Bawlmerese for Enjoy Your Meal
The Universe was kind to me at Great Grapes. Despite my complete conviction that I was destined to, at some point, put my foot in my mouth, I managed to avoid saying anything so utterly embarrassing that I wanted to crawl under the table. Those gems, I save for this here blog. But as the Universe giveth, the Universe taketh away. Continue reading “Great Grapes 2010”
The following originally appeared on 4/4/08 at Exit 51
Road Trippin’
The camera is already packed away, otherwise I’d have a photo to post showing that’s the playlist on my iPod for the trip. Just a few more days and I’ll be headed out on holiday. The question has been asked how it is that I’ve come to be going on vacation just now. More than the question, is the reaction I get when people realize that I’m going away while my husband is still overseas. I swear that I can see the wheels turning in their heads…it goes something like this: Continue reading “Flashback Friday – Road Trippin’”
To celebrate the fact that it’s Friday and that we’ve reached the unofficial start of summer, I’m giving away two tickets to the upcoming Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival. To enter, leave your response to the following statement – My Favorite Food Memory Is Of….
The comments will be open between now and midnight on Sunday, June 6th. I’ll use Random.Org to select two winners who will each receive one ticket.
Be sure you include your email address in the comment field so that I can contact you for additional information if you are a winner. Tickets will be left at Will Call for pick up.
The following originally appeared on 3/18/08 at Exit 51
The Reveal
Now that SFC has seen the finished work at the house, I guess I can share the photos. Lord knows I had enough to say about the whole process as it went on…
We went from this kitchen:
To this kitchen:
And from our tired old bathroom, to this bathroom:
It’s like night and day. I’m thrilled that the work is done and that we didn’t try and make these DIY projects. We had talked about maybe doing the bathroom ourselves, but seeing the guys using a jackhammery thing to get our old floor up convinced me that it was better left to professionals.
There are a few things I wish we would have added to the project but overall, it’s pretty much what I had imagined.
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. We see those buzz words everywhere but how often do we consider how to implement them into our lives? Recycle is easy thanks to Baltimore City transitioning to single stream recycling each week. Sheila, you and I may not have agreed on much while you were Mayor but I would personally like to thank you for expanding the recycling program.
There are also great local resources like Free Store and Book Thing for other forms of recycling. And even though I know I probably consume just as much as the next person, I’m hard pressed to find ways to reduce. Although if you asked The Mistah, he’d say to start with the growing collection of purses and shoes that are taking over our limited closet space. Ok, so reduce continues to be a struggle.
But reuse, that’s just the flip side of recycle. What gets recycled by me today can get reused by someone else tomorrow. Like that copper pan up there. That tarnished beauty was hiding on a dusty back shelf in a Goodwill store. After a good cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend, it was gleaming and bright. All for less than $2. So yes, it really does pay to be thrifty.
One of the following statements is true:
A) I detest bacon.
B) I am fearless in the face of yeast.
C) I cook food and I eat food so now we’ll find out if I can also talk about food.
I hope you all know me well enough by now to have picked C because I will be participating in a Food Blogger panel at Great Grapes.
Great Grapes is a two day extravaganza of wine, food, arts, music, and fun. Local food bloggers Minx Eats, Mango and Ginger, and The Baltimore Snacker will be doing the hard work when they participate in the live cooking demonstrations (1PM Saturday). I will be part of the food discussion (3PM Sunday) along with What’s To Eat Baltimore‘s Liz Stambaugh, The Upstart Kitchen‘s Wendy Tien, and Jessica Lemmo of Adventures in Baltimore Restaurants. Dara Bunjon of Dining Dish will moderate our mayhem.
Two Wendi’s. One stage. What are the chances of that?
Here’s what you need to know:
What: Great Grapes 2010
When: June 12th and 13th, 12pm – 6pm (rain or shine)
Where: Oregon Ridge Park
Check out the Great Grapes website for a complete list of the participating wineries, musical entertainment, and to purchase tickets.
The following originally appeared on 1/22/08 on Exit 51.
Thanks, But No Thanks
I get way too many catalogs and junk in the mail. It all ends up in the recycling bin and most of it never even gets a second look. The way I figure it, if I want to buy something from Crate and Barrel, William Sonoma, or Eddie Bauer, I’ll go on their website. Them sending me catalogs every few weeks isn’t going to prompt me to make a purchase.
