It's Been Too Long...

Holy Smokes... 
Computer dates don't lie...
It has been way too long since I've visited...

Life.. you know how it goes.  There is too much to fill you in on since the last visit.

St. Louis is a bit wild right now.  There is a lot  of protesting going on in this area. Please pray for those who are protecting lives and property in this region or any region for that matter.  

With all this protesting and general angst I am so thankful our pastor, during the original challenge related to the officer involved shooting in Ferguson, encouraged all of us to check ourselves first for any hidden bias.  He also told us to be watchful of anything that would create "us" vs. "them" attitude.  I found this to be helpful.  

Have an awesome day!

Stay cool.  Tomorrow promises to be a hot one...  welcome Fall?

Bundty Love

Check it out.  It is my new treasure!  I got it from an estate sale for a song.  I didn't have to sing thank goodness but it was one item I stuffed into my dollar bag  :)  I've never had a bundt pan before.  I'm actually a decent baker for most things.  Cakes, however, are not usually my forte.  Challenge accepted. 

Pan... Chocolate... Taste of Home Cookbook...Eggs...o'man there were so many eggs!   

Check... Check...Check...Check Check Check.

I have a lot of bowls.  I like bowls.  My husband fed into the madness by hookin' me up with a set of coloured ceramic ones that are similar to the multi-coloured Fiestaware I've been collecting.  Then, in a fit of insanity, he agreed I could get yet another set of melamine bowls to add to the multi-coloured collection.  Aren't you glad I am spelling bowls correctly? Had I misspelled it would be a whole nuthuh' story. Oh the places my mind goes!   Back to the story at hand. They are wonderful and match the Fiesta.  Happy wife.. Happy life  :)    

I've always wondered if I would ever use ALL my bowls in one cooking/baking event.  Challenge accepted!  On this mission I got closer than I've been before.  I've never made a marble cake before.  If you do find every bowl you own and get ready to use them.

 

Here are the bowls in action.  Aren't they great.  The stirrer whisky thing came from King Arthur Flour.  Thanks Mom.

 

  

Into the mixer went a whole lot of egg whites.  Funny thing happens when you are told to whip them to stiff peaks and while they are flinging around you wonder what exactly does that mean?  I raced to the computer to check.  Drat, it had signed off.  Fingers flying and precious moments later I am reading that... OH NO it is possible to over whip.  Did I do that?  I ran back to check and I couldn't tell.  The picture I thought was the over whipped one looked a lot like what was happening in the mixer.  Eeeek.  Meringue madness.  Back and forth I ran until I figured out I was looking at the picture of what I wanted to happen.  Success - my peaks were stiff!  In case you were wondering the over whipped batch would have looked like a soupy butter coloured cottage cheesy mess.  Stiff peaks: when pulling the whisk from the whites the whisker that forms does not wilt and stands straight and tall! I should've snapped a picture.

Here it is.  The cake in all it's glory!  I think it turned out quite yummy if I may say so myself.  If you make a marble cake pay attention to the instruction that says split the batter in half and add the chocolate to only one bowl.  I made a mistake and added the chocolate to the bowl with way more than half the batter.   The chocolate portion of the marble turned out only kinda chocolatey hence the barely visible marbling.

Obviously I didn't have any problem with the results as the piece of cake shrunk before taking this picture. Looking at it now what remains looks a lot like meatloaf.  Didn't taste like it tho.  Thank goodness!  Yum.  

I am thinking it is the best cake I've made in quite some time. The icing was so rich and sweet.  I added way less sugar than the recipe called for but wish I had used even less than I did.  

So good.  Soooo good.  

Chocolate induced nap.  Just kidding..!

My nap was the only one chocolate induced.

Til next time...

Holding Down a Couch

Outside the door the world is dimming and gray.  There are snow flakes a'fallin'.  I need to get Zach to take more pictures.  Did you see his snowflake picture?  The post prior to this one has a link.  Go check it out... I'll wait.

