Gingerbread village coming soon, check back...

s'mores and gingerbread in progress..... finished gingerbread village coming soon....

Christmas is for sharing...

We did it the old fashioned way....

Ryan, Lindsay and I have been in the kitchen today. We baked a cheesecake, a batch of snickerdoodles, mexican wedding cookies,Reese Cup peanut blossoms, molasses cookies, and a batch of the Artisan Bread, most of which Ryan stirred by hand...

I was telling Ry that when I was a small child, we didn't have a mixer, and when Mother would bake, Daddy would stir. It's hard work stirring all that batter, but he wanted to give it a try, so he stirred the cookies by hand and the result was creamy smooth cookie dough...

Here's links to what we fixed in case you are interested. I've made the molasses cookies since the boys were little, they are big and moist and really fragrant. The mexican wedding cookies are a family tradition, the Reese Cup Blossoms and the Artisan Bread are new for us this year, and who doesn't love Snickerdoodles.

Just click on the name of the food for the recipe.

King Arthur Flour Snickerdoodles
Reese Cup Peanut Butter Blossoms (I substituted miniature Reese Cups for the Hershey Kisses)
Molasses Cookies from Silver Palate
Mexican Wedding Cookies
Artisan Bread

And the recipe for the Bon Appetit Cheesecake is -
CRUST:
1 package crushed graham crackers
3 Tablespoons sugar
4 Tablespoons butter -- melted

FILLING:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese -- room temp.
4 eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons vanilla

TOPPING:
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to
350F. Lightly butter 9 or 10 inch springform pan.

For crust: Combine walnuts, graham cracker crumbs
and butter. Press compactly onto bottom of pan.

For filling: Beat cream cheese in large bowl of
electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, sugar, lemon
juice and vanilla and beat thoroughly. Spoon over
crust.

Set pan on baking sheet to catch any butter that may
drip out. Bake 10 inch cake 40-45 minutes or 9 inch
cake 50 to 55 minutes. (Cake may rise slightly and
crack in several areas; it will settle again, cracks
will minimize and topping will cover it up.) Remove
from oven and let stand at room temp 15 minutes.
Retain oven temperature at 350.

For topping: Combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla
and blend well. Cover and refrigerate. When cake has
finished baking, spoon topping over, starting at center
and extending to within 1/2 inch of edge. Return to
oven and bake 5 minutes longer. Let cool, then
refrigerate cheesecake for at least 24 hours or,
preferably, 2 to 3 days.

This is wonderful plain, even better with cherry or strawberry
topping...

The quality of this video is AMAZING. Takes a minute to download, be patient. it's worth the wait.. ~ jan

Oh, ladies, do I have a recipe for you...

My daughter-in-law, Lindsay is a HUGE fan of Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bars, so I whipped her up a batch from a recipe I got online. They were, as she says, VUNDERBAR!!!

Soooooo, yummy, and very similar to the original Starbuck's Recipe. I posted them for you on Jan Can Cook, so click here and check them out. They are SO pretty, too - a great treat for your family this holiday weekend. ENJOY!!!

~ Milly and Dilly....

And finally...

We've done as much as we can for now. I have to bake the final batch of train cars, then it's the family's turn. They get to do the fun stuff, put all the candies on the cars, make the marshmallow snowmen, add some more trees, eat the s'mores and drink the hot chocolate. Then they dust the whole thing with snow and it's magic... we hope...

Progress.... more to come...

And so it begins....

Today was a trial run on the little Williams Sonoma Gingerbread Cake I told you about. I made it EXACTLY like they told me to in the instructions. Of course it didn' work, instructions are always wrong, it puffed up way too much, so I fixed it - I took dental floss and cut it even with the top of the pan, turned it upside down, and TADA, it's a TRAIN!

Now this is just my first run-thru, and I used a spice cake mix, looks like the original train in the picture below was a vanilla cake, but you can see what I'm trying to attempt. I have some air bubbles in it, I need to tweak it, obviously, next I think I'll try that vanilla cake instead of the spice one, too.

I'll be boring all of you with this as it progresses, LC is going to build the board to put it on, we're going to make the track ahead of time, and the kids will all decorate it Christmas Eve...



And, finally, the picture below is what I hope it doesn't turn out like. I Googled Williams Sonoma Train Cake images, and this one showed up. Holy Schmoly, SURELY we can do better than these people did.... This is more of a train WRECK than a cake... Click on the bottom image and it enlarges, you can see detail..

Oh Christmas tree, oh Christmas tree...

Munchie loves to nap next to the wooden goose on the ottoman in
front of the fireplace. She ALWAYS points her little head at the tree. Silly little dog.....

My dear friends and family,

Somewhat embarrassing to admit, I'm not getting an annual bonus and
Christmas is tight this year. I will be making bedroom slippers for you all as
gifts. Please let me know your sizes. You'll most likely agree that it's a
splendid idea, and should you wish to do the same, I've included the
instructions below:

How to make bedroom slippers out of maxi pads:

You need four maxi pads to make a pair.
Two of them get laid out flat, for the foot part.
The other two wrap around the toe area to form the top.
Tape or glue each side of the top pieces to the bottom of the foot part.

Decorate the tops with whatever you desire, silk flowers (this is most
appealing), etc.

