Before:

Long hair has its benefits.  It was easy to throw it up in a pony-tail, or a bun, or pin the curls into a messy up-do.  Long hair also has its negatives.  It takes forever to dry.  It would get pulled as I slept, or sat in a chair.  For me, with this thick head of curls, it also could get hot, and even feel very heavy.

Having not had a cut or color since last spring, I finally made an appointment with my stylist.  I found her about three years ago and love her.  Tiffany knows curly hair and gives me a Deva cut.  I cannot believe how much nicer my curls respond after this type of cut, better than I ever imagined.

Plus, Tiffany is so good, I can tell her what I like, don't like, and the sit in the chair relaxing while she works.  So that is what I did yesterday.

I walked in the salon with my hair looking like this:

I explained to Tiffany what my hair care routine is and how I end up wearing it in a bun for most of the week.  Then I sat back in the chair, let her color and cut away.

I just love what she did:

Even though winter is still here (yesterday we were in another blizzard warning and the low last night was -19), this new cut put a spring in my step.

Washington's Birthday, aka Valentine's Day Supper

Several more inches of snow fell on Presidents' Day morning which prevented us from trekking on a family adventure to the movie theater.  Therefore our offspring held a private meeting and decided that instead Sous la Maison would be open that evening for reservations. David and I quickly reserved the only six o'clock opening.

The morning proceeded with shoveling, cleaning, laundry, and other normal routine daily tasks.  The afternoon found us finishing miscellaneous jobs before David and I left to run errands in the town thirty minutes away.

The snow had stopped and the temperature had risen to nearly 35 degrees.  It seemed hot enough that as I went in and out of the various stores, I left my coat in the car.  Not needing to return home until our reservation, we had plenty of time to mosey through stores finding all we needed at a leisurely pace.

We arrived at Sous la Maison about ten minutes early.  As we have come to expect, the staff, who were smartly dressed, greeted us at the door and showed us to our table.

We eagerly read the menu and poured a glass of wine.

Our first course was a salad (all descriptions from the menu):

Our garden salad features iceberg lettuce, cabbage, carrots, celery, peppers, blue cheese, ham, apples, onions, sunflower seeds, and a dressing of your choice.

Next was the plat principal:

Our Salisbury Steak is cooked in a beef broth with red wine and cream and is guaranteed to delight. It is beautifully complimented by our signature sautéed green beans and onions.

After the very delicious and filling meal, we weren't sure we had room for dessert.  But we suffered through when we saw this:

It is not hard to see why the savory taste of Crepes is a French favorite. Our signature recipe is served with Caramelized Apples and Pecans.

And this:

The delicious taste of our Russian Almond Tea Cakes is sure to make your mouth water.

We agreed wholeheartedly with those descriptions.  The tea cakes did make my mouth water, they were so tasty!

Another year, another meal in which these wonderfully crazy children of ours amaze us with their culinary skills.

Public Service Announcement

For those waiting and wondering what Valentine's Day was like in our home, please be patient.

Hannah and Ellie daily attend college classes and work three or four nights per week.

They claim they are busy.

They also claim that a dinner is still coming, date yet to be determined.

This has been a public service announcement.  You may return to your regularly scheduled days of shoveling and staying warm.

Chicken

I took chicken breasts out of the freezer last night before I went to bed.  This morning I went looking for a new recipe from Linda's Low Carb Menus and Recipes website because I was tired of my old stand-by recipes.

As I was looking through the list of chicken recipes, Nathan looking over my shoulder, said, "Oh, pizza chicken, that sounds good!"

When we looked at the recipe, I decided to try it for lunch.  But I didn't follow the recipe exactly.  I changed it here and there, thinking of the chicken bacon ranch pizza we all love.  Everyone gave it rave reviews at lunch.

First I cut the gigantic chicken breasts I bought from Sam's Club in half and laid them on a foil-lined baking sheet.  I seasoned both sides with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.  Next, I added ranch dressing and spread over the breast.  I topped it with diced green peppers, mushrooms, deli ham, and onion.

There were only five of us eating lunch, so two chicken breasts cut in half were plenty.

I baked these in a 400 degree oven for thirty minutes.  I took them out and sprinkled shredded mozzarella cheese on top.  They baked for another 10-15 minutes.

This really was good.  The chicken was moist, nicely seasoned, and the vegetables gave great flavor and texture.  The ranch dressing melted off more than I would have liked, but this will definitely be a chicken recipe I add to the rotation!  I will probably even try the actual recipe next time with pizza sauce and pepperoni.  Try it sometime, I think you'll like it!

Caw Caw Caw

Just to prove correct this saying of my mom, "Every crow thinks hers is the blackest," here is a picture of the handsomest thirteen year old son ever.

Yes it is a real bow-tie.

Yes, he knows this song and was listening to it while his sister took these pictures.
Yes, I'm a momma blackbird cawing proudly.

Scarves

Last October, my friend Jane started sharing things that made her happy.  Her very first post was a picture of her scarves hung on an Ikea scarf thingy. I'm sorry to have to use such technical language.

Ever since then, I've wanted to share how we (Hannah, Ellie, Abby, and I) store our scarves.

Scarves are such fun and brighten an outfit.  We were gifted by quite a few from my mom and sister, plus from each other.  Overall, we've inherited quite a selection.  For awhile they were in a basket, but they were hard to locate.  After we finished Ellie's room, I did this, which is an idea I got off of Pinterest.

Now they are easy to see, grab, and wear!

Tis the Season

Another cold day, another soup simmering on the stove.

This time it is Cauliflower Bisque.

This is the second time I've made this.  It is very creamy and reminds me of potato soup.  I like how easy it is to fix and how little time it takes to finish.  I do not own a stick immersion blender; therefore, I  used my blender to puree the soup till smooth and thick.  Also, I didn't have fresh parsley so I used dried even though it was suggested not to.  I'm defiant like that.

Served with sliced meats and cheeses and apples, it hit the spot in our hungry bellies.  I suggest you give this one a try as well  before it warms up to 0 degrees and we're ready to bring out the grill.