Here's mine:

ok... so you can only see the ones already on the ground.  I promise there are flakes a'fallin'.  I think I see one against the dark of the tree...

Makin' tracks!

Here are the ones stuck to my shoes...

..I quickly changed for these  :)

And now I am sippin' some tea.  I am glad for bright things on a gray day such as this.  Last night I re-purposed a melamine plate to be my tea tray.   Isn't it pretty?

 
And today... I am using my new silver (plated, I think!) tea tray I picked up at the neighbor's estate sale.  Got it for a song.  It was the end of the sale and they were looking to get rid of things so I packed a bag with goodies for a dollar.  Here it is...

shiny and sparkly yay!

Sooooo in addition to sippin', holding down a couch, enjoying my kittie (who is curled up in my lap)

Isn't she sweet? 

I may use another one of my new treasures...  maybe...

so please stay tuned....

Have a great day everyone!
K

Hubbie's Bloggin' Too

What I'd Say... 
The above link is to my hubbie's brand new bloggie!   Go check it out  :)

Here it was quite chilly and my coworker snapped this awesome picture that says it all.
Zach's snowflake pic
Go look.  It's a great picture.

Back soon.

I Am Shocked .. Another Year

Inside the house my feet are resting on the ottoman and outside the wind  is howling.  Woo hoo it is finally above freezing.  Behind this screen is the book I am reading.  Next to me is a pot of tea (P.G. Tips, thanks for askin').  Ahhh can this day off be any better?

Kittie and I are enjoying a fine day off.  Of course she is off each and every day.  How does one get that deal?  I am still slinging coffee for a large conglomerate.  For a customer I have  been making a skinny peppermint mocha with 7 equal.  How anyone thinks 12 pumps of flavour, even if it is sugar free, and 7 packs of equal is any kind of skinny is beyond me!  Go figure!

B is still working with the local law enforcement team!  He is enjoying the newer patrol area and has now switched to the evening shift... criminals beware!

B's parents are pretty well.  Both are carrying along best they can.
J is playing bingo regularly and settling in after a move.  If you need a change in routine may I suggest going to a local Senior Center/Living Home and play Bingo!  Phew these ladies and gents take their game seriously.  One such experience: A resident wanders in and sits herself down.  At the same time her tush hits the chair a growley voice erupts from the corner of the room, "She didn't pay her quarter.. she has to pay her quarter."  Sheesh.  Also beware the glares and  shuushes you get should you say anything while the game is being called.  They rival those at the library!  This experience is not for the faint of heart.  To be prepared maybe you should see your doctor before attending.   :)   Don't say you weren't warned!

C is chillin' and smiling a lot.  The last couple visits were great as he was able to interact more.  It's been exciting to hear him talk a little bit more than what had become the more recent normal.  I still find it amazing how the mind works (and sometimes misfires)!  He also spent some time in hospital to heal from pneumonia and a broken leg... ouchie!
If you know anyone who works in the caring profession (nurses / home workers, etc.)  take the time to tell them thank you!  It is a wonderful thing they do and so often thankless!

B is looking forward to warm weather.  This below freezing all the time is getting to him.  What is getting to me is the freezing of our pipes!  Thanks mom for all those times you drilled into my head..."Make sure the tap is dripping!"  That training has saved us 3x so far and more cold weather is forecast in a couple days.  The first freeze was discovered when I arrived home from work and filled or tried to fill my kettle or some such thing.  Uhhhh where's the water...?  I turned on the hot and got only a slow trickle (now I know I should have done the happy dance that I got anything at all!).  Uhh ohhh no tea for me!  I tried running it for a while to see if it would clear.  Nope...  I ran the hot in the bathrooms and found we were good there and tried again at the kitchen sink.  Nope.  Please God .. Please God... Internet... where's the computer?  Visions of waterfalls where water pipes used to be danced in my mind.  Found some information.  What did we do before the internet?  Hairdryer to the rescue.  Turned the hot on full (still nothing), hairdryer on and blasting heat at the faucet, then the pipes under the sink and finally to the basement.  I hit one of the curves of the hot water line and voila... I began to hear this gurgling and grumbling sound and then the most welcome sound of rushing water (thankfully still overhead and not ON head)!  The pipe was finally warm and the sink was steaming by the time I got back there!  I am so thankful for the information that people post on-line!  :)

