I want some more of it.....

Today’s Beverage-Hot Apple Cider with orange and cinnamon

Today’s Goodie-Buttermilk Biscuit with butter and honey

Today’s Cozy Moment-Making fudge in Grandma “J”’s kitchen with Penny, Mom, Dallys, Robyn, Lindsay, Rhonda, Cindy, Marlys, Chloe’, Maddie, Kinzy, Tara, Jenessa, Maren, Mikauli, Torianna, all the little girls and any girls that I forgot, and of course Grandma “J”.
Wouldn’t that be something?

Books of the Month-The “Circle Trilogy” by Nora Roberts if you are not finished with those or “Dear John” by Nicholas Sparks

Movies of the Month-
The Holiday
While You Were Sleeping
All I Want For Christmas
Prancer
Serendipity
Elf
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Scrooged
A Christmas Story
Miracle On 34th Street
The Little Match Girl
It’s A Wonderful Life

Twelve movies for the 12 days of Christmas!!
I know I missed some of your favorites, But it’s kinda hard to choose.
I chose The Little Match Girl because it reminds me of my mom.
She had this movie when all the grandkids were little and it somehow got lost.
I have been trying to find another one for her for 15 years and have never been able to find the exact version.
But I will never forget it and I will never stop looking.
Love you, Mom!
Tell me some that I missed and you like to watch.

Things to do on a Beautiful day in December……

Breathe


√Start with a really nutritious breakfast

√Trade your talent or knowledge with a friend who has talent or knowledge. It’s free!

√Adopt an “Angel” off of an Angel Tree and buy them Christmas presents. Then imagine them opening them up on Christmas morning. Nothing gets you in the spirit like that can!

√Buy 8 bags of Candy Cane Tootsie Pops and eat them all year. It is the only Christmas item that I will allow outside of the month of December. Take a bag to work and share it with everyone. It spreads Christmas cheer!

√Buy a miniature Christmas tree for your desk at work. Put lights and little ornaments on it. It’s fun. I promise.

√Give the “Twilight Saga” a rest and read “Careless in Red” by Elizabeth George. It’s about a detective from Scotland Yard. It will get you in the mood for “Sherlock Holmes”. It’s a British mystery and it will make want some tea!

√Go see “Sherlock Holmes” on Christmas day.

√Watch endless Christmas movies on the “Hallmark” Channel and cry your eyes out. The commercials are almost the worst part. Have you seen a Hallmark commercial and not cried? I think not.

√Go Christmas shopping on a Saturday and brave the crowds. Go out to lunch and buy roasted chestnuts’. Immerse yourself in the madness, just once. It makes you appreciate the peace.

Make Christmas cookies

√Get a Peppermint Yogi Nog at Hogi Yogi. So good and it will make you shiver!!!

√Call in sick on a snowy day and sit by the fire with hot chocolate and watch everyone else deal with the snow

√Wear something meaningful that you received from someone you care deeply about and think about them all day

√Eat an orange

√Make Frozen Hot Chocolate (Milk, ice, hot coco mix-whip in a blender-drink it with a straw) just like in “Serendipity”

√Go ice skating

√Take your best friend out to lunch. Get dessert.

√Wear your Uggs!

√Cuddle with whomever you love most

√Say Prayers


Oh, December, have a great month!

P.S.
Dear non nerdy side of the Boob Nazi,
Don't be so hard on the Boob Nazi. She is a beautiful, free spirited, romantic soul. She seems to surprise herself everyday. Don't forget.
Happy Chanukah!
Grandma's rock!



Surprise cupcakes from emptythetrash. Oh, I love him!

My homies!

I know, apparently I am not photogenic. I hate that 8(

Doesn't my sister have white teeth? They totally glow.

I just don't even know.

Our little missing person.

I know, the harder I try the worse it is. But don't my girls and my mom look great?

Love my grandma!

emptythetrash. My heart.

My favorite Christmas treat

Adopt an "angel". Just do it!

My new favorite thing. Thanks Vicki!

