Random thoughts...

My husband made an incredible (and if I do say so myself--gourmet) soup on Friday evening. He stumbled upon a bag of locally grown root vegetables (carrots, turnips, parsnips, etc.) at our co-op. He made his own chicken stock--from scratch. He pureed the soup and topped it off with a roasted yellow pepper reduction. Then he made some homemade bread to accompany it. The meal was absolute heaven.

If you haven't heard of Etsy yet, then I strongly encourage you to check it out: http://www.etsy.com/
It sells exclusively homemade things like scarves, purses, dolls, cloth gift bags, greeting cards, beads and more! Most of the "shopkeepers" will do custom orders on request...which is my favorite part. I had some super cute fabric lying around that I wanted a purse made out of, so I contacted one of the shopkeepers, sent the fabric to her and in lightning-fast speed she had the exact purse I wanted made and shipped to me! I've also been working with one of the other shopkeepers on some reusable cloth gift bags. I'm having her make the exact sizes that I want in fabric that I am selecting myself. I can't begin to rave about it enough...it's awesome. You've probably known about Etsy for years...I seem to be the last one to find out about these things, but someone has to bring up the rear...might as well be me, I guess...

There is a new show on the Food Network called Jamie At Home. It features the British cook Jamie Oliver whose specialty is cooking with organic ingredients. It is set at his farm in the British countryside and often features him picking the vegetables out of his own garden prior to cooking them. It has a very natural, non-Hollywood feel to it...both my husband and I immediately liked the show. An added bonus is the theme song...My World by Tim Kay. It has a happy jazzy feel to it and has been played numerous times in my home since downloading it off of Amazon a week ago...

If you need quality inexpensive kitchenware/flatware etc., check out your local restaurant supply store. It is most likely open to the public and you can find durable products in the quantity you desire at a fraction of the cost. I wanted 4 iced tea spoons. I like the long handles and only wanted 4 of them...that's it...nothing else. Have you tried buying 4 iced tea spoons lately? They don't just have them sitting on the shelves at Target... My husband and I went to our local restaurant supply store after work on Thursday and found exactly what I was looking for--4 stainless steel iced tea spoons with NO packaging! AND the best part--they were only $0.75 a piece! I was very excited. Most supply stores sell things individually...so if you want an odd number of something like 3 glasses or 5 forks you can buy exactly the number you desire and nothing more.

Sam Elliott is hot...(just kidding my dear blog-reading husband)...(but not really...wink)...


Well, I better sign off now...I think that last statement probably got me in enough hot water...I'm pleading extreme exhaustion which has obviously rendered my judgment questionable...I'll get some sleep and that should make everything just ducky...