Crack me up and other cheesecake queries addressed

Okay - here's a picture of the cheesecake sans ze cherries. Yes indeed there is a crack - i'm all cracked up in fact. (course they were all covered with cherries - which may've been the reason the cherries on the top came to be? c'est possible ) I think this is the most cracked out cheesecake i've ever had - usually there's one. And, yes Will i'm sure it is due to the lack of either a bath or a pan of water in the oven. I really should try at least a pan of water in the oven to see the effects on this particular recipe - positive or negative. With the amount of egg white in the recipe I am also curious what that water effect might have. (Baking is so interesting due to the chemistry involved dontcha think?)
As far as the density of the cake - ah - that is what makes it so unique. It is the lightest, fluffiest cheesecake you've ever tasted. More along the lines of a souffle or a mousse. It is realy delicious and anti-diet. Normally you would feel very full after a small piece of cheesecake. This recipe creates a considerably sized cake for starters - a 10 inch pan is large (not the largest one I own mind you). Then imagine the cheesecake being 10 inches instead of the more commercial sized cake - around 8 inches. Then the height of the cake - I'd guess it to be approximately 2 inches. Now slice said big cake up - and put a piece on your plate - your plate is rather full. You'd look at that slice filling up the plate and think - I'm going to be sick if I finish that piece. I'm here to tell you not only will you not be sick, you may ask for seconds. An Aunt Florrie piece perhaps (Aunt Florrie will be a post for another day - suffice it to say for now Aunt Florrie was stingy with the cake ok?) but seconds are not unheard of with this recipe and you'll have enough to go around for a small gathering. It is a great recipe for a nice sized dinner party.
The only drawback to the recipe (other than the cracking) is that it does not slice very cleanly. Refrigerating over nite is practically a must. And when you're slicing, you could have a glass of water nearby to dip your knife into to get a clean cut each slice.
The benefits outweigh the small drawbacks however :-)
Everyone enjoyed their cake last night. My mom had 2 pieces! The woman can eat. My nephew was still full from dinner but i packed him up a piece to eat late last night (as well as some extra for my mom). We have a little less than half the cake left. I will be indulging again tonite fershure. The husband will be returning from his trip tonight. He has been in Delaware at the family beach house doing the yearly cleanup and repair work with his siblings. After all his hard work I am sure he could use a slice. You should have seen his face when he saw that cheesecake in the "2 hour let it stand" stage - it was the - "you made cheesecake and i'm going away and will there be any left for me?" face. Of course I'd make sure there was a piece for him. Silly man - he knows better - after 22 years of marriage I'd leave him cake-free? not happenin' - not no way. not no how.

All dressed up and ready to eat

Okay, i'm ready!
Going to have to wait a few hours. We're going out to eat at a very nice restaurant and then back here for some o'this :-)

Cheesecake Recipe

Okay here goes
Preheat oven: 300 degrees
Crust:
1 cup of zwiebach or vanilla wafer crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter

Mix that together and line a 1o inch spring form pan

Filling:
1 lb cream cheese (2 pkgs Philadelphia regular)
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tblsps lemon juice (fresh is best you know)
1 cup sugar
1 lb. sour cream (the real deal - no lite stuff)

Mix cheese and yolks (one at a time), vanilla, lemon juice, sugar until smooth.
Add sour cream, mix until well blended.
Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold in to the cheese mixture.
Spoon filling into spring form pan
Bake 1 hour
Turn off the heat and let it stand in the oven for 1 hour
Remove from oven
Cool in pan 1 hour on wire rack
With spatula, loosen sides and let it stand 2 hours.
Refrigerate :-)
Ok now what you need now is a can of Comstock Cherry Pie filling for the top.
When you're ready to bring this to the table - spoon the cherries on top.

