Popovers

I thought I would be domestic and make popovers since Mr. Fix-it enjoys pastries and also I had milk in the house (we're not big milk drinkers here, but I just had to take advantage of the milk deal at the grocery store; most of the milk went to BIL's for the kids). I used David Lebovitz's recipe, but next time, I'm going to try Rose Levy's recipe or maybe a combination of the two.

I used my Pampered Chef muffin pans and made 10 HUGE popovers. If you follow the Lebovitz recipe and use regular muffin tins (I think the Pampered Chef pan is the same size), I recommend filling the cups 1/3 full, definitely less than 1/2 full, and baking for 25-30 minutes. I used baker's sugar (finer than regular sugar) for dipping, but I think I would have liked the crunch of regular sugar better.

Here are the popovers, pre-dipping (first butter, then cinnamon sugar, yum!). You can see how much they "popped." And this is after they had collapsed a bit.

Happy Friday!

I've been feeling a little down lately, not sure why, hence the radio silence. I assume you don't want to hear me whine about being middle aged or wishing I had more money or complain about work (at least I have a job, right?).

We're not too busy at work this week (well, the Localization team was pulling their hair out, but the English team wasn't busy), so the timing was right to take a vacation day. I'm supposed to be domestic and take this opportunity to catch up on housecleaning since we're having someone over on Sunday, but instead, here I am at the computer again. My plan was for every 40 minutes of housecleaning, I can spend 20 minutes on the computer. Let's see how long that plan lasts. Time's up so it is back to housecleaning. Catch up with you later.

$2.93

Haven't posted one of these in a while, but yes, I still fill the tank every other week. I stopped at a more expensive gas station because it was convenient. I decided the 40 cents I would save going to the cheaper station wasn't worth it.

Recession, what recession

A couple weeks ago, we went to one of the high-end malls so I could check out this darling salt and pepper set. Let me present Mr. and Mrs. Chin:

They are from Alessi. The set is from a collaboration between the company and the National Palace Museum of Taiwan, which hold a special place in my heart. In addition to the salt/pepper set, you can buy magnets, an egg cup, and other items (I really want the timer too). But at $56, I decided that cute was too expensive. Hopefully, a certain someone will read this and add it to my Christmas wish list (given a choice between the two, I'd like the kitchen timer;) ).

As we walked around the mall, we were struck by how many people had shopping bags and were waiting in line to buy more. All of the stores were busy, busy, busy. Maybe when you shop at the expensive mall, you don't need to worry about the recession?

On the way home, we stopped at the 99 Cents store and while the selection wasn't the same, boy, that place was rockin'! People had shopping carts full of stuff, mostly food. So maybe that store is a better indicator of the economy.

I was hoping to take advantage of President's Day sales and talked Mr. Fix-it into taking a drive to one of the outlet malls (that was my Valentine's Day present, lol). We got a late start and arrived about an hour after the mall opened. Bad idea since the parking lot was already full and people were circling for parking spaces. We lucked out and got a parking space in front. I couldn't believe that people were leaving already, and loaded down with bags. Maybe they're more efficient shoppers than I am. Unfortunately, we did not do our part to boost the economy. I was hoping to get a few pairs of shoes and some work clothes, but didn't have any success. While all the stores had sales, I guess I'm either built wrong for today's styles or I'm too cheap so I only ended up with one blouse. Unfortunately, it has been that way for a few years and I'm desperate for new clothes/shoes. Hopefully, I'll be able to boost the economy later, lol.

Thankful

Although "thankful" is usually not the theme of President's Day, that's what I was feeling today. Thankful to have have the day off, and not only that, but as a paid holiday. And thankful that the new grocery store down the street finally opened and now I don't have to go so far to buy organic or bulk groceries. And thankful to have most of the meal planning out of the way for the week.

And happy for all the new jobs the store created. As it turns out, it was the first day on the job for the checker and the bagger was also new. She had been out for work for three months and he had been out of work for a year (though he needs to work on his bagging skills, I could barely lift one bag out of the cart).

On an unrelated note, I hope to catch up on my blogging and post a few photos. I'll be back dating the posts so don't be confused.

Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day

It was a double celebration (I can't remember it ever happening before) with the start of Year of the Tiger and a day for love. We didn't do anything special, which I hope is not a bad omen for the coming year, but then I'm not really superstitious. I did find time to make Mr. Fix-it a card (nothing like waiting until the last minute) and then a neighbor brought over some yummy snacks. So while we did not do anything traditional, it was still a nice day.

All quiet on the western front

No new blog posts for a week, no new tweets for almost a week, and hardly any facebook updates. Sorry, nothing much to say at the moment. I don't expect next week to be any different. (although I do have some photos to upload eventually)

Photo 25/365 Scrapbooking

My latest acquisitions. It is an addiction, I tell you. Does it help that I bought them all at least 50% off MSRP?

Photo 24/365

G wanted me to take a picture of his owie.