These slippers are:

* Soft and Hygienic
* Non-slip grip strips on the soles
* Built in deodorant feature keeps feet smelling fresh
* No more bending over to mop up spills
* Disposable and biodegradable
* Environmentally safe
* Three convenient sizes: Regular, Light and Get out the Sand Bags.

Awaiting your response. It's crucial that I get the right size for each
one of you.


MERRY CHRISTMAS !! My dear friends and family, And beware of strange boxes!

Just a reminder...

If you haven't visited my Holiday Goodies pages, you're missing out. Lots of tried and true great recipes there from yours truly and her girlfriends, the Butter Cream Fudge recipe is AMAZING, as is Veronica's Macinac Island Butter Pecan Fudge. ALL the recipes are great, we make Lindsay's Cheesy Artichoke Dip every year, and we'll be having John's Hot Chocolate, and don't forget your little furry friends, ours will be getting a batch of doggie treats from that page.

Click here to see what it's all about...

Lawdy, Lawdy.....

You got to know when to hold em, know when to fold em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run...

Just had to publish this picture of Sharon Stone this morning. Girlfriends, take a good look at yourself before you leave the house to Christmas shop today. Whatever is this woman thinking??? I know what she's thinking, I'm still young, I'm thin, I'm hip. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Eeeeekks, that headband, and that slash of horrid red lipstick. She looks like Norma Desmond. Ahhhh, you younger readers are saying, who's Norma Desmond??? GOOGLE HER....

Have a good day, everybody, I'm going grocery shopping. Ry and Linds are coming in and Dilly's my little baker. Oh, I do love having someone to be in the kitchen with me. Actually, Ry said he will be in there too. That's no surprise, that boy does love to cook.... And Dilly's a great baker, so we'll being having yummy smells at our house. Stop by for coffee and cookies... For real stop by....

A little Christmas info from Heavensville...

Thanks to Stephani's Serendipity for the idea to do this. I snagged her theme, filled in my own info...

Favorite winter beverage? Hands down, has to be the Starbucks experience. No drive-thru for this girl, have to sit in their comfy chairs, listen to the jazz, chat up my girlfriends... such fun...

Favorite Christmas candy? Has to be those darned peppermint softies, that I FINALLY found at CVS, thanks to V... I do love peanut butter fudge, too, ohhhhh and as a child Mother made the BEST divinity with black walnuts.

Favorite candy cane flavor? I'm a traditional girl, has to be red and white striped.

Favorite Christmas cookie? Favorite cookie ANYTIME is Oatmeal, soft chewy ones with lots of pecans and raisins, even at Christmas. Our family's Aunt Ruby Walsh's Mexican Wedding Cookies are a close second. Our family loves my sugar cookies, too.

Favorite Christmas song? I'm a huge fan of Baby It's Cold Outside - fave album this year is James Taylor at Christmas - oh, he is sooooooo smooth....

Favorite Christmas movie? Holiday Inn, I've loved it for years. Of course, you already know that National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation is a tradition at our house, but Holiday Inn is hands down favorite.

Favorite Christmas colors? Can't beat red and green. Love the golds and the silvers, burgundy, too. But red and green are such happy colors.

Actual color scheme of YOUR decor? Gold and burgundy, go figure...

Favorite Christmas tradition? Cooking with our old family recipes. And we ALWAYS argue about opening gifts early, but we never do. Just wouldn't be right.

What is your tree topper? It's an old world Santa.

How are your outdoor Christmas lights displayed? Just little gold twinkle lights on a tree at our front door, surrounded by snowmen sitting on my concrete bench.

Inquiring minds want to know ... small bulbs? OR large bulbs? I have small lights - my favorites are bubble lights though, and the old fashioned big multi-colored ones.

Favorite holiday icon collection?? Snowmen, Snowmen, and more Snowmen. I love them, give them to my Dillys, too.

What is YOUR Holiday budget? Budget? I always kinda have one, I always blow it. It's Christmas, people...

So the real question is what kind of tree do you have? Is it real or fake? prelit? Green or flocked? Most years I have two, one in the living room, and one in the family room one decorated with the boys sock monkeys that mother made when they were children and their teddy bears, and all of our favorite ornaments throughout the years, but I didn't put it up this year, just a blingy one in the living room. It's fake, it's green, and it's loaded with stuff... and unfortunately it's NOT prelit...

What do you consider the very best gifts are? homemade? or store bought? I love homemade ones, they are so special, but I'm always behind, so I buy. This year, a lot of it online, and in the future, maybe all of it online. So easy...

Which is better in your opinion? surprises galore? OR being a sneaky peeker? SURPRISES GALORE! I HATE TO PEAK, NEVER DO...

I've been out shopping ALL afternoon, I'm soooo tired now...

Tehehehehehehe

You could all probably use a laugh this morning. Barb sent me the following... Good one, girlfriend...

I was walking down the street when I was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner.

I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked, 'If I give you this money, will you buy wine with it instead of dinner?'

'No, I had to stop drinking years ago', the homeless woman told me.

'Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?' I asked.

'No, I don't waste time shopping,' the homeless woman said.

'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.'

'Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?' I asked.

'Are you NUTS !' replied the homeless woman. ' I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!'

'Well,' I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.'

The homeless Woman was shocked. 'Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.'