FYI - i use the vanilla wafers not the zwiebach- i throw the wafers in my food processor and mash them to smithereenies! one could do this with zwiebach as well i'm sure. My mom's original recipe was with the zwiebach but hey... i don't have any babies in the house munching on zwiebach - not that i ever let them have one in the first place but i digress.... as per u-s-ual.
also today when i made the crust i ended up doubling the recipe just for the crust. it didn't seem thick enough and i wanted lots o'crust. not necessary but not a bad idea if you kwim :-)

I'm sure Gourmet or Bon Appetit or The next Food network star (will) or Top Chef Chefs will say - oh how could you put that gosh darned awful Comstock Cherry Pie filling on top - you MUST put some fresh fruit on top. (i love both magazines and both reality chef shows. they are wonderful however ~)
This chef sez fuggedaboudit.
I'm sorry but the cherry pie filling is AWESOME in combo with the tartness of the cheesecake and the sweetness of the crust. You really won't be sorry i swear - its just scrumptious -
truly :-)
i will post a picture with the cherry pie filling on top tomorrow -
bon appetit!

Company is coming

My sister, nephew and his girlfriend are coming down to visit for the weekend. It will be nice - it's been a while since they've visited. Last time we saw them it was for my nephew's 30th birthday party. That was in the fall. So we're all due.
Course company coming has always meant cleaning and food preparation to me (therefore exhaustion). Since i was little whenever we'd have company my mother would go into a frenzy. The house that was already tidy would be practically scoured. Everything was shined up and vacuumed and by the time the company would actually arrived we were all sick of the idea of company. My mom would have gone a little nuts with the cleaning and then there would be some very involved cooking that would just make her seem a little crazy to those of us around her. I mean what was the big schmeel anyhow? People come over to see you - not your house and we'd eat anything right? Well not to my mother - it meant putting on ze dog. Actually when i think back on it - she wanted to just make them feel very special. Making the house look nice of course was a reflection on her - but also for the comfort of her guests. And making something special to eat - just another way to make her company feel they were honored people in our home. And let me tell you - my mother could cook - she still can but now its a little much for her. But the woman is known far and wide for her wonderful food. She can take a box of tuna helper and turn it into fine cuisine - swear to God. And even if she didn't actually cook the food (now and again we'd get things catered) the woman knew how to make it look beautiful. I remember one occasion - it may've been my grandparents golden anniversary party? Whatever - a pan of lasagna disappeared. It became a long standing joke about that pan of lasagna - what happened to it we never did find out but we knew someone was eating pretty darned good is all. Cos Theresa made that lasagna. And she could make lasagna. The Irish girl made better Italian food than any of my Italian uncles families - no arguments from anyone.
So, one would expect that one of my mother's children would inherit her love of cooking, right?
That would be moi. I do love to cook. The sister that is visiting doesn't have the patience for cooking, The other sister is a fine cook as well except she's a vegan so her repertoire is a little limited for the rest of us. So, while i do some mad cleaning on occasion (like today - i vacuumed and cleaned and shined - so much so the cats went to the far corners of the house for fear of getting sucked up by the hoover) i do enjoy cooking something fun for company. On a day to day basis, at least lately, i have fallen into a boring routine of dinner fare. With company coming i try to think up something yummy to serve my guests (i am not named Junior for nuthin - yes, I'm a Theresa too).
Of course the first thing that pops into my mind is dessert. We must have priorities you know. i haven't come up with anything to serve for dinner yet but i do know we're having cheesecake for dessert. Not just any old cheesecake neither. My mother's recipe is the only thing i'd bother making. If you're going to do cheesecake - this is what you want. No Jello Cheesecake for us PULEEZ. That is not cheesecake kids. I'll be back later with the recipe. it is, without a doubt, the best cheesecake ever.

Valentine Rakarama

well since most of you have received yours i feel i can post this years edition. I've been sending my dear girlfriends valentines the last few years and i just couldnt let this year be the year i didn't. Yeah i had other crap going on (i always have some nonsense going on that keeps me from making things!) - but these ladies - well you all mean so much to me. I have been the recipient of many lovely cards and gifts from them. I had to do it. I was dying to do it :-)

Other years i usually had something in mind when i made my valentines. The first year i saw a darling fabric in a local store - looked like vintage valentines. I didnt keep a picture of those unfortunately but i do have some of the fabric left. The next year i made these

and last year i made this one
This year - well i wasn't sure what i would do. I was looking online at a cute project made by Michele of Purple Onion Designs - check it out here - http://www.purpleoniondesigns.com/vintagestamps3.html - scroll down to the wonderful slide mount hanging with her faboo vintage calendar stamp. The papers or stamps she used on that made me think of this lovely stamp from StampinUp! - floral background stamp. I added Purple Onions script stamp as well as the mini-sentiments stamps - and voila - i had my card.

