The end of an era

The nunbun is no more. Yup, Nashville's famous nunbun pastry, a cinnamon roll that resembles Mother Teresa, was stolen on Christmas morning. The weird thing is (well, ok, maybe not weird, when you consider we are talking about baked goods resembling soon to be canonized legends!) is that I'd put visiting the nunbun on my list of things to do a few days ago when planning my trip this week to Nashville. Although it's been shellacked and on display at Bongo Java for almost 10 years and I've been to Bongo Java for coffee and concerts, I'd never bothered to go look at their most famous item. I'd just made a mental note to look at it when I dropped by for coffee. The police investigating the break-in classified the stolen property as "other". I'm guessing they should watch ebay. I guess I'll just have to settle for a nunbun t-shirt or coffee mug.

I'm a Pepper, you're a Pepper...

Well it could have been better, but it did the job, this is my Diet Dr. Pepper cake, made for a going away party at work. The person who's leaving drinks Diet Dr. Pepper non-stop all day, so it was the first thing that sprang to mind when I was thinking of a cake to make.

What's in YOUR wallet?

Errr....sorry...too many viewings of those cute Capitol One commercials! What I meant to say was what's on your fridge door? Currently, aside from the usual real estate calendar magnets and Redskins schedules, I've got my "W" paperdoll magnet set and some De Grazia magnets. The paperdolls are self explanatory, but if you've never heard of De Grazia, then check out this incredible artist! His pictures of southwestern themes have were featured for years in "Arizona Highways" magazine and now you can even find high end figurines based on his paintings. One of these days I'll visit his museum out west.

God created laughter

I firmly believe that we Christians tend to forget that God invented humor and gave it to us as a great gift. I think He would chuckle at this Christmas card and I hope you get a laugh out of it too. Thanks to my friend, Sue, in the UK for sending this my way.

"'ello Princess"

A holiday nod to my favorite TV sudser, "Eastenders". I've watched it since it's beginning almost 20 years ago. When the local PBS station decided to pick up the British soap they printed a US-UK language glossary, afraid we wouldn't be able to understand the accents, lol. Over the years Cyndy and I have thrown things at the screen and booed and hissed at the antics of Dirty Den and the Mitchel brothers, laughed at Dot and Alfie, and rooted for true love with Sharon, Mark, Kath and all the others. I'm still boycotting BBC America over their decision a couple years ago to drop the show. As of now it's only available to American audiences who have a certain satellite service. I keep up on the storylines through the show's great website storyboards every Mon, Tue, Thu, and Fri. Farewell Nana Moon, welcome back Phil, and here's looking forward to another great year of storys with Ian, Pauline, Martin, Sonia, Charlie, Mo and all the other Albert Square residents!

Lights Brite

Tis' the season! Looking forward next week to what's become an annual tradition ... visiting Baltimore's famous 34th Street and it's incredible Christmas light displays! It has to be seen to be believed and every year we drive up there and join the seemingly endless procession of cars slowly rolling down the street. I can't imagine how the locals handle all the traffic, it seems it would be impossible to get in and out of your house this time of year.

Oh, jury duty update.. the trial is over and we convicted the two defendants on conspiracy to import and sell heroin, importing heroin, selling heroin and several communications technology charges. Interesting experience.

Gotcha!

I didn't knit it myself, but I'm going to enjoy wearing it. I saw this sweater on ebay and HAD to have it, it is so ME!!! Someone out there in ebayland isn't very happy cause I waited and watched them bid on it all day and then I swooped in and sniped it out from under them with a minute to go. All's fair in love and ebay!

Chachi's all grown up

Who'd have thought Scott Baio would grow up to be kind of hunky. I was never impressed during his teeny bopper days, but he's aged pretty well. I just watched "Wedding for Bella" aka "The Bread my Sweet", and found it very touching. He plays a fierce, rather cold hearted corporate raider, paid lots of money to fire people as new companies are aquired. He has two brothers, one a fun loving ladies man, the other a gentle giant, a pie baking genius with the mental age of a five year old. At night they bake all sorts of wonderful breads and sweets for their bakery. They also keep an eye on their elderly landlords, the grouchy Massimo and his saintly wife Bella. Her biggest wish is that Dominic (Baio) marry her absent daughter, Bella. It becomes her dying wish when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Dominic sets out to fulfill that wish so that she can die happy. It's been compared to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", but I don't think that's an accurate or fair comparison. This is grittier and a bit less calculated.

