Cool New Toy!

Rob and I got a FlipCam for Xmas from my parents (thanks, Mom and Dad!), and we've had a lot of fun playing around with it already. This is Rob's first little edited ditty -- juggling in the dark with glow-in-the-dark flashing balls. Silly, but fun... enjoy!

Recipe Sharing: Blue Sky Potatoes

This is a terrific Rachel Ray recipe that I made for an office potluck. Enjoy!

Blue Sky Potatoes
Yield: 24 servings

24 new red potatoes, halved lengthwise
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ c. sour cream
1 c. crumbled blue cheese
½ c. crumbled cooked bacon, plus more for garnish
⅓ c. chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus more for garnish
¼ red onion, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400°. In a medium bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil. Place cut side down on a baking sheet and bake until the skins are crisp, 20 to 25 minutes; let cool.

Scoop out the center of each potato half and place in a medium bowl. Stir in the sour cream, blue cheese, bacon, parsley and onion. Fill each potato skin with the sour cream mixture and top with more crumbled bacon and parsley.

Cake Classes

A few weeks ago, my friend Leann and I embarked on the first Wilton cake decorating classes, and boy did we have fun! My goal was just to learn the skills and techniques to make pretty birthday cakes, learn how to do a design with icing and, of course, perfect that delicious buttercream frosting. :)

Here are a few photos of my cake creations...

Cake #1: learning stars and zig-zags, plus learning how to write with the icing.

Cake #2: learning shell borders, figure-piping (aka creepy clowns), practicing roses and other flowers. A mish-mash!

Cake #3: roses and sweetpea flowers. The roses are a lot trickier than they look, but I'm getting the hang of it!

Next up, we are teaching ourselves how to do the basketweave design. Now I need an excuse to practice my skills!

Snowstorm of 2009

We bundled up and headed out on a snowy walk. So far, we have 10-12 inches,
and it's supposed to keep snowing for another 8 hours!


Rob enjoying the falling snow!


The view of the snowy pines in our backyard.


Check out the stack of snow on the table.


Everybody loves a snowstorm!

Break Bread

I've seen this on several blogs today, so I'm passing it along. It's a Panera Bread ad from USA Today. Very clever!

An open letter to:

The Secret Service & The Party Crashers; Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker; Glee Club Singers & Football Players; Barack Obama & Joe Wilson; The Mac Guy & The PC Guy; Rosie O’Donnell & Tom Selleck; Brett Favre & Wisconsin; Wall Street Execs & Everyone Else; Martina Navratilova & Andre Agassi; Sons-In-Law & Mothers-In-Law; Introverts & Extroverts; Mike Tyson & Evander Holyfield; Itchy & Scratchy; Ohio State & Michigan; Yoko & The Remaining Beatles; Tori & Cand Spelling; Optimists & Pessimists; The Right & The Left; Lou Dobbs & CNN; People Who Are Always Right & People Who Are Never Wrong; Michael Lohan & Dina Lohan & Lindsay Lohan; Eric Mangini & Bill Belichick; Vampires & Werewolves; Kanye West & Anyone with a TV; Hallmark & Paris Hilton; Those Who Think It Tastes Great & Those Who Insist It’s Less Filling; Bart Simpson & Sideshow Bob; Insomniacs & The Inventor of the Car Alarm; Jessica Simpson & Perez Hilton; Red Sox Fans & Yankees Fans; Billy Corgan & The Smashing Pumpkins; Nerds & Dweebs; Rosie O’Donnell & Donald Trump; Prius Drivers & HUMMER Drivers; Batman & The Joker; Mariah Carey & Eminem; Guys Named Beau & Guys Named Bo; Joe Lieberman & Democrats; Popeye & Bluto; Bill Gates & Steve Jobs; Those Who Install Toilet Paper Over & Those Who Prefer it Under; Don Draper & Roger Sterling; Skiers & Snowboarders; Teenagers & Parents; Bud Selig & Pete Rose; The FiOS Guy & That Other Cable Guy; Indie Film Snobs & Summer Blockbuster Fans; Importers & Exporters; Iceman & Maverick; Conformists & Nonconformists; Freudians & Skinnerians; Housewives in Orange County & Housewives in NYC; Jan & Marcia; Mimes & Anyone With Eyes; TOS Trekkies & TNG Trekkies; People Who Are Going Back to Cali & People Who Don’t Think So; Michael Moore & George W. Bush; Early Birds & Night Owls; Sarah Palin & Tina Fey; Those That Need a Square & Those Who Haven’t Got a Square to Spare; Goth Girls & Homecoming Queens; Big Dog People & People Who Put Dogs in Handbags; Noel Gallagher & Liam Gallagher; Fashionists & People Who Wear White After Labor Day; Susan Boyle & Sharon Osbourne; Lord Voldemort & Muggles; “Pink Hats” & Real Sports Fans; Slobs & Their Roommates; Dick Cheney & Hunters; Financial Planners & Spendthrifts; Magic Johnson & Isiah Thomas; Rosie O’Donnell & Elizabeth Hasselbeck; and Benjamin Netanyahu & Mahmoud Abbas.

Break bread.

Pledge 2.0

Catching Up

I've been a bad blogger these last few weeks.... Christmas shopping, busy work and more have kept me too preoccupied, and I haven't made time to sit down and catch up in blogland.

I've started Wilton cake decorating classes with my friend Leann, and we are up to lesson 3 this week. It's really been fun, and I love having the tools and the (developing) skill to make pretty cakes! I don't want to be Duff, but I would like to know how to pull together an attractive cake. We did stars and zig zags last week; tomorrow we work on roses and figure piping.

The downside is that I now know what ingredients go into that delicious buttercream frosting we all love so much. Needless to say, anything with the words "butter" and "cream" in the title is just as bad for you as it sounds. I've been making two batches per week for my class and can feel my arteries hardening with each one. I wish it didn't taste so good!

Most of my Xmas shopping is finished, and the majority is wrapped. I'm waiting for one more thing to arrive. Our Xmas tree is faring okay... kitty still attacks it occasionally and probably continues to climb up and down the thing while we aren't watching. We didn't brave any ornaments this year. :)

Hope your holiday season is going well so far... I'll look forward to reading all about it!

Attack Kitty!

A Tasty Pick-Me-Up

I just went into our kitchen at work, and there I found new k-cups of gingerbread coffee, vanilla roast and hot chocolate.

Oh, joy, of joys. Just what I needed to perk up my afternoon! I brewed me up a gingerbread and tossed in a vanilla creamer for good measure.

Sometimes it's the little things!