I should mention the valentine gods were working against me - i ran out of clear embossing powder while i was making these. (amazing - do you really ever run out of ep? i swear i didnt think it possible but i'm here to say - yes you can use it all up!) I should qualify that. I ran out of my pristine clear embossing powder (my pristine jar - has no other ep's mixed into it. early on i found that when you emboss sometimes you get little bits of powder stuck in your ep tray - and it taints the stuff you put into it on the next ep adventure. My solution to this problem was to get another ep tray that i only use for clear ep'ing. yes that's just how anal retentive i can be!) so i had to use my less than pristine jar on the last few cards. i cringed on the last few cards hoping no bits of silver ep would get into it. nothing seemed to really show - especially since i did a white wash of acrylic over the ep... did any of you notice the white wash? anyway... i had an extra little heart with bow and decided i'd add a little card to my son's valentine box (i made him his favorite cookies - oatmeal chocolate chip) here's that silly monkey again
if i get back to this blog later today (two posts already and i'm considering a third.. yegods!) i will post a little cd holder i made for mdv for his gift (a cd of our songs)

Greetings from the frozen south

The frozen south (that is sorta like frozen hot chocolate isn't it? i'll have to talk about that another day) - yup its a frozen valentine's day here in northern virginia. The county i live in has already called off school for tomorrow - and it wasn't even noon when that email was received. Sorta gives you an idea of what the weather is like - we had a lot o'sleet yesterday - all day and night. My darling valentine went out this morning to survey the situation - he thought he'd be heading out to a meeting he had in Baltimore (which is approximately 1-1/2 hours from where we live) - and said he was going out to clear off things and be ready to leave when the time came. Well he returned about 5 minutes later - with a chuckle he said there is 5 inches of sleet with a nice layer of ice on top of that - i'm not going anywhere. He's been working from home all day which i find quite nice on this Valentine's Day.

Normally we get up at 5:30 and get the daughter on the bus at 6:25. Her school lies in the next county over and, as they refused to make a declaration last night, her dad (previously called my darling valentine :-) - we'll refer to him as mdv for the rest of the day) woke up early to check the closings and found EVERYTHING was closed. So mdv let me sleep in - i woke up at 8:00 am! Ok - thats enough on the weather folks...

I have been keeping busy. That closed door opened a new one that's for sure. My time seems to be taken up by chauffeuring these days. Not my favorite activity however it is what it is. I took up a new little hobby - Knitting. Actually i have knitted before - i believe i was perhaps 5 or 6 and my grandmother taught me. I know that seems young but i'm sure that must be correct given my memories of that grandmother and where we lived at the time. (i was always a precocious little crafter LOL) Anyway, i'd be thinking about trying my hand at it again and the opportunity jumped up at me in the form of a butt ugly hat. .... Of course i'll explain ;-)

My mom is undergoing radiation treatments at the moment (benign tumor reappears - no film at 11). She went to the center beginning this month. It has been particularly cold here lately and the kind ladies at the center asked my mom if she had a hat - to keep her warm and also because she might, in time, lose her lovely red hair (yes, it's still red. she does enhance the red a bit but redheads don't grey young. she's got only the tiniest bit of grey around her ears... ) My mom said no, she didn't have a hat. She says she's always had trouble with getting hats to fit -big head. My daughter also has this problem. She says big head - big brains - touche lizziebelle. So the lovely center ladies presented my mom with a knitted hat, made by some good kids who make them as community service projects for the center. Enter butt ugly hat. "how ugly is it?" Well, its a concoction of colors - black, green, yellow, orange, red. It is a primary colored collection of hideous yarns. However, it fits and it is warm - so says the wearer - although she agrees it is one U-G-LEE hat.

