Cooking In A Snow Storm

In my previous blog post I told y'all that I am trying 

Door To Door Organics

a local company

 that delivers all organic products to my door.

(Hence that catchy name.)

I got home Wednesday and there were my two perfect boxes

all insulated with ice packs.

I found everything I'd ordered, clean, cold, wrapped meticulously and perfectly packed.  

Eight Meals

This afternoon I began by browning organic beef and putting it into my slow cooker

with carrots and potatoes to simmer into a hearty beef stew with organic beef broth.

It appears I will have enough for 8 servings, so I'll refrigerate several portions and freeze some in lunch/supper sizes.

I usually end up making vegetable soup with several of these by adding whatever fresh veggies I have on hand which stretches even further.

Two Meals

I preheated my oven, breaded my organic pork chops and washed my yams.

Into the oven it all went.

Eggs went into a pot to hard boil for some lunches.

Steamed some organic broccoli.

Washed and cored my apples and prepped them to go into the oven

 when the chops and yams came out.

I now have two pork chop suppers with yams, broccoli and baked apples.

I sampled the yams while I waited for the apples, and I can truly say I haven't tasted any as sweet and delicious as these since I was a child in the south, and we grew our own.

Eight More Meals

Tomorrow, I'm making a white bean, kale and sausage soup . . . . and will top it with freshly grated Parmesan.  (Organic - don't you know?)

  Great with croutons made from my organic whole grain bread and butter and garlic. 

Apparently,

I,

 who am cooking only for one most of the time,

 and who loves to eat out with friends several times a week,

now have 18 meals on hand.

Not to mention, salads with avocados and the most delicious tomatoes I've eaten in years.

Not to mention the organic pears I'm adding to salads with crumbled bleu cheese and walnuts.

Not to mention the eggs and toast and half and half and breakfast items.

Do you know that there is such a thing as 

organic bacon?

Yes, Virginia 

there

 IS

 fresh, Colorado, grain fed, humanely grown, free range, organic, happy bacon.

Next week's offerings just popped into my email inbox.

I'm ordering salmon and chicken 

and 

I'll let you know how that works out.

P.S.

My juicy, tender, thick, crisp,

pork chop supper is

 AWESOME!

Now, being the sort of borderline skeptic that I am about new things . . .

I'm still waiting to figure out how this is all going to fall apart and somehow disappoint me.

Stay tuned.

Confessions Of A Non Organic Type Girl Who's Trying To Repent

Subtitle:

Joy's Most Simple List Of How Life Will Begin Improving In 2014

(Because it wouldn't let me make the title above any longer.)

Okay . . . 

Confession #1

so I've

  never been a

 real successful,  long-term, granola eating, organic type,

 health food kinda girl.

I've had my moments - notoriously profound and always relatively short lived,

 of getting my act together and eating 'right', 

doing lots of home cooking and taking plenty of vitamins.

Truth is, 

I'm totally busy loving my two wonderful antiques shops, styling homes, travelling around to buy antiques, being a voracious reader, teaching a class and loving social media, 

not to mention family, church and friends.

I keep occupied.

There are things I let slide.

Filing, bookkeeping, dusting, cooking.

Junking,

(I mean antiquing), 

is much more interesting than a lot of other things!

Confession #2

I prefer to keep up with the things I like doing, and

find justification for not doing other things.

Besides, healthy cooking and eating just sound soooooo boring and time consuming

 and as if 

potato chips and bacon could be prohibited!!!!!

Can you relate so far?

Can I hear an 'AMEN'?

However,

2014

is slated to be my year to do some things I promised myself I'd accomplish in 2013.

(And 2012 . . .  and 2011 . . .  and . . .  you get the picture . . . )

I'm NOT going to go crazy gangbusters and flash in the pan right off the bat.

(Is that wayyyy to many colloquialisms in one sentence?)

I AM beginning in a moderate way,

to improve.

I'm a simple 

'one step at a time' 

kinda girl.

I have to prove to myself that this will be worth the 

time, money and effort it will involve.

and that bacon will not become a thing of the past - just saying . . . 

