Thought of the Day…Laughter… gotta love it! ~Unknown
This video was shared around the office. Thought you’d like some humor…
I’m not one big on Rap, but thought this was cute. I love the dad crying at the Disney movie! 
What do you think?
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Thought of the Day… All I can do is say ‘ARGH!’ ~Me
If you recall from my SNAFU post, we found some damage behind our old microwave. As a result, we didn’t get our new microwave or range. I realize this is about my “kitchen”, but it is my “life” right… so I’m filing it under “Life”, too. I didn’t share the details of damage because we didn’t know the extent of it. Sorry!! … Actually, we still don’t know the full extent. What I can tell you is that the person who installed the original microwave hood 17 years ago (the one that was in the house when we bought it 14.5 years ago) was an idiot! He (or she) hit the sewer pipe coming down from the upstairs when drilling to install the original microwave. Did not drill all the way through the side… just ever so tiny… He (or she) may have tried to “patch” it, but didn’t!! Idiot! Why would a normal thinking person leave that? A normal thinking person would have REPLACED THE SECTION OF PIPE!!!! NO, instead he (or she) left it! Well… after 17 YEARS… guess what we found?!?!?!?!?! Yep, MOLD!! We NEVER smelled anything from the sewage line… NEVER had a leak… NOTHING … NADA… ZLICH!! Like I said I-D-I-O-T !!!! Guess what!?!?! They built a single cabinet unit… not individual boxes…. we cannot replace just one section… All the drywall and all the cabinets on that wall have to come down! Since it’s been 17 years… no cabinets can be found to match! Yeppers… you guessed it… we have to replace our ENTIRE kitchen cabinet system!! OK… this is more than a “SNAFU”… at least that’s what people at work are saying… I agree… Oh yeah… here’s the before… …what we found behind the old microwave… Anyway… on with the saga… …It’s only been a week and it feels like a MONTH! In the last seven days, we’ve talked with contractors, lawyers, insurance agents and adjusters, kitchen designers and an interior decorator!!! OMGosh! I feel like I’m going insane!!! Insurance did NOTHING for us… it wasn’t a sudden loss… even though we didn’t know about it until NOW. ARGH!!! We have received one estimate and are waiting for four more. I do know this… We’ve gone from a few thousand dollars for new appliances (installed) to tens of thousands of dollars! To top it off, I still have use of my kitchen right now, but can’t use range or oven where we would need to use an exhaust fan (don’t have one… it was in the microwave the original installers took with them). When the renovations start… no use of our kitchen… UGH! HELP!!!!! Any suggestions on how to wash dishes for the 3-4 weeks we’re not going to have a sink? Don’t have pets to lick plates. Thought of the Day…Do you cringe when you hear, “What’s for dinner?” I do. Hopefully this will help. About a few weeks ago, Jaden from Steamy Kitchen did a post on Apple and Sage Pork Chops which she featured on her Discovery Health blog. Jaden used McCormick Recipe Inspirations Apple and Sage Pork Chops spice packet, but she modified the McCormick recipe. If you’re not familiar with them the McCormick Recipe Inspirations are a collection of small spice packets (no salt) and an attached recipe. I bought one of each of the different packets I could find at the store so I would have them. Each packet has six spice containers and a recipe card on the back (shown below). Each recipe card lists the spices and amounts so that you can recreate the dish later. I saved a copy of Jaden’s recipe and put it and the recipe card in a sheet protector. Here’s my end product…. I was rushing dinner so I didn’t have to time take pictures, but here is my plate. I served the pork chops with brown rice and veggies (which seem to have been camera shy)… I must admit, I was a bit disappointed. Hubby and The Offspring both liked it, but it wasn’t “applely” enough for me. Is “applely” even a word?? I don’t think so because there’s a red squiggle under it in my editor. I used her recipe but had a couple of changes. I bought boneless pork chops and substituted an ingredient because I missed it when going to the store… I unwisely didn’t have the apple juice (only sparkling juice and forgot about that)… (note to self… water is NOT a substitute for apple juice. DUH!!! Since Hubby and The Offspring both liked it, I’ll make it again and make sure to have apple juice on hand. I’ll post an update. I will also try the other packets I purchased and let you know how they turn out. Here’s what we have to look forward to: Quesadilla Casserole, Shrimp & Pasta Primavera and Spanish Chicken Skillet, but most of all I am looking forward to the Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Potatoes. Have you seen these packets? Have you tried them? How were your results? Thought of the Day…We have always said that advertising is just the icing on the cake. It is not the cake. ~Meg Whitman Ever tasted bland, yucky fondant? I have … I didn’t see the big deal about it… it looks nice, but tastes awful. Well, I found a solution! Our favorite local bakery has some beautiful cakes and every time I’m in there or drive by I just think to myself I really want to learn how to make fondant. Their