I said, 'That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and wine.'

Lemon Sticky Pecan Rolls

Okay ladies, heads up on this one. My friend, Nisha was at a coffee Saturday morning, and her friend Kathy made these rolls. She's made them for seveal years, and Nish says they are AWESOME! Easy, too.

So, I published them on Jan Can Cook - Click Here to Access Quickly -

I'm going to have them Christmas morning with Strata. Tonia ADORES Strata, so we have it every Christmas morning, I'll also do fresh fruit with this, pineapple and maybe strawberries, too.

If you want an easy, do it the night before recipe, this one's for you kids...

~ jan

Eartha Kitt, the ORIGINAL Santa Baby , lookin' pretty foxy for an old dame...

Bread to try...

I was listening to Splendid Table this morning on NPR, and they had a couple of artisan bread bakers on, and they were telling all about their no knead refrigerator bread. They stir it up, put it in a plastic bucket and keep in the fridge for up to two weeks. They said after a week or so, it tastes a bit like sourdough, it sounds fascinating to me, and EASY. They pinch off a piece, then bake it on a pizza stone in the oven with a broiler pan filled with hot water on the bottom rack to create steam and make a crunchy crust.

I posted the recipe on Jan Can Cook. Check it out HERE...

Or, if you want to listen to the actual podcast, you can do it online at splendidtable.org -

If any of you try this, let me know how it turns out...

~ jan

Yeah, I know I have a red tongue... V told me where to find those soft peppermint candies. Yep, I've been into them this morning....

How cute is this????

This is Jes, Ang's youngest, with her much loved pooch, Chino.

Chino's a house dog, now. Poor feller, his dog house was invaded by a squirrel. For real it was, and Chino hasn't set foot paw in it for months now.

Hey, this dog has a good gig going, it's lots more fun living in the house anyway...

I'm so proud of Veronica....

My buddy, V, has just built and published her first webpages. And she did an absolutely SPECTACULAR job, too. She bought books, read, and figured out how to do it all by herself! Veronica is really arty, so when she told me she was going to do this, I had no doubt that she would build great pages, and she did an amazing job.

Veronica grew up in South Haven, Michigan and has fond memories of visiting Silver Beach Amusement Park as a child. She has spent a lot of time researching, emailing, and compiling information for her site and today she threw the switch and published it.

So, go check out her pages, it's quite the nostalgic trip down memory lane. Good job, Veronica, GOOD JOB!!!!

Check out her site at rememberingsilverbeach.com, or click HERE!

My little Tutti-Fruitti...

Well, as you can see the header is FINALLY fixed, I feel SO much better... So......

Little Miss Maggie Moo is wild about oranges, WILD for them. She even likes those icky Florida ones. The other day I saw her trying to bury something in the couch. Well, actually she doesn't bury it IN the couch, but ON the couch, she puts her treasures in plain site and thinks she has hidden them. I didn't know what it was, and on closer inspection, it was an orange peeling, much chewed, I might add. Now why would she like to chew on an orange peel. You would think that she would hate the strong taste of it, but apparently not.

Just now, I walked to the kitchen, and there was half of an orange on the floor, and she had been having herself a really good time with it. I haven't a clue as to how she got it, apparently I ate half of an orange, didn't realize I didn't eat the rest and she snagged it.

So now I have this citrus smelling pooch asleep in her bed on my computer desk. Not complaining, though, I've smelled MUCH worse...

Jan, 'doin the happy dance now that the header is working...

Blogger is having problems tonight...

I know, the picture is blurry, but it isn't coming from this end, the Blogger server is having issues, hopefully they will resolve it soon, in the meantime - Grrrr.......

I got ripped off...

Do you remember me telling all of you how Nisha told me that California oranges were so much better than Florida oranges, and that she was right on, as she usually is. I've been buying the BEST oranges at the grocery this month, and ALWAYS California navels.

But, a few weeks ago, before I knew the difference, LC told me that some lady was selling oranges at work for the Kiwanis. And I have fond memories of big crates of oranges from long ago that we used to purchase from these organizations as a child. So, naturally, I tell him to go for it.

So he did, and OMG, girls, you should have seen what he brought home a couple of nights ago. It didn't even closely resemble a crate, it was this tiny little box of 12 shriveled, hard little oranges that looked like JUICE ORANGES from FLORIDA, and they tasted TOTALLY DRY, TOTALLY HORRIBLE, AND TOTALLY JUICELESS. What a RIPOFF!!!! Twelve little oranges for $14.00 - ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Oh, those darned Kiwanis anyway, they should be ashamed of themselves. Learn from my mistakes, ladies, read that label and if it says Florida, PUT IT BACK!!!! It's definitely NOT a good thing!!!

Here's whats happening today in Heavensville...

I'm busier than a one-armed pimp in a b*tch slapping contest, but instead of pacing myself, I keep thinking up more things to do....

My latest is this:

A couple of years ago I bought this nifty little S'More Maker, and have I used it, NOT - but this is the year. I've decided that when the kids come home, we are going to decorate those cute little Williams-Sonoma Train Cars and make S'Mores.

So, what's the big deal, well, a couple of years ago I saw Martha Stewart make marshmallows, and naturally I thought it was just the neatest thing ev-er, so I'm going to give it a go. Click here for the recipe.

