The Only Things That Matter

done... so very done...

2012-01-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

This was only the beginning... this was the snow that was falling on Sunday or Monday... I suspect Monday because Sunday was pretty dry and starting to warm.

Tuesday... it snowed all day...

Wednesday... it snowed all day...

Thursday - it was freezing rain into ice overnight and then it snowed all day and I stayed in a hotel that my job put me up at... thank goodness for toiletries and spare clothes in the emergency kits they had us make up in October... Oh, and by 4 pm, we were on mandatory 12 hour shifts due to the major power outages that the ice storm gifted us with.

Friday... walked to work early, frustrated that I didn't get to start early because apparently my supervisor didn't understand what I wanted to do... found a ride home that night... 12 hours.

saturday... 12 hour shift...

sunday... 12 hour shift...

monday... 12 hour shift... this was day 4 of 630 to 630... I'd been getting up at 4 all last week and boy... i was so tired. almost killed a co-worker five times in the last five days... lol

tuesday... 12 hour shift but 730 start... early release got me off at 7...

wednesday ... 12 hour shift...

thursday... 12 hour shift BUT ... early release got me off at lunch and so I only worked 5 hours and was paid for 8...

friday - return of 8 hour shift!!! yay!!!!

all i really have to say is thank god for overtime... they paid me as much as my last bonus check on this paycheck and will still be paying me for a few more hours...

done with snow, let me tell you... sick to death of it..

2012 goals ...

2012-01-07T16:04:00.001-08:00

**Gratuitous Cupcake Shrine picture because all posts need a photo of some sort... LOL**

It is that time of year again... time to set some goals to try and stick to and accomplish this year. I think I'm going to be able to do it and look forward to seeing the final outcome at the end of the year.

‎2012 goal 1: The principle seems quite honestly to be a "yeah, duh" moment but I struggle with it most of the time. EAT WHAT YOU HAVE... Which will involve menu planning and grocery shopping on Sundays. Sub goal "A" is to only spend $35 or less on groceries a week.

‎2012 goal 2: Revisiting again the goal of not putting any money into the vendng machines at work. That would be a minimum $10 into my spending money fund for vacations... (and works with my completion of goal one... if I didn't buy it while I was out shopping for the week then I don't need it , most likely... lol)

‎2012 goal 3: Me time... working on keeping goal 1 and 2 should help significantly with improving my diet and helping me lose weight. Making sure to take time for me will include exercise time, time to be creative with food or crafts ... reading time... writing time... and the all important monthly pedicures and massage... lol

‎2012 goal 4: Make at least 1 recipe a week from "the" cookbook of choice. I have a huge collection of cookbooks because I cannot resist them but rarely actually cook from them. and "the" cookbook of choice is.... 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know....

‎2012 goal 5 : Last goal to work on... REGRET NOTHING! Spend the time I want to spend with people or travel or doing what I want to do... Wisely spend money on things I want to spend it on... Learn something every day - on occasion this will be learning from a mistake made the day before and not repeating it... all in all though... at the end of the year, I want to be happy with my choices and decisions and not have any regrets that I didn't cherish the precious moments or memories or didn't get to do something...

Week one wrap up... Wow... already the end of the first week of the year. Time flies. lol.

Well... I ended the week with $3 left of my grocery money and avoided the machines and things at work. I have decided that I am going to save the money in my savings accounts and then at the end of the year, figure out what to do with all that money that I should have in my account. so one account for grocery money left over and the other for the $10 a week from not spending money at work. balances: $3 and $10

Photo's and recipes from goal 4 will be on my other blog - On the Menu as well as posted to facebook.

Remembering those we miss...

2012-01-06T20:06:00.000-08:00

Remembering those that were second mothers...

Her birthday was today and that is probably why I've been thinking about her a bit more this week. Well, and also my recent trip to Disneyland was punctuated by thoughts of her as my parents and I would remember times spent waiting in line and talking about different memories of our family trips together with them.

I think some of my favorite memories of Janet were on those trips. camping trips... Disneyland... Trips halfway across the country to visit friends.

It was often the most fun being the only girl out of the 6 of us because that meant that there were often spaces where people enjoyed having a girl for a while. lol... that meant with one family, I was the only one special enough to play with the vintage Barbie ... and oh, what a Barbie that was... it was so nice to play with her when the boys were off doing who knows what...

and it meant with another family that when I tired of always being princess leia or "julie - the A-team chick" or daisy or whatever token female appeared in the show we were playing ... or simply that I didn't want to climb the apple tree up into the shelf in the back shed... I got to go in and make cookies or brownies. I have amazingly awesome memories of baking with Janet on one of those anniversary weekends or overnighters when I was tired of hanging with the boys...

My heart aches that she did not get to have baking sessions with her granddaughters or chances to cuddle with her grandson when he tires of being the only boy at things. :) And I just know that she would have been loving those chances.

In all this extra wisdom that comes with getting older, I regret that I did not fully realize what opportunities were there to say thank you to her for her impact in my life... She helped to foster along that love of baking and maintaining interest in playing piano. I should have realized that you have to say thank you to people when you have the chance, one of my uncles passed away when I was in high school. I just never imagined that we would lose her and that time would steal away opportunities due to distance... college and such.

So I'll say it now.

Thank you Janet for those memories I have...

I appreciate the way you always allowed me to come inside and bake with you...

and for when you'd put my hair up and I'd look suspiciously like the dog for a while ... until you realized that the ponytail should be lower and would fix it... but that was okay... you didn't have a little girl and the only ponytails you usually made were on the top of Muffin's head...

And for making me remember you when I see mice and most things Disney or old vacation photos.

Oh the memories of old vacation photos.

Well, would you look at that ... :) ... You, Johnstons always put such a united front out on the first day at the park... matching shirts and sweatshirts. :) I remember those trips every time I'm looking around and seeing a batch of matching shirts in line with me...

Your family is perfectly lovely and I know that you would adore all your granddaughters and your grandson... (Steve, Emily, Dave and Talia - you've all done a fantastic job with that side of things, those kids are all wonderful and I can't wait until we can get together this year!)

So again... in memory... and thank you for those that shared her with me...

99 things....

2011-10-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the rules:

Bold the things you’ve done and post this list on your blog then leave me a comment and tell me you did this I can go see. I bet this has gone around the blog world already, so if you've done it, let me know.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Written something that was published
11. Bungee jumped or parachuted
12. Walked across the Golden Gate Bridge
13. Been in a fist fight
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Seen the Rings of Saturn with a telescope
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when not ill
24. Built a tree house or snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Fired a gun
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal
44. Visited Africa
45. Cried yourself to sleep
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Visited the Eiffel Tower
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Pretended you cooked something from scratch when you didn't
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie or commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold something door to door
62. Gone whale or dolphin watching
64. Donated blood, marrow, etc
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Held onto a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten frog legs or caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Time Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been let go from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Done something illegal
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Sang a solo
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Climbed a mountain
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had surgery
89. Directly saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Seen a loved one die
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Visited the Alamo
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Sent a text message while driving
99. Been stung by a bee

ow...

2011-10-21T20:25:00.000-07:00

my toe!

poor little pinky toe.

You are so pretty with your wrap around bruise and fat looking image.

I'm sorry that you're apparently broken and vow to ice you frequently all weekend as well as not put too much pressure on you.

:0(

How did it already get to here?

2011-08-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's the end of August!

How and why did that happen?

Enjoyed my very warm and humid visit to the Houston area. Not sure if it will work out to visit next year or not with a Vegas trip and most likely another road trip to Edmonton in the books. Maybe they'll be able to come visit the west coast crew again! :)

so...

new rules and guidelines for a better me coming soon...

(as in a post tomorrow... I vowed to post 2 times this weekend and I will do it!)

Wally

2011-08-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of dog sitting Wally off and on a few times over the last few years and we always had a good time.

Rest in peace my furry friend... I miss you a lot... :)

Regretfully yours....

2011-08-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

Finally... time to blog! LOL ... no really, what else am I supposed to do when I'm at the airport for a flight delay ... ? so apologies again for delays but I have mentally been writing this post for quite a while.

It sort of fits into the envy series but it's more of a different nature. :)
* * * * * *

I am not one who really has any regrets but I guess if you start to be patient, then I will start saying well, I guess....

so here it is.

I regret that I have always carried my heart on my sleeve, even when I didn't realize it. I do... it's been a partial bane of my existance because it made me completely transparent when I thought I was being clever and guarding myself well.