And the thing is, once you do order something from a merchant it seems like an avalanche of random catalogs follows. Just last week, I got one from Sundance. ‘Scuse me, I’ve never been to Sundance, never knew they had a retail side, never visited their web site, and certainly never bought from them. But sure enough, I got their catalog.
I was pretty much resigned to just being reactive to the onslaught. But after reading this article –
– in the Washington Post, I went on the offensive. I’m not endorsing these websites or their services, but I think it’s worth checking out if it means less junk in the mail. I will be interested to see if I manage to escape the catalog crush going forward. Pottery Barn…you’ve been put on notice!
I’ve got a google reader set up to follow along with a whole slew of blogs. Every so often I’ll read something online that makes me stop and say hmmmm. Or laugh out loud. Or genuinely touches me in some way. And I’ll think to myself that I should post links to these things. And then I’m distracted by some bright, shiny object, or a recipe for the world’s best cake frosting, or the weekly Lost chat over at the Washington Post (how I will miss you), and I promptly forget all about it. So this is me remembering not to forget to send out some link love.
How To Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting To Kill You @ The Oatmeal – If you’ve ever had a cat, you know it’s the god’s honest truth.
A Random Grab Bag @ Wendi Aarons – She says the things I wish I were witty enough to even think. Did she really work Samuel L. Jackson, Barry Manilow, and The Golden Rule into a single narrative? She sure did.
Help Me Help You @ Pastry Methods and Techniques – At what point in recent history did good manners and common sense become obsolete?
Unexpected Love Bomb @ LoveFeast Table – I can’t find the words to say how this touched me. Just go read it.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress…
The following originally appeared on 12/22/07 at Exit 51.
New Year Soundtrack
I’ll share mine if you’ll share yours….and if my guests and I can’t find something to tap our feet to in any of this then shame on us.
Wouldn’t Be So Bad – Alison Krauss & Union Station
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Barenaked Ladies
Life Goes to a Party – Benny Goodman
But Not for Me – Benny Goodman
Mr. Heat Miser – Big Bad Voodoo DaddyI’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm – Billie Holiday
California Stars – Billy Bragg & Wilco
Hawaiian Christmas Song – Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters
The Nutcracker Suite – The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives
Minnie the Moocher – C.C. Productions
Take the ‘A’ Train – Cab Calloway
Grace Is Gone – Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds Live At Radio City
Someday We’ll Be Together – Diana Ross & The Supremes
White Christmas – The Drifters
Santa Baby – Eartha Kitt & Henri René
Santa Claus is Back in Town – Elvis Presley
Some Enchanted Evening – Frank Sinatra
The Christmas Waltz – Frank Sinatra
I’ll Be Seeing You – Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra
Christmas Cookies – George Strait
Joy – George Winston
In the Mood – Glenn Miller
Song For a Winter Night – Gordon Lightfoot
Christmas Dreaming – Harry Connick Jr.
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day – Johnny Cash
Tell Me ‘Bout It – Joss Stone
O Holy Night – The Judds
Christmas Island -Leon Redbone
Baby It’s Cold Outside – Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanel
Sentimental Journey – Les Brown & His Orchestra
I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, Jing-A-Ling – Les Brown
Roll On – The Little Willies
Cool Yule – Louis Armstrong & The Commanders
Changes – Mocean Worker featuring Herb Alpert
Brown Liquor – Mocean Worker featuring Marcus Miller
I Got You – Mocean Worker featuring Morley
Shake Ya Boogie – Mocean Worker featuring Steven Bernstein
How Long Has This Been Going On? – Peggy Lee
Somebody Else Is Taking My Place – Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman
History Repeating – Propellerheads & Shirley Bassey
What’d I Say, Pts. 1 & 2 – Ray Charles
My Ever Changing Moods – The Style Council
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2
St. Louis Blues (Take 1) – Various Artists
Stompin’ at the Savoy – Various Artists
Stardust – Various Artists & Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
Mustang Sally – Wilson Pickett
Feel free to add any of these to your party playlist with my best regards. And on that note, I will wish you all a happy holiday and a wonderful new year. See you in ‘08!
The following originally appeared on 12/16/07 at Exit 51
You Don’t Say
My 85 year old grandmother caught me off guard this morning. As I was dropping the ladies off at church she said, “My week goes better when I get my God on.”
You go grandma!
Bon Appetit Hon by Wendi Mosteiko is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Bon Appetit Hon 