Eat a good breakfast! It really helps.



Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

Kinzy, we totally miss you!

Costco.... Angel or Devil?

Today’s Beverage-Mexican Hot Chocolate with real whipped cream

Today’s Goodie-Macaroon from The Carmel Coffee Co. in Carmel, CA (the size of a scoop of ice cream, extra toasted on the out side, tender on the inside and dipped in dark chocolate and rolled in almonds) I know, I want to go there right now too!
(Why do they not sell these things in Utah County?) (Kneaders said they would make some for me but I would have to order 4 dozen) (I am thinking of what occasion I might need 4 dozen macaroons the size of a scoop of ice cream for?) (Any suggestions?)

Today’s Cozy Moment-I’m dreaming about the porch in Pebble Beach, reading or just chilling and watching the golfers. So pleasant!

Okay, Costco is just about my favorite store in the whole world. It really makes no sense to buy a big giant bag of organic tortilla chips and a jug of salsa when there only 4 people living at my house and two of them are almost never there. Or at least don’t eat there. And the other two are watching what they eat. But I did. And I also bought a chicken pot pie big enough to feed a family of 14 and ended up having to invite people over to eat it. And I bought a rotisserie chicken and a Caesar salad for who knows how many and a box of Fiber One bars with maybe 60 or 70 bars in it. And a hard cover book. Really, a hard cover book? Why can I not resist a hard cover book? Paper back books are half the price. I LOVE THIS STORE. I make plans here. I envision myself making fabulous dinners and having hors d'oeuvres and filling a gigantic stocking the size of a mini cooper with many lovely things and going snow shoeing after with an amazing scarf and kicky boots with toe warmers in them and them coming home and warming myself to a imitation fireplace and reading my new ridiculous hard cover book. I cannot be trusted without parental supervision at Costco. I mean I really need that Audrey Hepburn DVD Collection that comes in a pink and black hat box and I probably need the Harry Potter book collection that comes in collectable leather trunk with a lock! (I mean you never know when you will need to lock up your Harry Potter books). And maybe I need a 7 lb container of Red Vines or a box of 48 mini cream puffs. 2 dozen all beef hot dogs would feed us for 2 weeks (if we ate hotdogs everyday!) and a gallon of ketchup, well, we might be able to get through that before the “sell by” date, after which no one in my family will touch it with a 10 foot pole. And that fresh baked bread!!!! Who cares if I usually end up throwing out that useless 2nd loaf? There are no preservatives and it’s warm and fresh from the oven when I get there on Sunday morning. It’s too perfect. And my debit card works! Every single time. Yea, so it’s 2 or 3 hundred dollars every single time. So what! And then to top it all off, they offer me a mocha latte freeze as I’m walking out the door for $1.25. Heck, I have that much in my pocket.
Costco, why can’t I quit you?!!
Target, you are my second favorite. Everything is neat and color coordinated. Even bags of lettuce are irresistible.
Kneaders, you are third. But why, why, why, do you only have macaroons in the summer? That is just so wrong.
Wal-Mart, I hate you!!! You put too many things on every rack and it makes you look a mess and my card almost never works! Stop being cheap!

Oh, and Starbucks….
I do have a crush on you. I just really don’t like actual coffee too much. I do however love green tea latte’s and London Fogs and you make my daughter sooo happy. So, thanks, for everything! (I do “pretend” to like coffee and love the concept of enjoying coffee with friends, I just don’t like it, and I don’t really have any friends at the moment) But you can be fourth.

My Boyfriends Back...

My Boyfriend’s Back…..


Today’s Beverage: Café Latte

Today’s Goodie: Pumpkin Muffin (from Mimi’s Café)

Today’s Cozy Moment: Hot Bath with “The Boyfriend” bath bubbler and “New Moon”

Movie of the Month-“Dan in Real Life” and/or “Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist”

Book of the Month- “New Moon” if you are still working on that or “The Circle Trilogy” by Nora Roberts. The first book is “Morrigans Cross”. If you need another recommendation on this, ask Robyn. She read them and loved them. Very romantic.

