Candy Jars

These are on a local bakery's counter - I really like the flow of the curves.

Early morning sun

Went into work earlier than normal the morning after the time change ...got to see a sunrise

carnivale cookie

This cookie was at a local bakery DH and I like ...

saw this one during this year's Carnivale period.

Welcome to Spring with a Supermoon

Spring opened up on 19 March with a Supermoon which was a full moon only 221,565 miles away - the biggest and brightest full moon since 1993. The "supermoon" phenomenon occurred because the moon was in its full phase at at the closest point in its orbit to Earth.  

All three of these photos are from our balcony -- I was surprised that my camera could get the seas and mountains of the moon as well as it did considering I do not have an expensive camera.

Dinner - Enchiladas and Rainbow Jello

Dinner last night was Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas and Rainbow Jello. Had the enchilada recipe for several years and never tried it out (am finally purging my recipe folders) ...these are both keepers!
The Rainbow Jello is from Funky Polkadot Giraffe - I posted it the other day.



Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas

Jar of Tomatillo (green) salsa (original recipe included how to make this)

12 corn tortillas

2 TB vegetable oil

3 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used some rotissarie chicken we had)

1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1-1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 teas salt (I left this out since I used jarred salsa)

Lightly brush both sides of the tortillas with oil and stack them by 2's on a cookie sheet.

Heat in a 375-degree oven until soft and pliable ... about 3 or 4  minutes.

In a large bowl, combine chicken, half of each cheese, onion and salt.

Add 1/2-cup of the salsa to chicken  mix and toss to combine.

Put a third of the salsa left on the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking dish.

   Put 1/4 cup of the chicken mixture in each tortilla and roll up.

Put each filled tortilla seam down in the baking dish.

Pour the rest of the salsa over enchiladas and top with rest of  cheeses.

Bake the enchiladas until the enchiladas are heated through and the cheeses are bubbly and beginning to brown ... mine took about 35 minutes.

We had the leftovers of the rainbow jello I took to my volunteer luncheon.



Rainbow Jello

Found Rainbow Jello while poking around Funky Polkadot Giraffe a few days  ago.
What a cool way to brighten up the doldrums of the end of winter!

Only had small packages of cherry and lemon jello in the house ... so made a mini-recipe.

Used half the jello for each layer ... it has evaporated sweetened milk mixed with Knox plain gelatin inbetween the layers.


Super easy to make .... just takes a bit of time waiting for each layer to set.   DH and I ate all of it today ... like I said, it was a mini-batch.

Will pick up some more jello tomorrow and make a full-sized batch to take to a  volunteer luncheon on Thursday.


Here's the link for the recipe ...
http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com/2011/02/happiness-rainbow-jell-o.html

Tutorial "How to let me how to let me reply to your Email"

I love responding to all the comments I get on the blog.

Love it.

I like connecting with you.

However, sometimes when I hit {REPLY}

I get this sad little email address.

noreply-comment@blogger.com

And when that happens, I can't reply.       Sad, sad days.

But I've found a cure for that!

Go over to House of Smith's

and Shelley will show you how to fix it.

Hooray!

http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/2011/01/tutorial-how-to-let-me-reply-to-your.html

Snow in Tucson??

Saw this on the news ... it snowed yesterday in Tucson (Arizona) ...
middle of the desert .. the elevation is about 2400 -ft (713meters).


Really odd weather last year and this all around the world.

Spring's slowly coming ....

Almond blossoms ... guess Spring really is coming to the island this year

It's cold inside and out!

Check out what the cold inside the apt is doing to the Softsoap we have (local store isn't selling the aloe variety we used to get ... so we had to refill with another variety of Softsoap). The snow level two nights ago probably got to within a few hundred meters elevation of our place.

Spring is starting to arrive ...

Saw this cactus flowering on our way home from work on Saturday ... Spring is slowing coming to the island

Sunny Sicily isn't

This was taken around noon on Friday ...

Gallagher visits Sigonella

Gallagher visited Sigonella this week -- I've never seen him before ... other than on TV.

He admits he's not politically correct ... and there were several comments made with uncomfortable phrasing.

He must get so tired of being covered in food debris ....

A Bit Late -- But It's the Year of the Rabbit!

From Hong Kong banner

Got this  banner during the Chinese New Year celebration in Hong Kong one year ...

