Thursday, January 29, 2009

Friday's Favorite

Once again it's time for another "favorite" Friday.


This week I chose DevinPrather; Devin makes some of the cutest cards that I've ever seen, like this one


Want to see some more great creations? You can find them here: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5646641


This photo is the property of DevinPrather please do not use without permission.


If you would like me to feature one of your products on this blog, leave me a comment with your shop address. I'm always looking for new and exciting items.

New England Clam Chowder

for this one I'm going back to my roots...hope you enjoy


Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced celery
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled Yukon gold or baking potato (about 3/4 pound)
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 (8-ounce) bottle clam juice
1 bay leaf
1 cup fat free half and half
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 (6 1/2-ounce) can minced clams, undrained
Chopped fresh parsley (optional)

Preparation

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and celery, and sauté 5 minutes or until onion is soft. Stir in potato and next 5 ingredients (potato through bay leaf). Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 12 minutes or until potato is tender.
Combine half and half and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture and clams to saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Cook 2 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken, stirring frequently. Discard bay leaf. Ladle soup into bowls; garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wednesday's Funny~Pillsbury Dough Boy's Obituary

Veteran Pillsbury spokesman Pop N. Fresh died yesterday of a severe yeast infection. He was 71. Known to friends as Brown-n-Serve, Fresh was an avid gardener and tennis player. Fresh was buried in one of the largest funeral ceremonies in recent years. Dozens of celebrities turned out including Mrs. Butterworth, the California Raisins, Hungry Jack, Aunt Jemima, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Skippy. The graveside was piled high with flours as longtime friend Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy, describing Fresh as a man who "never knew how much he was kneaded." Fresh rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with many turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes -- conned by those who buttered him up. Still, even as a crusty old man, he was a roll model for millions. Fresh is survived by his second wife. They have two children and another bun in the oven. The funeral was held at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Giveaway,Giveaway,Giveaway

My friend Krista from DoubleDippedSweets is having a giveaway.......you NEED to check this one out!
More info here:
http://doubledippedsweets.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-year-giveaway.html

Monday, January 26, 2009

Team EEAT Bake Sale

Come join Team EEAT for a virtual bake sale, this Wednesday January 28th in the Virtual Labs of Etsy 8pm EST Come meet and greet some very talented members of Team EEAT. Check out this blog for more details: http://etsyedibleartsteam.blogspot.com/

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Favorite Friday

Today's featured seller is AAE-artglass. Tanya's pieces are so unique and beautiful I had a hard time picking one as my favorite. So here's the one that I picked, perfect for that special Valentine in your life, or treat yourself :O)

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&seller_id=15704

This photo is the property of AAE-artglass please do not use without permission.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Spicy Chicken Soup

'tis the season for soup, one of my favorite things to warm me up on a cold winter's day

You can also modify this one to suit your tastes.



INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
2 quarts water
8 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon onion powder
5 cubes chicken bouillon
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (16 ounce) jar chunky salsa
2 (14.5 ounce) cans peeled and diced tomatoes
1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 (16 ounce) cans chili beans, undrained
1 (8 ounce) container sour cream




DIRECTIONS
In a large pot over medium heat, combine water, chicken, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, onion powder and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 1 hour, or until chicken juices run clear. Remove chicken, reserve broth. Shred chicken.
In a large pot over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until slightly browned. Stir in salsa, diced tomatoes, whole tomatoes, tomato soup, chili powder, corn, chili beans, sour cream, shredded chicken and 5 cups broth. Simmer 30 minutes.

Joke of the Day

A new teacher tries to make use of her psychology courses. The first day of class, she starts by saying, "Everyone who thinks they're stupid, stand up!"
After a few seconds, Little Johnny stands up. The teacher asks, "Do you think you're stupid, Johnny?""No, ma'am, but I hate to see you standing there all by yourself."

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Team EEAT is Having a Bake Sale

Team EEAT presents our Virtual Valentine's Bake Sale!
Held on January, 28th, 2009 in Esty's Virtual Labs at 8pm EST!
Come see our team members present their beautiful work. There will be great contests, sales, and amazing giveaways! Start shopping early by searching for "team eeat"!

Why should I come? Trivia Questions! Answer a Valentines day trivia question, and win a $5 gift credit in a Team members shop!

Giveaway! We will be giving away a grand prize worth over $100! Plus, 2 prizes worth $20 each! Prizes will be delivered just in time for Valentines Day!
Blog post coming soon on ways to enter!Get your Valentines Day shopping done early!Sales offered:
JustBakin'FREE Chocolate Cookies with every order.

LuckyDogTreatCompanyFREE bag of treats of Lucky's choice with any sized order!

DoubleDippedSweetsBuy one get one 50% off!Equal or lesser value applies; full shipping charges incurred.

SweetTreatMaryannFREE Chocolate Covered Grahams (3) with a purchase of any size

ASugarAffair1/2 dozen chocolate covered oreos with with each product bought

athyme2bcomfortedBOGO half off of equal or lesser valueFREE shipping with orders of $100 or more!

