What's Your Craving??

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I live in a house divided when it comes to cravings. We aren't on the same page when it comes to getting a treat that makes you feel like a warm teddy bear inside.

It comes down to this:

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versus

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I'm the cookie lover and he loves his ice cream. He was born in the land of dairy (that would be Wisconsin and not California, happy cows don't live in California :) so is it really any surprise? I'm not a huge fan of ice cream mainly because it makes my teeth hurt ( sensitive teeth) and shocker, it makes me cold. If I am eating ice cream most likely I'm also wrapped up in a blanket which all seems a bit counterproductive to my efficiency loving life.

Growing up the grocery store that my mom would go to (Oh Publix, how I miss you!) would give kids a free cookie. Sounds like heaven. Maybe not to the moms that had to fight the sugar surge a few hours late but it was pretty awesome as a kid.

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"C is for cookie, thats good enough for me"

You tell 'em Cookie Monster, a cookie is always good enough for me.

So this is what it all comes down to, which side of the fence are you on? Cookies or ice cream ?

Monday Morning Brain Dump

Just some stuff on my brain...

- Being sick on Thanksgiving, and most of the holiday break, made me realize how much of a Type-A planner I can be. I was sick, stuffed up and feeling pretty sorry for myself that all my perfect plans weren't going to work out. Guess what, we still had a good Thanksgiving and after my medicine head wore off I realized that it probably wouldn't have been that much different if I was fully healthy. I was still able to eat some good food and the cold actually helped me lose a few pounds! Can't complain about any of that.

- My husband was a rock star and took care of me and our Thanksgiving dinner and guest. He is amazing and we are a great team. I will always be thankful for him.

- Our Jamaican guest made us festival (fried dinner rolls) and Jamaican jerk chicken. Jamaican jerk chicken is really good for your nose when you have a cold.

- We had our first snow on Thanksgiving day, it wasn't much but oh boy, snow. Snow is really pretty to watch when its falling. That is about all the positive things I can think of when it comes to snow. I'm not really looking forward to more of it.


Did you have a great Thanksgiving? Any special moments or dishes?

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving full of yummy goodness and a heart full of thanks!

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Easily Entertained

The blog post title kinda says it all. I'm easily entertained. And I'm about to give you some examples. My top 3 favorite YouTube videos. I've watched each one over and over again and they never cease to make me smile.

The Standing Cat





The Two Talking Cats



If you are just starting to catch on that I have a semi-unhealthy fasicanation that is easily tickled by cats you haven't read this blog long enough. My goodness, my cat has its on feature on this blog even!


Weezer- Gone Fishin'






I really really love this music video. I just find myself wondering about who I'm more jealous of. The fact that Weezer got to jam with the Muppets or the fact that the Muppets are in a Weezer video. Either way, I really love it.


So what YouTube videos always get a smile out of you?

When I Grow Up

When I was little I wanted to be a veterinarian. Nothing else mattered. I loved when we had to take our pets to the vet because then I could see everything that went on in a vet's clinic. I borrowed every book our little library had about being a vet. I was really proud of myself when I learned how to spell "veterinarian" correctly. And I was always trying to get my parents to let me have just one more pet. Never got that ferret that I begged for for many years. My parents even recruited our vet in hopes to get me to give that dream up.

Even today when we take our own pets to the vet I feel a tiny twinge of envy when I talk to our vets. I kinda wonder if I could have every pulled it off. I have decided though that as much as I love animals that if it came down to me having to start a new job, totally different from the one that I do now, not art related, that I wouldn't want to be a vet anymore. Nope.

If I could start all over again I would want to be a chef.

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Ok maybe not that one but you get the idea :)

Now if I would have made this announcement about 5+ years ago my mom would have fallen on the floor laughing hysterically. And my mom is one laid back lady. She did her best for years and years and years to try and get me interested in cooking. I just didn't care about it. I grew up on home made foods prepared by my mom every day. Very little junk food and going out to restaurants. And lots and lots of reminders that "Someday you are going to need to know how to cook". And then I went to college and my mom's reminders seemed to be a little more urgent. Maybe she imagined me in a macaroni and cheese coma some day, since that little blue box was all the I knew how to cook at that point.

So what was the turning point?

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Rachael Ray and Top Chef.

Yep, so not kidding.