So there was my opportunity - in the form of that hat. I looked online and found what promised to be a delightfully easy pattern. I went to a few local craft stores and found needles and yarn (a lovely deep wedgewood blue that would enhance my mom's pretty hair and match her beautiful blue eyes). I watched a few online knitting videos and off i went. In the meantime i found i also needed some double pointed needles. These were not so easy to locate locally - the size eluded me wherever i went. So i ordered those online (Joanns.com is having 40% off everything - check it out people) and they arrived yesterday - just in time for me as i'd gotten to that point in the knitting. If i had a yarn needle I would be done with this today but i'm gonna post my hat now - with the double pointed needles still on it. I have to say this knitting was most relaxing and fun. I love doing projects that make me feel capable LOL. If you have any inclination toward knitting - give it a try - its not hard at all and look at the cute hat you can make!

One door closes, another one opens

seems life is all about this huh? one door closing and another opening. endings and beginnings.
well this week i closed the door literally and figuratively.
Most of you know i worked at a scrapbook store. One of the few chain scrapbook stores. And on Wednesday i finished packing it up and closing the door forever. Yes, it was a little sad. And i was glad i had the last hour there to myself to look around (yes, and take pictures :-) - i always take pictures right?) and say goodbye. Close that door on this chapter in my life.
I started there a little over 4 years ago. I was at yet another crossroads in my life then. My brother had passed away unexpectedly in April of 2002. I needed to get back to work - i'd left another job right after he died. It wasn't for me. Had nothing to do with what i'm about but it did provide a paycheck and sometimes life requires you to do that right? I decided that life was passing me by - i could be dead tomorrow - siblings passing away kinda hits you in the face with facts like these. A new scrapbook store opened and i decided why not apply there and do something i actually like - what a concept huh? I did and got the job. I appeared for my first day of work at the end of November 2002.
Over the years there i met some wonderful co-workers and some wonderful customers. I could tell a million stories about the people. The good and the bad but i won't bore you with all those. Maybe one day - cos there are some tear jerkers and some jerks :-) I went through 3 managers and ended up becoming the manager for the last few months (i'd avoided being the manager like the plague as i have a very full life outside of work and being a manager wasn't going to fit in with my priorities - my family first).
The last month i will say was absolutely on the list of most difficult experiences in my life. (and as many of you know i've had some pips... 2 brain surgeries for my mom, my brother passing away... ) Both physically and emotionally.
Fortunately i had some really wonderful co-workers - they did their best to assist me in all ways possible and i really couldnt thank them enough.
My family stood by me - and believe me that was tough cos i wasnt in the best shape many days. Out of 31 days in January i stayed home for 3 days. I was exhausted (heck - i still am).
My husband - well he is just the best man in the world - i knew it before but he reaffirmed his superman status once again -his love, support and assistance - Imagine this - in his suit and tie with a hammer breaking down some fixtures that i didnt sell. I wish i'd had my camera that night but it will be indelibly etched in my memory. Never complaining - just that letsgetthisdone attitude. After a full days work of his own.
My son is, as you know, away at college but i know if he'd been here he'd have been right next to his dad :-) My teenaged daughter - every night i'd get home and she would ask me how i was and i just would look at her and she'd hold her hands out and give me a huge hug and kiss. I'm a lucky woman - aren't I? i mean most people are complaining about their teenagers - it is the time of life when one is most self-involved right? Well - not this kid. She is just amazing my lizziebelle. :-)
Onto the customers. I have to say i got a little exasperated at times. I guess its just my way but i dont think i would be asking employees of a closing store "where are you going now?" "are you going to work at that other store". It's just not something i would ask - it isn't any of my business - but i guess that's just me? Oh i'm not talking about the customers i knew well - i understood their concerns - and genuine interest in my well being. I'm talking about the people i barely ever saw shop in the store. I just thought it odd. whatever.
I heard the question "why are they closing" a ba-zillion times. What could i say - and really what would it matter? In the grand scheme of things - to their lives - what would it matter? Bottom line is we were closing - it really doesn't matter what their reasons were - they are a corporation and this is - simply put - business.
Of course for me - it was more than a business and more than just a store :-) And for some of the customers i know it was also more than a store. How do i know? well - this is the part where i'm gonna get all teary eyed again. So many wonderful customers - nay - friends - i made. Well i guess i just didnt realize. There are the special customers - the ones i would looked forward to seeing when they came into the store. Well apparently they felt the same way and took the time to let me know it. They came in and made sure they talked to me - and it was a crazy place the last two weeks - but they made sure i knew how much they'd miss the place - and me. We exchanged phone numbers, email addresses. They gave me their cards. They hugged me and cried and made me cry. :-) The good kinda cry. These women I will see again. I have no doubt. The one that really sent me over the edge was totally a surprise however. And so i will end this with that little story.
The store closed on Saturday. It was Monday or Tuesday. (it's a big blur now but the store had to be vacated on wednesday so i was definitely frazzled). I was working by myself at the time and was near the front of the store and i could see a woman walking through the parking lot towards the store. I thought "oh no.. someone coming to shop again" - this had happened since Sunday - people who apparently didnt know we were closing coming up and finding the store closed. Well as she got closer i recognized her. A lovely woman who had been shopping at the store probably not long after i began. Her oldest daughter was then 2 (now 6) and she was pregnant with the second. When i first met her she was just so very pleasant and wanted help with a few things - I recall her wanting these premade pocket pages we sold. We were out at the time and she wanted more - she was the kind of customer you just love to help. Anyway as i recall i told her we'd order them for her - she was concerned about picking them up by the time they came in as she was due with that second baby pretty soon. Anyway it all worked out just fine and i'd see her periodically throughout the years. Sometimes she'd bring a friend with her and they'd shop. As with many customers in the store, i watched her girls grow up. :-)
So - there she was at the door - and i mouthed through the glass - we're closed. She mouthed back "i know". I opened the door and she said to me "i just wanted to say goodbye and to thank you for all the help you've given me". Well i broke down there and just cried. She went on to tell me (while giving me a hug) i wanted you to know that - you were always so nice, with a big smile on your face, and you always helped me so much. You helped me save my memories for my girls. You made a difference."
So with that i'll end this. I should mention one other customer (another favorite) saying to me "where are am I going to go now? This was the place to go". And so it was.

