mamakeith

WINNER/UPDATE

2009-10-10T11:31:00.002-04:00

Greetings! As you may know, the new domesticmama site is up and running- currently under http://thevillagecook.com I have not changed the domain from here to there yet, as I want to make sure everyone knows! If you want to know who won the latest giveaway you have to check there! More to come soon!

this site has moved!

2009-10-09T05:53:00.001-04:00

I have created a larger site with much more information and photos.... check out http://thevillagecook.com

things kids say

2009-09-21T15:50:00.002-04:00

When the dog tries to hump my 7 year old, she says: "look mama, he's hugging me!"
My 2 year old counts everything like this: "no gabba gabba, one gabba,gabba, two gabba,gabba...."
After every meal /snack I get asked if it's "close eyes time?" = I have them close their eyes for a dessert surprise (at certain times...)
Freshly caught fish are now called "me toos" because that's what my youngest says whenever we are holding one.
And... the mac n cheese in the cafeteria is good... but not as good as mine she says.
AWWW... I love those girls.

where have I been?

2009-09-01T06:06:00.003-04:00

Howdy folks, well, mamakeith is being converted into another site after 2 web hosts, 2 time consuming designs and a lot of frustration. If you read thedomesticmama, you can see my passion is food and food photography, so the new site will have lots of recipes and such, BUT there will be a special little page just for odd little glimpses into my world. I am sorry for not posting here as much. Once everything is set up I will be regularly updating the new site! BTW... there is a giveaway on http://www.thedomesticmama.com good luck!

old cookbook

2009-08-27T06:39:00.003-04:00

my mom is soooo cool. She surprised me with this treasure the other day. I am diggin the retro cover and cheesy pictures inside. And.. the recipes? It actually has recipes for the odd things that grow here. Sea Grapes. Palm. Soursop. Tamarind. My morning walks will soon be harvest walks. Yay Florida!

my little fishergirl

2009-08-25T15:10:00.004-04:00

My hubby caught a dolphin...but don't tell anyone. She wants everyone to think she caught it all by herself! Shhhh!

an update...

2009-08-15T07:11:00.002-04:00

I am STILL in the process of developing my site. If a company says you can build your site in minutes, well...it's true BUT you get a pretty simple site. So once more I am going with another company and I am VERY happy with the site so far. Once it's published I am going to reward my early readers with a little prize for being patient. I promise y'all will enjoy the site. It will take a bit of time though, I am aiming for mid Sept. Hmmm unless I stay up late EVERY night...

a little note...

2009-08-06T07:17:00.002-04:00

As you can see this is no longer on it's custom domain. I am in the process of converting into a website and I am trying to reduce the downtime for my readers during the file transfer, which should take place sometime late next week. The new website with be utilizing both the domestic mama and mamakeith domains. (the .com) so... be on the lookout! :)

these little things and friends...

2009-08-06T06:09:00.002-04:00

So, I have been making these little food jewels lately. Along with paintings, wind chimes, crystal earrings and framed "scrapbook sheets". Now I am toying with resin charms. I'm into the food theme if ya can't tell. So, what's this have to do with friends? I have a dear friend, Lauren... who once was Amanda (for years) that I have known since we were 12. She have proven over the years to be a true friend...one that inspires me to do and create, and encourages me to do so,she is honest with herself and others and she is always there for you. She is the type of friend that if you are going down, she will either go down with you or help to get you back up. We lost touch over a few years, but she always went out of her way to find me. Recently, she started a shop on etsy, selling charms, barrettes and now, original children and toddler clothing. Her store is called punknpatch on etsy, and I'm very impressed with her work. It's crazy... when we were kids there was no such thing as a home computer. Who knew that we would both have our own cyber-stores!?!

George...

2009-08-03T13:41:00.003-04:00

I usually don't post pictures of too many people on my site.. mainly because I would rather write about things that interest a vast majority. But, in this case... I had to publish this. The man in the photo is my brother in law, George. I love this pic of him because I felt as if you can almost tell from the photo what kind of person he is, and isn't that what we want to capture in pictures? The essence of the being. He is a warm, kind, honest hardworking man. He is jovial and a pleasure to have the company of. In the photo he's looking at my sister, who was holding my daughter at the time. He loves my sister so much....you can tell by how he speaks to her and brags about her with out even trying. He can't talk about her without saying something complimentary, and my sister is the same way about him. They have found their match in each other and are each other's rock. They have been married almost 20 years now... and every time I see them together it makes me so happy that they are together.

cheap ways to entertain a toddler part II

2009-07-31T11:06:00.003-04:00

This hippo is very very tired. He's been flying all afternoon....Why? How? Good ol lawn equipment!