Several snowstorms and muddy ground makes for a seriously ickie floor.  I am procrastinating the cleaning of said floor.  B keeps saying I need a new bloggie so here I am doing this instead of that!  :)  Here you go honey.. this is why the floor is not clean yet!

Kickin' Up My Feet

I am kickin' up my feet and reflecting on this last year.  You know how everyone puts out the what we've been up to letters with their Christmas cards?  I often wonder how they remember all the pertinent details from the far off months?  Heck, who am I kidding, I usually can only remember the last couple hours.

Well I had a lovely last couple hours.  Working backwards:
9.  I sipped yummie hot chocolate (thanks Trader Joe) while watching "How I Met Your Mother" on Netflix.
8.  I tucked hubbie in bed but I didn't read a him bedtime story.
7.  I dined on chocolate ice cream.
6.  I nibbled on a chocolate bar- an oh, so yummy one from Aldi's.  They have the BEST  
     chocolate bars!
hmmm I am seeing a trend here...
5.  Dinner was rice, cod, and salad with my newest yummie salad discovery - provel cheese.
4.  Cooked said dinner in my Breville Smart Oven... love it!  If you don't already have one, put that computer down, go to your recycle bin, clip the Bed, Bath & Beyond coupon, in your favoured mode of transportation get yourself to BB&B, purchase said oven, and prepare yourself for oven heated goods without having to heat the big oven  :)
3.  Several new treasures came home with me from my fav. thrift store St. Paul de Vincent. 
 I got me a nice new sweater.

treasure or old lady sweater? Kinda funny but at this angle my left arm looks huge!

I so didn't need a new jacket I just wanted it.  It's liner was challenged so I got it for a discount and stitched it tonight when I got home.  Hopefully it will hold because I really like the jacket.  $2 bucks for a wool jacket  woo hoo.  The trifecta was secured when I found a really nice purse that looked great on my arm.
2.  I held down a couch while I ate my breakfast.  Thanks Starbucks for supplying the veggie sammich.
1.  I woke up.

I'll cover the previous months.. eventually.

Holy Cow, It's been a YEAR and what a year it was...

I cannot believe it's been more than a year since I've posted on here.  WoW!  What a year it has been.  It all began with a thought Bill had about returning to the Midwest to help care for his aging parents.  We decided to see what would happen and listed our CO house for sale and he took an early retirement deal from his work.  Sure enough if God prompts a move it will happen.  Both deals worked out and suddenly we were unemployed and almost out of a house.  Oh, did I mention that I was also raising money for  a mission trip to Kenya?  Yup, all this in a "down" economic market!  Again, God is faithful.  While packing we had only two casualties.  Bill packed all his clothes and had nothing clean to change into while traveling and my rain coat which was going to go to Kenya with me instead went on the moving truck.  Pretty impressive if I do say so myself as I was packing a household, for a mission trip, and for my gypsy days between arriving home from Kenya and my departure to MO.  

Valentine's Day was the day.  Bill was off with the doggie and the truck and I remained behind to leave for Kenya with the group.  The trip was a wonderful one and it was so fun to see my kids again.  About 2.5 weeks later I hit the road aimed East to the apartment Bill had chosen for our temporary home.  He did well.  It was nice as far as apartments go.  After months of trying to respect our neighbors and curbing our night owl tendencies we hooked up with a realtor who would ultimately find our new home.  Funny thing... here we are back in Bill's home state and we find a realtor, quite by chance, who comes from my home state and even more interesting she attended high school in the same school building I did before it split into to high schools.  Found us a winner!  Our seller was wonderful in that she sold us her patio set and washer/dryer for $100 bucks.  The patio set was even nicer than the one I sold in CO to lighten the load and pay for the mission trip.  God is good.

