Kindles for Christmas....

Any one looking for a Kindle, visit my blog for Amazon ad.
Thanks
Here are a few of the models that are now big sellers for the Holidays

Thanksgiving, just why do we cook, bake and roast so much food?

I finally had a few minutes to catch up on my mail after the holiday.  Along with the usual requests for donations, (are you all getting many of them?), a couple of magazines were there. I started with Cooking Light.  There's a cheesecake on the cover and I wanted to see how they made it "light".  I paged through the magazine, and for some reason,  stopped at the editor's page.  I think the fact that the editor is a man attracted me to the page. 
The editor had not written the usual rundown on the magazine's content, but turned the page over to a blogger's story.  Kelli Pryor and her husband adopted two baby girls in China 10years ago.  She writes about that day, and how four people became a family.  I was pulled in by this story.  The theme was food.   I thought about the last three weeks of cutting, chopping, baking, roasting, blending, mixing, shopping and planning Thanksgiving.  I worked 3-12mid, then got up early each morning to start another cupcake, vegetable, stuffing preparation, running to the store.  I was not unique, everyone had the same story. When I got to work, we were asking each other,   "What did you make today?", "What's your menu?", "How big is your turkey?", the conversations were all the same, whether I was on the phone with my sister or cousin or at work. 
We loved talking about recipes and how long to roast a turkey.  Some remembered special dishes and others could not remember if their grandmothers stuffed the turkey.  This editorial that I read the day after Thanksgiving gave me "more food" for thought.  The story revolved around the day the babies were adopted.  Their new mother had the two babies in the room and they were crying, one on each of her knees.  She tried singing to them, talking to them, bouncing them on her knees.  They wailed broken heartedly.  When her husband returned to the room, he found all three of his new family crying.  He rolled a cart from room service through the door and stationed it between the beds.  He took one of the babies on his knee, handed his wife chopsticks, took a set for himself and uncovered an array of noodles, egg custard and greens.  They fed the babies and themselves.  At that point, the babies settled down and one laughed.  They had discovered the oldest, common bond, food.  So with this story, I realized why we cook the meals at the holidays and throughout our lives.  It's the bonding that we look forward to.  The family gathered around the table, as our first ancestors, the hunters and gatherers,  rounded the fire while the meat browned.  It's the love for each other that makes the kitchen the most important room in the home.  It's wanting to feed those we love when we can't give them anything else.  It's not what we made, it was the fact that it brought together families and that's what it's all about.

Laura the cheerleader...

Haven't been here in a while.  There are a few things I want to do with my blog, but still haven't figured out how to.
Anyway, went to a dance and cheerleader competition yesterday. It was in Boston and many towns were represented. 
What impressed me the most was the many young kids involved in the competition. It was good to see so many teens, 'tweens, college students, high school students, grade school kids, and others partaking in and organizing the competition.  I say this because so often we hear about the negative activities of kids.  But here was over a thousand young people involved in good, clean fun.  My heart danced with them.  The music was great and the atmosphere was upbeat and invigorating.  
My granddaughter was in the cheerleading competition.  She waited a long time to perform, and when it was her time to show her best, I could see something was wrong.  We were high in the bleachers looking down on the activities.  We could see her crying and Jennifer was making hand motions to me and I could read them perfectly.  "Laura's going to throw up!".  She went off to the side for a brief moment, then returned to her place in line.  She was still crying, but managed to do the cheer.  After the cheer, she looked like she recovered and we attributed her feeling of nausea to a nervous stomach.  She slept on the way home and seemed to be ok.
Later in the evening, I called to see how every one had recovered from the long and busy morning.  Laura had a temp of 102.  She was sick and complaining of a sore throat.
I guess she was trying to say that earlier.  She felt better as the night wore on, and by this morning, her temp was 99.

Cake contest, WE TV.....

I put 4 of my cakes on the WE TV cake contest.  Others have to vote on them.  Well, I was just looking at my scores, and they weren't too high.  Then I looked at the ratings of other very nice cakes and they were about the same as mine.  I went back in and rated all the cakes higher.  Not mine, but all the others I could look at in a short amount of time.  It's not that we want to win.  It's just that you would like your cakes to be rated for the hard work we put into them.  Anyway, there are many cake decorators that do a beautiful job on their cakes.  I think the independent cake maker is more inventive and will do more to make your cake look special.  I know how much work we put into them!

