No sudden movements

The items you can find in my refrigerator are generally interesting looking things like the gravy from that roast chicken we had three weeks ago. You remember honey, don't you? Every few days I'll be rummaging through looking for that jar of salsa I thought I remembered having some where back here, and come across a piece of pizza from who knows when. Usually I will throw the greenish discovery away, but sometimes I don't and it continues to grow new sorts of cancer curing fungi.

I inherited this trait from my father's mother. My dad always said Helen discovered penicillin LONG before the rest of the world. I remember making Grandma a cup of tea when I was a teenager, but never having one myself because I was never sure of the state of the milk lurking behind that sealed yellow door.

Fast forward to my life today with a refrigerator that I am mostly responsible for, and you will probably find penicillin. (The milk is hardly ever bad thankfully.) Being good little homeowners we ate all the eggs and drank all the milk before we embarked on our two week holiday trip. We did not, however, worry about ANY thing else inside the fridge. About two days before returning we were anxiously discussing the things that might greet us upon our arrival home. Things like a mud covered couch and lots of dust and dog hair were not far from our minds, then like a bolt of lightening the fridge crossed our minds simultaneously and we stared at each other in the utmost fear. We both knew what I was capable of and we weren't excited to rush home to it.

Reluctantly the day we arrived, we opened the refrigerator hoping nothing would crawl out and climb up our legs. I put on the rubber gloves, Thomas grabbed the trash can and we went in head first. Dumping the contents of Tupperware containers, washing the shelves, we selected only first rate items to return to the inside.

In the deep dark corner, low down, behind six other sauces, salsas and leftovers, we discovered a can of lump claw crab meat, a lovely, yet odd, yarn store parting gift that a loyal customer gave me to enjoy. Surely it couldn't still be good, could it? I closed the store in April. We found the BEST IF USED BY date and what do you know? It said Feb. 2008! WHOH! WOW! YAY!

In celebration we made this amazing, perfectly risen, Crab Soufflé.

Go away!

How does the garage fill up with so much stuff? Boxes from online orders, tools from projects once conceived but not yet finished, mementos from days gone by, why do things like this pile up? The trashman must think we're nuts with of the amount of stuff we pile on our curb four times a year. Ugh!

Stuff gets cleared out and yet somehow within a few months there's new stuff taking its place. Where does it come from? I swear we don't put it there!

Well, back out for more organizing-slash-throwing-stuff-AWAY!

...but at least it's 70 and sunny with seagulls squawking as they fly overhead.

Good food, fast.

A Christmas gift from my ever thoughtful mother-in-law, the new Nigella Lawson cookbook, Nigella Express, is everything I hoped it would be. I've always adored Nigella and her dreamy pandering of delicious foods. I love to watch her television show, shot in her home with clever camera angles and lots of blurry, dreamlike views. Nigella is not pretentious when it comes to describing what she's cooking. She's not in a big, well lit studio with everything at arms reach. She's running around her kitchen grabbing what she needs while telling a story about memories of her mother making the same heartwarming meal, then at the end of the show they show a dark kitchen and a nightgown clad Nigella sneaking to the fridge to lap up some leftovers. Talking through the entire show, it's as though you're right in the kitchen with her and you're going to get to taste that amazing looking pasta that she's dishing up for her children.

Slightly exhausted of our recent bread and brie regimen (we bought cheese at Costco so we will be eating the brie for the next 10 years), I cracked open my new book. Inside I found the same unpretentious, inspiring advice about fitting time into each night to not only make dinner but make a dinner we would actually want to eat. Tonight I served up Red Shrimp with Mango Curry over a bed of Japanese rice. It was quick and easy to make and I will make it again soon.

There's a lot more exciting recipes too. A few that stand out in my memory are Broccoli and Stilton Soup and Instant Chocolate Mousse!

Nigella Express

Comedian is living in an IKEA store

Comedian Mark Malkoff decided to call up IKEA Paramus to see if he could move in while the apartment he shares with his wife was being fumigated. Shockingly, IKEA said yes! His wife, on the other hand, is staying with family in upstate New York.

This week he moved in to one the 'homes' in the upstairs showroom. Customers come and visit him, he makes people take off their shoes before entering his home and it looks like he's generally having a really fun time!

Mark is posting videos on his website: Mark Lives in IKEA

Thanks Jennifer!

Coke to Get Deluged By Anti-Water-Bottle Campaign

Incoming Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent will be receiving quite the welcoming gift come July. Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum are planning to deliver 1 million used water bottles stuffed with messages to Mr. Kent as part of an awareness campaign they call Tappening. The campaign aims to encourage consumption of tap water...

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