Friday Flowers - Tippy Tulips

I like how they looked rotated on their side rather than right side up!  What is right is really relative, right?
I think this unretouched picture really came out neat!  
If only I could look this great unretouched in the bathroom light, too.
Boo!  (Yikes!)

Thursday Tea Time - Cocoa-banana!

This week - The Republic of Tea - Banana Cuppa Chocolate


Cost:  $10.99 at Rice Epicurian/River Oaks
Number of teabags:  36
Caffeine:  No
Type of tea:   Red/Rooibos
Steeping time:  7 minutes
Add ins:  Coffee Mate's Natural Bliss Sweet Cream
Tea fragrance:  Banana!
Ingredients:  Rooibos, cocoa, carob, sweet blackberry leaves, banana bits, chocolate flavoring, banana flavoring
Opinion:  This really does taste and smell like bananas -- and slightly chocolate, but not artificial-y at all.   I used two teabags, and a huge (16 ounce) mug, and drank every last drop.   This is another of their "cuppa chocolate tea" series.  Hey, when you have a good thing going, why stop?!   I only wish the chocolate/carob was a bit stronger, that's the only reason for the slight ding from a 5
Rating: 4.5

Today's Favorite Workout Song

I am now finding really cool songs on the Pandora "Workout Songs" channel.  My iPod Shuffle battery died as I was getting ready to hit the trail, bummer.  But then I thought for grins to use my cellie and try Pandora - tah-dah!  It practically had my playlist anyways - haha!  And I found some new songs!  Here's one of them:

Pitbull - "Shake Señora"  - 3:35

Vera Bradley Screensavers

Did you know you can get free screensavers for the four newest Vera Bradley Spring Designs??

"Go Wild!"

"Jazzy Blooms"

"Midnight Blues"

"Plum Crazy"

Click here for the link to "Inside Stitch:  The Official Vera Bradley Blog"

John 15:12

Photo by Patrick Feller
I thought this picture and sentiment too pretty and nice to wait until Valentine's Day -- so I'm posting it a month early.  This picture was taken in the Houston area.

Tree Hugger

Sunrise - December 29, 2012

Unlikely Companions

When you count your friends, don't be too quick to exclude the ones who are there for you, night or day, whenever you need them;
who, through the years, remain constant and loyal; who kindly, gently, offer perspective.
They are the trees around you, the path before you, the sky above, the view ahead.
Cherish them and they'll never let you down.

From the January 2013 issue of Self magazine - "A Moment For Yourself"
(picture taken by me)

Upcoming Jo-Ann's Pattern Sales

Winter Warm-Up Sale -- January 13/19
5 for $5 Simplicity

January 13/February 2 --
40% off Gutermann thread

January 17/19 --
$1.99 Butterick
$1.99 McCalls

January 24/26 --
$1.99 McCalls
$3.99 Vogue

Super Weekend Sale -- February 1/2
$3.99 Vogue
$1.99 Buterick
50% off entire stock of thread

2011/2012/2013 Poinsettias!

These were my poinsettias from Christmas 2011!  The remaining two from the Costco three-pack I bought November 2011.  I have never had much luck with keeping poinsettias alive through Christmas, much less until now.  I thought they were pretty much goners after that Christmas and just tossed them (pots in all) in the far right corner and side of my kitchen garden.  I was surprised to see tiny leaves reappear on the stalks in the spring and felt certain our drought would finish them off.  But no, they kept growing, roots now attached firmly to the garden dirt.  Our crazy temperature changes must have triggered the color change.

Thursday Tea Time - Merry Mint Tea

This week -- The Republic of Tea Merry Mint Chocolate - A Cup of Cheer


Cost:  $11.99
Number of teabags:  50
Caffeine:  Yes
Type of tea:   Black
Steeping time:  5 minutes
Add ins:  Coffee Mate's Natural Bliss Sweet Cream
Tea fragrance:  Minty, ginger
Ingredients:  Black tea, peppermint, cinnamon, cardamon, chicory, cacao kernels, ginger and coconut.
Opinion:  Alas, I should have bought another canister.  This is only available at World Market in the stores, not online.  You may even luck out and find it half price or even less now at your local store.   I hope they will bring it back next year.  This is really, really good.  Think of a tea version of peppermint mocha.  But with the additional subtle sweetness and heated twist of coconut and ginger.  I make a mug of this instead of cocoa!
Rating: 5

Wednesday Work In Progress

Shine on Apple!