Fondant and gumpaste masks

I am working on the decorations for the masquerade cake.  I wish I could say I have a definite plan.  It will be a 3 or 4 tier cake.  The birthday girl requested a square cake.  I'm thinking of mixing up the shapes and make a square bottom tier, a round tier and then another square with a round top tier.  I made masks to go around the bottom tier.  I used a bat cookie cutter and cut out the eye holes.  I placed them on straws to get some dimension for the nose part.  I think they are looking ok.  I'm hoping to spray them silver.  More to follow.  Oh, I used my pasta maker to roll the fondant.  It worked out very well.  I wanted a consistent thickness of the masks, so that was the best tool I could use, and also, it was easier on the wrists, no rolling!

"You cut the turkey without me?....

In the movie,  "Avalon", the most memorable line is, "You cut the turkey without me?", Lou Jacobi sputters, as he walks in and sees everyone at the table. "You cut the turkey without me?" he repeats.
 
"Avalon", was written  and directed by Barry Levinson. He wove parts of his own life into the Baltimore-based story of a family founded by immigrant grandfather, (beautifully played by Armin Müller-Stahl). In Avalon, Lou Jacobi, as a permanently irked relative, who, arriving late for the Thanksgiving meal, bursts in the door just as the family has given up waiting . Filled with indignation, Jacobi barks, “What?! You cut the turkey? You cut the turkey without me?”
From that day on, the brothers never spoke to each other.   We wonder why something like the cutting of the turkey can cause such a reaction.  Maybe the holiday was so significant to this family of immigrants, that the cutting of the main attraction, the turkey, before everyone was there, was perceived as disrespectful. Maybe there was a series of things that bugged this irate brother and this was the pinnacle that put him over the top. To the cutters of the turkey, it was not a big deal.  But it was a big deal and the brothers never spoke again.
Sometimes in families, this can happen.  It's difficult to understand why family relationships dissolve over actions that the offended finds impossible to overlook, or somehow, to forgive and forget.  I can understand the irked relative's reaction.  Sometimes you say, "enough is enough".
Maybe some of you would like to see this movie. 

How to make cake balls

I haven't been here in a few days.  Busy with lots of things.  Also, since I've resumed my relationship with FaceBook, I've been spending too much time on it.  My videos on YouTube are doing good.  I love doing them.  I have alot more to learn about the process.  But my recipes are popular with family, friends and others.  Now I just have to figure out how to put a title at the beginning of the video. 
 I probably should invest in this book!

Boys birthday cake car cake

How to make Pasta and Peas, my father-in-law's recipe

Race Car Cake in the making.....

I'm working on the race car cake.  this one is giving me a run for my money.  I need to sculpt
it and it's not very easy.  My problem is that I want it to look very realistic.  Not sure if that's possible.  I will continue to work on it.  I was going to do all the accessories before hand, but I now know that some of these have to be done as you are decorating the cake.
Will be doing a video on it (of course!!)

Disco Ball Cake

Disco Ball Cake

Pictures of the Disco Ball Cake. It was a big hit and Jennifer loved it.

Baby shower cake

Here is the cake I was working on. I wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I had to finish it this morning. Once I got the fondant on the bottom tier, it was just a matter of decorating it. All the pieces were done, so I just had to decide where to put them. I hope you like it.

Cakes, cakes and more cakes....

I finished the disco ball for the top of the cake this morning.  I think it came out pretty good.  I love using the airbrush system.  As soon as I get a minute, I'm going to put a picture on here.  The shower cake has the two top tiers complete.  I'll do the bottom tier tomorrow morning.  Then the fun begins, putting all the decorations on it.  Everything, except the ribbon, will be homemade.  I hope to make a nice presentation.  Right now I have a pumpkin cake in the oven.  I cooked one of the sugar pumpkins and got 2lbs of pumpkin.  I put 2cups in the cake and hope to make a pumpkin pie.  Will get back to this later.

Day off and eating fish tacos....

We went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  Good food.  I had fish tacos.  Not as good as the ones I had at the Summer Shack at Mohegan Sun casino, but pretty good just the same.  I think that's my favorite kind of taco.  Anyway, there was a very small farm stand at the end of the parking lot.  We bought 7 "sugar pumpkins".  You can make pies with this kind.  I make very good pumpkin pies.  My granddaughter said, "I want a chocolate and pumpkin pie birthday cake".  If I have the time, I'm going to make one for her.  Anyway, it was good to have the day off.  I will keep everyone posted on the cakes.  Oh yea, it feels like fall here.  Looking forward to the upcoming holidays and this beautiful time of the year.

