A special thank you for all the moms out there for all you do. Whether you're a born to the job mom, a foster mom, a mentor/mom, or just a general molley-coddler to all, you are so appreciated for your love, encouragement and support all year through

Wigelia Joy

I love wigelia bushes! They're so happy with their dancing little trumpets. We have several and they've begun to bloom in earnest. I just had to share.

This one is a purple wigelia: the foliage is a deep burgundy purple fading to green in the center as you can see below. The blooms are a dark pink. This bush grows under window of the home office; from the inside, those blooms are dancing on the window ledge.

This is a row of a different variety of wigelia. Their foliage is a brighter green and the blooms are a paler pink.

The fencing is a salvage propped against the side of the house behind the bushes. They look so cottagey cute and the wall is so suburban blank without them. It's not visible in today's pictures but we've hung a copper sun on the wall above the fencing. The scene makes me so happy when I pull into the driveway.

Hope your spring is lovely, too.

Feed My Soul

It seems like I've had this pair of pants on my sewing table for months. They're finally finished and I got to wear them to work yesterday! They're the Simplicity 4366 that I wrote of earlier. They're made from a navy blue microfiber I purchased on a mini-vacay to Land Between The Lakes. I've tried to photo them on, but I'm a poor self-photographer and my schedule is so wonky this week what little time I have with family is better spent without a camera. The fly treatment was new for me and I'm still undecided whether I like it or not. I had one of those lightbulb moments, and suddenly the hemming foot made sense to me and worked beautifully. I have a lovely blind hem for for the first time!

Sewing seems to have fallen very low on the priority list since October. I'm not sure how that happened but I sure need to change it--it gives me so much that "feeds" my spirit. I dearly love fabric & colors and sewing allows me to saturate myself in them. It's also a creative process matching the color scheme to fabric and pattern and determining the processes to be used in construction and whether or not add embelishment to the project. There's also the visible gratification when a problem, and there's always a problem, is successfully resolved. (I also have a "That was easy" button I can hit for a little verbal praise, too.) I enjoy learning and sewing involves so many skills there'll never be nothing left to learn. Best of all, I love that wonderful sense of accomplishment and pride when that project is finished. For there's always a 3 year child lurking in all of us that says "I made that!"

What's For Dinner?

I'm really enjoying the quiet this morning. We're having one of those soft, soaking, spring rains that even the birds play in. Mr B's little herb garden is visibly growing it seems. Especially since he put up the little chicken wire fence to keep out the bunnies. Bad bunnies, nibbling on those baby herbs before we get to!

Last night was one of those quickie dinners that looks like Rachel Ray or Martha made. (I was so proud of it and basking in the compliments, I'll admit.) We had Pepperoni Grill Cheese sandwiches with Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms for Mr B and I and kids had Cucumbers in Sour Cream-Dill Dressing (they hate mushrooms).

Pepperoni Grill Cheese Sandwich
1 foccaccia bread (I use one from Walmart that comes with a pepperoni & cheddar topping, you could easily add that yourself)
Cheddar Cheese slices or Spread. (I found a super-yummy spread at Sam's Club 24oz for around $10 that family loves and actually goes pretty far.)
I simply slice the bread horizontally, spread on the cheese, re-top it, then slice it in half to fit on my Foreman grill. Grill it for about 5 minutes with a heavy object (canned good, flour bag) on top for the panini effect. Repeat for the other half. Feeds 4-5.

Mushrooms Stuffed with Tomatoes and Spinach
2 Portobello Mushrooms
1 large tomato, diced
1 cup free spinach, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1-2 cloves garlic, according to personal taste, minced
2 tsp dried basil (until our basil grows large enough to use)
3 tbsp parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Rinse and pat mushrooms dry. Coat caps with olive oil using pastry brush. Place on baking sheet with caps down. Mix remaining ingredients in medium mixing bowl then fill the mushrooms with this "pesto". Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. You can also grill this outdoors and is wonderful.

As a side note for the thrifty cooks out there: This meal came in at around $7 total including kid's cucumber salad; feeding 4 of us and took about 20 minutes from start to finish.

Martha Moment: Maple-Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

Ever have one of those moments in time where your domestic effort comes together so beautifully and perfectly you feel like Martha Stewart? Last night's dinner made me feel like Martha. I present to you:

Maple Roasted Sweet Potatoes over Brown Rice with Green Beans with Almonds

I've been yearning for this chicken dish since I saw in in the Feb '09 issue of Real Simple. I made it in the crock pot, however, instead of roasted it in the oven for 1 hour and 40 minutes.

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 onion cut into 1-inch wedges

6 sprigs fresh thyme (I used dried)

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt & pepper

1 3½-4 lb chicken cut into 8 pieces (I used only 3 large breasts)

3 tablespoons maple syrup

After browning the chicken briefly, I placed it in the crockpot. In a medium bowl, I tossed the sweet potatoes and onions with the salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil then dumped them on top. Drizzle the maple syrup over all, cover and cook til done.

About 25 minutes before serving, I made the brown rice and served the chicken and potatoes on top of it. The green beans were frozen, sauteed with olive oil til crisp tender with a little basil and a bag of sliced almonds left over from a Wendy's salad--fake green bean almondine on the quick. Delicious, filling, and leftover lunches for three and cost approx. $7.50 for everything.

I still feel so very Martha ......

Real Thai

Bad Thai ------- Good Thai

Oh what a world of difference! Until last night, the "Bad Thai" was the only Thai I had ever eaten before. And that was only purchased to add interest to the camping menu!

Mr B. and I went to the new Thai restaurant , the only one in our rural part of the world. What a wonderous treat!

Mr B. had the Pad Thai noodles:
I had the Red Curry and Rice

I am madly in love with the subtle complexeties of flavoring. Each bite showers the palate with taste sensations: citrus, coconut, curry, chili, ginger, garlic, basils, sweet, spicy. The appetizers were delicate spring rolls and a lovely cucumber sauce that was Mama the Cook's own recipe. I could make a meal off that alone but then would deprive myself of the treat of gorging on all the other great stuff!

A return visit is a must. Granted, the budget won't allow for that kind of eating out often, so I may have to look for some coconut milk and recipes and start learning. Mmmmm practice is half the fun.

It's been kind of a funky last two weeks here on Bittersweet Lane. Both Mr. B and I have had emotionally draining turmoil in our workplaces but both places seem to be settling down (or we're aclimating to it). Kiddo 3 has been stressing over several papers for her college classes especially the one where she has to interview the owner of a hotel/motel that houses sex offenders (in a seedy part of town, of course). She was accompanied by a classmate. Kiddo 4 is struggling to write papers for his Senior Portfolio, necessary for graduation. He has a very dry, sardonic sense of humor (can't imagine where he gets it from) and is guarded about his emotions. Unfortunately, the teacher doesn't get the humor and has some kind of Lifetime-movie notion of reaching each child's emotional core, exposing it and saving/reforming/tranforming them. That is so not going to happen with this Aspy.

I was checking out favorite blogs this morning, and was amazed at Hip to Save's shopping trip to Walgreen's this week here. Isn;t she amazing!!

On the happy things front, my sewing machine is is happily purring away. After a monthlong hiatus, I finally got the sewing mojo back.

I'm working on Simplicity 4366, view B, the lower righthand photo, in a dark navy blue microfiber. It feels so good to sew again. That creative process is so restorative to my emotional well-being and keeps the closet stocked, too.