Even the plug!

Isn't this gorgeous?!

Speaking of which, here's my pimped-out Mac, Mollie.  The design is called "Cosmic Flower" by Creative by Nature, and I got it at DecalGirl    Be sure to "Like" them on Facebook and sign up for their email list to get discount codes.  This is my third purchase from Decal Girl, and I am a very satisfied and happy customer!  I've also dressed up my Nook and iPad.  I love the matching wallpaper/screensaver, too!

I'm Back!!

I don't know what bug I had, one of many going around out there.  Stay healthy, fellow cyberfriends!  And be on the lookout for more fun postings, albeit some may be out of order and a little wonky as I'm getting used to my new computer.
(Thank goodness for the Apple One to One program and the patience of my personal genius guy!)

Everyday Food - Flourless Chocolate Almond Coconut Cookies

I should really call these Almond Joy cookies!

Here was another contender for Christmas Cookie 2012!
This is from the last issue (#98) of Everyday Food, December 2012 - page 101

Flourless Chocolate-Coconut Drops

(I'm still going to call these Almond Joy cookies!)

Ingredients

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (spooned and leveled) -- I used the regular Hershey's Cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (5 ounces)
• 1 cup roughly chopped toasted almonds
• 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with racks in middle and lower thirds. In a large bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips, almonds, and coconut. Add egg whites and stir until combined (do not overmix).
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto parchment-lined baking sheets.  (sprinkle with holiday jimmies for a festive look)
   
   Bake until tops are dry and cracked, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Store in airtight containers, up to 3 days.
If everyone doesn't eat them all first.

Leap of Faith

Trader Joe's JUMBO Cinnamon Rolls!

Even the packaging is nice to look at...

Yum!
 Seriously, YUM!!

Cinnamon intense

Oh yeah!  Trader Joe's Jumbo Cinnamon Rolls.
At first I balked at the 5 for $3.99 price; but college girl was home for break and these looked like a great breakfast treat.   They were!
They are jumbo huge!
And jumbo yummy!
With lots of cinnamon, a non-cloying vanilla frosting...picture perfect!
I only ate half of one, with considerable restraint.  It went down really easy.  Each one weighs in at 350 calories, 14 g fat, 6 saturated, 750 sodium, 51 carbs (yeah, yikes!), 26 g sugar and 4g protein.
These are definitely a winner - grab one the next time you are in Trader Joe's and several friends and family to enjoy them with.

Friday Flowers - Lavender's spikes, diddle, diddle...

"Lavender's blue, diddle, diddle" --

So goes the song:

All around her bush, diddle, diddle,

Butterflies throng;

(They love her well, diddle, diddle,

So do the bees;)

While she herself, diddle, diddle,

Sways in the breeze!

"Lavender's blue, diddle, diddle,

Lavender's green";

She'll scent the clothes, diddle, diddle,

Put away clean --

Clean from the wash, diddle, diddle,

Hanky and sheet;

Lavender's spikes, diddle, diddle,

Make them all sweet!

Potted lavender from Trader Joe's -- Only $5.99!  It is now in my side garden off the kitchen, still blooming!

Cooking Light Cream Cheese Frosted Pumpkin Muffins - & Loaves!

My Pampered Chef stoneware cupcake/muffin pan - the more I use it, the better it gets!

Putting my Williams-Sonoma Gold Touch Loaf pan to good use  - they popped right out!

Page 396!

Pumpkin Muffins (from the November 2006 issue of Cooking Light)  I added the cream cheese frosting and pecans!   And the Fall-colored jimmies for fun.   You can also find the recipe in the Cooking Light 2007 Annual Recipes book.

