Friday, April 26, 2013

Friday's Fave Five #240






Well, I don't know where on earth this week went but here it is Friday and I haven't done a single post all week.  What on earth happened?  Well I haven't a clue.  Don't know what to tell you but I do know I can pause a moment and look for blessings from the past week.  

1.  My first blessing was a dinner date with my hubby.  Just me and him out for some good food and to enjoy each other's company.  We went to our favorite restaurant and both our meals were excellent. I thought I knew what I wanted before we even got there but then I took a peek at their feature menu and it totally got me distracted.  What I ended up getting was a delicious steak, cooked perfectly to how I like it, with ricotta stuffed gnocchi in a delicious tomato sauce.  I really wish he'd let make take pictures of my meal at restaurants.  Hmmph.  Anyway, I love gnocchi and haven't had it for a long, long time.  I have never had it stuffed.  It was sooo good.  I wish they'd put it on their regular menu because at the end of the month it'll be gone, gone, gone and just a distant memory of a very good meal.

2.  A new comfy chair.  Our good ol' Lazy Boy was getting pretty warn.  The material was literally rubbed away in spots and the seams kept coming apart.  I bought upholstery needle and thread and sewed it.  And sewed again.  And again.  I finally gave up after the umpteenth time and that's how it sat for the last 6 months or so while hubby and I debated whether it might be worth it to recover it.  It was a swivel reclining rocker so we were a little concerned as to how much more life the mechanics of the recliner had left to it.  The last thing we wanted to do was get an expensive recover only to have the workings of the chair break down.  Finally we decided to go looking and found just what we wanted on a pretty good sale so we made the decision and said chair is now being enjoyed in my living room.  As for our poor worn rocker?  It found it's way downstairs for the kids and the cat.  LOL.

3.  Experimenting with new meals.  After all this time resisting the urge to go on Pinterest, my girls finally got me hooked at Christmas time.  And in no time flat I had pinned 358 recipes.  Ai karumba!!!! So this last couple of weeks I've determined to give some of them a try.  So I've tried this one with pesto I had in the fridge from Costco, it was pretty good.  And this one which was a big hit with the family and was absolutely delicious. 


I did change a couple of things such as prebaking the peppers for 10 minutes before stuffing and using grated mozzarella instead of the provolone.  Gotta use what I had on hand.

 And last night, I tried this one, which a pinner claimed was the world's best chicken, but I beg to differ.  I'm sure some would love it.  Son enjoyed it very much but suggested a touch less of the red wine vinegar the next time I make it but I'm not sure I will.  There are just so many chicken dishes out there that I would love more.  But it has been fun trying things out.  

4.   With snow falling, again, last weekend, yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous, sunshiny, warm spring day and today is supposed to be even warmer to the tune of 23*C (73*F).  I'll have to break out the shorts and tanks tops.  It is so about time!!

5.  Lots of reading time in above said sunshine.  While the kids did lots of outside playing yesterday, I was able to break open my book and get some good reading in.  Yay, for nice days and kids that play well together.

What were your favorite blessings this week?  




9 comments:

Willow said...

358??? Wow, that's almost a full year's worth of recipes! Well played, Susanne :)

Your days have been as warm or warmer than ours--I'm glad you're enjoying your outside time.

nikkipolani said...

Bummer about the no food pictures rule so I'll have go by your descriptions :-) Lots of good comfy stuff this week, Susanne. I haven't tried Pinterest for recipes. I'm afraid of the very thing that happened to you -- 358 pins!

Here's to more sunshine in your forecast.

Gattina said...

Snow ?? I hope it's over for you from now on ! I am actually at the French Riviera and here spring is in full bloom !

Laura@OutnumberedMom said...

So glad you've finally got some nice, sunny reading weather! I'm holding out on Pinterest...I think. I just don't need one more place to go! I'm sure I'd be entranced... And recipes would be the death of me.

Have a great week ahead, Susanne.

Faith said...

Yikes...SNOW???? thank the Lord we seem to be done with that in my part of New York State...finally! LOL

I love the look of that first chicken recipe (the pesto one) but the other 2 don't grab me. I had a pinterest account but i found my self on there too often...maybe I'll start one up again and just do hiking trails. I was going off in to too many area...teaching materials, books, recipes....OIY VAY!

Yay for new chairs...enjoy some reading time in that chair this weekend!

Barbara H. said...

So glad you're finally getting some springy weather!

I've had some hits and misses with Pinterest recipes, too, but I've only made a dent in the ones I've accumulated (558! Yikes!)

Glad the restaurant meal was so good. Sometimes the real-life version doesn't match up to the photo. LOL!

Glad you found a good, comfy chair. And reading times is always a fave! Glad the kids could get outside this week.

Snowbird said...

Oh NOOOOOO....not more snow!
How lovely that you got to sit and read in the sunshine though.

Your meals sounds splendid and nothing can beat a new comfy chair....and the cat and kids get the old one so win win eh?xxxx

Amy @ Hope Is the Word said...

Your make ME want to visit the restaurant and enjoy the meal! :-)

Yippee for a new chair!

And double yippee for reading time!

Mom24 said...

That sounds like a perfectly lovely week. I'm so glad for you.

Sadly, one of my little ones that I watch has decided rules are not for him and we have not been able to go outside for days. Grrr. I think I am more than ready for my summer break!

Your meal sounds lovely and I'd love to see a picture of the chair. We have one that needs recovering. I wish I had confidence that I could do it, but I just don't. On the list of things to spend $$ on. :)