I regret that my choice of confidant has not always had my best interests in view and a few times chose to enlighten those that I may have been .. .ah... well... I guess it could be considered slightly stalkerish but I choose to just call it a huge big ole crush. unrequited love if you will... is it really love if it's one sided?

I regret that I held persons who may or may not have been interested in me to a really unfair standard. There is absolutely no way you could have lived up to the guy in my head - you know the one I thought that didn't know ... but totally knew. Can we talk about total mortification... that deepens when you realize what he was thinking when a totally innocent situation then was escalated because 1. they didn't know what he meant and 2. I certainly didn't know what he meant. I've had a lot of time to analyze that one... It would be interesting to actually talk to him again and explain things but as of right now, there's a friends request on facebook but it hasn't been approved yet. and if his marital status is well... marital... i fear that I'd be even more mortified to actually explain in the face of the realization that what could have been really could have been if not for the extreme circumstances that caused us to be totally misguided.

to those that allowed me to be deeply, blissfully oblivious to the status of my 'hiding'... thank you. I was again, mortified to find out you did sorta know but I am grateful that we've never spoken of it. and thank you for still being a friend. your wife and children are lovely and I have nothing but best wishes for you all. (please note that this actually applies to a few people... not calling anyone out here... LOL ) On the other hand, if you would have called me out on it, maybe it would have eased my nerves and not every one of these other guys would have been as disasterous as they were.

so here it is... those are probably the only regrets.. well, other than not taking that bump in flight in May... lol ... and well, backing away when someone teasingly acted like he was going to kiss me. funny that... he also told my parents the first time he met them that we were getting married and sir, I remind you, I'm still waiting for a ring and an official proposal... LOL ... you know who you are. and if you don't remember exactly then yes, I will accept and review applications from all those that may think it was them. we're not getting any younger and I can forgive for not remembering.

where does this really leave me? well, this week, I decided that I have 2 years to turn a thing or two around. I have no intention of being the single fat chick at my 20th reunion and when I say that, I also mean that I have no intention of being the only virgin in the room. so something has to change. My goals at this point are to start an exercise program, cut down on artificial sweetners and soda pop so that I can lose weight and start to see some improvements in how I feel about myself.

I raise my decaf caramel macchiato to my regrets and wish them a sound good bye...!

Wrap up...

2011-07-03T16:02:00.001-07:00

Weeeeelllll.... apparently even a challenge like this is too much to expect me to blog consistantly... AND keep track of things.

But... what I can report is that my fast food per week dropped from 10/15 to 5/10... which means my anticipated 50+ was more around 35 or so...

It helps a lot that it's summer and fresh local fruit is starting to be around more.

On the other hand... It's now July... 11 and just a bit more days until Harry Potter part 7.2. :) Yay! And then it's my other vacation... yes, I call it a staycation because I will be down at my Parent's place for a few days and then wandering my way home again around the Washington coast and penninsula and then... just a little while more until TEXAS!! hoping for ice cream and waterparks. LOL

More soon...

Week one...

2011-06-04T21:29:00.000-07:00

well... 4 days... LOL

Fast food count:
1 breakfast: sausage mcmuffin, no egg and a diet coke... (friday)
1 dinner: #4 - 2 cheeseburgers, large fry, diet coke... (thursday)

Coffee count:
2 usual from independant coffee stand (decaf americano, all ice no extra water, sf barista choice syrup and 1/2 n 1/2 - totally Atkins friendly and therefore, still a part of my 'diet' world even though I don't follow the plan anymore.)
1 ice tea - starbucks
1 2 shot decaf esspresso over ice, with sf cinnamon dolce and cream.

fast food food, from a non fast food source:
1 preztal w/ nacho cheese
1 hot dog

Not sure how to classify food from a Storm basketball game but I'll add it as a separate category ... seeing as I'll be having food from a Mariner's game tomorrow... will take pictures of that tomorrow. forgot today.

Okay so my total ... what I'm calling my total, for June so far is 2. if you are a 'purist' to the numbers, then fine, counting starbucks stops that is a 4...

It was interesting, fighting my instincts about grabbing my usual every night fast food option for dinner... I was trying to do another thing ... documented on my other blog about only making it on $20 for groceries for the week. I can do it... I came in under $20 but that included a lot of things I had on hand already. So I think I will shelve that goal for a bit - trying to get my fast food meals under control first. And my way to get that under control will be to try and make things from what I know I have at home first.

I haven't even gotten to the grilled cheese sandwiches yet... but managed to eat okay for the first week - I was doing the grocery thing all week.

later!

envy... part 2

2011-05-30T19:53:00.000-07:00

Okay... time again to overanalyze ourselves in this search to rid ourselves of envy issues.

Today's issue... 3rd or 5th wheel issues.

Most of us have been there, right? That strange little, odd, awkward situation that causes there to be an extra chair at the end of the table... an empty seat across from you...

the emptiness and loneliness of not having a hand to grab when you're walking around somewhere where you seem to be stopped and slowed at every turn by a couple who insist on walking side by side, hand in hand or hand in back pocket. (heaven forbid they're pushing a stroller or have a couple little cuties frolicking around by them... let's not even go to the place that lets us discuss guys having a guys night out with 3 generations. Although it would be interesting to follow up and find out how their wives felt about them feeding the 2 year olds, cotton candy at 9 pm... but I digress... these are also topics for future envy studies.) where were we... right... no one to lean back against when your back hurts or ... well, there's probably plenty of others...

It does sting a bit more when you realize that you again... again... are the only one in that position at a family dinner. Round tables are your friend but most often or not, the waitress sticks a chair on the end and you, because it seems silly to not, go ahead and sit on the end, sticking out like a sore thumb in the middle of the aisle. All this does is hammer home the fact that you are alone... let me say it again... ALONE!

Now again, this would not be so awkward if there were say, a niece or nephew for you to cuddle and take charge of because even though they are obviously not 'with' you... they ease the torment of the 3rd or 5th wheel situation for you because it does give you someone to even out the situation. Go ahead and entertain the notion of trying to beg and plead with someone to go along with you to family events... perhaps if they did, well, you could just claim it didn't work out later but that of course would be assuming you could find someone who might find you attractive enough to kiss you on occasion. *sigh* Good luck with that. and please let me know if you ever find that guy... I may need to borrow him... borrow, not pay... lol ...

It's envy that makes you feel this way... an emotional reaction to the things around you that makes you go - hey, i want that! I want that now!!. It doesn't work that way. You're not going to always get what you want. but like the song says... if you try... sometimes you get what you need.

But again now... who are you to know what you need. only God knows what you need and for the most part, he's blessed you with what you need. So stop trying to find other things that he's not determined are for you to have at this time.

Patience ... lots and lots of patience... (and chocolate) He will provide.

*peace N love*

new project...

2011-05-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

Fun bloggy thing for June that will be appearing right here....

:o)

Fast food...

necessity?

EVIL?

Let's face it... it's fast, cheap and the easiest dinner you can manage.

But there are plenty things out there that say we eat it too much... so here's the challenge...

I will be tracking and blogging my fast food situations - because I have a few things going that I think will make it seem rather interesting.

I am going to track coffee separately because I personally don't think it counts if there is no food... anyone reading, can certainly lump them in but I'm not going to.

June first... coming soon... and a new project starting on the other blog too... stay tuned to that for details.

Envy

2011-05-17T23:21:00.001-07:00

*A several part piece about one of the unrealized afflictions*

this is part one.

**background** Sometimes, in spite of my blessings... I tend to get a bit bogged down in wishing for things that I don't have. and a long drive, full of plenty of time for self loathing... made me come to the realization that I have Envy issues. so... I figured maybe, I'll spend a little time blogging it and maybe it'll all ease away. Once I've worked through it. ;o) **

Envy.

Not something we really like to admit having thoughts of, usually.

Really? I mean, honestly... REALLY??

We see it in the development of a character on tv or a movie... in a book. And we can usually spot it a mile away. But how often do we really see it in the mirror?

Envy is fuel that drives people to do things the would never consider doing in the first place. However, it can also be what drives you crazy when you're alone. You think that what you have isn't as good as what others have. You focus on what you're missing without realizing it.

No boyfriend.

No kids... no nieces or nephews... no money or stable job security to seek adoption. Total frustration at the fact that you have siblings that are married and haven't - after a certain amount of time - provided you with nieces and nephews to spoil and to give reason to drive away every other weekend - every FREE Weekend regardless of weather to visit and spoil them ... because you don't want them to not know who you are.

