Look! I Made Cookies!

Seriously, from scratch! Whenever I made cookies in the past I used the break and bake kind from the store. But today I got a wild hair and decided to make cookies.
I used this recipe since I bought 15lbs of Crisco at an after-Christmas sale. Why did I buy 15 lbs of Crisco? It was super cheap and occasionally recipes call for it. And since it has a relatively long shelf life I figured it was a safe bet.Yummy! Why have I waited so long to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch? I don't know but I bet it won't be long before I try again. The recipe is easy. I skipped the pecans but didn't add more chocolate chips. I used extra dark chocolate in these so I didn't want to overwhelm. Perfection.

Steak & Potatoes-Ree Style

I made Steak Bites and Crash Hot Potatoes the other night. OMG, those Steak Bites were divine! I highly recommend making them!

Wall Art for the Bedroom

I've been on the look out for something that I can put over the bed. Right now I (and I'm ashamed to tell you) have a tapestry that I've had since college there. It's time to get something more adult. But what?
I love this one from Crate & Barrel. It's not really of anything which I think is cool. But this one has a cool, peaceful vibe. This one is from Ikea.
This one is so beautiful. But I think it's too feminine. I do like it. It reminds me of a spa. Also from Ikea.
This one is kind of stark. But not really what I want for the bedroom but maybe the living room. Also from Ikea.
I love the price on the Ikea ones but I would still have to have them framed or something. So where do you go to look for wall art?

So Excited!

The fabulous Jessica Lynn has opened her own calligraphy shop, Penned & Pretty. I'm so happy for her on her new venture. I'm sure she will be sensational. Go check it out!

Tag!

I've been tagged by Lisa, my fellow Pacific Northwester!

Make a list of things you can see without getting up:a bowl of olives, a stack of papers, a pile of pillows, the tv.

What were you like when you were five? Incredibly outgoing.

What are you wearing now? a grey tank top, a burgundy shirt, pink lounge pants and black socks. I really don't care about matching so much when I'm at home.

What story/book/novel have you read over and over again in your life? Gone with the wind & House of Mirth

What’s the last thing you read/are currently reading? What A Scoundrel Wants

Do you nap a lot? Nope. I could doze off at work but I wouldn't be there much longer.

Who was the last person you hugged? Tai

What’s your current fandom/obsession/addiction? Lost

What was the last thing you ate today? Black olives

What was the last thing you said aloud? Yes, let's watch Big Bang Theory

What websites do you always visit when you go online? Facebook, Google Reader, email

What was the last thing you bought? Lunch

What are you listening to right now? Big Band Theory

What movie are (or were!) you most excited to show your kids? Never thought about it. Probably all the Disney movies.

If you could have any super power, what would it be? Flying

What is your favorite weather, and why? Sunny with a brisk breeze, about 75 degrees. I love fall.

What time do you usually get up? I get up about 6:20am, but I'm usually awake by 9ish.

What is your most challenging goal right now? Cleaning this apartment

Say something to the person who tagged you: Lisa, I love your adventures. I can't wait to hear all about your upcoming trip!

If you could have a house–totally paid for, fully furnished–anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? One in our current neighborhood with plenty of room.

Favorite vacation spot? Currently Vegas but hoping to come up with more!

What is your favorite children’s book? The Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler.

Name one thing you just can’t resist no matter how bad it is for you: Donuts

If you could meet anyone famous - dead or alive - who would it be? Oprah


TAGGED: Erin, Just A Girl, Torres, Meg, Linda, Jennifer, Rachel, and Jules.

THE RULES:
Step 1: respond and rework—answer the questions on your own blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention, add one more question of your own.
Step 2: tag—eight other un-tagged people will be tagged.

Evolution of A Favorite

Doing the grey post made me think about my favorite color. I don't really have one anymore. Sometimes it's purple, grey, blue or green. Depends on my mood and season. But when I was younger, well that was a different story.
First I loved pink and grey. My favorite skirt was pink and grey. My room was pink, grey and gold. I dreamed of my future home being pink. Pink and grey were my favorites back when I was little. When I went to college, green and navy were my favorites. They were pretty in back then. I had green sheets and a navy blue comforter. I bought navy blue shoes and wore green skirts! Slowly things changed and by the time I left college I had no favorite color or color combo.
That became especially hard when it came time to pick a color scheme for the wedding. I had no favorites to use. I told Marta and Ashley they could either choose brown dresses or blue dresses. I would choose a color scheme on their choice. They went with brown and we ended up with brown, green, and ivory.During that time I bought a lot of brown and green clothing. I have like 5 brown tshirts!
If we would have gone with blue I would have wound up with a color scheme like this:
A mix of all blues. I would have to say that most of the furniture and accessories I buy for the house tend to be blue. I like blue. It's calming and comes in so many different shades. But I wouldn't call it my favorite. Not to today anyway.
All collages done with Idee.