Photo 23/365 Scrap goodies

I was so excited to find these craft packs at Big Lots for only $2. I was especially excited to find packs that had the right initials (I took that as a sign that I had to buy them, lol). I'm giving the E and C to the girls for their birthday or maybe C (their mom) can use the sticky initials to ID stuff for the girls. I plan to sell or giveaway most of the embellishments, but the price was right even if I keep just half of the contents.

My first unfriend

And it didn't hurt at all. Yep, I was unfriended. I finally noticed that I wasn't receiving her updates. Not sure why. Maybe I wasn't interesting enough for her. Or maybe she didn't want me to see her updates. Or maybe she was offended that I didn't comment on her status updates. And maybe I shouldn't think about this at all, lol.

Now, if I unfriend someone, chances are they won't notice since I don't post that many updates, nor do I leave that many comments. Guess I'm not a good Facebook friend.

Where I wasn't

CHA that is. I had been attending/working CHA (and HIA and Memory Trends) for almost ten years. It was fun being on the "inside," wearing my "uniform" (company logo shirts/sweaters), seeing what buyers wanted, what products wowed them (or didn't wow them). And if I was lucky to get a break, I loved walking the floor and seeing the latest and greatest in scrapbook and craft supplies. Of course, it was a lot of work too. When you work a booth, that means getting up early to make sure the booth is ready, smiling at the all questions, smiling at the complainers, smiling even though you're starving or thirsty or have to take a bathroom break but there's no time for any of that. And if you're walking the floor, even for fun, there's so much to see and report on and you're always afraid of missing the next big thing.

I could have attended the consumer Super Show this year, but I just couldn't bring myself to spend the entry and parking fee ($25 total). And with the closing of Lifetime Moments and Linnecards, I didn't have that pre-show excitement. No feeds from any of the manufacturers, no excited posts from scrapbook fans I know and trust. No need to beg the owners to carry this or that or put in a good word for a new product. Plus I didn't realize how much I would miss seeing things in person. I've been checking out various company websites and blogs and I guess it is a good thing that a few things caught my eye anyway. At the top of the list are my favorites from last year, Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd. A big bonus is Core'dinations has embossed cardstock to match Jillibean Soup. There's some goodies from KI and Maya Road that I'd like to add to my stash too. And I'll have to see if there's any new Thickers I can't live without. I hope I can find all this stuff locally, since I don't know where to shop anymore.

Photo 22/354

Our new coffee/tea station. Obviously, we haven't moved the coffee maker or mugs over yet. Mr. Fix-it got this from a kitchen remodel he was working on; this was destined for the dump! Since that space previous held a picture with junk stored underneath, this is a welcome change.

Planned obsolescence or more technology woes

Remember the new phones we got last month? What I didn't post was that Mr. Fix-it's phone crapped out the same day we brought it home. Which meant another trip to the phone store. And I discovered that all the notes I had attached to people's numbers didn't get transferred over to my new phone.

Then more joy this week--my battery wouldn't hold a charge. So today it was back to the phone store where they gave us a new battery, no questions asked. I had to ask the manager if we were unlucky or if these were crappy phones and batteries. Oh no, he said, these are good phones and batteries. But he did warn us that in three, four, five, months, the battery life would be less. I was charging my new phone once a week (very little use, obviously), but was told in a few months, I'd have to charge my phone every three days or so. What a waste of time and electricity!

I didn't have to worry about this with my old phone. That battery lasted almost five years (actually, it still works; it is the phone that died). Does this mean that five years later, technology is worse than it was or is this a planned obsolescence plot? And the memo feature? Only available on smart phones. I can't get a smart phone connected without signing up for a data plan. Which I don't want. But I'm willing to pay FULL PRICE for a smart phone because it has features I want. So what if I'd only be using a small percent of its capabilities. That's my choice, just not a choice available to me. Grrr, before I really go off on how change is bad and technology is driving me crazy, I'll just end here, lol.

Photo 21/365

What I use to sweeten my coffee. I'm pretending it is healthier than regular sugar, but I really don't know if it is or not. I hope so since it costs significantly more than sugar.

Photo 20/365

After a week of downpours, flooded streets, and downed trees, this was a spirit-lifting sight.

Just a simple gal

Yep, that's me. I was reminded of that today in a conversation with a coworker. Our power was out this morning so I was lamenting my lack of coffee (because I was too cheap to buy Starbux and I won't drink the swill at work). I also said I got to work a little earlier than usual since I wasn't distracted by the TV or computer. He commented that he didn't think his wife would be able to leave the house if she didn't have power. Hmmm, what would I need power for? I can still shower, even if the water isn't hot. I don't have to blow dry my hair (even though it looks better if I do). I try not to buy clothes that need ironing. I dunno, it's pretty easy to get to the office. As long as I'm clean and neat, I figured I'm presentable at the office.

