I might not make it

That's right... I might not make it today. I'm sensing a 2pm bedtime this afternoon. I stayed up WAY too late on the phone with my bestie last night (but we haven't TALKED in a while - just G-Chat-ed, so it's OK). And then this morning? I randomly woke up at 6:30... ok, I probably had to pee, but when I woke up, I realized that I MIGHT be walking with my neighbor at 7... so I shot her an e-mail to confirm (hopefully), got ready (not really... I'm totally walking in my PJ's today, since I essentially slept in workout gear last night) and ate breakfast. Well... we're about to walk NOW... at 8. And get home, just in time for me to go to the Thrift Shop... which I'm "Opening" this morning.

Go to bed 2 hours late? Wake up 2 hours early? Do TWO energy taxing things in ONE day? I'm totally setting myself up to eat a sandwich tonight for dinner. Good thing Hubby won't be here... he's not a fan of "dinner sammy's"

I should probably get those sneakers on (and attempt to stop yawning...)

-Betsy

Wordless Wednesday - Panini Fail

This is what happens when you try making a ham and american cheese panini on a George Forman grill and walk away. You end up with a ham sandwich and american cheese-its.

-Betsy

This year, in review.

In making holiday schedules and future plans, etc, I realized we have TONS of stuff going on still before the year is up.

And being the analytical mind I am... I came up with these stats, that I had to share.

We will have traveled over 25 times this year.

5 of those trips were "short" - an hour and a half one way. 

(that means 20 were 5+ hours one way)

7 of those trips had multiple locations/events to attend.

9 of those trips were to My Home

3 of those trips were to Hubby's Home

1 of those trips was "Just for Us." It was 4 days long.

10 of those trips were to visit friends,  

5 of which were weddings.

15 trips were to visit family

 

there are only 52 weeks in a year!

It's a good thing we don't lease our car...

-Betsy

Visitors

Sorry all for not posting as diligently... more visitors in today, they leave on Friday and my Parents come in... but no worries, I'll take pretty pictures of the "secret family recipe" that I'll be making on Friday (it's on the back of the box of flour, so maybe I'll share it anyway) with you next week.

Other than that, I've found some cool blogs of late - http://andersonfamilycrew.blogspot.com/ in particular... as well as http://her-nanigans.blogspot.com/ - you should check them out! All about taking photos as part of regular life... something I need to work on doing (shockingly, as this is a blog attached to a photography store). More on those soon-ish. :-D

Also, I have officially opened www.somethingbetsy.com - which automatically directs you to my Etsy shop, but may someday hold many a photo and be able to take orders - I'm all about the baby steps.

So yes, it's only wednesday, but I'll probably just see you next week... if you're lucky, you'll get another post on Friday... we'll see :-P

And don't forget to follow... contest info coming up REAL soon!!

It's still July?

I'm just realizing that we're still only about 1/2 way through July... and SO much has happened in our house! We've had Marine Corps Ceremonies, gone home for a family party (Zimmer Day), visited with friends we haven't seen in TOO long, got an ice-cream maker, had family in to visit for a few days, and gone to a baseball game with my sister.

Still in store for this month is a visit from another friend, and two weekends of parents! (All fabulously wonderful, exciting, happy things, I'm just amazed it's all happening in JUST JULY)

No wonder why I'm so pooped this weekend (and blogging, because it involves lying on the couch with my laptop in the AC)! Also in the coming weeks is me *hopefully* getting "running" again, and getting some more photos uploaded to Etsy, as well as putting up some new items.  I think I'm feeling a summer contest coming up too... so don't forget to follow me so you'll know RIGHT when I unveil it.

Time to start thinking about dinner... I think we'll revisit some favorites tonight - garlic marinated sirloin, some grilled veggies and baked potatoes...

it's stinkin hot today!!!

So I went outside to mail a few more etsy orders (yay!!!) and on the way in, I decided to stop and weed some of the garden (hubby keeps talking about how it needs to be done, which translates into "Betsy, please weed the garden some day soon" - not really, but HE'S surely not home to do it during the week!). So I stop and manage to pull out TONS of this creeping grass that I noticed has choked out at least one of the bushes that HAD been growing there.

In the process, I noticed I was sweating - because a bead fell off my forehead onto my cheek!

I came in, and took this pic with my webcam, because I was outside, mostly standing still, for less than 30 minutes. I suppose I should have listened to the weather channel people when they said "heat advisory in effect" huh?