A fun time was had by all!

Can you spot the hippo? ^ (there)..............................................^blower!

So... this is one of the fun things that you too can do with lawn equipment. I am kinda kidding.. but thought y'all might like to see how we spend a weekday afternoon after the lawn gets mowed. Fun stuff!

comments...

2009-07-30T14:57:00.001-04:00

Ok, y'all I think I worked out the comment section. Sorry for the delays. You have the option to comment and just put in your name, or even be anonymous. Let me know if there is more trouble!

I really like office supplies...weird thing part II

2009-07-27T09:38:00.006-04:00

This is my home office. It's a small binder I found at one of those office stores. I guess I could upgrade to one of those fancy day planners... but, this one is voted least likely to get stolen from the front seat of my car. I have separate categories in there, too...each with their own little storage pocket. There's one for web ideas, one for crafting and photography and a big one for the budget and bills, then another for all my lists...ther's a wish list, a need list, a fix list, a store list, a dollar store list, a look for at thrift shops list, a costco list,and a pet store list. I'm a bit of a list maker.My home office:It's a mini homemade trapper keeper, I think. Hmmm. I really like office supplies.... what's y'alls' home office like?

no picture ...yet

2009-07-25T21:24:00.002-04:00

I dug through the archive to find a pic to suit my mood. But, I didn't have a picture of chaos. Ok, it's not bad... good chaos. But what photograph can relay that word? The notebook I carry ?Neatly divided between bills and notes and lists and ideas and camera info and web host info and etsy items and the ebay list and the recipes to try... not to mention the area for um... my "meetings" with Mr.Claus. Or would chaos be the pile of pictures that I still need to find the "perfect" album for? Or, perhaps the growing collection of "food jewels" awaiting to be wired up into pendants and earrings? Then, there is the big picture of chaos... the world's state. Mankind. The environment. Maybe I tend to wrap myself up in a minute world of chaos just to escape the vastness of chaos that's just outside the door of my teeny-tiny little home. Maybe I hope that through my sites.. I can help people forget the world for a moment and just enjoy the simple little things like coffee and cupcakes and comfort food... mm sounds good to me.

If life is a bowl of cherries, I hope they're Rainier

2009-07-24T14:22:00.002-04:00

My mom brought me over these yesterday. They have to be one of my most favorite fruits. I ate pounds of them when I was pregnant. I had dreams about them in January... and waited patiently for the delicious jewels to arrive in season. If you have never had these before, try them. They are consistently sweet... not sometimes watery tasting like Bing cherries sometimes are. They are crisp and juicy.. not to mention quite lovely to look at. But, I'd rather eat mine.

entertaining a toddler...

2009-07-23T14:31:00.002-04:00

The other night my hubby and I and my soon to be 2 year old went on a "date". Now, mind you the attention span of a toddler can be very short lived. Unless they're doing something the shouldn't be. Like playing with ice... or stealing tomatoes (cool waiter gave us a bowl full for her) or wanting "mo, mo" ketchup. We gave in to all her indulgences that night. Just so we could eat our steaks there... but it was worth it. She slept like a baby that night. Wait! Babies don't sleep! At least mine didn't at night. So, she slept like a dog that night. My dogs sleep ALL the time.

I carry a cooler for a purse...part one of weird things

2009-07-21T06:29:00.004-04:00

I carry a cooler for a purse. Yes, it's true. It can hold 12 cans if I get thirsty and want to empty out all the junk.... speaking of junk, when I was it middle school one of the things girls did in class was say. "hey, let me go through your purse." I assume it was a way we passed time, but it's odd to think of it now. So, for old times sake let you go through my purse...errr cooler. First of all, there are diapers and wipes (I have a 2year old) There is my trusty point n shoot digital camera (the SLR won't fit) hmmm, a cosmetic bag with baby sunblock, a lipstick, mascara, a mirror, baby tylenol, adult advil, a bandaid, tweezers, and a safety pin. There's a reusable shopping bag that folds into a little brown pouch, a datebook, a checkbook, hand wipes, hand sanitizer, a mini can of Lysol (I hate it when there are no shopping cart wipes... I'm a bit of a clean freak) a pen, and an apple.Oh yes, the pink things are toddler utensils, because resturants never have those. The reason it's a cooler? #1 the camera. #2 the apple or whatever snack I tote around and I live in south Florida. It's not Coach, Gucci or Burberry. It's Walgreens. More weird facts to come.

