Betty, thank you so much! I can't wait to see your gold flatware...have you done a table with them yet? My set didn't have butter knives either. It probably isn't "politically correct", but I just used some of the extra dinner knives that I had. Thank you blizlady! I think the gold was my favorite too. Luckygal, thank you for your sweet words! Luvs, the candelabra originally belonged to my mother. She was going to throw it away and I quickly told her "NO!". I brought it home and DH drilled some holes in it for the prisms. When my mother saw it on my table, she joked that she was taking her candelabra back. Punk, the gold was definitely full! I kept going back looking through my stash to see what I could find that was gold. LOL Kathleen, thank you! Christmas was wonderful this year...I'm not ready for it to end. Oh, I wanted to tell ya'll about my carafe in the second photo! I was in the antique shop here in town last week and I found it there (it's not antique though). The original price on it was a whopping $3.00 and the owner had marked it down to $1.00. Well, for that price I couldn't pass it up. The reason it was so cheap is because the stand has a couple of cracks in the metal where the carafe sits. When I got up to the counter to pay for it, the owner of the shop told me I could just have it! She said she had started to throw it away, but she thought someone might be able to use it. You bet I could use it and did on Christmas morning! I'm wondering though...anyone know if maybe the cracks could possibly be repaired? I had asked the owner of the antique shop, but she said it probably wasn't worth it.

Yeah yeah YEAH! Another week in heaven! Grillin' stuffs, sitting on my duff, drinking a couple sips, scratching dog ears, and petting cats. I expected this week off but it was not offical until a few minutes ago. So far it is mostly good. Not doing so good on my chores... the truck is still dirty. Down to my last two gallons of apple/blueberry wine. Homemade with no sulfides so it is drinking down fine without the pickled tummy feeling. A trip to the city to visit a friend that was struck blind this year. So glad I had time to go visit. A bit frightening to see FoMoCo report such devestating losses. Part of me wants to laugh because the auto industry worships incompetence and part of me is worried about the loss of such a large customer. I made a couple extra years of wages working overtime building Ford parts so it would be sad if they failed. Just turned down a day shift job leading a new Ford truck product line. It should have been a prize line but current economic conditions just don't look good for it. My garden is not doing so well. Deer raided most of the veggies. A young doe with three fawns hanging out in the front yard. Don't know if she adopted some or actually had triplets... twins are common. Cross your fingers Jessy and we might have some tenderloin for you this year. It was so dry last month. I watered but it is not the same as a good rain storm like we had this last week. What is left is growing strong... lots of cayenne, habenera, and serreno peppers. Some yellow tomatoes and the Romas are growing strong. Biggest plant and most interesting is a volunteer squash plant. Looks like acorn squash but I'm not certain yet. It seems to have sprouted on its own but may be a prank from the teenage girls next door. Last year they went around my fields planting sunflowers... their mom narked them out. Real joke is I'd probably pay them to go out and plant birdfood. I don't get the humor but I'm very pleased anyway. Off to make some kombucha tea. Never tried it before so it will be a new toy. : ) lyra

Mozzarella Mushroom Chicken Allrecipes.com "A dinner for two featuring pan-cooked chicken breasts topped with sauteed mushrooms and melted cheese." Original Recipe Yield 2 servings Ingredients  3 tablespoons olive oil  2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves  1 tablespoon garlic powder  1 clove garlic, minced  6 fresh mushrooms, sliced  2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese Directions 1. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place chicken in the skillet, and season with garlic powder and garlic. Cook 12 minutes on each side, or until juices run clear. Set chicken aside, and keep warm. 2. Stir mushrooms into the skillet, and cook until tender. Return chicken to skillet, layer with mushrooms, and top with cheese. Cover skillet, and continue cooking 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

We're visiting family in Ponte Vedra for a few days. They're Robert's favorite sister and BIL, and I love them so much. We've been having a terrific time, but these people have no concept of healthy eating, lol. I went on strike last night and sent Robert out to pick up everything we needed for a big, crowded, crunchy salad. We grilled some fresh sbrimp that I glazed with a mango lime sauce and just laid the skewers on the salads. Yay! They loved it. We'll be leaving soon for beach time, visiting the graves of Robert's parents, driving around to look at sights, eating, and more eating.