I didn't have work Friday, Saturday, or Sunday which is extremely rare.
How did I spend my time? Well, about 85% of my weekend I spent in my pajamas watching tv. I would usually feel guilty about indulging in this practice, but in less than a month I will no longer be living with my parents in Ohio, so I'm living it up while I still can :) The rest of my weekend was spent Christmas shopping with family/for family, eating, sleeping, and singing Christmas Carols.....
For the first time EVER in my life.....
my family sat down and sang Christmas Carols. You must be thinking "Aww such a beautiful thing" Not so much lol. We can't take ourselves seriously - we change a lot of the words to curse words- we constantly stopped mid song to critique each other even though we cant sing either. It was quite amusing to say the least.
My mother, sister, and i met up with my aunt and uncle at their house for "choir practice" (hahaha) on Saturday night. Choir practice consisted of: My uncle printing out the lyrics to almost every Christmas song under the sun, giving us the lyrics, and playing guitar while we sang out of tune to about 30 Christmas songs.
I actually had a lot of fun at choir practice! And towards the end we got our act together and started to sound really good!!! We shall be singing our Christmas carols on Christmas eve while my uncle plays guitar, and my dad plays piano (he's a professional pianist if you didn't already know). I'm not going to lie - I'm excited to sing with my family- even though we can't carry a tune in a bucket ;)
The weather is still....weathery
I remember when I had my long mane I didn't need scarves. The heat from my hair alone was enough to keep my neck and head warm!!
But after cutting ten incheshes from my head, I've come to learn that scarves are an absolute must for those with short hair!
My sisters dog loves the weather. Even though it's been 20 degrees and below these past few days - she has spent a majority of her time outside..
Although we have three dogs, all of the paw prints you see in these photos are hers. My backyard is HUGE and yet she managed to trample across every single inch of the entire thing. There isn't an untouched patch of snow in the whole yard lol. Hey - at least someone is enjoying it!!
Itty bitty ladies are not equipped to handle these harsh temperatures I tell you!!!
Good thing I am a fan of winter fashions and own quite a few big heavy coats. This red one is my favorite! This particular coat is my favorite because it is lined with very heavy faux fur....when I wear this I feel as if I'm being insulated with 100 warm bunnies....
Wouldn't it be funny if the next picture I showed was me opening up my coat only to reveal hundreds of live bunnies fleeing the scene? Lol. The visual is absolutely hilarious to me.....bunnies EVERYWHERE....perhaps it's not as funny to everyone else as it is to me.... ::cricket noises:: ok moving on lol
Pancake Saturday looked a little like this....
I started my morning off with a big ol cup of Coffeecocoa.Why was I covering my face with my J mug? Because I refused to reveal the creature from the black lagoon behind it. I looked scary yesterday morning...seriously scary lol. I seemed to have forgotten to take off my mascara the night before, and I looked as if I got into a fight with my make up bag....and lost lol. At least I managed to do something with my mess of hair. Prior to pinning my hair up - I looked like Scary Spice (Melanie Brown) after a particularly rowdy Spice Girls concert. Can you say megga afro??? My head sure can....
A pancake Saturday just wouldn't be a pancake Saturday without pancakes now would it?
What pancakes did I manage to simultaneously whip up and devour yesterday?
Yummmmmmmmmmmm.
My mother requested that I put chocolate chips in several of the pancakes for her...
I opted not to eat the pancakes with chocolate chips in them - because I like my breakfast to taste like breakfast, not dessert. My mother said that the choclate ones were "delicious". Then came my dads opinion.......oh geeze lol.....First of all let me say that my dad doesn't like chocolate., so of course he hates chocolate chips in pancakes.
I couldn't help but laugh when my dad told me that he accidentally ate one of the pancakes with chocolate chips in it, and said that they were "disgusting" lol....I told him that the regular banana ones were really good, and that he would like them, but he said that eating the chocoalte ones "scarred" him and that he would not eat another pancake. I found/find this hilarious.
But take his opinion with a grain of salt people. As much as I love him - he is the biggest picky pants in my family :)
OMG SO GOOD. I am trying to eat here as much as humanly possible before I move to Orlando. Even though I'm going to go through some serious withdrawals from my favorite restaurants in Ohio - I'm very excited to gain new favorite restaurants in Florida!! Don't you just love discovering food? We all know I know I sure do!
Guess who has two new recipes for you!!
Me! I do! I do!
(Don't mind Ginger - she likes to sit on my lap and smile while I blog lol)
First up: Appleretto
Next up: Buckeyes
(I'm so excited to share this one with you!)
Just scroll down to the bottom of this post to collect your two new step-by-step recipes!!!
Well it's time for me to bid you farewell....
I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful evening and a great week!