No husband... no one to make you dinner or rub your back or feet when you are tense and stressed.

No one really in your life to give you a hug when you've had a bad day. and I don't mean just a hug... I mean a tightly wrapped up in a pair of strong arms and them letting you cry if you need to ... kind of hug. perhaps accompanied by a chaste kiss on the forehead and a promise of your favorite pint of ice cream later with one of those aforementioned back rubs.

But I may be slightly digressing and we'll certainly address the items above at some point during this examination of Envy.

Your concept of envy can be skewed and judgemental. You have to stop and take an inventory of how you got to that point. And be prepared to realize that everything you've thought before is completely off base and accept that there's nothing you can do about how things have turned out except ... well... accept them.

Be prepared to be completely horrified to find out that what you wished for in a fit of envy induced rage and self pity ... has somewhat come true. And you cannot let yourself feel badly for too long... it's not your fault. And it really doesn't - at this point- do you any good to hope that you can somehow make it better... for yourself. Not every little thing is something that can be addressed by you. Look in the mirror. Just look.

For instance....

Girl meets boy... thinks boy is hot... gets hired by boy to work for the company - while not girl's direct supervisor, still awkward as he's sort of a boss... Girl still thinks boy is hot. Finds it horrifying that boy only comes by store when girl looks frumpy and messy. Boy flirts with girl at every phone call or even when she looks frumpy and messy. Girl falls deeper and deeper into ... well, if it's one sided is it truly love?... anyway. Boy crushes Girl with announcement that he's getting married... because she's pregnant. (no, not Girl. ... haven't you paid attention? Girl is the one afflicted by envy... stick with it... )

Girl experiences breathtaking, bone crushing... depression spiraling jolt of reality and realization.

Boy is only 2 years older... his new wife is way... WAAAAAY older than both of them. And it's devistatingly shocking and clear to realize that in spite of everything, you're too old or too young for every male in your generation ... who should be looking at you to settle down with but apparently they all prefer the decade before you or after you. And you should want to pull your hair out. (at least in college it was a 2 year swing... now it's at least 10 - 15 years and it makes you shudder...)

Girl... in throws of envy fit... imagines all sorts of revenge for this stealing of boy. (later slightly ashamed at it all when she realizes that he never saw her that way...)

Time passes. Distance seems to heal. Newer distractions present themselves for Girl's amusement but all still one sided... mystery men in different country are a subject for another time. (and yes, I find it completely interesting that I have actually journaled all of this on my deadjournal that I don't use anymore... LOL well, at least up to the point that the situation was deemed over but really just dormant, apparently...)

Girl comes across boy on social media network. (yes, she looked. she's looked before but he wasn't there...) Sends friend request. Does NOT message as that may get awkward again in a hurry.

Finds out 2 weeks after 'friending' that the wife has been battling aggressive breast cancer for past 2 years. double masectomy... the works. and it hasn't worked. She's headed to different country to try to take advantage of medical treatment not available in the states.

Girl - understandibly and suitably - is horrified at previous bad envy induced wishes from 7 years previous. and is at a total loss as far as how to provide any comfort. and struggles to keep Envy tamped down and out of sight.

Envy wins this round again and again. It is clearly the worst case of coming face to face with your envy. But it's not your fault. You had no idea. At the moment it was all happening... admittadly, you had your wedding planned and the kids named for a relationship with someone that didn't see you that way. Forget how nicely you would have fit together family wise. Forget you talked to one of your cousins about how cute he was and the fact that maybe next Christmas, you'd both have a boyfriend at the party who had the same name as each other. So you saw her as the intruder, when it should have been clear that they'd actually been together off and on for quite some time and you were merely the love struck girl who took innocent teasing and flirting way too far and gave it too much weight and meaning ... because you were desperate and totally envious of those that had the relationship you longed for.

Everyone has a few regrets and there could be someone else that envies what you have managed to have, just as you envy what they have. Because they should have had that life with you or because they wish they were still single and blissfully (seemingly...) untouched by the pain, drama and emotionally draining situation they've been mired in for a while.

Next envy study coming soon...! I swear...!

*peace & love*

Hmm...

2011-05-17T23:18:00.000-07:00

I guess I haven't been that great at blogging this year either.

I really am trying to stay up on it but it's now harder with 2 blogs to update and as you - the invisible you- who doesn't seem to read or notice my blog - may have noticed, they were both done the same day.

Well, no more... I honestly am trying to really be on to something.

I haven't even really written much and keep getting stumped and caught by major cases of writers block. Got to get that taken care of before November.

then again, I really want to be fully finished with last year's story before I have to start thinking about it again. *sigh*

One vacation down though... a couple more to go. plenty more later this year about those.

anyway, just a little post before I really post what's been on my heart lately. You know, the only things that matter and all.

love!

oops...

2011-03-04T21:07:00.000-08:00

I didn't mean to miss the entire month of February...

But I did.

Not much happened.

College friends of mine lost their two boys in a car accident in January and to be honest, it kept me from forming deep thoughts to share for a while.

And as much as I long for that part of life that has been denied to me so far - marriage, kids... I honestly have no words to share ... I'd think that I'd rather have had it and lost it than to never had it at all - hmm.. sounds familiar. But I wouldn't want to go through losing them at all.

Better things to come with March Posts! I promise.

First Snow of 2011

2011-01-15T16:13:00.000-08:00

Well... clearly this is not of the snow... but this was the aftermath of trying to get to work by slogging through a giant slurpee... LOL

It snowed late on Tuesday and since I'm never sure what it will look like on the work side of things, I rode the bus.

My bus driver- the idiot- stated that he was having clutch/brake problems as he tried to pull away from the curb. anyway... after he drove regular speed ... hmm... wouldn't you think you'd go slower? I mean, you just stated that you had clutch and brake issues... hmph. Anyway... 1/2 an hour later after I got off, he pulled away and guess what? he had no chains on... no wonder he was having problems pulling away in about 6 to 10 inches of slush and snow... *sigh*

And then I started walking... and discovered that you cannot walk across slush.

even if it has a layer of snow on it.

LOL

So ... thankfully... I wore the velour track suit pants or I never would have made it with my jeans wet to the knees. LOL

and thank goodness for people who are willing to give you a ride home when your shoes and socks are still wet at the end of the day!

Happy New Year 2011

2011-01-01T00:34:00.000-08:00

I meant to post earlier... I had been thinking about New Year's Eve from when I was growing up and there were always such good times getting together with our friends.

It was really great to get together with all of them this summer and renew friendships... and start friendships on an even more personal scale.

Then I was thinking about how much things changed in the past year - Seattle has seen many many changes. Ken Griffey Jr retiring... Seattle Storm winning another national title... Dave Neihaus passing away and a huge snow storm that practically kept us all imobilized before Thanksgiving. Did I mention the snow this week?

But then it also dawned on me that this is the dawning of a new decade as well and this nation has come such a long long way since New Years Eve 2001.

I don't think any of us feel as secure as we did over 10 years ago. September 11 is all that anyone needs to say to have everyone pause in their steps and remember exactly what they were doing on that gorgeously sunny Tuesday Morning. And before we consider that things are relatively safe - they're not really. People have become much more sneaky about what they are trying to do, even though their goals have remained the same. And in return - Airline security has gotten that much stricter. And finally, airfares have dropped to a fairly normal level and I have taken advantage of decent pricing over the last couple years to do what I want to do in travelling.

So in face and light of a brand new start, I hope that 2011 turns out to be a blessed, safe and happy time for all.

NaNoWriMo - wha????

2010-10-23T21:00:00.001-07:00

LOL

Yep... I've gone for the crazy and am pleased to announce that I've signed up for NaNoWriMo 2010.

It's free ... nanowrimo.org

The goal is to write a 175 page ... 50,000 word novel in the month of November.

Feel free to join in

I'll be heading to some 'write in' events on Friday evenings and maybe some saturdays but here's to completing my first novel!

**crossing fingers**

Will post updates.

Transitions

2010-08-07T11:30:00.000-07:00

My food posts can be found at my other blog...

www.itsonthemenu.blogspot.com

So this one is now back to things that matter... lol

My Dove promise wrapper says:

"Remember your first best friend"

So ... here it is...

My first best friend was a girl named Rebekah... we were best friends before school started - her older sister and my older brother were friends too. But before too long, they were too 'old' to be friends so it was just her and me.. she had a fort in the back yard and they lived in by a dead end street so it was safe to ride her big wheels around. yes, big wheels... I didn't have one of those... And we played dress up and danced around the house to Carly Simon songs... funny how you remember those things.

