Today's Basket

The green bunny gets an ear!

My new yarn shipment should arrive today. I think it's a little over a month's worth and then it will be time for another round of Animals From Bits And Pieces.

I just learned that my big rush project is done for now. The next few weeks will have lots of work, apparently, but also lots of down time. Maybe the sweater will get some love.

Today's Basket

The green bunny gets an ear!

My new yarn shipment should arrive today. I think it's a little over a month's worth and then it will be time for another round of Animals From Bits And Pieces.

I just learned that my big rush project is done for now. The next few weeks will have lots of work, apparently, but also lots of down time. Maybe the sweater will get some love.

There's cheffin' going on!

Chef Tom is here and working hard! It smells wonderful.

When Karen cooks here, Travis is all over her - all over the counters, under her feet, everywhere. She was patient about it but I'm sure it was a pain in the ass.

I assumed he would also be helping Chef Tom. But, no. He's watching but not helping. Tom says he has cats and does not allow them in the kitchen so maybe Travis knows...

Tom is fun to have around and has all kinds of fun cooking stuff. He used to be a teacher and one of his students made this wonderful bowl.



And the bourbon for his sauce is in this precious monogrammed silver flask. The photo sucks but I didn't want to stay in his way taking pictures so I just shot and got out of there. (He told me that his mother in law got it for him but then died before she could give it to him.)



Plus he has this big pot thing that is a pressure cooker/rice cooker/slow cooker/meat browner - it's amazing. And he even has a funny slicer dicer that he got at the county fair that does great work!

Happily it's not horribly hot in here today. He said he cooked for an elderly couple last week - in their 80's, no air conditioning in a house where she smoked - in 100 degree weather. Whew.

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And in other fun news, I took the animals in today and the lady at the Baby Corner told me that last month she had a special request. The 3 year old brother of a baby needed a toy and was wild about anything octopus. She remembered this 'experiment' (her words which I love) from the previous month's bag o' animals, and sent it along making a whole bunch of people very happy including the little octopus loving boy. I hated making that thing but now am very glad I finished it.

There's cheffin' going on!

Chef Tom is here and working hard! It smells wonderful.

When Karen cooks here, Travis is all over her - all over the counters, under her feet, everywhere. She was patient about it but I'm sure it was a pain in the ass.

I assumed he would also be helping Chef Tom. But, no. He's watching but not helping. Tom says he has cats and does not allow them in the kitchen so maybe Travis knows...

Tom is fun to have around and has all kinds of fun cooking stuff. He used to be a teacher and one of his students made this wonderful bowl.



And the bourbon for his sauce is in this precious monogrammed silver flask. The photo sucks but I didn't want to stay in his way taking pictures so I just shot and got out of there. (He told me that his mother in law got it for him but then died before she could give it to him.)



Plus he has this big pot thing that is a pressure cooker/rice cooker/slow cooker/meat browner - it's amazing. And he even has a funny slicer dicer that he got at the county fair that does great work!

Happily it's not horribly hot in here today. He said he cooked for an elderly couple last week - in their 80's, no air conditioning in a house where she smoked - in 100 degree weather. Whew.

---

And in other fun news, I took the animals in today and the lady at the Baby Corner told me that last month she had a special request. The 3 year old brother of a baby needed a toy and was wild about anything octopus. She remembered this 'experiment' (her words which I love) from the previous month's bag o' animals, and sent it along making a whole bunch of people very happy including the little octopus loving boy. I hated making that thing but now am very glad I finished it.

Chef Tom

He's just the nicest guy ever. And very nice to be around and he cleans up the kitchen beautifully and the oven, too!

He also gave me little tastes all day long and even made me a meatloaf patty for lunch. Everything I tasted was delicious and interesting and different. And it is all in single serving containers just waiting for me and only me.

My friend, Ann, popped in to check on how things were going and she even got a taste!

He worked very hard all day and it took him longer than he planned and it was hot but he persevered and it was excellent. He seems way more open to suggestions and ideas. He found a cache of recipes I had ripped out and asked me what, about each one was appealing and then asked if he could borrow them. I told him about chess pie (my favorite kind of pie) and he's going to see if he can make it up in some kind of individual servings.

Now I have a second Great Personal Chef!

Chef Tom

He's just the nicest guy ever. And very nice to be around and he cleans up the kitchen beautifully and the oven, too!

He also gave me little tastes all day long and even made me a meatloaf patty for lunch. Everything I tasted was delicious and interesting and different. And it is all in single serving containers just waiting for me and only me.

My friend, Ann, popped in to check on how things were going and she even got a taste!

He worked very hard all day and it took him longer than he planned and it was hot but he persevered and it was excellent. He seems way more open to suggestions and ideas. He found a cache of recipes I had ripped out and asked me what, about each one was appealing and then asked if he could borrow them. I told him about chess pie (my favorite kind of pie) and he's going to see if he can make it up in some kind of individual servings.

Now I have a second Great Personal Chef!