Recipe: Limoncello Bread Pudding

A few days ago I decided I wanted to make a limoncello bread pudding. I'd been thinking about lemon-y dessert things I could do but didn't want a cake or a pie and that seemed a good idea as any. I love bread pudding and I love playing around with different flavors to do with them. I wanted to wait for a night I was actually going to cook dinner as well so I could have a nice dessert following something that wasn't Chipotle or Snappy Salads.

 So yesterday, after I got all of the food prepping for take to work lunches done for the week, I decided it was going to be a "spend a lot of time in the kitchen" kind of day. I checked over a recipe for spicy Sicilian chicken stew that had been passed along to me from a friend's mother and luckily, I had everything I needed to make it on hand. Which gave me the perfect excuse to make a (hopefully) kick ass dessert to follow up a delicious meal.

I haven't made a citrus flavored bread pudding but I LOVE lemon things. And lime things. Tart and sweet are my friends. The boyfriend also loves lemon and/or lime desserts so I figured this would be the perfect new thing to try out.

It did not suck. 

I posted a picture on my instagram account because what else are food pictures good for other than to take up space on the internet? Anyway, a few people asked if I'd share the recipe. I had already planned to put it up somewhere and this is a better place for a food post than The Book of Faces.

Limoncello Bread Pudding

Ingredients

Bread Pudding:

6 cups cubed challah bread (or whatever you prefer)
3 large eggs
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup limoncello
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Unsalted butter or cooking spray, for buttering the casserole dish

Topping:

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp limoncello
1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest

Whipped cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Directions:

Bread pudding: 

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, limoncello, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla, salt and lemon zest.

Butter a 2-quart casserole dish and add the bread cubes to the dish. Pour the wet ingredients over the bread and let sit, refrigerated for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, uncover the dish and continue to bake 20 minutes or until the bread has puffed up and is nicely golden on top. Allow to set for a few minutes after removing from oven.

Sauce to top bread pudding: In a small sauce pan over low heat, whisk together powdered sugar, fresh lemon juice, limoncello and lemon zest until powdered sugar is dissolved and smooth. 

Whipped cream: Place a metal mixing bowl and metal whisk into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Place the sugar into the chilled mixing bowl and add the whipping cream. Whisk just until the cream reaches stiff peaks. 


Once the bread pudding is ready to serve, cut out a piece and top with the glaze and whipped cream to your liking.

I like to put about a tablespoon of sauce on mine while the boyfriend ended up putting several tablespoons on top of his and about twice the amount of whipped cream as well. Either way it was delicious and I'm not sad that there was plenty left over.

Enjoy!

PS and totally unrelated: I'll have the final post and pictures up from the 2016 Toys for Tots fundraiser up here soon! If we're buds on The Book of Faces, the pictures are already up there for your viewing enjoyment. 

Rambling and ranting...

I learned to do laundry at 13. No matter how long I've done it and no matter many times I've done it, once in a while, I'm going to forget to put in the detergent or the fabric softener. Although, I never forget both. It's either one or the other. Which doesn't make sense because you'd think doing one would just have me doing the other out of habit but nope, not always.


I finally started getting the toys for tots post together from December. Not having a computer up until a week ago made getting it done pretty difficult. Though most who donated have seen all the pictures via email or Facebook already but I still want to get the post up on Monday. I learned from attempting to do that via my phone in January that blogging from a smartphone is okay if you're not typing a lot and not trying to add links and images. Doing that makes it a pain in the ass. Which is one of the biggest reasons I haven't gotten that post up and haven't blogged much lately. Having a desktop again has been great. It's an adjustment getting used to a screen that isn't the size of a playing card, though.


A co-worker a few days ago commented on how tan my legs were and went on a small rant about how she just can't get tan. She asked where I go to tan and I replied, "outside." She got really confused and asked, "is there was an outdoor tanning place or...... I.... what?" I actually had to explain I've gotten a little bronzed up from all the time I've spent at my apartment complex's pool and from going to the driving range for a few hours a couple Saturday afternoons. I don't try to get tan, I just love golf and swimming and do a lot of both when the weather's nice. She was pretty disappointed I didn't have some magic salon I was going to.