And I think we must have made quite a pair - she was skinny and had short hair and I was, well, always have been plump... and had long hair really... But I remember having a really good time whenever I was allowed to play with her.

We were in kindergarten and first grade together and then her family moved away. I think I was allowed to play with her once at her new house but then we found other friends where we were at, but I used to miss her a lot because I wasn't really as good of friends with the other girls at school - we had been a package deal...

So Rebekah... wherever you may be, I hope that you are living a happy life!

December...

2010-04-19T19:04:00.000-07:00

I said I'd fill in.... but had no idea it would take me until APRIL to do so... sorry.... It's ah... well... it's been a bit busy... LOL Any guesses?

That's right... I spent a weekend Plus in beautiful Anaheim California in early December - Friday to Wednesday - It was really fun - in spite of pouring rain- to spend my birthday at Disneyland and I would totally go to Disneyland in December again although maybe a little later in the month or at least a weekend later because they had a lot of other things going on that weekend and the park closed early.

But all in all an excellent time. two weeks after, I was in Oregon for the family Christmas party, then my Parents came up with me and spent the week of Christmas here... my brother and sister in law were in NY with her family. I went down for 2nd Christmas... LOL on New Years... It was an excellent month and a nice way to ease into the holidays... with a little pre holiday excursion to the happiest place on earth...

oooh I've been so bad...

2010-01-27T21:42:00.000-08:00

The year had just started and I've already been blowing off my resolutions... erm... goals. I haven't been blogging!!!!

How ever do I live with myself.

*sigh*

I mean, I have to live with myself, I'm the only one here...

Anyway.... will blog again shortly with a bit of a photo show about just what was keeping me busy in December.

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-05T22:34:00.000-08:00

It's a brand new year...

Which means it's time to make a few goals... I suppose that's what I'd rather call them instead of resolutions, you know?

Such as...

1. Pay off more of my credit cards. I don't have many anymore but I do have a few around that I keep just for the rewards or so that I know I can always shop at those stores. One is definitely within range and the pay off plan is going to work. :o) I'd like to again make a significant dent in the other few - I tend to get them really paid off before vacation and then go ahead and use them but forget to pay them down again.

2. Blog more than I do now... maybe back to the way I was trying to at first - once a week at least. with or without pictures... LOL

3. Continue to do whatever it is I'm doing to lose weight. After vacation in July, I really didn't do anything structured but still managed to lose 36 pounds by December. yay me! LOL

4. I would like to not still be "unrelationshipped" by this time next year. That would mean a possible date for New Years Eve and **hopefully** someone to drag home for the holidays.

5. Cook more. Bake more. Not just the same things. I am going to try to cook recipes from a cookbook twice a month. And bake something new once a month.

Okay, I think that's enough goals for one year. LOL Maybe I'll accomplish them...

2009-11-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Halloween treats... no tricks...!

Spiderweb cup cakes with cup cake truffle spiders... cupcake truffle bloody eyeballs and chocolate coating dipped witch fingers.

Macarons

2009-10-31T18:12:00.000-07:00

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

I made pumpkin pie spiced macarons... look...! I got feet!!! I was a bit worried and as you can see from the picture below, I had some issues with piping. It is not my strong suit... and after a blow out with the disposable bag I was using, well, I just put some blobs down on the parchment but those turned out rather well actually... (the small ones were actually piped...)

I filled mine with an Apple Butter Cream Cheese icing... they taste really good... nice crunch on the bite, chewy in the middle... As yummy as they are, I think I will have to defer to my favorite place to get them in Seattle... Honore Artisan Bakery, 1413 NW 70th StSeattle, WA 98117... they make much better Macaron's than I do... I love their lavander ones - they're filled with a lavander chocolate ganache...!

Vols-au-Vent.... say what?

2009-10-03T17:29:00.000-07:00

The September 2009 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Steph of A Whisk and a Spoon. She chose the French treat, Vols-au-Vent based on the Puff Pastry recipe by Michel Richard from the cookbook Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan.

I had some camera issues.... um... who remembered to get new batteries...? *blushes* So no pictures of the process other than baking...

My larger Vols-au-Vent were filled with BBQ Beef and topped with shredded cheese...

My smaller ones... which were fab... were filled with Key Lime flavored no bake Cheesecake and served with Whipped cream and Lime Zest...

Fun challenge... my arms have never been so sore but I will happily make them again...

July daring bakers... better late than never...

2009-08-02T13:12:00.000-07:00

The July Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Nicole at Sweet Tooth. She chose Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies and Milan Cookies from pastry chef Gale Gand of the Food Network.

I swapped out sugar free chocolate chips in the filling and dipped the edges of a few in sprinkles...

And then shared them with Stitch... LOL He liked them a lot...

Vacation...

2009-07-24T08:20:00.000-07:00

So I'm currently in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada... on vacation visiting my best friend. ;o)

So far, it's been quite the adventure.

The day I arrived... was nice... not too hot... not too cool... but just as night fell, the wind picked up and sent trees rolling through parking lots... brought down the canopy of one of the big downtown towers on someone... and the next day, lots and lots of trees were looking very worse for the wear.

But since then, it's been nice... got a sunburn yesterday... Rode the Mindbender at the West Ed Mall on Tuesday... Ate poutine for the first time on Sunday... Donair for the first time yesterday... and have discovered that dipping fries in gravy isn't really that strange of a thing after all.

I have been eating my way from Tim Horton's to the next Tim Hortons... it was the easiest thing to locate and program into my GPS for the way here. LOL I don't eat at all of them... seriously. But each and every A&W has become a running joke because that is my choice of on the road restroom and drink stop. At home, the only A&W's really left are a combo with KFC... and they put ice in the root beer! gasp... the horror... .I've long since forgotten the taste of an A&W in a frosty mug and I will happily admit to drinking regular root beer in these stops instead of Diet... but I guess that just helps because at least it's root beer so no caffiene.

I have had Ketchup flavored chips... caved in and purchased cookies by george... yummo! And have introduced my friend to Crystal light in tubs. Apparently they only come in big packets here. I have walked the entire mall at West Edmonton... up down and all around. LOL

It's been a great time and when I can reuinte with my computer and camera then I will make sure to post some pictures.

Oh... but for what I forgot to take pictures of... was my dinner at the Unheardof restaurant.

OHHHH!!!!

But more of that soon... I have a dish or two to try and recreate... ;o)

2009-07-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well... it dawned on me that I've been very slow in posting what I've been up to... ;o)

How in the world could I have forgotten about my bread pudding? Sourdough Bread, dried cranberries, dark chocolate chips and almonds... it was yummy!

Then, recently... there were the sugar cookie beachballs for a beach themed work party...

and the lemon cake, lemon frosting cupcake bites for a friend's wedding - matching her wedding colors....

And... coming soon... what did I manage to do with these luscious Oregon Strawberries? mmmm... just like home, fresh picked, sun warmed... ?

Daring Bakers: Bakewell Tart/Pudding...

2009-06-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Frangipane

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened

125g (4.5oz) icing sugar

3 (3) eggs2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract

125g (4.5oz) ground almonds

30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Assembling the tart

Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

My changes... I have a decided lack of almond extract around here so in both parts that needed it, I subbed coconut extract. Hence the coconut that was placed on top of the Tart... pudding instead. I also used coconut flour in the fragipane instead of the regular flour. I used a seedless organic blackberry preserve from Trader Joes...

My observation - 400 was too hot for this at least in my oven, it is a lot darker than I would think it should be. So therefore, sometime when I'm not rushing so much, I'll make it and lower the temperature a tad...

In conclusion... I must try harder to not leave this to last minute. As my kitchen aid would have been too big to do this in, and between you and me... is not available to go right now anyway as it's still swamped in behind dirty dishes from other projects. LOL ... So I bought a hand mixer today.

Only...

Hand mixers are supposed to have beaters, right? Well... straight from the box, the one I picked didn't have any... so it's off to the store again for me to exchange it tomorrow. **rolls eyes** I'd laugh, but now after baking at 400 for 30 minutes, it's too dang hot in here. Will share my thoughts about taste tomorrow after I have a chance to try it.

Cheesecake!

2009-04-27T00:27:00.000-07:00

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I needed to do something for our work party anyway... so thanks to the suggestion of my friend when I put her on the spot about what sort of cheesecake she'd like to have, we have a Cookies and Cream cheesecake.

Crust:
2 c. Chocolate cookie crumbs - I used store brand double stuffed oreos that I scraped the cream filling out of.
1 stick butter.

