Candy Trivia

The baby shower was so much fun. There were 10 of us and we had put two tables together to make a great big square dinner table so all of us could sit together and eat. The little momma got some wonderful gifts and loved the knitted horsie blanket.

We had “Cook Yourself Thin” Stuffed Shells and “Pioneer Woman Cooks” Comfort Meatballs, chopped salad with raspberry vinaigrette and fresh baked dinner rolls. I used pacifiers for cute napkin rings and gave them all to the momma to take home. It will be a long time before she has to search for a pacifier.

We had snowball cupcakes for dessert — devil’s food with buttercream icing rolled in sweetened coconut.

And for favors, I decided to send everyone home with a breakfast treat … cinnamon rolls with maple icing from the “Pioneer Woman Cooks” cookbook. Put two in each favor bag and tied with a baby blue curly ribbon. To quote my husband, “These cinnamon rolls are sick!” They really are delicious. Link for recipe.

Now for the candy trivia. For one of my favorite party games, I put candy in a container and whoever guesses the number of pieces closest without going over takes the container home.

This time I put Reese’s Pieces in a decorative glass jar. There are 655 Reese’s Pieces in a 1 pound, 1.25 oz. bag of candy. I actually ended up breaking into a second bag to fill the jar. The closest guess was 500 something — by the momma-to-be.

Reading “The Quickie”

I’ve always been a fan of James Patterson’s novels and “The Quickie” is no exception. Written with Michael Ledwidge,  I don’t believe I’ve ever read a book with quite so many twists, turns and surprises, right to the very end. Just when you think you know what’s going on … you don’t!

Lauren Stillwell is happily married to a successful businessman, enjoys driving a Mini Cooper and has a job she was made for. Until the day she decides to surprise her husband, Paul, by showing up at his office in Manhattan for a lunch date. And sees him with another woman. And then everything changes.

She decides revenge is the only way to salve her wound and has an affair of her own. But nothing is as it seems. Something new is revealed about their past history, jobs and marriage with every page turned. Anymore said about the story would just be a spoiler but the action and intrigue are non-stop.

This is a quick read with short chapters that make you say, “Just one more …” While I was reading it, I had left the book laying on a table and when I told hubby he’d enjoy it, he said he’d already snuck in the first six chapters!

A Little of Knit, a Little of That

My baby sister toured the Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon, recently and sent me a special photo …

A lovely knitting display with yarn and needles on a beautiful quilt. The Lion Brand book is from 1916! I use Lion Brand yarn and patterns all the time. Aren’t we glad they’re still around?

Speaking of knitting, here is the completed Horsie Blanket with an edge crocheted in each of the 3 colors. Finished size is 38″ by 42″ and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. The baby shower is on Saturday and I am really looking forward to it! I would just like to thank Amy-lynne Mitchell for the free Giddy-Up Cloth dishcloth pattern that inspired this blanket. The beige and dark brown squares are the horse’s head design.

And speaking of babies, this item was in an article written by a terrific columnist from The Arizona Republic, Clay Thompson. His column is called “Valley 101” and he answers questions from readers, usually with a note of hilarity.

Question from reader: I was reading that a baby was born on a Southwest Airlines plane recently that was then diverted to Denver. What would be the place of birth on the certificate, the place the aircraft was flying over or the city it landed in?

I did not know the answer to this — do you?

Clay Thompson’s answer: I’m glad this happened on a domestic flight because if it had been an international flight it would have involved complicated stuff called jus soli and jus sanguinis. If you think I am going to try to explain those to you for 75 cents, much less spell them again, you are sadly mistaken.

As far as I can tell, in general, when a baby is born on an airplane or some other public conveyance, the birth is registered in the state in which the plane first lands or the bus or train stops.

If you ask me, this is another good reason to stay off airplanes. And to stay away from airports. I hate airports. It’s not the birth-certificate thing but rather the idea of some baby being born on your flight. Aren’t there enough babies on airplanes as it is?

Thanks, Clay Thompson, for the info — and the laugh!

Wordless Wednesday – A Red Sweater Day

Miles and Louie getting in the holiday spirit

Wordless Wednesday

The Christmas Spirit

Youngest daughter and I were laughing today about one of our Christmas tree hunting trips in Colorado years ago. We had gone to a Christmas tree farm and driven way in to hopefully find the perfect tree. We always packed treats to eat and took a big thermos of hot chocolate. We’d sing carols all the way there and back. This particular year, our little granddaughter had just turned one so we were especially festive and happy.

We had tromped around and found a great tree, hubby brought out the hand saw and we all gathered ’round to help by watching. There were, of course, other families there, doing the same thing and a few rows over, was a big station wagon.

All of a sudden, the mother is screaming, “Get in the *#%$@ car and shut the hell up!”

I could not resist shouting out, “Merrrrrrrrrrrrry Christmas!”

And the kids are horrified and bolt for our truck. They apparently thought someone would come over and open up a can of Christmas whoop-ass on us. Didn’t happen. I’m sure my Christmas spirit helped!

Hubby has told us about seeing his sister in a Christmas program when they were kids. Jingle Bells was the song and she was kind of swinging her bent arm and punching the air for emphasis as she sang with gusto, “Oh what the fun it is to ride … ” I guess every time she sang ‘what the fun’ his parents would cringe and hope for the best.

Meatballs, Stuffed Shells and a Horsie Blanket Update

So I’m getting ready for a baby shower this weekend and I’ve been testing recipes, much to the delight of the family. Have hit on several absolute keepers that I would highly recommend.

First, Pioneer Woman’s Comfort Meatballs. They are just plain delicious, simple to make and the sauce that goes over them is mouth-watering.