I'm a big tea drinker. I've been taking honey ginseng white tea to work lately and yesterday I had a coworker ask me if I was drinking rose water. Do people really drink that with lunch? I've never tasted it but just the smell of roses makes me queasy so I avoid anything to do with roses like the plague.


On the local news this week, there were two stories that irked me because sexism against anyone grinds my gears (Thanks, Family Guy.) One story was, "kitchen recipes men can't mess up!" and the other "kitchen gadgets so easy even a man can figure them out!" The notion that cooking and kitchen stuff is feminine and only something that women should do is dated and asinine. Some of the best cooks I know happen to be male. In fact, one of my guy friends happens to be the only person I will eat a pork tenderloin from and I couldn't tell you what it is about his that I like but I can tell you I dislike every other one I've ever had in comparison. I don't even really like pork as a general rule but dude has mad kitchen skills. Another one of my male friends makes the best homemade pasta I've ever had. I would pay him all the money in my wallet (which ranges from 75 cents to about $20) for his beautiful noodles if he weren't so happy and willing to cook for the joy of doing so and enjoying good company. So, acting like men who cook are less masculine or acting as if men are all ignorant and incompetent in the kitchen? Knock that bullshit off, you look stupid.


My previous blog post about harassment gained a lot of response from it. Both on Twitter, in comments and in emails. Some of them have been maddeningly ignorant and some downright enraging. Lost in that are three guys, one from Twitter and two others that reached out via email, who thanked me for posting it because they appreciated the perspective.

To quote one of them, "I've never realized before that my approaches could be seen or felt as threatening, scary, inappropriate or upsetting. It's just the way I saw things happening in my culture around me and I thought that there was no harm in any of it. I was taught that as long as you don't lay hands, don't yell and don't berate you're not doing anything wrong. We're also taught that sometimes women are playing hard to get which means we need to try harder. I really appreciate reading your perspective here and the way you explained it, I realize now that I'm doing it wrong and that I've unintentionally probably made a lot of women uncomfortable without trying or even knowing I was doing so. That's upsetting because I'd never want to make anyone feel bad or unsafe. I will work to do better from now on." 

The other two echoed those sentiments in a very similar fashion and I can't tell you how happy them reaching out and telling me those things in the midst of all the negativity and ignorance made me. You guys rock and I sincerely hope you all meant it when you said you'd be striving to do better. :)

I should be finishing up other things right now instead of rambling on here. I have to be at work shortly and I'm still in need of running a brush through my hair and putting on some eyeliner. Oh and putting together the delicious orange chicken I'm taking for lunch. If anyone steals my lunch today (rarely happens but when it does....) they'll be getting cut. Or cookie dough thrown at their face. Or handing me over cash or going to buy me food from somewhere. Either way, unpleasantness will fall upon them in some way or another.

Happy Pre-Friday!

Blah blah blah.

• I talked in my last post about participating in the Walk To End Alzheimer's walk at the end of last month. I ended up raising a total of $850 and had a nice time at the actual walk. It was an interesting experience and I'm looking forward to participating again next year.

•   NHL hockey season is back in the swing of things and that's always awesome. The Stars home opener was meh but the next game on that Saturday against Washington was awesome. Being back in the arena to watch the Stars always bring me joy.  Speaking of joy through hockey.... My youngest brother plays hockey pretty much all year with minimal breaks in between seasons so I'm watching him play all year. This year he made Junior Varsity for his highschool team and will also be playing a few Varsity games as well. He's also playing in another house league that his JV coach also happens to coach. He tried out and there was only one slot open and he's the one who made it. It's been fantastic watching him improve and move forward and I'm so proud of him.