Recipe of the Month-Staci’s famous All Occasion Chex Mix

Assignment of the Month-Make a check list of things to do on a beautiful day in November.


Emptythetrash is back and I am so happy. I celebrated by gussying myself up with new beauty products and I noticed the funniest trend.

I started by taking a long hot bath and washing my hair with my new solid shampoo by The Orchid Experience in “The Boyfriend” scent and then used conditioner in the same scent. I loved them both and I have to tell you, I was reluctant because I just wasn’t sure about the solid shampoo thing. I wasn’t sure how my new lovely red highlights for fall would react but it was fantastic. It really made my hair feel and smell amazing. I then dropped in “The Boyfriend” bath bubbler and ahhhh…. The aromatherapy was divine. I finished by using “The Boyfriend” body cream and I think I might have been in heaven.
Next, I got dressed in new “Boyfriend” jeans and my “Boyfriend” sweater and even topped it off with my “Boyfriend” watch and I thought, ‘What a funny trend.” I had to wear this crocheted flower in my hair (made by the lovely Vicki) just to make sure that no one mistook me for a boy. (yea, that happens to me a lot).

The next day I came down from my “Boyfriend” high with “Meditation” in all the same products from The Orchid Experience. I t was equally as amazing but I didn’t have all the other cool trendy stuff to go with this scent (other than the shea butter that I used on my feet and let me tell ya, my feet are so soft and fragrant) (that sounds gross doesn’t it?) so I spent the day in comfy sweats and got caught up on “Vampire Diaries”.

Posting is tough when you are busy and stressed, but I still love my outside of work life more than my inside of work life, so I will do my best.

THINGS TO DO ON A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN NOVEMBER………


√Wear a sweater

√Take a long walk

√Drink a delicious hot Chai Latte from Nordstrom-The very best.

√Make chex mix and add lots of good fall things like peanut m&m’s and cowboy mix

√Make a big pot of chili and eat it with Fritos, cheese and sour cream-yum.

√Buy some pumpkin bread at Kneaders and eat it warm with butter

√Get red highlights in your hair

√Wash your windows

√Have a “Vampire Diaries” Marathon

√Use your fireplace

√Read “New Moon” again or for the first time. Before the movie comes out.

√Learn to crochet and start an afghan

√Watch LSU play Alabama in football-eek-(they lost;( so sad)

√Buy some fresh pressed apple juice and drink it ice cold with crushed ice

√Eat at ‘Pizza Factory” and order the delicious Margarita Pizza and get a cinnamon sugar breadstick with sweet cream. So good.

√Forgive yourself for mistakes you made at work

√Cuddle with emptythetrash or your significant other all you can

√Say prayers

Have a nice day!

Ain't No Sunshine When He's Gone.......

Today's Beverage-Coke Zero ("emptythetrash's" favorite)

Today's Goodie-Raisin Bran Crunch (i am eating it right now)

Today's Cozy Moment-Sleeping on his side of the bed because it smells like him

"Empty The Trash" is out of town :(

I know. I should be very happy to have some time to myself and I was. For about an hour and after 2 episodes of "Criminal Minds" (very not smart) I was scared and I needed him. And I missed him.

It's out 26th wedding aniversary on Monday........

Things I love about "Empty the Trash".........

*the way you taught me that it’s way better to spend your life with a nice guy than with a jerk

*the way you used to hide Cadbury cream eggs in your glove compartment for me

*the way you look at me

*the ways you make me think about you long after we’ve said goodbye

*the way you put milk duds on the top of my drink at the movies

*the way you sneak into my dreams, always there to protect me

*the way that every hero in every movie reminds me of you

*the midnight walks

*the way you always hold my hand, even when we are just watching TV

*the way you read my mind and finish my sentences

*the way you scoop me up in the morning and spoon with me for the last ten minutes before I have to get out of bed

*the way you warm me up on a cold day, or even a hot one

*the way you cheer for our kids

*the way that every one of our kids thinks of you as their best friend

*the way I have always been the only girl you have ever loved

*the way you love to surprise me but someone gives you away

*the way you never worry

*the way you have to walk around and look out the window when you brush your teeth

*the way you make my heart feel

*the way you say my name

*the way you kiss

*the cupcakes

*the way you are always on my side, even when I am wrong

*the soul mate thing

*the best friend thing

*the forever thing

*every day

I Love You......Come Home

A Little Corny.....