Photo 19/365 Getting my money's worth

As we were getting ready to run errands, the conversation went like this:
Me: (fusses with shoes)
Mr. Fix-it: What's wrong?
Me: My shoe feel funny, like I'm falling off.
Mr. Fix-it: Do you need new inserts? (background: I put in new inserts last year)
Me: (adjusts socks, adjusts inserts) Now both shoes feel like I'm falling off.
Me: (mildly annoyed)
Mr. Fix-it: (bursts into laughter) Your shoes are falling apart. I think you got your money's worth out of them.
Okay, maybe you had to be there. But really, I couldn't figure out what was wrong and I had never worn a pair of shoes out to where the sole came off. I've only had the shoes for a decade or two, so yes, I think I got my money's worth. Now comes the trouble of trying to replace them.

Photos 16-18 Stocking up

We went to the Chinese grocery store since we were out that way for other reasons and lots of stuff was on sale since Chinese New Year is only a month away. I bought three kinds of oyster sauce: vegetarian, which I like for the milder flavor, the expensive stuff on the right (Mom and W say to buy the one with the colorful label with the kids in the boat, that's how I remember, lol), and a bottle that a lady in the aisle recommended. She said it wasn't as good as the expensive stuff, but almost as good, so I thought I'd try it.

Twenty pounds of rice. Never had this brand before, but it is one of the more expensive bags. On sale it was less expensive than everything else so I thought I'd try it. And then some multigrain rice. Supposedly, it it healthy and good for you. It wasn't something I'd normally buy, but it was 50% off and Mr. Fix-it was game to try it so it went into the cart too.

How green is your kitchen?

I'd say we're about average...better in some areas, could improve in others. For example, we don't use "green" soaps (tried the Method brand, yuck!), but we won't run the dishwasher unless it is full.

There's the scrap jar on the counter (fruit/veg scraps, not scrapbooking scraps, lol) for the worm/compost bin. Not the most attractive decoration, but it works. Yes, I do empty it before company comes over.

We bring reusable bags to the grocery store (and other stores), but somehow, still end up with plastic bags. They get used as trash can liners so at least they get used once before they're tossed. Probably our worse offence is those thin plastic bags from the produce and meat section, although if I'm only buying one or two or three of something, I don't bother with the plastic bag. I'm sure the checkout clerks hate that. But I always use a plastic bag if the product is wet and also for meat. Those bags get tossed immediately, not reused.

Paper, we're better reducing use, though we haven't eliminated it like these people. The comments are the most interesting part of the article.

paperless kitchen

We do use paper towels and unfortunately, our use has increased, not decreased. We used to use a roll every two months. Now I think we go through a roll every 5-6 weeks. I'm not sure what caused the increase, wait, that's not true. I know one reason for the increase is we ran out of napkins (nope, we don't use cloth napkins, don't like 'em). We don't use napkins at every meal (I really don't need a napkins when I eat oatmeal), but still, it is an area that we can improve. I'm sure if I found some cloth napkins that I liked, I would be more open to using them. One thing that helped us use fewer paper towels was buying the "select-a-size" kind. If I buy full-sized paper towels, I usually tear them in half (I stuff the other half in the top of the roll to use later).

What do you do to be green in your kitchen?

Photos 13-15 The yard

Signs of spring: a bud on an orchid that hasn't bloomed in two years and the next photo is of snow peas. No flowers yet, but I'm hopeful.

We finally finished trimming all the plants/shrubs. This poor Buddlia (butterfly bush) looks totally butchered, but some summer, it will be over eight feet tall again. Working in the yard wasn't the funnest way to spend my day off, but at least I got the work out of the way.

Photo 12/365

I was checking the flash on my camera so decided to use this as my POTD. Can you see the coupon flyers peeking out of the recycle bin? Sometimes I spend my lunch hour clipping and sorting coupons. Such an exciting life, lol.

Photo 11/365

One of the few, the lonely. Due to costs, the post office has been removing drop-off mailboxes. Our neighborhood almost lost ours. Several months ago, there was a sign on the box that it would be removed for lack of use, which I didn't understand since I saw people drop off envelopes almost every day. I guess there was enough of a public response that we got to keep the box. (Me? I usually drop my mail off at the mailroom at the office.)

Photos 9-10/365 Scrapbooking

I hauled all this stuff to a crop, just to make a dozen cards, lol. I had a great time scrapping at Y's and met some new scrapbookers. And I'm very happy with the cards (all made from scraps). Most will be donated to operationwritehome.org, but I'm keeping a few for myself.

Great start to the new year

I was over at Ali Edward's blog where she's having a giveaway (there's still time to enter). To enter, you had to sharing something that's been inspiring. I wrote:

I find my friends inspiring. Just this week, I talked with a friend who started her own business last year and received two handmade cards. It's been a great week!

But why just share that with Ali who has no idea who I am (I just wanna win something, lol). So S, good luck with your business and I'll see you soon. T, love the card and I'll call or send you an e-mail soon. W, thanks for the beautiful card. It was a great ending to my first week back in the office.

