A Lotta Chicharrones

Gentle Friends, with pityful little stitching from last week I decided to just skip the stitching post for this week... but I wanted to miss posting this week so how about somethng delicious!!  

A little backgorund... I have quite a few friends going Keto, not me I refuse to give either sugar or carbs, but I do enjoy many of the Keto things available.  One of the products a friend got in a "trial box" of Keto related things was som chicharrones, pork rinds or as I like to call them - pork scratchins'....  from a company in Ohio, yes, Ohio called Pork King...  He brought some in and I was enamorded instantly with them.... so I ordered and Variety 6 Pack......

... it was free shipping, can you belive free anything!!

... and these delicious bags of treats fell out.  They are really delicious and if you like good chicharrones I can highly recommend these.  They are available mostly east of me, so I have to order them via the internet, but they came quickly and are totally worth the trouble!!

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by do stop again!

Good Thoughts! Good Words! Good Deeds!

edgar

A Little Sweet

Gentle friends, you may or may not know that Amazon is a place that you can find damn near anything you want, need or just plain desire....  well, one of my greatest temptations and favorite things are known well to my family and friends is my overwhelming love of black licorice.  Now, I'm talking deep lovely anise flavored licorice and anise flavored things... now I'm talking about some lovely Sambuca... back to licorice... a favorite of type of mine would have to be Pontefract cakes, - a delicious treat from England and in the past when to mood hit me I had to order them from sweet shoppes in the UK.  Well, I got the hankering the other day and started looking around on Amazon at the different black licorices available.... and found a trove of different kinds of licorice from Holland.  From past experience, I knew that the licorice from Holland was simply to die for...  I had tried lots of different variations of Dutch licorice ..... salt, double salt and sweet black licorice.  I really do not care for the salted kind, but the sweet black licorice ...yummy!! 

In my search, I ran up against something totally new to me..."Schoolkrijt," "Licorice Chalk " or "Licorice Ice" ..... I was intrigued... after I did a little looking around and reading I figured that there would probably be a 90% or better chance I would love this freaking stuff...so throwing caution to the wind I ordered a bag and....  here's what came...

... for those not knowing what you're actually looking at, "licorice chalk" is a black tubular piece of licorice that is covered with a very thin, crunchy deliciously minty shell.... well, I opened up the bag and out came a dusty, lovely mint odor... I popped one of these suckers in my gaping maw... and was immediately in a swoon!!  Just so you know...these are the bomb and my new very favorite candy!!!  

Just a little aside, peppermint is my next very favorite flavor so to combine these two together was right close to my nirvana!!!!  I immediately ordered another bag so that I won't run out of the stuff anytime soon..... so...  if you like black licorice and not many folks do, and you like peppermint then you should give these a try if given the chance.

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That's about it for today sports fans.... tomorrow's post is all about "sugar skulls"......

Take care,

edgar

Some Fall Treats.... and some Tricks.....

Gentle Friends, I thought I would talk about some good things and some questionable things..... first up are "Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars with Caramel Swirl" - found at Food and Wine.  They were a little bit of trouble but ooooh sooo goood!!!

........  a bit late for October and all the "PUMPKIN" stuff everywhere... but we found these at Safeway, and let me tell you, delicious!!!

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Now, for the odd .... you know I do like Peeps. every season, every year, year in and year out for as far back as I can remember - mmmmmm good..... so when I saw these I thought, why not try them out.  I'm always up for trying the new and unusual.......

... so I got them home and after opening and dumping them out this is what came out.......

... and they were super sticky - they tasted very sour, that was good - but were weird chewy and just too sticky........  and then on to the very odd.....

......  we were at Bev Mo (for those that don't know what this place is click HERE for more info) picking up a libation called Grey Goose, and saw along the back of the store dozens and I mean dozens of different sodas.  I found this bacon one and thought "I like bacon" so why not give it a try...........  now, I chilled it, poured it over some ice and took a sip....... odd I thought, took another sip and thought not just odd but not good.  It tasted like liquid sweet Bac-O's bacon bits.  I poured it out and learned a lesson, to skip the next bacon flavoured soda.

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There you go sports fans, thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

A Couple of "Sweet" Shots......

Gentle Friends, the week is wrapping up on a "sweet" note today....  you remember how much we like Trader Joe's and make a weekly trek there... a couple of weeks ago we stumbled onto a new product, or new to us, it is just scrumptiousness in a jar.....

