Squinting Resting Face and other random stuff

What can I say? The house has a South-West facing front door. Great light for photos but a terrible squinting hazard. I always look like I'm about to scream at some kids to get off my lawn (which I would if there were any kids on my lawn). I need to work on turning that squint into more of a snarl. Ah well, that's this week's project sorted. 
I tried something different recently. These are canellini beans from a tin that I drained, patted dry, and fried in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Apparently everyone on the internet has been doing this for ages, but I'm slow to a fad. They do get browned and a bit crispy which is fun.
I served it with chard because everyone else does, and I lack imagination??.
Anyway, if you're looking to try something like this there are hundreds of variations on it out there though I believe the original recipe came from 101 Cookbooks. 
 This nifty recipe is my invention. Make curried rice with some fried onions and sultanas...
...then fill hollowed out apples. Add a few inches of vegetable broth in the pan and bake at 325 degrees F. until apples are soft. We eat this quite a bit through apple season. 
Don't forget to leave room for cake. This is an apple and spice coffee cake. It doesn't have coffee in it, but rather is a cake to serve with coffee. Just one of many (delightfully?) strange things about the United States. Oh, and the little white scoop that looks like ice cream on the side of the plate of fluffy pancakes you ordered? That's not ice cream-that's salted butter. Many a visitor to the US has been surprised by that. Why do we butter our pancakes and douse them in maple syrup? I don't have any idea. I usually leave the butter to the side and go straight to the syrup. The recipe for this cake said to serve it plain as it didn't require any embellishment. Right. I just don't do minimalism well and if I take the trouble to bake a cake, I'm going to embellish as I see fit. The darker glaze is icing sugar with a bit of molasses and apple cider (that's cloudy apple juice, not the alcoholic type). 
I put my California Pottery apple dish to use. The tiny apples in the centre are part of the plate. I just adore setting the table at this time of year as most of my pottery collection is in earth tones. 
Yay for Autumn!
Boo for being ill. 

Yeah, I feel and look shit lately, but at least I have a lovely warm robe to be miserable in. I didn't bother cropping the bathroom selfie because hey, keeping it real. Never mind-look at the Gossard Artemis vintage quilted robe. I wish I had slippers with ostrich feathers to match. I should mention standing on the edge of the tub to get a photo is generally a bad idea, ill or not. Don't try this one at home.

It is such an obnoxious shade of pink-I love it.
I don't love the deep shade of blue my fingers have been turning. My immune system is trying to kill me, but I'm stubborn. I have a medical appointment in a couple weeks and I'm sure it will mean switching medications around because there's only so much prednisone you can throw at a flare. I'm not looking forward to methotrexate again, but this is getting stupid already. I have a shit tonne of things to do that aren't getting done. Anyway, enough about that but I thought it was worth mentioning why I'm so damn cranky as I'm sure it comes through in my posts. 

 My bed might not qualify as art, but I thought you might enjoy seeing the crochet blanket my mum made in the 70's, and the red Ayers blanket my dad bought in Canada in the 50's. The blue bedspread was something my parents had made to match their drapes in the 50's.
 These are a few of the storage solutions I've come up with for brooches. Not perfect, but in a pinch, it will do.
But back to the squinting resting face...
...it looks like we'll be rainy next week, so perhaps it will mean less squinting in photos. If I bother to get dressed. I must say, a nice robe makes getting dressed seem less important. 

Outfit Particulars:
Skirt-K Mart
Top-K Mart
Jacket-Goodwill
Macrame bag-Goodwill
Shoes-Goodwill
Earrings-Goodwill
Enamel clamper bracelets-both Target about 15 years ago
Hand-woven belt-Hand-Me-Ups
Fragrance-Paco Rabanne Ultraviolet (I have a review coming for that one. I liked the sample so much I ended up going for a full bottle-something I rarely do. It is an odd one for sure, but I wouldn't want to be without it now).


Tomorrow is the annual Sarpy County Historical Society Yard Sale. As jumble-type sales go, this one's epic. I was too sick to make the preview day today, but I'll be there tomorrow come hell or high water-I'll just need Mr. ETB to drive and carry my purchases. I hope you have a lovely weekend. 










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