Sugar veil icing, one more technique to make cakes look fabulous!

I just found this technique while I was looking at my videos on You Tube.  This looks like a great product and you should see what they do with this dispenser.  I know this is for the serious cake decorator, but I might have to invest in it. 

Air brush kit

This a picture of my airbrush kit I just bought from Amazon. I'm very eager to use it. And I will post a picture of the results. I have a Sweet Sixteen Masquerade Cake in October. I think I will use it then.

pictures of fondant booties, teddy bears and daisies for baby shower cake

These are pictures of the fondant and gumpaste teddy bears, daisies and baby booties for a baby shower cake. The first pair of booties I made, I let them dry before putting the ribbon laces in. Well, when I tried to put them in and the booties were hard, they broke. I was able to put them back together and learned a lesson. The second two pairs, the ribbon went in when I was assembling the parts. Much better. I think the bears came out very cute. I found a video on You Tube that gave good step by step instructions. However, mine do not look anything like hers. At least I was able to get the technique down. I will post the cake when it's finished. I will also be doing a step by step video.

baby booties

These are the booties that I made for a shower cake. This is the first time I've made them. I will keep you posted on this cake project.

Disco Ball Birthday Cake request...

My granddaughter requested a Disco Ball Cake for her birthday. Here is the beginning of the project. I used two pound cake mixes, (yes, I used a mix for this part of the final presentation, I needed a firm cake and I like the pound cake mixes for this). As you can see, I put too much batter in the pans. I'll trim the tops when they cool, and put them in the freezer. I'll make a homemade 10 or 12 inch layer cake for the base. Follow me on this project. I'll put it on YouTube. Oh, I didn't use all the batter, it would have been way too much.

i

Stuffed zucchini and a nice Jersey tomato salad...

Stuffed zucchini












Tomato salad, delish...

food network link...

this

Here is an easy link to the food network. Try it for great recipes, or follow the shows as they are televised.

Just click on "this"

food nextwork this morning....

I'm watching Aarti Party on the food network.  I'm telling you, she has some great recipes.  She is engaging and has a great personality.  Today she is making some very good food, chicken, salad, bread pudding, (who thought it was an Indian food). She does say there are not a lot of salads in India, instead they make yogurt with vegetables in it.  They do use many exotic spices and she has a container with smaller containers of a variety of spices.  Terrific.  It stays on the counter and the spices are constantly dipped into.  She talks plenty about Cardamon, I will be getting some on my next marketing trip.  I really like her style and her ease in the kitchen.  Congratulations Aarti on your success on a craft you obviously love.  I am going to print the recipes you are making today.

A nice gift....

This might be something that might come in handy for the student.

And the next food network star is...

Isn't it wonderful how people who love to cook can now get their own shows on TV.  I think the winner of the Next Food Network Star is really interesting and a great cook.  I'm looking forward to her use of the wonderful Indian spices.  I  use cumin and turmeric in a few special recipes and I would like to experiment with more creative uses of these and others.  (see my sweet potato fries video)
I was curious about her and found it exciting that she started as a blogger.  In my day, the only food shows were on WGBH.  And of course, Julia was the forerunner of this huge business that we are all exposed to everyday. And to think, something so basic to human life generates such an interest to so many.  Before all the cooking shows, I used to read my cook books all the time.  I found it very relaxing. Now I watch TV.  I belonged to a cook book club and got some good books from it.  I never pass up a cook book at a yard sale.  If it's a good one, I treasure it.  I have a small home economics text book from the early 1900's that was used in the Boston public schools.  I love it.  And the recipes are not that different from what we use today.  I find the cost of the meals especially fascinating.  Pennies.  (Yes it gives the cost, how to budget, how to take care of the home, etc)
Anyway, I will continue to watch the Food Network, look up the recipes that I want to try, learn new techniques in food preparation and prepare and enjoy good food.

