Odds and Ends

Just a short post of a couple of odds and ends.

As many of you know, my not that much younger sister and I went to Florida about a month ago. We said it was to fullfill Katie's desire to see the ocean and collect shells but I really think we just wanted to get away to somewhere warm. Imagine our surprise when we discovered WE liked collecting shells more than Katie. We could have spent hours out on the beach looking for the perfect shell if not for Katie dragging us to the pool. The result of all of our shelling was a box each of shells to bring home. I finally have them in a jar where I can see them everyday. Look at all the treasures we found!





Look what I found the other day wedged on an outside shelf of my greenhouse. Last year I had a robin's nest outside my laundry room window that I watched everyday. Hopefully I will be able to get some pictures of the babies once they hatch.




One more thing to mention. We went to Cincinnati last weekend as most of you know. I asked Beth what dessert she would like me to bring since they were having a cookout for us Sunday night. She wanted deep-dish apple pie. I thought I would try something new so I made the Barefoot Contessa's version of apple pie. Everyone there thought the pie was perfect. But Dave and I looked at each other and knew right away it didn't compare to my usual recipe. Dave and I could only give it 4 forks out of 5. I'm sorry, Ina, but my grandma's crust and Betty Crocker's apple pie recipe is better. Sorry, Grandma, for thinking I could improve on your apple pie. I have learned my lesson.

I am going to be doing some baking this Friday and hope to post the results of that later this week. For you Idol fans, there will be an update tomorrow. You won't want to miss it.