Today’s Beverage-London Fog (Vanilla Black Tea Latte) Oh so good!!


Today’s Goodie-Pugliassi Toast with butter and Matt’s fresh home spun honey


Today’s Cozy Moment-The front corner of The Baked-Beanery Café watching the rain and reading a little “Twilight”



October Book of the Month:



“Twilight” if you choosing to re-read these with me or

“The Host” if you didn’t get it finished or started last month or

You guys pick and send me suggestions.

I am hoping to find a way for us to stay connected by starting this Book/Movie/Recipe/Anything else club.

Please add your input or recipes or book/movie choices.
(for now email them to me and I will add them)


Movie of the Month:“Tristan and Isolde” (with James Franco and Sophia Miles) this is the perfect movie to watch on a stormy afternoon in October.








Recipe of the Month:

Corn Chowder (recipe) #1

2 tbsp. butter or margarine

1/3 cup celery

1/3 cup red bell pepper1

½ tbsp. flour

2 cups milk

3 cups corn cut from the cob

½ cup cream

1 ½ cups French’s Original French Fried onions

1 cup diced chicken

2 tbsp. chopped green chilies

1 cup diced tomatoes

½ cup shredded cheddar cheese



Melt butter in a saucepan over medium high heat. Sauté vegetables 3 minutes until crisp-tender. Blend in flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in milk, cream and corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 4 minutes until thickened, stirring often.

Add ½ of the onions, chicken, chilies and tomatoes.

Cook until heated through.

Sprinkle with remaining onions and cheese.



Recipe #2



Or……………………And this is my very quick recipe.

When you go to Kneaders to pick up the good bread to go with the corn chowder,………..

Pick up a quart of corn chowder from them.

Delicious, and easy peasy.

Where do you think Chloe’ got her cooking skills from?

Me, of course.

Genius. I tell ya!





Assignment of the Month:



Make a check list for things to do on a beautiful day in October.


√ Set DVR to record Grey’s Anatomy


√ Change into skinny jeans (bought them, love them)


√ Drive up the canyon for the best of the Fall colors


√ Buy Apple Cider or Cinnamon suckers at Sundance (buy several for future days)

√ Buy Braches Candy Corn

√ Make Corn Chowder with the last of the corn on the cob (or ditch that and go with recipe #2)

√ Buy some really good bread from Kneaders

√ Have a really lovely dinner

√ Take a bath with “The Orchid Experience” “Boyfriend” bath bubbler (I know you are thinking this is something nasty but it’s just a bath bomb with an amazing scent)

Get into really lovely flannel pajamas

√ Make popcorn and eat it out of cute little bowl that says “popcorn” on the side

√ Cuddle with “Empty the Trash”

√ Watch “Tristan and Isolde”

√ Say prayers

So, I am reading “Twilight” again, and, on this blustery day (the first of many I am sure) as I was sitting in my car on my lunch hour, it was a wee bit eerie.

I had to move my car to a less secluded setting because honestly, I got a little scared.

It really wasn’t the book people, it was the location but it certainly added to the mood.

Okay, what is it about these books because lets face it, they are a little corny. (Did I say that out loud?)

Well these are the pros and cons.

Pros

Vampires (sexy?) Maybe

Edward (Supposedly too beautiful for words)

Jacob (probably manlier)

Charlie (maybe it’s my age but I love Billy Burke who played him in the movie so, whatever)

Jasper (creepy in the movie but very interesting in the books)

Teen angst

Reluctant guys struggling with their inner demons and trying to be good but, you know, at the end of the day they are killers.