From Hong Kong banner

Love the detail on the fish ... two fish represent double happiness

St Michael

Statue of St. Michael on top the Mother Church in Piedemonte Etnea (northeast side of Etna).

What a Difference a Day Makes!

This was what I saw when I left my office to go to lunch yesterday ...
double rainbow ... that was nice to see ...

This is what I saw this morning on my way to work ...

Snow level isn't too far up the mountain from our place ... no wonder that cat and I are both cold!  Sure is pretty.

Terracotta chicken

Terracotta chicken from 2010 Budapest Christkindl Market .... the artisan said it's for storing onions.  Each chicken was a slightly different shape, had different designs and a unique facial expression.   DH got it for me while on our Viking River Cruise on the Danube.  Viking offered "fire sale" prices ... would have spent almost as much staying home.

Bear Bologna!

Bear bologna found in a local super-market ....

I think it's cute!

Got some for DH to sample

Mt. Etna erupts!

Found this on YouTube.


Mt Etna erupted a bit a few days ago ... a lot of ash spewed widely ... but only up near the vents were small rocks were tossed.  DH, a co-worker and I drove up to the ski-lift area Thursday night ... the crunching sounds from our walking around sounded like we were walking on popcorn.   We each brought home some pumice that we picked up from the roadways.    Our landlady told us the next day (as she was sweeping ash off the sidewalks) that it was a "regalo di Etna" (a gift from Etna).

Monterosso in Ragusa

CUTE CHRISTMAS ORNAMENT

http://raisingolives.com/2009/12/domino-christmas-ornament-tutorial/

Found this link on FrugalUpstate.com  ...have been wandering Raising Olives for the last few hours looking at the various posts.

If I can find some white dominos, I may make some to donate for next year's Santa Workshop.

Got to figure out how to share more pictures ..

I've upload too many pictures between my two blogs ... so I have to figure out how to set it up so I can share more of my life ... will be back soon!

Holly

DAILY JOURNALING

Spending most of my spare time putting the house in order - amazing the stuff that I have tossed and donated, as well as quite a bit that just needed to be put away.  An E-friend sends this into the E-group we both belong to ...thought I would use it for today.

For Today...



Outside my door ... it was sunny-ish this morning, ended up as cold, rainy and windy by the time DH came home from golfing.  He and a co-worker only got 9 holes in.  DH said it wasn't the rain that was the problem, it was the clouds ... you couldn't see where your ball headed off to and you sure couldn't see the greens.


The cat ... Indy was curled up on the couch under a fluffy blanket sleeping most of the day ... kinda cute listening to her little kitty snores.

From the kitchen...cleaned out the fridge and made chicken and rice soup from the left-over roasted chicken DH brought home for dinner last night.


I am hearing...right now, DH and I are listening to "Cool Runnings".  I really like the positive message of believe in yourself.


I am wearing...a tourist scrub shirt and fleecy pants - need socks, my feet are cold.

I am reading...a mushy romance "Wolf and Dove" as well as Debbie MacComber's "One Simple Act".

I am thinking... about my DS who is in Virginia for a week of schooling before heading off for his new command.


I am thankful for...the many blessings in my life.


I am hoping...the weather is nice next weekend when DH and I visit Rome.

I am creating... a mess?  With tossing, purging and general putting-away, I have several bags of donations for the thrift shop and another of papers for recycling when I go to work tomorrow.


One of my favorite things... the part of "Cool Runnings" after the team crashes (sad about the crash itself) when the team carries the bobsled to the finish line.

A few plans for the rest of the week...have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and then off to Rome for a couple of days explorations.

IT'S FALL ..IT'S FESTIVAL SEASON!

DH and I have been exploring local festivals the last few weeks ... lots of them going on this month.  Here's a couple shots from Bronte (pistachios), Militello (prickly pears) and Zafferana Etnea (all sorts of produce grown on Mt Etna).

A car on display at Bronte that DH and a co-worker stopped to drool over ...

Street lights entering the town of Bronte ...



I'd rather eat the pistachios ... a window display on the main street of town ...

Beekeeper at Zafferana festival

Some of the items grown or produced on Mt Etna -
this is at Zafferana's festival

Prickly Pear liquor from Militello -
this area is famed for the prickly pears grown there



Always searching for love ... 
this is just of the many balloon characters on display 

DOORWAY IN MILITELLO

I really enjoy looking at doorways and windows when outside the States .... so many wonderful details.   DH and I saw this one in Militello while enjoying the Prickly Pear Festival.

