Sometimes you just have to let husbands know what you want….

Another Valentines Day is upon us.  Hubby and I have been married thirty-eight years now, and since I’m always on a diet in February, it’s been years since I’ve gotten candy, and the older I get, the more I love chocolate.  So this year, I just told him, “I want a box of chocolates from Libs, our local choclatier, for Valentines Day.”  Oh, Libs has the good stuff, they’ve been around for a gadzillion years, they’re wildly popular with the townies, and they have to die for caramels and turtles.  I’m a nut girl, yep, love those nuts!

And since he works Sunday, there is already a box of assorted chocolates, with nuts, from Libs sitting in the kitchen.  I know, I know, how does that fit into my healthy eating plan?  Well, the way I see it, one chocolate a night, with a cup of tea, is just perfect. We’ll see how that works out, just eating one. 

So, if there is something special you want this year, just ask for it.  That way you will get what you want.

Wow, I’m getting smart in my old(er) age…

~ jan

A little gift for you if you go to Jan Can Cook

I posted a fantastic desktop wallpaper over on Jan Can Cook.  It’s one of my favorites, I even have it as my cellphone wallpaper.  If you’re a lemon lover, this one’s for you.  Check it out here>>>

A snow day project

When we moved to the condo, I bought this rooster upholstery fabric.  It’s been sitting on a spool in the closet for six years now.  Yesterday it was snowing and cold, so we dragged the fabric out of the closet and reupholstered the dining room chairs.

I sat in the floor to cut the fabric, LC grabbed the scissors, and he was going to just whack it.  All of a sudden, everything my mother ever taught me about sewing came roaring to life, and I grabbed those scisssors and said, nooooooooo you can’t do it that way!

I snatched those scissors out of his hands,  centered the rooster, checked the repeat on the pattern, used a straight edge to cut the fabric, it was like ma was right there, guiding me every step of the way.  Mother was a wonderful seamstress, she taught me to sew as a child, but I’ve never enjoyed it.

So that was our morning, snowy weather, classical music playing, the dogs, watching, I cut, he stapled, and now I have a new look in the dining room.  He did a great job, it was a nice way to spend our time, since we were housebound.

The french pig is new, and wonderful. I love french pigs, have several of them, but this is by far the best. Just had to show you how cute he looks up close and personal.  And yeah, the valentines theme is gone  , I was weary of it…

Google Buzz Social Networking, is this the new Facebook???

Google has done it again.  If you have a Gmail account, you will automatically have Buzz.  Hooterville tipped me off about it.  They’re rolling it out now, and it will show up when you open your inbox.  Watch for it….

You won’t believe the recipes I found for you…

You all need to hotfoot it over to Jan Can Cook just as fast as your little mouse will point you there.

I posted two cookie recipes, the first one is Copykat Momofuku’s Compost Cookies.  You won’t believe this one, girlfriends, dried coffee grounds, yes, dried coffee grounds, I know it sounds weird, but people are loving this recipe.  Also Fritos, crushed potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips,  just to name a few of the ingredients.  It’s a wannabe recipe from Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, a  trendy New York City bakery,  where these cookies just fly out the door. 

And the second one is Lucy’s Salty Chocolate  Peanut Butter Cookies.  These have a chunk of bittersweet chocolate on top and a dusting of kosher salt.  Somebody please make these and report back.

Both of them sound wildly, fabulously different.

I know you are all thinking, has she totally lost it.  I’m just sayin’….

Here’s the quick click, you know you have to see what I’m talking about>>>

Sweet little naked baby…

Diner coffee mugs

If you’re of a certain age, you remember these diner coffee mugs.  I have several in my cabinet, I’ve gotten them on eBay thru the years, some of them have a Steak ‘n Shake logo on them, others are from the Original Pantry Cafe in Los Angeles, always a must go to hole-in-the-wall when we visited California.
I never used them that much, instead using my oversized Starbucks Mugs, or my favorite Rain Forest Cafe mug for my morning cuppa, because they were bigger and held more coffee.  I’m such a greedy be-otch, always going for the quantity instead of the quality.