I'm a cooking goddess!!!

Well, not really, sigh. But I kind of feel like one...I made home made marshmallows! And they actually turned out like....marshmallows! Made a batch and brought them into work with hot chocolate for my co-workers. Course the wintry atmosphere was rather ruined by the sudden warm spell we're having, but we pretended. Anyway, marshmallows turn out to be quite easy, fun and messy to make. If you're interested in giving it a try [experiment, try a flavor other than vanilla..]...

2 1/2 T. plain gelatin
1 C. water, divided
1 1/2 C sugar
1 C. light corn syrup
1/4 t. salt
2 T. vanilla
Powdered sugar as needed

Whisk gelatin and 1/2 C. cold water together in bowl, let stand for 30 minutes. Over low heat mix 1/2 C. water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt until sugar is melted. Brush sides of pan with wet brush or wet paper towel to disolve sugar crystals. Heat over high heat without stirring until mixture reaches 244 degrees (firm ball) on candy thermometer. Slowly pour hot mixture into gelatin while mixing on med speed. Mix on high speed until mixture is about tripled in volume, approx. 10-15 minutes. Beat in vanilla. Turn mixture into 8x11 glass baking dish generously dusted with sifted powdered sugar. Sift more powdered sugar over top. With wet hand smooth mixture flat. Sift more powdered sugar over top. Let sit out overnight, uncovered. Cut into squares or desired shapes with warm dry knife. (As knife gets sticky it will help to dip it in powdered sugar). Dip cut edges of marshmallows in powdered sugar.

HO HO HO ! ! !

That's it, I'm officially done with my Christmas shopping! Well, other than a few things for co-workers, but that doesn't count. I did most of my shopping online this year, so now I just have to sit back and hope UPS, USPS and FedEx come through for me. Oh, and organize some really cool wrapping paper. I think I almost like wrapping presents more than any other part of the gift ritual.

Black Friday

I've always avoided the huge "Black Friday" sales crowds, but decided to give it a try this year when I saw some things on my Christmas shopping list on sale. It was crazy!!! Walmart opened at 5am, so I pulled into their parking lot at 4:20 am to find the lot full and a queue of people lined up down the front of the store and wrapped around the side. It was 12 degrees and I wasn't going to stand in line for 40 minutes waiting for the doors to open! So I drove by a couple other stores and found the same situation at each. I decided I wasn't that ambitious a shopper and drove back to one of the restaurants that had opened at 4 am to serve breakfast to early shoppers. When I passed Walmart again the parking lot was overflowing and the road to the store was completely backed up. I was the only customer in the restaurant so had the entire staff chatting with me and waiting on me, kind of like my own personal restaurant. By the time I finished breakfast the nearby department store had been open for half an hour and so I ventured in and did some shopping. I didn't get the big early bird specials, but I got $305 worth of sweaters and winter clothes for $128 so it almost made being up at that ridiculous hour worthwhile. I was back home in bed before the sun came up. Next year I'll go back to sleeping in. It was kind of like the one and only Star Trek convention I ever went to.... intriguing in theory, scary in practice.

The cutest thing around

I think little "Butterstick" as he is affectionately known by locals is quite possibly the cutest thing around. The National Zoo's baby Panda is a living, breathing stuffed toy.... what a cutie! You can watch him on the pandacam and I'll warn you, it's addictive. You can also get Butterstick "stuff" at the Butterstick store.

I object!

Errr...sorry, too much time lately spent watching grown men (and women) roll their eyes, throw tantrums, and generally act like spoiled two year olds ... the wonderful world of the judicial system. Yup, I'm on Federal jury duty. I can't say much about the trial til it's over, other than to say it spans the globe, and I've gotten to hold evidence in my hands that is worth more than the next decade or two or my salary put together. Average trial length is 2-7 days, but ours is estimated to go 4-5 weeks. Luckily our jury gets along great and we actually enjoy each other's company. And I have to say the court employees really do try to make things as smooth as possible for us. We all are taking the responsibility seriously, but having a sense of humor does help alot. A few of the improvements we'd like to see take place in the court system: jurors should get to object!; jurors should be able to hold up score cards after each round of questioning, grading the prosecutor's/lawyer's performance; participants should be fined for each repetitive question.... I'm sure we'll come up with more before the whole thing's done.