Don't forget to eat well, never skip dessert, and of course don't forget to...
SMILE and BE HAPPY!!!
You're alive.
That's reason enough to parade around with a big ol smile on your face :D
Let us begin....
[[Today’s music]]
JONI MITCHELL – RIVER
[[Today’s restaurant]]
What kind of blogger would I be if I went without showing you the famous "orgasm" scene in the movie "When Harry Met Sally" ??
[[Today's blog findings]]
While going through my daily "blog check" (which is where I peruse through the many blogs I follow) today I came across a lot of pictures that I find interesting, funny, cool, beautiful, and/or wonderful in one way or another:
[[Today's kitchen gadgets]]
(1) VACUVIN SERVE & STACK PARTY SERVER
(2) VEUVE CLICQUOT TRAVELIER
[[Today’s news]]
TAINTED FOOD A COMMON CAUSE OF ILLNESS
48 million sickened
128,000 hospitalized
3,000 died
Figuring out how many people get sick from food is pretty tricky, as it turns out. Most illnesses aren't reported to public health authorities, so there's a fair amount of educated guesswork involved.
Among the 9.4 million or so annual illnesses that can be pinned on particular bugs, the top offenders are norovirus (58 percent), salmonella (11 percent) and Clostridium perfringens, (10 percent), according to one of the papers published in Emerging Infectious Diseases. Salmonella, for what it's worth, is the No. 1 known cause of hospitalizations and deaths, which helps explain why the contaminated egg recalls this year were such a big deal."
Want to read more?
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2010/12/16/132102461/tainted-food-a-common-cause-of-illness
[[Today’s random]]
STREETS & SPORTS: A TRINIDAD TEEN
“A look at some of the choices being made by teenagers growing up in the toughest parts of Trinidad and Tobago”
(2) CASSIUS – I LOVE YOU SO
(3) CASA FEZ – PORTUGAL
"We have all seen more than enough of the stacked-boxes genre of architecture. Boring, cold, uninviting, uninhabitable and so last decade. Yet, once in a while, a set of images crosses our desks of a project that could potentially fall into the has-been category but doesn’t, and instead makes us look again and ponder the beauty of great architecture.
This is the case with Casa Fez, a new house in Porto, Portugal, designed by architect Álvaro Leite Siza Vieira. The architect calls it “the work of my life” as it is a residence he created for himself. “This project and everything behind it was a huge challenge,” he told TCH. “I needed a lot of willpower and courage -- even more than when I decided to become an architect. I try sew up objectives, interests and goals. I followed an ideal and I finally achieved my dream.”
From some angles, we see glimpses of Tomorrowland, but we are willing to overlook that because from so many other viewpoints, the statuesque poise of the structure and the stark clarity of lines brings back memories of Alvar Aalto."
Want to read more?
http://www.thecoolhunter.net/article/detail/1812/casa-fez--portugal
[[Today’s food clip]]
(1) STUPIDLY SIMPLE SNACKS – DEVILED EGGS
(2) FOOD WISHES – LAMB MOUSSAKA BURGER RECIPE
(3) KEEPING AFLOAT WITH PE & DD SEAFOOD: WHY SUPPORTING SMALL, LOCAL COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN IS IMPORTANT
[[Today's curly head]]
LISA EDELSTEIN
[[Today's recipe]]
Ladies and gentleman
I've been DYING to share this Ohio staple with my readers.
And now I finally can!!
BUCKEYES!!!!!!!
Whenever I speak to people who aren't native Ohioans about this delicious delight and they ask "What are buckeyes?" ::GASP:: my heart just drops and shatters into a million tiny pieces on the floor.
What are buckeyes???
ARE YOU CRAZY PEOPLE!!!???
Buckeyes are a peanut butter and chocolate candy made to resemble the nut of a buckeye tree. Us Ohioans are WILD about these things. Trust me - bring these bad boys to a party in this state, and they'll vanish in minutes.
::Ingredients::
1/2 pound room temperature margarine (2 sticks)
1 pound peanut butter
1 1/2 pound powdered sugar
(Take note: this is not a precise measurement- you may need to add more powdered sugar to make sure that the peanut butter balls are what I like to call " easily rollable")
1/2 cup white corn syrup
Dipping chocolate bark - 24 oz all together (for dipping the buckeyes)
::Equipment you will need::
- A couple of baking sheets
- A double boiler (If you do not have a double boiler just use a makeshift one! I.e. A big pot filled with water, with a stainless steel bowl that fits on top, or a big pot filled with water with a small pot that fits easily inside of it)
- A medium sized bowl
-Toothpicks (I like using plastic ones because they're much sturdier than the wooden ones)
- Wax paper
::Directions::
- Mix margarine, peanut butter, and white corn syrup together thoroughly (it will be lumpy, so don't panic if it isn't exactly smooth)
- After you give this a good mix - add powdered sugar and mix together until the batter begins to form a ball...