DelectableDelightsFor the Love of Chocolate25% off all chocolate covered items10% off everything else

LittleSnowflakes3 FREE Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles with Each Order**Order is refers to a completed Credit Card Transaction

CiaoHound20% off your purchase, before shipping!FREE priority shipping for orders over $15

CakesbySugarPlums2 FREE Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes with any purchase

BearsBakedGoods25% off all items, before shipping!
Stay tuned for more great sales!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Good To Know

By now, I suspect everyone is familiar with _WWW.snopes.Com_ (http://www.snopes.com/) and/or_WWW.truthorfiction.Com_ (http://www.truthorfiction.com/) for determining whether information received via email is just that: true/false or fact/fiction.
Both are excellent sites. I received the advice below from one of my correspondents today.Advice from Snopes.com
MEMORIZE THIS!1) Any time you see an E-Mail that says forward this on to '10' of your friends, sign this petition, or you'll get bad luck, good luck, or whatever, it almost always has an E-Mail tracker program attached that tracks the cookies and E-Mails of those folks you forward to. The host sender is getting a copy each time it gets forwarded and then is able to get lists of 'active' E-Mails addresses to use in SPAM E-Mails, or sell to other spammers.

2) Almost all E-Mails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others are similar to that mass letter years ago that asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of E-Mail is, is a way to get names and 'cookie' tracking information for telemarketers and spammers - - to validate active E-Mail accounts for their own profitable purposes. You can do your friends and family members a GREAT favor by sending this information to them; you will be providing a service to your friends, and will be rewarded by not getting thousands of spam E-Mails in the future!
If you have been sending out (FORWARDING) the above kinds of E-Mail, now you know why you get so much SPAM! Do yourself a favor and STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listings regardless how inviting they might sound!You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT in the long run. Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later! Plus, we are helping the spammers get rich! Let's don't make it easy for them!

Also: E-Mail petitions are NOT acceptable to the Government or any other organization. To be acceptable, petitions must have a signed signature and full address of the person signing the petition. Read the full story here: _http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp_ (http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.asp)

Coffee Filters

We are all trying to stretch our dollars, here are a few extra uses for coffee filters.

Helpful household tip of the week.



1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.

2. Clean windows and mirrors. Coffee filters are lint-free so they'll leave windows sparkling.

3. protect China . Separate your good dishes by putting a coffee filter between each dish.

4. Filter broken cork from wine. If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.

5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.

6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.

7. Recycle frying oil.After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.

8. Weigh chopped foods.Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.

9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.

10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.

11. Prevent a popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.

12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows?? Use strips of coffee filters.

13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, french fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. Soaks out all the grease.

14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great razor nick fixers.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Will You Give This to My Daddy?

Will you give this to my Daddy?
As a Company, Southwest Airlines is going to support 'Red Fridays.'
Last week I was in Atlanta , Georgia attending a conference. While I was in the airport, returning home, I heard several people behind me beginning to clap and cheer. I immediately turned around and witnessed one of the greatest acts of patriotism I have ever seen.
Moving thru the terminal was a group of soldiers in their camos. As they began heading to their gate, everyone (well almost everyone) was abruptly to their feet with their hands waving and cheering.When I saw the soldiers , probably 30-40 of them, being applauded and cheered for, it hit me. I'm not alone.
I'm not the only red-blooded American who still loves this country and supports our troops and their families.Of course I immediately stopped and began clapping for these young unsung heroes who are putting their lives on the line everyday for us so we can go to school, work and home without fear or reprisal.
Just when I thought I could not be more proud of my country or of our Service men and women, a young girl, not more than 6 or 7 years old ran up to one of the male soldiers. He kneeled down and said 'hi.'The little girl then asked him if he would give something to her daddy for her.The young soldier, who didn't look any older than maybe 22 himself, said he would try and what did she want to give to her daddy. Then suddenly the little girl grabbed the neck of this soldier, gave him the biggest hug she could muster and then kissed him on the cheek.
The mother of the little girl, who said her daughter's name was Courtney, told the young soldier that her husband was a Marine and had been in Iraq for 11 months now. As the mom was explaining how much her daughter Courtney missed her father, the young soldier began to tear up. When this temporarily single mom was done explaining her situation, all of the soldiers huddled together for a brief second. Then one of the other servicemen pulled out a military-looking walkie-talkie. They started playing with the device and talking back and forth on it.After about 10-15 seconds of this, the young soldier walked back over to Courtney, bent down and said this to her, 'I spoke to your daddy and he told me to give this to you.' He then hugged this little girl that he had just met and gave her a kiss on the cheek He finished by saying 'your daddy told me to tell you that he loves you more than anything and he is coming home very soon.'
The mom at this point was crying almost uncontrollably and as the young soldier stood to his feet, he saluted Courtney and her mom. I was standing no more than 6 feet away from this entire event.As the soldiers began to leave, heading towards their gate, people resumed their applause. As I stood there applauding and looked around, there were very few dry eyes, including my own. That young soldier in one last act of selflessness turned around and blew a kiss to Courtney with a tear rolling down his cheek.We need to remember everyday all of our soldiers and their families and thank God for them and their sacrifices. At the end of the day, it's good to be an American.
RED FRIDAYS ----- Very soon, you will see a great many people wearing red every Friday.20The reason? Americans who support our troops used to be called the 'silent majority'. We are no longer silent, and are voicing our love for God, countr y and home in record breaking numbers.We are not organized, boisterous or over-bearing.. We get no liberal media coverage on TV, to reflect our message or our opinions. Many Americans, like you, me and all our friends, simply want to recognize that the vast majority of America supports our troops.Our idea of showing solidarity and support for our troops with dignity and respect starts this Friday - and continues each and every Friday until the troops all come home, sending a deafening message that.. Every red-blooded American who supports our men and women afar will wearSomething red.By word of mouth, press, TV -- let's make the United States on every Friday a sea of red much like a homecoming football game in the bleachers.If every one of us who loves this country will share this with acquaintances, co-workers, friends, and family. It will not be long before the USA is covered in RED and it will let our troops know the once 'silent' majority is on their side more than ever; certainly more than the media lets on.The first thing a soldier says when asked 'What can we do to make things better for you?' is...We need your support and your prayers.Let's get the word out and lead with class and dignity, by example; and wear something red every Friday.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Friday Favorites

