking only by memory. :) Ah, you have to make your own fun in this crazy life.

Here's another thing I did a few days ago. I love this red jacket with the navy blue top stitching.
The problem is that the top stitching catches on everything and it didn't take long for it to look to shabby to wear.

It's been hanging in my closet for a few months. Finally I pulled it out thinking I would have to toss it. Then I thought, hey, why not just take the top stitching out? So I grabbed a seam ripper and sat through one hour of FOX TV (watching clips of Hillary dodging all those bullets) and took each stitch 0ut -- one by one. Now it looks great and I can wear it for a few more seasons....unless I got too fat and it no longer fits.....darn! I should have tried it on before I spent all that time. I do like to live dangerously.

Remember last year when I was in a slot/video poker tournament?

Well, they sent me an invitation to be in it again this year. It's this weekend. Hence, the importance of having nail polish to match my jacket. :) Maybe I will win and they will take my picture. Stranger things happen. Last year I was ahead after round one, but went downhill from there. It was a lot of fun. Please wish me luck and on Saturday keep thinking, "Royal Flush for Zoey"!

Until next week,

10 comments:

  1. Hi Zoey - yes, we were buried in snow Monday night - 4-6 inches on the ground Tues morning. It's melting pretty fast, but still... enough already!!

    I've made those potatoes - so easy - and good! You can use the dry packages of Ranch dressing the same way - just for a little added excitement!!

    Love the color of that jacket - and how smart to match your polish. Good luck in the tournament - I have my fingers crossed. (that would entitle me to 10% of the winnings, right? LOL)

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  2. Hi Zoey:

    Wasn't it one of those slap yourself in the head moments when you found the recipe on the box? Makes me crazy!

    Have a fun weekend! Hope you win.

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  3. Kris, sorry to hear about the snow, but glad it's melting fast. I wondered about using the ranch mix on potatoes. I may try that some day. Don't hold your breath waiting for any tourney winnings. This is my 5th one and I haven't won a cent yet! LOL.

    Sally, It was indeed. I wondered how long that recipe had been there. Up until now I only used the onion soup mix for pot roasts and I just grab a bag and toss it in. I never bother to look at the box!

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  4. the potatoes sound good, I'll have to try that. We've been clogging our arteries here w/ rosemary potatoes; red potatoes, butter, lemon juice and rosemary and baked. yummy ! Good idea with the topstitching!

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  5. Great tips! The potatoes do look good. Good luck at the tournament, you must be due to win!

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  6. Sounds a lot simpler to cut the beans that way...I too have been cutting with a knife, will try the scissors next time! Thanks for the tip!
    Very stylish jacket..I love the way it is finished.
    Okay Zoey you have a great weekend and let us know how the winnings went...

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  7. Good luck at the tourney!

    We like our red potatoes drizzled with olive oil and roasted in the oven. During the last five minutes, I throw in some chopped fresh rosemary and garlic. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and YUM! They are better than any french fries.

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  8. For some reason your blog lately (over the last month or so) gets hung up on bp3.blogger.com and I have to refresh or check in later to see the photos.
    Anyway, I like discovering new 'recipes' or tricks too. I actually snap my beans. I don't use the onion soup because I'm pretty sure it has MSG in it and I am sensitive. I just like using whatever spices I have and drizzling the olive oil and roasting them. Also love red potato salad.
    I can't see your clothing photos-yet.
    Good luck this weekend!

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  9. Hi Zoey,
    I love the tip for the potatoes! I've done my green beans with kitchen shears for quite some time (learned that from my daughter!)
    Hope this time is the time to win in the slot tourney. We just came back from Reno. Loads of fun, but "Paid our dues"
    xo

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  10. Well??? Did you win????? hehe Even if you didn't win again this year, I do hope you had a fun time:-) Grrrrr, you mean I could have been using my shears instead of a knife to cut the ends of my string beans all these years? I never even thought of doing that! lol Love fixing potatoes using mixes like that, yummmm! Glad you finally discovered them! hehe xox

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