2009-07-18T21:49:00.003-04:00

Hello friends... I took this pic at the Juno beach marine life center... they rescue and rehabilitate sea turtles there. This guy hammed it up for my camera.... he told me to make him famous. So here he is on the world wide web. I'm working on it, Mr. Turtle!

small joys in life...

2009-07-16T08:45:00.003-04:00

One of the small joys in life are homemade blueberry muffins with sugar crystals baked on top....it's just one of those summer things, along with fresh corn and watermelon and cherries and plums and peaches... man I love the produce stand.

two nice things in life...

2009-07-15T08:06:00.003-04:00

These are the giant $5 chocolate chip cookies that they sell in Key West. Their aroma travels down Duval street beckoning the hungry tourists. You can see them start to look around for the source of the smell like hungry dogs sniffing for a dropped morsel of food. Then, they come across a glorious sight... HUGE chocolate chip cookies. Ch-ching says the baker... $5. But what a yummy $5 it is.

Another nice sight in Key West on a hot humid sticky day... ahhh a nice cold beer, to go, of course so you can still walk around and watch people following their noses into bakeries.

A little tidbit...

2009-07-14T21:25:00.002-04:00

I filleted 4 tuna on this table. And fed lots of sea birds. Alfred Hitchcock would have gotten some great footage there. In case you're wondering... my hubby isn't a fan of the fillet table, but that's just fine cause he can back the boat to the ramp much better than I could ever dream of! So, it's a fair trade. Sushi from this table will be posted on my other site tomorrow. mmmmmm.

Captian Tony's part two

2009-07-14T06:12:00.003-04:00

As I said in an earlier post, we were planning a trip to Key West to see if our pic made it a year. As the photo tells, it did. I got covered up,though. We left it just as we found it. It was a neat butterfly-ee feeling walking up to see. I don't know why. But there we are, still on the wall of a bar. In case anyone out there was wondering!

swing a way...

2009-07-06T18:19:00.002-04:00

Can you believe... my sweet hubby left ALL our refrigerated items... so we had to go to the local store. AND!!!! I found a shiny new SWING A WAY for.. get this $3.99! I have the best souvenir already! YAY!

headin out of town....

2009-07-05T06:14:00.002-04:00

Hello friends.. weird I have more followers on my domestic site than this one... hmmm I need to start posting more useful information here! Well, I am leaving with my hubby daughter and boat for a little va-ca in Islamorada! I am bringing the laptop so expect some pics! And.. next week I am going to start putting more useful info for y'all on this site... unless there's protests? Much love, mamakeith

a few words on can openers...

2009-07-04T06:38:00.002-04:00

For years I had a "Swing A Way" can opener... YEARS I tell ya. Well, maybe that little can opener was just used to my southpaw way of using it, because it never worked right for my hubby. He got so frustrated with it one night that my can opener met its demise that way, and ended up in the trash. (sniffle...) since then, I have bought several other replacement that all broke. Or, maybe they can't handle a southpaw? My dear mother in law even got me a top of the line one as a "gag" christmas gift (she got me other things too!) and guess what? Broke. So, next week I am going to find myself a nice shiny new Swing A Way can opener. Yeah, I know I should have just gotten another one in the first place, but... then what woul I blog about?

I love produce stands

2009-07-03T06:13:00.002-04:00

A few years back, I purchased a ripe red tomato at a supermarket. I put it on my counter top. And I forgot about it, I went out of town for a week and came home to it. It was unchanged. So I said hmmmm. I left it there. Another week passed. Same. Now, at this time in my life, I was managing a health food store and I knew what was going on in the standard food industry. Maybe I just thought it was in an experimental phase. But no... this tomato had an EXTENDED life. Ugh. A month went by before it showed the tiniest speck of deterioration. (who needs green bags with tomatoes like these?!) I began to think, when I make cookies and bread... they don't last as long as the stores. Ugh. Now produce?
That's why I love produce stands. There's always rotten stuff around,(along with fresh, of course) and most of it hasn't traveled far to get there.Where I live we have lots of Latinos and Asians, so I can find the most unusual items, some of them would even inspire Dr.Seuss. I can always find something new and fresh... the drawback? I have to use it within a few days, because it goes bad. And, that's a good thing. (ooo I sounded live Martha Stewart there, eh?)

one of my favorite pastimes...

