Whew! Made it!!

These past two weeks have been such a blur.  I have worked all of my call shifts for the month in two weeks- woof!!  I didn’t even have time to blog!!  As nice as it’s gonna be to have 2 weeks without call, I think I prefer to spread out my call a little bit over the month- so I’m not practically worn out by the end of my shifts!

Anyway, now that it’s done, I can move on to bigger and better projects!  I have such a renewed sense of self when I am able to have a creative outlet!  It is incredibly therapeutic for me to do and think about something totally different and totally unrelated, totally not medical, not academic, not scientific.  I am left at the end of many days needing to tap into the other side of my brain, the emotional, creative, impulsive side.  Like that headboard I made! 🙂  Mr. Handsome and I are so proud of it still!

Right now, I am reupholstering a chaise lounge I got at a yardsale for $25.  It desperately needs this makeover- it’s got good bones, but the lady who I bought it from had cats…so there is cat hair everywhere, cat pee on places, somehow cat vomit on the underside of the thing, and the cats took their kitty claws and ripped at the very outdated used-to-be-red-but-faded-to-pink fabric.  But I know a good deal when I see one…so I picked it up.  That was 3 years ago- and I am finally getting around to it!  I’m sure there’ll be a future post about it 😉

I also can get lots of creative relief by cooking…and I have been cooking!!  Everything I’ve made from Julia’s cookbook is delicious and fabulous.  Here are some pics from my recent food adventure:

 MMMMMMMmmmmmm……bacon!

Hubby and I made Julia’s Poached Eggs en croute with a mushroom Bechamel sauce:

And here’s Julia’s Poulet Fricasee a l’Indienne (Chicken Fricasee in and Indian Curry Sauce):

A Fricasee is a dish somewhere between a saute and a stew- see all the fabulous joujou?

Valentine’s Day was also this past week- and I made way too much food.  But it was fabulous!

Chocolate covered strawberries:

Oh. My. Goodness. Gracious.
Chocolate Covered Grapes:

Handmade Truffles (left to right): Peanut butter with sea salt, Almond with crushed cayenne pepper, and ganache with chopped cherries rolled in coconut and slivered almonds:

And those were all waiting for my honey bunny when he woke up on Valentine’s Day, along with a bubble bath and a massage 😉

Then, I made some dinner for us- which was soooo complicated.  It was delicious- but it ’bout near killed me to finish it!
Tournedos Rossini (Steak with Artichokes, sauteed mushrooms, truffles, pate, and pan gravy):

Sooo fancy and so delicious.  But I may never make it again, it was so difficult.  But amazing.  Here’s the delicious wine we enjoyed with our steak dinner:

For dessert, I made Bavarois (bavarian creme, raspberry flavored):

This was not so hard, but completely amazing!!  Highly highly HIGHLY recommended!!
We enjoyed out Raspberry Bavarian Creme with a dessert wine- which is too sweet to drink on its own, but is really toned down by a sweet dessert- and turns out just right with a fruity sweet dessert!

And the pretty roses Mr. Handsome had waiting for me when I got home 🙂  I love Valentine’s Day!!!

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