Saturday, May 07, 2011

Sunday-9:30am

Happy Mother's Day!!
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I took pictures this morning of my bouquet of absolutely gorgeous roses. Leah knows how I love variety and she went and picked out each rose for me at the flower shop! Blows me away!
Apricot, peach, white...
...red, lavender...
...pale pinks, dark pinks, yellow...
...they are just breathtakingly beautiful. I'll spare you the other dozen and a half close-ups. LOL! Thanks Dagan and Leah, my favorite people in the whole wide world!! :):)
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Before we left yesterday Leah experimented on coloring some caulking with acrylic paint to use with this oak leaf & acorn brass stencil.
This was the winner! Green leaf with brown acorn and no words. She masked the areas she didn't want to caulk with tape and did it in two applications. Nice!
Anyways, we didn't have time for her to finish the card so we left the caulk to dry and took off for Tochi's.
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We had talked about getting a video showing what is on the other side of my building (for Iggy) and to show the dead end street and how it does look like they are making a connecting road. Well, we forgot till we had already turned on to our dead end road and Leah was in a hurry to get to the girl's spa date...so we have a rather quick poor video, but we did do one. Maybe I can get a better one later, but you get the basic idea. At night, both sides of our little dead end road are fully lined with cars.

I was so sore when I got home I just put the freezer stuff away. The rest stayed in my white cart for many hours--hehe!
After Karma was sure I wasn't going anywhere again, she settled in to watch the kids play catch in the yard.
She loves it when the windows are open in the main room here so she can sit sideways in one of the chairs and watch her CatTV. Has the breeze to stroke her fur, smell-o-vison, sharper sound...and yet she can sit in a comfy chair. That's the life, eh? ;)
I finally worked up to emptying the other two bags from Tochi's. All this is still sitting on the counter this morning. I have to move them before the Cashwise delivery this afternoon.
Well, maybe not. They could set all the grocery bags on the floor. They have to put some of them on the floor anyways...I'll see how sore I am. ;)
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Anyways, I did make a haul video for you. Don't ask me what most of this actually is, tastes like, or how it is normally prepared--ROFL!
I did forget to include the bag of basmati rice in the video. Decided to try that instead of getting my usual jasmine rice because the young man who helped us said basmati usually doesn't stick together as much. He said the "aged" bag was better quality and it was one of the rices on sale, too. (Leah got a bag of basmati, too.)
My one item I already regret (stop laughing, Leah!) is the Asafoetida Powder. It just plain stinks! Even sitting unopened my kitchen started to have this horrible smell to it last night. So I tried wrapping it up in a freezer bag last night.
I could still smell it this morning! I had thought about storing it in a glass jar with a tight lid, but then I thought--what the he** will my whole apartment smell like for days if I cook with this stuff, even if I can't smell it all the time in the pantry?
Sorry, they may love this stuff in India and it might taste a lot better than it smells...but it is in the trash. I guess I wasn't brave. I was foolhardy. ;)
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I'll have to ask Leah if she could smell that in here when she came last night? (She's the one with the sensitive super sniffer.) Leah came by to finish the card for her mom. I went to bed before midnight. I see she sent me an email about 12:30am saying she was on her way over pretty soon. I had told to to come even if I was sleeping--no problem.
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I was out like a light and never heard a thing. I wonder how Karma reacted to such unusual circumstances? LOL! Or did she just stay sleeping on the bed with me? She certainly was no "watch cat"--didn't try to wake me up or anything. Of course cats have that every-man-for-himself, save-yourself-and-the-devil-take-the-hindmost mentality. *giggles* I'll have to ask Leah.
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It's a dark rainy morning here in Fargo. No matter what the weather where you are, hope you have a happy Mother's Day! :)
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"One word frees us all of the weight and pain of life; that word is love."
Sophocles

17 comments:

AliceKay said...

Your roses are just beautiful. Very nice, Leah. :)

The green leaf with the brown acorn won my vote. It looks really cool.