Currently....

eatingAshley, Marta, and I stopped at Molly Moon's last week. I'd never been. Yummy! I choose the Salted Carmel. It was delicious. The only thing I would have added would have been a ribbon of fudge! Otherwise so good. I cannot wait to go back and try some more flavors.

wearing
I confess. I own a Snuggie. I bought one for Dad for his birthday. He loves it. I bought it for him since he get chilly frequently. Now he can stay warm all day. So I bought one. Tai makes fun of me for wearing it, but he tried it and he likes it too. I know it's a large piece of fleece (not even really good fleece) with arms, but I like it. Keeps me warm and comfy!


readingAnd since I'm confessing things I confess I picked up this romance novel. After reading about it on the Misadventures of A Super Librarian, I put it on my must read list. Now romance novels aren't my usual choice but I made an expection because the main character is Will Scarlet. I love Robin Hood lore so I thought I'd give it a chance. Yeah, I love it. It's hot. I might pick up a romance novel here and there from now on.

Memphis Style Rib Rub

I got a very good deal on pork ribs at the store. I love BBQ ribs and so does Tai. But I wanted to make a really good rub. I wasn't going to put them in the crockpot. I wanted to put them in the oven.
I searched the internet for a rub and found the Memphis Style Rib Rub. I doubled the recipe since I was making 2 racks of ribs. We both really liked the ribs. Tai did use BBQ sauce with his since he like his ribs saucy. I prefer my ribs dryer especially since these are suppose to be Memphis style.
Anyway here's a picture of a pile of ribs:Enjoy!

2 Car Family

Yes, Tai finally got another car. We'd been a one car family for over 2 years. It had been ok when Tai was working cause he could take the bus very easily. But now he might not be able to take the bus anymore. Plus he was tired of bumming rides from me. So he purchased this preowned beauty:It runs very well. There were only minor things with it. But the best part (for me) is:She's a stick shift! I never learned how to drive a stick shift! My dad tried to teach me back when I was learning how to drive. But I failed and stuck to automatics. Tai wants to teach me so I can drive the Toyota. So look me for me stalling this lovely car in a local parking lot!

Grey Is My New Black

I have to admit I own a lot of black clothing. Sweaters, pants, shirts all black. I have to force myself to buy other colors. Although lately I've stopped buying so much black and now I buy grey.

Grey by honeylin
Is it my old age or just the trend? I love that I can combine my black clothes with the grey. Also grey goes with a lot of colors. It looks fresher to me.
Anyone else addicted to grey?

Bus Poetry

A few years ago Metro started adding poetry to our buses. It's on the inside so I like to read them in the mornings. They rotate the poems so I see new ones frequently. I wanted to show you what I read each morning. I considered taking pictures but I would probably freak out my fellow commuters. So I went to their website and copied my favorites:
This one was composed by a Montessori class.
I just love the last line.
This is my current favorite. Who doesn't do this?
If you'd like to read more poems on buses go here.
So what about you? If you take public transportation do they have things to help amuse you?

Must Haves For The Pantry

I was reading Shauna's blog the other day. She was talking about things that she and her husband keep stocked in their pantry at all times. Her blog post was prompted by this article in the New York Times. Now I don't agree with Mark Bittman completely but I don't think he's a snob. Each cook has things they rely on and depending on their income, they buy accordingly.
But it gave me something to think about. What are things that I must have in our pantry? Here's my list:
-pasta (spaghetti, fettuccine, penne)
-canned tomatoes (crushed, paste, sauce)
-garlic (I prefer the jarred chopped kind. I used to use the whole cloves but got tired of the hassle)
-butter
-ramen
-milk
-canned black olives
-onions
-sugar
-salts
-pepper
-frozen veggies (broccoli, lima beans, green beans)
-lemon juice
-onions
-broth (chicken, beef, or veggie)
-mayo
-mustard
-curry mix
-old bay seasoning
-oil (olive, peanut, grapeseed)
-jarred salsa
-rice
-beans (garbanzo, pinto, and kidney)
-canned green chilies
I think that's everything. With all those things I can make lots of meals. Add meat or tofu and I'm good to go.
So what about you? What are things you stock your pantry with?

Follow the Leader

After Sabrina posted about her fun on this website, I had to try! Using our wedding photos, I made pictures of what our kids would look like.
Uh, how did we get a blond child? This poor thing has a huge forehead. What an unfortunate child! Our second attempt is much better.
We thought she was much more attractive that our first attempt. Still a lot of forehead but looks like she'd go into it.
It was kind of fun seeing what we might produce! I'd love to hear if you try too.

Confidental

Over the weekend I went through my pile of bills and other financially related junk. I put everything that had to be shredded aside-2 paper bags worth! Those 2 bags were just my stuff, some stuff dating back to 2002. My little bill closet looks so much neater now.
In going though that stuff I found some stuff that shouldn't have been laying around in a stack of paper! And it got me thinking what things do I need to really worry about? My social security card, marriage licence, birth certificates are should be kept somewhere safe. Worried about identity theft? The FTC has a great list of ways to protect yourself.
But what should I shred and what do I need to keep? And how long should I keep something? I keep most things for a year but perhaps I should rethink that. And this list of things to shred from the Washington State Attorney General even says you should shred plane ticket information. I usually toss mine in the recycling after I'm done using it as a book mark!
I'm starting this year a little lighter on paper. Perhaps this weekend I'll work on Tai's pile!

I Went Messing With Things Again

I found this new design here. I've been wanting a 3 column layout and wider than my last layout. What do you all think now?

Bookshelves

Our friend Jeff has recently been bugging me about our living room. Every time he comes over he complains that he doesn't like the way it's set up. I'm not too crazy about it either so I listen to his suggestions. His biggest gripe is our bookshelves. He thinks they are too small and we are wasting space. I agree. I think we need to go taller but I can't find bookshelves I like. The two I have are 3 shelves each and at maximum capacity. So we need at least 5 shelves each so we have some room to grow.
So I decided to look for some bookshelves so I can see what's out there. I only found these 2 Ikea bookshelves:

Ikea Bookshelves by honeylin
I'm trying to stay under $200 each plus I only like certain color. I like a medium wood tone not super light not super dark. I'm so picky. I'll enlist Jeff's help on this project. Especially since he complains about it.

Bride Wars

Kris, Ashley, Marta and I went to see Bride Wars over the weekend. It was ok, it had some good parts to it. But it seemed to lack clear definition. At one point they mention that Liv's folks passed early in her life. But no one really talks about it. All the mean stuff that the girls do gets a little much.
A lot of the things that Candice Bergen's character said pissed me off. At one point she says that you are dead before you get married. Also they girls plan their weddings at the Plaza in 3 months. Plus they sent out Save the Dates! If you hadn't planned a wedding then you wouldn't know that doesn't seem possible.
There was plenty of bridal porn so it's a good afternoon movie to see with your friends.

Edited to note: The relationship between the 2 girls was skewed to be begin with. Emma (Hathaway) decides to stick up for herself and things get a little out of control. Remember when you were younger and your BFF made you mad? You did some not so nice things to make yourself feel better? Also both of them befriend some not so nice folks who make things worse. There is a big happy ending of course. The whole movie is more about the 2 girls friendship rather than their wedding, IMO. Anyway, it made me feel better about my current friendships.

Currently....

drinking
Tai bought this drink last month. I love it. I don't think I'd ever had it before. it's so yummy. Tai monitors how much I drink cause I can drink 3 a day. I'm not allowed though. Only one every couple of days.

using
Tai bought me this as a belated Christmas present. I always wanted one but never bought one. I haven't tried it out yet but I'm so excited about it. I think it will be very useful.

reading

I picked this book up several weeks ago. It was so funny. I love Nora Ephron! I think we would make great friends. She seems like the kind of person that I would like to sit and laugh with. She talked a lot about getting older and its perils. But she also had a lot to say about her life and things that influenced her when she was younger. It's an excellent read for those of all ages.

Breaking News

We've been having some flooding in our neck of the woods. Where we live is fine, no flooding. But the town we got married in? Completely flooded. Remember the barn we got married at?It looks like this right now:This picture was sent to me by a friend who's sister lives nearby. I'm not sure if her sister took the picture or what. Pretty scary!
We have some other friends that live out there too. All them are ok, just stranded in their homes. First the snow, now the rain!

One word Meme

One word, and only one word, so here goes!

Yourself: Loyal
Your partner: Generous
Your hair: dark
Your Mother: angel
Your Father: quiet
Your Favorite Item: computer
Your dream last night: unknown
Your Favorite Drink: tea
Your Dream Car: new
Your Dream Home: spacious
The Room You Are In: living
Your Ex: hmmm
Your fear: unknown
Where you Want to be in Ten Years? happy
Who you hung out with last night: Tai
What You're Not: calm
Muffins: blueberry
One of Your Wish List Items: travel
Time: fast
The Last Thing You Did: tv
What You Are Wearing: shorts
Your favorite weather: cool
Your Favorite Book: fiction
Last thing you ate: cheese-it
Your Life: love
Your mood: anxious
Your Best Friends: laughter
What are you thinking about right now: money
Your car: silver
What are you doing at the moment: blogging
Your summer: memory
Relationship status: Married
What is on your tv: supernatural
What is the weather like: rainy
When is the last time you laughed: today

Old Standbys

Not every meal I make is new or exciting. So I don't blog about those usually. But those meals are generally what we eat. Week after week there are certain meals I make over and over again. Family favorites, last minute choices, quick and easy meals, any way you slice it they are comfortable. I always have the ingredients for these dishes on hand regardless of what's going on.I usually make spaghetti two or three times a month. It's easy and always satisfying. I can make it so quickly and it always turns out right. I have my own special recipe-Italian sausage, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, Italian seasoning, garlic-over pasta. Works everytime!

As I've mentioned before I can only make chicken a few times a month. But now this apricot chicken is my go to chicken. This recent meal (fresh from the oven, that's steam) is a new favorite. Just add rice, potato, or stuffing and veggie and you have a full meal!I had never had curry before I met Tai. Japanese curry isn't like Indian curry. It's more like a stew. Curry is very customizable. I make it with chicken, carrots, mushrooms and sometimes green peppers. But I've made it with pork and beef too. You could use tofu and make it completely vegan. Anyway curry is now my favorite dish. I make this weekly. Even in the summer. It's so good.
So what about you? Any regulars on your menus?

Fruit Pies

I made a couple of different crusts to try. The first one was a tart crust that I used to make the fruit pies. And the second one is this pie crust recipe. But I suck at making pie crusts. Neither one worked out. I decided it was time to cut my losses and go the Sandra Lee route.
And made this little pocket pie:
Now why did I make little pies? And not one big pie? Oh cause I was trying to recreate these:
Yes we are that healthy! We bought some of these before the storm but we ran low and no one wanted to eat the last one. I was trying to decide how to make them so we could have them whenever we wanted.
The verdict? Good, not as sweet as the store bought ones. But they felt healthier. Plus built in portion control. Each crust only made four little pies and one little pie was enough for each of us. I'm definitely going to make it again.

Fruit pies

1 pie crust
half a can of pie filling (cherry, blueberry, apple, etc)
one egg
2 Tbs of superfine sugar

Cut the crust in quarters. Put a tablespoon or so of pie filling on one side of the crust quarter. Make an egg wash with the egg (Mix egg and water). Then put some egg wash around one half of the quarter. Press the sides closed. Coat the top of pie with egg wash. Dust the top of the pie with sugar.
Cook at 350° until crust is golden brown. Enjoy!

I've Got A New Look

I played around with this design tool and got this new layout! I lost my blogroll so I'll slowly be adding you all again. What do you think? Any helpful hints for me?

Another Award!

I thank Jules from Chic & Pink for this one.


The award states "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

So let me give this to:

Kate at Pretty Damn Fabulous
Jenna at That Wife
Darci at With This Nest...
Just A Girl
Sarah & Lynn at 2 excited nests
Gywnee at Living on (Less Than) a Dime
The Broke Ass Bride

Thanks again, Jules!

Need More Winter Clothes

The storm last month showed me that I have no good winter clothes. I managed for a day or two but I could not last an entire month with temperatures in the teens with what I've got. Now, it was colder here longer than it's been since I've been around. I imagine this might happen again so I'm the lookout for good winter clothes.

Winter Clothes by honeylin
If I buy two things, I need long underwear (I thought I could leave those in Ohio) and good snow/winter boots. I wore my Keens most of the time and they did not cut it. I was certainly slip sliding. I did go out and look for those ice grippy things but no one had them. Grr.
I'm certainly not ready for the snow to come back. I hope we don't see it for a while here or that I at least am more prepared for it.

New Year's Eve Recap

So I made the baked brie that Cindy told me about. I thought it was pretty yummy but the raspberry jam didn't really melt. It was more like a blob. I think next time I would put some of the raspberry in with the brie so it will get all warm and melty.Jen made those chocolate covered mice that Kris made at holiday baking day. She got the wrong cherries though she she used shredded coconut.But there was so much food. This is just one course. We had a different course every hour. Pretty sweet.
I hope you had a great New Year's Eve. I did!