no fuss bread baking

my fear of proofing yeast, kneading and baking a crusty bread is over thanks to "artisan bread five minutes a day". the boys gave me this book for my birthday and i've made pizza dough, ciabatta bread, pita bread and naan bread with the master boule recipe!

my so called "chocolate & strawberry icecream" scarf

this is my first time knitting with malabrigo yarn and it's absolutely soft. this is a popular scarf pattern called "my so called scarf". the color is sotobosque which reminds me of chocolate & strawberry icecream!

hawaiian style peanut butter blossoms

picked up a couple of bags of macadamia nut kisses on my last visit to hawaii and baked these, oh so yummy!

tumbling blocks blankie

my friend y gave birth to the cutest baby girl this past spring. her room is a “hello kitty” theme in pink, light green, white, aqua and dark brown furniture. i wanted to knit a blankie to coordinate with her room and decided on the tumbling blocks blankie from lion brand yarn. some of my friends called this the “ice cream blankie”.

yummy homemade granola bars

my bff t gave me this cookbook for my birthday last year. this is the first recipe i made from this book and they are delicious! i've also made this as a granola which is especially tasty with soy milk or greek yogurt.

2009 garden

we had quite a bit of rain and frost last year so a lot of our plants didn't make it. hopefully we'll have better luck this year.

sock it 2 me

well as a knitter i have always told myself i would never knit socks. i would rather knit other things if i can easily go to the store and purchase them. as you can see i first knit "a" sock and that was just way too complex for me. i knit "a" sock, not a pair. a friend/lys owner has written a pattern for two socks at one time! now i realize what the craze is about knitting socks, i'm hooked! i'm just beginning the gusset portion of the sock and i already can't wait to knit another pair! i plan to always have a pair of socks on my needles (along with my other wip's). plus they perfectly fit in my tokidoki pouch that i can throw in my purse!

my love affair with vietnamese food

i would like to personally thank my friend jf for introducing me to this wonderful cuisine 10+ years ago. i seriously could eat vietnamese food everyday for the rest of my life, ask my DH. i was very fortunate living in diverse cities and being able to have whatever my palette craved for. the closest vietnamese restaurants is in baton rouge (60 miles) or new orleans (135 miles). everytime we travel a vietnamese restaurant is the first thing i look up. don't get me wrong, i'm very fortunate living here in cajun country with all the mouth-watering cajun cuisine. so the next best thing is making it at home. thank goodness we have a asian market where i can get a lot of my ingredients. i enjoy all the hot, sweet, sour, salty goodness that vietnamese food has to offer. funny how all the dishes look the same but served 3 different ways. reminds me of mexican food: taco, burrito, tostada. basically the same ingredients but served 3 different ways.

it's been a long time coming...since i've been here...

just as long as this picture was taken! i believe my blogging mojo is back...third time's a charm right? this picture was actually taken last week via the great hipstamatic 100 available on iPhone. upload the app now (ok that was a little pushy :0), trust me you'll love this app and you won't be disappointed!

down and dirty with jamie

last october, m, s, and i had the opportunity to meet, greet, and taste jamie oliver's wonderful food. jamie and his crew were so friendly. he even signed our cookbooks. we felt like were in high school again, asking the popular guy to sign our yearbook!

oliver visited louisiana’s cajun country as part of an eight-part documentary series he is filming about cuisine in the united states. each part of the series will feature a different state and he chose louisiana as his first stop. oliver and his production crew planned a trip to the acadiana region to pay a visit to mcgee's landing in henderson. after hurricane gustav ravaged the area oliver and his crew helped the restaurant get back on its feet. oliver teamed up with restaurateur david allemond and hosted a benefit to help the restaurant reopen. mcgee's landing, a rustic restaurant nestled inside the boundary of the west atchafalaya protection levee, is also a bona fide cajun boat landing and was one of the first to offer guided swamp tours. allemond was forced to shut down his restaurant for more than a month after high winds from hurricane gustav which caused serious damage to the building.the roof was completely torn off. the canopy, deck and the east wing of the restaurant were completely destroyed. oliver decided to come and help out. oliver offered to help him reopen. more than 150 attended the gala event which was highlighted by the special menu prepared by oliver and allemond. the menu included a sumptuous lump crabmeat salad, followed by the main course of pork loin, sweet potatoes laced with rosemary sprigs, green beans (that's haricot verts enFrancais), rice dressing and for dessert, a sinfully delicious chocolate bread pudding topped with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.

louisiana department of agriculture and forestry - october 2008 volume 91 no. 22

yet another blog break

wow...between family, work, planning my high school reunion and my newfound addiction to facebook and twitter, blogging has taken a backseat to everything else. I'll be back soon... just like our spring flowers in our garden.