(The recipe calles for sugar and vanilla here, but I chose to make my own distinction here, in the efforts to make sure that the crust wouldn't be overly sweet. I also then baked the crust - mixing the crumbs and melted butter together before pressing it into the springform pan... baked at 350 degrees for 8 minutes...)

Filling:

3 packages cream cheese

1 C. sugar

3 eggs

1 C. heavy cream

2 tsp vanilla

1 tsp grand marnier

2 C crumbled chocolate sandwich cookies.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy. Once blended, fold in cookie pieces.

3. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

4. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done - this can be hard to judge, but you're looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don't want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won't crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to garnish.

In the interest of time... I chose to garnish my cheesecake with 1/2 a bottle of hot fudge sundae topping - heated so that it would pour, spread out on the top of the cheesecake until it began to drip over the side. And then as I needed something that would stand up to being set out for most of the day at work... rosettes of Dream Whip were piped onto the cake and mini Oreo sandwich cookies pressed into the rosettes- if I did it again for myself, I'd use whipped cream.

All in all, it was a very successful cheesecake and the only dessert that was completely consumed at the end of the day.

Brie Crescents

2009-03-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

I love brie en croute... Absolutely .... truly... adore it. But who has time to cart around an entire huge round of brie in bread? Not me... and it's soooo yummy when it's hot... My classic favorite is to take just a wedge of brie - $3.99 or less at Trader Joes... cut off the rind and spread Raspberry jam on top and then surround it with a tube of crescent rolls... Then, you give it a little egg wash and sprinkle sliced almonds on top... you can also add a few almonds to the middle with the cheese and jam. YUMMY!!!

I have been known to even just pick up a little package of melba toasts, top with a dab of brie and a dab of jam and pop them in the microwave for 7 seconds until melty to get the same sensation as the baked brie.

The pictures are of my latest idea... the actual crescent rolls as individual brie en croute... So I made half with brie and raspberry jam, sprinkling some almonds on top. I made sure to get the brie completely down the dough triangle and then put jam on top of the cheese before rolling up. Bake per the instructions on the container and *poof* Fantastic!!!

The other ones... inspired by a Giada episode that featured brie and nutella pannini... was simply brie with sugar free chocolate chips. OMG it was fabulous...!

I'm going to do orange marmalade, brie and dark chocolate soon... I might even skip the brie in a few because it sounds yummy.

The brie was all melty and good... the chocolate ones seemed to lose their cheese into the dough, perhaps because there was not enough of a moist part to it? I don't know... what I do know is that I will be experimenting every time i can get my hands on some brie and dough... LOL

Pie...

2009-03-11T14:36:00.000-07:00

As one of our favorite bloggers has posted today... over on Cakespy....

PIE!!!

Here is my list of what I've tried or haven't tried.... Italics indicate tried pies... hmm... that almost rhymes... LOL

Acorn Pie
Avocado Pie
Bean Pie
Butter Tart Pie
Cactus Pie
Chess Pie
Derby Pie
Funny Cake Pie
Grapefruit Pie
Grasshopper Pie
Green Tomato Pie (Sweet)
Gooseberry Pie
Grape Pie
Hoosier Pie
Marionberry Pie
Millionaire Pie
Mincemeat Pie
Mock Apple Pie
Nesselrode Pie
Osgood Pie
Ozark Pie
Ricotta Pie
Sawdust Pie
Shoofly Pie
Sweet Pickle Pie
Treacle Cornflake Pie
Vinegar Pie
Watergate Pie
Whortleberry Pie
Zwieback Pie

Looks like I've got some catching up to do... ;o)

Elvis French Toast

2009-03-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

I have no idea if anyone else has ever made this recipe...but I like to look at it as my own creation. I'm writing a story and decided to make a character be pregnant with crazy cravings. And ... she was craving bacon. With anything. I'd seen some other posts on tastespotting about elvis sandwiches and things like that so here is my Elvis French Toast recipe.

2 slices bread
1/2 banana - sliced
2 TBSP Peanut Butter
3 slices bacon - cooked as crispy as you want it
Honey
1 egg
2 TBSP Milk

Spread approximately 1 TBSP peanut butter on each slice of bread.

Press banana slices into 1 side and drizzle with Honey. Lay the bacon on the opposite piece of bread. Press together.

Beat the egg with milk in shallow dish and dip the 'sandwich' in it, getting egg on both sides before putting it on a skillet- heated with butter.

Fry like French toast. Butter the top after you've flipped it. Repeat as needed.

I did choose to drizzle it with a little bit of sugar free maple syrup. (The honey I used was imitation so was also very low carb...)

It was so good. Try it... you just might like it.

It's that time again...

2009-03-01T12:02:00.000-08:00

Top Chef season 5 is done and in the books...

I'm not sure how I really feel about the choice that they made. I really wasn't at all that impressed with Hosea's cooking.

yes it was far better than mine probably would be in a competition of this nature but at the same time I wouldn't be all that intrigued to visit his restaurant.

I think that it was rather lame that the sous chefs were basically the runners up in the last three seasons - sorta... Casey and Richard finished 3rd in their respective seasons actually... although I don't think that anyone would dispute that Richard was by far the more talented chef over Lisa last season... he just couldn't muster up the final charge with everything else on his mind at that point.

I choose to call it the car curse. Because Carla also was swept away with that same issue.

Would it have been different if they had done the right thing and named Jeff the winner of the previous challenge, awarding him the car and then getting rid of both Stephan and Fabio before the end? Quite possibly yes. Because maybe Casey isn't with Carla... or maybe someone else picks the piece of Kings Cake that Hosea got....

After all, it was a distinct possibility. They all agreed that the three strongest dishes were Carla, Jeff and Hosea... but couldn't quite bring themselves to award Jeff the first place finish necessary in order to keep all three of them.

Previous seasons... when it has been a more Celebrity chef that was the sous chef, they did not do anything more than what was asked. If a flavor profile or a possible dish pairing was run by them, their job was to weigh in their possible opinion but it was not for them to make other suggestions. The few seasons that the sous chefs were not celebrities... well, lets just say that the sous chefs didn't do anything to reign in a potential disaster by being a voice of reason. Stephan and Dave for Tiffany in season one?

And at the same time... like last season, it would have been far better for Carla to be without sous chef on the final day. She would have stuck with her plan... and made what she knew had gotten her to the final. And Casey would have been impressed...

Anyway... that's my opinion.

They did a chef search in Seattle for the next season. I think they should film a season here or hold a finale here. I'd love to be able to go to an event for them. There are so many different things about this region that are appealing - fresh seafood... birthplace of starbucks... one of the oldest farmers markets... Yes we do have Whole Foods but how impressive would it be if they were all allowed their 1/2 hour of shopping through Pike place market? Especially for Restaurant wars... LOL Flowers and silk tie dyed scarves for table clothes... artwork for the walls. WOW!

For the Love of Chocolate....

2009-02-28T09:48:00.001-08:00

It's that time again.... Daring Bakers!!!

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

In trying to stay true to my Low Carb dieting... Trust me... I over did it plenty when making my valentines day treats. There's something addictive about those ickle little cupcakikins... ;o)

So for my challenge, I was pleased to find that this recipe was easily adaptable into something that would fit within my plan... here is my adapted recipe - my changes are off to the side....

Chocolate Valentino

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

16 ounces of semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped ( 16 oz Hershey's sugar free chocolate chips)

½ cup Plus 2 TBSP of unsalted butter

5 large eggs separated

1. Put chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of simmering water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and melt, stirring often.

2. While your chocolate butter mixture is cooling. Butter your pan and line with a parchment circle then butter the parchment.

3. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put into two medium/large bowls.

4. Whip the egg whites in a medium/large grease free bowl until stiff peaks are formed (do not over-whip or the cake will be dry).

5. With the same beater beat the egg yolks together.

6. Add the egg yolks to the cooled chocolate.

7. Fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and follow with remaining 2/3rds. Fold until no white remains without deflating the batter. {link of folding demonstration}

8. Pour batter into prepared pan, the batter should fill the pan 3/4 of the way full, and bake at 375F

9. Bake for 25 minutes until the top of the cake will look similar to a brownie and a cake tester will appear wet.

10. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes then unmold.

The second part of this challenge was to make ice cream. I was excited to attempt this as I do not have an ice cream maker. So above, is the cream mixture before going into the freezer and below is a picture I took of it mid freezing. I'm not sure if it took so long to freeze because I used Agave Nectar as my sweetner or if it was my idiotic freezer, but it certainly took a few hours... I'd do it again though and stop before total frozen... milkshake texture would have been nice. How awesome would that be to make homemade milkshakes and never have to turn on the blender?

