Friday, July 31, 2009

Let's take a moment....

This post is dedicated to a special group of people that are very close to me who all lost their jobs today. I was separated from this group of people, my family, back in February and the pain that have been dealing with since my lay off, I would never wish it on my worst enemy. Their situation is much worse with the circumstances behind it, I can't even imagine how one would process it all. Ladies, I love you, and I am praying for you.

Dear Lord Jesus Christ,
You wanted all who are weary
To come to You for support.
Lord, I am worn out
By my inability to find work.

Guide my steps to a righteous path;
Give me the patience
To find opportunities with a future.
Calm my worries and fears
As my financial responsibilities mount.
Strengthen my resolve;
Embolden my heart to open doors;
Open my eyes to see life beyond rejections.
Help me believe in me.

Let me realize other ways
To bring about Your kingdom on earth.
Let me grow as a person
That I may be worthy
For Your greater glory.
In the name of the Father.

Amen.

I know that God has a plan for us, and for the millions of other people that are in the same situation as we are, I just pray that this plan is revealed to us sooner rather than later. I am just trying to keep in mind that, "what was meant to be, will be."

Thursday, July 30, 2009

My very first Blog Award!

Woohoo for blog awards! I have to thank JosiahsMommy for the lovely honor of this award. I have had a lot of fun since I have started blogging, and I have learned a lot from all of you. I send out a big thank you to everyone for their bloggy love and your help while I figure all of this stuff out! Woohoo!

If you have a moment, please check out JosiahsMommy's blog, you won't regret it! I have enjoyed stalking her blog, so please show some love!
For this award, please accept it, then acknowledge the blog & blogger that has given you the award in a post along with his/her name, and link. Then pass the award onto 15 other blogs that you love to stalk. So lots of love and fun will be had by all! Remember to write everyone to let them know that you have given them an award!

I would love to share the bloggy award love with:

On the Refrigerator Door
Life, Love and Ladybugs
The Fox Den
It Aint Easy Being Cheesy
PurrPrints: Art, Cats and Randomness
Scrappin' My Bliss
Vino Bodega
OceanDreams
Rachel vs. "The Kitchen"
I Could Use a Deal!
AB Interiors
Chalk it Up!
Faith Imagined
Love, Taryn
Welcome to the Nut House!

Ladies, I have enjoyed reading your blogs immenesely. Please enjoy and pass on the love!!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Spotted dick by Heinz??

Excuse me??!? I certainly don’t mean to offend anyone here that may find this the most appetizing thing on the planet, but what the heck is this? I thought that this was joke at first, you know one of *those* gag gift type of jokes. Or it seems like something that should be on Bizarre Foods.

Wikipedia to the rescue. “Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants), commonly served with either custard or butter and brown sugar. Spotted refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots) and Dick may be a contraction/corruption of the word pudding (from the last syllable) or possibly a corruption of the word dough.[1] Another explanation offered for the latter half of the name is that it comes from the German word for "thick," in reference to the thickened suet mixture. It is a cultural part of English Cuisine."
Hmm…Interesting. So can anyone report on this?

What kind of response would I get if I said "Hey honey, how about some spotted dick for desert?" lol I don't know about him, but I certainly don't think I would take a fork to it if someone asked me that!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

This Woman's Work

Yes, I know, I talk about this show a lot, but please allow me this free pass. Last night was extremely powerful due to a dance by Tyce DiOrio talking about the turmoil that a woman goes through when she has Breast Cancer. There is not a lot more that I can say, it speaks for itself.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Crafty Tip Tusday

Are there scrapbookers out there that have been frustrated with the lack of good scrapbooking flowers? Half of the time that I go into Hobby Lobby which by the way is just about everyday (man I have to get a life) I just don't see any good flowers to use. But on the way out of the store one day it dawned on me that I could use some regular silk flowers. Why not!?
I'm sure this isn't an original idea, but just something to throw out there. So I have gone nuts buying lots of flowers and now I have so many choices. It is fantastic! It does open a few doors to more flowers that have a lot more depth of color, and certainly a lot more possibilities. Silk flowers are usually 50% off at Hobby Lobby, so it makes quite an amazing deal! Here is one of the ways that I have utilized this new idea.

Enjoy!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Girl's first pie!