Ok Tawk like this

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
The South
Boston
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

and i'm darn proud of it. You gotta take this quiz - it has me pegged perfectly!

ok that one was fun so i took another quiz

Your Christmas lights are glowing 100%.

Awesome! Your Christmas tree lights up the whole room! You are a true lover of all things Christmas, and a joy for those around you!

Christmas Trivia
Make Your Own Quiz

i doooooooo love Christmas!

happy birthday mista P

yes i've been gone a few days... well more than that but life gets crazy. i'm doing a newish job at work and its taking some getting used to is all i'll say.

i'm tired.

i'm also having computer problems. my darned Norton AntiVirus is a piece of garbage. And since i've been having these problems i've found i'm not the only one who thinks Norton AntiVirus is garbage - its all over the internet. If you have anti-virus software i don't think you should get a trojan - i'm just sayin.

but enough on that nonsense. its too aggravating for words.

My superman - computer-wise - is arriving home from college tomorrow and he will put forth heroic efforts i'm sure to rectify my problems.

(translation: hey if you fix my computer problems - now THAT would be a great Christmas present - to which superson replied - cool!)

Today is my dear nephew's 7th birthday. I priority mailed his gifts the other day and i hope he likes them. (two shirts - he actually likes new clothes - and one of my all time favorite books Charlotte's Web. I have to admit i had a hard time mailing that book off. I wanted to re-read it right then and there. Such a wonder of a book. If you haven't read it - i guess that's possible- do yourself a big fat favor and get to the store or a library this weekend. You won't be disappointed.) It's so difficult to shop for him and his brother - who will celebrate his birthday one month from today. Difficult because it is so close to Christmas. I have to set my mind on gifts for both occasions for both children. I would never combine the gifts - i grew up with a few Christmas babies - they always said they got gyped. And there will be no gypping these two special boys!