At least I got 2 more orders in the mail, and the garden looks a MILLION times better!

4th of July (Observed)

I hope that everyone had a wonderful and SAFE 4th of July.

Thank you to all the men and women out there who allow the events of July 4, 1776 to remain in place all these years later. Remember this holiday isn't just about fireworks, but what they represent... the war that put us on the path to become the country we are today.

I'm writing this a bit early, and HOPEFULLY, I'll have wonderful stories from ZIMMER DAY when I get back. Fidelio will be excited at least ;)

Adventures in a new house...

I've been waiting on new appliances for the kitchen since we moved in... and 2/3 of them are in today! whoo hoo!!  

THIS... is my old kitchen:

So I've got my BRAND NEW OVEN AND HOOD (SO happy they aren't "beige" anymore)

And our new refrigerator 

that actually holds stuff in the door!

Now to replace the nasty old broken dishwasher... 

hopefully the installers call me soon to set up a date/time...

(P.S. We didn't get new appliances cause the old ones were dated - the fridge didn't hold temperatures, the glass in the oven door was broken, and the dishwasher isn't level, and doesn't release soap, so I'm not THAT vain. lol.)

So... I missed a week...

Some of you may have noticed...
I missed a week (or two?) in there.

I have lost complete track of time, but since I last sat down to write, I've had 2 (or 3?) scheduled posts, 

took a 4 day trip to NJ, had movers in my house for 3 days packing all our lovely stuff up, movers in for another day putting it all on a truck, a weekend at a beach house with my hubsters (ok, not really, we spent the weekend priming and cleaning with me getting sick), A BBQ with my philipino Mama, then a run-around day resulting in our arrival in Virginia! Then we waited for the movers to drop off our stuff, 

and have been unpacking since, with a visit from my sister (the master-unpacker)

WOAH!

So as you may have guessed, I didn't have time (or internet)... but I'm back now and we only have 1.5 rooms to finish unpacking and then I can take a deep breath and say "OK, decorations" and once I've got THAT figured out... pictures :-D and visitors :-D

Monday? Already?

While I did manage to get a "what's for dinner" up while we were out of town (that's how good I am to you people, I mean really. The dedication. And for who-knows what, because I'm 99% sure there are a number of you who are "followers" without being "followers" and read without commenting, but what's a girl to know!?!?! - OK, rant over) I don't have one ready today. Maybe later this week. I dunno. Last week was kind of lack-luster. I was having major mental meltdown thinking life was over numerous times. It wasn't by the way, but I definitely thought it was at LEAST twice last week.

(p.s. for those who DON'T know, we're moving... last week was "find the perfect house" week... and by perfect, I mean "the best house for rent on the market right now" and by week I mean "the one day we're scheduled to drive around town with a realtor")

But we found a great house, in what looks like a great neighborhood, and hopefully I can channel my excitement into prepping this house to be moved OUT of. P.S. If anyone out there is going to be around the last week of the month? we could TOTALLY use an extra set of hands to walk around with markers to accurately mark boxes and spend time with movers, making sure that none of our stuff goes into their pockets. So... if you're bored... there's a free lunch and some Gatorade/Crystal Light in it for you! Also, if you're in the area and DIDN'T get an Evite from me, it means I don't have your e-mail, and you should comment here so I can get/find it and invite you to our open house this Saturday.

Friday Post on Thursday :-P

So I was hoping I'd get to type here that I was a MASTER PAINTER and got ALL the paintings I was "supposed" to do this week *cough*month*cough* done. Instead, I decided to learn first-hand what one of the medieval torture methods felt like. And to think... I managed to do it while painting. I'll pause on that so people can stop reading later if they have weak stomachs ;). Needless to say, we ate well this week (What's for dinners to be blogged about... mmmmmm), but I did not get many paintings done. Only 8 more to go and then the big reveal this summer :-P I'm hoping for at least 1 tomorrow... but then it's gotta pause until after the move. At least they aren't taking as long to dry as I expected...

As far as Etsy goes, I have gotten a few questions as to some images, and a few sales (yay!) but had to raise my prices (boo!) hopefully it doesn't hurt the sales. I was TRULY giving stuff away ;)

I did finish another pair of BOOTIES for a friend of a friend. The yarn was so soft and silky! They feel fabulous!

So that's my crafty-ness this week... if icky owie things make you go "blech!" Stop reading here. It's been nice, see you next week. :-P











So medieval torture. I ripped my fingernail off. Not the whole thing (fortunately) and amazingly, I didn't even "break" the nail. I just ripped it off 1/4 of the way. OW!  I was trying to push paint out of a tube (old paint... OLD tube... not a good combo) and so I was using the table to push on it - like you do with the last of the toothpaste? And my hand slipped, and slammed into the table. And apparently, my fingernail went in the opposite direction as my finger. (makes ME cringe typing it. GROSS) I jerked back quickly, grabbed my hand, gasped, looked down, and was not comforted by the sight of blood. DARNIT! So I trimmed off my fingernail as close to my finger tip as I could ( I thought it was broken and wanted the smallest "flap" I could manage to have to deal with) and threw some antibiotic ointment and a couple of bandaids on before grabbing an ice pack and retreating to my comfiest chair with my hand over my head. I proceeded to sit like that the rest of the day, because I was now grumpy, in pain and mad that I didn't finish my painting. And that's no way to try and finish a portrait. This morning after my shower, I was brave enough to CAREFULLY remove the nail polish and discover that I did NOT break it (which is good - no flap) but i did trim it REALLY low - so I'm going to be uncomfortable for a few weeks now. Awesome. I was a little bummed that it wasn't gross - it looks like a regular finger nail still... just tender. I like it when my owies LOOK owie.  Plus, I was excited to possibly enter it in to the Hunduddle Hussy's Road Kill Contest (knowing full well it wouldn't win, but thought it might give the Hussy a chuckle) So that is why I'm not finishing my paintings. It's PART of the reason I didn't paint today (I didn't paint today because I got sidetracked) and I might use it as an excuse to not paint tomorrow. We'll see.

The postman.... Charter's screwed me again...

I like our postman. He's a nice guy, everyone has nice things to say about him, but he's got his quirks. One being that every time I try and watch a DVD in the morning/afternoon (around lunch time) he comes by about 15 minutes before my movie is finished and ready to go back into it's little Netflix envelope and into the mailbox. Grrr. I can usually still see his truck, but you know me... I'm surely not running down the street to return a movie. That's why we have Netflix, so I don't have to try too hard to get the movie back at the store. When I'm NOT trying to get a movie (or something else generally) in the mail... he comes at like, 3:30 (an hour after I'm usually done with my movies). Somehow he has "foil-Betsy's-Plans-ESP"... today however, that was not the issue. Today, he scared me. Lets say that he pulled a "pick up the mail 15 minutes early" trick on me yesterday... and I managed to get my letter in a mailbox anyway. And then today, I get ANOTHER letter from Charter (who I hate - their customer service is awful and I will never use them again) but they must know that I just throw away their letters without opening them, because they started sending them in generic envelopes... in any event - the envelope wasn't sealed well, so I wrote a "STOP MAILING ME THIS CRAP AND KILLING TREES" note in red sharpie on their letter, put it back in the envelope, and wrote "Return to Sender, Unsolicited Mail" on it. I dunno... maybe they'll get the idea. I also got a letter from Dish, and was in a foul mood, so wrote on that envelope as well. These two letters, as well as an Etsy shipment and a Netflix movie (obviously) went in the mailbox today and the little flag went up. I ran some errands, and when I got back, the little flag was down, there was new mail in the box, and on top of it... my Etsy shipment and Netflix movie. Did I notice the netflix? no. Did I immediately remember my previous Etsy shipment that "made its way to the mail"? yes. was I scared poopless that my etsy shipment was now floating around who knows where, but NOT in the mail system? yes. Did I go hunting for it? Yes. Thankfully, I didn't get shot doing so, and it wasn't there, and I eventually realized that netflix was there too, and that the Postman probably just had to put my nasty letters in a different box, and got sidetracked, thereby re-inserting my "to be mailed" letters back into my box with the new mail. I hope.  Either way - the Etsy order will  have to go out tomorrow, cause the post office is closed, and we'll see for sure if it's a problem with the envelope, or a simple "this lady is crazy if she thinks Charter will leave her alone" mistake...

Doughnut Day!

So today's "Misadventure" is sadly not truly mine :(.

It normally would be, but Hubby and I didn't go to my parents for Easter this year, so we missed

DOUGHNUT DAY!

(the 2nd best day of the year in my opinion... following Zimmer Day - another family holiday)  

However, Sister was kind enough to pass along picture messages all day of the progression of the donuts. The story goes that my Grandma makes these German doughnuts for Easter every year, and all the girls get together and make doughnuts.

(there were boys this year, because all the girl grand kids are either big enough to not be home, or too little to be trusted, but I'm thinking this isn't the best idea, because knowledge of the fabulousness of doughnuts on doughnut day is getting out among our male population... which is significantly larger than our female population. Which could easily lead to no doughnuts on Easter...) 

It used to truly need to be a group activity in order to beat the dough for 30 minutes!! But now that there's Kitchenaid, it's a little easier :-P

And before you get TOO excited... 

No. 

You don't get a "Misadventures" and a "What's for Dinner" on the same day. 

This is, in my opinion, still a secret family recipe :0D.

So first, you mix all the doughnut batter for a LONG time, and then let it rise

 Until it nearly spills out the bowl!

Then you cut the dough into doughnuts and put them to sleep for a while...

This is part of the reason the little kiddo's must stay away from Gramma's... 

no touching the table and NO PEEKING!!  

They need their rest if they're going to be as delicious as they are. 

And one must be QUIET when the doughnuts are rising 

(mostly because where there is noise, there is fun, and where there is fun, there is motion, and where there is motion, there is FLAT DOUGHNUTS... noooooooooooooooo)

Here is Cousin (#12) learning the way of the doughnut. 

In order to EAT a doughnut on Doughnut Day (when they are BEST) 

one must WORK for it. 

This is about when Sister became a crazy "German Lady" 

wandering the kitchen in an apron with a spatula, threatening to smack any hands that came too close to an undeserved doughnut.

"NEIN!! Go Away! No Doughnuts for you!" :-D

These... are the fried doughnuts as they finished Doughnut Day

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Deliciousness.

And THIS is what they look like when you eat them. 

Rolled in granulated sugar... delicious, sugary air. 

And I'll tell you, I loved being "included" in Doughnut Day, but not so much on the 

"THESE WERE THE BEST DOUGHNUTS EVER!!" 

comments I got on my cell phone and facebook. 

I might scream if someone tells me once more about  

how good 

these fabulous doughnuts that I didn't get to eat any of. 

As it is... I might be heading to the store to find the ingredients this week... :-P

My Corned Beef Adventure!

So Hubby and I decided that we were going to have a St. Patrick's Day party 10 days late, because he wasn't home on the 17th and we were busy on the 20th. So we hand out our invites, and I wait for all the responses back to buy corned beef, so that I have enough and so I don't have to go back to the store. I was expecting around 12 people to respond "yes". Well, in the end, I was right (I'd just like to point that out now), 12 people did show up, but on Thursday... 2 days before our shindig... we have a final count of 18 people. 18!! I'm not even sure how there COULD be 18 people given who we invited, but Hubby said 16 in the morning while I was out shopping, and 18 by the time he got home that night. Woah... that's a lot of corned beef... and potatoes... and carrots... and EVERYTHING else! So I'm at the store getting all my supplies. I get everything I need, but I can't find the corned beef.

"Hello Mr. Meat Department Man (not an actual quote), can you please tell me where the corned beef is?"
"Well ma'am, we don't have any right now. In fact, we sold out even before St. Patrick's day this year, and haven't gotten another shipment in yet. We MIGHT get some more on Tuesday."
"Tuesday!?!?  That does me no good! (huge smile on my face, I was not yelling at the man) I have to feed 16 people corned beef on Saturday!"
"You can always try [our sister store in the next town over]... they might have some left over.  I think they get a truck in more often since it's a smaller store too."
"OK, well thank you, have a nice day!"

Darnit. No corned beef. NOW what am I gonna do? I should add now, that my schedule for the day was 1. Go to gym. 2. Stop at Sam's for beer for party. 3. pick up bracelet at jewelers (in my stinky gym clothes because I was out in town, and I wasn't making that trip twice!) 4. shower. 5. go to store for party supplies and powdered sugar for cake icing. 6. Eat lunch 7. Ice the cake for that night's party (monday's blog) 8. make sugar cookie dough. 9. go to party/meeting.  "Tomorrow" I was booked from 8:30 in the morning until 5:00 at night STRAIGHT. So everything HAD to get done "TODAY".

It's now 2:00, and I'm standing at the store with no corned beef. And at 6:00, I needed an iced cake, a salad, and rolls to be at the Meeting/Party. Somewhere in between I needed to eat lunch, ice a cake, make sugar cookies, and go BACK out to town to FIND corned beef and get back (at LEAST an hour). AWESOME.

So I get back home, make myself a sammy, and head to my neighbor's.

"I can't believe it. There's no corned beef at the store, and I have 16 people to feed this weekend. What am I going to do?!?!"
"Did you try Sam's?"
"yup. No corned beef there either."
So she calls the "sister store" and THEY don't have corned beef EITHER! But they MIGHT get some in on Saturday. Well... at least that's better than Tuesday!
I start calling stores out in town. "Sorry ma'am. We don't have any corned beef left." BUT WAIT... IT GETS BETTER!! "There's been a shortage at the manufacturer, so the only people who have corned beef right now are the ones who have some left over from St. Patrick's day." WHAT!?!? A CORNED BEEF SHORTAGE?!?! HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN!!??! "Your best bet is to try the store on [the main drag] or [some long road I never drive on]."
"Thank you sir"

DARNIT!

So I call the store on the main drag. "Do you have any corned beef left?"
"Why yes ma'am, we do."
"YES! Can you hold some for me?"
"Ummmm... yes. How many do you want?"
"4 or 5!"
"I'll be here till 6."

FABULOUS!... ish. Now I have to run out to town before traffic gets bad to pick up corned beef BEFORE I can ice my cake or make cookies... but at least I don't have to store hop.

So I get out in town in record time (ok, I sped a little), and I find the guy in the meat department...
"Hello Matt! (some dude in the store told me his name) I'm the crazy lady with the corned beef?" (actual quote)
"Oh hi. I've got it right here, hold on" as he goes in the back and brings out a big tray with 4 corned beef on it.
"So did I buy you out of corned beef with this?" (Big smile and giggling to myself)
"No ma'am. The rest is right there" as he points to 3 more packs of corned beef.
"Hahaha... excellent. I'm going to check my sizes then" and I start trying to find the 4 LARGEST packs possible. This worked out to 13 pounds by the way... but as I'm there, flustered, trying to add in my head and decide how much I actually need (at $4.07/lb!), we get to talking. I'm from NJ, he's from PA, oh, my hubby's from PA, where are you from? Altoona? I sat on a train stuck outside Altoona for a few hours. You're a Stiller's fan? My hubby is too. and then... the sentence that made the trip out to town worth it...
"I'm the one with the stiller's car"
"Seriously?!? I have a picture of your car!"


The sad part of this story? I don't have the picture. I don't know if I didn't REALLY take the picture on my phone, or if I accidentally erased it (as I am good at doing on my cell-phone). But it was awesome. It had been in the Home Depot parking lot at the time, parked away from everywhere else. Steeler's stripes from hood to tail, Steeler's plates, Steeler's decals. The whole spiel. It was awesome. And by the end of the day, I knew the man who owned it, had my corned beef, got my cake iced, made the sugar cookie dough AND made it to my meeting/party at the exact same time as everyone else. Fabulous. lol... now I just need a nap!

Experimental Birthday Cake

So I decided to make the birthday cake for a 

surprise, pot-luck, birthday party/meeting. (yup.)

And I decided that I should try making the  
avocado chocolate mousse 
I saw on TV the other day.

(really? avocado mousse? it CAN'T be good. I must try it.)

So I made the mousse, and it wasn't bad, 

and I decided it should be the filling of this cake.

Then I realized that I made

Mexican Avocado Chocolate Mousse. 

What kind of cake goes with  
Mexican Avocado Chocolate Mousse? 

The mousse itself is yummy... 
it's like fluffy Mexican hot chocolate. 

You don't taste the Avocado at all 

(unless you know it's there... but it still tastes good). 

But it's this spicy chocolatey flavor. 

What kind of cake goes with that? 

Especially since I decided it had to be a white cake,  

(because I had leftover egg whites, and I was NOT going to make a yellow or chocolate cake with egg whites, and what ELSE was I going to do with 3 eggs worth of egg white?)

So I decide I'm going to make a super VANILLA cake 

to go with my crazy chocolate filling. 

Wait. How do I make a super vanilla cake?

