A Quilting We have gone!

Darling Daughter and I went to a free Quilting Class at the local quiltshop Saturday morning.  After being totally blown away at the advances in sewing machine over the past 40(!) years, we had a great time constructing Log Cabin blocks from scraps provided by the shop.  We seamed, adhered backing and batting, quilted by "stitching in the ditch, made long enough binding, mitered corners and invisibly hand finished our squares.  What fun!

 Afterwards we treated ourselves to The Royal Treatment at Leah Mae's Breakfast and Tea Room. The building was originally a train station and sure enough the train went zooming by as we were finishing.













Chicken salad with mango and chutney.
Ginger-peach tea.

Chicken pie (in PUFF pastry) with cranberry confit.  When dessert arrived, we were too thrilled to even THINK about taking a picture.  Figures.

 After eating we browsed the estate sale finds.  DD found some agate, amethyst and jade earings to re-string and make into a necklace.  I was taken by this stoneware cat.  Maybe next time if she is still there.

Autumnal Equinox

 Friday, DH and I went exploring for "Fall" in our neighboring communities.  First we found this basket of amazing gourds at Mann's Farms.  Gourd-geous and amazing.  Gnarly, even.
Next we followed the signs for Cider Hill Farm.  I had NO idea what to expect.
We found a family owned orchard, photography heaven and purveyors of very interesting and tasty food items.
Of course they had pumpkins.  The "basic" kind.

 

And they had LOTS of kinds of apples.  I really appreciated that they were willing to educate their customers about which ones were which, AND the primary qualities of each.  Right now I'm in love with Honey Crisp.

If you click on the list(s) below, they will embiggen enough to read the qualities.  DIVERSITY is good (and eliminates the need for genetically modified foods to a great degree.

 

 

They had enormous hanging baskets of intense color.

They also had chickens.  LOTS of chickens.  I don't know if these had enough space to officially be "free range" chickens or not, but they certainly seemed happy enough.  Children would feed them, the sun was warm, and they had lots of sand and dirt to take dirt baths in.

 The digital painting below is from a photograph I took up the hills to the "you-pick-em-orchards."
I can hardly wait to get this on a canvas with oils.

 

More hanging baskets and rioting colors.

Our dinner with J... (and the sunset afterward)

 DH and I did some grand-daughter watching earlier this week.  When "Dad" was done with his meeting, we went to the bookstore before meeting up with Mom for dinner.  Grandpa and Granddaughter are great friends!

HRH was a big flirt... as long as dad was near.

 Natural Italian... with sauce

 Fork at hand, but fingers are faster.

I can't tell you how many photographs of my son I have with this particular goofy grin.

 

  The sky, sunset and moon were pretty spectacular on our way home.  (We had to stop for gas.  I let DH man the pump while I hoped out of the car with my camera.)

No Knead Bread: First Loaf, a photo by Sultry on Flickr.
Who knew that the angst of bread making could be avoided if you just mixed the dough the day before?
My ONLY angst with this was that my chemo-nose couldn't smell it while it was baking.
Whole wheat or rye tomorrow.

Bunny Brunch

Originally uploaded by Sultry

Remember the Tales of Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter? I thought Mr. McGreggor was SO MEAN. Now? Not so much. First of all, I almost killed my new Shasta Daisies by not watering them sufficiently when the wind whipped up. Now... rabbits seem to have found them. Can't you just imagine their little teeth biting off the petals? For herbivores, the lunching lagomorphs have steadfastly avoided the parsely, sage, rosemary, thyme AND catnip AND lavender AND cilantro/coriander that's in the next flower bed over. Hmph.

Petunias and Pathos
Originally uploaded by Sultry

This odd little statue is in a patio in Lowell Massachusetts. There wasn't any identification on it so I am free to project my thoughts and feelings onto it. I would, I think like to have such limber joints (even if the knees are a bit wide. There's not much derrier... and those are good things. But when I get SO fixated on "needing" a smaller butt, I don't seem to notice that I've lost my head and 50% of my appendates. I would really like to be able to continue to knit, hold a book, oh... and THINK even when I finally am "Proportionate for my height." Funny how easy it is to loose one's perspectives (and values) when it comes to body image and food.

Virtually mouth watering
Originally uploaded by Sultry

I have tried to paint sweets before, but they always seemed like "just" pigment on paper. Ric Dentinger's images make me want a cup of coffee and a napkin.
And while you are at it, check out Barbara Fox and Pat Cook.

Yes, We have old bananas
Originally uploaded by Sultry

My favorite recipe (via Paula Deen) is here.

Planning Ahead

My DD says she and her partner are going to have a late summer/early fall wedding next year, possibly on Cape Cod, but definitely in Massachusetts.