And today, I saw this site that had not only made homemade marshmallows, but also had made homemade graham crackers. Access the site HERE!

Now, my original idea was to do little gourmet S'Mores, using my homemade marshmallows, Andes Chocolate Mints, Squares of Dark Chocolate Dove Bars, Hershey's Special Chocolate Bars with Almonds, and Pepperidge Farm Chessman Cookies.

But now, I'm thinking I should try and bake homemade graham crackers. Hmmmm, sounds like a project for Linds and I. Dilly is the baker, she'll help me.

Also have to make doggie treats - it's a yearly thing, you can check out my recipe for them HERE. I posted this recipe a few years ago on Holiday Favorites, and it's a goodie... If you're in a hurry and don't want to use a bone cutter, you can always use a noodle cutter and cut them in thin strips. The dogs won't care. *grin*

~ jan

Why can't we have good cartoons like this, anymore. This one is positively ADORABLE - Tom and Jerry - my FAVES!!!!

Take a minute...

Grab a cup of hot tea, crank up your speakers and enjoy. One of my very favorite renditions of this song. What's not to love about Dolly. She's as sweet as Spun Sugar.... And gravelly voiced ole' Rod Stewart isn't bad, either...

This is why you don't ' bring this stuff home from the store....

I simply ADORE cherry covered chocolates, Brach's have always been my faves, but I never see them anymore.

So I'm shopping last week, and I see these individually wrapped Cellas Dark Chocolate Covered Cherries. I flip them over to read the nutritionals, and they are only 60 calories per piece.

Hmmmm, that's not bad, just one point each, so I buy them. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. Betcha can't just eat one!!!

Oh no, Miz Piggy here has eaten the whole box of twenty-four, except for these token four that are left, and which will in all probability be consumed by tonight. I'm not bringing this stuff into the house ANYMORE!!!!! I'm NOT... I have NO willpower - NONE!!! And I might as well zero them out and calculate how many calories i've ingested - let's see, 24x60 = 1440 calories *huge sigh*

On a happier note, see the little Chef. My buddy V bought him for me years ago, and I always put him out at Christmas. He used to hold a gingerbread boy, and I actually still have it, just needs to be super glued back on....

Miz Piggy should do something productive like repair the little chef and leave the chocolate covered cherries alone!!!!!!

It's a family tradition...

It's the most STUPID movie, ever, but we all love it. We watch it year after year after year and laugh like we've never seen it before.... So, watch this trailer, and see if it doesn't give you a giggle, too.. ~ jan

The M&M's letter to Santa...

You're looking at the typewriter in my living room. It's the one that Daddy used when he went to Lockyear's Business College in Heavensville in the early 50's. The older I get, the more I enjoy using things that belonged to my parents...



If you click on the picture, another window will open and you will be able to read the letter...

This is SO cute... CLICK ON THE PIX for an up close view...

See this Christmas Theme. For those of you who use FireFox as a browser, you can have it, too, thanks to my buddy, Hooterville, she ALWAYS finds the good stuff...

If you're unsure how to install it, it's easy - here's how.

CLICK HERE TO INSTALL IT, now you see a page with a little button that says INSTALL NOW. Click on the button to install the theme to your FireFox browser.

When it finishes downloading, close FireFox - then reopenFireFox, and go to TOOLS/ADD-ONS/on the file menu, and you will a Tinseltown Theme - Click on the box that says USE THEME, Close Firefox Again, and then when you reopen FireFox again, it will be there. Even the little slider bar is cute, it's a candy cane. You gotta have it, girlfriends...

Enjoy. ~ jan

I'm trying men for a change...

That headline got your attention, I bet....

Okay, here's the deal, look at my Books on My Bedside Table widget in the right sidebar. Notice, male authors, MEN. I never read men, EV-ER, a lot of you know that, but I'm rethinking it. Giving them another chance.

And so far I'm finding that they are just as boring as they ever were. Oh, they are full of adventure, tall tales and excitement, but they just don't have the touch. What I need is a GAY author. Yep, that's what I'm looking for next...

In the meantime, I'm reading Dean Koontz's, The Darkest Evening of the Year, and while it's a good read, it's just not what I like. He, most certainly, is NOT gay...

Do you remember these????

I'm looking for peppermint puffs. I can buy them online, but SURELY I can find them locally. I loved them as a little girl, the big puffy pillows of peppermint that dissolve in your mouth almost instantly.

I had hubby take me to Rural King last weekend, because they have bulk candy, and I bought what they called peppermint "puffs", but they were just logs of peppermint. I didn't think they looked right, but I tried them, those suckers never would dissolve in my mouth, they were just regular pieces of peppermint, grrrrrrrr.

I was talking with V about this today. We were also reminiscing about ribbon hard candy, we both love that, too.

So if ANY of you out there have seen peppermint puffs, please send me an email.

~ jan

Lord, have MERCY!!!!!

I thought Joan VanArk looked bad, but look at the getup that Miss Aretha wore to the Kennedy Center Honors.

The headline with the article said, "Aretha Franklin wears the White House curtains!"

The straps on this getup must be cutting her shoulders to the BONE!!!

TO-THE-BONE!!!

There are just no words...

Doesn't this just scare the Beejeejus right outta you....

