Fast Food

This is so easy to make if you want it to be....

one 8 oz can chopped tomatoes
one 8 oz can of tomato sauce
one teaspoon cayenne
two teaspoons of cumin
a couple of shakes of paprika
salt pepper
one can of black beans and kidney beans drained
corn from one ear
three sliced up zucchini
one large onion chopped
three cloves of garlic chopped

saute onion and garlic with spices and some olive oil. i usually add about a tablespoon but you could add more or less i supposed. also i dont usually measure for things i throw together i just taste as i go so i suggest you do the same so you know how spicy you want it.
when the onions are translucent i add the the fresh vegetables for about five minutes stirring occasionally. then i add all the canned stuff turn up the heat to medium high and when it starts to bubble i put a lid on it and and lower the heat to medium low for about 20 minutes or until the vegetable are soft. be sure to taste everything to make sure its spiced right in case you need to add more them. you can also add meat but Daniel's a veg so you know that is not happening for this meal. cheddar and sour cream would also be a great addition.

if i was trying to woo you i would cook my own beans and make my own tomato sauce. so keep that in mind if you are trying to woo someone yourself.

you know how to cook beans, right????

edit
oh and this is great with a beer....
try dos equis dark
because you know i am the most interesting woman in the world, really!

Birthday Cookies

i was out voted by the children's chant of chocolate.

i wanted regular shortbread but that's not what happened.

so daniel got dark chocolate shortbread cookies on wednesday. he is now an old man of double threes. i know i know i am a cradle robber but you cant go wrong with a younger man. he also saw ai's caramel banana cake and gave me the sad blue eye treatment so you know what i will be cooking up this weekend or next week.home made caramel with sea salt is bad bad bad so sick good delicious your mouth is in ecstasy. remember when i made it earlier in the year? im still trying to forget.

sunday lunch

i made trottole with beans garlic onions and spinach and my own doctored sauce. oh yeah there was sausage too. i wish i had some parmesan to go with it too. that would have made it even better. feeling sick and a little blue today but i will get over it. so please have a dazzling day for me,okay?

This Morning

so there was supposed to be a casual early dinner party for the family

however the children are still hacking it up

so i thought it was best to cancel it but i still collected flowers from the garden. look the arrangement matches my top. im a dork.

The Saturday Morning French Press Event of 2011

there was the crashing of glass and swear words and hot coffee down the front of someones boxers shorts.

i wasnt even involved. i was still in bed as i listened to the horror coming from the kitchen but somehow i ended up cut. now i have no french press. which makes me sad. this month one of our dining chairs broke, sophie broke one of the doors to the media cabinet, the kitchen lighting fixture broke, and the wireless mouse did as well. i also found jack slamming the face of our flat screen with the top of a decorative teapot(disaster was averted thankfully). i swear i am just waiting for the other shoe to drop. so here i sit for now waiting patiently for this month to end hoping nothing else will break.

Yesterday

there were sick children....

croupy ones at that and they still are alittle....

so when a little girl with a sweet pair of brown eyes asked me ever so softly to make some chocolate cookies....

how could i not?

I AM NOT MOVING - Short Film - Occupy Wall Street

so once in awhile i get political. so here i go today.

A New Lino....Could It Be True?

so very true....

its a miracle really....

now i need to finish the other ones i started in january....

so they should be in my shop soon. I filled them in with watercolor pencil. sometimes one must pimp themselves or self or whatever.

Dinner

endive with chevre toasted pecans pomegranate seeds honey and fleur de sel....all by myself(she says quite unhappily) someone missed the train again.

Did Anyone Notice....

i typed casserole wrong. i really should spell check my typing. i really should.

Enchilada Casserole

leftovers for breakfast.....

this is oh so wrong which is why i only make it once a year.

Jack's Birthday

spider and eyeball cupcakes.... i finally had one this morning. there were only two left.

the kids carved jack o lanterns and then we lit them up when it turned dark.

my step father taking the children for rides in the wagon and there was lots of girly screaming going on with that activity.

sophie and jack....

a very blurry little jack devil....

a ghost in a bottle....

scary beverages....

my stepfather and sophie at the craft table. they were painting monster rocks and glueing on googly eyes.my favorite thing about this is the unlit cigarette that is hanging out of his mouth. my step father is the best and so is my dad. i have been a very lucky in the fact that i had two amazing men in my life growing up. i never have to do things separately because of my parents divorce and my stepmother and my mother get along so well its kind of scary.

the tables and ghosts blowing in the afternoon wind.

ms.aurora carving a pumpkin....

me doing it dia de los muertos style.

More Watercolors....

there was more painting this week.

have you noticed how much i dig flowers?

yes i love them a lot and yet i rarely receive any unless i do it myself. how sad.

painting messes....

i love the children's free form painting. i really need to start framing them.

Hummus

hummus is best when you make your garbanzo beans....

the quick way to make beans is to bring dried beans up to a boil,turn off, and then wait for an hour. then you boil and simmer away for your alloted time. i make my garbanzos with salt and whole garlic cloves.

yum. we eat a lot of hummus here. A LOT.

Brownies

i made my favorite brownie recipe from my gourmet magazine cook book.

it was this little guy's second birthday this past thursday. my gentle little little libra.

i love brownies because it only requires one pot to whip everything up in. the last time i made these it was january.

the buttered and floured baking dish and some toes.

the finished product. it took exactly two days for this to be gone.it actually kinda hurt because i ate very little of it. i wanted more but i held back.

Cleaning Out Drawers

yesterday morning i was cleaning out drawers.

i found a whole bunch of crayola watercolor boxes and these.

little itty bitty page of london watercolor boxes.

this find led to free form water coloring with the children during breakfast. the one above is sophie's.

jack's painting and he used my favorite color.

a collection of masterpieces....