• Working in a bakery is seriously maddening at times. I wish my boss would tell people during interviews that it's not going to be anything like what they see on reality TV baking shows. We hire so many people who don't realize how much work it actually is and the majority of them always mention they watched this show or that show and didn't realize it was hectic, stressful and a lot of work. Which I don't get but the high turnover rate we have because of people not being prepared to actually face a steady stream of tasks suggests it's a difficult concept to people who spend too much time thinking reality TV is exact. Though, I enjoy working with most of the people I work with. They're all a little weird and crazy and it's the first job I've had where I actually fit in and most of my co-workers don't think I'm the "weird one" because, well, we're all weird ones there. Or "quirky" if you listen to the lady who doesn't like to use the word weird because she thinks it implies a very negative feel but I digress. I work with some pretty awesome people and that helps tons when working in a busy, sometimes chaotic, rather stressful environment. 

• I got a slow cooker given to me by my mom and a smaller one given to me by my grandmother. I've used the slow cooker a couple times in the many months I've had them. I really just don't know what to put in there and I don't mind cooking dinner after work most days. Though, as soon as the weather gets cool enough, I can see how it'll get more use for soups and stews. Though it's still feeling like Summer here so that won't be for another couple months maybe. Hopefully less. I just can't get excited about stew or a bowl of soup when it's still almost 90 degrees outside. 

That's all I've got for now. I was going to write some deep and personal stuff but then I decided I'd rather keep that stuff to myself for a little bit longer. Or a lot longer. Or forever. So, boring life update instead since I decided to keep the personal stuff unwritten.

Reminders, Rambles & Rants....

I feel like rambling to clear some thoughts out. Or as some people who remember the story about my friend's relative, "Clearing some monkeys out of the attic." So ramble I shall! After this...

As a reminder, there is less than a month left to donate to the Toys for Tots blogger fundraiser. Cut off for paypal donations is December 14th.

The Target gift card contest lasts the duration of the fundraiser so you have until December 14th also to gain an entry or two or five to try and win that. A donation isn't necessary to get an entry but is appreciated and $5 is the minimum donation for an entry for the gift card if you want to make one. Check out the details here. 

And ramble ramble ramble....

I don't really understand a couple popular expressions I hear people use a lot. "You know you're getting older when...." or "You know you're from [insert city/state here] when...." OR anything like those two. I know I'm getting older because I get how time works and days keep going by and those birthday things keep happening. I'm not made aware of the fact that everyone gets a little older every single day by some obscure fact or occurrence. I'm also really aware of where I'm from without some random little tidbit to tie it to. Which tends to usually be some stupid generalization anyway.

I realized recently that I have an irrational hatred for wind chimes. I realized this at my boyfriend's mother's house because she has tons of them all over the place. Maybe it's not a single wind chime I hate but tons of them. They each make their own unique sounds which can be pretty. When there's multiple going with their unique sounds all going together? It drives me insane, I can't stand that noise. Pus it always bugs me when they start moving around when there's not any air flow changes I can feel. Also, I just really don't like the things.

A couple days back, a guy outside of the grocery store was stopping people because he was selling Twinkies for $25 a box. I don't eat Twinkies. I think they're disgusting. I don't eat any little snack cake or donut product either because I'm just not a fan of junk like that. I don't really get the insanity people are feeling over this. It's a fucking snack cake, not an important necessity that you literally cannot live without.I get there's things you get attached to but being willing to pay that much money for a box of snack cakes is ridiculous.

I don't think people realize that having tinted windows on their car doesn't make them invisible in there. Unless they're super dark, almost illegal or actually illegal dark. Then you're fine. Most people? You're not invisible in there. Or maybe people just get really lost in there like they're in the privacy of some little world and don't think about people being able to see inside their car when they're walking by or sitting at the same light for a prolonged amount of time. People do some really gross things in their cars. Window tint is not an invisibility cloak for your car.

I hate when people get their undies in a bunch when I don't text them back immediately. I work a lot. I'm busy a lot. I have a lot going on. I can't and won't always stop in the middle of everything just to respond back to a text message. I guess most people will do that but I won't. And if you text me while I'm driving, I'm not replying to it until I'm stopped or done driving. It's never over anything important. Phone calls are for important things. Getting mad at me because I didn't text you back fast enough to help you decide what to have for lunch? Ridiculous.