Eeeeekkkkkkks, this is Hollywood gone WRONG. I used to enjoy watching Joan VanArk on Knotts Landing back in the 80's... But she is living proof positive that you just can't mess with Mother Nature.

Holy Batman and Robin, she is downright SCARY!!!!

"Actress Joan Van Ark of Knots Landing fame could turn back time – it's safe to say the actress might think twice before ruining her once stunning looks with cosmetic surgery

Van Ark, 64, was seen at a benefit in Hollywood wearing a sober suit, and mask-like make-up which failed to hide the fact that she has appeared to have been under the surgeon's knife. Several times."

Meteorological Info...

The length of the day is now 9.2 hrs. That’s the bad news. The good news is that in a little more than two weeks, we’ll hit rock bottom for darkness. Then it starts going up. What a nice thought.

Just for fun...

Favorite Things Have Arrived.....

I've had such fun reading all of your emails and putting together your lists.

I hope you all enjoy them as much as I have, and thanks to all of you who so generously contributed your favorites. Much of this site would not be possible without the input and the friendship of so many of you. Girlfriends are a wonderful thing.

To access them, just click in the Favorite Things area in the left sidebar, or CLICK HERE!


Enjoy, Enjoy... ~ jan

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
area paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Today's the Day...

I'm working on favorite things, check back in an hour or so... ~ jan

Okay, here's the deal...

I have been knee deep in Christmas decorations for the past two days. The house has been pretty much destroyed, trying to get it all out, all up. Is it finished - NOT. Tree is up, not decorated, yet. Mantle is finished, dining room and kitchen are done... And FAVORITE THINGS???? NOT DONE!!! Patience, dear hearts, tomorrow, I pinkie swear..........

Tomorrow, tomorrow, it's only a day away.....

It was just one of those nights....

Okay, this is more info than you want to hear, but haven't we all had these nights???

I was off to bed early, took a warm bath, went to bed at 9pm with a BIG mug of hot tea, all cozy, relaxed, THEN, I decided to check out some Christmas present ideas on Amazon, so I fired up my laptop, after finding what I wanted to look up, I decided to play some stupid, silly computer game. At 11:15 the battery on my laptop died, I was still playing that dumb game, and by now I'm totally awake, no chance of just drifting off to sleep. So I make a bathroom run, settle in for the night,FINALLY get to sleep, and LC jumps up and turns on the light. He thought Munchie was crying. Arughhh, it's 1AM, Munchie is fast asleep at the foot of the bed. He was DREAMING... I'm awake, I make a potty run, go back to sleep and it's now 3AM - I'm awake, I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S THAT DAMN MUG OF TEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Back to sleep, fast forward to 5:30AM - Munchie is whining, she has to go outside, I wake up LC, go once again to the bathroom, and I'm back to sleep. It's 7:30AM - he comes bursting in the room singing friggin' Jingle Bells. I'm about ready to lose it by now. And today we have to put up the Christmas tree and decorate the house. And I'm so tired I feel pretty much like a pile of day old dog doodoo...

Is this why old people never drink fluids after 6pm. Is this what my future holds? Calgon take me away.................................

On a more positive note, I'm not retaining fluid this morning *lame smile*

I'm off to decorate, Favorite Things posts tomorrow, I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about all our favorite things more than you have enjoyed reading about my potty runs....

I recycle my apple cores...

Veronica brought Michigan apples to me from her Thanksgiving trip to South Haven, and they taste AMAZING. I'm not the only one who thinks so, The M&M's line up for bites when I'm eating them and then I take turns giving them the cores to chew on. Oh, I wish you could see them, they lick and tug, and rake their teeth over those cores, drooling and making little doggie messes, but oh, do they love them....

It's those simple things, ladies....

I admit it....

I enjoy Martha Stewart, I always have, always will. Am I fan, well I don't think I am, but I do follow her, so maybe I am.

Anyhoo, her Martha Blog is SO interesting. If you want to see some lovely pictures from Puget Sound, and great Thanksgiving photos, give it a look - CLICK HERE -

I like to think this is a more personal, gentler side of Martha....

And YES, I'm still working on Favorite Things, I have EVERYBODY'S finished except MINE.... Soon, ladies, soon....

Cancer Prevention -

I read the following article this morning, no surprises, really, but something we should all read.

~ jan

People have long wondered if a healthy diet can prevent cancer, but the answer has been a little unclear — until recently. The World Cancer Research Fund has now reviewed 7,000 medical studies and concluded that, yes, your diet (and weight) can affect whether you get cancer or not. While this large analysis focused only on past research studies, you may still be surprised by the scientists' recommendations.The researchers' diet recommendations are to:

limit red meat to no more than 2.5 ounces per day

eat no processed meats (bacon, sausage)

limit alcohol to two drinks for men and one drink for women per day

avoid sugary drinks like juices and sodas

limit sodium to 2000 mg per day

Other recommendations beyond those for diet included:

exercise every other day

get your nutrients from foods, not supplements

breastfeed your babies

control your body weight with body mass index between 18.5 and 24.9

Favorite Things...

No time to blog, working on Favorite Things. It's all coming together nicely, if you haven't sent me your faves, your missing out girlfriends. This is pretty much your last chance to send them to me -
I'll be back with a link to the list soon. Check back.