Again... the recipe, my changes are off to the side....

Wendy's Ice Cream Recipe
Vanilla Philadelphia Style

Recipe Preparation Time: 5 minutes

2 cups of half and half

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sugar (1/3 cup Agave Nectar - mine was vanilla flavored)

Dash of salt

1 tablespoon of vanilla

Mix all ingredients together (we do this in a plastic pitcher and mix with an emulsifier hand blender-whisking works too).Refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer Mix in your ice cream maker as directed.

Without ice cream maker, put your bowl in freezer and stir it every 45 minutes until ice cream has been formed.

And then the cake was done....

For serving, I decided to serve it with Raspberry sauce... the chocolate even though sugar free was bound to be a bit much for me.

All I did was take a few frozen cubes of raspberry puree... crushed and frozen last summer at the height of their season... yummo! And drizzled them with a little agave nectar for sweetness and let them thaw out completely. This plating was the one I did when I was too anxious to wait any longer.

One of my friends sent me the placemat for a Valentine's present... Thanks Sweetie!!! I love them.

The cake is ready for it's close up... See - the ice cream wasn't quite frozen enough to not be a pool of cream... still very yummy though.

Then, I did a plating the following day... when the ice cream was able to hold the shape of the scoop...

It was fun... I've had my eye on a flourless cake for a while. Can't wait til next month!! ooh, which is tomorrow already. LOL

Valentines Day Treats

2009-02-27T22:11:00.001-08:00

Ah yes... February is such a short short month!!! It made me realize I hadn't shared my desserts that I took to work yet. By popular request, I had to make these sweet little cupcake bites ~ Bakerella ROCKS! ~ I have become like the most popular person at work when it comes to party day because I make these little guys. (Of course it helps that I found the sweetest little teeny tiny heart sprinkles. They were perfect on the little guys...)

I used Chocolate cake with deep fudge icing and Cherry Chip Cake with Cream Cheese Icing. The chocolate ones... well, some of them were in a 'peanut butter' candy melt cup and topped with 1/2 of a cherry jelly belly. I also used cotton candy and bubble gum jelly bellies for a fun themed color scheme. The cherry chip ones were mostly topped in white and in red or purple cups.

Here's the assembled tray. I realized afterwards that the only ones that were dipped in a colored top were the chocolate ones. But that's okay because the few that were white topped were showing the flavor underneath.

And then for comparison, I made 6 cupcakes of each flavor and decorated them in a similar styling to the mini ones. With bigger heart sprinkles and a whole jelly bean on top. These were frosted with a Whipped Cream Icing - it's pretty good... Betty Crocker does lovely things with frosting. LOL

I had to show off my cupcake stand... one of the girls at work got it for me at Christmas in our secret santa gift exchange and this was the first chance I had to use it. I somehow missed taking pictures of them but I also did up a couple boxes of pillsbury valentines cookies and rolled the edges of about a dozen in the mini heart sprinkles before baking and then frosted the rest with the left over frosting and decorated with cinnamon hearts and sprinkles...

my most favorite salad ever...

2009-02-09T19:34:00.002-08:00

Okay... so maybe not my favorite salad ever...

Just at least my favorite since I started trying to be low carb.

Isn't it gorgeous?

<----------

So... it's a steak salad...

Start in your pan with some diced celery and sliced onion... browning to caramelize them, add a little butter towards the end before you put in enough sliced steak for your serving...
Brown to your preferred doneness level...

this is about 2 cups of shredded lettuce... I love using the Fresh Express Shredds... it makes salad making go much quicker.

Put the celery, onions and steak on the lettuce.

Sprinkle with bleu cheese crumbles

And the final topping... which doubles as your dressing is the horseradish sauce.

Horseradish sauce:

1/4 C Sour Cream

2-3 tsp Horseradish - to taste

Black Pepper

Lemon or Lime Juice

Stir Horseradish and pepper into sour cream and add the juice of your choice until it thins out to your desired texture. It keeps in the fridge fairly well and is easily thinned again if it thickens.

Lemon Curd

2009-01-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

So this is the juice of 3 Meyer's Lemon's in my cute little food processor.

It was a lovely juice. LOL

And finished lemon curd.

Daring Bakers - January 2009- Tuiles with something Fruity

2009-01-29T06:05:00.000-08:00

Oh goodness... I guess time flies when you're not really paying attention.

But here it is, already time for the next challenge...

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

So my first batch of tuiles... attempted by using template and so forth did not turn out. These lovely 'snakes' if you will, were piped out using a pastry tip and spread out quite nicely to a good thin-ness and then I just put them over my rolling pin.

For my Something Fruity element... I made lemon curd. My first attempt... **sigh** Called for a Cup... A CUP !! of butter. Talk about lemon butter. **shakes head** I suppose it may have been good and buttery on pancakes but it definitely didn't have a good mouth feel when chilled.

So I made this recipe... I adore these books... they're by Laura Childs and they are the teashop mysteries. The third book - Shades of Earl Grey, had a Lemon Curd recipe and I got myself some Meyer lemons and had at it...

Haley’s Lemon Curd- From Laura Child’s Shades of Earl Grey 2003
3 large lemons
5 Eggs
1 C granulated sugar
8 TBSP (½ C) Butter
Grate the lemon rind and set aside. Squeeze the juice and put into a blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Pour into the top half of a double boiler. Stir in the lemon rind and cook over simmering water for about 10 minutes until thickened. Stir the mixture with whisk if it appears lumpy. Chill the lemon curd before serving.

I then topped it with a fruit salsa... the strawberries were a bit mushy for this purpose so it's more of a fruity sauce that I think would be excellent on ice cream.

1/2 C Strawberries

3 slices apple - the kind after you use an apple corer on it...

1 yellow Kiwi

Pulse in your food processor until *hopefully* chunky and add 1/2 tsp apple jelly. Mine was apple cinnamon jelly from Knotts Berry Farm.

(This is also excellent with cinnamon sugar pita chips)

**more pictures later**

2008-12-28T10:07:00.000-08:00

So I've done something new... something that matters.

Of course... everything that matters is in here. As the end of the year rolls around, I look back and realize that it sure does seem like food matters a lot... But I've joined a group called Daring Bakers and each month, there is a recipe intended to challenge you and make you bake outside your normal box of comfort.

So without further interuption.... I bring you my first ever completed Daring Baker's Challenge...

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand.

That is my completed log... well... mostly. I had icing issues... And it all slid off of the "log" which looks suspiciously like a cake. LOL

My favorite layer by far was my crisp layer... I made it with melted sugar free dark chocolate, frosted flakes and crushed candy canes.

Oh my goodness this part was wonderful and even though I am trying... !! very hard... to follow an Atkins lifestyle, I would certainly blow a few carbs on frosted flakes so that I could make and eat this again.

So the "log" consisted of a thin spongy cake layer, a mousse layer, the crisp, a creme brulee layer and the icing.

I had issues with my creme brulee layer when I didn't put enough of it into the "mold" ie: pie plate... so when I unmolded it to put into the final product, it split up and was a very thin layer. Fortunately, I had more of the brulee that I had put into another bowl so I was able to fit that in for an even cover.

I made the cake as a chocolate cake, white chocolate peppermint mousse, a dark chocolate peppermint ganache, the peppermint crisp, chocolate creme brulee and chocolate icing.

It was quite yummy and a very worth while experience to attempt making this dessert.

My icing issues were solved with a very nice spray of whipped cream and crushed candy canes.

More cupcake bites!

2008-12-05T22:52:00.000-08:00

Okay... so cupcake bites... Pumpkin Spice Version....

Take that left over half pumpkin spice cake... or in this case a little more than half... and crumb it up...

And then... add 1/2 a can of Cream Cheese Frosting... maybe a little less because that pumpkin cake was quite moist already.

Mix up and chill... roll into balls and treat them the same way - White coating into Peanut Butter cup mold, chill and dip again.

I wanted these to be a little different as well as the fact that pink jelly bean halves wouldn't have worked on pink coating... so pumpkin spice are topped with 1/2 of a cream soda jelly belly and I think they're just adorable and you know what? they were yummy too!

Baby Shower cupcake bites

2008-11-20T20:16:00.001-08:00

Start with one chocolate cake...
Cake mix is fine....

Crumb it up once it's completely cooled.....