Maurice

Why did I knit a penguin? Because he was there. Or at least the cute pattern was. I named him Maurice because that "March of the Penguins" movie is French.

My inner child...surprise, surprise

Not sure how accurate I think this is, but....

Your Inner Child Is Surprised

You see many things through the eyes of a child. Meaning, you're rarely cynical or jaded. You cherish all of the details in life. Easily fascinated, you enjoy experiencing new things.

How Is Your Inner Child?

Honeycomb Toffee.....drool....drool

I'm not a huge candy fan, you won't find me buying candy bars that often and I'm not that crazy about chocolate. But..... you knew there had to be a "but"..... I have a weakness for caramel and toffee. In England I fell in love with Honeycomb toffee. You find it in the more old fashioned sweet shops and sold at country fairs. I got in the habit of buying bags and bags of it to stuff in my suitcases to bring home. One day I returned to find my host's 200 lb newfoundland dog lying in a sugar induced stupor after he'd rummaged through my shopping bags and eaten all the toffee. I kind of thought it was a good thing that I couldn't find it over here because then I wasn't tempted to eat my weight in it. But never being one to leave well enough alone, I found a recipe and discovered it's a snap to make! Here's the recipe, knock yourselves out.

A few tips:
A 9"x9" pan will work fine as a substitute for the lamington pan
Yes, it's supposed to be a bit burned, that's why it's other name is "Cinder toffee" and is what gives it it's golden brown color. The trick is learning the balance between that good burned taste and the burned beyond any chance of consumption burned taste.

Honeycomb
6 tbs white sugar
2 tbs golden syrup
2 tsp water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Place sugar, golden syrup and water in a heavy saucepan and stir over a
gentle heat until the sugar is dissolved
Bring to the boil and boil for seven minutes
Remove from the heat and quickly add the bicarbonate of soda
At this point the mixture will froth
Stir quickly and pour into a greased 28x18cm lamington tin
As the mixture starts to cool, mark into pieces
When cold, break into pieces and wrap in cellophane ready for sale
If making a few days in advance, make sure you store in an air tight
jar

Cute Cute Cute

Is this a cutie or what? This is Josh, my friend Beth's little boy. We were trying to get him to try on a hat I'd knitted so I could see how much smaller a size he'd need. Being a typical male it took a tv remote to catch his interest and keep him from pulling the hat off.

Woot-hoo!

Hey, I got 3rd prize in this week's woot.com contest! To be honest, I think I'm more chuffed by getting good feedback from the wooties than the $20 prize (not that I'll turn it down, $20 is $20), they're a hard crowd. My Beatles/SpongeBob won, although I flooded the contest with a handful of other entries too. THe caption for the Mick Jagger one was "Mick finally dating someone his own age". No one seemed to recognize the band in the dogs playing poker pic, so the joke was lost there...

Another weekend another batch of movies!

As much as I'd love to say I spend my weekend's doing really productive things at home, I have to admit I love nothing better than curling up with a few good movies. This past weekend a few friends got together to watch DVD's (and eat lots of food we shouldn't have eaten, but it sure was good). We watched "Monster-in-law" which I surprisingly like quite a bit, surprisingly because I'm not a Jane Fonda or J-lo fan and had really low expectations for it, but it is funny. We also watched "Pushing Tin", a movie from a few years back that I don't remember ever noticing out in the theaters at the time. It stars Billy Bob Thornton (which may have been why I blocked it out at the time, am not a BBT fan), Angelina Jolie in what may have been her first role, and John Cusack. I love John Cusack. Oh, and Cate Blanchett. It was a very funny movie about air traffic controllers and the trouble you get into when you get into contests of one upsmanship with other people. I also got the two New Zealand films I'd bought online. I'd seen the first one before, "Once Were Warriors", one of the best films I've seen, but very hard to watch in places because of it's extremely gritty and realistic portrayal of domestic violence. I hadn't realized a sequel had been made until an Aussie friend mentioned "What Becomes of the Broken Hearted", so was excited to see the next bit of the family saga.

