I'm SO Ready For Spring

I'm an eternal optimist. And I'm having issues staying "up". The weather is killing me. If it's not raining, it's snowing OR in the 20's Farenheit. And I'm in Mississippi for God's sake!

I was on a roll. Walking every day and doing well watching what I ate. Yes, I realize this sounds like a cop-out, but it's NOT. It's too COLD to walk. And when I don't walk, I cheat. And don't give me this "awww...you have no idea what cold really is" speech. I could care less. I have warm Southern blood. I want warmth.

I'm SO ready for Spring. I want to garden. I want green shoots coming up. Never before has everything been so brown. (Another reason my walks are curtailed. My brown world is uninspiring these days.) And it's to be in the low 20's and 30's nightly for the entire next week. Not to mention snow predictions for Thursday and Friday.


The above pictures are of the garden featured in the blockbuster "It's Complicated". Oh yeah, I'm having a couple of raised beds this year. And I want a gravel walkway between. I have a lovely yard that shows off my hard work. I've walked it's dead, brown glory several times recently determining just where to place these new beds. They will contain those gorgeous tomato stakes too. No chintzy metal ones for me this year!

Until then, I'll continue wearing coats, hats, scarves and gloves. And dreaming. And cheating. And when Spring DOES get here, I'll post pictures of my raised beds. With fancy tomato stakes. Hopefully with green shoots everywhere.

Oh, and I'd be thrilled to have Mr. Baldwin too.

Again, I'm SO ready for Spring.

The Flying Fish

I had fish tacos once in my life. On Big Beach in Maui. LOVED them. So imagine my surprise at finding fish tacos I liked even MORE in Little Rock, Arkansas. Maybe my memory has dimmed (I assure you this has NOTHING to do with the wisdom of my years). I only know that I'm definite in the fact that the absolute best fish tacos anywhere are at the Flying Fish, downtown lil' ole Little Rock. There are hundreds of "billy bass" hanging on the adoption wall. You take in your singing fish and your name is written under it with the date of adoption. It's priceless. This is not to even mention the "Liars Wall" where you can post pictures of your fish. I'm rambling along and I'm really here to tell you about the tacos!

A slab of grilled tilapia is placed in a crunchy taco shell, topped with a delish coleslaw, then some sort of sauce. Ye Gads. There are three to an order. And though I was stuffed at two, I simply couldn't stop. Then my dear cousin Nathan asked if I got a "shrimp cocktail"? He promptly ordered me one. A fat margarita glass was set in front of me with a tomato looking soup in it. Wow. It had shrimp, pico de gallo, and avacados floating around. I absolutely could have slugged it down like raspberry lemonade!

Yep, I'm going back to Little Rock. The Clinton library just begged to be perused. I loved the river winding thru. It's all quaint and stuff. And I met a new cousin Amanda (Nathan's wife) who was infinitely precious.

My reason for being there made me raw. My cousins Tonisa, Ken and Tana along with their spouses and dear children lost "Mimi". Aunt Margie was here a very short month after being told she had cancer. God was merciful.

There were smiles along with the tears. Somehow God always places things that soothe us in our paths, especially when the path is rough. Flying Fish made me smile.

Losing Aunt Margie cut my soul.

Celebrate Summer

Should you visit me these days, I’d offer a gorgeous glass of iced peach tea. We'd sit out back under my umbrella and listen to the trickle of water in my fountains. I'd likely have some smooth jazz playing and there are bright orange day lillies blooming around my patio. The perfect time to celebrate the outdoors is now. The smell of freshly mowed grass and grilling is one of summer's pleasures.
I recently splurged on my trip to Indianapolis and bought these heavy, fat, bright green stubbed off goblets. The picture is a bit deceiving in that they are approximately 6 inches tall and almost as wide. I LOVE them. Here's the secret. (Whispering here.) Wal-Mart has Great Value brand instant peach tea. It comes in small tubs and is packaged like Crystal Light. Each tub makes 1/2 gallon. I make the tea up by the gallon and add 3 individual packets of Splenda per gallon. It is delectable! I also buy frozen peaches in a zip top bag. I serve the tea over ice and float a fat, frozen peach slice on the top. It tastes as pretty as it looks.
For a change, for a summer celebration, take dinner out of doors. Americans tend to think you have to grill to dine al fresco. Not so. Plan to take it outside one night this week. Your family or friends will love it.
I had friends and family over Friday and Saturday evening and told them we were dining at sunset. I clipped some lillies and glads, put them in short vases, rolled out the bamboo placemats, and my table was phenomenal. I grilled chicken breasts with an herb rub wrapped in thick hickory smoked bacon, made a quick cold pasta salad and some deviled eggs. Dessert was pineapple sherbert doused with slushy sparkling apple cider. I broke a biscotti in half and shoved it down in the sherbert for garnish. I SO looked like a gourmet. Hehe.
And yes, we had peach tea in my fat green goblets!
I'd love to hear from you. What are you summer pleasures?

(Note: How do you like my completely ignoring the fact I've not posted in light years? I have no excuse, though I could name 1,000. Thanks for the calls, texts and emails urging me to write. You absolutely warm my heart.)

Traipsing About Houston...

I had a German Chocolate cupcake from here...

Sugarbaby's Cupcake Boutique

And a Red Velvet one from here...

Crave Cupcakes
Both places were fantastic in their own right. Sugarbaby's was all fluffy, pink and apple green with black chandeliers. Crave was sleek, modern and served milk from old fashioned bottles.

Cupcakes have seen a revival as of late. Not so long ago, they were considered rather passe. They are now de rigueur, proof in the numbers of people in line and in the dining rooms at both establishments. I don't normally hit all the cupcake joints, but Jennifer, Tyler's sweet significant other ordered some from Sugarbaby's for his birthday. And when I saw Crave, I simply had to go in.

Oh the joys of the BIG city...