A little girl that came into my job yesterday asked me why water wasn't purple or lime green then proceeded to tell me why she would be willing to drink more water if it were purple or lime green. Her mom told her she would start putting food coloring in her water. The little girl told her that would be cheating and she didn't want any poison color water, only natural colored water. A short while later, a little boy came in with his dad and told me that he didn't like the bells on our Christmas boxes because bells reminded him of balls. He also told me that he had small balls but that dad told him they would get bigger and hairy one day. He doesn't want hair because hair is itchy. His dad looked mortified and told him to play the quiet game for the rest of their short visit to pick up their goodies. And lastly for the parade of interesting kids yesterday, a mom with four kids came in. The little boys shook my hand because they're "learning to be little gentlemen" and the little girl told me, "I can't shake your hand, I have a butt finger. My finger was in my butt!" She wouldn't stop giggling over that which made one of her brother's start giggling and tell me that he had his finger up his nose then his but so I had touched his nosy butt finger. Their mother laughed hard over that then apologized for her kids behavior and told me I'd understand when I had some of my own. I said I didn't ever plan on having kids personally. She looked at me like I said I'd shot her grandma or something. Which I'm used to since it's a typical reaction to someone announcing they don't ever want to have kids which I've done every time someone has broached the subject of having kids with me for the last, oh, 14 years now.

I'm super excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow because it's the first time I get to make more than just one or two items for the big family dinner. Usually by the time I ask about helping, everyone else already has everything covered and I get to make one maybe two things. I get to make four this year. I know a lot of people find having to cook like that stressful and unpleasant but I love to cook and I love cooking big meals for people. It's a challenge to get it all done and I love a good challenge. Especially one in the kitchen.

I'm done now. If anyone read all of that or even skimmed most of it, thank you. ;)

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Recipe: Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

I'm definitely making these the next chance I get so someone invite me to something that requires me to bring food. Or I suppose I could just make them for the hell of it and hand them off to friends and/or relatives so that those who live me don't have to be in charge of eating all of them. ;)

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup salted butter
• 1 (10.5) oz bag mini marshmallows (note: if you have an extra bag, you can add an additional cup of marshmallows, if desired. I recommend it.)
• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 10 oreos, chopped into bits (about the size of pebbles, there will be powder too), about 1 cup
• 1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips
• 6 oreos, chopped into bits (about the size of pebbles), about 1/2 cup

Butter or spray a 13 x 9 pan, set aside. Melt butter in a large non-stick saucepan over medium low heat, swirling butter up along edges of the pan (this helps the marshmallows stick much less). Stir in marshmallows and stir constantly until melted. Remove from heat and gently stir in Rice Krispies cereal, stir until evenly coated. Fold in 10 chopped Oreos. Pour mixture into buttered dish. Using a buttered spatula or greased hands gently press mixture evenly into dish, set aside. In a microwave safe bowl, melt white chocolate chips on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Spread melted chocolate evenly over Rice Krispie treats and immediately (before chocolate hardens) sprinkle with 6 chopped Oreos. Gently press the Oreo pieces down with your hands. Cover and refrigerate about 10 minutes, or alternately let rest on counter until chocolate hardens.

Yield: 18 servings | Recipe from Cooking Classy

Happy Wednesday!

Books, baseball, cooking, Weeds, etc....

Some things I'm loving right now....

• Mixing equal parts apple juice, cranberry juice and pomegranate juice together. It tastes so good. And if you add liquor, it tastes even better. ;)

• Tea Tree Oil Cooling Foot Scrub by Earth Therapeutics. I'm on my feet a LOT. I use this stuff a few times a week to keep my feet smooth and to help them feel better. This stuff soothes my aching, sore feet while also exfoliating them. Plus, it's only $4 at Target.

• Weeds. The TV show, not the things that grow in the ground. The Boyfriend started watching it on NetFlix (on season 1, no cable so we had never seen it before) and I ended up getting sucked in to it. I love a lot of the characters and find the show pretty amusing so far. Though, we're only on season 2 for now so we'll see.

• Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil. It makes my lips feel awesomely soft and it smells good.