Add one container of frosting - this was yummy... the little chocolate chips in it were soooo good for the texture. Chill...

Roll into balls.......

Use White chocolate candy melts and your handy dandy peanut butter cup mold... put the chocolate in the bottom and put a cake ball in it and stick in freezer.

Once chilled... dip into various pastel tops... I used a cut in half jelly bean for the top... and just little round sprinkles for them.

The pink jelly beans were for the chocolate ones...

As you can see from the platter there were some with a cream jelly bean on top... I'll blog about those with the next post.

Oh... and the cupcake in the middle was purchased at the bakery... after making so many cupcakes... LOL I couldn't begin to make one that was a regular cupcake. And I certainly don't have the frosting skills to turn out one of those roses! But doesn't it match wonderfully?

Pumpkin Trifle

2008-11-11T19:35:00.001-08:00

So my super secret pumpkin trifle... is yummy.

First up... cake.

Make 1 pkg spice cake according to directions, only cut back a little on the oil and water. Because you're going to add 1/2 a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree to it.

Bake according to directions and cut part of it into cubes once cooled.

Second.... it's a little washed out in this picture but the mixture in the measuring cup is our pumpkin mousse....

1/2 of a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree... (admit it... you were wondering what we were going to do with the other 1/2 of the can. ... )

1 1 oz pkg sugar free butterscotch pudding mix

1 C milk or half ~n~ half

3 tsp pumpkin pie spice.

1/2 of an 8oz container of cool whip.

Mix your choice of milk with the pudding mix and chill for 5 minutes. When thickened, stir with wire whisk to work out any lumps. Stir in pumpkin and spice. Once mixed, fold in the cool whip. Chill until ready to assemble.

To assemble....

start with a layer of cake cubes... top with pumpkin mousse and a layer of cool whip. Top with some sliced almonds or chopped pecans.

Repeat.

Repeat as often as your bowl... trifle dish.... crystal ice bucket from your grandma... will allow.

And.... Enjoy!

2008-11-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

So I made some yummy cookies.... low carb cookies.... Pumpkin cookies.

And here's the recipe...

Pumpkin Cookies

1 ½ C low carb baking mix

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

2 TBSP cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

½ tsp ground fresh nutmeg

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

½ C splenda

½ C splenda brown sugar mix

½ C canola oil

1 ½ cup pumpkin

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare to baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.In a separate bowl, whisk to sugars and oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined.Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined.Use a small ice cream scoop with a release mechanism to drop healing TBSP of the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on the pan. They will look more like mini cakes then cookies, so don’t panic about that.

So they're just yummy! Even with being low carb.

The original recipe is for them as whoopie pies... with a cream filling. But... I have discovered a much more lovely use for them.

Start by cutting them in half.... because mine are a little thick. LOL

And then.....

Because a very lovely person sent you some Sugar Free Caramel sauce from Harry and David... and it's a lovely thick Caramel.... oooh so yummy!

Place a teaspoon of caramel sauce on the cookie and put the top back on it......

OOOOOH yum....

Pssst! They're even better chilled.....

Cupcake Truffles

2008-10-15T14:06:00.000-07:00

Okay... so I made these a while ago and took them to work...

I got the idea from Bakerella's blog, to make the cake truffles into little cupcakes. We had a work party - like we do every month, and in July, I made these to take because our theme was BBQ. Every BBQ ends fantastically when there's cupcakes involved....

You start by baking a 9x13 pan of cake and mixing in a container of frosting and then chilling it when it looks like this...:

I used vanilla cake with vanilla frosting for this batch since I was testing it on other people.

After rollling them into little balls... and testing them along the way ~ I have to admit that I was a bit worried. Chilled, they didn't really taste like much and they made me worried about other people liking them.

I used a Wilton's candy melt peanut butter cup mold to make them... and melted Dark Cocoa candy melts in a squeeze bottle.

It was quite a bit of experimentation to figure out just how much melted chocolate needed to go in the bottoms of the mold to cover everything.

So here are the cute little things in the mold after chilling to set the chocolate. I have to be nicer to my next mold - my last batch that came out broke my mold. :o(

And then I dipped them. .....

The tops were dipped in Blue, Yellow and Orange candy melts, topped with a mini M&M and sprinkles.

They were a HUGE hit...

And at room temperature...? They were fantastic and I don't think any of them actually made it to lunchtime.

I made the rest of the mixture up into truffle balls, dipped them later and just did sprinkles on top and took them to work a few days later.

The great part about this is that my friends on my team at work have asked me to make the cupcake truffles again for a baby shower on the 25th... so I will definitely take better pictures then to blog about. ;o)

The Sweet 100

2008-09-25T12:21:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm now attempting successful mastery of the Atkins Diet... **rolls eyes** I figure a to-do list for those rare... extremely rare... occasions to splurge and try something would be a good idea.

I got this idea from cakespy's blog and here it is on my blog too... lol (links may or may not go to something on her site... I am going to edit later...)

1) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!2) Bold all of the sweets you've eaten!3) Cross out any of them that you'd never ever eat.
4) Consider anything that is not bold or crossed out your "To Do" List.5) Optional: Post a comment here linking to your results--or just post a comment letting us know how many you've tried, or what you're going to try next!

Red Velvet Cake
Princess Torte
Whoopie Pie
Apple Pie either topped or baked with sharp cheddar
Beignet
Baklava
Black and white cookie
Seven Layer Bar (also known as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
Fried Fruit pie (sometimes called hand pies)
Kringle
Just-fried (still hot) doughnut
Scone with clotted cream
Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle or Pandowdy
Halvah
Macarons
Banana pudding with nilla wafers
Bubble tea (with tapioca "pearls")
Dixie Cup
Rice Krispie treats
Alfajores
Blondies
Croquembouche
Girl Scout cookies
Moon cake
Candy Apple
Baked Alaska
Brooklyn Egg Cream
Nanaimo bar
Baba au rhum
King Cake
Sachertorte
Pavlova
Tres Leches Cake
Trifle
Shoofly Pie
Key Lime Pie (made with real key lime)
Panna Cotta
New York Cheesecake
Napoleon / mille-fueille
Russian Tea Cake / Mexican Wedding Cake
Anzac biscuits
Pizzelle
Kolache
Buckeyes
Malasadas
Moon Pie
Dutch baby
Boston Cream Pie
Homemade chocolate chip cookies
Pralines
Gooey butter cake
Rusks
Daifuku
Green tea cake or cookies
Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
Crème brûlée
Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candy bar, cupcake)
Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
Jelly Roll
Pop Tarts
Charlotte Russe
An "upside down" dessert (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
Hummingbird Cake
Jell-O from a mold
Black forest cake
Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
Kulfi
Linzer torte
Churro
Stollen
Angel Food Cake
Mincemeat pie
Concha
Opera Cake
Sfogliatelle / Lobster tail
Pain au chocolat
A piece of Gingerbread House
Cassata
Cannoli
Rainbow cookies
Religieuse
Petits fours
Chocolate Souffle
Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
Rugelach
Hamenstashen
Homemade marshmallows
Rigo Janci
Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers pie, Reeses pie, etc)
Divinity
Coke or Cola cake
Gateau Basque
S'mores
Figgy Pudding
Bananas foster or other flaming dessert
Joe Froggers
Sables
Millionaire's Shortbread
Animal crackers
Basbousa

No bake cheesecake...

2008-07-30T21:14:00.000-07:00

So... Originally I made a Cherry topped no bake cheese cake...

1 pkg fat free cream cheese
1 container sugar free cool whip
1/3 c splenda
1 graham cracker crust

And it was YUMMY!!!

and then I decided to try Strawberry...

8 oz strawberry low fat cream cheese
1 container strawberry cool whip
1/3 cup splenda

Only instead of putting it in a crust... I put it into my ramikins and would top it with graham cracker crumbs as needed when eating it....

**makes face** It was Toooooooo! Strawberry... I think that plain cool whip would have been good... or plain cream cheese... but not both!

And then I thought ... chocolate!

Ah.... perfection again....

1 8oz fat free cream cheese
1 container chocolate cool whip
1/3 cup splenda

1 chocolate crust.

Topped with fat free cool whip and fresh raspberries....

A yummy treat ... even for breakfast!

Garlic Fries...

2008-07-24T06:43:00.000-07:00

So it's been a while, but things have been crazy... I do actually have a lot of pictures to post... so we'll start with what I ate at the Mariner's game when my friend Treenie was visiting from Canada...

GARLIC FRIES!!!

Don't they look great?

