Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend with family and friends ... and some ice cream! Grandson Capt. Adorable, 17 months, sure enjoys his.
Labor Day Weekend
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Tag Archives: family
Food
If you don’t have your Labor Day weekend menu planned
yet, consider these two quick, easy and extremely wonderful salads. My friend Sherry Campbell, director of the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center in Florence, Alabama, that’s part of the innovative business incubator Shoals Entrepreneurial Center, made these salads for us during a recent cooking class — and we all gobbled them down and asked for more. The class focused on end-of-the-summer fresh and local ingredients and simple recipes for entertaining. Her menu included chicken roasted with figs and port wine — yum! Check out the Culinary Center at http://www.shoalsec.com/.
End of Summer Supper Salad
Cook 1 pound unshelled raw jumbo shrimp* in 3 quarts boiling water until pink. Rinse shrimp in cold water, cool and shell. (If holding more than 10 minutes, chill in refrigerator.) Bring water back to boil and add 1 1/2 pounds trimmed green beans until tender-crisp, about 3-7 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again. Meanwhile, whisk together 1/3 cup rice vinegar, salt and fresh pepper to taste, 1 tablespoon coarse or Dijon mustard and 2 minced large garlic cloves. Whisk in 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil until dressing is thick and add a thinly sliced half medium sweet onion. Toss shrimp and green beans with dressing. Arrange sliced tomatoes around edge of platter and mound salad in middle. Sprinkle with fresh basil, scallion slices and fresh lemon juice. Serves 4. *You could also use chicken or tofu in this recipe. You’d cook the chicken, of course, with your preferred method — the tofu can be used right out of the package.
Italian Panzanella
Whisk together 1/4 cup each red-wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. Season with coarse salt and ground pepper. Add 2 cans rinsed and drained cannelloni beans, 3 cups cubed country bread, 1 pound plum tomatoes cut into smaller pieces, thin slices of English cucumber, thin slices of red onion and 4 ounces diced provolone cheese. Toss, cover and chill 2-8 hours. Just before serving, stir in fresh basil. Serves 4. Note: Sherry also used bell peppers and celery when she prepared this. “Just use up whatever fresh veggies you’ve got,” she said. “That’s the whole idea.”
Home Decor
My friend Evelyn wowed us the other night when we 
arrived at her house for our monthly book-club meeting and discovered she’d been busy redecorating. Our jaws dropped — I mean, literally, I stood there with my mouth open. Before, Evelyn’s living room was a cozy and comfortable gathering spot, but she said she wanted something completely different — and she got it. Now the room is rich with color and texture and looks about a million times bigger with the emphasis on those gorgeous windows that really you didn’t notice so much before. Evelyn used a professional decorator, with she and her husband, Steve, picking out the oh-so-soft sofa themselves. She said she learned to trust the decorator — many times the decorator would pick something out and she and Steve would think, “Uh, that’s just not going to work,” but once the room came together they understood the vision. I believe this is my new favorite room. Ever.
Sports
As the calendar gets ready to flip over to September, these are exciting days in Alabama. Why, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you — and you know that if you have to ask, you obviously don’t live in Alabama. Because … it’s Football Eve! Finally, after weeks — months? — of anticipation and planning and hard work and sweat and tears, football is here again. Tonight there are a few high school games, with the bulk of the high-school season openers on Friday night. The University of North Alabama, our hometown college that’s always a powerhouse, plays its first game on Saturday, and then next weekend we get down to business as Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss and others show us what they’ve got. All across the state, everybody’s busy checking supplies of school T-shirts, pom-poms, shakers, grills, BBQ and coolers. And of course, just because the season’s starting doesn’t mean that practice time is over. There are still hours ahead of drills and run-throughs under the steamy summer sun as frustrated cries of “Left! Left! You’re supposed to turn left there!” and “Didn’t you see Clint there on the 50-yard line? How could you run over him?” ring out across the practice field. But it’s all worth it on Game Day, as the lights pop on and the crowds gather and the fans follow your every move — roaring approval and rising to their feet in wildly enthusiastic applause for a job well done.