~ jan

Another one of my favorite things...

This old jar has held a LOT of goodies over the years. I change it with the seasons, and I'm getting ready to put Little Debbie Christmas Trees in it for the Christmas season. Hey, don't turn up your nose, Little Debbie Christmas Tree's are adorable...

Veronica had a jar like this in her kitchen, and I always admired it, so a few years ago, she gave me one. The lid was on loan from her until I could find a lid myself, but since possession is nine-tenths of the law, I still have it. I never found one as pretty as her green one.

If you look closely, you will see flour on the front. That's flour from my birthday cake. ( note the mixer cord in the picture). John whipped me up an Angel Food Cake Sunday morning, and dear son of mine made a bit of a mess. It was so special, I couldn't clean it off.

Yeah, right Jan, you were just too LAZY to clean it off. No, really, I didn't even notice it until I started to take the picture, and then I was like, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... I'm such a sucker for my family.... And Veronica..... Well, she IS family to me... And she's NOT getting her green lid back, either....

Had a HUGE java jolt this am...

I'm into the Favorite Things pages, ladies. I'll let you know later today when I'll publish them. If you haven't sent yours to me, there is still time....

Oh, won't you all be glad when this is over so I will leave you alone. Until I think of something else, there is ALWAYS something else going on in my little pea brain...

Holy Schmoly, I'm totally WIPED.....

The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be
The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Many long years ago.

Happy Birthday to me.....

This turning 58 isn't so bad after all. John and Tonia have been here all weekend, taken me out for yummy food, shopped 'til we dropped and last night about 8pm - SURPRISE, Ryan and Lindsay came home early from Seattle so they could be here today for my birthday...

Family is a wonderful thing... Ahhh, the boys and the Dillys, LC and the M&M's and my Granddog, Oreo - all here for my birthday.

Jan doin' the happy dance.....

A little family trick for you this holiday weekend...

It's Sunday morning, the family wants pancakes. Well, let me tell you the niftiest idea I've read about it in a long time....

Get your griddle hot, take you pancake batter, dip a spoonful and make a smiley face on the griddle - two dots for the eyes, and a smiley mouth, and then let it cook until the edges just start to brown, then go ahead and pour your pancake batter over the top of the smiley face and cook the pancake like you normally do.

When you flip it, you have a smiley face on your pancake, a bit browner because you cooked it first - I saw a picture, drats, I didn't save it. It really special, trust me... give it a try. I bet you get smiles at your house with this trick.

~ jan

Favorite Things...

I'm getting some really good favorite things, ladies. I'll be publishing the list next week, so keep those emails coming in.

Let me give you another tease - Artwork by Gustav Klimt, Austrian Painter (1862-1918)

Happy Thanksgiving from Heavensville....

I've got exactly FIVE minutes to spare this morning, the house is humming, pots are simmering, chicken is stewing, and family are enroute.

I was thinking as I was cooking this morning, that I have so many nifty kitchen gadgets, I should do a video blog and show you some of my stash. More ideas for your Christmas lists.

So I'll do that, later in the weekend, when I catch my breath...

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday today - family and friends, that's what it's all about...

Well, that and the pecan pie *wink* and the buttered rolls, and the noodles, and and and and...

I'm thankful for...

It's almost 9am, this day before Thanksgiving, the food is in the fridge, preparations are about to get underway, John and Tonia will be home tomorrow, Ry and Lindsay made it safely to Seattle, and I am thankful because...

Hubby and I are healthy, my children and their spouses now live within a three hour radius, and we get to see them often, the M&M's are so precious, and such a joy to me , and I'm thankful for my wonderful family of girlfriends, who bring me spasms of giggles and the warm fuzzy feelings that come from years of friendship....

And, I am truly grateful that my computer has not only a 320 gig harddrive, but an external harddrive as well, and that I have a 24" monitor so that I can have lots and lots of applications on screen at once, and that the Alzheimer's hasn't kicked in to an extent that I can no longer blog and build webpages. And you thought I was going to be TOTALLY serious. *grin* You all know me better than that.

Happy Thanksgiving to your family from all of us in Heavensville. May your day be blessed with yummy food, minimal tummy discomfort and little weight gain...

~ jan

Favorite Things...

People are starting to respond, I'm getting lists of favorite things. I've got some goodies for all of you, but I need MORE...

Let me give you a couple of teases - velour sweats from Target, and Lucky jeans for girls with "booty"...

So fire me those emails, next week I'll publish Jan & Friends Favorite Things on the Dish....

They're still filming...

A scene from Sex and the City, filmed this week in NYC. Oh, I am so going to be at the movies on opening night, a pack of gummy bears, a diet coke, and a tub popcorn in my lap... ahhh, life's simple pleasures...

Let's talk about oranges...

Do you have one of these nifty little orange peelers??? Well, I didn't, and in fact, I had never heard of them until Nisha told me that the school janitor had thrown hers away and how upset she was. She had it for like 20 years (remember, Nish, doesn't throw out ANYTHING), so I found them on eBay, bought several of them, mailed her one, and discovered for myself what she was talking about.

OMG, this thing is so COOL!!! You make wagon wheel spokes on the outside of your orange, and then the orange skin just peels right off. It's an amazin' raisin.