Where Y'at?

As I stated in my last post “its been awhile” well it has been a “long while”. I need to get back into my blogging mojo and I can’t seem to come up with any reasonable explanation for this long hiatus.

On that note, look what has bloomed, a Pink Plumeria! Look at the Lovebugs that decided to mate… A little “Aloha” I brought back from Hawaii to Louisiana.

Yat refers to a unique collection of dialects of English spoken in New Orleans, Louisiana. The term also refers to those people who speak with a Yat accent. The name comes from the common use amongst said people of the greeting, "Where y'at?" (Where you at?), which is a way of asking, "How are you?" - Wikepedia

It's been awhile...

I'll be posting soon...for now a picture of the Water Lilies at work.

Heart of the Midwest

Leaving for Omaha, Nebraska for a week-long Sports Event Symposium. Everyday and evening is jam-packed with breakout sessions and appointments, but I will find time to devour in a steak!

Busy with...

Organizing...



Tea from Teavana

Spices from Penzeys

Knitting...

Entrelac Scarf for J

Prayer Shawl for K

Shrug for Moi!

I "heart" Heart Day!

Strawberry Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting

I've always enjoyed this day even when I didn't have a special someone. I think it's the red, pink, hearts, doilies, sweets, and all the giddiness! Happy Valentines Day to You and Yours and especially to my forever Valentine, R!

Mad Hatter

I'm in this hat phase. So far I've knitted seven beanies in the last month. Hopefully I'll be in a shrug phase soon cause I absolutely "heart" shrugs!

Mardi Gras in Cajun Country

Just as the Cajuns and Creoles are known for their fabulous, spicy food, Cajun Country is known for the fabulous spice it adds to the Mardi Gras celebration. Here in Lafayette, you'll find the mystery of Mardi Gras blended with Cajun magic to cook up one of the most colorful and unique pre-Lenten celebrations in the world. Lafayette, Louisiana is home to the state's second largest Mardi Gras celebration, which includes eight parades of floats and bands during the Carnival season. The first parade, ten days before Mardi Gras, is the celebrity-led Krewe of Carnivale en Rio Parada, featuring over 600 riders. My friends C and J are members of the Krewe and R and I got to ride on a float this year. It was soooo much fun and we had such a great time. We threw a total of 5000+ beads and toys. R and I are thinking about joining this Krewe.

Check it out, here I am with the “Duquesa du Parada” (Parade Marshal) Ali Landry, TV and film actress and Miss USA 1996. Ali grew up here in Cajun country, Breaux Bridge, LA.

Got my knitting mojo on...

Grey Shrug I knitted in Hawaii

Entrelac Scarf

Fingerless Gloves

I'm a little "Neti Pot" short and stout...

I’m home and back to the grind, but when I got back from Hawaii I was down with a sinus infection. When I first moved to Louisiana everyone would tell me that I would eventually start having allergies and sinus headaches. Sure enough it happened. I started a morning routine of nasal irrigation using a Neti pot. Neti pots are a common feature of traditional Asian medicine. It resembles a tea pot and is made in ceramic, plastic or metal with a long spout. Through the gravity method it allows you to pour warm saline solution into your sinuses, which helps to cleanse them of mucus, pollen, dust, pollution or whatever else you happen to have lurking up there. It also helps with the common cold. My husband R has been doing this for awhile for his sinuses. I’m a gagger and when I watched him do it I knew that there was no way I could do this. Well, after doing it a couple of times I got used to it and feel so much better. R just reminds me every now and then how I cringed when he suggested the Neti pot and now I swear by it!

Mele Kalikimaka

Off to Hawaii for the Holidays to spend with my brother and sil.  Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makaheki Hou to you and yours!

My "heart" is skipping a beat...

As I mentioned here, now you know why my "heart" is happy!!! Perkins Rowe is a place where everything needed in daily life is within walking distance of home or office. We are heading up to Baton Rouge for the day and I am quite excited!