Food note from the movie party - got won ton wrappers and filled them with a spoonful of chive/onion cream cheese and a dab of red pepper spread, fried them and then lightly sprinkled them with freshly grated parmesan while they were still hot ... yummy. Fattening, but yummy. Also made a box of brownie mix, then took a shortcut and mixed up a couple boxes of the caramel coating you find this time of year by the apples in the produce section. (Wasn't really much of a shortcut as you have to add milk and sugar anyway and cook it. Would have been just as easy to make the caramel from scratch I think.) Spread half the caramel over the brownies, then sprinkled on one can of salted mixed nuts, and then spooned the remaining caramel over the nuts. Even more fattening and yummy.

Lost in Translation

Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE foreign films. But even I am left scratching my head sometimes at a gap between languages...lol. I watched a Japanese film tonight called "Nobody Knows". The acting was great and the attention to little details beautiful, although the story was sad and finally disturbing. But what got my attention was the subtitles at the end. As two characters sat and walked quietly, contemplating a pivotal incident in the story, a soloist sang what I'm sure was, in the original language, a moving, evocative song. But after being translated into English, it came out like this:

"When I ask the midnight sky
the stars just shine into
the black lake of my molten heart

I can only flow

Will the angel ever give me a backward glance?

Want to splash around in my heart?

The winds of the coming winter lap
at the waves
calling me into the dark
with eyes as wilted as ice

I'm growing up
a jewel with a pungent stench
that brooks no one's approach"

The Chorus

Saw a great movie this weekend, "Les Choristes", a French film. A musician and an old school mate get together for the first time in 50 years and take a look at the journal of the teacher who changed their lives when they were children. Set just after the end of WWII, a man who has been a failure at everything he has attempted takes the only job he can find, that of a teacher at a Dickensian school for young boys with behavioral problems. Appalled by the conditions his students are dealing with and at a loss as to how to deal with their sullen attitudes, he decides in desperation to try to form the boys into a choir. The music is gorgeous, too.

Something that really struck me

A few weeks ago Cyndy and I were fascinated by a documentary we watched about a woman in England, born with no arms or legs, and getting ready to give birth to her first child. It was interesting on a lot of different levels and we were really impressed by her personality and outlook. She made the news this week as a statue of her was unveiled in Trafalgar Square as part of a program where different works of art will be featured for 18 months each on the one empty pedestal in the square. Her name is Alison Lapper and she's an artist. Here's a few articles about her and the statue, including an excerpt from her autobiography published just last week. Gives alot to think about and makes you realize how many meaningless things we complain about in our everyday lives.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4247000.stm
http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,6761,1561045,00.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/closeup/lapper.shtml
http://www.mymultiplesclerosis.co.uk/misc/alisonlapper.html

Yeah, it scares me too

Welcome to my world, or at least my workday world. I try to tell myself that a cluttered desk is a sign of a creative mind, but somehow that doesn't help. Every once in awhile I can't stand my clutter anymore and then I go into cleaning mode and tidy everything up. Of course then I can't find anything and within a few days it's back to "normal", lol. By the way, the goat sings the goatherd song from "The Sound of Music" in a quasi-Julie Andrews voice.

What's wrong with this picture?

I love learning about other cultures, but often it's the weird little things that amuse me the most. I thought British cuisine was strange as I learned about tuna and canned corn on pizza, spaghetti sandwiches and chip butties. But they aren't alone. I thought an Aussie friend was joking when he asked if we liked beets on our hamburgers. But, no, I did a little research online and discovered that in Australia it's not considered a proper hamburger without beetroot on it! Not to mention a few other things like pineapple, fried eggs...... (take a close look at the photo, you can see the beet peeking out). Anyway, here's some info from an Aussie website in case you're looking for something different for dinner...

"Aussies love hamburgers whether it's from the ever present take away shop or from Burger King (Hungry Jacks) or Mackers. But to the dinky-di Aussie, it must have beetroot on it to be a proper burger.

The funniest sight is to see an Aussie order a burger in America with beetroot. Americans can not conceive of "wanting" to eat beetroot on anything, let alone a hamburger. The Yanks don't know what they're missing!

The following is a Hamburger with the Works the way Aussies like it.