Could it be that it's time for school already?  I didn't realize it was so quickly upon us until I was driving to work today and saw all the telltale signs.  The CVS flashing sign stated in big bright red letters, "Welcome Back Stonehill".  This is the local college and CVS is welcoming them back with open arms.  It's walking distance to the college.  Plenty of money to be made from the new and returning students.  As I continued my drive (it's only about 13 minutes), I passed the Ninety Nine restaurant.  I looked to see if they had joined CVS with a "welcome back" invitation.  No, just the banner across the front of the restaurant stating, "Red Sox win, Kids eat free".   Pretty good deal, although I haven't taken advantage of it.  But a good deal all the same.  Let's face it, you might as well throw your money in the street for as much as kids eat at this kind of restaurant.  Anyway, as I continued my ride, I came up to a set of lights at the entrance to the college.  Sure enough, the cars, many with out of state plates, were lined up at the light.  As I watched the cars enter the campus, I noticed two tired co-eds sitting on a stone wall with signs resting on their laps.  I could not see everything written on them, but I did see "Welcome" and "2014".  I guess they were the welcoming committee.  They looked tired and were resting after a busy day.

How wonderful for these young kids to experience college life.  Some will thrive, some will just make.  I'm sure that at a college like Stonehill, a private Catholic school, most will thrive. My own experience in Catholic schools was high expectations and no fooling around.  Although we all fooled around, when the nuns weren't looking.

Two cakes down and many more to go...

I made two cakes for the car cake. They are the bottom layers.  Oh, you would not believe how much research I will be doing to make this a spectacular cake.  I hope to make a video of the execution of the final product. 

The quintessential white layer cake...

My quest to find the quintessential white cake recipe continues.  Each time I find a new recipe, with a bit of a twist, I think, "is this the one?"
My best white/yellow cakes are my chiffon.  Aside from the chocolate, carrot, banana, pumpkin cakes that are delicious, I have yet to find a really good white cake.  And I know that I'm not the only one out there seeking the recipe.  Anyone out there up to the challenge of a perfect white cake recipe? 
I am getting ready to design a car cake for a 7 year old boy's birthday.  I will keep you apprised of my progress.  It will be a chocolate and white cake.  I've done some research and feel confident that I will succeed with a nice show piece.

I am busy designing a Sweet 16 masquerade three tiered cake.  It's for October, but I want to be sure I have everything in place well before the date.  I am going to invest in this airbrush system.  I already bought 5lbs of fondant.  I will need to buy purple fondant also.  Satin Ice makes this.  It will be purple, silver and some black ribbon.  I will definitely keep you posted on this endeavor.

Interesting story about the author.  He died before his books were published.  The lead female has also been chosen.  This book is one that I think I will read.  I want to see what all the excitement is about.

Recipe for oil and vinegar salad dressing...

Here is a very good recipe for dressing for the wonderful fresh greens and tomatoes that we are enjoying at this time of the year.
Get the Good Seasons carafe
put your favorite vinegar up to the v line
add one teaspoon each of salt (I use salt sense, not kosher, just plain salt) and garlic powder
Add water to the water line Shake
Add canola oil (don't use Olive oil, it will congeal) to the oil line.
This is a very good dressing without the sugar, chemicals or other ingredients that you find in dressings you buy.
Refrigerate and you will always have a good topping for your salads.

Facebook...

I've resumed my relationship with Facebook.  I'm still not sure if I like it.  There seems to be an awful lot of info there.  I mean, you can look at anybody's pictures even though you're not friends with them.  I was looking at my friends' friends and was able to click onto their info. Maybe I have to read these books!  I've put a link to my blog, maybe I will get more to read it.  I hope so.  I also hope you are visiting my You Tube videos.  Having alot of fun making them. 

Back to work...

While I was ironing my uniforms for work, I was thinking of the movies I love and have seen many times.  I was also making a plan to go through one storage bin a day.  I want to see what's in all those plastic holders.  Things I'm sure I've forgotten about.  The movies that came to mind immediately are, Hannah and her sisters, Radio Days, Jurassic Park, The Women, 1930's one, Four Seasons, I think that's the name of it with Alan Alda, Carol Burnett, Halloween, Psycho, I did love the Ring, even though it was extremely scary.  Jaws, Dog Day afternoon.  There are some great lines in that one.  Of course the Godfather movies are always a good watch.
Anyway, I'm off to the market. Did you know I'm one of the original coupon queens?  I have a couple of good ones that I need to use before the expiration dates run out.
I put my blog on Facebook.  I hope it encourages others to come here.  I think there is some decent reading.  I would love to start a discussion on films that others love. 
Oh yea, my vacation is over and I go back to work today.  That's ok, you have to work to play.  Have a good day and I might stop back later.

