Thursday, July 12, 2012
Better late than never!
I know it's not officially Thursday in my time zone, but it is somewhere! So, on this Thursday, I am thankful for karaoke on the iPad! It's so fun! Had a great night with some fun kids from the fruit stand!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Argyle
Today, I am thankful for argyle--the pattern, not the place! It's so lovely! You can get it in so many different colors, and it is unisex. Don't know what to get your co-worker for the holiday gift exchange? Look to argyle! Notepads, sweaters, bags, sheets...it's so versatile! I have at least seven argyle sweaters, and they are all very different.
So, thanks, argyle, for being so timeless and universal! You never let me down!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
As Seen on TV
Today, I'm thankful for As Seen on TV items. Well, maybe not thankful for the items themselves but more thankful for the amusement they provide to me. As I was boiling pasta for lunch today, I pulled out a piece and tasted it. I made a face, and Ash asked what the face was for. (If you have a problem with the previous sentence, please see yesterday's blog post.) I told her the pasta was definitely not done. Kind of like that time... then we both tried to remember why she made pasta that was so not done. Then, it hit us: the Pasta Express! We got this for free because someone else had gotten two, and she decided she only needed one. There have been many As Seen on TV incarnations of this device: Pasta Boat, Pasta n'More, and my favorite... Fasta Pasta!
The sales pitch is always the same:
Who has time to spend slaving over a pot of boiling water on the stove? You have to wait for the water to boil, then you have to put the pasta in it and wait for it to cook! Wouldn't it be great if you could just do all those steps at once? And what about when you want long spaghetti? You can't cook full sticks of spaghetti in a regular pot! There's not enough room! So, you have to break the pasta, and it goes everywhere, or you have to just cook half of it at a time. Then to top it all off, you have to figure out when the pasta is finally cooked! I haven't even mentioned the hassle of draining the pasta...You have to be superman to cook pasta!
So, Ash and I acquired this Pasta Express, and we decided to give it a try. You put the pasta into the tube. (It's this foot tall clear plastic tube with a solid bottom and two lids: one is holey and the other is solid.) Next, you have to pour hot (Pasta Express recommends boiling) water into the tube. Cap it off with the solid lid. Then, let the pasta and the water sit for ten minutes. Finally switch to the holey lid, pour out the water, and BAM! perfect pasta!
Or, pasta that is still crunchy in the middle and is beyond salvaging because you've already put sauce and cheese on it...
So, even though I've never had an As Seen on TV product that truly worked, I have had plenty of them that have given me some good stories! And for that, I am thankful!
Monday, July 9, 2012
Thankful
In an effort to post more often, I am challenging myself to post every day for one month. If it goes well, I will choose a different topic next month and post about that! July's topic is... Quirky things I am thankful for!
Today, I am thankful that, despite what some old English teachers may claim, you are, in fact, allowed to end a sentence with a preposition! As Winston Churchill was purported to have said, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put."
Today, I am thankful that, despite what some old English teachers may claim, you are, in fact, allowed to end a sentence with a preposition! As Winston Churchill was purported to have said, "This is the sort of English up with which I will not put."
Monday, June 18, 2012
Etsy Shop
I just opened my Etsy shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelryEtcByAmy
Look for more items to come soon!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Valentine's Day!
Ash and I had a lovely Valentine's Day! She received a new coffee maker, some candy, and she's getting an ipod nano with watch attachment! I received an ipod touch, lucky bamboo shaped like hearts, a panda, a beautiful card that Ash drew herself, two wooden owls, and an owl that she made!!! She is so awesome!
We went to an apartment party, where we ate a little chocolate, and Ash won a Cheddar's gift card! And I made a special dinner. Bowtie pasta (Ash's favorite) with pink sauce (it's just regular smooth tomato sauce--I used Ragu--and Alfredo sauce--I used Walmart's brand--mixed together), grilled chicken, and fresh grated parmesan cheese. The key to really making it tasty is the fresh grated parmesan! With a side of garlic bread.
(As a side note, I love bread! I usually have a regular loaf on hand, but I also like to have fancy breads like sourdough, sandwich rolls, garlic bread, croissants, etc. While these can be a little expensive, I always shop the bargain rack. Lots of times, the store bakery will overbake, or they'll have extras that are about to expire, so they'll slash the price by half or more!)