My photo is not the best, but I can guarantee they taste incredible. I have her lovely cookbook but have included the link for this recipe from her website.

Next, the Stuffed Shells from my “Cook Yourself Thin” cookbook. This one is more work and more time intensive because you’re cooking with a lot of fresh ingredients like garlic, onion, zucchini and spinach. You sauté a pound of fresh spinach, drain it, squeeze the excess water out and then chop it before mixing it with the ricotta and other ingredients.

Of course, hubby walked by while I was chopping the spinach and I could tell he thought he wasn’t going to like this dish. But he loved it — everyone loved it — and the results are so worth the effort. And it makes a lot so will feed a crowd. The baking dish shown in the photo is my smaller Pyrex dish. The recipe made another 9″ x 13″ dish of shells as well. Both of these dishes are delicious reheated, which is always a bonus.

Finally finished knitting and blocking all of the squares for the horsie blanket. Now I’ll start seaming the pieces together. It’s going to be so cute. I wish you could see the horse’s head in the dark brown squares, but they just don’t want to photograph well for me. I hope this blankie is something the little guy will drag around with him for years.

Happy Birthday Dancer!

Happy Happy Birthday

to our

dancing, prancing Niece!

Hope your birthday is filled with joy!

Much Love from Auntie and Huncle

A Confusing Disney Christmas

When our Granddaughter was little, we were fortunate to live near a house that was really decorated for Christmas each year. People would drive for miles to see their display. They had lots of animated vignettes and music and lights and every Saturday night Santa would be out in his sleigh to take pictures and hand out candy canes. We especially loved it because we could walk over there after dinner and wander through the amazing display.

She was 2 years old when Disney released “The Prince of Egypt,” which she loved. And she was also very into all the Disney Princesses. She loved to dress up and would clop up and down the tile hallway in her plastic high heels like a Clydesdale in a beer commercial. She had fairy costumes and tiaras and jewelry and it was so adorable.

One of the vignettes was a religious scene of the Christmas crèche with strings of lights stretching above it to form a pyramid high in the sky. There were life-size animal figurines and statues of Mary, Joseph and the three Wise Men. The baby Jesus was lying in his cradle with a golden halo around his head. It was a beautiful display that made you stop and celebrate the real reason for the season.

So one Saturday evening in December 1998, we finished dinner, put on our jackets and walked over to the Christmas house for a visit. We, obviously, weren’t the only family to have this idea because there were tons of people milling around. We started at the crèche scene this time and walked up to stand right in front of the cradle.

It’s amazing how these things happen, but all of a sudden the music stopped as the song changed and it was strangely quiet, even with all of the people around. Right then, as the Granddaughter gazed upon the baby Jesus, something clicked in her Disney-soaked brain and she said — very loud in her high-pitched little girl voice, “Oh, look, it’s the Princess Jesus.”

Everyone heard her and the crowd was very appreciative with lots of laughter. We realized that she had confused the baby Jesus’ golden halo with a princess crown and thrown in the title of her latest Disney tape to boot — “The Prince of Egypt” became “The Princess Jesus.”

There’s nothing like a Disney Christmas!

Christmas with Ants in the Pants

Putting up Christmas decorations always brings back memories of past holidays and funny things that have happened over the years.

One especially funny, endearing moment involved the Younger Daughter on Christmas morning when she was 3 years old. She had opened the Ants in the Pants game and was eager to play so Older Daughter (5 years old) and I got down on the living floor with her and began popping plastic ants.

While OD and I were having pretty good luck sailing those pesky ants into the pants, YD was having a great deal of trouble. Ants were flying over her shoulder and hitting her in the face. It didn’t take long for her frustration level to hit an over-the-top high. All of a sudden, she swept her arm across the floor, sending the game pieces flying.

And she shouted, “Stupid a**hole ants!”

Then she realized she had cussed and would probably be in big trouble, so she looked at me, gasped in horror, jumped up and ran into the kitchen sobbing. At this point, OD and I were just plain stunned; we looked at each other and burst out laughing. We literally rolled on the floor with tears of laughter running down our faces.

Sometimes, even now, 28 years later, when something is very frustrating, one of us will shout, “Stupid a**hole ants!” and laugh. It always makes us feel better.

Happy Birthday to Me

Amongst all the lovely birthday greetings I received were several funny cards. This cute and clever card is from my in-laws. Inside it reads:

Directions

1. Apply bows.

2. Go out.

3. Watch the well-wishers appear!

Get lots of attention on your birthday!

And from my baby sister who knows I love antiques …

Inside it says:

… but the Antiques Roadshow is coming to town – they’ll be able to give you an estimate. Ha!

And one more from my dear friend …

Inside: Hope you get everything you want for your birthday.

Last Saturday night, hubby and I went on a date to the Glendale Glitters holiday festival. The air was cool — it rained just a little, just enough to make everything smell clean and fresh. Historic downtown Glendale, Arizona, has been holding this festival for 16 years now. Covering 12 blocks of downtown, they use 1.5 million lights, have craft booths, food booths, live entertainment and even some of the nearby shops and antique stores stay open late. Although I obviously need to learn how to use my camera for night shots, here are a few photos …

This Santa is made of popcorn and was a raffle for the Marines …

We shared a Philly Cheese Steak, cheese fries and a funnel cake smothered in powdered sugar. Just yum! And, oh yes, we found this booth and made a purchase …

We sat down in the amphitheater area and watched a great group of kids sing and dance their way through Christmas songs and Broadway tunes. So much fun!

And we cruised through some of the antique shops, although didn’t see anything we had to have … thank God! Then, on the way home, we passed this house …

Let me just say that electricity in Arizona is not cheap. While I would hate to pay their electric bill, I definitely appreciate their enthusiasm for the holiday!