• NetFlix. We don't have cable and I don't like most of the crap shows that come on network TV. NetFlix has movies, documentaries and shows I'm missing on Discovery and Food Network by not having cable. Also, Power Rangers, the original stuff. Totally reliving childhood with an episode here and there, lol.

• Cooking. I've been stressing and worrying over a lot of things lately. Not to mention emotional stuff over some recent deaths that I'm still working through and other issues going on, I've just been having a rough time lately. Cooking is insanely therapeutic for me. I love being able to take a bunch of ingredients, put them together and create something that smells, looks and tastes wonderful.

• The Rangers shutting out the Red Sox last night, lol. I hate the Red Sox. Any time we beat them makes me smile. Shutting them out makes me smile even more. Now if only the rest of the games in this series (and the next one, and on and on) go well for the Rangers, I'll continue being happy. Yay winning.

• People sending me books. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. I started a book exchange with a few friends who live out of state now and a couple people off Twitter. We send books around to each other and I've gotten to read a couple really good ones so far. Totally one of the best ideas I've ever had. :D
  

Happy Tuesday!

Ginger lemon chicken & rice....

Ginger Lemon Chicken and Rice:

INGREDIENTS (serves 4):

* 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
* 3 1/2 cups rice (brown or white works fine)
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil (can use canola or vegetable oil)
* 3/4 Cup thinly sliced onion
* 2 Tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger, divided
* 1 cups zucchini sliced in 1/4 inch round slices
* 1 1/2 Cups broccoli florets
* 1 Cup carrots sliced in 1/4 inch round slices
* 1 Tablespoon minced fresh garlic
* 2 Tablespoon honey
* 3 Tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
* 3 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
* 2 Tablespoon water
* 2 teaspoon cornstarch
*Zest from 1/2 a lemon (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

*Cook 3 cups rice according to packaged direction and set aside.

* Combine remaining garlic, minced garlic, honey, soy sauce, lemon juice, water, cornstarch and lemon zest (optional) mixing all ingredients together until well combined. Set aside.

* Sprinkle the chicken with black pepper.

* Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

* Add chicken, onion, and 1 Tablespoon ginger, and stir-fry 4-6 minutes making sure chicken is cooked through.

* Add zucchini, carrots and broccoli florets and stir-fry for 3 minutes.

*Stir honey ginger lemon sauce mixture a few times, then add to the pan, stir fry for 4-5 minutes.


You can leave the rice and stir fry mix separate and serve the chicken and vegetables on top of the rice. Or just add the rice right after you add the sauce mixture to the pan, stir fry for 4-5 minutes.

Also, garlic powder and ground ginger can be used as substitutes for the minced ingredients but it won't taste as good, lol ;) You can use different vegetables, too. Or do no vegetables if that's how you roll. The picture above also has 1/2 a cup of squash thrown in there so I could use up the rest of some left over squash I had in the refrigerator. Worked out fine.

Happy Friday!

Cigarettes, Inception, Cashiers, etc.

The Boyfriend is finally quitting smoking! I quit over a year ago. He's been "cutting back" and "going to quit" for some time now. He did slowly but surely cut back until he was only smoking a couple times a day. It wasn't a resolution to finally quit, either. Yesterday was his smoke cigarette free day. He seems ready and determined to quit this time. So, I hope he sticks with it. I'll enjoy getting to kiss someone without the cigarette/ashtray flavor to go along with it. :D

I watched Inception last night after work. It was the first time I had seen it. I missed it in theaters. The Boyfriend rented it from Red Box. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I need to watch it again when I'm not dead tired from spending 10 hours at work on just a few hours of sleep I think. I understood it and visually, it was wonderful. I just felt indifferently about it because I was so tired while I was watching it. So, I'll watch it again and report back. It might rock my socks off or it might be yet another movie that people rave about that I just don't enjoy. We'll see. :D

