Saturday, January 8, 2011

Pioneer Woman's Charlie the Ranch Dog


Oh, I'm such a fan of Pioneer Woman, well me and just about everybody I know.  She has taken a little blog and made a lucrative business out of it.  Now she has this children's book coming out in April, and you can preorder it now on Amazon.  Guess who will snap this up for her little granddaughter.  Yep, you betcha, Grammie Jan is going to be reading this to Abby ASAP!  You can read more about it on Ree's site.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Laputa–the best phone app, EVER!

I upgraded recently from a Droid to a Droid X, thanks to Jean, who told me about a rockin’ deal, and I found this book reader app called Laputa.  It’s absolutely fantastic, and I’m able to download a lot of current books from one of their third party links.  I’ve been reading Laura Bush’s biography, what a fascinating woman she is.

So if there are any smartphone users reading this, check into Laputa.  It doesn’t work for iPhone, but it does work on Android based systems, and Blackberry. It’s absolutely amazing.  You can set font size, font type, the pages turn like a book, the pages bookmark, and you always have an instant read with you wherever you go.  If you download this and can’t figure out how to get the current books, just email me and I’ll show you how to do it.

There are two versions of Laputa, the free version and the Pro version that costs $3.99.  You need the pro version so that you can add all the books to your bookshelf. Trust me it’s $3.99 well spent, you will love this!

And for the skeptics who think a phone is too small to read a book on, you’re wrong.  I was skeptical, too, but it works amazingly well.

You can read all about it here>>>

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Cristina Ferrare's Big Bowl of Love...

Cristina Ferrare is sixty years old now.  She still has it, gorgeous, funny, spontaneous and a world class cook.  I'll be taping her series for sure.  She's just the BEST!

January favorites…

You all know how fond I am of original scent Jergen’s lotion, love that cherry almond smell.  But when we were at John and Deanna’s for Christmas she had Jergen’s Ultra Healing Dry Skin Moisturizer, and I have to admit, it really moisturizes better than any lotion I’ve ever used, and I’ve tried a lot of brands in the past.  So, for the winter months, I’m giving up my cherry scent for softer hands.  Still have those pots of Carmex sitting all around the house, though. ;o)

I bought the Cuisinart Brew Central that I blogged about a few entries ago.  It’s simply wonderful, just like people told me it was.  And my coffee flavor of choice right now is Gloria Jean’s Butter Toffee.  It’s wonderful on these cold January days.

And since January is all about soup, I haven’t made this yet, but I’m going to duplicate it later this week and it just might become a favorite.  Hubby and I went out to lunch yesterday and I had ham and bean soup.  When I make mine, I always put tomatoes in it, this one didn’t have them, and I think it will be easy to recreate.  It’s great northern beans cooked in chicken broth, finely diced celery, onion and carrots and finely diced ham.  It was “soupy” but thick, and I’m thinking that they must have used an immersion blender to puree part of the cooked beans to give it the thickness, and then they added a bit of cream of milk to finish it. 

Hmmm, that was a pretty short list wasn’t it?   But, oh, I forgot the fireplace remote control that dh got me for Christmas.  It is the ultimate in laziness.  Now I can sit in my chair, with the M&M’s snuggled in beside me, and read without having to get up and turn of the darned fireplace when it gets too warm in the room.  And no, I don’t wear one of those gawdawful snuggie things, and the dogs don’t wear them either.  Puh-leez, just shoot me now if I ever go there!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Talk about a nightmare!

I dreamed I lost all of my makeup and my cell phone was wet and wouldn’t work.  Can you think of anything worse?  I was never so glad to wake up in my life!!!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Gigi’s Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes

chocolatesaltedcaramel

This is the cupcake I have been raving about.  I put together the recipe for it and published it on Jan Can Cook.

This is total decadence, girlfriends.  It’s time consuming, but would be a great project for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you want to treat the family.

Here’s the click, check this out and don’t be overwhelmed by all the steps it takes to make this.  It’s well worth it, pinky swear it is…

~ jan

Monday, January 3, 2011

I’m back….

 

ab

The holidays seemed to have gone by in a blur.  We were in Nashville with John and Deanna for nine days, then off to Lexington for the New Years with Ryan, Lindsay and Abby, it was such a good time.

Cuppycake was really into opening her presents.  Lindsay would start the tear and she would rip into them, so excited to see what was inside.  It’s just amazing how much these little ones grow in a year.  She got a little car to ride, and she sits on it and honks the horn and watches her cartoons, of course it’s just the cutest thing ev-er.

Lambchop was a hit.  If you need a cute gift, look for it on Amazon, the quality was great, and it talks and is just precious.

We had awesome food, I posted a recipe on Jan Can Cook for Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Mizithra Cheese, which is just the best thing you ever put in your mouth, pinkie swear it is!

We went to a cupcake shop, where I ate the most wonderful concoction of dark chocolate cupcake, caramel buttercream, topped off with a chocolate glaze and salt.  I’m looking for a similar recipe for that to post for you all.

I’m ready for January, and doing nothing, I’m sure most of you are, as well.  Life is good this sunny cold Monday of the New Year.  I’ll be around more, now that I have time.

~ jan

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