Archive for the ‘celebrate it’ Category

I was working on my post yesterday when it hit me, it was my 100th post.

Holy cow!  Didn’t that call for a celebration or something?   The trouble was I wasn’t feeling very creative yesterday, I was hot and tired… so I finished what I was writing and called it a day.

Today is my 101st post…  and I had the same urge… I really should celebrate.

I should write 101 things you never knew about me…  if I wanted to send you running for the hills.

I should write about 101 things I love…  this is a wonderful activity, by the way. Last January, I took the time to write down 50 things.  It made me feel so grateful.  But probably not too riveting for you dear readers…

So at the risk of sounding quite hokey, I thought I would share the reason I started this blog.

I’m warning you, this might sound a little flighty….

You see, I had a dream that inspired “Make it Do.”

Now I also must tell you, I am not one to underestimate the power of dreams…

When I was barely pregnant with my twin daughters, my mother in law, phoned my husband early in the morning.  She had just had a dream that she needed to tell us about.

In her dream, she was in a hen house.  She was standing over an egg, and although she knows you are not supposed to help a chick break out of it’s shell, she felt she compelled to help this one.  She peeled away the shell.  When she was done, she was horrified… there was not one, but two chicks in the shell. But the birds weren’t ready to be hatched… they looked limp, gray and lifeless.  And she was filled with shock and remorse.  She turned away.  But after a moment, she heard a chirping sound and looked back at the shell.  Inside were two yellow, healthy, darling, little chicks.

After she finished telling my husband about the dream she said, “I think it means you are going to have twins.”  He had a good chuckle and hung up the phone.  He told me the story of the dream and I ran to the bathroom to throw up.  When I was done, I came back and told my husband “Oh no, I am not having twins… I am not the twin mom type… I don’t even like any two names that rhyme and I hate matching outfits!”

As time unfolded her dream became incredibly prescient, because I was indeed having twins.  And they came early… way too early.  They weighed 1 lb. 10 oz. and 1 lb. 3 oz. at birth and they looked limp and gray and lifeless.  They actually looked like unfeathered baby birds with thin translucent skin and incredibly tiny limbs.

Thankfully, Kit’s dream continued to be right.  My little chicks eventually fattened up, turned pink and healthy… and although I didn’t name them matching names and rarely buy matching outfits (though I love to sometimes…)  I especially love having my twins.

Early this year I had a dream that I had written a book called, “Make it Do.”  I woke up with my heart racing… I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something really important.  I immediately wrote down everything I could remember from the dream.  It was about my grandmother and the 1930’s and about finding ways of making life sweet when times are hard.  And it was a lovely book in my dream.

My life is full and busy and I went about living it.  The dreamed nagged at me and I ignored it.  It nagged at me some more.  But I had no idea how to write a book.  So in the end I started this blog.  And 101 posts later… I am really glad I did.

I love Le Creuset pans.

A lot.

I just received this wonderful pan as a birthday present.  I love the color and the size (11 3/4 inch.)  I love how heavy it is and it’s handles and pour spouts.  It has me looking for food to cook.  But this pan also has a “Make it Do” story.

I know what you are thinking, Le Creuset pans are SO expensive, there can’t be anything “Make it Do” about it.

This skillet retails at $180.  But my husband, Drew would never pay $180 for a pan.

He found a wonderful deal at the Le Creuset Outlets and I just had to pass it along.  Until the end of August, you can get 40% off any single item.  That means he got 40% off the already discounted outlet price of $112. They are running the special in the store so he had to ask for the coupon because he was ordering online.

If you are interested, here is a list of the Le Creuset Factory Stores. If you don’t live near a store (like me) they will ship it to you for 15% of the purchase price.  Also, the Colorado stores are offering free shipping this month if you purchase $100 and they have some crazy good deals on everything in the store right now especially if you like red.

You might be thinking it’s still an expensive pan.  But there is something else “Make it Do” about it.  If I take good care of it, this is the last skillet I will ever have to buy.  These pans last and last.  I’ve spoken to cooks who have 40 year old Le Creuset pans and they are still going strong.  I received a small Le Creuset Dutch Oven for my wedding almost 18 years ago… and it is the only pan I still have from that day. So in the end, I think it’s a wonderful deal.  (Thank you, thank you my Dear.)

Here’s an interesting article on why to buy “non” non-stick pans from the NY Times.

I should also say that I am in no way affiliated with Le Creuset… other than being in love with their cookware.