Dinner parties and miracles

Please follow this link to my post for today: Thank you for reading!

http://mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/dinner-parties-and-miracles/

Hello Friday!!!

Hello Friday, you look GORGEOUS!

I'm linking up with Lauren from: http://www.frommygreydeskblog.com/  and here are my High Five For Friday personal highlights for the week.

1~ I finished a new crochet piggy bride and groom couple and I love them, especially their tails!

 Look at those piggy tails!!

2~ Count down to our Florida return has begun (10 days till lift off) and with that comes the packing and cleaning and trying on of summer clothes. I am thrilled to say that I can fit into several items in my storage bin that were not working a few months ago! (stands up and takes a bow).

3~ I have been bouncing around the idea of changing my blog setup and have just begun working with a Wordpress template as a possibility. Please check it out and let me know what you think but remember it is in the embryo stage. mindofahummingbird.wordpress.com

4~ My new crochet project today is a set of love birds. Stay tuned! Cute to the max! 

5~  In looking through photos I rediscovered this one from Paris. Sigh...I still wake up every morning hoping I'm still there.

Thank you for checking my blog out. I hope to see you again soon. And please let me know what you think about the Wordpress move. Merci! And have a fabulous Friday!

Sunset over Monaco, Monte-Carlo

Today I am sharing a picture I took last month. Searching through my photo files, I found this and I was instantly transported to the night it was taken.

One evening on my walk with Anna, we came to a opening in the wall and saw this. The street down from us, towards the Olive Tree Garden, has this magnificent view of Monaco over the water. And every day (I mean it when I say every day) the view is breathtaking. No matter the weather, no matter the time of day. Ever time I pass this spot, I am compelled to stop and look at the view. And this night the sun had just just set behind the mountain, lighting the sky on fire.

When I look at this picture I am struck by how rare and lovely each moment of our life can be, because just a few minutes later this moment was gone. If I hadn't been right there, right then, looking in just that spot, I would not have seen it.

Live one moment at a time. And, take the time to look back through the photographs of your mind, savoring the deliciousness. 

S P R I N G !!!!

It's here! My second favorite time of the year. Spring heralds summer (my favorite time) and in my mind it is all about beginnings. Everything and anything seems possible in Spring. The flowers come back and you can smell them often times before you see them. On my walk yesterday the jasmine and the honeysuckle were wafting and enticing me. The weather is kinder, gentler. The summer birds start to come back and their laughter and chatter can be heard from sunup to sundown. We get cabin fever and decide to clean our homes and organize our closets. We get to switch out clothes and hang our winter coats up and out of the way! Here in the South of France the change in seasons is not as noticeable as home in Rhode Island but a bit more than Florida. Here, the sun gets warmer, the flowers blossom and the color of the sea changes to a deep and inviting blue. And the summer restaurants along the beach re-open!

I wonder why there aren't Spring resolutions like there are New Year's? I think we should start some.

My resolutions for Spring 2012 (a wonderful excuse to use bullet points!):

• Lose 10 more pounds before summer. 
• Drastically cut my hair and get a summer ready style. (suggestions please!)
• Visit the gym while I'm in Florida during April and May regularly and tone up!
• Set time aside every day to work on my book.
• Work on finding a way to sell my crazy crochet animals.
• And come up with a name for my crochet business. (help with this one would be great too!)

Well, I have a ton more resolutions I could add but enough is enough. I want to actually reach these, so let's leave the list there.

How about you? Leave me a comment about your Spring 2012 resolutions!!

Latest Crochet Creations

I've been on a crochet kick this last weekend. So here are a few of the little monsters I have made:

Two Peas in a Pod Wedding Couple. They are so in love!:

Pinky Penguin with White Beret:

Pink Octopus with Hat. (feel like this one needs a mustache):

Little French Wiener Dog with Pink Beret, naturally:

Happy Monday everyone!

Cooking again

With my shoulder pain most intense when I am cooking, typing or washing the dishes, we have been getting by with very little cooking this past week. Finally I felt rested enough and well enough to get back to the kitchen. Dennis had bought my favorite, fresh broccoli, so I set to making my ole' standby broccoli dish, a recipe developed by my mom:

After rinsing the broccoli I set it for proper steaming on the stove. Here is the most crucial part, you don't want to over cook the broccoli or let it boil rather than steam. I also salt my broccoli to taste.

I use a saute pan with olive oil and chopped onion, cooking slowly over low heat.

Garlic, glorious garlic!

Peel the cloves

Mince them up.

Add the garlic to the already cooking onions. Watch that the garlic doesn't burn.

The broccoli should become a lovely bright green when it's ready. Turn off the heat. I adore that little stainless steel steamer. It fits in any pan and keeps your veggies out of the water.

According to Bernard, pasta needs "many waters" to cook right, along with a splash of sea salt.

You can really use any pasta style you prefer.

Once the garlic and onions are cooked well, I remove from the heat and allow to cool. Once cool enough, I transfer the broccoli to the saute pan and turn the heat up low to warm everything up while the pasta cooks. I will sometimes add more olive oil at this point.

This is wonderful if you add fresh grated Parmesan. Sadly we were all out. Still, it is a yummy and easy lunch!

Paris-Day 2

I've been traveling quite a bit lately and because of that it isn't uncommon for me to wake up and have no idea where I am. So day 2 of Paris I did just that.  Blinked a few times, waited for my head to clear from the muddled dreams and as the fog cleared I heard traffic far away and the hammering sounds of construction.  I looked around the room and remembered....I am in Paris.  

Opening the window and stepping out into the brisk December morning, I drank in the sights and sounds, including the construction on the other side of our street where the Military Academy was. 

What to do with our brief, golden hours of daylight.  We head out to coffee.  Since we have been living in France long enough to understand the way things work, it wasn't difficult for us to find a cafe and order coffee and croissants. Paris isn't necessarily more expensive then any other city, its just as expensive. We drank our coffee and looked over our city maps while waiting for the croissants to come out of the oven. Well, we ran out of coffee before the oven could finish so, naturally, we needed more coffee.  Our bill for breakfast was as follows:

4 coffees

+

4 croissants

=

25 euros

or

$32.34

Needless to say, I wanted to dive out the window while Dennis was down in the bathroom.  Somehow, spending $32 on pastry and coffee seemed extravagant. Delightful but extravagant. 

After our breakfast debacle we walked toward Madame Eiffel to see how bad the crowds were at the tower elevators. And they were bad.  The tour buses parked on the side streets were a good indication. So we continued to the river where we discovered the boat shuttle that would bring you past 7 major sights and allow you to board and disembark all along the river, all day long. That was for tomorrow.

We continued across the river toward The Arc de Triomphe were we watched in fascination as eleven streets emptied out into the round about without direction or order. Complete chaos. I couldn't take my eyes away from the hornets nest of cars and buses, motorbikes and trucks swirling and vying for position around this massive monument that Napoleon commissioned in 1806 to pay tribute to his victories in battle. The foundation alone took 2 years to complete.  Sadly, the structure wasn't completed until 1836...not in time for the Emperor to see it for himself. However his remains were brought through the Arc before they were laid to rest in Invalides. You reach the Arc by passing through a tunnel under the crazy street above.  Walking around and through this beautiful 164 foot historical piece makes you feel tiny and brief.  For a fee, you can also walk up to the top and bask in the view.  It marks the beginning of the Champs-Elysees "the most beautiful street in the world".