Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The Distracted Cook

Today The Distracted Cook  finally became a reality. After months and months of planning, forgetting, losing the notes, cooking, shopping, eating, and having fun, the blog is finally "live" and up for reading. I hope that you will join me in the kitchen as I work my way through the mysteries of cooking. It is definitely a different game for the ADD cook, and it has taken me a long while to figure that out. Oh, yeah, I KNEW something was different, but I just assumed ( I know, I know) it was a glitch in the particular process I was attempting to conquer. Well, I am here to tell you that it is an entirely different world, not just a glitch in a process! I have learned many ways to work around what seem to me to be incredibly mind-boggling hurdles. I have devised methods and "helpers" that keep me sane and sort of on track. I don't think there is such a thing as staying on track for The Distracted Cook -- there are just too many tracks that are all leading me to exciting destinations. The real problem is that I am trying to travel them all at the same time!
So, if you are looking for some inspiration, some learning, some links to really, really fascinating writing and photography (after all, this distracted cook loves to look at pictures and dream of what she could do with the same ingredients - no, not a bit off track, right??) click on the link and join in the fun in the kitchen. After all, Halloween is over and the only scary thing left is the mental picture of The Distracted Cook trying to carve the pumpkin while she eats all the candy that she hid from the Trick or Treaters!!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Getting Ready to Move

I never really thought too much about "moving" blogs or websites or even moving ideas and concepts into the "real deal." But now it is almost time and I am having second thoughts about all it will take to get this done. Second thoughts is really misleading as I haven't even had the first thoughts about some of the things involved in this massive undertaking. When I checked to see what I needed to do I discovered that I have four websites and about thirteen blogs that have to be coordinated so that they will all interlink and the information contained in one of them can be accessed from all the others. Of course I didn't think about any of that - I am lucky if I can concentrate on one thing at a time on a boring day.


 "You are driving me to distraction," isn't just a cute saying that your Mom used to mutter when  the kids were running around playing tag through the kitchen while she tried to cook dinner. Nope, she was on to something for sure. And my own children would tell me when I would say  they were driving me crazy, "It's NOT a long ride, Mom."  I am finding out  just how short a trip it is!


I seem to have a problem concentrating on one thing at a time. It is as if my mind lives in an appliance store that it is full of televisions all going at full blast. I do have a "clicker" but strangely enough it doesn't do a thing to turn down volumes or change channels or turn them off. So, I just jump from one screen to the next,  falling into whatever drama is playing on that set. That is what goes on in my head and it is what drives my thoughts and actions. And like the kids said - the trip to "crazy" isn't long especially when when I am driving in "distracted" gear. 


Can you even imagine what happens in the kitchen of The Distracted Cook?

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Watch This Space!




Sometimes a headline is more than just a headline. On Tuesday, November 2, the second generation of Everyday Special will launch - right here! For over a year now I have been working on a new format and perspective for my blog and next month it will finally see the light of day. My cameras have been working over time to snap glimpses of what we will be exploring and the things about which we will be writing and journaling. I thank you for the time you have spent with us already, and hope that you will find as much fun and interest in where we are heading next. I will have links to other works that will expand and develop the subjects that we will be exploring right here. I will continue to find those things that make our Everyday Special and I hope to continue sharing them with you!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

What's It All About?

I am happy to report that I have received a new camera and I think we are going to become great friends. I wasn't actually in the market for a camera as the one I have been using for the past few years is a great camera. It is a great camera because it is almost foolproof. I am not the sort of person who needs a camera that is complicated, has a lot of bells and whistles, or even demands some level of sophistication about light, speed, contrast or any of these things. The easier the better as far as I am concerned.
I took this new camera out into the yard to give it a spin and I think you might like to see some of the handiwork it produced. Here we go:


These are some ginger flowers from plants that a friend gave me many years ago. They have the most wonderful scent and when I cut them and bring them inside the entire house is awash in their perfume. 


This is another picture of plants in the "back 40" that were blooming only a few weeks ago. This is the flower spike of one of the Yucca plants. They are so very dramatic and I always try to find a way to bring them indoors, but the spikes are so huge and heavy that I have nothing that can support their weight. So, we have to enjoy them on the patio instead of in the house. 