But a few weeks ago, on a whim, I pulled one of these old mugs out of the cabinet, and fell in love.  I had forgotten the substance of them, they are heavy, and so thick that the coffee stays hot til’ the bottom of the mug.  It’s not that much of a hassle to refill them, I wish I would have discovered this long ago.

The older I get, the more nostalgic I am, I seem to be on a quest, going back in time, rediscovering things from my childhood.  Next I guess I’ll be playing with my Terri Lee doll. NO, remember, that’s the only thing my mother ever got rid of was that doll!!!

Maybe I’ll cough up the big bucks and buy one for Abby someday.  Then I can play with hers, and we can have a tea party, and drink tea out of these mugs, instead of china cups, and I’ll tell her boring stories of what life was like when Grammie was a little girl…

I’m trying to eat healthy, I’m trying…

I made hubby an apple pie this afternoon, yeah, I had a really little piece of it.  It’s now 9pm, I’m still hungry, so I go to the fridge, get out the unflavored yogurt, get out the applesauce, spoon about a cup of yogurt in a dessert dish, add a packet of Splenda to the yogurt, stir it up, and there sat that damn pie on the counter, just begging me to eat it, so instead of adding the applesauce, I added a tablespoon, yeah, it was a big tablespoon, okay, it was two tablespoons of apple pie, crust and all, to the yogurt. 

Lord have mercy, I’ve never tasted anything so good in my entire adult life!  It really wasn’t that many calories, honest, it wasn’t!

Oh my goodness, gracious, I’m doin’ the happy dance, here!!!

Here we go again sports fans......

Pepsi Throwback vs. Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry

Lawdee, was I ever a Pepsi drinker back in the day.   In the 50’s, you either drank Pepsi, or you drank Coke, both was not an option.  Kinda like you either drove a Ford or a Chevy.

I loved Pepsi, detested Coke, thought it was too syrupy and sweet, so a few months ago when Nisha told me that they are now recreating the original Pepsi, using sugar instead of corn syrup, and calling it Pepsi Throwback, I knew it was something I just had to try.  I even told Cousin Phyllis about it, because she too, even to this day, is a diehard Pepsi fiend.

But I couldn’t find it, it wasn’t in the stores, I heard rumors of it being in convenience stores, but I kept forgetting about it.

Fast forward to last week in Lexington.  Hubby and Ryan were out and they came home with a case of it.  Well, yours truly couldn’t wait to rip open the carton and pop a can.

So out came the ice, I poured it, the fizz was like the original Pepsi, the smell was just

like I remembered, I took a drink, and then another, and it was exactly like the Pepsi of my childhood.  And I hated it, I did, I absolutely detested the taste of it.  It was so sweet that it actually  made me nauseous.  I’ve drank too many Diet Cokes and just can’t handle the real stuff anymore.   So Phyl, I have a case of this stuff in the garage, I’ll bring it to you when I visit, maybe you will like it better than I do.

But, I do have a new drink of choice to report.  Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry.  Oh my, this stuff is full of cherry flavor, it’s absolutely delightful. Don’t confuse this with the Dr. Pepper Vanilla Cherry, that stuff is nasty, but this is awesome~

Dr. Pepper also makes a a Cherry Chocolate, but I haven’t found it yet.  So that’s my new mission, to see if I can find it!

Too bad about that Pepsi Throwback.  Just another case of not being able to go home again.  A time and a place for everything.  Kinda sad, isn’t it?

More winter forecasted for Heavensville....

Like all the rest of you, I'm sick of winter.  I'm longing for fields of green as the spring wheat makes it's appearance, I'm berating myself for once again not planting those damn tulip bulbs last fall, I feel isolated, confined, restless, and more snow is forecasted for tonight.

I'm a soup/stew/chili girl when we have this kind of weather.  Hubby has wanted beef stew for a few weeks now, so I'm going to make it tomorrow.  I was out this morning, in the rain, running a few errands, and needed a bottle of red wine to put in the stew.  I ran into Aldi's, bought a bottle of cabernet sauvignon for $2.99.  Yes, that's right, $2.99.  Will it be good, who knows, all I know is it had a cork!  Imagine that, a bottle of wine with a cork, for $2.99.  No screw caps for me, nosiree, it may taste like rotgut, but it has a cork!