Finally, I made an...interesting...dessert. It was based on this recipe for Red Velvet Cookie Balls from Kraft. They're ok. Ash likes them a lot, but I think they're just o.k. And, they definitely don't deserve to be called Red Velvet. I call them oreo candy balls. Here's how I made them:
ingredients:
-one package of cream cheese
-one package each of golden oreos and regular oreos *I used regular stuffed, but I would recommend using double stuff oreos. Really, you can use any kind of oreos you want!
-one package of baker's chocolate
1. put about ten to twelve golden oreos in a plastic bag, use a canned food and crush up the cookies in the bag. I used a combination of smashing, rolling, and banging. The more crushed up the cookies are, the better. Do the same thing with a bag of regular oreos and a mixed bag with five or six regular oreos and five or six golden oreos.
2. split the cream cheese up into thirds. Mix together one bag of oreos with one third of the cream cheese. Mix, mix, mix. You'll probably also wind up crushing the oreos a little more as you mix, and that's ok.
3. once it's all mixed up, make little balls out of the mixtures. My balls were between the size of a bouncy ball and a ping pong ball. The recipe said it'd make about 48 balls. I wound up with about 20.
4. put the balls in the freezer for a little while so they can firm up.
5. Open up all the chocolate. Chop it up into small bits. Put it in a bowl, and warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each heating session until it's smooth and creamy. Don't burn it!
6. Drop the balls into the chocolate, swirl them around to get them covered, take them out and put them back on the cold plate that you just got out of the freezer. Quickly add some sprinkles, and you're done! A few helpful tips for this part: I put three balls in the chocolate at a time. If you wait too long to add sprinkles, it won't work because they won't stick to the chocolate. Also, we stored our extras in the freezer for a nice cool treat on this 75-degree February day!
We went to an apartment party, where we ate a little chocolate, and Ash won a Cheddar's gift card! And I made a special dinner. Bowtie pasta (Ash's favorite) with pink sauce (it's just regular smooth tomato sauce--I used Ragu--and Alfredo sauce--I used Walmart's brand--mixed together), grilled chicken, and fresh grated parmesan cheese. The key to really making it tasty is the fresh grated parmesan! With a side of garlic bread.
(As a side note, I love bread! I usually have a regular loaf on hand, but I also like to have fancy breads like sourdough, sandwich rolls, garlic bread, croissants, etc. While these can be a little expensive, I always shop the bargain rack. Lots of times, the store bakery will overbake, or they'll have extras that are about to expire, so they'll slash the price by half or more!)
Finally, I made an...interesting...dessert. It was based on this recipe for Red Velvet Cookie Balls from Kraft. They're ok. Ash likes them a lot, but I think they're just o.k. And, they definitely don't deserve to be called Red Velvet. I call them oreo candy balls. Here's how I made them:
ingredients:
-one package of cream cheese
-one package each of golden oreos and regular oreos *I used regular stuffed, but I would recommend using double stuff oreos. Really, you can use any kind of oreos you want!
-one package of baker's chocolate
1. put about ten to twelve golden oreos in a plastic bag, use a canned food and crush up the cookies in the bag. I used a combination of smashing, rolling, and banging. The more crushed up the cookies are, the better. Do the same thing with a bag of regular oreos and a mixed bag with five or six regular oreos and five or six golden oreos.
2. split the cream cheese up into thirds. Mix together one bag of oreos with one third of the cream cheese. Mix, mix, mix. You'll probably also wind up crushing the oreos a little more as you mix, and that's ok.
3. once it's all mixed up, make little balls out of the mixtures. My balls were between the size of a bouncy ball and a ping pong ball. The recipe said it'd make about 48 balls. I wound up with about 20.
4. put the balls in the freezer for a little while so they can firm up.
5. Open up all the chocolate. Chop it up into small bits. Put it in a bowl, and warm it up in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between each heating session until it's smooth and creamy. Don't burn it!
6. Drop the balls into the chocolate, swirl them around to get them covered, take them out and put them back on the cold plate that you just got out of the freezer. Quickly add some sprinkles, and you're done! A few helpful tips for this part: I put three balls in the chocolate at a time. If you wait too long to add sprinkles, it won't work because they won't stick to the chocolate. Also, we stored our extras in the freezer for a nice cool treat on this 75-degree February day!
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Earrings of the day
Today's earrings were inspired by the sun! It's been a beautiful 70-degree week, and I have commemorated it by making a pair of earrings with rays of happiness! I got these beads at Walmart last night, and I used some wire that I already had to connect it all together!
Email or message me if you're interested in learning how to make or purchasing any of the jewelry I've posted so far!
Email or message me if you're interested in learning how to make or purchasing any of the jewelry I've posted so far!
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