- Test out the batter and see if you can easily roll the dough into a small 1 inch round (about a tbs) sized ball. If you are having difficulty, or if the batter is sticking to your hands ADD MORE POWDERED SUGAR!!
- Use your judgement on this one. Just because the recipe says 1 1/2 pound, you do not have to stick by it. I know some people are really paranoid when it comes to recipes and changing them, but trust me, if the mixture is too sticky, don't be afraid to tweak it! I think when my family was making these particular buckeyes we ended up using about 2 pounds of powdered sugar.
- Once the mixture is at its "easily rollable" state - form the entire mixture into small balls and place on a wax lined 9x13 inch pan (any pan will do, as long as it'll fit in your freezer)
- Freeze the peanut butter balls for about an hour. This freezing period is very important. If you fail to dip the balls while they're frozen, you will have A LOT of trouble. Trust me. Unthawed balls are just undippable. When the peanut butter balls are just about ready to be removed from the freezer - you must begin to get the chocolate ready!!!!
- Take a double boiler and put about 2-4 inches of water in it. Once again: if you do not have a double boiler, just fill up a big pot with water and place a stainless steel bowl on top, or place a smaller pot that fits comfortably atop the water.
-Put the double boiler on high heat, once it starts to boil, put it on medium low so the water doesn't boil over
- When the double boiler is hot enough to melt chocolate, place a few bricks of chocolate inside of it.
- Little by little add in more chocolate and stir until all of the chocolate is at a smooth state.
- After the freezing period is over - remove about 1/4 of the balls from the freezer to dip. I advise you don't pull all of the peanut butter balls out of the freezer at once, because while you're dipping the ones towards the end will begin to unthaw. And remember what I said about unthawed balls? Just a big ol hassle.
- It's best to place the wax paper on the counter next to the stove prior to dipping, so you can easily transfer the buckeyes from point A to point B after dipping.
- Take one peanut butter ball and pierce it with your desired toothpick (I like plastic) and dip/roll it in the dark chocolate. (I apologize for the poor quality of these "action shots" lol)
- DO NOT touch the bottom of the pan with the peanut butter balls. When you dip them just skim the surface. If you drag it along the bottom you will either 1. Lose the peanut butter ball in the chocolate or 2. Make the peanut butter stick to the bottom of the pan.
- To remove the buckeyes from the tooth pick: just place it on the wax paper and use your finger to hold the buckeye in place while you pull the toothpick out. To prevent making a chocolatey mess, make sure you're placing your finger on the peanut butter part of the buckeye as you're removing the toothpick.
-I'm sure you notice the tiny holes that are formed on top of the buckeyes from where the toothpick was removed - this is an easy fix!! Just use the tip of your finger and gently rub the top in a circular motion, this will rid the buckeyes of their unsightly holes!
- Once you've dipped all of the peanut butter balls, let the buckeyes sit until the chocolate has had enough time to harden
(You might have left over dipping chocolate after you've dipped all of the balls...I advise you use the rest to dip pretzels in :) There are few treats i love more than chocolate covered pretzels!)
- Once the buckeyes have hardened I suggest you freeze them!! Every year when we make buckeyes we will keep them in the freezer for about 2- 3 months in an airtight tin container. Whenever we feel like having a buckeye....or two...or three...or four lol - we just remove them from the freezer 10 minutes prior to consumption!!!
I really hope I gave you good directions on how to achieve the most desirable buckeye :)
Just remember to have fun with this!
Just give this recipe a go! You wont regret it :D
(2) APPLERETTO
This is the most delicious fall/winter alcoholic beverage!!
If you're a fan of Apple Cider - or a fan of Amaretto - this is your drink :D
::Ingredients::
Apple Cider
Whipped Cream (I used light)
Amaretto (I prefer Disaronno)
::Directions::
-Pour 1 shot of Amaretto into a tall glass (I kind of eyeballed it lol... clearly)
-Fill the rest of the glass up with Apple Cider
-Mix well with a spoon and microwave for 1- 1/2 minutes
-Top with desired amount of whipped cream
-Serve Warm/Hot
Enjoy!!!!!!
Attention ALL curly heads!!
Want to be recognized for your beautiful, crazy, and all natural curls?
You must provide:
-Tell me why you love being a curly head.
-Fill me in on what makes you a unique curly head.
-Give any tips or secrets you might have about maintaining hair like yours.
-And send 2 photos – so you have a chance to put your curls on display!
(If you would like me to provide a link to your blog, facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. for the rest of my readers to see – then also throw that in there! The more exposure you get the better!)
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