Guess who gave Abby this bib?????

I know, I know, I’m always talking about how cute she is, but she is totally, adorably precious!  We’ve been visiting her for the past three days, and she has changed so much in the last three weeks.

She’s all smiles now.  She laughs and wiggles, grabs her toys and blows bubbles and goos, oh the goos, they are the best!  And she stands on her little legs, and marches on your lap.  Oh my, what fun I had.

So now I have my Abby fix, it will last for another 3 weeks or so, then I will need another.  It’s really hard to stay away at this age…

Aren’t they adorable…

I snagged this picture from Lindsay’s Facebook page.  This was taken Friday  night when they were getting ready for Abby’s first dinner party.  And I get to see her tomorrow.  Life is good….

Bathroom Scales that plug into Google Health

Well, this definitely screams A MAN THOUGHT THIS UP!!!!  Now they have scales that are wi-fi, they connect to Google Health so that your weight is posted online.

Is that the stupidest thing you’ve ever heard?  What woman would ever want her weight posted anywhere.  Women never tell what they actually weigh unless they have not an ounce of extra fat on them.  Have you ever heard a woman step on the scale, and yell out, OMG, I WEIGH 185 LBS?  Of course you haven’t.

If you want to read the article, even though I don’t know why you would, here’s the click!

And how are things in your world today?  We had snow last night, a lovely, fluffy pile of 4-5 inches of white sparkly snow.  Well that will be fun for about a day until it gets all tracked and dirty.

Maybe I’ll post a picture if I can get my nose out of this stupid windows rebuild long enough to do it.  I haven’t come up for air in days!!!!

I'm still kickin...

I've had computer problems all week.  Windows had to be reinstalled, and it's never simple.  I've messed with this for days, trying to reconstruct everything.  What a pain in the patootie.

Nothing is going right, I just need to give it up today.  It started bad this morning when I burnt my one, lonely pancake and made weak coffee, and it's been pretty much downhill since then.  I'll get it together and be back soon, hopefully tomorrow.

Hang in there with me, it will get better.  In the meantime, if you're really bored, there is a lot of new content on Jan Can Cook, new stuff on Eating Right, too and a new Abby section in the family area of Milly Scraps.  Access in the right sidebar.

~ jan

If I knew you were coming I'd've baked a cake

Talk about a blast from the past!  Daddy always sang this to me when I was a little girl.  Oh, this is just the cutest song I've heard in a long time.  If you're under fifty-five, you might not want to click on this.  You will just roll your eyes.  ~ jan

message-in-a-cookie-cutters from williams-sonoma

Isn't this just the best idea ever?  This was in my Williams Sonoma Catalog for the month of February.  I looked at these online, and they show this picture, but they say,  New, Exclusive, but not available. If you are interested I would call them direct, maybe they are available only through the catalog or in the stores.  I know, you want the number, here it is - 877.812.6235

  The item number is #28-1401132, and they're $19.95. 

I love the idea that you can customize them to say anything you want.  Does this look like something that bebe Abby and Grammie needs?  That's what I'm thinkin'...
 
~ Jan

Create personalized cookies for Valentine’s Day, birthdays and other notable occasions using our cutters in scalloped-rectangle, heart and star shapes. Customize the cutters by sliding in letters or premade words to form a name or message. When you press the cutter into the dough, your lettering is imprinted on the cookie. The set includes three cutters, seven premade words (Welcome, Happy, Birthday, Holidays, Thank You, From, I Love You), three sets of alphabet letters (plus extras of vowels and other commonly used letters) and a dishwasher-safe mesh bag for easy cleaning and storing. Hand-wash. 3 3/4"–4 1/4" wide. A Williams-Sonoma exclusive.

Ivana Trump in her underwear....

Lord have mercy, why would this woman do this at sixty years old?  OMG, is that Spanx high rise panties we're seeing.  And panty hose?  And I'm not even going to talk about the camel toe.  OMG, is anybody else as appalled as me?