Our transition has not been without challenge.  Soon after my arrival here our doggie got sick and ultimately went to heaven.  I had some good time with him but it was all too short.  I am very thankful Kibbee is quite the adjustable kittie and she is carrying on and will simply have to live forever as Oz was unable to fulfill that task.  I hated to say goodbye to such a wonderful doggie but I would not have wanted him to suffer any longer.  I am now working as a covert agent in a field hard to even imagine I could survive  :)  Just the whole working thing has been an adjustment.  For a while I was the sugar mama and picked up as many hours as possible.  Now that Bill has found work in his field I can lessen my schedule a little bit and take care of him and the household a little better.  My compliments to all who work full time and care for families and homes and etc....!  You are to be saluted.  Bill's folks are carrying along but they are hitting some health bumps and some plain 'ole getting old bumps.  The adjustments have been interesting and I am learning more and more about myself every day.

Though still filled with boxes, our new home is becoming more and more of a sanctuary.  I posted pictures from my deck at the old house.  That was a nice view however my new garden is even more amazing so ya'll better start praying I can figure out how to keep it flourishing.  If the rain stops sometime soon I shall post pictures from my tea sipping spot on the back patio.  Here is starting to feel more like home every day.  Of course Fall being so near helps tremendously.  The last couple days I've started noticing a few of the trees turning those beautiful crimson colours that have been in my dreams since I left the East coast.   Just recently I discovered a place to purchase my favourite two English teas and Heinz Salad Creme!  Yay.  It is not too far away and nearby there is a place for me to purchase bulk spices.  :)

Last but not least... it is my birthday season and no I will not tell you which birthday it is!  :)

Bill's mom bought us a housewarming gift a a ticky tockey chiming clock and Bill just purchased me a westminster chiming clock for the mantel.  We are all about time here in this place!  The ticking reminds me of Grammie and Grampie's and the chiming reminds me of home with the folks.  Bill promises more pressies to come.  Yay! it is a season after all and way too important of an occasion to not extend the celebration beyond the socially acceptable day of recognition!  HA!

Happy Fall everyone!

Hugs from Here!

Up Up and Awayyyyy

We are flying today.  Thanks Southwest Airlines for a great first flight.  One down and one to go.  Kansas City is currently hosting us until we get on our flight to St. Louis in about two hours.  We are looking forward to time with family and hopefully be able to take in a Cardies game.

'Til next time,
K

One Down and 2 to Go!

Cardies have won tonight.  Yay!  They are playing a three game series against the dreaded Cubbies.  For all you Cubbie fans out there... Sorry... nah....

Lookit' all that red in the stands.  Now, that is the Cardinal Nation.  They (the infamous they) say that St. Louis has the best fans!    We took the picture so we are not one of the red bits you see, but the guy taking a picture across from us has us in his picture decked out in our Cardie red!  Like this....

Oh, never you mind that the first picture is in the daytime and the second is at night.  It got dark FAST.. o' so fast.. yeah, that's it.  

So there you have it.. tomorrow at 18:00 mountain you better be parked in front of the Cardinals game and rooting for the Red Birds.

Fun Thing I found perusing the web

It's a wordle... This is an example of one that I put together.

I am sure you creative types can find a way to use this type thing for gift's etc.

Enjoy!

what you find when you go blogging!

I have had fun looking at all the wonderful tips and information on various blogs. It can be a full time job this blogging thing! On a blog I visited I found a new treasure trove of backgrounds. While looking around I stumbled upon this Dallie background. My Oz would be proud especially considering I was going to take his picture today all splayed out on the new couch! If he's there now... you'll get to see... if not I will have to catch him and snap his pic.
Nope, he's on the bed which has my favourite plaid cover on it :)

I am so excited about the new couches. I have one hint... plaid!