I hate when you're shopping and the cashier checking you out feels a need to comment on your purchases. I had to stop by a store last night after work to get some items. The girl looked over my purchases, raised her eyebrows and said, "Looks like you've got a fun night planned for yourself" with a snide look on her face. What did I have? New insoles for my work shoes so hopefully my feet will hurt less, two new pillows (one for the guy and one for me :D), aspirin, mouthwash, oatmeal, Special K Oats & Honey cereal, granola, Gatorade, condoms and scotch tape. Really, all of that says "fun night" to you? I suppose she meant the condoms and maybe the scotch tape if she's any kind of kinky but seriously? I hate when a cashier or other store employee makes a comment like that when I'm buying stuff. When I'm at work, I don't say "Ha, looks like you plan on having horrible breath wanting extra garlic and onions in your calzone" or "Eww, you really want that drink? Gross!" None of my business and not my place to give them a hard time about anything. Sometimes, the comments don't bother me. I suppose it's what you say along with how it's said, too. Sometimes, something perfectly harmless said in a certain tone with a certain look on some one's face can go from nothing at all to something rude and/or insulting. Not that she said anything particularly horrid, it's just the way she said it and the way she was acting. My response to her was asking, "What do you mean?" to which she replied by snickering and rolling her eyes. I don't remember what I said after that but I'm sure it was sarcastic. I was more working on controlling the urge to smack her upside the head.

If you follow my Tumblr blog, you might have noticed the mass amount of food pictures I reblogged last night. Sorry about that. I was looking for something specific to post and the ran across picture after picture of sinfully delicious looking goodness. If you don't follow it, go look but don't blame me if you end up hungry for something sweet. Really, those ice cream sandwiches looked fucking awesome. I like pictures of pretty food I think because it's like art with food in a way. It's like when I bake, I don't usually even eat most of the stuff I make. I find cooking and baking to be awesome stress relief. Albeit, working 6 nights a week, I rarely get to cook anymore but I digress. My favorite part of baking is honestly the decorating part. I've been into art since I was a little kid. I love drawing and painting and decorating pretty desserts is just another way for me to be creative and create something lovely. I just need more people around to eat the pretty stuff I make since I don't favor sweets much and The Boyfriend can only eat so much, lol. I think it would be pretty awesome to own a little cafe type thing that sold coffees, teas, juices and tons of really pretty sweets.

The Stars play the Blackhawks tonight. I'll be at work but hopefully I'll be able to have the game on. If not, I can follow along with the help of my awesome hockey buddies on Twitter. :D Speaking of, this article is awesome. Go read it. That's just one of the reasons why the Stars are awesome.

Happy Wednesday!

At night, I feel like a vampire...

I have ALL of the pictures that have been sent to me for the big picture post uploaded and ready to be shown off. There are OVER 100 pictures.

Only problem is, I'm still waiting for a few people to get back to me on how I need to credit them and link them for their pictures that they so nicely shared with me for my little project. So if you're reading this and you have an e-mail from me wanting to know how to credit/link you... get back to me! I am so excited that I got that many pictures! It's such an interesting mix as well! Some are even NSFW. ;) I'm so anxious to post this. So, get back to me people! Please & thank you.

Also, while I'm waiting on the people I need to hear from to e-mail me, if you want to send me something to add to it, go ahead! If you do send me picture(s) for it PLEASE REMEMBER to let me know how to credit you for your pictures and where to link them to. Blog, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. I don't know where you want to be linked, what name to post them under or anything else so if you send something in today, remember those details please & thank you.

I'm anxious! I didn't expect to get over 100 pictures when I started out with this idea for a post. I didn't have over 100 people participate. Almost everyone sent more than one picture but I did get a lot of participants. I was expecting something like 10 to 15 people and maybe 30 or 40 pictures at the most. I've been quite pleasantly surprised! Though, y'all might be wondering how I'm going to post over 100 pictures without killing my blog and killing some of y'all trying to look at it. I figured something out and hopefully none of the people who contributed pictures will have an issue with the way I've done it. You'll just have to wait and see once I can get it up though.