For the frosting, I used a package of Neufchatel cream cheese and added about a cup of confectioner's sugar and a little bit of skim milk to get a frosting consistency and a bit of sweetness.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 ounces)

• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup golden raisins
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• Cooking spray
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Directions:
• Preheat oven to 400
• Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. 
• Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, ginger, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.
• Stir in raisins; make a well in center of mixture. 
• Combine brown sugar, canned pumpkin, buttermilk, canola oil, molasses, vanilla extract, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. 
• Add sugar mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist.
• Spoon batter into 18 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. 
• Sprinkle with granulated sugar.  (skip if you are going to frost)
• Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack.
• Add frosting and toppings if desired.

Thursday Tea Time at Marshalls

Santa who?!

This week - Tea of Life -A New Age Tea- Holiday Teas, found at all places, Marshall's!


Cost:  $4.99
Number of teabags:  50
Caffeine:  Peppermint Ginger - No
Irish Cream - Yes
Type of tea:   Peppermint Ginger - Green
Irish Cream - Black
Steeping time:  5 minutes
Add ins:  Coffee Mate's Natural Bliss Sweet Cream, Bailey's Irish Cream Fat Free
Tea fragrance:  Peppermint Ginger - hard to detect peppermint, Irish Cream - Oddly sweet
Ingredients:  Peppermint Ginger - Green tea, peppermint and ginger flavor
Irish Cream - Black tea, irish cream flavor
Opinion:  I found out about these from a friend.  I had no idea Marshall's had tea in the food gifts/home dec section in the back of the store.  I saw lots of other brand names (
Tazo, Stash, etc.) and still-fresh/unexpired teas.  There were two others in this series, but I did not get them because they had citrus.  (damn migraine trigger!)  You can't beat the price - $4.99 for 50. The tea bags are sealed in two foil pouches inside.  But the teabags are small.  I used two per mug.  The Peppermint Ginger was pretty good, albeit a bit wussy in the flavor strength department.  I almost think I would need to use even three teabags the next time.  It is easily over-powered by the Natural Bliss.  The Irish Cream, well, yuck!  It had a very artificially sweet flavor slightly favoring irish cream, but not really.  Especially if you are used to the real deal stuff (hic!)  But the containers are cute, and would make nice gift basket additions with a cute mug and spoon, etc., if not for the decorative value and if they like the tea, bonus.  For me, I'm dumping the Irish Cream and keeping the container, and will shove as many teabags as my Keurig MyCup will hold and use up the rest and also keep that container.  It has a really useful latch lid I can store stuff in.
Rating:  Peppermint Ginger - 2.5, Irish Cream - 1
Points were given for the containers.  Yeah.  The Santa looks eerily in a nice way like my father-in-law!

Happy New Year!

Lost and Found

Irish Cream Cookies

Third time's the charm!  Tah-dah!  Our 2012 Christmas Cookie!
I found this recipe in the Penzey's Spices Christmas/Holidays catalog on page 23, "Irish Cream Delights"   I made a few, hopefully healthy, changes to the original recipe.

IRISH CREAM COOKIES

1/4 cup butter, softened (I used unsalted and lopped off a tablespoon)
1/4 cup shortening (I didn't fill it all the way)
1 cup sugar (again, not a full cup)
1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur (OK, glug, glug!) +
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups flour

3 cups powdered sugar
Baileys Coffee Creamer, non alcoholic (and fat-free!)

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, combine the butter and shortening and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds.  Add the sugar, the Baileys, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt and beat until combined, scraping often.  Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.  Stir in the flour.
OK, here's where I went off the recipe instruction grid again - unless you chill the dough first, rolling into balls at this point is a bit messy and sticky.  I just plopped teaspoonfuls onto the cookie sheet.
Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Let cool.

Frosting:  2 tablespoons or glugs as needed, Irish cream liqueur, 3 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons
Baileys Non-Alcoholic Coffee Creamer   Mix until combined and smooth.  Drizzle on cooled cookies
Sprinkle with sparkly sugar.