Happy Hour Friday: Keenan Cab

As you all know, C and I have been on a grueling cleanse diet.  Bleeech!  :(

This means we are off the alcohol completely.  No wine, no cocktails… nada, nothing, zero.   So I don’t have to explain how that puts a slight kink in my “Happy Hour Friday” series.

Well, not to fear!  We shall persevere and carry on.  Don’t worry, I didn’t break my diet.  Instead I’m sharing a wine review that I posted on my old blog a while back–long before “Happy Hour Fridays.”  :)

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Happy Easter!

I just want to take a moment to wish all of you, my friends, a wonderful Easter weekend.  No matter what your faith, religious inclinations, or lack thereof, I hope you take this weekend to breathe in the rebirth all around you.  Stop and smell the flowers.  Enjoy your family, your friends, some good food and good times.

I will be enjoying a peaceful weekend away and fully unplugged.  {if I can manage that! }

Happy Hour Friday will return next week with a fabulous seasonal concoction.  Please come back to share your favorite drinks of the past couple of weeks at the link up party.

But for now:  Peace and Love to you all.

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Link Up and Foodista Drink Blog of the Day!

I’m so excited to announce that my little blog is going to  be the Featured Drink Blog of the Day on Foodista!  It will be featured tomorrow, Tuesday 31 January–All Day!    If you remember, my last Happy Hour Friday post was on Spicehubby’s concoction, the Pearl Martini.  This is the cocktail that captured Foodista’s attention.

 

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Happy New Year!

Just wanted to pop in to say “Happy New Year!” to each and everyone of you.  2011 was such a wonderful year filled with new challenges, new friends, new adventures and some technical frustrations here and there.  lol  Boy, have I had a learning curve with blogging!  Not to mention photography–which I’m still working to improve with every snap of the shutter.

Thank you for visiting with me here In the Land of Spice.  Thank you for sharing this journey, for letting me into your lives as well and for making it all so fun and worth doing.  :)

I wish health, peace and true joy to you all for 2012.  I believe together we will make it a year to remember

 

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Under Construction…

My blog is currently under going a serious makeover. I am in the process of moving my blog to WordPress, and it is taking a while to iron all the kinks. Thank you for visiting and for your patience. I hope you will return again soon or subscribe to see my new and improved blog once it is unveiled!

Creative Projects: Veggie Paintings

Unfortunately, I’ve been so busy at work and with my outside “chores” when I get home in the evenings that I haven’t spent much time in my kitchen. With Easter approaching, I’ve been itching to bake and decorate all manner of sugary delights, but I just haven’t had the time. Since my day is spent in the confines of my shop, I decided to make the most of whatever down time I may have throughout the day. So I set up my craft table and got to work.
In the past three days I’ve managed to be quite productive. When I could steal away short blocks of time, I sketched and painted and actually finished these four veggie canvases. (see more of them at my etsy shop)
I also finished a Louisiana water lilly that I’ve worked on for the past couple of months. It was nice to release some creative energies and feel like I accomplished something!
If you happen to make it to etsy, also take a look at themilkandmoon. You’ll find great recipes and some pretty crafty jewelry.

Vegetable Garden: Day 16

It was a great weekend, but an exhausting one! We finally finished our privacy fence–100%! Cleaned, repaired, (in some cases) built, stained and sealed. DONE! (Spice-hubby is the best b/c he pretty much did everything all by himself. I only helped a little.)

Vegetable Garden: Day 9

So far, so good. My tomato plants are growing. All cucumber seeds have sprouted, and Man are they growing fast! I think I may have too many in my small garden, but I’m hoping to give them a trellis to climb to corral them a bit. My small, fragile pepper seedlings are finally sprouting second sets of leaves, and even the onions are coming up!
Spicehubby and I spent our Sunday afternoon making our little garden accessible, more organized and more visually appealing. I place tomato cages (round, galvanized trellises) around all five tomato plants. This needed to be done before they get any bigger since these cone-like cages taper in considerably at the bottom. Had the plants been much bigger, I would have had trouble getting these cages around them without damaging the plants. Mission accomplished and crisis averted. ☺
After Spicehubby tilled up the ground and leveled out (somewhat) a pathway, we spaced out 16×16 pavers to make a walkway from the pool deck to the garden. This particular area of our back yard is very low with little grass. That means it retains water and mud after every rain, making it undesirable to actually get to the garden. Now, it’s convenient and, more importantly, mud free!
VERY NICE!
Assuming all goes well with my first attempt at gardening, I have a larger, expanded version all mapped out for next year!

New Orleans Recap

What a week to be in the Big Easy! Perfect spring temps and lots of happenings made our few days in the city wonderfully enjoyable. I got to spend lots of time meandering thru the French Quarter and shopping on Magazine Street. We were even lucky enough to catch the opening day of French Quarter Fest before heading home and back to work today. It was a nice mini-vacay, even though spice-hubby was actually working (at a conference) while I was freely enjoying myself. ☺
But don’t worry, even he got to enjoy the food, art and gorgeous weather. Wednesday we met for lunch at a little place next to our hotel. We couldn’t go far since he was only on a short break from the conference. But who could go wrong with po-boys and fries? I ordered the crawfish and he got the shrimp (fried, of course!), and they were both excellent. (Sorry, no photo– we ate them before I even thought of snapping a pic!)
Then, after a jazz concert in Lafitte Park on St Charles Ave, we made our way to Lüke’s for a couple of pre-dinner drinks. This is one of native New Orlenian John Besh’s restaurants. A beautiful French Brasserie and local hang-out. Plenty of raw oysters, mussels and clams on the menu here, but we opted to save our appetites!
We then headed up a couple of blocks to Herbsaint Restaurant for dinner. FANTASTIC.

Red Fish Grill–New Orleans

Back in the Big Easy for a few days, and the weather is perfect! Bright blue skies, sun all day long and highs of 75. It’s not like this for long, so I intend to enjoy every minute of it while I can. Soon, it will be 95 with 80% humidity. Ugh. Miserable.
But not today! Today is a glorious spring day, and I will drink it in to the fullest. And I plan on eating. A lot. ☺
We (my husband and I) checked into our hotel about 8:00 last night. Hungry and thirsty, we wanted something convenient. We’re staying on the corner of Canal and Bourbon, so take your pick. Fabulous food is all around. We decided on Red Fish Grill since it’s practically right across the street from us and we were both in the mood for some fresh seafood. As expected, it did not disappoint.