I did manage to make my nephew a silly little birthday card - i think he will love this!

made with my quickutz happy frog die and Purple Onion Designs alphas and some string.

I've been also fooling around with some stamp carving. i've had cute little birdies on the brain for a while - i haven't been able to find any stamps i liked so i decided to make my own

these are just some quick stampings i did of them to see how they looked when inked and i may just use one on something soon.

i don't know if you've ever carved your own stamps but i have to say that carving is probably one of the most relaxing things to do ever. I highly recommend it. When i was done carving them out i was thinking how i missed that feeling - just being totally in that zone - so focused and concentrating completely on what i was making. it's a wonderful feeling.

(as opposed to the peri-menopausal crazy feelings i've been having lately... but i digress)

i also made this cute little glittered up star the other day - i must upload a picture of it. It is just a silly paper mache star i painted with glue and threw glitter all over but you know - its beautiful.

Finally before i forget, i see that i've been tagged by Barbara http://smith411.typepad.com/my_weblog/ to list 6 weird things about myself. Well miss B - i'm a thinkin on it. I shall probably post them a little later!

tag class

I'm teaching a class tonite called Holiday Tags. The classes i teach at the store have prescribed items i must teach. But in addiition i always try to include my little spin on things. How i'd change things using the same supplies - that kinda thing.
this is one of mine.

what is that noise?

http://www.wavelit.com/popup/playerAfricam.asp#
Link courtesy of Annie
ok click on that link and turn up your speakers. this is so cool.
I have my speakers turned up and
my dh comes up the stairs and sez "what is that noise?"
i said "it's Africa"
he said " oh, i thought a bird was stuck in the dryer vent again"
he's a funny one
then my dd came up the stairs and said "what is that noise?"
i said "it's Africa"
she said "oh, i thought a bird was stuck in the dryer vent agan"
Yes, they are a pair.

Tryptophanning

thats about how i feel just about now... tired.
It's been a long Thanksgiving but a truly lovely one.
It started out .. not so good.
Unexpected guests last night.
Ordinarily i don't mind guests.
In fact i enjoy guests.
Planned- for- in- advance- guests.
Unexpected guests - well about a month ago i had an unexpected guest. My dear niece was stranded at Dulles (we are a hop, skip and a jump away) and although i was wakened out of a dead sleep, had to put my clothes on and venture out into the dark and stormy night (even Snoopy woulda hid in his doghouse) , and get up 3 1/2 hours later to take my daughter to school - I was happy to do so for this sweet niece who was stranded.
These guests however - also family - invited themselves to stay overnite on Thanksgiving eve. I could go on, but i won't. It would spoil what became a lovely day.
We had a lovely brunch, followed by a quiet leisurely afternoon as I basted the bird. We talked, we ate, we laughed a lot. It was so nice. Only thing that could have made it nicer would have been if my sisters and their families could have been here. (But i wish for that every day!)
i was thinking during the day about Thanksgiving. What was I grateful for? There are too many things to count really. We're fortunate. Not everyday is a holiday that is for certain. But for every not-so-great thing, i would say there are two great things to outweigh it. For every uninvited unexpected event there are too many happy times to count.
Today was one of those.

Crackled Scallops

nope. it's not a fish recipe. its this frame i just finished making. i put the thank you in it just so you could see:

i was on a hunt for a frame to put the thank you in (oh thank goodness grammar doesn't count, huh?) I looked in several local antique stores but nothing the right size. I then hit M's and came upon a frame i think will work (black and gold) and then saw some clearanced frames. Then i got a little brainstorm - adding this scallop trim to one of them. Yes, it involved a miter box and saw - but it took no time to do. Painted it up with some gold and antique white acrylic paint with a crackle medium and voila: cute little frame. I am quite pleased with it. Now i'm thinkin i'd like to try another - this time with black and gold. Oh and here's another frame i painted up:

this one had the prettiest shell pattern on the inside of the frame edge. I really like how that came out too.