2009-07-02T17:23:00.002-04:00

I keep binders with pages of magazines slipped into sheet protectors, I have been doing it since 1994, and they are my own personal "cookbooks". I will thumb through them for inspiration and lately, my (almost) 2year old daughter has developed a fondness for them. I realize that one day, they will be a small bit of food history... the same was my depression era cookbooks help to extend your food ration. These may be a bit of history... for someone one day.

life

2009-07-01T06:24:00.003-04:00

I love this pic. It's my sweet husband getting a hug from our daughter. A picture is worth a thousand words. If I ever get down about life... I realize I have moments like these and it melts away any worry or stress that I have. I count my blessings each and every day.

2009-06-30T07:40:00.004-04:00

A treasure found

About 14 years ago I answered a classified ad from a little old lady selling her cookbook collection. It was a huge dusty box that had about 75 assorted old books collected through the years by the woman. I thumbed through the more interesting ones and the others traveled with me through the years. This afternoon.. one caught my eye. A battered and worn paperback booklet simply titled "good cakes" . I found in the back of this with a strange circular paperclip a dozen or so handwritten recipies from the twenties. VERY COOL. I'm a huge fan of sugar cookies.. and there is a recipe for one from 1924. It's written in that typical grandmother handwriting that nobody has unless the're over 70. I have a good feeling about this treasure. I couldn't go through the others... too windy (I was outside) and then as always, life got me busy. But, that's okay...I have more treasures to find tomorrow.

joey

2009-06-29T06:26:00.000-04:00

This is Joey, he's a African spur-thighed tortise, I got him in 2000,when he was the size of a half dollar. He's about 75lbs right now.He roams our backyard, consuming about anything... including dog poo. (we try to discourage this behavior, though) He used to live in an aquarium, and at one point he had free roam of the house. (before his poops became horse-sized).Full grown size for him can range from 75-150lbs. That happens by about age 15, so we just have to wait and see..(hopefully dog poo doesn't stunt growth!) He will live up to 150 years, so it's a good thing we have kids. He will be quite an inheratince one day.

capt tony's-key west

2009-06-26T06:23:00.000-04:00

Last year, my husband and I took a weekend getaway to Key West, we did the ever famous Duval street and visited capt Tony's saloon. Apparently this establishment was also "the original sloppy joes, also). If you've never been there it is a sight. First of all, there is a huge tree growing in the center of it. And I mean TREE... roots in the ground and branches out the roof. Very cool. Don't know how the insurance company lets it stay, but I'm glad they do. In addition to the massive tree, there are BRAS. Lots of them. Somehow, ladies feel compelled to leave them there. (no, I wasn't wearing one that day- tank top with built in) Along with the bras, there are various mementos from all the people that have visited. Dollar bills, notes, business cards, and tons of photos. So, after my husband and I cooled off with a nice cold bud we were sucked into the vortex of leaving our mark. Here is our wedding picture being placed. We are going to Islamorada soon for a fishing trip and are planning a drive to Key West one afternoon to see if our mark is still there (and to get some Baby's coffee- YUM.) If you've never had Baby's coffee... well that's a whole new blog. Maybe later.

salvador

2009-06-25T06:24:00.001-04:00

This is Salvador. I got him at the end of a dirt road after following cardboard signs that read, "FREE PUPPIES". That was fourteen years ago. He is what I think is an Akita/Sheppard mix, although I will never know for sure.. I just say he's a shikita. Salvador has been with me through more than anyone I know... he's lived with me in tiny apartments, and on ten acres. As a pup, he ate a couch and the seat out of my Accord that I used to drive. He used to be able to hop in the back of my old truck and jump out if he saw a cat. Now he's a frail old man in a dog's body. He still eats heartily,and gets around slowly, his days of eating seats and truck jumping are long gone.. he is happy in his golden canine years. You can tell by the smile in this photo.

about this site...

2009-06-24T12:36:00.000-04:00

This is the site where you will find the more personal side of my life, rants, raves and the little daily things that make me crazy, good and bad! My goal is to try to document things that are funny sad and everywhere in between. Here is where you can see a day in the life of mamakeith. I will try to post daily, as with my other site, http://domesticatedmama.blogspot.com that's where you can find more useful information ie, cooking and domestic stuff. I hope you enjoy!

puddles

2009-06-24T06:04:00.000-04:00

It rained. And rained... this is the puddle in our front yard. My daughter loves la-la. Which, to her means water. That started when her dad asked her if she wanted wa-wa for water... wa-wa became la-la, and it stuck. She calls the beach the big la-la. I know one day she'll say water like the rest of the english speaking world.... right now I love her "words".