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Showing posts from 2015

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Days 5 & 6

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According to a study I made up for this post, completely inundating oneself with only current events can induce a severe case of jam-fingers-in-ears-and-run-away-whilst-yelling-lalalalalala-itis. A FB friend closed her FB & Twitter accounts just after the Paris tragedy because of the severity of her aforementioned affliction. I applaud her decision, and admire the strength it took for her to do that - considering how heavily vested she was in the medium.  I don't have it in me to go cold turkey. So stave off the affliction, I've made copious use of the "Delete From Feed" and "Don't Show Posts From xxx" options on my feed. And to amp up the Christmas cheer, especially while baking, I added Lite Rock 105 out of Providence to my radio diet the day after Thanksgiving - that's when they go all Christmas songs 24-7, until the New Year. My fingers are no longer poised outside my ears. I just need to decide on other radio stations after Christmas is

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 4

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Anyone else in a state of perma-shock that ole St. Nick will be squeezing his portly frame down chimneys in three days?! Looks like I'll be doubling up on cookie recipes. And while one isn't a cookie, I make it every to have Christmas morning, and will share. We are trekking out to Upstate NY to share the holiday with Mumsy, Daddy, Barbie and the twins and I'm wicked psyched! (That's right - I'm letting my New England vernacular flag fly!) Will you be travelling to, or hosting a gathering, great or small? On to Buche de Noel cookies. Buche de Noel is French for Christmas Log. No wonder we don't translate it - Christmas Log is positively gauche! (Is there nothing that the French language can fancy up?) Anyway - a Buche de Noel is a log-shaped cake, and can be very time-consuming to make. See pic: The mushroom, while cute, don't seem Christmassy... Since I tend to go straight to DEFCON 1 if something I attempt on the first try doesn't come out pe

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 3

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I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! We didn't make it to the Festival of Lights, but they're doing it again this coming weekend, so hopefully we'll make it over there after the Pats take care of the Titans. (Was very happy to see they returned to form for Sunday' s game! I had faith.) Errands, laundry and cleaning with a swing by the salon for a long-overdue shearing of my shaggy head comprised most of the activities this weekend. And baking, of course! True to form, I had a grandiose schedule of six or seven cookie recipes I wanted to prepare. But after the hours shopping, scrubbing and straightening, I took an axe to the list, and settled with two recipes. This was a wise decision all around. Not only is it inadvisable to have 10 dozen cookies just lying around, I would have no baking to keep me busy during the week! PEANUT BUTTER BLOSSOMS A Happy Tray! Peanut Butter Blossoms have been my favorite Christmas cookie since ever. No marriage of fla

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 2

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Happy Friday! You no doubt have noticed, I reverted back to the old template. I did receive a thumbs up with regards to the other one - but it was just too messy for me. Not just the background, but the whole thing was too chaotic for my poor linear brain to handle. But not everything is the same! A little font change here, splash of color there - voila! Change I can handle. Any festive plans for the wee ke nd? There's a Festival of Lights a t the local KOA this weekend that I'd like to take the kiddos to. Shhh! They don't know yet.  I will a lso be baking, of course! It's eleven days into the month, and I have y e t to m ake a single batch of the quintessential Ch ristmas cookie. The peanut blossom. I purposely put off procuring the ingredients because of this clean eating challenge. That is one cooki e that I can't resist. My sister put a mouth-watering pic of her blossoms on FB last weekend and it's been haunting my dreams since. And today is th

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 1

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So what do you think of the new look? I'm not sure yet if it's permanant - haven't decided if the red mosaic-y background is too distracting. Let me know what you think in the comments section below or on FB! I've been musing (hahaha) over ways to be more active on this little bloggy-blog and figured a makeover was a good place to start. Other ideas are bouncing around the cavernous space betwixt my ears like those little, rubber super-balls -- but more on that later. Moving on to something delicious and festive! I know - 12 Days of Christmas is supposed to begin on the first of the month. I'm starting today for the following reasons (in no particular order): Z. I'm a rebel. 4. This most original of ideas occurred to me at the beginning of the week. e. I've made three batches of cookies already, and sharing them brings more joy to me and is waaaaay funner than jawing about the state of the world! MCXVII. Since I'm at the tail end of my

Gobble, Gobble, Fitness Journey Continues

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Happy Thanksgiving! Who else is flabbergasted that Turkey Day is tomorrow?? My mouth waters as I envision of a table loaded with turkey, potatoes, squash, green bean casserole (not for all, I know) and pies, and is surrounded with friends and family. Much to my dismay, I'm not accompanying Mumsy, Daddy, Barbie & twins as they now travel Pennsylvania to visit with Lynne and Wade. (Insert sobbing emoji). Alas, if the Jeep were  working, Ben has to work on Friday, making it impossible for a road trip. But instead of another quiet day at home, though, I'm thrilled we are trekking to Gloucester to share the holiday with Ben's very dear friend and her family. She is a whiz in the kitchen, and I'm quite happy to partake in the fruits of her labor. I'm also thrilled that there won't be a bevy of leftovers hanging around the house! Especailly the potatoes. I make the WHOLE recipe which calling for five pounds of potatoes, a stick of butter (actually two  stic

A Twist of Fate

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Yes, it's true. (Any Ghostbusters fans know what line cometh after this?? Hehe.) I am now being paid to write. The universe most definitely had a hand in this. The week after returning from vacation, I started perusing the job offerings. I replied to an ad on Craigslist for a part-time office assistant. I almost didn't send my resume, since the job was in a town about 45 minutes from me. But I thought maybe I could wow them so much I 'd get the expensive end of the pay scale, thus neutralizing the commute factor. I also thought it more likely I wouldn't be called back, since there are lots of people looking for work. But I had this feeling I should send my resume anyway, so I drafted a simple, few-sentence cover letter, attached my resume and clicked send. The next morning I received a call, which I let go to voicemail. It was the owner of the company. She said she received my resume and wanted to discuss my qualifications. I called her back later that morning and

Summer Wrap-Up and Fall Commences

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Welcome Fall! So how's everyone been the last two months? (Eeeek!) I can't believe how much time has passed since my last post. Several times I've plunked my keester in front of the computer, and each time I attempted a new post, nothing seemed to work. But it's working today! Summer flew by this year - in fact the whole   year has flown by this year. I truly can't believe that the first day of my favorite month is a mere two days away. Sheesh! The summer closed with me and the kids visiting my parents for a week. It was wonderful! My favorite pic of this trip is of Shiloh and Aisling (Haz-el-ing in Shiloh speak) that Mumsy took when we went to Enchanted Forest Water Safari -  EEEHHHH! Where the fun never stops - bomp-bomp! That day started off on a rather sour note. We left late (our fault), it poured on-and-off en route and for the first hour we were there, and  we got stuck in construction traffic (also en route). Mumsy and I were in her car with the g