my favorites in february

here's a list of the things I enjoyed in February - 

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music - 

Havana Meets Kingston

We went to Sunrise Records in the mall and I bought this on impulse, and it was a good choice.

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on Netflix - 

Cheer

I'm sure I'm one of the last people to watch this - so good and sad and uplifting.

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on Amazon Prime - 

 

The Farewell

A beautiful movie about family and love.  Watch it.

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aromatherapy - 

headache relief kit from Saje

The Mister knows me, and thoughtfully bought me this kit for Christmas.  February saw me hosing myself down with the Stress Release Mist and Peppermint Halo.

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ok, let's try this again - 

Really good cookies

I think by now it's obvious to tell my family and I love cookies and especially chocolate chip cookies.  Sure it's nice to have an oatmeal cookie now and then, or a delicious ginger cookie.  Sugar cookies are okay sometimes, and who doesn't love a good shortbread - you can add chocolate to them too!  But we really really love chocolate chip cookies.

In fact, look at what I came across while doing a cookie search on my blog for the above chocolate chip shortbread cookie - a post from 14 - 14!!!!!!!!!!!!  years ago that confirms my love of the CC cookie:

I mean, come on.

So last weekend I was messing around on the internet before I got going for the day and I came across a cookie recipe that sounded really good - Bakerella's Major Mini Chip Cookies.

I deviated from her recipe by not making them giant size, and I didn't have any mini chips, so mine were regular sized delicious cookies jam packed with tons of delicious chocolate, and what could be better????

Book Club - Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

2020-6

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Someone else’s opinion of you is none of your business.

Comparison is the death of joy, and the only person you need to be better than is the one you were yesterday

Our words have power, but our actions shape our lives. 

Work treats - Almond Joy Cups

Work has been very busy and stressful lately, so we put together a little group to bring in weekly treats for a month or so for a little pick me up.  

I was worried about what to pick because this is a larger group than my usual core work group than I bring treats for, and this larger group included vegans, gluten frees, AND gluten free vegans.

But right away I found a recipe that I'd saved on Pinterest that I would likely not have made otherwise because it's coconut heavy which is not a favorite of The Grandfather and one of my core group at work, AND it is vegan and gluten free, hooray!

These Almond Joy Cups are actually pretty easy and only 5 ingredients - coconut, maple syrup, coconut oil, almonds and chocolate!

I made a test batch for friends and family to sample and it was given the thumbs up, so I made 3 batches for the group with the help of The Mister, and the "help" of The Girl.  The Boy was waiting in the wings in case I needed another tester.

I added a pinch of salt and an extra splash of maple syrup to the coconut base and I liked it.

The treats were well received at work and I miscounted and brought in an extra 2 so, whoops, a bonus for the hard working cook!

Book Club - The Book of Gutsy Women by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton

2020-5

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"Here's to gutsy women.  May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.  And may we thank and celebrate them."

"If you hear the dogs, keep going.  If you see torches in the woods, keep going.  If they are shouting at you, keep going.  Don't ever stop.  Keep going.  IF you want to taste freedom, keep going."  Harriet Tubman

"Young girls need to see role models in whatever careers they may chose, just so they can picture themselves doing those jobs someday.  You can't be what you can't see."  Sally Ride

Why are women's celebrations of hard-fought victory so often treated as unseemly when there is absolutely nothing wrong with them and so much that is right?

Cookbook Cleanup Book 14 - From a Southern Oven

Book 14 is a dollar store find, and it was $3 well spent.

From a Southern Oven shares over 150 Southern recipes that cover everything from pimento cheese to crab cups to country ham and beyond.

This is a fun book to just read as well - the history of the recipes, the authors stories and opinions - what the hell a scuppernong is - make for a great book.

I tried 6 recipes from the book, and I had to cut myself off because every time I open this one I find something new I want to make.

I started with the Ham Tetrazzini, which I mildly screwed up by forgetting to add a couple of ingredients, but it still turned out very good.  And provided me with a new photo for my bad photos of good food label.