(out of a white cake mix box, cause that needs to get used too)

Well... I added 2 tsp powdered vanilla 

(because it too is white, I had it, and had never used it) 

as well as a can of cream soda (yes, soda) 

and 1/2 cup egg whites

(which works out to just under 3 eggs worth of egg-white).

NO oil. NO water. 

Just a whole can of soda, more vanilla, and egg white. 

You're never going to believe this. 

1) it was not super vanilla-y. Dangit.

2) It was the lightest, fluffiest cake I have ever encountered. YES!

Like... nearing angel food cake fluffyness. 

Which is super cool, it just seems really delicate...

The recipes I looked at said to use 1-2 egg whites... 
I used almost 3...

But it is yummy. 

And it goes with the chocolate mousse.

(Praise God)

Now I need to frost it. 

I totally revert to the good old stand-by

Vanilla Buttercream.

Totally ganked this one from my neighbor, 

and I should get some more vanilla flavoring out of it. 

But... if I've experimented with every OTHER part of the cake

can I really NOT mess with the frosting too?

NO!

But I'm not going to go all crazy with it either.

No avocados.

No soda.

Just extra vanilla.

You can't have too much vanilla :-P

 And this is what I ended up with (prior to decorations)

The ladies who were lucky enough to indulge in this cake said it was delicious, and one even asked for a slice to bring home. I truly was a little worried, but it really is a fabulous combination!

So when you're looking for some CRAZY dessert... try some Mexican Avocado Dark Chocolate Mousse and call it healthy :-P 

Or try a Cream Soda Cake for a light and fluffy oil-free treat 

(P.S. I read that if you use 2 parts cake mix to 1 part soda, it makes a nice little cake "at will"... and you can use ANY flavor that suits your fancy. I hear Diet Dr. Pepper and Vanilla makes a good combo... and for those who like chocolate and orange flavors together, chocolate cake mix and orange soda! I'll never try it, so you'll have to tell me if you liked it. I just can't handle chocolate and orange together.) 

Or if you just ran out of eggs... you can still make cake!

And don't forget the super vanilla icing... mmmmm.

And the recipes so you can make it yourself 

without running around the house, 

searching the internet and  

forcing sweets upon your neighbor,  

MAKING her be your "taste-tester"  

(which she minded OH so much, lol) 

are right here.

(Mexican) Chocolate Avocado Mousse:

This recipe is from Dr Oz's show - the ONE time I watch, I have to try the darn recipe... 

1 ripe Avocado 

3/4 cup Brown Sugar (They used light brown... I used dark, cause that's what I had)

12 oz chocolate (They used dark chocolate for the anti-oxidants... I used semi sweet cause that's what I had)

2 tsp ground cinnamon (totally optional... they didn't actually use it on the show... I did for who knows what reason)

1/2 tsp chili powder (also totally optional because they didn't use it on the show either... I did for the same reason I used the cinnamon - who knows. The recipe I found said 1 tsp... but I decided to half that and am glad of it.)

6 Egg Whites (I used the pre-packaged kind for pasteurization and lack of 6 egg yolks that had no home)

1) Whip the egg whites until they form firm peaks. The rest of the recipe goes REALLY fast, so no problem doing this first.

2) Peel the avocado and place in your food processor (I used a mini chopper, and it was a TIGHT fit, but it did work...) Mix it up with the brown sugar until smooth.

3) Melt the chocolate (microwaved it shouldn't take more than two 1 minute cycles... make sure to stir frequently... chocolate doesn't change it's shape until it's been touched, which is why the chocolate kiss keeps it's shape in those thumbprint cookies...)

4) OPTIONAL!! If you want Mexican Chocolate Mousse, add the cinnamon and chili powder to the chocolate and mix well. If you try and use a different flavoring in the chocolate... do NOT use any liquid. It will cause the chocolate to cease. If you're determined to use a liquid flavoring (alcohol maybe?) add it to the avocado mixture and blend WELL... but definitely do not add it to the chocolate directly.

5) Put the melted chocolate in the food processor with the avocado and blend again.

6) Fold the chocolate mixture into the egg white until combined and refrigerate.

Cream Soda Cake:

1 box cake mix (I used white)

1 can Cream Soda

3? egg whites. You may want to try just 1 or 2. You can actually use none... but it will be more like pound cake. So no eggs = pound cake texture. 3 egg whites = angel food cake texture. You pick egg quantity :-P

Optional: vanilla... I used 2 tsp powdered... no idea what would happen if you used extract. Not sure if it even made a difference to the cake I've got.