sea glass

I was catching up on some of the Sunday magazines that I missed when I was on vacation.  Sure  enough, I find a story about "Sea Glass".  My granddaughter is collecting it, so I, along with my sister,  found a few pieces.  The pictures above are our finds on a couple of walks by the ocean side.  So, I read this story in the Parade magazine about the collectors of this beautiful glass.  It is some serious collecting.  There is a North American Sea Glass Association that draws in more than 5000 each year.  This year it is in Hyannis on October 9th.  According to the story, collectors are secretive about their locations and sometimes take great lengths to get to the beaches.
I have seen sea glass all my life, but never thought to collect it.  In Brigantine, large tractors with sifters clean the beach most mornings, leaving little debris on the sandy beach.  I'm sure there are plenty of goodies in the sifter.  I will ask my sister to continue to look for the glass on her daily walks on the beach. 
The story talked about Richard LaMotte, the "Godfather of Sea Glass".  His self-published book tells all about it.  Here is his book along with some others if you are interested in starting this neat hobby.

Justice for girls and lunch...

We are going to go out for lunch tomorrow.  We have a new Mexican restaurant here in town.  Very good food and good prices. After we will go to Justice for girls.  There's a store in the Mansfield Crossing shopping center.  Great stores and an LL Bean is there, too.  Anyway, we will go to Justice after lunch.  But after we have dessert at my house.  I just made three chocolate layer cakes.  Will put it together tomorrow.
Anyway, Justice has a coupon for 40% off.  We will go for backpacks and school clothes.  The selection is good and the clothes are really cute.  I will let you know what we get.
For the coupon, go to the first ad, scroll down and you will find it. 

The health of our children...

We had an opportunity to have dinner with my husband's college friend and his wife.  She made a wonderful dinner.  She's an excellent cook.  She was a teacher in the late 60's and 70's.  She taught in Catholic schools in Philly.  I was interested in the health of the kids.  Today so many have diabetes, asthma, ADD, allergies to nuts.  I saw that when I did clinicals in elementary schools.  Anyway, because she had a broader experience, I felt she was a good resource.  When I went to school, there were 52 kids in the class, two classes, and I can't remember any sick kids.
Our hostess agreed with me.  As a teacher, she too did not see what so many are afflicted with today.  Her feeling is that our immune systems are changing.  I don't know what it is.  I do think it's interesting.
Could it be the increase of fast foods?  Global warming?  The lack of home cooked meals?  The busy schedules the children have today?  Increased immunizations?  Let me know what you think.  I will continue to explore this change in our children's health.

Vacation reading...

Yes, I'm here on vacation.  Won't bore you with the nothingness that I've been doing.  I do want to comment on an old magazine story I was reading.  Actually, my mom keeps it by her side.  It's a story about Michael J. Fox and Parkinson's disease.  My mom reads the story, carefully studying the content to see or find something that says there is a way to manage this disease.    Anyway, in his story it talks about how he copes with the illness. I see my mom and how she copes with the illness.  It's tough.  She gets around the best she can.  I think it's too bad that Fox got this disease at such a young age.  However, he will probably have excellent care.  Money will be no object.  He probably will have someone assist him to put his shoes on, to button his shirt, to assist him into bed and onto the toilet.  I felt the article was not real.  There are plenty of people with the disease, but not as fortunate as him.  Anyway, I could see my mom reading the article for some clue on the cure so she could walk better, not get freezes, be able to get herself out of a chair and into bed.  There was none.

Yea, vacation time....

So what did you do, continued.....

Finished baked goods

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a clean floor!

As you can see, the baking is done.  (I had to take a taste of the banana bread.  I fooled around with the recipe and was not sure the texture was to my liking, it's OK) 
I will be constructing the cakes tomorrow.  More pictures then.  Oh, and by the way, I also cleaned the powder room floor, (why waste that water!)  and did two loads of wash.  I think now I will rest for a few minutes. 
The last wash is in the dryer.  My house  smells spic and span clean with a hint of chocolate and banana.  Not bad!

Chiffon cake, banana bread and hershey's chocolate cake.. and what did you do this morning?

So what did you do this morning?  I made a lemon chiffon cake, cleaned up a bit, worked on my blog, went to the supermarket, they had reduced bananas so I got three for banana bread.  I returned home and made clams and angel hair, shrimp and started on the banana bread.  After cleaning up that mess, I made a hershey's chocolate cake, which is in the oven right now.  It should be out by 1p.  In the meantime, I'm going to wash the kitchen floor.  When the cakes come out, I'll try to rest before work.  I leave at 3p.  Oh yeah, I would also like to watch the Bethenny episode that I taped.  I will try to take pictures of the baked goods.  Sure smells good in here, but a little hot!


Here is a good bakeware set that I have.  Nice even heat!

Bethenny was at it again last night.  Don't you love the way Jason laughs when she makes her comments?  He could have passed for a doctor when he put on the scrubs.  I think she is a hoot.  The CPR class was very entertaining.  This women really does not have a clue about kids.  But I do think she was trying to learn as much as she could.  Life does have a way of changing once a baby arrives.  They take over the house, the car and especially your life.  Those are the best days of your life.  I know most of my friends would agree.  I came from the generation of still stay at home moms.  The lazy days of taking care of kids was the best.  Now everyone is running wild, looking for others to care for their most cherished possession.  I feel like saying, "Don't you want to raise your children".  We did with less and stayed home more.  We cooked meals most nights, no fast food in our houses.  Life was nice.

Here is a reasonably priced car seat. Do you need one?

Just created a couple of nice memory books on Snapfish.  Between Picasa and Snapfish, I'm having a great time.  Can't wait to do more.  Family went on a Princess cruise.  I hope they like them.

Feel good sneakers...

I wear Skechers to work.  My knees don't bother me, my back feels good and I think they are a great buy at Amazon.com.  I've been wearing them for over a year and spent $110 for them.  I also bought the sandal.  Like that too.  I would suggest that anyone that wants a comfortable shoe, reduce leg, knee, and overall aches in lower extremities, to invest in these shoes.

After all, we only have one body and we have to take care of it.

The 30 minute meal...

sweet potato fries

sweet potato fries, chicken and kale

Here is a picture of the sweet potato fries and a finished meal.  The chicken was OK.  Tried something different, instead of making the usual cutlets.  This  was only two potatoes, I should have used two baking sheets.  But they were still delicious.
If you are following my meals, you will notice we eat on dessert plates.  Nothing original, but you will eat less.

This is a great day...

I went to TJ Maxx to look for a bathing suit.  I dreaded going into the dressing room with the harsh florescent lighting, making me look worse than I already feel.  Anyway, I brought in 5 suits.  I couldn't believe it when I had to choose between 4.  Do you believe that I actually had 4 that looked decent and that I had to debate over.  No, this doesn't happen too often.  No, it never happens.  I ended up with a blue tankini top and bottom.  No matter how old I get, I still feel the two piece bathing suits are the most comfortable.  Even though I haven't shown my stomach in decades.  Yes, that's right, decades!
Then I came home and made chicken tenders with sesame seeds, peanut butter, teriyaki sauce, don't ask, I just made it up as I went along.  I also made oven roasted sweet potato fries.  Now that's a recipe you'll love.  And of course I made kale and a green salad.  And Rachel Ray thinks she can put a meal on in 30minutes.  I invented it, but she capitalized on it.  I will post pictures of the meal, but not the bathing suit.
Oh yea, I also picked up a fabulous cover up.  I might wear it as a dress.  Nice.
It's interesting what makes someone have a great day, isn't it!

Cake decorating supplies...

I have so many cake decorating supplies.  I have used them all at some point of cake decorating.  I especially love the rotating cake stand.   I don't think I could decorate a cake without it.  I love all the Wilton products and am looking forward to using Duffs new line of fondant and other cake decorating supplies. 

The beauty of this equipment is that you can use it for all your baking needs.  The roll and cut mat can be used for anything you need to roll out, pie crust, cookies, and of course fondant and gumpaste.  The surface is fabulous and easy to clean.  Love it!

This is a must have piece of equipment for cake decorators.  There is another one that tilts, but this one does a great job.  I have also used it to elevate my cakes for display and it works beautifully, sturdy and good size.

Day at Foxwoods...