Confession #3

I truly

 don't care to hear one peep

 out of those who already have found nirvana in eating everything organic.

Or those of you who cook everything from scratch and bake your own bread 

and make your own butter.

Love you girls . . . but I don't need ANY pressure here.

(Read "encouragement" or "suggestions" or "recipes".)

This blog is by a successful, professional, leadership type,

(stubborn, hard headed, firstborn,

gotta do it my way)

 sort of girl

who has just taken the first simple step and will proceed at her own pace.

Confession #4

That said, 

if you want to read along and hear the pitfalls and progress of what I'm trying,

then

 welcome to my world.

I'm going to share some 

V E R Y

 simple ways to make life better in 2014.

Simple.   

Repeat: Simple.

Confession #5

I hate a hard sell.  

I detest salesman trying to push products. 

 I abhor friends and family members conning me into something they're sold on.  

I hang up on telephone solicitors.

-I'm a nice person - really I am - 

I was helping my daughter in the kitchen on Christmas day

 and reached into the fridge for milk for my coffee,

 and found 

a GLASS milk bottle. 

 Like from the 1950's.

It read organic. 

 I rolled my eyes.

 She's healthy . . . they eat real food . . . she writes a blog . . . 

okay -she's perfect.

I only have cream in my fridge.  For coffee. 

 I don't tolerate milk.

I mean, my digestive tract doesn't tolerate milk.

I spent too many years being force fed milk as a kid, and was ALWAYS suffering.

Who knew in the 1950's that people couldn't digest cow's milk as well as calves can?

Anyway, I took note while rolling my eyes.

'Door to Door Organics'.

She tells me they really deliver to her door.

"Not just milk mom - all the groceries you need."

"We go to Costco occasionally for some things, but basically, these guys do the bulk of our work for us now."

I ask, "doesn't the milk spoil while the food sits outside your door all day when you're away from home?"

(Can you hear my doubtful tone and sarcasm?)

"Nope - they pack it in ice and you can leave a cooler in a special place and they follow your instructions!"

I think to myself, 

it sure would be nice to not have to go grocery shopping.

End of thought process for that topic.

Later on I thought,

I get into trouble choosing groceries, NOT because I'm stupid or uneducated about what's good for me - but because I am tired and hungry and want immediate gratification and don't want to stand around cooking after Ive been on my feet for 10 hours.

**Please note - this is NOT an advertisement - just the facts of what I'm learning this week - about a bunch of things, including myself.**

Confession #6

Several days later, after a terrible bout of my lifelong diverticulitis and feeling generally miserable, 

I thought to myself,

"you need to get healthy and stop eating all the junk food and processed garbage that you exist on".

Boring!

Time consuming!

Expensive!

The end of the foods I love!

I'm too old to change!

I don't want to!

were my responses to self.

Can you just

 see

 the two little shoulder sitting creatures - angel and devil - sending messages to my brain?

Back to work, 

and my daughter and I are in the shop together

 and she's online during a quiet moment,

 ordering her weekly delivery of Door to Door Organics.

I try to peek over her shoulder in a nonchalant way to see what it looks like, 

but she's done in a flash 

and 

I get nothing.

Hey - I'm not so proud.

I ask what that's all about and she brings their page up and shows me the simplicity of the weekly package,

in which I can swap around

 and substitute items I like for those I wouldn't eat,

and order anything I want from their list of about 1,000 groceries.

(and they have sales - like in your regular grocery store.)

I sit down to check it out. 

 I try a mock order - (you know) - just to see how

 complicated and tasteless and expensive and annoying it will all turn out to be . . . 

and she gives me an "invitation" code that gets me 50% off my first order on the basic box.

What can I say . . . 

I'm progressive and experimental and open minded . . . 

It arrives tomorrow.

I am thankful that my dear daughter is so smart.  I don't know where she gets it from!

Confession #7

Meanwhile,

don't preach at me

to do a clean sweep of my pantry and freezer.  

I will eat my bacon and my chips and my Paul Newman pepperoni pizza and all the other non organic goodies I have in the house. 

 I may even buy more if I feel like it!