So,what are you making?

pretty new stamps

i probably shouldn't post this yet here but heck - i doubt the recipient is checking this blog. i just wanted to show off the new Purple Onion Alpha stamps i got - are they just beauteous?

so here's the darn tree

it's a pear tree. no partridges yet... but soon

i may lose my grip

i wanted to upload a photo of our beautiful tree in the front yard. To make a long story short i am having some kind of problem with my camera software and have spent tooo much time online in chat sessions with the mfg of the camera and its still not working. Mind you i have uploaded photos to my compuer from this same camera several times already with no problem. all of a sudden i'm having issues. i may have to uninstall and reinstall yet again and i may need to throw something in the meantime cos i'm gonna lose it big time.
i think its time to stop and try again tomorrow.

the cure for what ails you

busy doing a variety of things - cleaning this past weekend (not my original intent but i plan to make up for that tomorrow when i have a day off) doing hospital (my mom) last weekend. in between a variety of things. making some stuff which i think i shall show perhaps later today - or tomorrow pretty much for sure. did spend some time during the week cutting out new stamps from Purple Onion Designs - which i have begun to use (hint, hint).

tonite i shall be baking some cookies - mostly for the college son. i'd already decided to make some for him - just needed a few supplies purchased on yesterdays weekly visit to the grocery store. but yesterday i received an email from him - sounding a bit down.
the mom in me knows his favorite cookie (oatmeal chocolate chip) won't fix everything - at the same time it can't hoyt
(channeling my grandfathers accent... he said turkey - toykey.... hopefully you get the idea).
And it reminds him despite everything - we are thinking of him and love him more than we did yesterday (if that is possible :-)
And tomorrow i shall be making some more things - nonfood related - playing with new stamps, some ink, paint, glitter - although a cookie has often cured my problems (and added a few to my hips) making stuff is often my personal cure-all.
now i'm off to work- cyalata

happy thank you

happy card - lousy scan. its the 3d-ness - oh well. i needed a thank you for the friend who gave me the yummy bread the other day. i have been in a mood for glitter - but can't find mine (note to self: get to the store for glitter!) but i did have some of this sugar dust. then i found a button in my jar o'buttons that had sort of a dip in it - creating a perfect little well for the sugar dust beads - using a little diamond glaze to make'em stay put. quickutz the leaves. use some cute felt flowers from i think its american crafts. some chatterbox paper and some ribbon i had. top it off with garamouche alphas from Purple Onion. Its definitely cuter in real life cos the sugar dust just is very fun.
well i gotta run... talk soon

The Answer and Deluxe accommodations

What is that?
It's a loaf of bread
But you guessed that didn't you.
We have yet to eat it. I'm trying to think of what I can cook for dinner that would compliment such a loaf (a nice vegetable soup comes to mind.)

Anywho
I was surfin and came across these Deluxe Accomodations
Don't you just want to bake a bunch just so you can take them somewhere?
This looks like such a great product. Where was it when I was the cupcake-totin-queen (when my kids were in elementary school - the land of all things cupcake)?
I thought i was livin large when i found a tupperware cupcake carrier I still love it but this courier - well thats just amazing.

Post Halloween

ok so here's a picture of the
fastest-carved-jack o'lantern-ever

I'd hollowed him out before I went to pick up DD at the bus. We got home just as it was getting dark. Usually here in Leesburg, trick-0r-treat doesn't start until at least 7pm. Why you say? Well- the Leesburg Halloween parade is the longest running largest parade east of the Mississippi - that's why! And they're mighty proud of that fact. Anyway i'd say anyone who is new to town does the parade - hence the trick or treating starts later. Or i should say started later in our neighborhood until last night.
I carved that pumpkin as fast as i could (maybe 10 minutes) and brought it out to the front step. Ran back in for a tea light to put inside and was just lighting the candle as my first group of kids arrived. They waited while i lit the candle and ran inside to grab the candy. Phew!

Now we'll have a little post Halloween guessing game.
What is this? Can you guess? It was given to me by a customer - well she's also become a friend. She came to the store yesterday with this little surprise for me.
I'll come back later to tell you what it is :-)