Do you suppose that I should be worried that at the end of it .... there's way more garlic than fries?

I've never had them put so much garlic on them before...

But boy! Were they good!!!

Your own personal beach...

2008-06-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

So... on to the next part of my contribution to the work party...

Beach cupcakes...!

So here they are all together after baking...

These are just German Chocolate cake mix cupcakes. I filled them very full because I wanted a nice rounded top on the cupcake so that I'd have some room to work with them.

Then I frosted them with cream cheese frosting and rolled the tops in graham cracker crumbs.

Unfortunately... I did not have the foresight to take the left over frosting with me... it would have come in handy for attaching the 'accessories' to the cupcake.

Accessories, you ask?

That's right...

Accessories!

Melted Wilton candy melts were used to make little beach towels and the straps on 'mini' flipflops.

Which were made out of 100 calorie packs of peanut butter cookies and a mini M&M.

Each cupcake was garnished with a towel and a pair of flipflops ... and a paper beach umbrella.

Flip Flops.

2008-06-18T23:27:00.001-07:00

Yes... that's right. Today... I have flipflops on the brain. LOL

I realize it's been almost forever since I blogged and I will show you why...

Our theme for our work party was beach picnic and I expect to be able to get about 3 blogs out of my baking project for the week. So the idea was flip flops. Today's topic.

These flipflops are made out of Nutter Butter cookies.

And the original idea... while extremely yummy... is extremely messy so I was very happy to have purchased 2 packages of Nutter Butters. Otherwise... I might not have been as successful. Oh yes... I had fun last night dipping 'flipflops' in melted white chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips. But it dawned on me that as I was dipping... they were melting all over me. And that would mean they would be messy.

But aren't they pretty? **rolls eyes** Other than they do actually look like I put the chocolate on them with my fingers... And you can tell that the dark ones were in the fridge - they're 'blooming'... as in they have white spots starting to form on them.

So that is NOT how to make flip flops out of Nutter Butters.

This however.... is....

Take one package of Nutter Butters... melt up some Wilton Candy melts ...

Draw the little straps and put an M&M where the 'strap' would connect with the sole of the flip flop.

Chill for 15 minutes and you're good to go... nice, pretty... NON MESSY... flip flops.

They look lovely on a plate...

Everyone really loved them and I got several compliments on them.

More tomorrow on the baking project this week... if I have all that melted chocolate cleaned up from my kitchen, that is. LOL

And if I can manage to not attempt eating my own flipflops.

Sunshine...

2008-06-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

Is by far the only thing that matters.

Because it is FINALLY sunny in Seattle.

:o)

Can You Duet...?

2008-06-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Oh boy...

So I knew that show was going to be tearing me down the middle. I've been a fan of Joey and Rory ... as well as Caitlyn and Will... So the fact that Joey and Rory ended up third .. .was a bit of a disappointment, but I am so thrilled that Cait & Will won. I got goosebumps watching them sing today so that was really cool.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As far as only things that matter... really...

Well.

It can be hard to find what really matters. Friendships really matter.

Knowing that someone is always going to be there for you even when your schedules suck and don't match up well... well... that matters. So ... to my friends who I don't get to spend much time online with... lately...

I luv ya...

I do miss our time together, but I understand that things get crazy and sometimes there are other things that NEED to matter to you and take precidence.

That won't change the fact that I luv ya and I'm there for ya...

Pineapple Upside-down Cupcakes

2008-06-12T18:49:00.000-07:00

As promised...

Pineapple Upside-down Cupcakes!

Aren't they cute?

I've come to the conclusion that there is more testing that has to happen before I'm willing to call them a success.

But they are delicious so for myself alone, I don't mind that most of the pineapple pieces stuck to the bottom of the cupcake cups. I think that if I would have been a little more generous with the margarine at the bottom of the pan... those might have come out easier.

Either that or if I would have been more patient and let the cakes slip out of the muffin tins in their own time... instead of shaking the tin. **rolls eyes**

Next time, I'm going to try making a batch in the muffin tin and letting them do that. As well as making one or two in individual ramikins or custard cups... those will be even easier to turn over and let them slide out.

I just made a recipe of pineapple upside down cake and switched a few things for Splenda... and then cut down on how much margarine that I used in making the caramel for the bottom.... erm.... tops.

TOP CHEF!!!

2008-06-12T09:53:00.000-07:00

Okay... so I said that there would be TV discussions...

So for right now today... the only thing that matters... LOL

Is that the chef-testant... that I wanted to win from the first episode... Stephanie... WON Top Chef!!!

Which is excellent because she is the first female winner of Top Chef... and it's also excellent because she showed all throughout the show that if she was in the bottom on something... she paid more attention to that faulty part of her dish the next time and corrected it. I don't think she was ever nailed for the same fault twice.

I'm just very excited about that. I love watching shows like that where I get to be right... LOL

Okay so that's all for now because I'm at work.

But I will be blogging later and showing off my newest baking success - I hope to have something food related at least once a week...

Anyway...

Pineapple Upsidedown cupcakes... coming later tonight...!

The only thing that matters...

2008-06-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

So far today... is that I have a day off of work!

I work in a high call volume call center and there's nothing like the dreary ... January-esque weather to make people call in and complain about how high their bills still are.

So that means... I get to email back and forth with a friend of mine longer this morning before she has to go off and leave me... usually it's the other way around. .. And then I get to run errands that I don't find time to do on weekends...laundry... and other fun stuff...!

Okay so I know it's been a while since I made this, but I do actually have pictures of it so I'm going to post them now to kick off the 'baking' side of myself...

I present to you... Pirate Ship Cake... !

I made this for our Halloween party at work, our team did a Pirates theme so we based on the movies and turned our manager's office ... there's 3 cubicles... into the Black Pearl... and then for the most part, all of us dressed as pirates or wenches for Halloween.

So there was nothing else to do but make a pirate ship cake.

I learned several things about pirate ships... well, cake versions. And the first is that you shouldn't expect to make it in one night. LOL

Here it is on my counter. Isn't it lovely...?

So my hugest mistake... and the thing I would do differently if I make it again... is that I cut the 2 round cakes in half and THEN tried to frost them and stick them together.

I would fill them and then freeze them BEFORE cutting them in half. That way they'd probably stick together better. And then the whole cake has to be able to stay in the freezer as much as possible.

This is before work so it's beautiful and lovely... The 'deck' is made out of 2 twinkies toothpicked into the top of the cake. and the rails are rolled wafer cookies.

I took pieces of a black plastic tablecloth to stretch and tear into little flags for the ship and had a few playmobil pirates for the top of it as well. Also... Nestle crunch sticks for cannons, brown sixlets for cannonballs and some root beer barrels... after all, a pirate's gotta have some rum!

I was worried about not having enough cake, so I baked a chocolate cake in a really cool pan I have... It has a hollow in the top so that you can fill it and make a really nice looking strawberry shortcake cake... or put a pirate ship in an ocean. The 'ocean' is chocolate cake frosted with storebought from the bakery frosting that was pale blue... I added green to make it that lovely shade and then dusted the whole thing with blue sugar so that it would sparkle.

Unfortunately... as soon as I frosted the ship and put it in the fridge, it started to fall apart so when I got to work, in spite of trying to insert additional skewers to hold it together, it was looking very decidedly as though it had come under attack from another ship. ;o) But it was cute and people were impressed anyway that I'd made it.

This is my blog...

2008-06-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

So... I decided to title it...

The Only Things That Matter.

Because... I will probably only blog about whatever seems to matter the most that day.

Like ...

I've been obsessed lately with looking at other blogs and I started thinking I could do this...

I like to bake. I like to write fanfiction stories... watch the Food Network... Watch my favorite TV shows almost religiously...

and I like shopping... sometimes just for the window shopping.

I have weight issues... I've been trying ... with limited success ... to adhere to Weight Watchers and follow through with the ideas and habits that I've picked up from going to meetings for the last two and a half years. So there are lots of little successes that I have with recipes... adapting recipes to fit the guidlines.

And since I can't financially afford to walk away from my job to go be on Top Chef or Next Food Network Star... or even Nashville Star... because I was a music major in college and I think every music major at some point or another does harbor a secret ambition to have a recording deal fall into their lap... (But there didn't seem to be anyone around the Nashville airport when I was there about three weeks ago... so I guess that's a wait list dream.... LOL)

Then just maybe this blog will allow me to share a few things that have worked for me.

So ...

I guess today... the only thing that matters ... is that I'm excited about starting a blog...!

Yay Me!