To all my friends and readers, I hope you've had a good year so far and that you are surrounded by family, friends, and inspiration.

$3.01

The news said gas prices would be going up and they did. Grrrr.

Photo 8/365

I received this lovely thank you card from my friend W. Isn't she talented?

Photo 7/365

I received this lovely card from a friend. Can you tell he's quite the gardener? Isn't this a great idea for a card?

Photo 6/365 Food

Leftovers from my lunch. That's soba noodles in the clear container. The bottom container has rice, tofu, and broccoli. I brought it home and Mr. Fix-it had it for dinner.

Photo 5/365 Work

My piles at work are getting taller. It only took two days.

Photo 4/365 Food

Mr. Fix-it said I take there's hardly any food that hasn't had their picture taken. This is the Pioneer Woman's cobbler (which is like a clafouti, IMO). I didn't have any milk so used yogurt instead and it turned out great!

Photo 3/365 Dodger bread

I saw this over at The Green Wife and thought it would be something we would enjoy with the split pea soup I made. The crunchy bits were tasty, but the rest of it was blah. Although she did say dodger bread was great for sopping up the juices from your meal and so if you eat it that way, it is probably good. In any case, it was too hard for my sensitive teeth so I won't be making this again.

Photo 2/365

I couldn't resist these coaster. Only $2 at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Photo 1/365

So I said I wasn't going to do photo of the day again, but I also told myself I wasn't going to buy anymore scrapbook supplies and look what I bought today. They were on sale at JoAnn's (I was looking to see what was on clearance, honest!), plus I had an extra 10% off coupon so I couldn't resist. Aren't they pretty? I plan on putting Christmas supplies in the green box, scraps and cardmaking supplies in the gold box, and other holidays in the red box.

Goodbye Lifetime Moments

How do I explain why the closing of LM is so traumatic? I think unless you've experienced the loss of a community, you wouldn't understand. Although Mr. Fix-it knows that many of my friends are from LM, he still doesn't understand (though he's supportive). LM was there for me when my FIL was ill, when my aunt was ill, when my aunts passed away, when Uncle T passed away. LM was there to give this snow novice advice to what to wear on a business trip to snow country. LM was there for virtual hugs when I had a bad day and I gave out my share of hugs too. LM was there to cheer me on when I was published in a scrapbook magazine. And there to laugh with me and answer my questions about anything and everything. And through it all, surround me with friendship and support.

Scrappers from all over the world came to the annual LM crops, that's how powerful the friendships are. While scrapbooking was the theme, it was really the people who mattered. And at the heart of it all were Jackie and Thad.

I was there from (almost) the beginning. Maybe that's why their closing is so traumatic for me. I joined the message board shortly after it opened (guess I was a little slow since I was member 488). Names online turned into recognizable personalities and then into friends. I helped move the store from their house to a warehouse and then helped pack up the store for a move across the country. I was there when the online store closed, as the going out of business sales got bigger and inventory got smaller. And I was there at the very end chatting with dozens of my friends, hoping it wouldn't happen, when finally the message board was shut down.

Thank you Jackie, thank you Thad for creating a great scrapbook store and community. You're responsible for inspiring hundreds of scrapbookers and creating hundreds of friendships. I can't think of a better legacy than that. All the best to you!

2009 wrap up

It seems to be a blogger tradition to reflect on the past year or give a summary of highs and lows (or lows and highs if you want to end on a positive note), so here goes.

Overall, 2009 was a trying year. We weren't sure what our income would be with Mr. Fix-it being in construction and bonuses continually slashed for me, but we managed to finish the year about even in pay. That's the good news. Unfortunately, our expenses went up quite a bit and I can't find too many places to cut back so it was fiscally difficult year and I expect next year to be even worse.

I am thankful to have a good paying job with good benefits. But the do-more-with-less attitude is wearing on me. Every year, the workload increases (both the number of projects and the complexity of the projects), but there isn't a corresponding increase in staff.

It has been a joy watching the local nieces and nephew grow. The twins are now toddlers and I miss the cuddly joy of babyhood, but it has been interesting watching their personalities develop. And G still talks a mile a minute and has a million questions; I hope I can keep up with him. I'm thankful we live close to my FIL to support him.

My weight fluctuated a bit throughout the year, but I finished within a pound of when I started so I'll take that as a positive. No moaning and groaning about losing holiday weight here.

I blogged more in 2009 than in 2008, probably due to my attempt at Photo of the Day. I didn't end up with 365 photos, but I'm pleased with what I did manage to post.

We upgraded our electronic gadgets, not by my choice, of course. Our dying TV (so what if the corner is fuzzy) was replaced with a new flat screen Hi Def version. I'm still figuring out the new remote, lol. And my phone died so we finally got new phones after 4+ years. At least we have bluetooth now.

