be yourself: live with passion

Do you believe in luck?

I can't think about today without thinking about the "luck of the Irish".

So, I thought I'd get your take on luck, being lucky, having lucky charms, etc., etc., etc.

 

There are some people out there who say they are lucky...they always win a door prize or a raffle when there's a drawing...they find a parking space exactly when and where they need one...the outfit they passed up on last week is now on half off clearance and it's still available in their size...you get the drift.

Do you think there is such a thing as luck?

And, if so, do you think that people who say they are lucky attract good things or look for good things to happen to them?  And, conversely, those who say they are not lucky will look for things to prove that they are right?

If you find a four leaf clover and experience some good luck, is it because you were expecting it?  Or, do you think there is such a thing as a lucky charm (and not the cereal, which I absolutely loved as a kidlet, by the way:))?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

In the meantime, hope you have a fun, happy {and lucky} St. Paddy's Day!

I'll leave you with a little Irish blessing, too.

May you have warm words on a cold evening, a full moon on a dark night, and the road downhill all the way to your door

hunkered down...

With less than two weeks before the "Bon Voyage" Heirloom boutique event/workshop, I am in full out getting ready mode.

From the time I get up, to the time I go to bed, I'm either prepping something for the kits/event, actually kitting, or thinking about the kits/event.  It really is all consuming for me.

 
Some of you have asked me why it takes me so much time to put together the Heirloom kits.  I'm guessing that maybe some of you think that I'm pretty slow but are just too kind to mention it.  Well, I'm not exactly slow, but I am meticulous about these kits.

By the time I finish doing all of the prep and actual kitting, depending on the project, I will have invested anywhere from 4 to 6 hours per kit.  Yeah, you read it right...that's per kit!   Amazing, isn't it?  But, when you consider what you get, it only makes sense. 

The time it takes to cut ribbons, trims and fabrics, and then to individually dye and dry some of them is huge.  Plus, there's the hand stamping of images for each kit (like the variety of clocks pictured above), and, for the travel journal, hand staining hundreds of pieces of wood.  How about the die cutting...one of my very favorite things to do (that was tongue in cheek, by the way!!!!).  And, that's just a few of the products included in this oh so abundant kit.

I wanted to thank so many of you for taking time to give me your feedback...and for your orders.  Just a few kits remain...so if you're sitting on the fence, you may want to pre-order yours before they run out.  Many of you have said that this one is your favorite...you know what, I think it's mine too!  It took me a while to build the project and it kept reminding me of the projects I put together for the 7 gypsies in Paris book which was published many many years ago!  Love that this style has remained strong...and that so many of you appreciate it as much as I do.

Just to let you know...while the album is French flavored, it is by no means a Parisian or French travel journal.  I have pre-stamped some French related images but have also included extra paper in each kit for you to stamp your own images, if you so choose.  That way, you have the flexibility to make this journal about any where you've been!

To pre-order your kit today, simply head over to my creatologie blog  and click on the Buy Now button.

On a family note, I finally got to see my brand new grand-nephew on Friday night!  Oh, I've missed having new babies in the family.  Here he is...Baby K!  He has very intense focus, that is, when he isn't sleeping!  Such a cutie!  Guess what I did for most of the evening?  You got it!!!  Holding and rocking him...bliss!

 
 

 OK, off to the clothesline in the back yard...another batch dyed and dried!

P.S.  I just did a little research about whether Baby K is my great nephew or grand nephew.  Apparently, if I was in the UK, he would be my great nephew but in the US, he'd be referred to as my grand nephew.  Either way, I can't go wrong since he's both great and grand! :)

Graisse De Canard

Consider this your fair warning.  Some of you may be kind of grossed out by this post.  But, I'm guessing that many of you will be totally intrigued!

Graisse De Canard...sounds quite sophisticated, doesn't it?  The French language has a way of making things sound wonderful, which is why I chose to title this post in French :)!  Because, you see, if I had titled this post with the English translation, some of you wouldn't bother to read past the title.

So, what in the world is graisse de canard?

Simply put, duck fat.

"Ewwww...ick...gross", you might say.  "Who in the world would eat duck fat?"

Well, the French, for sure!

I first saw the use of duck fat several years ago in one of my French farmhouse cook books...and, being an adventurous kind of cook (and a foodie, too) I was totally intrigued.

I found some sources online, but, at the time, I was looking for some instant gratification...not a package in the mail in a week or so.

I called around to some of the local gourmet type stores to see if anyone carried it...no luck.  Well, life got in the way, other things cluttered the brain, and duck fat was forgotten.

Fast forward to the week before Christmas.

I was out doing a bit of last minute shopping when I saw AJ's (a local gourmet grocery).  First thing that popped into my head was "I need to see if they have any goose fat."  Apparently, my brain had gotten so cluttered that it couldn't even remember that it was duck fat :) that I was actually looking for.  Anyway, I popped into the store and asked the seafood manager if they had goose fat.  She said that they didn't carry that at all...that sometimes they had duck fat but she didn't think that they had it at the time.  When I asked if she knew for sure that they didn't have it, she told me that they didn't.  I left the store kind of disappointed...cause I still wanted that instant gratification!

OK, now bear with me a bit through this story...it's a little long.

Later that afternoon, Vern came home and told Ash he needed help with something he picked up for me.  Next thing I know, there's a brown bag in the fridge that says "Do Not Open til Christmas".    What?????  No fair!

So, I start telling Vern and Ash about where I'd been and that I had stopped into AJ's and that I still couldn't get my hands on any goose or duck fat...on and on, with a bit of a rant.  Ash didn't say anything and Vern made appropriate "oh so sorry" noises.

Again, life gets in the way and graisse de canard is forgotten.

Christmas morning...several days later...I get to open my refrigerated brown bag.

Now I know that all of you are really bright people...and you know where this story is heading!  But, you have the advantage of having all of the lead in stuff, right?

Anyway, clueless Carol gets to open her brown bag on Christmas morning.  And, much to her surprise, there, inside are two, not one, but two containers of graisse de canard!

After I got over my surprise and the where in the world did you find these question, Vern tells me that he was in AJ's the same day I was there, just a couple of hours later.  He talked to the meat manager (which makes more sense than my talking to the seafood manager, since the last time I checked, duck was not listed under seafood :)), and sure enough, they had some cannisters of duck fat brought in for the holidays.

What a strange and wonderful coincidence.  (These kinds of "coincidences" happen a lot with us...where we think of the same thing around the same time, or pick up the phone to call each other and the phone rings with a call from the other...weird, I know.)

Anyway, I was tickled to have duck fat for some of my holiday cooking.

If you've gotten to this point in the story, I know that you aren't totally grossed out by the idea of using duck fat, so I'll tell you a little of what I know about it.  Nutritionally, it has a lot of the same properties as olive oil instead of the usual properties of an animal fat.  A lot of French soup recipes call for sauteeing veggies in graisse de canard prior to adding them to stock...and I've got to say that I'm amazed by the difference in flavor!

Potatoes roasted in duck fat is also another French (and now, Wingert) favorite.  If you don't happen to have a recipe in one of your cookbooks, Williams-Sonoma has one online...plus you can buy a jar of the duck fat there as well...if you're not as much of an instant grat person as I am!

 
(photo from Williams-Sonoma)

I hope you enjoyed this little French culinary adventure.  Is graisse de canard something you keep in your pantry or fridge?

I used all of mine...MUST order more!  It's definitely become a favorite around here.