 We also tried the Sunday Breakfast Rice and Sausage Casserole, which the kids flat out refused to eat for breakfast.  What do they know?

The Wheat and Honey bread marked by triumphant return to bread baking and it was picture perfect, which you will have to image as I haven't been taking many photos lately.

The Mississippi Muffins were really more like delicious cupcakes, and Aunt Rhoda Gray's Refrigerator Cookies disappeared faster than any other cookie in recent memory.

Sausage Loaf was a bread heavy meatloaf make with pork and sausage and it made the best sandwiches.

I have so many more recipes I want to try - jambalaya, pimento mac and cheese, tomato pudding, fudge pie.....this is a great book.

Cookbook Cleanup results so far - Bookshelf -7  Donated - 7

Book Club - Maisie Dobbs by Jacueline Winspear

2020-4

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Pay attention to the reactions of your body.  It is the wisdom of the self speaking to you.

Maisie laughed, laughed until the tears fell down her cheeks.  How she would hate to say goodbye.

Birthday Cakes 2019

Birthday cake season has come and gone and whoooo, it was a nail biter!

Both kids had strong, ever changing opinions on their cakes, and every time I tried to nail down specifics a new idea popped into their heads and we were back to square one.

The Boy finally decided on a doughnut cake, Simpsons style, meaning pink with sprinkles.

I found a recipe for a bundt cake that tasted like a doughnut, so I whipped that up, let it cool, and then popped it out of the pan.

Almost.

DANGIT.

I carefully pried the stuck piece out of the pan and tried to stick the pieces back together using the power of my mind.  When that didn't work, I used toothpicks instead, and instructed The Mister to make sure I removed the 'picks before serving.

Can you spot the toothpick(s)?

I made a pink glaze for the top and sprinkled it with gold sugar because of course I forgot to buy real sprinkles for the top.

And guess what else we forgot?  TO REMOVE THE TOOTHPICKS BEFORE SERVING IT.

Lord.

The Boy loved it and it tasted pretty good, so that's all that matters.

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Her brother's birthday always throws The Girl into a frenzy about her own - what she would like to eat, what gift she would like, her cake.....

The cake ideas changed almost daily until I put my foot down a couple of days before her birthday and told her to pick.....an easy one that I could actually produce.

She settled on a cotton candy cake, and friends, I have no story to tell you other than it was a pretty cute cake.

I even marbled the dang thing because I was feeling so good about it.

My only wish was that I could have found fluffier cotton candy for the top but whatevs, look at these cakes!  It was a good time.  My babies are happy and healthy and loved their cakes.  Life is good

my favorites in january

Here's a list of things I enjoyed in January -

On Netflix -

John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch.  So good.  Everything about this is perfect.

Santa Clarita Diet - I finished the 3rd and (sadly) last season.  Bizarre until the end.

On Amazon Prime:

One Mississippi.  So good.  So sad at times.  Another show cancelled too soon.

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Before the holidays every article on Buzzfeed was raving about this scalp brush thing that you use when you wash your hair, and it gets rid of build up and feels nice and vacuums out your car for you.

I ordered one for Santa to put in my stocking.

It's........ok?  I can't say that my hair is shiny or bouncy, but it does feel nice to scrape away at your scalp in a warm shower some mornings.

Another thing the internet got me started on came from a Facebook video I saw where they showed you how much of your various products you waste when you don't rip the container apart to extract the last bits of lotions and potions and lip balm.

My first test was on a lip balm, and using the handle of a little spoon from the kitchen I was able to scrape out a goodly amount of balm that otherwise would have been tossed out.  Cool!

Now I've moved on to scrub and lotion containers.

Cut the tops and middles off, and then you can get at the product hanging around in there, and you still have a lid to keep it covered.

My new favorite hobby.

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I forgot how much I love this song until it popped up on a random playlist while I was working.  Emmylou by First Aid Kit.

Book shopping at value village - I was reading a ton in December and early January, but I've hit the January blues and some long work weeks so it's petered off.  I popped in to the Vill and picked up 4 new (to me) books.

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My current mood: