Happy Holidays everyone (my whole 2.5 readers)! Happy blogging to continue anew in 2008. I hope a wonderful Christmas and lovely New Year Celebration is had by all. All the best!
12.18.2007
Hasta the New Year
Happy Holidays everyone (my whole 2.5 readers)! Happy blogging to continue anew in 2008. I hope a wonderful Christmas and lovely New Year Celebration is had by all. All the best!
12.11.2007
A Delicious Holiday Treat
WHOOPIE PIE RECIPE:
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey's or Scharffen Berger
1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons fine salt
18 large marshmallows, (not minis)Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.
Put the unsweetened and semisweet chocolates and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. (Alternatively, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)
Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until smooth.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into another bowl. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until moistened. Switch to a rubber spatula and finish folding the batter together; take care not to over-mix.
Use a small cookie scoop or spoon to drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto the prepared pan. Repeat to make 36 cookies, spacing them about 1-inch apart. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly touched, about 6 minutes.
Cool the cookies slightly. Transfer half of the cookies to a rack. Turn the remaining cookies on the pan over, so they lay flat side up. Place a marshmallow on top of each flipped cookie and return pan to the oven. Cook just until the marshmallow begins to soften and puff, about 3 minutes. Cool marshmallow topped cookies slightly, about 2 minutes. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing lightly to make sandwiches. Cool whoopee pies completely on wire racks. Serve.
Store in tightly sealed container for up to 1 week. Enjoy!
(Recipe courtesy of Food Network)
12.07.2007
The remake
Life-size green grinches and miniature trees
Banter and laughter; talk of Jen's ovaries
Strands of pearl beads and sounds of ding da-dings
These are a few of my surrounding things
Bright bitty lights shine on red dancing Ho ho's
Plaid packaged poinsettias and velvety cocoas
Lovely white snowflakes hang tied up with strings
These are a few of my surrounding things
Dangling blue balls gleam and Jer gives me a glare
Green lights and clear lights and the thrill in the air
Pretty tree skirts lined with thin silvery rings
These are a few of my surrounding things
When the grinch bites
When the phone rings [blasted customers]
When I'm feeling mad
I simply remember my surrounding things
And then I don't feel so bad
I'd like to thank my co-workers who didn't know they'd be the topic of my post today [brent's computer noises = ding da-dings]. Thanks for inspiring me to revamp a holiday jingle. Oh, and thanks to Sarah for wanting another jibberish post from me. I'm sure she'll never request it again.
11.29.2007
11.14.2007
11.06.2007
Embellishments
This post is dedicated to my mom, for whom without I would have never known the great importance of embellishments.
em·bel·lish·ment [em-bel-ish-muh
nt] An Embellishment is anything that enhances the appearance of something without having any functional purpose.My mom is very into the act of embellishing. She thinks that everything should be adorned with something else. For example, she turns each gift into a masterpiece. Every gift will be wrapped as to have a little ornament accompanying it or a fresh flower or something that ties into the theme of the gift or the season. She has changed every light fixture in her house to a chandelier - even in the bathrooms. And if the chandeliers don't come with enough embellishment, she will order more crystals or what not and "fix" them up herself. She has been known to take lamp shades and embellish them with strands of pearls or even, gasp, feather boas. The point is that everything that is presented in her house usually has been tampered with, er, embellished.
The embellishing even extends to her appearance. Some people might think this was just part of her fashion, but now I think it is an extension of her desire to embellish. She will be sure to have the right handbag for the occasion and the perfect pair of pumps.
I think she might call me a failure for not practicing what she has so earnestly exemplified, but I do appreciate all the embellished items she has given to me and all the ways she decorates things to make them look spirited and lovely. I admire the way she can create whimsy with an otherwise ordinary object or transform a space from blah to ooh la la. She has talent and I praise and adore her embellishing efforts. Love to you, Mom!
11.01.2007
Yay for November!
I am so excited it's November. I really don't have much use for October in my life. It is nice to have the cooler weather, but then there's nothing fun about October until the last day of it - Halloween. Today marks the first day of November and the official start of the true holiday season - Thanksgiving and Christmas. While Thanksgiving has been something of a
disappointment for the last 3 years, I'm hoping this one will surprise me and be decent. In about three weeks, we can start decorating for Christmas. Hurray! As Jeremy says, we're going to make it look like "Christmas puked" in here. So fun! Happy November everyone. Let the holiday season begin!
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