The book does kind of suck you in (did I really say suck?) from the first page and before you know it you involved and there is no turning back.

And then there is all that rain

Makes for a very creepy afternoon of reading.

Cons

Bella (she can be a downer) but I still like her

I really, truly believe that Bella stared into Edward eyes and declared him too beautiful for words maybe 30 or 40 times too many. (Really, we get it, he’s attractive, and she feels inadequate. Been there.)

The name Renesme.

I get that this is the combination of two names but Chloe’ if you and Sean name your daughter Sticki,

Blood might really spill.

And I will cry.

Please don’t do it.

But, seriously, in this real world that can be truly scary, corny is exactly what I need.

What about you?

Can you use a little corny in your life?
Tell me.

PS...Go see ZombieLand. It's strangely good and it will make you laugh.

BaileyJane-Grandma "J"-CherryPie.........

Today’s Beverage-Pumpkin Latte (from Kneaders)

Today’s Goodie-Grandma “J”’s homemade whole wheat toast with butter and plum jam

Today’s Cozy Moment- Early morning at Grandma “J”’s house in Alpine, wrapped up in the patchwork afghan. Rooster-bacon-coffee-Grandpa “J”-Juicy fruit gum-cream of wheat. Fill in the blank.

Bailey Jane…

Oh how I loved this little girl….

How I wish I could have gotten to know her better.

She sparkled and smiled and stretched and smelled good and loved me.

She still dances in my heart and I think about her everyday.

I don’t really have many pictures of her but I know she was real and she taught me more about myself than anyone or anything else ever has.

She taught me how to live in the moment and about how fragile life is and that people are more important than anything.

This is the toughest week of every year for me.

21 years ago, this week, this precious child passed away. Every July and every September I wear a gold necklace almost the whole month with 3 things on it.

-a tiny dancer with 3 sapphire stones (my birthstone)

-a single ruby (her birthstone which my husband told me was a piece of his heart)

-a gold heart with “Bailey Jane” on one side and “Lil Angel” on the other (my sisters gave it to me on the day we buried her).

It’s my private tribute to her to let her know I’ll never forget her. That’s all I can say…………Tough week.

Grandma “J”………….

Fall always reminds me of Grandma “J”.

The only reason that I can think of is that Verd’s opens and all their wonderful produce is available.

She used to take us there when we were little and buy peaches and corn on the cob.

Tomatoes and apples.

I can’t walk into the cooler without tearing up because it reminds me of her.

I still remember walking in there and the rush of cold air as she went in there to buy her cottage cheese and milk in a bottle.

Or heavy cream.
It always meant good stuff.

She always let us get some penny candy and they had these little tiny paper sacks and we would fill them up with tootsie rolls and sixlets. Or Boston Baked beans and Lemon Heads.

They still have the candy and the little sacks but everything now cost 15 cents or a quarter.

The ladies that work there are still some of the same ones that have been there since I was a child.

Very strange and lovely.

They always remember me and it make me feel somehow connected to her.
She was a great lady.

I will never forget her………

Cherry Pie…..

She could smile and pout.

She could shake hands and sleep on the snow.

She liked to walk in one direction and would go home when she got tired.

She had a simple life.

Her ghost still lives in our backyard.

We loved her.

I will never forget her…..

Tonight I will go home and OD on super cold Diet Pepsi and get through this week.

Sigh…..

There is no such thing as a Vampire........

Today’s Beverage: Chai Tea Latte (It’s raining, it fits)

Today’s Goodie: Cranberry Walnut Biscotti (homemade at Kneaders)

Today’s Cozy Moment: Wrapped up in the book reading blanket, on the porch, on a cool, overcast, semi rainy, Sunday afternoon, reading the last 100 pages of “The Host” and crying my eyes out

“The Host”

Okay, “The Host” is finished and one thing I have to say is “be prepared”.