I'll start off by saying right now that I'm not a HUGE Rachael Ray fan. But she did make me want to learn how to cook because she made it look easy and because she made it look fun. Top Chef basically did the same thing. They made me want to learn to cook. I saw the art and the creativity in it all and heck, in this case you got to EAT your creation.

I think cooking is kinda scary to a lot of people. When people give me compliments on my illustrations a lot of them point out that they can't draw. I'm sure that they can, you just have to want to draw and believe that you can. Anyone can draw. Just like anyone can cook.

Just ask Remy.

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Some of us will be better at it then others but believing that cooking is possible and even FUN was a big door opening for me. And now I really love it. I just hate the dishes part.


So if you got a "do-over" card what would you do? Do you enjoy cooking?

A Morning In The Fall

All photos are my own

No words really necessary.

Preparing for Turkey Day

I don't know why it is but lately I seem to be behind on keeping track of where this year is going. Everytime I look at the calendar it seems like things that were planned far in advance are inching their way closer to present day then I expected. Take Thanksgiving for example. I thought for sure I had a good 3 weeks to just think about it before having to spring into action.

Nope.

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Last year the husband and I spent our first Thanksgiving away from our families but with each other. We watched some Food Network shows to prepare us on how to cook a turkey and we had a really nice Thanksgiving meal.

This year we are having a guest at our Thanksgiving dinner which is pretty exciting. We both like to entertain guests and this is a great excuse to roll out the hostess skills.

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And since she isn't coming to cook my Thanksgiving dinner then it sounds like I have some planning to do.

I used Paula Deen's recipe for Pumpkin Pie last year and was really happy how it turned out. For one reason because it turned out 2 pumpkin pies. And 2 is wayyy better then one in this case.

Last year I was pretty much new to everything about making Thanksgiving dinner. This year I'm thinking about taking it a step further and trying something a bit more challenging.

For starters I'm thinking about making my pie crust from scratch. I'm also thinking about trying a 2nd pie for dessert. Here is the issue. I have never tried to make pie crust from scratch before and I have no idea what the second pie should be. I don't want to make apple pie because I don't really like it. And since I'm the baker I can make rules like that.

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So what should my 2nd pie be? Any tips on making pie crust?

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

My theory is that I need to practice my yoga practice more if I don't want the cat to be better at it then I am.

Some days she does spend more time on the yoga mat then I do.

You can't have an ego with yoga though so that is ok :)

Ragin' Cajun Sub

The husband and I both enjoy cooking. It's nice to have someone that is willing to share the task of providing food and its also nice to have a common interest and a hobby that we can share together. Coming up with new recipes together, going grocery shopping, watching food shows to get ideas and just learning together.

When it comes to our roles in the kitchen I would have to say that I'm the fast one. If there was every a team challenge on Top Chef I would be tagged in to handle the Quickfire Challenge. I cook fast and I clean up as I work. I'm an efficient chef. The husband is actually the more creative one in the kitchen. Maybe its the science side in him that is curious about what happens when you add "this" with "that". Usually it turns out really well. One example of this is a recipe that I'm going to share with you.

Our Ragin' Cajun Sub

First, you start off with some sub rolls and pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Then you take mayo and mix it with some spicy cajun seasoning.





Then you smear the spicy mayo mix on to your sub rolls.


Then you add your meat. We usually use chicken and hard salami sandwich cut meats.


Place it into the oven for 10-15 minutes just to toast everything.

When you take it out of the oven you can add cheese to it if you like and then place it back in the oven for 3-4 minutes, just enough time to melt the cheese.

Once you take it out then you add the Italian dressing and lettuce.


You can add other things to the sandwich also, tomato maybe a pickle.


All done! Time to enjoy!

I this is one of my favorite sandwiches, I'm so glad he decided to some experiments in the kitchen!

Do you have any kitchen experiments that turned out really well? Do you like to experiment in the kitchen or do you stick to your recipes?

Guilty As Charged

Fess up. You know that you do it. You know that you have them. What is it that I'm asking you to confess?

Guilty pleasures.

We all have one or two or as I'm about to reveal at least ten that I consider myself guilty of enjoying. Maybe you share some of mine or maybe I'm just putting myself out on an embarrassing limb. Let's find out, shall we?