My two favorite online scrapbook stores closed. I'm devastated by this since between the two of them, I didn't need to shop anywhere else. But more important, the message board at Lifetime Moments is also closing. This is where I hung out, shared my layouts, shared recipes, vented and was comforted, and in turn comforted others. I feel like I'm losing a huge support group. I hope that Facebook and blogging can fill the void.

Since I mentioned it, yes, I did join Facebook, but only to keep up with my scrapbook friends and select family members so if you don't fall into those categories, I won't be friending you, sorry.

We took a vacation! A real vacation that was more than just a couple days drive. It was relaxing and a great getaway and I'm ready to do it all over again!

Auntie S passed away after a long illness. I was so worried about Mom, but I think she's handling it okay. Thank you to my cousins for supporting her, even as they needed their own support.

Two weddings! Two opportunities to get dressed up, lol. I had to buy new makeup, mine was so old. Both events were out of town, but I'm so glad we were able to attend both. Family get-togethers are so rare these days.

And so, enough about me. Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogosphere. Come again soon. I hope that 2010 is a great year for you.

POTD wrap up

I finally finished uploading some old photos for my POTD project, plus I went back and numbered my blog posts so I could keep track of how many photos I posted (127). I was hoping to post more, but I find uploading photos to be a hassle. Obviously, I took waaaay more than 365 photos, but although many were scrap-worthy, not all were worth posting as my POTD. My other criteria was I didn't count the photo as POTD if I wrote a relatively long blog post (more than one or two paragraphs). It looks like my most common themes are family, food, and gardening. I wouldn't say my life revolves these topics, just that they are the most accessible for photographing. I won't be continuing the POTD project next year, but instead will concentrate on blogging and scrapping.

So much for after Christmas shopping

We braved the mall for a couple of hours and ended up not buying a thing, though we were in the minority. Not that there weren't things we needed (okay, that I needed. Like dress shoes and dress clothes for work. And heck, I could even use a couple dresses. I need a new LBD (little black dress) and I wouldn't mind some dresses for work. But the crowds really turned us off so we decided to not boost the economy. The parking lot was full and there were people waiting for our spot when we left, even though it was on the outskirts of the lot.

We ended up at Target where I finally remembered to look for these:
Can you believe I was going to pay FULL PRICE WITHOUT A COUPON for them? Not only that, but I bought two(!) packages. Must mean I was really excited to find them or was depressed that I didn't get any new clothes or maybe I didn't want to make another trip to the store. Lucky for me, they were on sale so I saved a couple of dimes on each package.

They aren't as good as I remembered. The one and only time I've had them was on our flight to (or was it from?) Hong Kong; they were the real thing, made by Arnott's. Maybe my memory is faulty. But I still like them. I think the milk chocolate version is better than the dark chocolate, even though I am a dark chocolate fan. If you're interested in trying Tim Tams, they're only available until March.

Photo 127/365 Christmas eve

Grandpa and Miss C on Christmas eve. C made matching jammies for the kids. So cute!

A winner and a whiner

We have a winner in my giveaway. Congratulations Miwa! Please send me your address so I can send you some goodies. Here's a sneak peek of some of it.And a little vent...there was only one comment, though I know that there were several new readers that week. I guess scrappy goodness isn't too popular. I'm glad you're my winner Miwa; I know you (or your girls) will appreciate the goodies.

$2.87

I've got a bunch of receipts to input, but right now, that's what gas prices are. I hope they don't go up for Christmas.

Politically incorrect

Warning, some people may find these sites politically incorrect, but if you've lived this, you probably appreciate the humor.

Stuff Korean Moms Like
Angry Little Girls

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Not really, but at least I'm not feeling as bah humbug as I was yesterday. I've got a plan to print out our Christmas cards, I've addressed most of the envelopes, I wrapped one of the few Christmas presents we're buying this year, and we're starting our Christmas movie marathon. It isn't really a marathon, but we do have our favorites that we watch every year.

Technology is not my friend

Think I need a new phone? First, the camera function went out. Not that I took that many pictures, but still, it was annoying. Then a week or so later, the LCD went out, but at least I could still make and receive calls. Then the phone would randomly turn off. Then the faceplate fell off. So we decided my phone was on its last legs. I was slightly annoyed that the phone only lasted four and half years (and at the time, I preferred my analog phone to this phone). I hate planned obsolescence. Or maybe technology is moving too fast for me.

We finally found some time to visit the phone store and check out what was available. Our choices were limited since we wanted to keep our almost five year old plan (no texting, no data, and relatively few minutes); the current cheapest plan was $10 more than what we're paying now. Even though I was willing to pay FULL PRICE for a more expensive phone, Verizon would not let us add the phone to our plan. How's that for business sense?

Mr. Fix-it tried to add his phone to his nav system so he could finally have hands free calling, but then his phone locked up. Guess what, it was a bum phone so Verizon replaced it. I really don't feel good about our phones now.

Add to that our five year old computer is slow, slow, slow and we're running out of room on our hard drive (think they might be related), the DVR is acting up, and my printer died, and I'm fed up with technology this weekend.