AND, just last week, I was complaining about my navel oranges not being good, and she asked me what kind I bought, California or Florida? Well, I was clueless, but the little tag thingie on the orange said Florida, and she said, NEVER buy Florida oranges, they don't have the flavor that California ones do. So yesterday, I was at Schnucks, picked up a bag of CALIFORNIA navel oranges. Oh my, she was right AGAIN. These things are wonderful. Half the bag is gone. History.

I don't know what my deal is, I've been craving oranges and apples, and now I'm craving stuffed olives. If I wasn't 57 almost 58 years old, I would think I was preggers....

Oh, here's a link to that handy dandy little peeler, if you want to order one... and SURPRISE, it's good old TUPPERWARE!!! Now that's a blast from the past, Tupperware isn't around like it once was...

Here's the link...

Take a minute...

Sit back, relax, and watch this little video about a pumpkin pie. Hooterville sent it to me a bit ago, it's just a little whimsy that will make you smile. Turn on the speakers, it's a catchy little tune, too ~ jan

Click here to watch...

memories...

Wow, I actually found bird egg beans online. It's amazing how EVERYTHING in the whole world is on the net. Here's the link if you're at all curious about them - great picture, too....

BIRD EGG BEANS

And, I published the noodle recipe and the raisin pie recipe on Jan Can Cook. Click here to access them... ~ jan

A few of my "FAVORITE" things

Silpat
Williams Sonoma Chop & Measure
Silicone Pie Crust Shield
The Martha Blog

Christmas Cookies

I just published a recipe for Key Lime Spritz Cookies on the Jan Can Cook board. This is a new recipe from Midwest Living, the girlfriends that I've sent it to so far are loving the thought of it, and have plans to make it. I hope it's as good as it looks.

It's a new twist to an old fave - CLICK HERE to see if you might like to add it to your cookie rotation this year... ~ jan

Good one...

A woman goes to the doctor for her yearly physical..
The nurse starts with certain basic items.
"How much do you weigh?" she asks.
"115," she says.
The nurse puts her on the scale.
It turns out her weight is 140.

The nurse asks, "Your height?"
"5 foot 8," she says.
The nurse checks and sees that she only measures 5' 5".

She then takes her blood pressure
And tells the woman it is very high.
"Of course it's high!" she screams,
"When I came in here I was tall and slender!
Now I'm short and fat!"

I have this amazing heating pad....

It's the perfect warm temperature, it's flexible, it's fuzzy, and it has no batteries or cord. It keeps me toasty warm all thru the night....

It's Maggie!! OMG, with this cooler weather, this little dog heads under the covers and cuddles right next to me. Am I afraid I will squish her, not really, but I do worry about her breathing under the blankets. Trish assures me that London does the same thing.

You should try a warm dog in your bed. No, no, no, not a man, a REAL dog... Oh, I forgot, men ARE dogs... Just kidding, just kidding, don't want the token males that read this site to email me. It's a joke, guys, a JOKE!

bad girl, bad girl... *grin* ~ jan

Now this is just the damndest thing...

Okay ladies, now that I have your attention with my title, my buddy Hooterville, who is the guru of all things web savvy, oh my that woman is a WONDER, anyhoo, she sent me this link today. It's for this site called "What Should I Read Next."

You just go to this site, put in the title of a book that you read and really liked, along with the author, and up pops up a whole list of possibilities that are similar to the book you read and really liked. Pretty sweet, huh?

Yep, I think so too, in fact it's so sweet that I'm going to put a link to it in the right sidebar above What's on my Bedside Table.

Click here and check it out for yourself... ~ jan

That darned pie....

Ok, it was too good to be true, two points for a piece of pumpkin pie. Actually, the crust turned out pretty good, the filling was perfect, it was a beautiful pie.... but, *sigh* it had a whang to it. I'm wondering if it's because I didn't have sugar free maple syrup and I used Mrs. Butterworth's Sugar Free Syrup instead. I'm thinking that if I would have just left that syrup out entirely it would have been fine. The spices were right, it was really good, except for the aftertaste.

It was too much to expect, I know, and I was so excited. I might try it again and leave out the syrup, or maybe I'll try another filling in that crust, the crust was okay, it was almost good, actually...

Hungry Girl...

Do you all know about Hungry Girl? If not, boy are you missing out... Hungry Girl is a healthy eater's best friend. Notice I said healthy eater, not dieter - it's my latest approach in tricking my mind into staying away from the bad stuff. We'll see how this works out for me six months from now.

Anyhoo, Hungry Girl has a website - hungrygirl.com, and she also publishes a daily, Monday thru Friday, newsletter that is just DA BOMB!!! She has all the latest products, recipes, complete with weight watcher points and today she published a pumpkin pie recipe.

Now the crust for this pie is made with Fiber One Cereal, and this cereal, which happens to be just 60 calories a cup, is pretty good with Splenda and blueberries sprinkled on it. I've heard about this piecrust for awhile now, and have never made it. You pulverize the cereal, mix it with Splenda, light butter, water and cinnamon and Voila, you have a faux graham cracker crust ... So I got my fanny in gear this morning, made the pie, and it's in the oven as we speak.

Want the recipe - go on over to Eating Right - I published it on that board, so we could have it in the recipe archives.