Make sure you have a box of Kleenex ready and a whole Sunday afternoon to read the last 100 pages and recover from the crying headache because people, this one will tear you up.

It is 100% different than what I thought it would be like and I was not prepared so now, on Monday morning, I am suffering. Big time. I have a crying headache the size of Texas and I just might possibly have a broken heart.

Or maybe not.

But, I’m just saying.

Be prepared.

(You know, this is a book about body snatchers, do they really have the right to twist and tug at our hearts this way?) That is so not fair.

I do have to say though, that I loved it. I did not want to love these Vampire/Body Snatcher type books or movies;

I do not want to have a whole other unknown world that I have missed for the first 40 something years of my life and now feel like I need to explore.

I do not have time for all this.

I have now planned in my head an entire weekend devoted to “True Blood” (menu and guest list and all) and decided that I need to buy the box set of the “Sookie Stackhouse” series and we are in a recession and I am not sure that this is such a good idea.

I am re-reading all the “Twilight” books and the Nora Roberts “Circle Trilogy” just to be thrifty (I already own these books he he). So, I am trying, but honestly, I might need therapy.

I went to the midnight showing of the “Twilight” movie for crying out loud (this was AT MIDNIGHT!!!).

What have I been missing? I have been trying desperately to get people to venture down this road with me because, well, I’m scared to go it alone.

There is a new series that started called “The Vampire Diaries” and I am toying with the idea of DVRing this but it is on at the same time as “Bones” and “NCIS” and I am wondering if it is really going to be worth it.

I have been devoted to these other shows for a while now.

And really, there is no such thing, right? Of vampires, I mean. I know that there are “pretend” vampires and “wanna be” vampires, but real ones? I don’t think so.

I mean there would probably be proof by now. And I have heard nothing. Unless they keep it on the “down low” and it is kept from the general public…………

Nahhhhh.

Unless our bodies have been snatched by “souls” and we only know what “they” want us to know……….

Nahhhhh.

Couldn’t happen. I mean I’m at work and it is raining and I have a very tiny window in my office it is a little spooky right now but I think I am still “me”.

And I don’t know.

I give up.

I do not want to like these books!!!

Oh, and “Eastwick” starts this week. Really? Witches? This is sick!!

I am soooo watching it!

Please tell me what you thought of “The Host”.

Did you cry?

Did you get a crying headache?

Read it and tell me if I am alone in all this or not.

I feel kinda stupid.

Because I feel a little alone.

Eat an Apple……………

Things to do on the first day of September

√ Smile (I love this time of year)

√ Take pictures with new camera that I got for my birthday early because boy child spilled the beans

√ Watch “You’ve Got Mail”

√ Plan a Football Party (LSU @ Washington Saturday September 5th) (Go LSU!!!!)

√ Make Carmel Popcorn (see recipe below)

√ Eat an Apple (fresh from Verd’s Fruit Stand

√ Buy skinny jeans (with $10 off coupon from Chico’s for birthday) (or dream about it) (if my 74 year old mother can wear them so can I) (and she looked great!)

√ Watch my son play flag football (get eaten by many mosquitoes. Boo)

√ Ride the “Simple City”

√ Have Cinnamon Toast

√ Snuggle with “Emptythetrash”

√ Say prayers

Wow! Good Day!


Book of the Month-“The Host”

(giving everyone another month to read this one. Soooo good!) Please tell me what you think.

Movie of the Month-“You’ve Got Mail”

Recipe of the Month-

Pumpkin Carmel Popcorn (everyone should make this popcorn this weekend and watch “You’ve Got Mail” while eating it. Fun, right?)


Pumpkin Caramel Popcorn-

1 cup light Karo Syrup
1 stick butter (no margarine allowed)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
3 to 4 bags microwave popcorn or equivalent

Cook to softball stage and pour over popcorn
Eat while watching “You’ve Got Mail”

This site is under construction. Staci will work on it again, only the URL has changed from thebakedbeanerycafe.blogspot.com to bakedbeanerycafe.blogspot.com