Karmavision and CatTV. Karma is one lucky cat. :)

Thanks for posting the video. I was curious about that area, too. (no, i didnt get sick watching it...lol)

Wow, you're brave. You've got quite a haul there. I wouldn't even think of trying most of that stuff. (i'm a meat and potatoes kinda girl and a picky one at that) I hope you enjoy the meals you'll be preparing. Keep us posted on your likes and dislikes. I can only imagine what the Asafoetida Powder smells like if you had to put it in a plastic bag. Human guinea pigs. Love it. LOL

I hope you're feeling rested now. We had a pretty decent day here weatherwise. Terri and I worked out in the lawn a long time today and it's looking much better. I worked out there for quite awhile yesterday before the thunderstorm hit, too. (i'm worn out...lol) I'll be posting pics of my new "toys" soon. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Toriz said...

That cat has the good life... I'm jealous of her!

You're being braver than I have been so far, since I haven't tried half the things out there yet. I don't blame you for throwing the one thing away though; if it was smelling that bad before you started cooking with it, it would be even worse once you started cooking with it.

If Karma's anything like my Sakura (the least people friendly of my three cats) she hid in a spot where she could see what Leah was up to, and left you to fend for yourself, then came back and curled up on the bed with you once she was sure Leah was gone. LOL!

Toriz said...

P.S. Glad you had such a lovely Mothers' Day present. I love roses. Funny thing is though, despite my favourite colour being purple, my favourite flower is a yellow rose. Not sure why, but I love yellow roses!

Toriz said...

P.P.S. Don't forget to share the recipes when you try them out, and let us know what you thought of them! :)

Rita said...

AiceKay--Glad you didn't get sick watching me spin around in the car--ROFL! ;)
The only thing I bought that I have used for years was the tamari sauce. Even the basmati rice was new to me. The stuff stinks so much that even buried in the trash I can smell it every time I get 4 feet away, so I am hauling it out to the dumpster today. Phew!
Sounds like you got a lot done on the lawn. We had thunderstorms last night and rain off and on since Sunday. :)

Tori--I thought maybe I'd be brave enough to try it, but whew! I'd probably smell, too! ROFL!
Leah said she never saw Karma at all. So, either she was spying or just stayed close to me in bed. My guess with Karma, who's a cowardly sort really, is she would stick close to me as I am her defender. :)
You'd love the big yellow rose in my bunch, then. :)
I'll let you know what brave new recipes I try. :)

Celticspirit said...

Pretty flowers!
Now that is my kind of store...from looking at your last post I'd love to shop someplace like that. I think I could spend hours there!

Donna @ The House on the Corner said...

The roses are beautiful!! I love a mixed variety too.

I do envy Karma - that is the life - sitting in a window watching Cat TV.

I can't imagine what Asafoetida smells like - with a name like that it can't be good! Rice is one of my favorites - but the stickier the better. I have been known to eat rice with chopsticks and ya gotta have sticky rice for that!

Hope you're having a great day and you're soreness is going away!

Rita said...

Barb--They've opened up more and are even more gorgeous a couple days later. :)
You'd probably love Tochi's! You CAN spend ages in there and not see everything. I'd need a guide to explain to me what half of it is--hehe! ;)

Donna--I love a multicolored bouquet, too! :)
I love rice, too! I only occasionally eat with chop sticks, so if they are too slippery I'll just use my good old western utensils--hehe! ;)
Great day to you, too! :)

Intense Guy said...

I sprained my tongue just trying to read some of those labels.

Asafoetida... and what is Urid Whole and Chana Dal? And I bet Not-Chicken tastes just like ...drumroll... chicken!!

You could have put some Asafoetida powder on the sidewalk - to see if Karma picked it up on Smellavision!

Intense Guy said...

Oops... Hope you had a Happy Mother's Day!!