Mix the cake mix, soda and egg white together, place in greased cake pans, bake according to the box directions (mine were done faster than expected)

Extra Vanilla-y Buttercream Icing:

Now, this recipe is based off a Martha Stewart recipe, which normally, I would shy away from, but my neighbor makes it all the time and it's too darned delicious to hold it against Martha Stewart. I suppose there's nothing really WRONG with Martha Stewart, but there's something that makes me want to avoid her. Maybe jailtime... I dunno. Plus, it's not even HER recipe... she got it from Billy Reece from Billy's Bakery in NYC. So it's essentially Martha free. But this isn't the original recipe anyway. It's half of the recipe she gave me with extra vanilla. LOTS of extra vanilla :)

1 stick room temperature butter (calls for unsalted... I used salted, which just brings out the sweetness a bit more)

3-4 cups confectioners sugar (I used about 3.5 cups)

1/4 cup milk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract (about 2 times the recipe :-P)

Good for a little over a dozen cupcakes... or one 2 layer cake :)

The weekend.

Today, I worked a few hours at Hidden Talents, which was HOPPING - ok, not really, but the phone would NOT stop ringing. Craft Fair is this weekend, and while it's going to be a fun time... it did not leave me much time to work on Charles' Chucks! I tried making another one to match the "Almost Chuck", but am gonna have to start all over... I should probably get on that. At least they'll be the "Super Cool" chucks... My friend Julie had her little baby boy on Sunday, so after visiting her, I got down to making him a little hat to go with his brown booties. And Pete has been working on his bow (like, bow and arrow bow) and a kayak... with my help of course. I am apparently the queen of adhesives and sketches. :-P *shakes head* I just hope he doesn't start on the kayak before we move!  I made sausage and peppers for dinner tonight, and Pete did dinner last night with some chicken wings. mmmmm... Maybe I'll do better tomorrow morning and get some more posts ready for this week...

And then there were Cats

So as you all know, I've been spending the week with my friend Melissa in Georgia. I love chillin with her, and we've been having a grand old time. Included in my "activities" this week is my acceptance into her "pride". She's got 3 cats...

Beowulf

Beowulf is the definition of "scared-y cat" but over the past few days has decided I'm OK, and has cuddled with me a few times (sat on my feet) - I'm the 4th person that's happened with... ever. I think it's the fact that I brushed him. Melissa agrees.

Grendel

Grendel is "head cat" around here, and is the more social of the two older cats. He drinks out of a pint glass and has learned how to spell "out" - so "out" is now "you know where" or as I like to call it... "the word" :-P He's taken to sleeping on the top of the couch until I actually lie down for the night, and thinks I might even give him food now and again.

And Inara

Inara is the "kitten" of the pride, and is the only one brave enough to sit NEXT to me on the couch without a TON of coaching. She was brave enough to come back downstairs after Melissa fell asleep and try and sleep with me. Scared the ever-loving out of me when she went to climb on my legs. But I figured that it took her a lot of courage to stalk me long enough to climb up (I'd noticed her pacing on the coffee table for a while beforehand), and she didn't run away when I screamed (when she scared me) so I made room. I'm writing this for posting tomorrow, and she was much quicker today to climb up on the couch next to me... I kind of wonder if I'll be sleeping on the floor tonight...

So I suppose I'm part of "the pride" now... I hope they don't miss me TOO much when I leave!

Rockin Day!

So yesterday I drove down to Georgia to visit with one of my best friends, Melissa, from HS. I WAS going to drive down today... but I got too excited. So I drove yesterday. Today... has been awesome. So FIRST, I found out that another best friend had his little baby boy this morning - 7lbs 14oz!  Which is super exciting... but now I have to finish those knit Chucks ASAP!  Then we went out for breakfast at IHOP where I discovered Butter Pecan Syrup. Delicious. Across the street from IHOP there was a KOHL'S!! - that shouldn't be really exciting, but it is. So I got 2 pairs of jeans and 2 shirts (Whoo hoo! - I don't have to look like a slob... I'm on my way to being a hussy jess! :-P).  After that, we rocked the Publix and got groceries for the week, came home, and I checked my email - I'm waiting to hear back on a beach house... and found out that I had my FIRST ETSY SALE!!  A set of the Wineglass tags!  I'm not sure what could happen today to make it better :)