Well the 5 of us took off for Foxwoods at about 10a.  It was a long drive, the navigator had short cuts that I didn't think were any too short.  Anyway, on arrival, we headed to the slot machines, assigning a place to meet at 1p. 
Pat, the cat lady(she has 10cats) got on a machine and didn't move.  She was up a bit, but just kept on playing.  (isn't that always the way).  I met Kathy a few times, but we were not doing too much.  We had already put in about as much as we wanted to with little success.  Sheila, the world traveler, navigator and avid casino fan, was losing.  We could tell by  her walk, just no pep and averting her frustrated eyes.  Of course, someone was lucky.  The driver, Judy, had some luck.  Kathy found me in the sea of blinking machines and said that Judy hit for $2500.  Drat, why couldn't that have been me.  What machine was she on?  How long was she playing?  How much money did she start with?  All the same questions that we all ask.  She was happy enough.  I would have been tripping out. 
We went to Hard Rock for lunch. 
Good enough food, but the prices were higher than the last time we were there.  Can you imagine how much it costs to eat out?  I did have a great drink, "Sex on the Beach", delicious, although I hadn't eaten anything until then and I got a bit woozy after drinking about half of it.  I gave it to my friend to finish, but it was good.  Anyway we designated another place to meet at 5p.  I wanted to leave, it was my day off and I wanted to relax for a bit of the night.  Also, Bethenny was on and I couldn't miss that. 
So that was a pleasant enough day.  I came home with more money than  I went with, and that made me happy.  After lunch and all the other little things I spent money on, I felt I had a good day and was ahead. 
When we got back to Kathy's (where we all met in the morning) we all headed home, but not without making a plan to do this again soon.  Nice day, nice people. 

What an absolutely great website I just posted for the WWTBAM game. I never saw it. It gives a better description than I ever could about my 15minutes!

Hope you enjoy it.

Because I mentioned it, WWTBAM...

Because I mentioned it, I will be posting the adventure of being on "Who wants to be a Millionaire" in the future. I was on in 2002. Great fun.


Click on "This WWTBAM" link below

this WWTBAM link

Have some fun and use some brain power...

Here is an educational and fun website. Even though I was on the real "who wants to be a millionaire", this is still a fun site. Of course the only thing you win is some brain power!!

this

Click on "This"

Enjoy

Cooking like a pro videos...

If you love to watch food videos and would to learn to cook like a pro, visit this Redbook link.

this! It's a really nice website for good food instructions

Just click on "This"
Hope you enjoy it.

Bethenny getting married....

Last nights episode was good. It was the honeymoon. It looks like they had a wonderful time. Can you really believe how sweet Jason is. I have to say, she picked a winner when she got him. He is genuinely a nice guy. A Penna native.
I thought the episode was cute and funny. As I said, I love her sense of humor and I love Jason's reactions to her quips.
I still feel awkward seeing pregnant women in bikinis. But then I was thinking, I bet all the direct sunlight does the baby good.
The iguana part was a bit disturbing. Could that little beast be lurking in the room. I would have a hard time sleeping in there. I'm sure the camera crew and others cleared out the room before they went to sleep. St Bart's looked like a beautiful island. I couldn't believe them when they ate the scotch bonnet pepper. You mean a cook like Bethenny didn't know what it was. They are some of the hottest peppers. I enjoyed the beach scene when B was looking at the little girls. She looked genuinely happy and looking forward to the birth of her baby. I'm glad she had a girl. And what about that beautiful furniture. It must be great to have a decorator there to advise you. It looks like next week it will be the birth of the baby. I will be looking forward to that show. Let's see how she gets through the labor.

this! Here is a website to see what's going on
with Bethenny.
Click on "this"

Finally capped...

BP announced that the oil well is capped. Thank God. I hope this is a final solution.

BP is still fooling around with the leaking oil well. It's almost like an afterthought now. They are going to try to cap it. But it seems like they are going to do it in stages to see if it works. Our poor beautiful earth. Will it ever recover from this one.
On one of our trips to the seashore, when driving through Newark, I was happy that it was dark so no one could see me cry. The sky was cloudy with pollution. I could smell the refineries. I remember that smell when we drove from Philly to Jersey. It was the same smell that was heavy in the air when we passed the "oil tanks". Our poor beautiful earth.