Yet another sign that I'm a packrat

I finally decided to work on Christmas cards today and had delusions of grandeur or at least of making my own photo greeting cards this year. I finally found the photo I wanted to use and a template (you didn't think I was actually going to design it myself, did you?) and then ran into some hardware problems (that's for another post).

So I thought I'd be efficient and at least address the envelopes so we went to Staples to see what they had. You know me...I couldn't find anything I liked in the price range I wanted. Then we stopped at a post office on the way home to buy stamps, but can you believe it, no stamp machine! Sooo, tomorrow we'll be out running more errands. So much for being efficient.

Ahhh, but all was not lost. After we came home, I remembered that I may have had some Christmas envelopes tucked away somewhere. You know, in that huge Christmas stash I have (not an exaggeration: two shelves in the hall closet, one underbed storage box, two gift wrap containers, and several boxes of ribbon). Luckily, I found the envelopes right away and they even sort of match the cards. Close enough and I didn't have to buy more envelopes. Now if I could only find my Christmas stationery so I could write my Christmas letter.

Marinated Goat Cheese Rounds

This is my new go-to appetizer recipe. It is tasty, looks impressive (see my serving tips), and is relatively inexpensive. I modified the recipe so I included my version and also the original recipe.

Ingredients
11 oz goat cheese (because that's the package size that I got from Trader Joe's, lol)
5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
20 Katamala or green olives (pitted)
2/3 cup olive oil

Instructions
1. Roll the goat cheese into small (bite-size) balls, then flatten them.
2. Whisk the rest of the ingredients together until well blended.
3. Pour over goat cheese.
4. Marinate refrigerated for 2 to 4 hours. Any longer than that and the goat cheese will start to darken from the marinade. It still tastes good, but isn't as attractive. If you don't mind the color change, you can make this ahead and marinate the cheese for a few days. Let sit at room temperature for about half an hour before serving.

I served this with crackers. Surprisingly to me, rustic crackers like rye crisp held up better than plain crackers like water crackers. The original recipe called for crostini, but I think that plain sliced French bread would also work.

Serving tips
The cheese rounds look more impressive when served on a flat, rimmed serving tray rather than piled in a bowl. Also, you can sprinkle extra olives around the cheese for filler.

I think you could also just make the marinade and pour it over the cheese and let your guests take as big a hunk as they want, lol.

The original recipe
6 oz goat cheese
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon black pepper
10 green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Roll cheese into a 4 inch log, then slice into 1 inch think rounds.
Place in a shallow dish.
Whisk the rest of the ingredients together until well blended. Pour over the goat cheese and marinate, refrigerated for 2 hours to 1 week.
Serve with crostini (grilled French bread rubbed w/olive oil and fresh garlic).

My very last Lifetime Moments order

I received my last Lifetime Moments order yesterday. I was just torturing myself, watching the stock dwindle down in the store. Yes, I did end up placing two more orders; they were shipped together. Thanks for helping me save on shipping Jackie.

On a happier note, there's still time to enter my givaway.

Photo 126/365 Got Cheez-its?

Yes, we have a few, lol. They're on sale through today, $1.99/box at Target. A good price, but not a great price. What makes the price great is you get a $5 gift card when you buy five. Mr. Fix-it usually doesn't like it when I buy in bulk, but since these are for him, he was pretty excited this time, lol. Although he did think that buying another five boxes would be overkill (hey, I could have used my $5 gift card and the next batch would have been free!)

Spreading the scrappy good karma

I often check out the 2peas FSOT (for sale or trade) board hoping for a good bargain. I was bummed that I missed out on a Quickutz mini font for only $10, including shipping. So I posted on the thread to please let me know if the first buyer didn't want it. I usually PM the seller privately, but as it turns out, it was a good thing I posted on the thread because the buyer contacted me. As it turns out, she already had the font (don't tell me that's never happened to you) and offered it to me at the same price. Such a deal! On top of that, she included some Prima leaves (and you know how expensive Prima is). Can you tell I'm thrilled with my good fortune?

Then this week, more scrappy goodness (which helps make up for the scrappy sadness about LM). WR Memory Keepers had a great sale with free shipping with minimum purchase. As it turns out, my order was less then the minimum because many items were out of stock, but they shipped it free anyway. Thank you WRMK! (yes, I did e-mail them to thank them.) I'm bummed I didn't get everything I ordered, but I did get the one thing I wanted most, an album. As it turns out, my whole order was the same price as what I would have paid for that album.

So to spread the good scrapbook karma, just leave a comment and I'll send randomly select someone to send a goodie bag of yummy ribbon. Not a scrapbooker? I'll still send you some yummy ribbon, just something more appropriate for wrapping presents. I'll leave this open until Friday, the 18th.

$2.87

Holding steady.