In my delivery tomorrow I'm getting:

3 sweet potatoes

3 Roma tomatoes

green kale

1 avocado

garbanzo beans

almonds in dark chocolate and sea salt

ah haaaa!

broccoli

1 large orange

1 anjou pear

2 granny smith apples

2 bananas

2 pork chops

stew beef

half & half

raw sugar

butter

whole wheat bread

asiago and parmesan cheeses

olive oil

sea salt

all organic, mostly local or Colorado,

some Kosher

tada!

It's a small beginning . . . taking a step toward the good life.

There are wonderful recipes and meal suggestions for simple cooks like me.

I have a link to 100 ultra healthy crock pot meals from some health food nut online, so I can be inspired to have supper ready when I get home.

Not just soups and stews and mushy things either. 

I never knew I could bake and brown a whole chicken in the crock pot! 

I'm gonna blog through this and be frightfully honest with you.

So that's my beginning and so far . . . 

it couldn't be easier!

*January is "white sale" month - linens are on sale at the best prices of the year.

Take a quick look at yours and see if this is the time to replace any!

* Stamp prices go up on January 26th - so you may wish to purchase more "Forever" stamps at the old prices before the cost goes up!

* Did you know that laughing out loud burns lots of calories?

Thanksgiving

A few of the things I'm thankful for . . . .

Although I lost my mom this season, I'm thankful for a wonderful family

 filled with people who accept me and hug me and love me. 

 While a lot of folks feel alone in this world, 

I have an incredible network of family and friends to laugh and share life with at any time.

I am especially thankful to work side by side with my daughter, and a group of delightful women!

I'm blessed to make a living doing the work I most enjoy.

I do what I love and love what I do.

Add to that, that I am surrounded by friends who are supportive, talented, 

encouraging and appreciative of

 the world of antiques, history and making a home a special place.

My community of faith . . . those around me who love to celebrate our faith.

There is a bond and communion in shared ideals and beliefs.  

My sweet home . . . perfect for my needs and so cozy and warm and pleasant.

I actually think about how grand it is to have been born into a culture and time

 where hot running water and indoor plumbing and central heat are the norm.  

To cozy up in my favorite chair with a good book and a cup of tea,

to turn up my music and sing outloud,

to cook, nap, putter with decorating or do laundry . . .

it's all heartwarming when you think about it.

I realize how special it is that I have the luxury of making choices in my life.

Sometimes they seem insignificant to me, but I know there are millions in this world who

 would look at my life and see a wealth of opportunities and choices to be had.

Friends!!! 

 I have circles of friends who enrich every aspect of my life. 

 They are every age and stage of life, scattered and near . . . 

We are connected . . . woven together like the warp and weft of a huge, strong tapestry.

They are part of who I have become.

I am needed. 

 It's a basic human desire . . . to be needed and found useful

 and hence, 

to sense that we are valuable to those who know us.

I am thankful.

  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Autumn Decorating

There is a promise 

of 

autumn

 in the air, 

and

 that always nudges me into a

 fresh decorating mode . . . 

gathering and collecting

 and filling jars and cloches with the

 small items

 from around the house.

I have filled one tall apothecary jar with acorns,

one with tiny, antique, white ironstone doll size tea sets & dishes,

one with small, leather, pocket-size bibles and prayer books from the 1700's and 1800's.

Mellow wood bowls now cradle creamy stacks of linen napkins,

dried artichokes or fragrant bundles of cinnamon sticks.

I love

incorporating seasonal bittersweet and shocks of wheat or hops.

Crockery is back out on the counter, filled with wooden implements, prized for their timeworn patina.

Silver cutlery is on display . . . 

(as I anticipate serving some of the delightful fall pies and cobblers with steaming cups of coffee.)

Both of our shops, 

Dwell Antiques & Home 

and

 Patina Antiques & Home

are freshening and ripening with the bounty of the harvest season.

There are antlers and dough bowls, bread boards and baskets, dried hydrangeas and pumpkins appearing every day . . .

and

in the twinkling of an eye

you'll find both shops been fully transformed into a wonderland of autumn splendor!