10. Real Housewives of (Insert City Name Here)

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It started with Orange County and then I got addicted to the New York City girls and found my future BFF and then there was Atlanta and New Jersey and on and on. And I've totally loved every minute of the watch what happens drama. Except for Washington DC and now Beverly Hills. Never watched either one of those. These girls are amazing one liner machines. I love the crazy and quirky things these women say. "Who gonna check me boo?" "Love love love!" "Holy Cat fight!"

9. Jimmy Buffett

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It all started when we got our current vehicle and it had Sirius radio. And then I discovered Radio Margaritaville. I had heard Jimmy Buffett songs before, I mean how could I not coming from the Gulf Coast of Florida. I had visited the Margaritaville Cafe. I love margaritas. But once I had Jimmy (we have a first name kind of relationship now) crooning to me while I was cruising around St. Louis trying to avoid the potholes and crazy Midwest drivers it seemed like he calmed me in the situations that normally had me turning into Mr. Wheeler. Jimmy sells escapism and I'm totally buying in. He helped me remember and to have a piece of Florida and the Gulf Coast lifestyle that I miss.

8. Lists

I love lists, sometimes my lists have lists. It has gotten to the point where I write down everything that crosses my mind. I' starting to wonder if I'm making my memory muscle weak because of this.

7. Snuggie

Yup, I have a Snuggie. I was gifted my snuggie from my husband last year for Christmas. Bet you didn't know they made a Snuggie covered with an eyeball-less skeleton (aka Jack Skellington). The funny thing is my husband bought the Snuggie and then had to sit through a tirade of me talking about how DUMB Snuggies are and how POINTLESS they seem. Ha. The funny thing is that I love my Snuggie now even though I use it like a blanket and not like some weird cult robe.

6. Word Nerd

I was in the English Honors class, it was the closest I came to being "gifted" so yea I'm going to brag. I like using big words and grammar phrases like "unclear antecedent". It drives me nuts when people say "I could care less". I make jokes with my husband about nouns and verbs. I think this all qualifies me as a word nerd.

5. Laundry

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I love doing laundry. I love how easy it is. You put dirty things in, they come out smelling good and feeling good. Minimal effort on my part. How can you not like that? It's so easy and its hard not to feel efficient when you do laundy too. You start with piles and end up with neat and clean. It totally is feeding the OCD clean freak that lives inside of me.

4. MTV drama, True Life, 16 and Pregnant, etc etc

I don't love MTV. I use to watch all the Real World Somewhere and Real World/ Road Rules Challenge shows. The thing that gets me addicted to MTV now are the more realistic documentary type shows that are basically focused on people with some kind of problem/dilema/ issue in their life and how they deal with it. True Life I'm A Southern Belle is practically memorized at this point. I find Maci on 16 and Pregnant to be really cute. The True Life episode about the couple with trust issues and then he eneded up DYING of a stomach issue had me sobbing and paranoid at the same time. I general I find it really fascinating to watch how people choose to deal with the things that life throws at them.

3. Lolcats

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Wikipedia describes lolcats as “a photo of a cat with a caption characteristically formatted in a sans serif font [...] The caption is intentionally written with deviations from standard English spelling and syntax featuring “strangely-conjugated verbs, but tend to converge to a new set of rules in spelling and grammar.”

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So is there really any question why I find this humorous?

2. Movies that make me cry

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Sometimes it just really feels good to watch a movie that you know is going to have you reaching for the tissues and a shoulder to cuddle with. A good cry can be better then ice cream or cookies and milk. And better for your waistline too. I can only think of one movie that made me cry that wouldn't make for a "good cry" movie and it involves a little yellow lab and rhymes with "Shmarley and be". Yea, no more of that.


1. Cheetos

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"The cheese that goes CRUNCH!" Yup, Cheetos. 0 nutritional value, orange powder left on your fingers to mark your guilty indulgence. But this guilty pleasure gets even better (worse?). I'm not the only one digging the Chester Cheetah. So does Wednesday. You see my guilty pleasure isn't just cheese powder. What do you do after having a few Cheetos and your fingers are all covered in orange? In my case you let the little kitty lick it off. Rough sand paper tongue and little black face now covered with orange dots.

Gross? Maybe. But how do you say NO to a face like this?

And then I wash my hands. :)

So spill it! What kind of guilty pleasures do you have? No judging, we're all friends here.

Wednesday's Wednesday Wisdom

Look who is Pet of the Month in our complex!

And I just KNOW all this celebrity is going to go straight to her head. As if there wasn't enough attitude to deal with already.