Lotus root with ground pork

Lotus root is one of my favorite vegetables (unfortunately, Mr. Fix-it isn't a big fan). One of the easiest ways to prepare this is to stir fry the vegetable and add some ground pork. Measurements are vague because I'm a cook-what-you-have-on-hand kind of cook.

Ingredients
Lotus root (one medium or two small)
vegetable oil
garlic, two cloves
ground pork, about 1/2 pound
soy sauce
corn starch
rice wine or sherry
white pepper

Directions
1. Add a bit of soy sauce, corn starch, rice wine, and white pepper to the ground pork. Mix well and let marinate while you prepare the lotus root.
2. Peel the lotus root, slice each section in half (across the length), then cut into 1/8 inch slices. If you do this ahead of time, place the lotus root in some water because it will discolor, like a potato.
3. Heat a small amount of oil (maybe a tablespoon or less), then stir fry the lotus root until it is cooked through. The lotus root will turn slightly translucent. Sorry that I can't give you an exact time, but it will be a few minutes (at least).
4. Remove the lotus root to another dish temporarily.
5. Add a tiny bit of oil to the pan, heat, and add the garlic. Then add the pork and cook through.
6. Add the lotus root and heat through. You could add a corn starch gravy, but usually the lotus root provides enough starch.

Sorry, no picture because quite frankly, the photo didn't look too appetizing, but the end result tasted good. This would be good with some ginger, but I left that out because Mr. Fix-it doesn't like ginger.

Final LM Scrapbook Sale

Save 55% on everything in the store. Use code 55-890 when checking out at lifetimemoments.com. This is the final sale (boo hoo!). The online store closes on December 10th, but if you're lucky enough to be in the Michigan area, the physical store closes a week later. There's still lots of good stuff. Yes, I placed a final order and am considering yet another one.

Apple Crisp

Mom gave us some red Delicious apples, which we don't like, so I had to something with them. So I came up with this apple crisp.

Ingredients
3 large apples, chopped
about 1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup butter
scant 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar (I only had white sugar on hand, I think brown sugar would have been better)
1 pinch salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place apples in an 8x8 inch baking dish (no need to grease the dish, though you could if you want more butter flavor). Toss apples with syrup.
3. Mix flour, oats, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly.
4. Sprinkle mixture evenly over apples.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes, until topping is golden brown.
Tastes great as is or with some vanilla ice cream.

Mediterranean Pork

This was supposed to be Mediterranean Chicken, but pork loin was on sale so we went with what was cheapest. Hey, pork is the other white meat, right? The ingredients and instructions are a bit vague since I was using what I had on hand. It started because I had about 2/3 of a can of green olives leftover from another dish. Then I got some cherry tomatoes from Mom (can you believe she's still getting tomatoes in November?) and I needed to use all this up. How's that for inspiration? I think this dish is very adaptable and would be good with artichoke hearts too.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs pork loin
olives (1/2 to 1 can, whatever you have on hand)
2 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (or any tomatoes)
1 tsp capers
4 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
flour
salt
pepper
oregano

Directions
1. Slice the olives and chop the tomatoes. I either halved or quartered the cherry tomatoes; you want large chunks.

2. Make a coating with the flour, salt, pepper, and oregano. I used dried oregano and crumpled just a bit into the flour.

3. Slice the pork loin into medallions and coat each slice with the flour.

4. Heat some olive oil in a pan and brown the medallions. You'll most likely need to do this in batches. The medallions should be just cooked through. Remove pork. (Sorry, I didn't time how long it took to brown them.)

5. Add some more olive oil to the pan and add the garlic. Then add the olives, tomatoes, and capers. Cook just until the tomatoes give off their juice and soften a bit. You're not really making a sauce, more like a topping for the pork.

6. Add the pork back to the pan and make sure everything is heated through.

We had this with mashed potatoes (hey, russets were on sale because of Thanksgiving), but pasta, rice, or even some fresh bread would be good.

Looking for a holiday gift?

Check out these etsy shops. They're all great artists (and friends of mine, tell 'em I sent you).

The Checkered Rabbit Cute cards, tags, other paper arts, other crafts.

Dusty Rose Designs Beautiful ceramic animals, shells, fruits, polymer animals too. She also does custom sculptures of your pets.

She's gone crafty Cute cards, albums, paper crafts.

Kristie's Kreations Amazing jewelry and county primitives

More sad scrapbook news

My second favorite scrapbook store has closed shop. Linnecards.com was hacked and with the down economy, it wasn't worth bringing the store back up. I'm so sad. Thanks to Sharon, I have an extensive collection of Stickles and Catseye ink pads, Jillibean Soup and Bella Blvd, and don't forget My Mind's Eye.

Where will I shop now? Honestly, without Lifetimemoments.com and Linnecards.com, I doubt I will be buying anything new for scrapbooking for a while. Those two stores are where I kept up with the trends, where I got my inspiration, where I made life-long friends. I'm so bummed.

Split Pea Soup

(I'm copying this over from LM so I'll have it available after LM shuts down.)