....  this has got to be the best caramel sauce I've ever tried....  I know caramel is easy to make, and homemade is much better.... blah blah blah..... but, to just be able to unscrew the top and have access to this nectar is great!!  I can't recommend this stuff highly enough, and if you nuke it for 20 or so seconds to warm it up it is even more delicious.  - and - a table spoon in coffee is also a treat!!

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I'll leave you with this last shot, it is one that Rico took with his phone of some super sweet butts.....

....it's a bit on the blurry side, as it was "chicken" time.  Let me explain what "chicken" time is - at our house at 5 pm we need to get three little pills into the Peach for her heart issues.  How we do it, is to get some "Just Chicken" from trader Joe's, grind it up, and then hide her pills in a lump of ground chicken, and yes, they all know what the word "chicken" is and immediately take up positions in the kitchen for some.  The "butt" snap from  l to r is Humpi, Peach, Smokie and Lolly.

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There you go sports fans, another week gone and only 208 days until Christmas!!  Have a great weekend, and thanks for stopping by do stop again!!

take care,

edgar

I Like a Routine

Gentle Friends, as you well know by now I am a creature of habit.  Year in and year out I like knowing whats going to happen, doing the same things, knowing when and where and for how long.....  pretty boring, but that's the way I am, gotta love it.  Now, with that said, life usually throws a curve ball in my direction about every three seconds to disrupt my ever pleasant, even going, temperate nature (there would be those who would disagree with that little statement..... but, I do love my rose coloured glasses!!) and one was thrown in our direction yesterday.

Our routine for Sunday is as follows....  attend 8 am Mass, then on to breakfast, either at Mickey D's or some Cafe, then on to Trader Joe's, then home.....  yesterday we decided to go to Mickey D's, and part way through my Bacon/Egg and Cheese biscuit the fire alarms went off.  After sitting about 5 minutes listening to the racket, and getting no information - we gathered up what was left of breakfast an trotted out to the car to finish.  After another 5 or so minutes - the Fire Truck, Hook and Ladder, Emergency Vehicles and mall Security all showed up and tossed everyone out of TJ's ( Trader Joe's is two doors down from Mickey D's) we knew we were not getting to do our regular TJ run.  We do have options, there are a few other TJ's in the area, so we drove down to the West lake one, about 5 minutes down the road from Stonestown Mall..... I knew that on the way was.....

... so we stopped and picked up......

... thank goodness this Krispy Kreme is a good distance out of the City, any closer and it might get to be a regular stop on the weekends!!  We did get to the TJ's down in West lake and eventually made it home to settle down into a regular Sunday afternoon.......  and late in the afternoon I made a pot of tea and it was made extra delicious with one of these donuts!!!!

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Another Seasonal routine I like, when it comes around is Easter and the candy explosion......  you can tell it's near Easter when this is sitting out.......

......  like candy corn in the Fall, Black Jelly Beans are the harbinger of Spring in my book!!!!

That's about it for today sports fans, thanks for stopping by, do stop again!!

Take care,

edgar

We Have a Winner and Some "Peep's"

Gentle Friends, I had the Hag Claw and the Who Hounds draw a name from the BoD (Bowl of Destiny) yesterday.  

I used a stoneware Butter crock I found at my mom's for the bowl....  and out of the BoD ............

............ out came Maggee's name!!  I have sent off an email for shipping info - Thank you all for entering.  I am thinking up another Drawing soon so stay tuned.

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Over the weekend we went shopping, and bought some new shoes and picked up some Easter treats to send off to the nieces and nephews.  Of course I picked up some treats for us - and here's a snap..

In my Easter bowl - that I have out each year - I filled with gummy AND sour rabbits - I forgot who made these...  might be a Wonka treat - but, boy are they good - I do love gummy and sour!!  I also found these Peep's in the piles of Peeps available.  Now, I know that they are not to every one's taste, but I love a good Peep!

I also love that they these are 60th Anniversary Peep's - I pulled out a little dessert plate that looks like spring to me - and sets off these sparkly marshmallow birds.  They have a hint of a vanilla taste to them, and the colorful sprinkles and just that, sparkly colour, no flavour.  But, they are fun and do say Happy Easter!!!

There you go - the weekend, I also worked a little on Elizabeth, and will post a snap in the morning.  Thanks for stopping by, do stop again!

Take care,

edgar

Thursday Looking at the Weekend

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends it is Thursday and I know I am and probably you are also, in fact we are all probably looking towards the weekend.  Ahhhhh those glorious two days of "rest." 

