Dr. Frankenschtein I presume?

Happy Halloween from Abby Normal

aka bride of Dr. Frankenschtein

I'm Not Touching You..

I hosted a bridal shower in the barn for my friend Darcy a couple weeks ago. Coming up with a menu that would please her finicky palate was somewhat of a challenge at first, but then when I stepped back and realized all I had to do was keep it super simple. Don't stray from the tried and true.

Facts:

Darcy loves chicken parm, she and her betrothed have been going out for it every Thursday night ~to a dive in Greenwich~ for about as long as I can remember.

So instead of wondering what muse bouche I could create where none of the foods touched - that's one of her food quirks - I figured I would make mini chicken parms. They were easy, quick and tasted great. A good suggestion for a halloween party? Kids would love these!

I bought some fabulous chicken cutlets at my favorite italian market, A&S Fine Foods, sliced them in half, cut out leaf shaped little nuggets using a cookie cutter. Heart shape would have been cute too, given it's a shower but my heart cookie cutter was too big. Using just the bottom half of a store brand hamburger bun I also cut out a leaf shape and put those in tidy little rows on a sheet pan (very cool vintage sheet pan I might add) use parchment paper for easy cleanup. Took a teaspoon and plopped on some Fairway pasta sauce (Love Fairway, there is one coming to Stamford!), next Kraft grated mozz cheese ( I did a shoot with Kraft not so long ago, wanted to support the man) stick the whole thing in a preheated 350 oven 'till cheese is bubbly and serve immediately. Yum. Darcy was happy and that is really all that mattered.

But hey, I just realized these foods are touching?! They're touching!!! They are touching and she still loved them!

My autumnal obsession....

Planting Bulbs

these anemone corms (that look like dried up giant raisins) need to be soaked in water overnight before you plant, to rehydrate them

I can never plant enough of these early blooming tiny iris (iris reticulata) they brighten up those gray, damp days of late winter when you are so over snow and ready for flip flops.

Best when planted en masse, and I am not just saying that because I am a bulb addict.

Oh.... the sweet scent of hyacinth.

I like when they bloom for the third or forth year and have more of an open habit.

Plant close to your most frequented door to catch the perfume these give off.

Heavenly!

Ice Follies Daffodils.

Does not get much better than this.

They multiply with wild abandon every year, like the Jenkins family.

Deer, Chipmunks and Squirrels detest them.

The start out with a yolk, farmers market yolk, yellow cup that fades to almost white.

Beautiful in the moon light.

Great cut flowers.

What else...oh readily available for little dinero at Home Depot.

They are perfect, I am about to head outside and plant a few hundred more of these right now.

Don't you want to plant a few smiles for next spring?!

Golden Days

Hope you are enjoying this magical time of year!

Hooray!

Saw this pillow displayed in a shop window in Paris, wish I'd bought it so I could flag our President down today when he came to our town ~ Stamford, CT ~ and have him sign it.

My fave part of this pillow is the clenched fist with H-O-P-E on the fingers.

Prison tat?

1968 limo underneath that?

HOPE or more like WISH I had a limo to get me through the traffic in our town today.

Still dig Obama.

Wanna take a nap on his laurel wrapped image.

Baby's First Bath

It was a bone chilling morning in Maine this past Sunday..

but a fire was burning in our hearts.

Surrounded by friends and family we christened and launched 'Nellie' our restored 1903 Herreshoff sailboat and my husband's dream come true.

Jeff proposed to me when we went up to see the pre-restored Nellie for the first time, almost three years ago,

making it a dream come true in more ways than one.

Click on this to check out some of her 'before' photos in the restoration gallery, you'll be amazed.

This is how she floats today

no mast yet but still a beautiful old girl!

We will celebrate many more joyous events on our big baby,

hopefully you can join us sometime!

Autumn, We Never Knew Ye

well, that was fast

my favorite time of the year,

gone in a flash

Glad I took these shots yesterday before it started snowing.

I am all for a wintery wonderland but would have loved to have an indian summer for a few more weeks!

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Peter Peppers

I could not help myself

My friend Willie, no pun intended, posted this on his FB today.

Peter Peppers.

I hope we have a veggie garden next year,

these would be fun to pickle and give out as hostess gifts!

as Paris would say

"That's HOT!"

A little bouquet for you!

I carved the top off a very large pan pan squash I bought at the Union Square Green Market, scraped out the seeds and gunk inside...jammed some oasis in there, filled it with water, and some flowers from our garden...to finish it all off I whittled down a chopstick so it had two pointy ends and stuck one end in the lid of the squash and the other in the oasis. Done and done, a cute little arrangement to bring as a hostess gift. We also used some large white squash like this as candleholders. Cute too. Hope you have somewhere fun to visit this weekend, or joy of all joys...get to stay home.

Autumn Leaves Are Falling....

Found this photo of my nephew Alex when I was on a search and rescue in my storage space looking for my 2003 receipts.

He is now 6'2", a big wig at Facebook and just as adorable.

....anyhooo......

Inspired by the ancient maple dropping her leaves on our patio I decided to make some leaf shaped pastry cups and leaves to freeze for Nellie's launch party in a couple weeks.

I really should be in my office taping receipts.

Cooking and baking always soothes my soul and I needed a break.

What else chills me out when I am stressed out?

Enjoying some hot oatmeal with chopped golden crisp apples out of a palm sized bowl,

wearing my Uggs and a warming morning fire in the fireplace.

I needed all these things this morning.

Needed.

Fall is Here!

I love this time of year!

I plan on filling the cups with some herbed goat cheese topped with diced grilled veggies.

On the pastry leaves I will pipe some smoked marlin dip and top with a slice of jalapeno!

Any other fillings you can suggest?

With the stress this audit is causing I am sure to have hundreds of these leaves soon!

Make the most of your day!

Random Thoughts

Autumn is here!

Fall has Fallen!?!

I started planting bulbs yesterday. I have bulb issues, can't plant enough. No matter how many thousands I plant in the fall there always seem to be blank spots in the spring. Here is a bouquet from last year. Love love love having enough to make tons of arrangements and not feel bad about picking them.

Last but not least. BUM PITS? come on!

I'm not putting those stinky things in my hair!

...and that is it for my random thoughts of the day.