This is the time when we polish up our reserves of silver plate

 trays and urns and flatware. 

The 1800's ironstone and transferware appears in stacks

with 

pitchers filled with autumn stems.

Botanicals, gourds, copperware and huge wooden bowls will come in and disappear quickly.

Our displays are so much fun to create

but we are delighted and thankful when they're plundered by excited customers

who 

choose their favorite items to cart home.

Designers came in yesterday and turned the shop topy-turvy as they extricated a truckload of freshly displayed items.  While we're honored to see them fly out, there is a momentary catching of the breath when we say goodbye to those precious antiques

so recently scored!

These are precious days, near the end of summer, a fresh awakening of the senses . . .

an opportunity for a fresh palette . . .

a time to 

be

THANKFUL

Come visit us in the South Denver neighborhood of Greenwood Village, Colorado.

Dwell Antiques & Home 5910 S. University Blvd. Greenwood Village, CO. 80121

303-795-3454  Monday - Saturday 10-5,  Sundays by chance or appointment.

Every so often I get an overwhelming sense of thankfulness.

I live a simple life, and enjoy simple pleasures . . . 

so,

it doesn't take anything major to bring me to this place.

It's the way the birds sing early in the morning,

or,

the way the sun shines through my window,

or maybe

 a song I hear.

It can be holding hands with one of my grandchildren

or,

breathing deeply

while

walking barefoot though the freshly cut grass.

I suppose it has much to do with the way I was raised

and

the stories I was raised on.

I was born into a large family

of five generations.

Blessed

 to have not only grandparents,

 but

 great and great-great grandparents living,

I was privileged to learn the history of the family.

It was my greatest delight to listen to these 

incredible 

men and women 

as they related their 

struggles and successes.

"This was your great-great-great grandmother's teaspoon".

"This bible belonged to your great-great-great grandfather".

True stories of their quests 

were more thrilling than any fairy tales or novels.

Great-great grandmother could recount history from her grandmother,

taking me back to the time just following the Civil War.

The struggles and privations,

the journeys and risks,

the sorrows, successes and joys 

of their lives 

were the most astounding stories

because I knew they were real!

They lived through wars and Depression, droughts and epidemics.

They struggled against loss and poverty and being uprooted.

They began again . . .

 and again.

I grew out of these people.

My strength and courage and endurance

 in my life to come

seemed guaranteed

because I was made of strong fibre.

If they could do it . . . 

chances were I could too.

They assured me.

They were behind me.

More importantly,

they had gone before me,

paving a road that they had forged

generation by generation.

The most important thing they taught me

 was,

"enjoy the simple pleasures

every day."

More to come . . . 

Memorial Day Thanksgiving

Happy Memorial Day!

Thoughts of my country and freedom crowd my head this weekend

and

I am thankful to those brave and dedicated men and women

who

have given their time

and hearts

and

in many cases,

their very lives

to insure that 

I

can live in a free and safe country.

So,

as we go about our weekend

and

enjoy our picnics and parties and bar b ques,

let us take a moment or two 

to 

remember.

THANK YOU

and

 GOD BLESS YOU

to each of those who have served us and protected us and died for us

and for our freedoms.

They took the high road

and

did not stop until their job was done.

My heart is so very thankful that we live in

the land of the free,

because of the brave!

One of My Favorite Stylists

Isn't it nice when we meet people with whom we connect?

I connect with this super talented guy.

Although I've never personally met Matthew, we are indeed on a first name basis.

(At least I refer to him by his first name.)

Truthfully,

my dear friend and soul mate 

Matthew

 has not met me.

At the risk of sounding like a stalker,

I 

LOVE

this guy.

If you're not familiar with his work,

allow me to introduce you.

(Being as we're such good

friends!)

LOL!

Hop over to Matthew's link and see what he's up to.

Matthew has been styling for the best photographers and magazines and books forever.

He's got his own now - and you'll see that he's 

the ultimate

 in

 repurposing and upcycling and styling and creating.

Did I say

"I love this guy"

www.holidaywithmatthewmead.com