IT'S THE SUN! NO, IT'S THE MOON!

Terracotta sun DH and I found while exploring Ragusa Ibla. 
It's good sized ... over a foot across when you go from ray tip to ray tip.

TACO SOUP

After being gone to Naples the last four days, spent most of today catching up with laundry and making friends with Indy again (her nose was severely out of joint being left home alone all that time ...though I suspect she spent most of the time curled up sleeping in my bed).  Tossed together Taco Soup for dinner and made some cornbread with diced green chiles to go along with it.   This is one of DH and my favorite meals.

1 lb of lean ground beef 

1/2 sweet yellow onion, diced
3-4 garlic cloves, minced 
1 can of pinto beans, undrained
1 can of kidney beans, undrained
1 cup of frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 4.5 oz can of diced green chilies (optional)
1package of ranch salad dressing mix 
1 package taco seasoning
1 to 3 cups of water (depends on how brothy you want the soup)

Brown the ground beef in a pan.  Add onion and garli and lightly brown.  Mix everything else in and cook approximately 30 minutes ...though longer doesn't hurt.  Have even made this in a crockpot.

I use whatever beans I have in the house and generally add a can of hominy to the mix.  We like the tortilla-flavour the hominy adds to the soup.  It's a pretty forgiving soup ... I've garnished it with any of the following:  crumbled tortilla chips, shredded cheese, sour cream, freshly chopped tomatoes, sliced olives or green onions. 

FOUND A CHICKEN IN A TUX

Chicken pitchers are often given for housewarming gifts - to ensure safety from trepass and other dangers.  A friend in Spain had several,  one in a tuxedo.  I liked the tuxedo'd one so much, I have been looking for one for myself since DH and I moved back to Sicily.  Had a blue pitcher from our previous time in Sicily ... but the tuxedo'd chicken just had a lot of charm.   Finally found one a few days ago while DH and I were up in Naples to attend an International Bazaar at the Joint Services Base.  Hooray!  Both of mine are about 8" tall .. but you can get them from just a few inches tall to over a foot-tall. 

 The legend behind the pitcher - is it true or merely legend?  No one knows - but why tempt fate?

There were two wealthy families in the Republic of Florence in the early Renaissance period who were rivals for power. The Medici family held the power, but the Pazzi family wanted to grab it by killing the Medicis.


The Medicis, who had amassed their wealth by making peasants work their large land holdings, occasionally threw festivals for the peasants. Giuliano Medici especially liked the parties. So the Pazzis had someone suggest to Giuliano that he hold a festival in a village where one had never been held before.


The Pazzis then plotted to kill Giuliano and his guards at the end of the festival because they would be vulnerable from having drunk copious amounts of wine.

The Pazzis hired assassins, who probably would have succeeded except they had to sneak across a chicken yard to get to Giuliano. The chickens cackled in such a frenzy that it woke Giuliano and his guards, who caught and killed the assassins.

Giuliano was so excited that the chickens had warned him that he threw another festival the next night. He ordered artisans to create ceramic copies of chickens to be used as wine pitchers. Then he gave them to the peasants for good luck.

I AM MY OWN GRANDPA ???

On one of my genealogy newsletters, there was a mention of this song from WW2.  I looked it up on YouTube (found recordings by several people) and while the clip with Guy Lombardo was the clearest to listen to,  I just liked the personality of this recording...even though it's a bit fuzzy.

IT'S FALL AND FESTIVAL TIME!

Lots of festivals going on here in Sicily now.  Last weekend, DH and I went to both a Pistachio festival in Bronte and another festival in Zafferana Etnea that will celebrate a different  products every Sunday this month.  Last Sunday, the focus was on grapes.  Other Sundays will focus on chestnuts, mushrooms, honey, wine and apples. 

Street lights in Bronte

Produce just picked this morning ... all kinds 

In a Bronte butcher window -- just thought this was funny

Getting ready to spin the honey before bottling right in front of customers in Zafferana

WHAT A FUN AIRLINE SAFETY PRESENTATION!

Suspect most everyone on this flight watched this safety presentation ....

JUST BECAUSE FLOWERS

DH brought me "just because" flowers on Friday.  I put them in a vase a friend from San Diego blew and have them in the living room where I can look at them frequently.  They make the room smell really good.  I am one lucky woman.

