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B Day

B is for Birthday

 

We celebrated SH's birthday with this cake.

My cakes never look picture perfect.

It tasted yummy!

This cake would have been baked in round pans,

if only I knew in which box those pans were hiding.

Parchment paper, and a 9x13" pan saved the day.

I was picturing trifle as an alternative

for when my cutting skills failed.

The trifle bowl is also MIA

I amazingly cut the cake without incident.

B is for BOX

I have been busy painting and decoupaging B's

Bunny Girl's new room will feature a wall full.

 

                            

            B is for Bunny Girl   

     While SH and I were excitedly checking out progress on the new house,

BG was outside taking pictures of  herself.  

B is for Bathroom     

Join me very soon for P is for Paint.        

Ears

BG refers to tortellini as ears. If there are signs for specific pasta shapes, I am not aware. Finger spelling tortellini takes too long, so, to us, they will forever be known as ears.
PG's contribution to the names that stuck, would be happy shoes instead of Mary Janes. When she a child, she wore Mary Janes to "happy" birthday parties.

What silly words do you use?

Texas Tortellini Salad

Click for a readable recipe, complete with my lovely Photoshop editing job.

Be sure to check out Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, and Tasty Tuesday, where others share their yummy recipes.

Getting Closer

We have been living in Land O' Boxes for over four months.

We can't wait to live here.

Name Dropping -- Sort of, Kind of

Last week PG called to tell me that her friend, Courtney, was a contestant on America's Next Top Model. Courtney is gorgeous. She is so amazingly beautiful, that when I first spotted her picture on Facebook, a few years ago, I immediately called PG to ask her who this friend was. Most of PG's pals are pretty, but this girl looked special.

Apparently I missed both episodes with Courtney, as she was sent home last night. I was hoping she would win. Then I could tell everyone that I know her....sort of, kind of. Well, I do know where she held her 22nd birthday party last year. Oh, I am privy to just so much thrilling news. Soon I will be sending in tidbits of gossip to the tabloids.

Courtney's birthday party last October 

some nameless pretty girl, Courtney, and PG

September 17, 2009

Double elimination on America's Next Top Model

John-John Williams IV reports on this week's ANTM:
Poor Courtney! She came to America's Next Top Model with a broken foot. After last night's episode she left with shattered dreams. That's right. The lively cheerleader from Plantation, Fla., was sent packing after essentially giving up during a nude photo shoot.
The episode started with a surprise visit to Wilhelmina Models. The contestants each to complete an interview with the president of Wilhelmina Models, Sean Patterson. What they didn't know was that there would be an immediate elimination based on the interview. (I'll get to that in a little bit.)
During the interview, we learned that Jennifer has a lazy eye. (Ouch!)
Rachel was kicked out of the competition because Sean Patterson said she "didn't have what it takes to be a Wilhelmina Model."
Rachel was in disbelief. She started to cry.
"I expecting for someone to pop out and say 'Just kidding'," Rachel said in her confessional. "And they never came. I have to go home."

The next day the girls met up with Tyra for an extremely corny exercise in "smiling with your eyes." Tyra took on this superhero persona "Super Smize." It was way over-the-top. The hopeful contestants played along with the it, which made it that much more annoying.
Anywho, the girls split into two teams and challenged each other's ability to smile with their eyes. The winning team got a sit down dinner with Sean Patterson. The losers had to clean dishes.
The winning team of Courtney, Lulu, Bianca, Brittany, Laura and Kara also got to wear lovely dresses hand-picked by Sean Patterson.
After dinner, the contestants went home, where drama unfolded between Bianca and Jennifer who argued about dishes in the dishwasher. (Seriously?)
The next day the girls went to horseracing track, where they found that they had to pose topless with a jockey and a horse.
Jay Manuel said that: Jennifer struggled; Brittany gave him Italian Vogue; Erin did a good job; Courtney looked like Barbarella in a wrestling ring; Bianca looked like a "she-man"; and Bianca did great.
After the photo shoot, Courtney complained about her experience on the shoot. Brittany jumped in and disagreed with her, which ticked off Courtney.
During the judging panel, the girls were surprised to see that Lauren Conrad of The Hills was the week's guest judge.
Erin, who had a stunning photo, according to the judges, won the competition.
It came to no surprise that Bianca and Courtney were in the bottom two. Bianca had an attitude because she didn't like the blonde wig she was forced to wear. Courtney had an attitude because she was told she needed to wear her protective boot. Tyra said that Courtney sabotaged herself and sent her home. 
-The Baltimore Sun

My Little Chick-a-pea

Curried Couscous 

3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 Granny Smith apples, cored and chopped
1 7.6 oz box couscous
1 1/2 cup water or broth
1 16oz can of chickpeas

nuts, if desired
raisins or dried apricots, if desired (add with water, or with chickpeas)

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat melt the butter, and the curry powder
Add the apple and cook for about 3 minutes, to soften the apple.
Add the water, and bring to a boil,
Stir in the couscous, cover and remove from heat.
Let sit for for 10 minutes
Fluff up the couscous with a fork.
Stir in chickpeas.

Add some nuts and raisins, if you like, and eat,
or chill, and add the nuts when you serve,
unless mushy nuts don't bother you.

You can even toast the nuts, if you are not a lazy cook, like a certain blogger with the initials LW.

Do not use two tablespoons of curry powder, unless you like your food very spicy. If you do, you will have to make another batch of plain couscous to add.

Yeppers, that is what I did. With the added plain couscous, this dish was a hit. BG loved it. SH liked it, but getting a reaction from him that resembles excitement, is limited to Fulham scoring a goal, or he, himself, having an incredible game of golf.

Chickpeas and spray starch.

A reminder that I need to iron SH's shirts.

Chickpeas and the bandanna BG wore at the barn on Sunday

A reminder that BG prefers grooming horses over putting away her possessions.

Okay, so it is gross that my child left her sweaty scarf on the counter. 

Next to my messy recipe box is DampRid, and a box of roach traps (and a view of boxes!).

There, I will never have anyone want to eat with us in the Land O' Boxes!

For recipes from cooks who don't serve up meals with the added barn-like ambiance, visit Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, and Tasty Tuesday.

When Books and Music were my Life

Jim Carroll, the poet and punk rocker in the outlaw tradition of Rimbaud and Burroughs who chronicled his wild youth in “The Basketball Diaries,” died on Friday at his home in Manhattan. He was 60.
NY Times 9.14.09

Reading that makes me feel sad, and brings back memories of reading his book, and listening to his music.
I miss the days when my friends, and I would sit around discussing books, our futures, and basking in the excitement of being young.

On one of our first dates, SH came over to my apartment, armed with a bottle of wine, and a sheaf of papers, containing his poetry. Neither of us has written a poem in at least twenty years.

Our daughter, PG, is now older than I was, when I met SH. 
If Allen Ginsberg were alive, he would be 83.
I had a mad crush on Kurt Vonnegut when I was in college.

I am going to mull over those thoughts while I do the laundry.

“Write in recollection and amazement for yourself”

Jack Kerouac