Yesterday I did something I'm SO excited about. I can cook pretty well. Baking has always been a different story. I'm the girl who can mess up the prepacked cookie dough that you just have to put in the oven and cook. I'm the girl who tries to make brownies or a cake and it doesn't work out. Well, last night I made homemade chocolate chip cookies. I'm not talking prepackaged either. I'm talking sugar, chocolate chips, flour, mixer and the whole deal. I got my mom to e-mail me a recipe and some instructions, printed them out and went to the kitchen. Got all my ingredients ready and got to work. This is what they looked like:

They taste good too! I was so happy and proud of myself, lol. This was the first time I have successfully baked something. Apparently, I fail at the easy stuff that's just add water or just tear apart and bake. Doing homemade I can handle though. At least this one time, lol.

Something else I'm less excited about that happened yesterday? We went with our friends Slim and Sparrow to go to Chuck E. Cheese for their daughter's birthday. MSS (their daughter) turned 3 and like a lot of other 3 years old, happens to just love going to CEC. Me? I haven't been there in 6 years since the last time I went with YB and I was fine with that number. I was hoping to never step foot in CEC ever again. Oh well, lol. If you find one of the two hidden pictures in this post, you'll see how thrilled I was hanging out at CEC. ;) MSS had a blast though. Boyfriend, Slim & I played games to win tickets for MSS. Sparrow mostly had MSS with her so she played games along with her. MSS is so cute though. She makes the goofiest little growl face when she eats pizza. She looks like she's tearing in to it like a barbaric little girl but then she chews so politely once she gets her bite done. The rest of the little heathen spawn in there weren't as cute. It always amazes me how some people let their kids run around doing whatever they want in places like that.

Happy Monday!

Sometimes goodbye is a second chance...

I had a review written up for today but something happened and I suppose Blogger ate it. It was a pretty good review, if I do say so myself. It had a nice, sexy little intro before the real review part started. It's late and I must sleep. So tonight, I'll re-write it. I should have written the review in Word first but I didn't so oh well.

Boyfriend cooked barbecue chicken sandwiches for dinner last night. So freaking tasty. I love chicken. I wouldn't ever want to be a vegetarian because I love chicken. I could live without red meat and I don't eat pork anyway. Chicken though? Mmmm.

I really want a Chipotle burrito. I've been craving Chipotle the last few days. I love their food. Bowls, burritos, whatever because it's all good to me. I'm not spending any money on things I don't absolutely need until I get a job though.

I have a Twitter. Do you have a Twitter? I keep my updates locked so you have to have an account to see what I'm rambling and ranting about over there. I don't want people making up fake accounts to read my updates under false pretenses. If a former friend of mine wants access to my updates, he can make a real account stating who he really is instead of making up a fake one. Same goes for other people, lol. I don't mind letting the real life people who know about my blog in on shit, just don't make up a fake profile and try to weasel in under a false pretense. ;)

Thanks so much for all the comments, e-mails and tweets about yesterday's post regarding my moving, my fears and my emotions. I appreciate all the responses I got from that, y'all are swell. ;)

Oh and last but not least...

There are only TWO DAYS left to enter this contest so if you're interested... get to it!


July's Blogbunnie Blog Makeover Contest!

Rules for Isabella Snow's July blog makeover contest! Entering is easy! Just copy and paste this (entire) blurb to your blog (make sure the links still work!) and then email Isabella a link to your blog post. The contest deadline is at midnight GMT July 31. One winner will be selected the following day by a drawing of names; the name will be posted here; and the winner will be emailed, as well. A new, totally original blog will be completed within two weeks of winning. One entry per blog. *Blogger.com customization only*, see the Blogbunnie Blog Design portfolio for layout options.

Now, I'm off to get some sleep. I have job hunting to do tomorrow so I (hopefully) won't stay a broke ass bitch for too long. Lol. Oh and come back tomorrow to check out the review will ya? ;)

Happy Wednesday!

Get your hands off of this glass, last call my ass....