1 lb green split peas
1 lb yellow split peas (can use all green if you want)
8 cups of water (or more)
1 meaty ham bone
1-2 bay leaf
1 finely chopped onion (about 3/4 cup)
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
1 potato, finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, finely minced
A dash of pepper

Wash, sort, and drain split peas. Combine everything in a 6 quart crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours (or more).

Notes:
This soup is very thick and will be even thicker after sitting in the fridge for a day. If you like a thinner soup, add more water when cooking. When reheating the soup, add a bit of water (or broth). I always make this in the crockpot because I've had problems with the soup sticking and burning when I cook it on the stove.

You can use chicken broth instead of water, but if there is a lot of meat on the bone, I think water is fine.

I don't add salt to this soup because of the salt in the ham and sodium in the celery. Adjust the seasonings to your taste.

More SB discounts

Save 35% on everything in the store. Use code 35-323 when checking out at lifetimemoments.com. If you see something you like, buy it now. There are a couple things I missed out on because I waited too long. Jackie charges actual shipping so if you order paper, it will be shipped in a flat rate box...that mean you can buy more to fill it!

So sad

So sad. This is most likely my last order from lifetimemoments.com: a Basic Grey Indian Summer card kit and buttons, lots of ribbon, some envelopes, newer patterned papers, CI buttons (wish I bought more).

I've got a wish list going at the store and things keeps disappearing off of it. So I'm happy for Jackie that things are selling out with only a small discount.

$2.95

Had to fill up since I hardly carpooled at all last week. Did a lot more freeway driving and got over 32 MPG. Not bad for a teenaged car.

Big scrapbook store sale

The good news is my favorite online store is having a sale. The bad news is that it is a going out of business sale.

For all crafters and scrapbookers, please check out Lifetimemoments.com, an awesome store with awesome owners and help with their BIG closing sale. Starting today, everything in the store is 25% off – you must use this promo code 25-011 at checkout to apply the discount.

Where am I going to shop now? I'm so bummed.

Photo 125/365 There's no accounting for taste

Sometimes Mr. Fix-it's food tastes astound me. There was some leftover Yu xiang eggplant (pork, eggplant, bell peppers in a brown sauce) and baked potatoes so he had that with some avocado (you can barely see the avocado in the photo). Honestly, it was so weird to me, I wouldn't even taste it.

Photo 124/365 Pumpkin bread pudding

Basically, I buttered a 10-inch square baking dish, added 5 torn slices of whole grain bread, made a custard (eggs, half and half, sugar, vanilla, salt, spices and added a cup of pumpkin puree, and poured the custard over the top. Let soak for a few minutes, then baked at 325 for about 45 minutes (I think I should have baked it a little longer).

Photos 121-123/365 Sometimes I'm in the cooking mood

Made Yu xiang eggplant, bok choy, and pork stew (a new recipe from Wendy's blog. Mr. Fix-it sure likes it when I stop by the Chinese grocery store because I'm always inspired to cook afterward.

I have 27 friends

and eight more friend requests. Yes, I joined Facebook. No, I am not as excited about it as some of you are.

I can't figure out why some people want to friend me. We've never met in real life, they don't read my blog, I've never IM'd them (yes, even I used to IM), we don't e-mail, and I'm pretty sure most of them have never commented on any of my scrapbook message board threads. The only thing we have in common is the afore mentioned SB MB. Do they really want to follow what's going on in my life? (and do I want them to?) Do I want to follow their lives? Am I offending them because I haven't accepted their friend requests (I'm pretty sure I've offended a few people because I didn't accept their LinkedIn request.) Ahhh, where's Emily Post when you need her? Or maybe I need Dr. Phil to help me figure out all of this.

Photo 120/365 Happy

I love family get-togethers!

Photo 119/365 Treating myself

I finally bought myself one of those cute AMM totes and obviously already filled it with my tools. I found it at Tuesday Morning for $9.99, originally around $29.99. I had seen them at $19.99, but resisted. And at $14.99, but resisted. But at $9.99, I couldn't resist anymore, lol. On the other hand, I feel a little bad. Maybe this is why stores are going out of business...because I refuse to pay full price unless I absolutely have to.

Photo 118/365 Sweet!

What to do with raspberries that are too tart? Make a clafouti. It was gone in a flash!

Awwwwww

I was talking to a friend yesterday and received the nicest compliment. She said that she's always hungry after reading my blog, which made me feel good since 1) I'm not a great photographer and 2) I don't post that many recipes. I think it would be great if I could get a cookbook deal ala The Pioneer Woman or Steamy Kitchen, but I'm not holding my breath. (By the way, I'd love to get either book for Christmas, hint, hint).

So today's lessons are you never know how/when/where you'll influence someone and compliments feel good. Go ahead, compliment someone today!

Photo 117/365 More water dogs

This time I added shrimp to the dumplings. Yum!

$2.95

Not sure why I had to fill up so soon. It isn't like I go anywhere.