Yup — I love marching band season. Why? What did you think I was talking about???
Family
Is there anything better on a hot summer day than 
cooling off in your backyard pool? Especially when the pool is a family heirloom? My mom had this inflatable pool at her house more than 20 years ago for her granddaughters and now her great-grandson thinks it’s the best thing ever. Honestly, I didn’t remember the pool, but my mom kept saying, “I have the pool the girls played in and it would be perfect for Capt. Adorable.” And she was right! It fits just exactly on the patio, which is in the afternoon shade, and 17-months-old Capt. Adorable and his mommy get out and have fun in it almost every day (although that’s the Captain’s aunt in the photo). Say the word “pool” and the Captain’s at the patio door, ready to go. It took him awhile, but now he’s fully conversant in the arts of splashing, pouring and dumping cupfuls of water on anyone brave enough to get close.
Mailboxes
Did you know that U.S. mail carriers can give you a parking ticket? Well, not really. But they can leave you snarky little notes. Yesterday I went to my daughter’s house and parked on the street, careful to not block their mail box. I am a law-abiding citizen, after all. And polite. But apparently I 
am not law-abiding or polite enough because when my son-in-law came home from work, he was waving a parking-ticket-like piece of paper and laughing. “The mail carrier is mad at you,” he said. The paper was printed with 19 infractions, complaints and transgressions regarding residential mail boxes and according to the emphatic and accusatory black-ink circle, I had broken No. 9: “The approach to your box should be kept clear of snow, vehicles and other obstacles.” Sooorrrrryyyy. Let’s get the measuring tape out, shall we? But what really got me was all the other 18 home-mailbox rules that potentially could be contravened, such as “No. 2 — The door needs attention:” “Nos. 5-6 — Box should be raised/lowered __ inches;” “No. 10 — The signal flag needs attention;” and “No. 18 — Your box should be painted to prevent rusting.” Who knew? The note goes on to say that the Postal Service might stop delivering mail until you raise/lower, paint or whatever. But what about all the dilapidated, rusted, dented, falling-down and falling-apart mailboxes I see all the time? Do they get snarky little notes, too? It’s like all the people who speed past you on the interstate and then you get stopped for doing 3 miles over the limit. Sigh. And then in related news — how’s that for former newspaper-reporter lingo? — I read this morning that the Postal Service is removing its blue collection boxes because fewer people are using them. Coincidence??? I think not.
Shopping
You all know that shopping for almost-17-month-old
grandson Capt. Adorable is one of my most favorite things to do — and this outfit is one of the reasons why. I love little-boy clothes! I think it’s because little-boy clothes look almost exactly like real big-boy clothes — with the cuteness factor upped by about 100. For instance, how cute is this pirate-themed shorts and T-shirt? I spied it at Janie and Jack children’s boutique at the Summit in Birmingham, Alabama, this past weekend and I had to have it. Didn’t even stop to think. It’s from the Treasure Explorer collection that has all sorts of appliqued and embroidered pirate details such as parrots, maps and treasure chests. I don’t know why this appealed to me so much — calling Jack Sparrow! — but I do know that Capt. Adorable will look … well, adorable in it. And now that I’ve check the Janie and Jack Web site, http://www.janieandjack.com, I notice that all the pirate things are on sale. Dear husband, look away.
Children
Our grandson, 16-month-old Capt. Adorable, 
loves his Elmo Live. I mean, this Elmo really is amazing — he sings, he dances, he has jazz hands, he sneezes, he tells jokes, he asks for help getting up after falling over and then thanks you for helping him. It makes for a fascinating and entertaining 10 minutes or so … until the Captain decides to figure out exactly how this thing works and what he can do to make it un-work. That’s when Elmo goes back up on a very high shelf and it’s on to the next thing, like what happens when you dump out a whole box of Cheerios on the kitchen floor.