I have a confession to make. Before Sunday, I had never eaten the Girl Scout cookies that so many of you rave about. The cookies that so many of you hunt down. The cookies you wait months for. Yes, I mean Thin Mints. My dad loves Thin Mints. LS loves Thin Mints too, which I didn't know. I remember Girl Scout cookies in the house but not in years. I didn't mess with any of them, as far as I remember, lol. I'm not a fan of minty things usually. All the recent ranting and raving in the blogosphere recently about Thin Mints left me wanting to try some of the damn things though. People going drastic measures for a few boxes of cookies. Some driving miles that also meant hours to get the cookies. I was curious what was so fantastic about some cookies that people would go to so much trouble over.

My mom came in Sunday afternoon with a few boxes of the cookies. Two boxes were Thin Mints. I said I wanted to try them. I did. Not bad. LS saw the box and charged into the kitchen, grabbing the box and then almost cuddling it as she ate some of the cookies.

I admit, they are pretty good. LS and mom informed me that LS and Dad like them best after they've been in the freezer. So I went to work and left the cookies in the freezer. Later on, long after they had spent hours in the freezer, I ate another. Then another 2 for good measure. They do taste better cold.

I admit, they are good. However, I don't think I'll find myself craving them like mad once they're gone. I'm not a big fan of chocolate (unless it's dark chocolate) and I like mint but I wasn't in glutton heaven with the cookies. I wasn't disappointed mind you but I was almost indifferent about them. While they are pretty tasty cookies, they just don't rock me the way they rock so many other people. I'll take a nice soft sugar cookie from Great American Cookie any day. Or perhaps a peanut butter cookie. Or even a shortbread cookie. Oh well, that just leaves more Thin Mints for the real fanatics in the world to get their fix of. ;)

The days left in my way until I see Boyfriend again are fewer and fewer. There's still a little more than a week but that's not bad at all. I'm excited. No, the days aren't creeping by slowly. I suppose if that's all I occupied my mind with, they probably would be. I have tons of other stuff that keeps my mind busy though so the days are passing as they normally do. This weekend flew by though. I believe that would be due to work being so busy so my shifts, while long, all went by quickly. Since I spend my weekends at work, my weekend went by quickly, lol. ;) I'm so looking forward to the time off from work too. Though, I'm not looking forward to it at the same time. I'm happy for the time off. The loss of hours equals loss of pay though so I'm a little worried about taking 5 days off from work but not too worried. I should be fine and it'll be worth it to spend a week with my love and friends and other family members. Yay. =)

VanillaCoke has a crazy scheme going that she thinks I need to be a part of. She wants to open a nightclub/pool hall/strip club/pizza parlor. She thinks it will be a hit. The first floor will be non-smoking with a dance floor, bar, comfy couches, comfy chairs and a sectioned off area that will have Dance Dance Revolution machines. The second level is the pizza parlor. Booths, tables and an ice cream bar. Serving pizza, soda, water and more booze if you're of age. Third level will be the pool hall. Pool tables, dart boards, a few video games, a jukebox and another bar. The fourth level is going to be the strip club. Oh and there's going to be a swimming pool and hot tub on the roof. With a sauna. Maybe one day it will even expand and have an "out back" section where there will be mini golf and a sand volleyball court. This is her dream establishment. Her goal now is to find herself a sugar daddy so she can obtain the money to build this monstrosity. She wants me to be the manager of the strip club portion and be in charge of hiring the girls. She also thinks Boyfriend should manage the pizza parlor portion since he used to work as a pizza delivery driver and did learn to make pizzas and stuff as well. She also thinks we all need to be on the look out for a potential sugar daddy for her so she can afford this grand dreams of hers. Now, I am slightly poking fun of her. You have to understand VanillaCoke though. Three months ago her big idea was a mall that had all the best shops and food places along with a small casino, a small scale circus and a petting zoo inside. Before that it was a movie theater with a laundry mat inside, you know, for those who wanted to catch a movie and do their laundry. ;) She always comes up with ideas to combine something fun with something useful. One day, she'll probably come up with something bad ass and get rich off of it.

I was thinking about posting some kind of nonsense Wednesday and then coming back later with a big fat APRIL FOOLS edit but meh, I'm not into it this year. I don't really get into it anyway. I mess with people enough the rest of the year, no need for a special day. Especially on one when they're looking out for it anyway. ;)

Happy Monday!