Keeping things interesting, I'm featuring some of my favorite things on Fridays. If you would like me to feature one of your items just leave me a comment with your shop address.




To start off, here's one of my favorite totes made by creativejenv, you can find her on Artfire. I have a couple of her totes and I love them. If you love purses like I do you are sure to find something you like.



This photo is the property of creativejenv please do not copy without her permission.

Tasty Thursday~Today's Recipe

Baked Honey Mustard Chicken

~seems like everyone is always in search a another great chicken recipe, my family loves this one

INGREDIENTS serves 6
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste, and place in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. In a small bowl, combine the honey, mustard, basil, paprika, and parsley. Mix well. Pour 1/2 of this mixture over the chicken, and brush to cover.
Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn chicken pieces over and brush with the remaining 1/2 of the honey mustard mixture. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Let cool 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I'm Out of the Box


I was approached today by Out of the Box. What is out of the box you say, well it's a sampler box that goes on sale on the 16th of each month. Each box is filled to the brim with samples sent in by lots of different "etailers" I'll be in the box for March.Curious? Come and check it out:


www.outoftheboxsampler.com

Maryann

Sweet Treats by Maryann

www.sweettreatmaryann.etsy.com

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Healthy Choice Thursday

I thought I would start up a recipe series for those who are trying to make healthier choices in their diets. Today's "food for thought"

Egg White Veggie Omelette

What you'll need:
3 egg whites
veggies of your choice~my favorite combo is mushrooms,broccoli,tomatoes and green peppers
salt and pepper to taste
Non stick cooking spray

First cut up your veggies and set aside. Meanwhile spray your skillet with non stick spray.
In a separate bowl scramble your egg white and add a TB of water , salt and pepper to taste.
Start heating your pan on medium heat, when warm add eggs and dump your veggies on top. Cook through, about 5-6 minutes. Plate up your creation and enjoy!

Who says healthy eating has to taste bad :O)

Monday, January 5, 2009

Time for a Laugh

Those of us over the age of 30 will appreciate this one...enjoy and relive your childhood

THE SPOILED UNDER-30 CROWD!!!
If you are 30 or older you will think this is hilarious!!!!
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears
With their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking Twenty-five miles to school every morning
... Uphill...
BOTH ways
Yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up,
There was no way in hell I was going to lay
A bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had
And how easy they've got it!
But now that... I'm over the ripe old age of
Thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today.
You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my
Childhood, you live in a damn Utopia!
And I hate to say it but you kids today you
Don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn ' t have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, We had to go to the damn library and
Look it up ourselves, in the card catalogue!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write
Somebody a letter, with a pen!
...Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
There were no MP3 ' s or Napsters! If you wanted to
Steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you
Were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that ' s it! And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either!
When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, Your mom, your boss, your Bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you
Just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
We didn ' t have any fancy Sony Playstation video
Games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games Like ' Space Invaders ' and ' asteroids ' . Your guy was a little square! You
Actually had to use your Imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or Screens, it was just one screen
Forever!
And you could never win. The game just kept getting
Harder and harder and
Faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
Sure, we had cable television, but back then that
Was only m-net And there was no on screen menu and no remote Control! You had to use a Little book called a TV Guide to find out what was
On! You were screwed when it Came to channel surfing! You had to get off Your ass and walk over to the TV to change the Channel and there was no
Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons
On Saturday Morning. Do you Hear what I ' m saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK For cartoons, you spoiled
Little rat-bastards!
And we didn ' t have microwaves, if we wanted to heat
Something up we had t o use the stove ... Imagine that!
If we wanted Popcorn, we had to use that stupid Jiffy Pop thing
And shake it over the stove forever like an idiot.
That ' s exactly what I ' m talking about! You kids
Today have got it too easy.
You are SO spoiled. You guys wouldn ' t have lasted
Five minutes back in 1980!
Regards, The over 30 Crowd (Send this to someone you ' d like to make smile, Whether they are under 30 or not.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Quote of the Day

"If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes." - Andrew Carnegie