Ingredients
120 grams minced meat patty (4 ounces ground hamburger)
1 slice cheese
2 bacon rashers
1 large slice onion
1 large slice tomato
1 egg
1 large slice beetroot (beets)
1 pineapple ring
1 hamburger roll
lettuce
margarine
tomato sauce (ketchup)

Method

1. Cut the hamburger roll in half and butter both halves.
2. Toast both bun halves on the grill.
3. Fry the meat patty, the bacon rashers and the onion.
4. Flip the meat patty over and add cheese on top.
5. Fry the egg.
6. Butter the bun and add tomato sauce to taste. Assemble the hamburger: lettuce, tomato, beetroot, pineapple and the meat patty. Top with onion, bacon, egg and the bun top."

Still knitting

Usually I lose interest in a craft after a few weeks and start on something else, but still enjoying the knitting for awhile longer. I like having something to do while I'm watching tv in the evenings. This is going to be a lace shrug once I knit another 30 inches or so and then edge it with a ruffle. I have more motivation to finish it than usual because I misread the price on the balls of yarn and was chatting to the clerk instead of paying attention to the bill when I signed it, so didn't realize until later that it was quite a bit more expensive than I'd thought. But that's ok, I love the color, kind of an orangey pumpkin. I think I might go into craft overload this weekend, I'm taking a cardmaking class with a friend later today, Cyndy and I are going to sell some of our beading projects at a craft fair sunday, and I'm going to try to finish this shrug.

Even though I hate winter

and winter clothes, I do like to knit scarves for some reason. I'd just rather look at them then have to wear them. I always find it depressing when I walk into the stores and find they've put out all the fall clothes... so sad.. a sure sign that summer is coming to a close. But here's my token acknowledgement of the coming cold weather. It's not quite a bright a blue as it looks in the picture and the picture can't show how soft the yarn is... I'm already having to fight my cat for ownership of it, he likes to nest on it. And I don't think I'd ever make one again, by the last row it was taking me all evening just to get across one row.... boring! But, having said that, I'd love to make one in thin, smooth, shiny yarn in variegated red, orange, yellow and purples...

If you're bored with Disneyland...

If you are looking for something different to do with the family you might consider the newest tourist attraction in Sweden, a giant pile of ... logs. Yes, logs. Here's the link to the news story. And here's the panoramic view. I'm thinking ... giant bonfire!!!

Quiz

Ok, the quizes on Candi's blog were fun, so I decided to do one myself, here goes: quiz

Mmmmmmm

Ok, this definitely isn't healthy, but it sure was good! I was cooking brunch for 3 yesterday and had two day-old croissants and 2 bananas I wanted to use up. So I sliced the croissants in 1/2 inch slices,a nd the same with the bananas. Then dropped them in a frying pan of butter, brown sugar, and a little cinnamon, all melted together and bubbling. Stir the bananas gently now and then and turn the croissant pieces so they cook evenly and get a sticky, gooey crust of the caramel and then dump it all into a shallow bowl and serve warm. I didn't measure the butter and sugar, just use whatever looks good, I think I used maybe 2 parts brown sugar to 1 part butter. How much you put in depends on how much sauce you want along with the banana and croissant pieces.

Woot again

I LOVE the weekly Woot picture contest. I haven't been in any danger of winning yet, but it's just so much fun. This is my entry for this last weekend's contest... yes, it involved a blender...

Great online shop!

I found an online grocery store that specializes in regional and other hard to find foods. Hometown Favorites is great. I should be getting my first order in today. They even had Moxie, the soda I discovered when I used to spend time up in Maine in the summers way back in college. It's the oldest continuously marketed beverage in the country, sold in New England since 1884. It's hard to describe the flavor, you either love it (me) or hate it (my dad)...lol. I also ordered some Hersheys Raspberry chips, like chocolate chips, but pink and raspberry flavored. And some other odds and ends, including some raspberry salsa and the Junket ice cream mix we used to get in California. Browse around the site, it will bring back alot of memories.

Seperated at birth?

