Mastering the Art of French Quilting...hum Cooking

My husband and I are empty nesters. It is common for us to
eat dinner on a tray in front of the television. The last two nights we watched
the movie “Julie & Julia”. Half last night and the second half tonight, the
reason for this is not important.

Watching this movie makes one hungry! So tonight I cooked fish,
not in the French way of sauté with butter but with a little bit of spray ‘Pam’.
We have to watch our cholesterol. I did however drizzle a little garlic
flavored olive oil over the top of the cooked fish. It was pretty good and made
us feel very gourmet'.

Dinner is over and the kitchen clean. He is off to the
basement to finish something. I went to my sewing room to press a few quilt
blocks I made today. I thought about the
movie and Julia Child’s passion for cooking.
Quilters are passionate too.
Quilting is our French cooking. If planned correctly, cut and sewn
accurately the quilt will be a feast for the eyes.

Bon' Appetite'

New York Christmas

I must say I am glad the holidays are. Not that I didn’t
have a good time but the quite routine of January is smoothing to my soul.

One of the highlights of the holiday season was a trip to
New York City. My daughter made arrangements for herself, my granddaughter and
myself to take a day trip to New York City. We were to ride a bus and have a
day of sightseeing, shopping and see the Radio City Rockettes Holiday
show. We boarded a bus at ‘0 dark 30’,
which is a military term of - before the sun comes up, rode 4 hours to New
York. We had 3 hours before the show to
head for our first destination – The American Girl Store.

It’s an impressive store.
3 floors of dolls and related stuff to spend your money on. I bought my younger daughter an AG doll some
20 years ago from their catalog. She
loved it lot and I enjoyed making clothes for it. A lot of clothes. The company has expanded the original 4
historical dolls to a dozen or more historical and a design your own doll with
color choices. We thought the store
was busy but an employee stated that this was moderate and busy meant you
couldn’t move. This statement made us
think of Disneyland in July.

We walked back to the Rockefeller Plaza and enjoy the store
window displays along then way. We entered the Radio City lobby and were amazed
by the giant crystal chandelier Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling.
Everyone in the lobby had their heads looking up at this amazedly beautiful
sight. To see it was breathtaking and in
addition to its beauty was the fact that it rotated! The whole theater was a look back to the
grace and décor of the 30’s. The inlayed
woodwork on the walls and inside the elevators was eye catching. And we hadn’t even seen the show yet.

The show was terrific and we were ready for 2 more hours
before the bus trip home. The Plaza was
packed with people by this time. The Plaza and the Plaza Christmas tree are so
much larger than it appears on TV.
Additional trees are set along the area and lots of lights. We even saw
one man propose to his girl at ring side of the ice rink. We returned to our bus stop, boarded and
watched the skyline disappear into the distance. The weariness of the day set in and sleep
overtook us for the next few hours. I
think we may make this an annual event.