The Joys

Strawberries, Cherries, and Butterflies

Lots to talk about today! Where to start? Ok - my Aunt Cathi and Megan are here visiting because Miss Casie Had her swearing in yesterday. She is an official RI lawyer! Yea for Casie. So Cathi and Meg came to visit Casa de Joy on Tuesday. Lucy was soooooooooo happy to have more people to love her. It was a great day. We played outside, picked strawberries from our garden, mage some cool magnets in the craft room. Very fun. Oh, I also made some curried egg salad for lunch. (I'll share the recipe at the end.) Then Casie came over that evening after she got off work and we made individual pizzas and Tim cooked them on the grill. Mmmmmmmmm.

So I found this great site called CafePress. It's really cool. They have all of these items that you can personalize. Or you can buy something from a "shop" of predesigned images. Guess who has a shop? Yup, ME! actually I have two right now. One has a butterfly theme, the other a cherry theme. Let me know what you think, I love getting feedback!.

Tim is on vacation next week and I couldn't be happier. A whole week to hang out and puddle around. Is that even a saying? It just popped into  my head, maybe I'm mixing something together - oh well - you get the idea. Whatever we do I'll have lots of pictures to share with you.

Hope you have a great day!

Love,

Arts & Crafts and a new recipe

The Joys had company this weekend! Miss Casie came to spend part of the weekend with us. Bringing with her a great new recipe that I will share in a bit. First things first. She came to play in the craft room and make a picture frame for a soon-to-be-wed friend of hers. So we went through fun papers and embellishments until she found what she was looking for. So so so much fun. I decided to wait until it was complete to take some pics of it and of course I forgot. I seriously wonder where my head is sometimes. Oh well. Casie's going to take a picture of the frame and send to me. I will then share it with you. It's sooooooooooooooo cute.

Last night the three of us made grilled pizza. Oh Mylanta were they good. Nothing fancy, same toppings we always do, just Boboli with some fresh mozzarella, zucchini, and turkey pepperoni. But I swear there is something about the grill that makes it scrumdiliumptious. We may never do pizza in the oven again (check back with me in the middle of winter, I may change my tune).  For dessert we had Casie's awesome Cheesecake Cups. Mmmmmmmmmm. We topped them with cherry pie filling and they were delicious. Tasted just like cheesecake but not as heavy. Perfect for summer. They were only about 250 calories each. Not bad at all. Try it yourself, you'll love it!

Love,

Jello Salad "recipe"

OK, so here is my version of Jello Salad. I think it's more like an Ambrosia Salad. Without further adieu . . .

Love,

Aloha

My mind is in Hawaii right now because it's so cold right now. About 1-2 below with wind chill. I don't mind the cold as long as snow comes with it. Unfortunately right now it's just brown and cold outside. Was looking at other peoples' spaces for something new and found a fun quiz site. It's called Blog Things. It's a bunch of quizzes that you can take. I took WHAT DESSERT  ARE YOU? And the winner is  . . . . . .

***You Are Cheesecake***

Rich, sweet, and simply perfect.
You're not boring - you're just the best!

 

I am the best! Anyway, check it out if you have time to kill.

So Tim is off to work today after being out all last week. He's still in a lot of pain. I wonder if he will last all day. I think the hardest part is that it's been a wekk since surgery and his throat hasn't gotten any better. Not to mention the only food he can eat is equivelant to baby food. The doctor said he would start feeling better sometime this week. Let's hope so.

The pizza I made the other night came out awesome! I started with a Boboli crust (they are the easiest and taste pretty good) and coated bottom with about 2 tbsp. olive oil. I then sprinkled a handful of crumbled gorgonzola cheese. Added thinly sliced Bosc pear, then a handful of bacon bits. Cover that with another handful or so of gorgonzola. Baked it according to Boboli instructions. Soooooooooo good. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, it's great.

 

Love,

Lisa

Great new recipe

  Tim and I just finished dinner and I must say I'm impressed with myself. OK, it was actually the recipe in today's paper, but I can take credit for following directions. I made Roast Whole Chicken with Cauliflower. It was fabulous. It actually looked like the picture when it came out of the oven.  The hazelnuts add a wonderful flavor. Do not omit them. It's well worth the few extra dollars. I made a gravy with the leftover juice. I just strained and separated it, then added corn starch and water after bringing it to a boil. Make the gravy as thick or thin as you like. I served it with smashed potatoes and the cauliflower/carrot mixture. Oh so good. The prep time was quick and my kitchen smells wonderful. Enjoy!

Love,

Lisa