She's planning for a combination Carnival-Country Fair-Lobster Bake. Relaxed and casual.

I'm so excited: No Mother of the Bride dress for me!!! . She's talking sundresses and sandals. And I have a whole nother year to be the shape I'd like to be.

Which brings me again to the brilliant book by David Kessler, MD., The end of overeatting.
I read almost the whole thing this evening. For my few visitors and readers, here is a summary of things to remember about "conditioned hypereating."

Illustration Friday: Crave

Just made it under the wire for pre-Friday posting. I have another I want to do. I'll probably get it done in the wee hours and before Penelope posts the new topic.

Until I looked for "models" for the fish, I thought this was sooooooooooo original. Ha! Some details show up better large.

With a tip of the hat to Wayne Thiebaud

This is more MY kind of craving.

The Village at Allen .

I had no idea there was going to be a concert, convention and CHL venue just up the road.

Food Rehab

A few essential principles lie at the foundation of Food Rehab as outlined in The end of overeating by David A Kessler:

Conditioned hypereating is a biological challenge, not a character flaw. Recovery is impossible until we stop viewing overeating as an absence of willpower.

Treating conditioned hypereating means recognizing it as a chronic problem that needs to be managed, not one that can be completely cured.

Every time we act on our desire for sugar, fat, and salt, and earn a reward as a result, it becomes harder for us to act differently the next time. Effective treatment breaks the cue-urge –reward-habit cycle at the core of conditioned hypereating.

The loss of control that characterizes conditioned hypereating is magnified by diets that leave us feeling deprived.

New learning can stick only when it generates a feeling of satisfaction. We can’t sustain a change in behavior if it leaves us hungry, u7nhappy, angry or resentful.

Restoring control over eating requires us to take a comprehensive approach, one that has many interlocking steps. To gain the upper hand, we need strategies that address the multiple behavioral, cognitive, and nutritional elements of conditioned hypereating.

Lapses are to be expected. Most of us are never fully cured of conditioned hypereating. We remain vulnerable to the pull of old habits, although , with time and the rewards that accompany success, they do lose some of their power. With practice, we can find ways to use “slips” to our advantage, as tools for recognizing where we might stumble and reminders of the need to develop new learning.

Eventually, we can begin to think differently about food, recognizing its valu7e to sustain us and protect us from hunger, and denying it the authority to govern our lives.

How to confront Conditioned Hypereating:

Replace chaos with structure
Eat “just-right” amounts
Choose food that satisfies
Eat food you enjoy (and can control)
Rehearse mentally
Seize control
Interrupt habits
Stay alert to stress
Develop rules
Get out of the Path of Cues
Figure out what leads to overeating
Refuse what you can’t control
Have an alternate plan
Limit your exposure
Remember the stakes
Direct your attention elsewhere
Learn active resistance
Deal with Urges
Stop (obsessive) thoughts; Change the channel
Condition cues with negative associations
Talk down the urge

Another food find in Plano, Texas!

The Fillmore Pub on 15th Street.
Reminded me of Dublin. Smithwicks and Irish Stew!

Santa Baker
What a wonderful day I had! Was finally out from behind a mental 8-ball of obligations which meant I felt free to do what needed to be done: De-cluttered several rooms, dusted, enlisted DH's help with some carpet spot cleaning, made major headway in addressing Christmas notes (which WILL go out tomorrow!!) Apologies to my overseas friends who may have "New Year's" rather than Christmas greetings! Anyway, I also had energy well after midnight to finish baking the Pizzelle batter I made, find the Almond paste in the back of the pantry for Pignole cookies AND to see if Martha Stewart's "No Fail Fudge" recipe lives up to it's name.

Visions of sugarplums... and NO heartburn because I only had a taste... not a binge!

More reasons I love getting the New York Times.

This morning there was a front page article about butter.
And the reason I was SO enchanted that I let my breakfast coffee get cold was that the butter was in the context of cookies

Turns out that if you over-soften butter before you mix it, the cookies just won't be the same! Over-softening (i.e. MELTING) makes it so that the batter won't hold as much air as it could, so you'll have flat, heavy cookies. And who would want that?
Oh, and if you want to make PERFECT chocolate chip cookies, there are secrets (ha... in the NYTimes) HERE.

Bouchee Brasserie
Originally uploaded by Sultry
DarlingDaughter, her significant other and I had lunch at this trendy spot on Newbury Street. I must report that the baked raclette with sherry-poached pears, and the later chocolate souffle cake were heavenly. Oh and the "adult" coffee with Bailey's and Kahlua, too! Yum.