Red glass plates and the mysterious copper pan

I spent yesterday afternoon with my mother, cleaning and sorting (again) for the last time before she moves to her new apartment in the retirement place.  (If it seems like this has been going on for months, it has.)  My sister found Mom a guy who will cart all manner of stuff away to sell, donate or dispose of, and we all couldn't be more thrilled about him. There is still a lot of stuff to sort through, but that will be up to us - the kids - after Mom moves and is sure she has everything she needs and wants in the new place. Yesterday, she had the dining room table full of kitchen and dining stuff, and my sisters and I carted some of it home and left the rest for "the guy who we're all thrilled about." I came home with these red glass plates...

For the record, I have taken none of the fine china my sisters wanted as I am not the 'fine china' type and probably never will be. The red plates, however, I have always coveted.  They look great with my informal china from our wedding (I did not register any formal china), as well as with the Polish pottery I've collected over the years.  And, by the way, red plates by themselves make your food look really sexy!

I also took home this old copper pan, which I'm dying to cook in if, by doing so, I won't kill my family. (Research on safety of cooking in old copper pots ongoing.)  Doesn't it just scream Julia Child at the Cordon Bleu?!?

What is mystifying is this inscription on the side of the pan...

I can't make heads or tails of it, even on Google. Antiques Roadshow, where are you when I need you?!

Back in the saddle again

Phew-eeee, cowpokes! It's been a wild ride these last couple of weeks. But, I'm back in the saddle and ready to rope the topic of the day which is..... Fat Tuesday!!!  Yeehaw! This is (yet) another day on the calendar when I give myself permission to indulge in rich, unhealthy food and drink. But, wait. Isn't that what I've been doing all weekend? Who cares?!??!! Today, after a mountain of laundry, tons of catch-up work in my virtual office, and a restorative stop at the liquor store, I think I'll prepare a classic Fat Tuesday meal which is.... what, exactly? How do you pull off a classically decadent FT feast like this in Kansas? My kingdom for some beignets!

The play's the thing!

I've been busy, dear readers. This Saturday will be the first public reading of my first play, co-written with my dear friend Carol Starr Schneider aka Short Jewish Gal. It's a big deal, but it's not....but it really is. We'll be in a small theater space in the Crossroads District of Kansas City, testing the script with real, professional actors - rehearsal all day, performance at 6 pm that night.... because it's Valentine's Day and people need to get to their candlelit dinners by 8. Even with a supporting cast of a wonderful producer and directors, there's a lot to do before a reading. Obtaining workable props, for instance.  This week, I purchased one of these....

Official name is the Kong e-Collar, for the record.

 Not the dog, the cone of shame.  Then, I bought one of these (by mail order, mind you....)

Yes. This is a thing. A real thing they actually sell.

I don't think I'm giving too much away here but, if you're intrigued, there might be a couple of tickets remaining. Here is the info. And here is our Facebook page. 

After this weekend, I will get back to blogging with some regularity and may finally weigh in on the whole Brian Williams mess.  I gotta tell ya, my jury's still out on this one....but if he made up that robbed-at-gunpoint-selling-Christmas-trees story, I'm done.

Super Quiche Sunday

Quiche perfection

With so much going on in my life, I have found a needed diversion in my kitchen: The pursuit of the perfect crustless quiche.  In the past two weeks, I have tried the following varieties: Artichoke, fennel and brie; turkey bacon, carmelized onion and Havarti; and apple-smoked bacon, onion and salmon.  The other variable is always the egg-to-dairy mixture I carefully pour on top which has always been some artery-clogging combo of fresh dairy cream or Half & Half. (Note: cream and eggs are perfectly acceptable on the Atkins Diet to which I - er, fairly often - subscribe.) Sometimes, I use 4 eggs; other times, 3 or 5. Each quiche was satisfying in its own right, for various reasons, but perfection? Not quite. Yesterday, I broke the mold and did an asparagus & carmelized onion, Swiss/Gruyere cheese blend in a base with 1/3 fresh cream, 1/3 Kefir, 1/3 low fat ricotta cheese and 4 eggs.  As Henry Higgins said about Eliza Doolittle: "By George, she's got it! By George, she's got it!!!"