Based on that hint ... does anyone have the best ever Dalmation hair from furniture removal tip?

Ok, so I couldn't wait to show them off...
I love plaid and when I saw these on Craigslist I couldn't help myself. My fingers flew over the keyboard and the email was sent. The best thing... we got our old couches sold for the same amount of the new ... so we just traded. :)

Here's Kibbee... not doing much of anything but she would be sad if she knew Oz got on the bloggie and she didn't! She's snoring right now.

Snow is Cold

No, seriously, it's cold! Especially cold was the snow yesterday. Penny and I went cross country skiing and had so much fun. The conditions on the Cameron Connection trail were wonderful for 95% of the trail. The open sections, they were another story hoooowwweeee. When we left the temperature was hovering on the lower side of 20 and it was BLOWIE! With it so cold I had my doubts of staying warm. Layers.. layers are especially good even if they make one look wide :) I love trees! Once we hit the trail the trees became our friends and the wind... was no match. It was like a different day :) Knowing Penny as I do, I knew I didn't have to bring a camera. Knowing me like she does, she didn't have to do any research! Pop on over to her wonderfully crafty bloggie to see the pictures! If you are a crafter & especially a sewer/quilter take a look around. O' to have some of the crafty instincts of this lady!

click here ! do it now!

Kittie and I Have a New Best Buddy!!

When our noses were chilly on the wake up this morning and our
thermostat broke the bad news to us....

this was actually after we started warming again!

We called...

...and our new best buddy Steve came and rescued us!
He was very gracious considering we called him so early.
The diagnosis was made, swift action ensued and a new ignitor was installed. Yay!
Kittie immediately went to her new favourite place..(yes, that is the heating vent underneath her) at least until we stop seeing our breath in here.

Considering the temperature outside was in the twenties, it wasn't that bad, just a wee bit chillier than normal. Downstairs got to 52 degrees. Whooo hooo the middle floor is finally to 55!

Thanks new best buddy Steve for putting us to the front of the line of the jobs today!
Buckhorn Heating & Air is the best.
If you need their services, give them a call, they'll treat you right.

You know those days....

That call out
SOUP Soup SOUP!
I was just talking to my sis' in law and she mentioned having chicken noodle soup on the stove. The idea was planted and I ran with it. This is the view from my desk and it also inspired me to take action. I had to do something to thaw my fingers from just looking out there! Ha!
Woopsie, no before pictures, but the above became the beneath.
...and soon my bowl was filled with the yummie warm frothiness of Taco Soup.
It took all of 2 min. to boil water, gather & measure the ingredients, and 3 minutes to process. Nothing like instant gratification. 5 minutes to steaming hot soup.

....and about a minute to an empty bowl. YUM!

Yay Vita-Mix. I really enjoy this machine as it can do all sorts of things.
My most recent duh moment regarding this machine was ... onions. Yup, onions. Every time I chop onions (by hand) I cry and cry and cry! DOH, Why don't I let the V-M have a whack at it? Next time I had to chop/dice some onions out it came and may I just say it was a tear free experience!

vitamix goodness
no money has exchanged re: this product review... only a happie girl reporting a tear free experience.. Now, if anyone from Vita-Mix is reading this, feel free to send me a new tamper (hubbie accident-don't ask) and one of those nifty smaller containers!
Thanks in Advance!

The Black and White Cookie

Oh, the beautiful Black and White cookie!
I have had a hankerin' for these o' so yummie "cookies"!
Have you heard of these? They are the quintessential New York City treat.
I got myself on-line, found a recipe, read the comments, and set to baking! I love to bake cookies and usually do a good job of it. Cakes, now that's a different story, are much more of a challenge for me. This cookie is very cake like and I wondered how I would do so I made only half a batch. Good for me as this needs some altitude tweaking... of course, I should have looked at that first.