I will be using the camera in the next few days to chronicle some of the changes that are occurring around here and around the blog. Now that the store is no longer in existence, I have the time to let my imagination run wild. I have rediscovered a long-time interest in cooking and food. I have been testing recipes for one of the food blogs and that has been a great adventure. I took some time to participate in an e-course that was truly remarkable while being just plain fun. It is called Across Mediums and is the work of Kate Swoboda. You can read about her e-courses and visit her website here. I will post about this later and show you some of the wonderful things that were my results of our subject studies. 

I am beginning a project that will involve a new blog and a spinoff cookbook and I will be writing about that as well. As soon as I have mastered the new format for the blog I will post a link so that you can catch up with me there also. I am designing a website that will work in conjunction with the blog and that is going to be a large undertaking. I am hopeful that this will all be up and working before we all become caught up in the holidays and all the celebrating that we will be doing. There will be much going on and I hope that you will join me in seeing where this next Everyday Special adventure takes us.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

April Showers

I am thinking that May will be full of bloom as today the clouds are gray and it does indeed look as if an April Shower is on the way. Of course there are other benefits to such things - a lot less pollen and seed shells will be blowing around if we do have some rain. For the last few weeks everyone's car has been a eerie shade of yellow-green as a result of the bursting forth of the oak and pecan leaves. While I love the first signs of spring, this is a bit much. And the pond has also had a strange science-fiction shade to its surface. I wonder how the fish and turtles manage to stay alive.

After my quick dash around the yard yesterday to mark the colorful comments of the plants, I decided to dedicate an entire post to the colors of early spring here in my backyard. First out the door is the wonderful pink/crimson of the petunias hanging from baskets on the back porch (or veranda as we say here in the South call them) just under the eaves for protection from the hot sun.


And then we find the brilliant blue of a pot plant snuggled under the petunias, smiling at each and every one of us as we exit the kitchen door.


The next burst of color to catch our eyes is the beautiful magenta/purple of the small bulb plants under the crape myrtles. I am not sure that I even remember what they are, but I am thinking that someone told me (most likely Dr. Deeds the planter) they were a kind of gladiola.



Right outside the gates to the yard and pond sit the beautiful young dogwoods. The flowers this year are truly wondrous - I can't remember when that pink one has been so vivid or had such large petals.



I am always amazed at the show that the azaleas put on each springtime, and this year is no exception. I believe that Pride of Mobile is the name of the ones that line both our property and most of our neighbors' lawns also. The flowers are almost a pale pink, or a pale K&B purple to those of us who still remember such things. 



In the front yard is a wild brushstroke of purple (LSU Tiger Purple?) that sweeps across the front circle and lends a really vivid and jaunty character to the front of the property.


It also makes me laugh to think that a Past President of the Tulane Alumni Association has LSU colors running wild all over her yard! The yellow of the Forsythia, Iris and Marguerites are the perfect finish to the purple Tiger roar!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Here Comes Spring Again

As if we didn't already know it - Spring is here and in screaming color. A few of the wonderful hints that lurk around my yard are the vivid yellow Iris, the magenta Azalea (don't know if it really is magenta, but don't you just love the sound of the word?) and the white of the graceful Bridal Wreath. Now to take a spin around the perimeter and click the camera a few times and then I will be back with the photos!


While I am out there I will leave this view of the pond as a tantalizing preview for what is to come next! 
Something like this definitely makes Everyday Special.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Time To Move On

It seems fairly easy to just say "shut it down" and move on to bigger and better things. But, really, it isn't easy to shut down, and the moving on to better things is really the hard part. After turning off the lights and turning in the keys mid - January, I haven't gotten much past "go" in the moving on part. I am still trying to get the last phone bill in hand so I can pay it. I think I am finished with all the rest of the "business" part of the business and now I am looking down the barrel of the "getting rid of the stuff" part. My garage is overloaded with old inventory and display pieces and my poor car is sitting in the drive for the duration. I wish it were as simple as just calling for the Salvation Army truck to run over and haul it off! But to do that, I have to take the final inventory and that means start thinking about "the taxes" and that is never a happy thought!

And then comes the inevitable questions of what to do next or whether to actually do anything next. I am stuck here too. While I think that I may want to keep myself in the game in some way, I haven't hit on exactly what that role will be. I think that I am just mentally exhausted by the whole experience not to mention things going on in other parts of my life. So, yes, it is time to move on. And yes, I will get it all done. And yes, I will get back to this blog when the dust has settled and the sun is shining bright in the sky again. In the meantime, I will just keep on keeping on and see how far it gets me. And just for some good laughs for everyone, I will post pictures of what the process looks like. Prepare yourself for a real shocker of a garage!