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Not very much to report this morning - just sitting here - eating my raisin snail...

we picked up on the way in this morning......  drinking my faux Mocha coffee...

I throw a shot of Hershey's syrup in my cup of XXDark French Roast coffee -  et voila - faux mocha - and it's healthy too - read the add!!!

Not much else to report - worked some on Shores - lots of dark grey for the roof - I also found a little Fallish/Thanksgiving piece I want to stitch up before I get to Christmas stitching - I need to make a working copy ( I try and never stitch for the original) and pull a piece of linen, but I had all the floss I needed so it is practically kitted up.  :)

I wonder how many of us try and stitch seasonally???  

I think that is about it for today sports fans - short and sweet..........sweet treats...... I do love a good raisin snail, now I'm back to the pastry!! - in fact I sort enjoy raisins in just about anything - delicious!!

Take care,

edgar

Mid Week Post

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends here we sit at the middle of the week looking forward to the weekend - I am actually looking at only one more day and a super three day weekend.  

How did I wangle that - you may ask????

I took off this Friday because my little sister is coming into town for a visit.  Her Birthday is Monday and since she is turning the delicate age of "29" once again, she is coming for a little break from her life and spending it here with us.  It should be lots of fun -and we already have a few things planned to do - one request she made was to eat at some "fun" restaurants - well if San Francisco has anything it's lots of fun places to eat!!

Yesterday's post stirred up some great comments and emails - and I do appreciate them.  After I write a post I am never sure how some of things I am posting will go over - and it is always nice to get some feed back.  Yvonne mentioned one of my favorite flickers "A Christmas Story" and likened the "Snow Garden" to the restaurant that they eat Christmas dinner in after the turkey is gobbled up by the Bumpass' dogs.  I never thought about it but how accurate - and I got a laugh thinking about the similarities!!

Judes asked about the french commode that I snapped a picture of - I have no idea of the price, but next time I see one in the window I will check it out and let you know - I am sure they are terribly expensive - those shops usually are.
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If you remember an earlier posting about Icee Pops - and my crazy love of them - 

I was at Walgreen's and I found these.....

They are pretty tasty - and unlike those super sour ones from last time these are delicately sweet - not much marshmallow taste, but a pastel like taste - if pastel had a flavour.  I know, I'm a nut, but you gotta try everything, right??

There you go sports fans.  Thanks for stopping by - do come again.

Take care,

edgar

Finally Framed Finishes

Gentle Readers and Dear Friends thank  you so much for your input about floss colours - I think I know the direction to take....

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Yesterday evening we drove down to South City, as a visit to Target was needed and there isn't one in San Francisco - and  - since it is only about 10 minutes away it is close enough to make a quick stop.  While we where there I thought about checking on the two pieces I had being framed at Michael's (you just can not beat a 70% off coupon) - I hadn't gotten a call but they are getting much quicker in the turn around of things.  Luck was with me they had them finished up and just waiting for me - I call the serendipitous!!

Of course I took some snaps that really aren't half bad - for me at least.... The two pieces I had framed where the "Emblem of Love" Round Robin that I arranged with Wendy Jo, Suzanne, Margaret. Carol and Deb.  The pattern is "An Emblem of Love" designed by Ellen Chester of "with my Needle."

I had it framed up tight like a traditional Quaker but chose a brighter frame with a little band of blue that I think brings out the blue in the piece.  Here is a close up of the frame....

I really enjoyed this RR - and love the group stitching on a piece.... Now, I need to think about starting up another one.....  any takers??

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The second piece I had framed up is a piece I did a couple of years ago called "Les Jardin des Arbes" (The Garden of Trees) designed by d'Isabelle Vautier for the French Cross Stitch Magazine Mains & Marveilles.  The magazine was OOP and I had the darnedest time finding a copy... but, with the kind loan of a copy by Julianna that I was able to do this really beautiful sampler.

I chose this frame because it looks all woodsy and I think fits the piece - it also has a light blue stripe that picks up the floss in the piece ( I did not use the recommended DMC Floss but came up with my own over dyed palette for this piece)  Here is a close up of this frame...

Both pieces where made because of the friends I have met through this Blog and will always remind me of them!!  I do thank everyone that either stitched and or help in the making of these lovelies... now to get them up on the wall.

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At Target I found these treats....

..... for the freezer.  You know I love me some Icy Pops - and to find super sour ones - woohoo!!!!!

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There you go sports fans.  Thanks again for all the kind comments and for stopping by.  

Have a wonderful weekend!!

 Take care,

edgar