CLICK HERE to access my Eating Right blog and view the recipe, and I'll let you all know how this pie turns out - 2 points per slice - that's Weight Watcher talk for REALLY low calorie - I may have TWO slices!!!!

~ jan

Progress...

See that little gingerbread Christmas tree in the left sidebar - click on it, and Holiday Goodies are back!!!! Yep, I've rebuilt the site, all the wonderful Christmas recipes are back - they're all here, Barb's Awesome Pumpkin Bread, two SUPERB fudge recipes, Veronica's Mackinaw Island Butter Pecan Fudge, and Buttercream Fudge, Lindsay's great Artichoke Dip, and lots more, including those doggie treats that the M&M's are such a huge fan of... Enjoy....

Spring Fling Salads are up, also - they're right below the Holiday Goodies.... ~ jan

Wet Pants

Come with me to a third grade classroom..... There is a nine-year-old kid sitting at his desk and all of a sudden, there is a puddle between his feet and the front of his pants are wet. He thinks his heart is going to stop because he cannot possibly imagine how this has happened. It's never happened before, and he knows that when the boys find out he will never hear the end of it. When the girls find out, they'll never speak to him again as long as he lives.

The boy believes his heart is going to stop; he puts his head down and prays this prayer, "Dear God, this is an emergency! I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat."

He looks up from his prayer and here comes the teacher with a look in her eyes that says he has been discovered

As the teacher is walking toward him, a classmate named Susie is carrying a goldfish bowl that is filled with water. Susie trips in front of the teacher and inexplicably dumps the bowl of water in the boy's lap.

The boy pretends to be angry, but all the while is saying to himself, "Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy is the object of sympathy. The teacher rushes him downstairs and gives him gym shorts to put on while his pants dry out. All the other children are on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk. The sympathy is wonderful. But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his has been transferred to someone else - Susie.

She tries to help, but they tell her to get out. You've done enough, you klutz!"

Finally, at the end of the day, as they are waiting for the bus, the boy walks over to Susie and whispers, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispers back, "I wet my pants once too."

May God help us see the opportunities that are always around us to do good..

Here he is gang....

Ok, Linds fired me an email this morning, "So how come LC didn't make the cut, she asked?" This afternoon I talked to Tonia and she said,
"Where's Larry in the family pix?"

Okay, okay, I fess up, he didn't make the blog pix yesterday because I'm next to him in all the pictures. He looked good, I didn't, remember.

Sooooo, here he is, I cropped myself out. Shoulda done that yesterday and saved the Dilly's from bein' in a tiz....

We are FAM-I-LY....

I absolutely DETEST corduroy pants, why did I even wear the damned things!!!!!

Grace Kelly at Sotheby's

Jean sent me a great link this morning of several photos of the Grace Kelly collection, currently on display at Sotheby's. If you want a little class in your morning, take a peek. Wonderful clothes, jewelry, even a collection of eyewear, and lots of memorabilia - enjoy. ~ jan

LINK HERE...

They're All Here...

All of your favorite Thanksgiving recipes are ready for the holidays.

Lindsay's Aunt Jan & Kaysi's Cranberry Salad, Barb's Melt-in-Your-Mouth Pumpkin Bread, Veronica's Rhubarb pie, and lots, lots more. You can access them by clicking on the Turkey in the left sidebar.

Enjoy - they're all VUNDERBAR!!!!!

~ jan

What I'm up to today...

Don't these look YUMMY????

SURPRISE, they're a Weight Watcher Recipe - only 2 points per muffin, for those non-weight watcher people, that's approximately 100 calories. Not bad, huh.

You can access the recipe on the Eating Right Board...

Here's the link - CLICK HERE -


I needed to do something healthy after my little binge yesterday. So I'm putting a chicken in the oven to roast and making these muffins.

Now, back to that binge... I made Butterscotch Brownies for Jean for her birthday, and then last night LC had a meeting at the house, so I made them again. They are SO easy, SO simple, SO FAT LADEN!!!! AND, of course I got into them and ate TWO!!! But, seriously, these brownies are the absolute best brownies that you will EVER taste.

I've had so many people just go gaga over them, and they are so simple to make, it's almost embarrassing. The butterscotch flavor comes from brown sugar and butter, not from those icky, artifical tasting butterscotch bits. So, if you want a goodie, it's on Milly Scraps, but here's the link for you - CLICK HERE! I also posted the chocolate version, on the left side of the page, but they aren't nearly as good as the butterscotch ones.

And, I'm continuing to work on the Thanksgiving Goodies page - gotta get that one rolling this week. It's a blustery, sunny day in Heavensville, the M&M's are by my side, hubby is going to work, I'm listening to smooth jazz and working on those pages.... Life is good...

Guess who's having a birthday....

No, no, look closely, that's not a gun, it's her BIGMA, the zoom lens on her camera, and she's not a rebel, she just looks like one in this pix, well actually she does like to think she's a rebel, and yes that's a playground toy she's on, some people get senile when they get old, ya know...

This is my life long, since we were toddlers buddy, Jean, aka Hooterville. She loves this picture, the old scoundrel, I think she's having some kind of late life crisis myself. She's 's getting up there in years now, she's SOOOOOOOOOOOO much older than me - she's actually 59 today! shhhhh, don't tell, she'll shoot me with her BIGMA!!!