fondant wasn’t awful, but that didn’t help me as I want to make my own. Professionally done fondant cakes can be expensive. I have been reading the Cakes by Dawn blog for a while (used to be Dawn’s Goodies) and she uses a Marshmallow Fondant (MMF or MM fondant) and says it tastes much better. I was intrigued. Dawn is completely self-taught in her cake decorating and she is VERY talented. If you want to see some creative cake decorating, stop by her blog and say “Hi, found you from TooMuchToDoSoLittleTime.com!” She’d love to hear from you. My friend CC came over last Friday. Plans were to make fondant for a cake I was going to make on Saturday to celebrate getting my new range. But as you read in my SNAFU post, I didn’t get the new range… thus didn’t get the cake made. Since I don’t know when I am going to get my new range, I decided to go ahead and post my first fondant experience. Thanks to Dawn now have made marshmallow fondant for the first time. Want to know something? It was super easy!!! Initially, Dawn had copy and pasted a recipe she’d found on the web. Then I found some videos she had posted in her “How-To” section. I watched in awe how Pam from The Twisted Sifter Cake Shoppe in Danville, Kentucky made MM fondant. Her YouTube video (which I have embedded below) was amazingly easy to follow. It’s a little less than 10 minutes long and I watched it 3 times. The last time, I wrote down the instructions (this was before I found the recipe on her blog). The instructions in the video are different from her blog. I have added a few bits of information and written it the way I made it. Cast of Characters (they were all camera shy so no picture) You’ll need a mixer with a dough hook. If you don’t have a dough hook, then you’ll be kneading this by hand and not laughing as much as CC and I were!!! Remove all jewelry on hands and wrists! You’ll be glad you did!! Put marshmallows in large glass bowl and add 3 T water to marshmallows. If you want to flavor the fondant, substitute flavoring for the water. Place marshmallows in microwave and cook for 1 min 30 seconds. While marshmallows are in microwave, put 1/2 cup shortening in mixing bowl. Add 2 pounds minus 1/2-1 cup of SIFTED powdered sugar to mixing bowl. Dust flat surface with sifted powder sugar (like one would uses flour for a pastry). Once marshmallows are done, stir them up a little bit to soften more and mix water. Take softened marshmallows and add to mixing bowl. Using mixer and dough hook, position hook so that the mixture does not go over dough hook. You may have to keep head of mixer lifted to prevent hook from being buried. If you have a “splatter” guard put it in place – you will be happy you did. Turn mixer on slowest speed. Again, you’ll be glad you did. As it is mixing, you want to “knock” the powdered sugar off sides of bowl. Powdered sugar may “dust” up and this is where the “splatter” guard will be helpful. (I had to remove mine each time I took pictures, it’s sitting there to the right.) Continue mixing. Scrape sides as needed. If you want to color fondant all one color, add coloring now. Increase speed as necessary. This is where the dough hook comes in handy. You don’t want to use mixer too long; it’s only to aid in mixing. Kneading is done by hand. Once ingredients are mixed, stop mixer and lift dough hook out of bowl. Use your fingers to get mixture off dough hook – mixture is very sticky. Pour mixture out onto surface. Be sure to get all remaining pieces from mixing bowl. Start kneading just like you would bread dough. It was at this point I really wished I’d taken my ring off!! As you knead it the texture will change. If you have mixture sticking to countertop, use pastry scraper to remove. Fondant needs a lot of kneading (unlike bread dough). Keep kneading until you get to a soft and non-sticky ball. You do not want mixture to be sticky after kneading. If it gets too dry, add shortening to mixture in 1/8 tsp increments (or water if shortening doesn’t work). When you have a soft smooth consistency you’re done. You need to double wrap it in cling wrap to keep air from getting to it. You can store it wrapped on the counter for a couple of weeks. If it is going to be longer than that, put in refrigerator. You can re-soften by putting in microwave for a few seconds at a time so that it is soft and you can re-knead it. See, it’s actually really easy to make fondant! Have you ever made fondant? To get a printer friendly copy of the recipe, go here. (If link doesn’t work it is because the recipe is still under review.) Fondant, Marshmallow Summary: Ingredients: Directions: 2. Put marshmallows in large glass bowl 3. Add 3 T water to marshmallows. If you want to flavor the fondant, substitute flavoring for the water. 4. Place marshmallows in microwave and cook for 1 min 30 seconds. 5. Dust flat surface with sifted powder sugar (like one would uses flour for a pastry). 6. While marshmallows are in microwave, put 1/2 cup shortening in mixing bowl. 7. Add 2 pounds minus 1/2-1 cup of SIFTED powdered sugar to mixing bowl. 8. Once marshmallows are done, stir them up a little bit to soften more and mix water. 9. Take softened marshmallows and add to mixing bowl. 10. Using mixer and dough hook, position hook so that the mixture does not go over dough hook. You may have to keep head of mixer lifted to prevent hook from being buried. If you have a “splatter” guard put it in place – you will be happy you did. Turn mixer on slowest speed. 