Today I posted a tutorial on chicken prep. It's on you tube.
Anyway, I am eager to see who gets tossed on the Chefs show on Bravo. I love Bravo. I used to love Lifetime, but the programming has changed. But I am addicted to the shows on Bravo. Aren't Americans gracious, especially when they are told, "Pack your knives and go". They always say, "thank you". All the shows are the same way. You did a lousy job, "Thank you".
I must say, the show I am into right now is Bethenny getting married. I think she is fabulous. I love her sense of humor. And Jason, he is a dream. I wonder, is he too good to be true. I hope not. Tomorrow night is the honeymoon show. It's strange to see pregnant women in bikinis, or white wedding gowns, for that matter. Oh, how times have changed. Or maybe they haven't changed so much, but things were quieter. No one broadcasted the things that we see today. I want to know if others feel the same. And the way some women talk. I cringe everytime they beep them on the shows. I mean, do they have to be so crude.
I'm off to foxwoods tomorrow with a few friends. I better not lose any money. I'm not taking that much, so I won't. I told my friend that we can people watch after we spend our money. Oh yea, I don't say "lose". I say "spent". Because it is a day of entertainment and you have to pay to be entertained. But I hope the entertainment is not too expensive. I'll let you know.

I made another video for you tube.
It's called Jennifer the gymnast

Take a look

My second you tube posting....

cod and zucchini dinner prep

This is my latest endeavor. You will find my recipe and preparation.
Try it on You tube. Just type in the above description. It should come up.

At the fair...

Have you ever seen anything as large as these horns? This animal is called a Watusi and it's from Africa. An attraction at the fair we went to today. There were plenty of other animals, but this one is note worthy.

I have a wonderful cake decorator instructor. She's smart, has patience, is kind and really knows her stuff. I hope to continue with the new lineup of classes that she is now teaching. You can view some of the designs of her students and her class schedule. We all try very hard to make masterpieces of our cakes.
this!

you can view her website by clicking on the above

I hope you enjoy it

Shadow posing and other tidbits...

Here is a picture of my neighbor's cat, Shadow. I love animals. Dogs and cats. I've had 4 of my own and many acquaintances. I remember Rusty, the little tan dog with the wavy fur. and Mickey, the ferocious Doberman. Pixie, Lady Jane, Boo and Scotty were my pets. I remember the first animal I fell in love with. It was in Brigantine that I found a stray cat. I fed it, played with it. My family was none too happy with the cat. It didn't come in the house and I wonder, now, where I got the food to feed it. Anyway, there was a terrible storm, maybe a hurricane. The cat somehow drowned. I remember the stiff little body on the shovel my dad used to discard the carcass. I was the only one that seemed to care that this little bit of fur had succumbed to the storm. I remember sitting on one of the six beds in the "girls' room" and crying. My heart was broken. That was the first time my heart was broken over an animal, but certainly not the last.

a blurry picture of a lone turkey

Well, I didn't get a picture of the red fox, but I was looking out my window and saw this lone turkey. We call them the "teenagers". You need to look very hard on the left side of the tree. The closer I got, the faster it began to walk. And then when I thought I got another picture, it mosied on into the bushes. Too bad. There will be others, I'm sure. We counted 16 one time.

Candy Melts roses

These are pictures of my "candy melts" flowers. I think they are very pretty. They take a while to make, but are worth the effort, wouldn't you agree?

Cecilia's birthday cake

This is the finished cake I made for my friend's daughter. It was short notice, so I used the flowers I had on hand. I would have liked it to have had something more fitting a one year old, but didn't have the time. It's a three layer chiffon with strawberries and whipped cream filling. The flowers are made from candy melts. My friend said that everyone enjoyed the cake. I liked the results. Oh and by the way, I know longer say "cake decorating". A more appropriate definition of this wonderful and time consuming craft is "cake construction". I like that better.
I am going to post a cake tutorial soon. I love the chiffon cakes. Light, airy and always moist.

Ground meat tips

I had London broil beef ground. I tell you, I never buy ground meat. I only pick out something in the meat case and ask to have it ground. I learned this from my father-in-law. He turned me on to this and I've followed his advice for over 40years. I make meatballs, meatloaf and an occasional hamburger. If I can't get my meat ground, none of these get made.
The total cost of the meat was $6.36, the meat was $2.29 a lb. I made 10 nice sized burgers. They will go into the freezer. You can take one out individually, or take out as many as needed to make meatballs or meatloaf. Also, when you freeze meat in smaller quantities, it defrosts faster. I wanted to show the meat labels, but could not put another picture on this post. I'm going to try again. Well, I tried and it didn't work. I will do another post. I hope you enjoyed this simple bit of info. Oh, by the way, I formed the burgers in a cottage cheese lid. Nice size.