P.s., According to Wikipedia... Asafoetida (also known as devil's dung, stinking gum, asant, food of the gods, giant fennel, hing and ting) is the dried latex (gum oleoresin) exuded from the living underground rhizome or tap root of several species of Ferula, which is a perennial herb (1 to 1.5 m high). The species is native to Persia (Iran) and India. Asafoetida has a pungent, unpleasant smell when raw, but in cooked dishes, it delivers a smooth flavor, reminiscent of leeks.

Ohh gotta have me some of that Devil's Dung!

Rita said...

Iggy--I am not sure what any of it was except the Tamari sauce, to be honest. The Chana Dal almost look like yellow split peas. ??

I think you COULD smell that stuff from down on the sidewalk--ROFL!
OMG! Devil's Dung!!! No wonder the smell drove me nuts! I think if I want to taste leeks, I'll buy leeks thank you very much. Having smelled it, I was chuckling reading the Wikipedia's "also known as"...ROFLMAO!!! Food of the gods?? I would beg to differ. Devil's Dung--now that is the perfect label. You made my day!! ;)

Toriz said...

Yep, I'd love that rose! :)

And good (about plans to share recipes). :)

Serena Lewis said...

As mentioned previously, the roses are beautiful! A very thoughtful and caring gift. Did Leah and Dagan do this for you last year too?? It rings a memory bell for me.

I do like how the painted caulk design turned out.

The Sriracha HOT chili sauce is the same one I buy and love. I prefer basmati rice to jasmine rice for curries and fried rice because the basmati stays separated better. I use the absorption method to cook it. I don't mind the jasmine rice for things like mild curry dishes tho or for creamed rice dessert.

Now, as far as the asafoetida powder goes, I've never heard of it before. I did some research for you tho and, not surprisingly from your description, it is commonly known as Devil's Dung. lol According to my research, it must be stored in an airtight container due to it's powerful sulfur and rotten onion smell. The smell can also seep into other foods and affect their taste too. It's used sparingly and, once cooked, the pungent stink dissipates and transforms to a delicious onion and garlic flavouring. Apparently, it helps to prevent gas tho from the description of the odour, you would think it would cause gas. LOL If I'd bought it, I think it would have ended up in the bin (trash) too.

I had a lovely Mother's Day. I had Mum and Dad over for a nice hot lunch and an afternoon of playing cards.

Anywhoo, time to pop out to the shops....back later, my friend.

I've missed visiting your blog.

Love, light and peace,
Serena xo

Anonymous said...

Again, beautiful roses love the colors. Wow you got quite a bit at the Tochi's place. I would be scared of some of that stuff too LOL I'm a very picky person when it comes to any kind of food hehehe.

Rita said...

Serena--Last year they gave me the philodendron and a single rose, but I think she did this the year before that. Have we known each other over two years? Cool!!

I'm going to have to start out light on the hot sauce, but it is good to know somebody has heard of something I brought home--ROFL!! Iggy had looked up the asafoetida powder and it said "devil's dung"!! I think his post got lost in the Blogger shuffle on Thursday and Friday. :( What a perfect name for it!! ROFLMAO!!! I'm glad it is out of my kitchen and the smell has pretty much gone by now--whew!
Glad you had your folks over for Mother's Day. And so glad you are blogging again!! Have missed you, too!! :)

Lynn--That powder may taste good after cooked, but it smelled so rotten I could never make it any further--hehe! The rest of it I will try--little by little. ;) I am trying to learn not to be so picky. This last year since I quit eating meat I have learned to eat red, yellow, and orange bell peppers and that was a big deal for me. Used to very bland Swedish food--LOL! ;)

Intense Guy said...

I commented here too....

Something about that spice being called Devil's Dung....

I think I spent hours catching up with people's blogs Thursdays and all my comments got lost... frustration city.

Rita said...

Iggy--Yes, as I mentioned in my reply to Serena's comment...I did read all about the awfulness on the Devil's Dung powder! Also called "food of the gods" if I recall, amoungst other things. What gods? Is there a god of decay? hehe! I did read it, Iggy, before it went bye-bye. :)