ha!

Quite possible the greatest thing I have ever seen? Ellen's Halloween costume....

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Today....

I don't want to get up and get ready. It's cold. It's rainy. It's all around a grey day....and I'm feeling underwhelmed.

I need to get up, have a cheese quesadilla and shake this funk away.

(yeah, I said cheese quesadilla....breakfast of champions around these parts!)

Weekend Awesomeness

*Remember when I posted about finding an old metal table top (I think I used the word formica and that is incorrect) for $25 that I am going to slap some legs on and make into a table????

Well, I have one up-ed myself. I found an old metal topped table for $20 at Goodwill on Monday!!!!!!! (remember, I don't work Mondays therefore I must spend my time wisely...like shopping for bargains)

Please excuse the blurry pictures. I may or may not have dropped our new camera and successfully broke the lens. (sshhhh!!!)

I'm not sure what I am going to use this little gem for, but I do know I'm going to slap some paint (possible red) on those legs!!!!


* Saturday night whilst hanging out with Katie Jean and Babs (who by the way just bought a house 2 blocks from us....EEEEKKK!!! so excited!) something absolutely awesome happened. All of us...Katie Jean, Babs, Stone and I...sang, from our hearts, the ENTIRE Golden Girls theme song.

If by chance you are unfamiliar with this tune....have a listen



Now picture in your head four adults (OK, semi-adults), 2 of which are men, belting this song as loud as possible.

It.Was.Awesome.

I don't know what prompted the singing, but the memory of our quartet will warm my heart for years to come.

Success....finally

In the 2.5 years that we have lived in our home, I have been unable to make a batch of cupcakes in our oven....without burning them.

I know what you are thinking, USER ERROR. But honestly it's not me, it's the oven. Even mi Madre, best cook I know, burned cornbread muffins in my oven.

Let's just say what needs to be said....our oven is the devil.

Well, the tides turned on Saturday.

Voila!!!!

I successfully made a batch of (unburned) carrot cake cupcakes! (in Scooby-Doo wrappers...I think they give them a little something extra special)

PS: I had planned on making red velvet cupcakes (my favorite) but was unable to find the mix anywhere. Has anyone else noticed red velvet cake mix has gone missing?!?!?!?!

PPS: Heck yeah I use boxed cake mix! Who do you think I am, Betty Crocker!?!?!?

PPPS: I'm sorry for getting saucy just then. It would be lovely if you thought I was Betty Crocker. Completely insane, but still....lovely.

From my Great Granny to you....

Saturday brought friends, laughter, conversation and fun to my humble home. I debated all week about what to make for linner (lunch + dinner = linner). After much conversation and with the help of many, I decided on my Great Gran Estelle's vegetable soup.


I grew up on this soup/stew. It warms my soul thinking about coming home from school and smelling a pot of this goodness cooking on the stove.

Estelle's Vegetable Soup

1 head of cabbage shredded

1 small onion finely chopped

3 potatoes peeled and chopped (bite size)

4 carrots peeled and chopped (bite size)

1 cup frozen corn

1 cup frozen lima beans

1 cup frozen green beans

1 large can tomato juice

1/2 stick margarine

Nature Seasoning to taste (click the link if you are unsure as to what Nature Seasoning is...basically a blend of salt, pepper, garlic, onion etc...)

HOW TO:
Put cabbage and onion into the pot along with the tomato juice, margarine and seasoning. Let cook down for a while. (note: the pot ((make sure to use a BIG pot)) will look really full with just the cabbage and onion, but it cooks down to nothing so don't you worry a bit!) Add the remaining vegetables to the pot and let cook until all the veggies are tender....or covered and on med-low to low for a few hours.

Note 1: If it looks like there needs to be more liquid in the pot, add water or more tomato juice (at any point in the cooking process)

Note 2: If you want to be a good little cook and use all fresh veggies, GO FOR IT, we just use the regular old frozen for corn, lima beans and green beans because well it's a heck of a lot easier.

Note 3: I used a rather large pot on my stove for this (the kind with two handles on either side)....if you choose to do that too, you can go ahead and purchase the bags of frozen corn, lima beans and green beans and just throw the whole bag into the pot.

Note 4: If you would like to make this Vegetable Beef Stew....just add shredded beef to the pot while it is all cooking together. I grew up on that variation as well.

This is seriously easy cooking. Add a side of corn bread and a big spoon and you are set!!!!

PS: Saskia, I will be making your mushroom risotto recipe sometime this week....I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you for sending it over!!!

drawing a blank....

Tonight I asked Stone what I should blog about and he said, "blog about being awesome" and then he tricked me into giving up the computer so he could 'get some work stuff done' but really I peeked over his shoulder to find him reading about the Colts and checking his email.

Men...you can't live with them.....but without them, who would go down to the scary basement and wash the leggings I need for work tomorrow????

I decided to take Stone's advice and show you a photo that captured a wee bit of me being awesome.

If you look closely you will see that I am wearing what appears to be a teeny tiny housecoat which I have accessorized with a candy necklace.

If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.

Here's how I see it....

I'm technically bettering my chances of winning $50,000 each time I eat at McDonalds....

....so I shouldn't be embarrassed that I have this many Monopoly pieces right?

RIGHT?????