A New Baby --- Memphis Treadle

OMG!  Check out my new baby.  She is an 1898 Singer 27 Memphis (Sphinx) treadle.  We found her at an estate sale and waited until the last day when she was ours for $75.00.  I absolutely could not be a prouder new mommy.

State Fair

Mister and I have tickets to the Lion King tonight and since it is at the State Fair of Texas, we are able to spend some time there as well.  Big Tex is back after succombing to fire last year and he is the main attraction for sure.  Heck, even we have to take a picture or two.

We only have a couple of hours before the play, so I make a beeline for the exhibit halls so that I can check out the quilts.  We even make a stop with the vendors and give a long arm machine a try.  I am still undecided as to whether I want one, but am totally clear on the fact that I have absolutely nowhere to put one right now.

Mister has read about the ostrich races that are taking place at the fair this year and so we head down to that area.  First up, though, are pig races.  Well, gotta check those out of course.

Now for the ostrich races:

This is serious business.  There are professional jockeys that weigh around 110-120 lbs that have come from other parts of the country to do this.  Who would have thunk it?

And they're off:

Watching the high step around the course is hysterical and we completely enjoy ourselves at this event.  What fun!

Well, we have just enough time to grab a bite to eat and a beer before heading into Music Hall for tonights show.  See ya later.

Cooking with Cassie

When we returned from Wyoming, Cass said that she was going to a wedding reception for a good friend and wanted to make treats as her gift.  We put our heads together and came up with miniature key lime pies -- well kinda.  We spent one morning practicing on our idea and ironing out the kinks.

  At first we were doing to make tiny pie crusts, but then decided to give phyllo a try.  After cutting them into squares, we took 4 layers and twisted them a bit before baking.

Once they had baked for awhile, we removed them and put the filling it, then continued to bake for a few minutes longer.  Practice session over, a few lessons learned and the next time I think we have it.  Yay!

Cassie's key lime filling is oh so delicious and it is hard not to pop these beauties into your mouth and tingle ones tastebuds.  Yum.

Here is our finished product before packing in containers to take to the reception.  A little lime zest does the necessary color burst and makes them a little fancier.  They are delicate and perfect for a wedding.

The second project for the reception is a triple chocolate truffle.  Oh goodness, but samples must be tried here.  And worn as well.  Only one way to clean it all up of course.

After cooling our two different layers of chocolate, we dipped them in yet another type and started decorating away.



Melted white chocolate:

Pistachio pieces:

And sea salt:

Fun and delicious.

Girls Days -- Much Needed

I have been blessed to have the wonderful company of a great friend in my studio the past couple of days.  Lisa has been working on her newest great creation while keeping me company and on task.  We have talked and worked through two complete days.  I wish every day was like this.  Honest.  Cass came out and joined us part of the time as well while working on her pineapple table runner.  We had machines and lights and fun going everywhere.

Today, we made ourselves a delightful lunch of fresh goodies and invited Mister to partake with us before heading back to work.  I hope we can do this again soon.

A Truly Funky Tomato

While trying to make a caprese salad for my girlfriend, Lisa, and I, I discovered this tomato.  It was sprouting from the inside.  So very odd.

Carhopper

We treated ourselves to a night down on Lower Greenville and as we were leaving The Bottle Shop, we found a visitor who wanted a ride home with us.  He was HUGE.

Ranger Game -- Woohoo!!

When we returned from Wyoming, I had a message on my computer from my good friend Lisa asking if Mister and I would like their ticket to tonight's Ranger game.  Naturally, we jumped on the chance and are excited for an evening out together.  We leave the house about two hours early so that we can grab some food and have plenty of time to be at the stadium.

We did not plan on an accident on the highway which made our trip take 1 1/2 hours.  Yep -- you read that right.  Once we arrive, park and head into the stadium, we are greeted by free bobble head dolls of Yu Darvish.  Mister then takes ours back to the car while I wait just inside the gates.  Upon his return, we make a quick tour of the stadium, find our seats, find our dinner, and luckily even locate some true Texas beer.  This night is looking fine.

Cowboy stadium through a window:

Our view of the stadium:

Dinner -- oh so healthy:

It is a beautiful evening and we are ready for the game.  Here we go.  Yu Darvish is on the plate and the game begins.  The entertainment along the way always makes a baseball game extra fun.  The Rangers win the game against Houston and Mister and I crack up at the "Texas" power sayings and songs.  Perhaps they should do something different when both teams are from Texas.  Too funny.

As we are leaving the stadium, a pick-up cuts us off and we wind up in an accident, wait almost an hour for the police so that we can press charges as it was a hit and run, and then drive home.  Again, it takes us 1 1/2 hours to make the trip.  Three  hours on the road for a local baseball game.  There are times when driving in this city makes me nuts.  Tonight was one of them.