Today was a better day. Your comments on my previous post both surprised and comforted me. I think my mood when I wrote that post was a combination of too many emotions – and it’s always more lonely in the middle of the night when you’re unable to fall back to sleep.
But that was then and this is now. And I feel so much better, thank you.
I just finished a book that I’m sending on to my sister. I was really engrossed in The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, telling my sisters that they just had to read this book. Yet as I read past the half-way point, my love for it began to fade. It got great reviews and came highly recommended but my love of historical fiction wasn’t enough to warrant my high praise. I just couldn’t handle the constant pain of loss, the drug abuse, and the evil that comes from ignorance and prejudice in this novel that was set in the late 1700’s on a tobacco plantation in Virginia. I’ll see what my sister, Judy, thinks because she still wants to read it.
Next up on my reading list is The House at Riverton by Kate Morton. I have higher hopes for this one, especially because I’m a huge fan of Downton Abbey.
The weather has been strangely mild lately and I’ve begun to lose hope for a good snowfall. I want it to be winter, please. Oh, not a full-blown winter that takes your breath away with its cold, but just a regular season. I took the photo above last year on this very date. I can see snow on the ground and I know it was a lot colder then than it is today.
Tonight I made an easy meal using chicken I had leftover from the tetrazzini I made on Sunday and ingredients I had in the house. I sautéed onions in Land-O-Lakes butter (the new one with olive oil & sea salt), then added some carrots I’d pre-cooked in the microwave, and some frozen peas. I continued to cook until the peas were heated through, then I sliced the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces and cooked them on med-high heat in some of the same butter. I served it on jasmine rice that I’d boiled with chicken broth and it was really quite good. And someone else liked it a lot too, which is always nice to hear.
I’ll be taking it for lunch tomorrow.
: : :
So how was your day today?
And oh, this picture made me laugh out loud at work. Just wanted to share ~
![123 Signature[5]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJW2K3bSLVU9R1JtmoQ7cd8CNgC94Lb39v9TNgRxJRNLwvKXPlPftxFcRDdSyB8_xcq2vhd9exhP-zlkVGLcB0tjs-f1_dKj_6QZUj-TpBb6K859ZUw2IoUpppK3fkdHow7d2jo16AQMI/s1600-h/123%252520Signature%25255B5%25255D%25255B5%25255D.jpg "123 Signature[5]")
26 comments:
Good day. I am just sooo tired this time of year. We had 10 inches of snow around Christmas. I am just ready for longer days!! :)
Kate~ I've been meaning to stop by and say "hello" for so long. Life so gets in the way of our blogging, doesn't it? I've read your last few posts, and I want to say, I am so sorry for your loss. It's never easy to reconcile these losses in our minds and I often think the grayness and coldness of winter don't help in these instances. At any rate, you've been in my thoughts lately, and perhaps that's why.
xoxo, Susan
P.S. Modern Family never fails to make us laugh too!
Better is good. The Life of PiE made me laugh too. :)
I am glad to hear your day was better . It is cold here but sunny and all our snow has gone I don't mind as long as there's sunshine ! Your supper looks YUMMY ! I like to make stir fry with rice a mix of veggies , chicken and a bit of sweet n sour or plum sauce. Lovely photos ! Oh that pic made me giggle thanks . I LOVE Downton Abby , I watch pretty much all the British shows have for years . I will look out for that book by Kate Morton . I cant stand that when you get half way through a book that keeps you and then drops off literally ! Have a good day !
I'm exhausted actually and I can tell that this is going to be the kind of week that I am just going to close my eyes and hope I make it through to the other side.... Nothing major; just everything a little off. Soooooooooo, I am very happy for my blogger friends who keep me smiling :) thanks for the smiles and I am glad you are better. And any movie recommendations you have are always welcomed :)
Good day. Reading you happy is very nice. Would it be too bold to beg to be on your reading list with the E edition of my novel?
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I felt the same way about the Kitchen House...
Last night I re-read The Remains of the Day, sigh, I just love that book.
Life of Pie was good, too *snort*
Looks YUMMY Kate!
(that other shot made me laugh too :)
That meal looks lovely Kate. As it is so very cold here - inus 6 - I made a huge shepherd's pie - carrots, parsnips, mushrooms, peppers, onions, tomatoes, cannelini beans, minced lamb - then topped it with mashed potatoes and butter and a layer of grated cheddar. It was delicious and the farmer even said so - that doesn't happen very often.
Glad you are feeling happier - if you want some winter you can have some of ours with pleasure.