This was the result.
The pictures look ok but I can see some of where the vanilla side of the frosting did not quite cover. The chocolate covered wonderfully and is so very very very rich.

Overall I would report this first attempt as a success but I will still try other recipes or tweak this one. I know, I know, on the closeup the icings don't touch in the middle. Chalk that deficiency up to my need for instant gratification.. I couldn't wait to try. One of the keys to getting that good line in the middle is frost the vanilla side and let it set before frosting the chocolate side.

http://smittenkitchen.com/2008/09/black-and-white-cookies/
This is the recipe I (kinda) followed. After reading the comments I made some adjustments. Here are my notes for next time: I used the confection sugar-milk-vanilla frosting and it wasn't very white or the frosting I remember. Next time I will use the icing as listed in the recipe. For the chocolate I used the sugar, milk, vanilla, added unsweetened chocolate and melted over a double boiler. I can't believe I am saying this, but wow, too rich for this cookie. I will file it away for something more appropriate as the frosting was oh, so yummie! Some of the comments mentioned there wasn't enough lemon extract. I thought the amount listed was just right or maybe even a smidge too much. Because the cookies didn't raise too much I will try some altitude adjustments. I didn't have cake flour so I used the 2TBL cornstarch in the cup measure and added the rest AP flour substitution.

So there you have it... my first attempt at the nostalgic Black & White Cookie. Seeing as my dad works in NYC it may be possible to have some shipped in for taste comparison when I am further along in my quest for the best recipe.

I hope I don't have the same fate as Jerry Seinfeld!

Global Warming, Phooeeeey!

It is anti-global warming again in my yard! Translation: Snowing AGAIN! Because of all this I had to choose the green snow background to help me remember what colour the lawn is underneath all the global warming debris! a new background... and again, because I found one I liked better. HA!

HAPPEY

(so, I know I spelled it wrong but I typed it three times trying to fix the misspelling so I've decided to leave it!)
NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES!

Seriously, It's Been How Long?

I am shocked at the length of time it has taken me to get into gear and get a new post on this bloggie. Oh, My, Heavens, I still have Thanksgiving "paper" up here! Eeeek. Moments while I go fix this!

The Difference a Few Days can Make!

This is the same view (almost, because I wasn't willing to get snowed on to take the same picture) as the other day. Look one entry below. What a difference a few days can make! The news is reporting we could get yet another 10-12" tonight and even more tomorrow! Yay! Welcome Winter :)

Here's another view from the patio door looking out. I should try to snap one of Oz as he blends in except for the black spots! He is quite put out with the snow cold on his feet you know.

So I turned this stay inside kinda day into a baking day. :) This is the making of "End of the search Chocolate Chip Cookies" . I found the recipe on a blog I was reading and wanted to try. So far so good. The first batch was yummie. Apparently I will be here a while as the recipe makes 6 dozen :)

I must run and take some cookies off the pan and of course sample because I plan to gift a few tonight at a gathering to honour our Youth Pastors' last night. :)

Isn't Fall just the best? This is my view from the computer these days. I am sitting at the kitchen counter and looking outside. There are so many pretty colours out there and right in my eye line too! :) While walking today in the neighborhood doggie, hubbie and I crunched crunched and crunched in the many leaves littering the street. I probably shouldn't say littering the street as my first thought with litter is trash and I definately would not call crunchable leaves trash. I would call them cheap fun! :) Take a minute, or several, to crunch your way around the block it is good for the soul and usually makes me remember piling the leaves and jumping... ummm, I mean raking them and putting them out for lawn stuff pick-up.... yeah, that's what we were doing out there for hours on end as children...

Simply Stated yet Profound

LIFE LESSON

You gotta read this. I couldn't have said it better myself and I didn't. A fellow blogger named Sarah wrote it in her blog Life in the Parsonage.

Enjoy

Bear Grass - from our Trip to Glacier National Park - Such a strange plant but very cool lookin'.