Tuesday, October 9, 2012
I'm so sorry I haven't been here in over a year! So much has happened over the last 12months. I'm glad I'm back and would like to stay in your lives with some brief thoughts now and again. I haven't been here in so long that it was very difficult to get in to the blog. I got in but it's not the time to talk. I promise, I'll be back in a few days.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Kindles, don't wait for beach season, get one now and be ready for those great reads this summer...
Kindles at Amazon.com
Visit here on my blog
Visit here on my blog
Monday, January 10, 2011
Saving Money for this new year...
Went to the Wrentham Premium Outlets last week and saved $207.57. Hit Banana Republic, one of my favorite stores. I got 5 tops, jeans a pair of corduroys and a dress. Spent $104.35. In addition to the store's sale, I used my AAA coupon book and got another 10% off.
Here's a rundown of the items:
studded shoulder sweater 39.99 got for 14.40
dress 41.99 for 15.12
corduroys 32.99 for 11.88
top 49.99 for 17.99
cable knit sweater 49.99 for 13.49
another cable knit sweater 49.99 for 13.49
vee neck t-shirt 16.99 for 4.49
another top 29.99 for 13.49
I don't think I could have done better at TJMaxx. There's also an offer on the sales slip for 15% off the next time I shop there if I take a survey.
That same day, I had a coupon for Ruby Tuesday's that I got out of my BHG magazine. Buy one entree and get one free. The bill was originally approx $33 and we ended up spending $18 and change, without the tip. We tipped on the original bill.
Good day!
Follow me for more ideas on saving money when you shop, buy groceries and dine out.
Here's a rundown of the items:
studded shoulder sweater 39.99 got for 14.40
dress 41.99 for 15.12
corduroys 32.99 for 11.88
top 49.99 for 17.99
cable knit sweater 49.99 for 13.49
another cable knit sweater 49.99 for 13.49
vee neck t-shirt 16.99 for 4.49
another top 29.99 for 13.49
I don't think I could have done better at TJMaxx. There's also an offer on the sales slip for 15% off the next time I shop there if I take a survey.
That same day, I had a coupon for Ruby Tuesday's that I got out of my BHG magazine. Buy one entree and get one free. The bill was originally approx $33 and we ended up spending $18 and change, without the tip. We tipped on the original bill.
Good day!
Follow me for more ideas on saving money when you shop, buy groceries and dine out.
Hate Rhetoric...
It's about time that these hate-mongers that so many dumb Americans listen to are called on the carpet for their inappropriate behavior.
I NEVER listen to them. I love Alaska but will not pause for a moment on Palin's show. I don't even know where the fat guy with the cigar broadcasts, but in the far off chance I go to something he's on, I quickly shut it off.
Maybe my descriptions of these people is not nice, and I apologize. But I can't believe for so many years they have gotten away with their poison tongue.
It's about time to tell them to take a hike
I NEVER listen to them. I love Alaska but will not pause for a moment on Palin's show. I don't even know where the fat guy with the cigar broadcasts, but in the far off chance I go to something he's on, I quickly shut it off.
Maybe my descriptions of these people is not nice, and I apologize. But I can't believe for so many years they have gotten away with their poison tongue.
It's about time to tell them to take a hike
Thursday, December 16, 2010
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
Thanks
Here are a few of the models that are now big sellers for the Holidays
Monday, November 29, 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, October 11, 2010
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!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
"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.
"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.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
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!
I probably should invest in this book!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
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!!)
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!!)
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
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.
Friday, September 17, 2010
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.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
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.
Monday, September 13, 2010
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.
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