Glad to know you are feeling better. I have been recommending the book The Midwife of Hope River to everyone. It is a great book, I hated to have it end. Give it a try. Take care.
I'm so glad you're feeling better
I'm a big Downton Abbey fan, I love every minute of it
I'll check out the book
hugs
I'm really glad you feel better!
Love the pictures. Your recipe looks good, but my hubby hates peas and carrots. Actually he just informed me he didn't like soup either.
No soup, no casseroles, no one pot meals. He had to fix his own supper last night.
made me smile ...
Hi Kate. Recipe for Shepherd's Pie:
Gently soften chopped onions in a large pan and then add one pound of minced lamb and cook until it has lost its redness and is beginning to brown. Then turn it into a casserole and add chopped vegetables - I used carrots, parsnips, peppers, mushrooms plus a tin of drained cannelini beans and a tin of chopped tomatoes. Season well, add a good teaspoonful of dried thyme and a tablespoonful of Worcester sauce. Add just enough stock to cover and cook in the oven for an hour until the veggies are well-cooked. Meanwhile peel, cut small and boil or steam potatoes and then mash them well with butter and milk and season well. Take the meat and veg out of the oven and if the liquid is too sloppy thicken it so that it will hold a layer of potato. Top the mixture with the mashed potato and cover the top with grated cheese. Then put in the oven until the top is crisp and brown. Good luck.
I finished The House at Riverton a few months ago, I hope you enjoy it!
Better is a good thing! :)
Kat
I've always thought that a new day gives us better moods and hopes. Seems like that has happened for you. It's all a time thing, I think. Time to recover emotionally.
Your photo is lovely. We've had a bit of snow showers but nothing stayed. Frozen solid though for almost a week.
My puppy, Jodie Belle, likes sliding around the yard. My older dog, Maddy Jean, just looks at her while she does it.
Cooking, I'm not one at all.
Reading, I'm on the second book in a three part series and reading that very slowly.
Enjoy the quiet moments as they are the best parts of the day.
xo,
JC
So good to read that you had a better day!
Your lunch looks delicious, I bet. ;-)
I noticed the new Land-O-Lakes butter with olive oil, but had no opportunity to actually taste it.
Btw, I am always in awe of your bird pictures. The nuthatch below is so beautiful. There are some around here, too.
Life has ebbs and flows, ups, and downs..so does blogging. I applaud you for being honest, and I am so glad to hear that you found comfort from the comments.
That rice looks wonderful.
At first I thought Kate Morton wrote habits of the house, which was recommended as if you like DA you will love this book, it was tedious, and felt just like the characters were copied from DA. I am going to search out Kate Mortons book, thanks for mentioning it.
Jen
better is always good....and sometimes it's baby steps to get there, but that's okay, too....
our winter has turned into nothing but just cold. the blizzard remnants are minimal at best and grossly dirty...
i hate cold.
xoxo
I just had a salad for lunch but would have really really rather had that chicken mix you made! Great photo btw! And I just caught up on your sleepless post...I can lay (or lie)..whatever..awake until the wee hours on any given night but it probably happens at least 3 times a week. Hate it! Next time, I'll turn the computer on and maybe something will overtake my dark thoughts. Re. that 'conversation'...have had that many times w/my mom...there is no easy response or any response, for that matter. And, with her, there is no reasoning. I just go with the flow...it's difficult. PS - fabulous fog photos XOXOXO
Love the winter sunset photo ~ so beautiful! I'm not a fan of this season because I hate cold (especially when you add wind), but that sun makes me swoon. :)
P.S. I saw that photo too LOL
We have some spare snow for ya up here Kate! xo
I loved The Kitchen House, thought it was a great book. Glad your having a better day.
Life has a way of changing and glad to hear that yours has. Thanks for your beautiful photos.
Wow--the chicken dish looks yummy! Don't you love to be able to take left-overs and make them into a whole new dish, and for it to come out so good! I enjoy doing it, enjoy eating it--but my husband still thinks of it as "left-overs." I believe I've found the reason he doesn't like "left-overs"! He grew up a child of nine children, whose parents were tenant farmers. They never HAD left overs! His mama always cooked 3 meals a day---including some sort of potatoes, always with biscuits (homemade!) 1 or 2 vegetable side dishes, and a fried or roasted meat. Those farm boys were never hungry--and if there were leftovers from the mid day meal, they scooped them up when they got home from school. Poor dear mom-in-law-- but, her pride and joy were her skills in the kitchen--and the smiles she got for her cooking were her reward for all the clothes she had to wash, canning she had to do, and a thousand other things she accomplished in a day, plus nursing the babies as they came along!
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