Looking at the felted purse Whitney made made me think of my favorite souvenir from my Iceland trip...my Grinch hat! It's not particularly flattering, it's a weird color, and most people think it's a little weird (my father can't believe I go out in public in it...lol), but I love it. Something about it's quirkiness just drew me to it. I saw a lady wearing it when I was shopping one night and thought, wow, I want one, then then the next day I ran across some in a shop and knew it was fate! They had more normal colors but the Grinch green just looks like what it should be. It's incredibly warm and the next scarf I knit will be one to go with it.

Happy Birthday!

To Gumby, that is. Does anyone else remember him? I loved him when I was a kid. In fact I would put up with "Romper Room", which I detested, because it played the Gumby and Pokey short stories. And I had several of the Gumby toys, which were great since they were made of a stretchy, rubbery material and you could pull the limbs to almost double their length without breaking him. I'm not sure that I ever figured out exactly WHAT Gumby was supposed to be, though.

Su-doku

I am totally hooked on this puzzle. I started doing it when the London Mirror newspaper started printing them and including them on their online site. Now the Washington Post prints one every day, too, and I found software for my laptop that generates new puzzles endlessly. The goal is to fill in the blanks to that you have the numbers 1-9 listed once each in every row across, row up and down, and in every smaller 9-block square. Interestingly, I read an article that said that mathematical ability plays only a small role in your ability to be good at this puzzle, it has more to do with seeing patterns, problem solving, and using the process of elimination.

Hello Kitty and Bunny and ....

I'm not sure why, and I probably shouldn't admit it at my age, but I find that I am a closet Hello Kitty fan and also alot of the other similar Japanese characters of that ilk. I've restained my fandom to just a few nightshirts so far and have avoided browsing through the Hello Kitty shop at the nearby mall. But, I may have to break down and get one of these Dust Bunnies. I don't know why but they just crack me up, there is something so cute and quirky about them. http://pixelgirlshop.com/

One of my heroes

The anniversary of the nuclear bomb being dropped on Nagasaki reminded me of one of the most moving books I've read, The Bells of Nagasaki, by Takashi Nagai. I'd really recommend it if you can track down a copy. Dr. Nagai was raised in the Shinto religion but became interested in Christianity after his mother's death. As a young radiology student in a Nagasaki medical school, he lived with a Catholic family and ended up becoming a Christian himself and marrying their daughter, Midori. The dangers of x-rays weren't well known back then and he was already dying of leukemia when the bomb hit Nagasaki in 1945, killing his wife. He spent his last 6 years with his young children, caring for bombing victims and writing books about faith and encouraging people to forgive and love each other. Today there is a distinct difference in how Hiroshima and Nagasaki deal with their nuclear experiences, Hiroshima being very militant, and Nagasaki being more philosophical and reaching out to others. A lot of that attitude is attributed to Dr. Nagai. Anyway, more serious than most things I post here, but it's a book very worth reading. http://praiseofglory.com/tnagai.htm
http://www1.city.nagasaki.nagasaki.jp/na-bomb/nagai/nagae01e.html

Great news!

Some of you might remember my friend Jeremy, a marine pilot stationed in Afganistan. I got this email this morning from his wife, Torry: "
Hi~
Just thought I'd let you know that Jeremy FINALLY made it home yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. His final leg of his journey was about 7 hours so he was pretty tired when he got here. Needless to say, we're all ecstatic that he's back. The kids were so funny in their anticipation of his return. The excitement was palpable. We were at the squadron about half an hour before they arrived. Since this is the first time Jeremy has flown the jets in, it was a new experience for us. It was very cool. We were just sitting in the hangar waiting and all of a sudden, you hear the loud roar of jet enjines, then a minute later, you see them file by. At this point, everyone in the hangar is running from their seats to the front of the building. After they landed and shut their engines off, they began to climb out. It was so neat to see him get out of the plane and just start walking towards us. Abby was giggling so much, you would have thought someone was tickling her. Marshall was excited to see jeremy, but had been a bit apprehensive about the noise. We had a laid back evening. It was a very nice summer evening, so we took a walk after dinner. Jeremy spent most of his evening giving horseback rides and playing my little pony and tossing a football. And Amelia, not be outdone by her overbearing siblings decided that she would get attention by choosing to roll over for the first time while jeremy was playing with the kids. All in all, it was an incredible day, but quite frankly, one I'll be happy to not have to do again for quite some time! Take care.

Love, Torry and the rest too!"