ROSE IN THE RAIN

One of Carmela's (our landlady) roses after a rainshower the other day.   She has more than a green thumb ... her whole body is green.  She could make a dead stick come back to life.

RAINBOW BOATS AT THE OLD PORT

DH and I were by the old port of Catania over the weekend ... it was still hot, but wonderful to feel the cooler breezes ... love how colorful these boats are. 

AT LONG LAST .... GERMANY HAS CLEARED WWI DEBT

It has taken 92 long years ....but Germany has reached its goal of completely paying the reparation bill from WWI. 

When the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, Germany accepted blame for the war and agreed to pay 226 billion Reichsmarks, a sum that was later reduced in 1921 to 132 billion Reichsmarks.  Part of the rationale for the large fine was to prevent Germany becoming a major power in Europe after WWI.  Instead, the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles ended up providing Hitler support for his views and his rise to power in the 1930s.

Up until 1952 Germany had paid some 1.5 billion Reichsmarks in war reparations to Allied countries. But in 1953 the balance was suspended pending a reunification of East and West Germany.

When the payments started back up again in 1990, it was publicised that everything would be paid off by 3 October 2010 .... and that goal has been reached with 4 days to spare.

If they can pay off their debt ... then the rest of us should be able to as well.  I realize that there will always be extenuating circumstances that will pop up ... but for the most part, it can be done.  Think of the freedom you would have if you didn't have to continually "live in the past" (spending your today money paying off bills from the past).

AMAZING HUBBLE TELESCOPE

A dear friend shared this with me recently ... I found it thought provoking.

SINGAPORE TURKEY STEW

Clearing out my recipe folders ..tossing ones that no longer sound appealing, trying others to see if they are keepers.  Tonight I made SINGAPORE TURKEY STEW.  Though the list of ingredients is long, it only took about 1/2 hour to make...mostly the making of the meatballs.

1-lb ground turkey

1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice (or can use equal parts of ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger and ground anise ... I didn't have anise, so used a smidge of jerk seasoning)

1/2 teaspoon hot chili flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons flour

1 Tablespoon oil

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced (in Spain, it is called a tooth of garlic)

1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger (had part of a root in the frig from another recipe)

1 can (13 oz) coconut milk

1 can (14 oz) chicken broth

1 head (12 oz) bok choy, cut into 1-inch pieces (used Napa cabbage, next time I'll try spinach)

1 can (14 oz) baby corn, drained

2 Roma tomatoes, rinsed, cored and chopped (picked up a few cherry tomatoes at the Belpasso market today - used those)

1/4 cup drained canned sliced water chestnuts (will probably skip this next time or use jicama -- the ones I use had a metallic taste)

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

1 Tablespoon lime juice

3 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

In bowl, mix ground turkey, five spice, chili flakes and salt.  Shape into 1-inch balls. Put flour on a plate and roll the meatballs in the flour to lightly coat them.

Pour oil in 4 or 5-quart non-stick pan over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs in single layer.  Cook turning frequently, until lightly brown all over and barely pink in the middle (I cut a couple open to check - mine took about 8 minutes to get cooked through).  Remove from pan into a bowl and set aside for now.

Add garlic and ginger to pan and stir just until fragrant - 30 seconds or so.  Add coconut milk, broth and meatballs; bring to a simmer.  Adjust heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until meatballs are no longer pink in center - another 5 minutes or so.

Stir in bok choy, baby corn, tomatoes, water chestnuts, green onions and lime juice and cook, stirring often, until bok choy leaves are wilted and stems are slightly tender - another 5 minutes or so.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro leaves and eat!

4 servings.   I don't know where I got this recipe from .. I copied it from something, but there is no page number on the sheet as if it came from a book, nor did I write a reference on the page anywhere ... normally I do that.

DH said he would like to have it again ...

SEAFOOD PASTA ON OUR DAY SAIL

DH and I went on a day sail the other day ... it was a nice way to spend a warm day .... drifting along the coast, swimming in the (cold!) water, enjoying the breeze ...the crew provided lunch for us.  Fresh seafood pasta!  DH ate his share AND mine!

Catania and Mt Etna

Cyclops Rocks

He's turning blue!  He's wrinkling up!
He's a blue raisin!