Home
I love Ikea. I know, I know — you’re probably rolling your eyes and muttering to yourself, “Hey, Cathy — the ’80s called and want their furniture back.” It’s true that the Swedish home-furnishings company used to have the reputation of bland cookie-cutter cheap stuff, back when when the words “she furnished her apartment with Ikea” described someone without imagination or individuality. Fast forward a couple decades and you find sleek and smart furniture that’s affordable and fun. What’s not to like? My older daughter and son-in-law went to the Ikea store in Atlanta to shop for their new house and came back with, among other treasures, a bed with sliding bookshelves in the headboard, sturdy and colorful storage units for 16-month-old Capt. Adorable and some funky organic curtains and pillows that coordinate with everything. Plus, they brought me presents for babysitting the Captain: The Tecken teapot for perfect brewing, two cup-holder-sized coffee mugs, a cat-proof bag for cat food, wonderful black-and-white notecards I’m going to frame and put up in the kitchen and of course chocolate and coffee. Oh, and a lint roller — with four cats plus the occasional visiting feline, we go through a couple lint rollers a week around here. Anyway, the kids’ Ikea spree spurred me on to want one for myself. I love the modern design and the family-friendly details. However, my husband rolled his eyes and muttered quite loudly, “I think we’re past our Ikea phase, dear.” He apparently was heavily into Ikea 25 years ago when he was a cool bachelor dude, and he still associates Ikea with staying up all night drinking beer and debating Reaganomics. Ah, the good ol’ days! Check out Ikea at http://www.ikea.com/us/en/
Celebrations
Today I’m celebrating two milestones: It’s my birthday and it’s also the one-year anniversary of this blog. Both are in pretty good shape — I think, anyway. My day started off great and kept getting better. Younger Daughter, finishing up college in two-hours-away Birmingham, called this morning. In the middle of our conversation, the front doorbell rang. “Strange,” I thought. “An early-rising friend? Somebody from Sunday school?” Nope — it was Younger Daughter, faking me out. She had gone to my favorite Birmingham bakery to be first in line for my favorite almond croissants and drove the more-than 100 miles to bring me birthday breakfast. What a sweetie! I also got a phone call from 16-month-old grandson Capt. Adorable. His mommy, Older Daughter, said she coached him to say “Happy birthday, Grandma,” and I do believe I heard him say that. Or maybe he was making the “baaa” sound — his latest animal. Either way — adorable! I also had birthday lunch with Dear Husband and then a phone-call birthday serenade from my parents. Pretty good way to mark turning 52, I think.
And Coffee with Cathy is turning 1, thanks to you all. I love blogging and I love being part of the blogging community and I am eternally grateful to Dear Husband for encouraging me to do this. Where else but the blogosphere can you connect, communicate, express, vent, rant, laugh and learn in the company of talented and compassionate women all around the world? By blogging, you can be a part of something huge and powerful. Or, you can just climb up on your own individual soapbox and say (mostly) whatever you want to your own personal audience. You can talk about politics or decorating or cooking or music or divorce or your children or the Weird Annoying Neighbor next door. Me, I consider my blog my own lifestyle section of my own newspaper — don’t all reporters secretly think they could run the thing better than any publisher? At least this way I don’t have to worry about ad lines and subscription prices and ink costs — all I have to do is indulge in my favorite subjects of food, style, family, friends, books, music … I figure if it’s interesting to me it will be interesting to somebody else. And that’s the joy of blogging — there’s always something to pique your interest. I’m constantly encouraging folks to read and write blogs. It’s amazing the variety and diversity you can explore, the riches and treasures you can unearth with just a click. It’s free, it’s fun, it’s entertaining — what’s not to like?
Thanks to all for helping me celebrate today — and always every day for stopping by and saying “hello.” Every comment, every visit, every ping and trackback and all that other stuff means so much. Here’s to many, many more!
Coffee with Cathy 