Ah, I’m back Ladies! Missed you all! Well, an apple pie with a lattice crust is Chris’ favorite so I decided to see if I could whip one together for a surprise for him after a long week of traveling for work. I have never made a pie before, but I am so happy with how it turned out! And he was constantly raving with how good it was. Looks like it is a winner! And if a newbie like myself can pull this off, anyone can do it!!Pie Crusts (yields the bottom and top crusts for a 9” pie pan)-

12 Tablespoons of unsalted Butter (1 ½ sticks)
3 Cups of all purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon of Sea or Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon of Sugar
1/3 Cup of very cold Vegetable Shortening
1/2 Cup of ice cold Water


Filling-

½ Cup of unsalted Butter
2 Tablespoons of all purpose Flour
1 Tablespoon of Corn Starch
¼ Cup of Water
¾ Cup of White Sugar
¾ Cup of packed Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon
5 Granny Smith Apples
2 Red Delicious Apples

Place the shortening, butter and water in the freezer about 30 minutes before starting so that it is extra cold. When you are ready to start, dice up the butter and then put it back into the fridge while you are putting the mixture together. Add the flour, salt and sugar into the food processor and pulse a few times. Then add the butter and the shortening and start pulsing the processor. Continue to pulse while slowly adding the water in the feed tube until the dough starts balling up. Dump it out onto the board, roll into a ball, wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour, corn starch and stir into the mixture to make a paste. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, bring to a boil and then lower the heat and let simmer.

Peel, core and cut up the apples and place in a mixture of water and lemon juice to keep the apples from browning. Once the apples are cut, it is about time to pull the dough out and start making the crust. Cut the dough in half one half will be for the crust and the other half will be the lattice crust top. Dust the board and rolling pin with flour so that the dough does not stick. Always roll out from the center of the dough. Before placing the bottom crust in the pan, be sure to spray the pie pan with a nonstick spray (I forgot this one).

Drain the water from the apples. Take ¾ of the syrup and pour over the apples. Fold mixture into the apples to make sure that they are all coated evenly. Fill the pie pan with apples and mound them slightly, they will cook down.
Roll out the other half of the dough. Cut into ½ or ¾ inch strips depending on how thick that you want the strips to be. Start with placing a strip down the center of the pie. Next, place sever strips perpendicular to the center strip alternating on top or on bottom of the center strip. Continue to add strips in the basket weave pattern. Trim extra dough from the edges of the pan and pinch the dough together.

Take the final bit of the syrup and brush it onto the top crust. Then sprinkle the cinnamon all over the pie. Your pie is ready to bake! Oven should be at 350 degrees and should bake for 50-55 minutes. With 10 minutes remaining, brush a milk wash over the top.

Put the pie in the fridge and let it sit overnight so that the filling will have an opportunity to firm up. Next day cut, heat up and enjoy!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

SYTYCD Week 4- Good stuff, lots and lots of good stuff!!

Janette and Brandon: Cha, Cha, Cha- HOT, HOT & HOT! Holy Moley! THE HOT TAMELE TRAIN CAME FOR THEM, OMG, AND THOSE WERE FIRST CLASS TICKETS!!!!!! I HAVE TO SEE THAT AGAIN!!! I am so glad that Mia came out and said that she is the hardest on the ones that are bursting with talent because I’m sure that Brandon felt pretty crappy about himself after Mia and Lil C had a little too much to say to him at the auditions. You could see how much that compliment choke him up…but Brandon has nailed everything that they have given to him, he is simply amazing!

Kayla and Kupono: Jazz- If only I could understand the place that Sonya’s dances come from, I just don’t understand her mind. The dance was really dark, but not in a bad way it is just a new world of dance. This is the reason why I really LOVE this show, it opens your eyes up to what dance could be. Simply awesome! I really like the two of them together, not to say anything about Ashley or Max, but they are a great couple! And they were given a second trip on the HOT TAMELE train. WOOHOO! Alright 2 for 2 for the HOT TAMELE TRAIN! What a great start to the week!

Randi and Evan: Broadway, Wow, I figured that the judges would be all over that, because I absolutely loved it. But here again, I do not have that educated viewpoint. This was not would I would traditionally think of as Broadway, but it was darker play fight between man and woman with a Broadway twist! Hmm… I really liked it.

Catlin and Jason: Jazz, Okay- woman alien invades earth and she has to find the last man to procreate with…Really?? How do they come up with this? It was certainly enjoyable if you are able to just imagine and play along with the story that they are telling, but boy, that was straight up weird! I just love this show!

Jeanine and Philip: Hip-Hop Very cute! They were literally chained together at the ankles and not once did they mess up. It was great!!! (They should have been on the HOT TAMELE TRAIN).

Melissa and Ade: Classical Ballet- Yeap, you heard me right CLASSICAL BALLET on SYTYCD!!!! Romeo and Juliet, it was simply amazing! The two of them were just awesome! LOVED IT!!!

Karla and Vitolio: Quick Step, Oh boy, this dance is always the kiss of death. But they did a really great job!!! That was great! WOOHOO!

And what you have to remember is that these are not the styles that any of these dancers were trained in and they look like they have been dancing these styles for years. It is unreal how amazing these dancers are. I do not know who goes home this week, and I am glad I do not have to make that decision.WHAT A GREAT EVENING! THAT WAS AMAZING!

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