11. As it is mixing, you want to “knock” the powdered sugar off sides of bowl. Powdered sugar may “dust” up and this is where the “splatter” guard will be helpful. Continue mixing. 12. If you want to color fondant all one color, add coloring now. 13. Increase speed as necessary. 14. Once ingredients are mixed, stop mixer and lift dough hook out of bowl. Use your fingers to get mixture off dough hook – mixture is very sticky. 15. Pour mixture out onto surface. Be sure to get all remaining pieces from mixing bowl. 16. Start kneading just like you would bread dough. 17. As you knead it the texture will change. If you have mixture sticking to countertop, use pastry scraper to remove. Unlike bread dough, fondant needs a lot of kneading to get to a soft and non-sticky ball. You do not want mixture to be sticky after kneading. If it gets too dry, add shortening to mixture in 1/8 tsp increments (or water if shortening doesn’t work). 18. When you have a soft smooth consistency you’re done. You need to double wrap it in cling wrap to keep air from getting to it. 19. You can store it out on the counter for a couple of weeks. If it is going to be longer than that, put in refrigerator. You can re-soften by putting in microwave for a few seconds at a time so that it is soft and you can re-knead it. As promised, if you’d like to see the video of Pam making her fondant, check out this video Thought of the Day…Friendship isn’t a big thing – it’s a million little things. ~Author Unknown
As I have mentioned before, I participate in different blog mingles. The last two week’s I’ve joined in Life of Meg’s Mingle Monday. Regrettably, I missed posting last week’s Mingle Monday post. I am sorry!! I am sharing both last week’s Mingle Stops as well as this week’s. September 14th Mingling My Semi Charmed Life September 20th Mingling Falling off High-Heeled Life Stop by these blogs and come back and share what you thought. Thought of the Day…Angels deliver Fate to our doorstep – and anywhere else it is needed. ~Jessi Lane Adams  Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art. ~Frederic Chopin 28 years ago this evening was the start of a new chapter in my life… something I didn’t realize way back when… As I discussed in my How my life changed forever post, the fall of 1982 was one of new beginnings. What I didn’t share in my earlier post is that pre-Hubby was shy and intriguing. One day in early September 1982 I was listening to music playing on my stereo. As fate would have it (or it could have been Roberta the ghost), I happened to leave my dorm room door open when I went down the hall. Pre-Hubby was on our floor and asked, “Who’s playing the piano music?” A week or so later I noticed there was an upcoming Chopin concert. I wanted to go and waited to see if he’d ask me… NOPE… he didn’t… …I was tired of waiting and talked with my RA Trudy and asked if she thought he’d be interested in going. Since she knew pre-Hubby pretty well, she said that he’d be interested and that he was afraid to ask me out because I might say “No”. Hmmmmmm…. what to do…. You guessed it… I asked him out (I was SOOOOO nervous) and … you’re right again, he said, “Yes.” 28 years ago this evening (actually to the minute) Hubby and I were on our first date… Wanna know another bit of trivia? Before the concert started… I asked him if he was free on Friday night and would he like to go to a movie. He smiled and said, “Yes.” You guessed it… I asked him out for our first two dates. We’ve been together ever since… it’s not been perfect, what relationship is? But we’ve by each other’s side through most of our adult life… all our trials and tribulations… all our joys and sorrows… What’s the key to our 28-year success? We talk… we laugh… we’re there for the other one when needed… To join in our celebration, enjoy the following video clip. The pianist playing one of my most favorite Chopin pieces. Sit back and enjoy Chopin’s Nocturnes, Op. 9: No. 2 in E-Flat Major Don’t you just love Chopin?
Have you ever had one of those days that you were praying was a bad dream, but in reality it wasn’t? Well, Saturday was just such a day in our house… In a nutshell, there was a SNAFU* when the our microwave was being removed so our new one could be installed… There was some damage found hidden behind the old microwave that has been there for quite some time and we didn’t know it. We’ve lived in our house 14.5 years and the house is 17 years old. Needless-to-say, I’m not a happy camper!!! I’m sorry to do this to you, but for now I am going to wait to share all the details. SORRY! This much I can tell you… the IDIOT who installed our old microwave (when the house was built) didn’t do something right and there are a couple of big holes in my kitchen wall and some other damage!! ARGH!!!! Have you had a SNAFU day? *For those not familiar with SNAFU… it means Situation Normal All Fouled* Up. I know that many use another “F word”, but like I’ve said before… my mom and daughter read my blog and I choose to keep it clean. I also know that my daughter has heard the other “F” word at school and other places, but still… for now, I’m going with Fouled up.  |
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