This is...a favorite recipe I'd like to share

It doesn't look like much in the picture but if you like maple then this is the dessert for you!

I made this last week for a potluck but I didn't quite follow the directions right and it didn't set so it was more the consistency of lemon curd or an ice cream topping than pie filling so if you're gonna make this, make sure you follow the directions and measurements exactly.

Maple Cream Tart

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c pure maple syrup

1 c whipping cream

1/4 c cold water

1/4 c corn starch

1 ready pie crust

In a bowl mix together the water and cornstarch until smooth, set aside. In a sauce pan mix together the syrup and cream and the water/cornstarch mixture. Over medium heat bring to a boil. Let boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Remove from heat. Pour into ready pie crust. Let cool so filling can set. Refrigerate before serving

As far as the pie crust goes, I don't have that in the recipe because I usually buy the kind at the grocery store that you just have to roll out into your pan then toss it in the oven. I haven't tried this using a ready made graham cracker crust but I would imagine it would be really good. Basically, what I'm trying to say is the crust is up to you...if you like making it from scratch, by all means make your own, I'm just too lazy to do that.

As always, check out Three Buttons to find more yummy recipes.

This is...something I'm surprised I like...

I don't generally eat anything that's green unless it's in the lettuce or pepper family. But within the last few years I've discovered I can add asparagus to my very short list of edible veggies. My favorite recipe with asparagus in it is Asparagus Risotto. Yum! Here's a variation on it that is pretty decent, I don't generally make risotto because I can never get it to just the right firmness but this recipe breaks it down decently (btw, I don't do the blanching, to me it seems like an unnecessary step, hmm, maybe that's why it never turns out right)...

Asparagus Risotto Recipe

1 pound asparagus
3 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup water)
About 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option), can substitute some of the asparagus cooking water for stock
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

1 Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into bite-sized pieces. Bring a saucepan with a quart of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock the asparagus into a vibrant green color and to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water bath and set aside.

2 In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.

3 While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

4 Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat.
(Note the stock amount given is approximate. You may need a little more or less. If you end up needing more stock and you find yourself without, just use water or the cooking water from the asparagus.)

5 Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Sounds good, don't it? Who knows maybe I like broccoli and brussels spouts and jogging...maybe not.

Thanks to earl and cookie for the theme this week and to angela for hosting.

This is...my favorite movie.

Those of you who know me in person already know this but my favorite movie is The Matrix. When I first saw it I told my friend I was gonna lead the cult following cuz I knew there would be one it was just that damn awesome. Well, I'm too lazy to lead anything but to this day whenever it's on cable I have to stop and watch it. The concept behind it, the detail in it, the philosophy of it always just gets my wheels a-turnin. And then there's the fx and the action and fight scenes. Since I'm an action flick junkie this movie would have had me hooked on those alone but it's also such an intelligent movie that I just fell hook, line and sinker.
Anyway, I could go on and on but I'll just remind you how cool this movie is with this clip...




Thanks to Hollie for this week's theme and for Angela for being #1 hostess!

This is...my current reading material

Technically, I am in the middle of this book...

But really, this is all I've been reading lately

Area Thrifty One

Big Cat

CurlyPops

Kimono Reincarnate

Miscellany of Me

Posie Gets Cozy

Etc, etc, etc.

To see what else everybody who's anybody is reading, check out The List at Three Buttons. Thanks to my champagne dreams for this week's theme.

This is...my favorite kitchen utensil

Ok, technically, I don't have one of these and also, it's not really a "utensil" so much as an appliance but whenever I think of what I'd like in my kitchen it's this. The Kitchenaid Stand Mixer Professional 5™ Plus Series. I've wanted one ever since I can remember. One day it will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

Thanks to Handmaiden for this weeks topic. For more kitchen gadgetry check out Three Buttons.

This is...really really late.

This week's topic was all about showing off. Katie at May The Cloth Be With You picked this theme and she said to "share in some unashamedly showing off and boasting. It could be something you can do, have made, have bought. Anything you are dying to show the world."

So, I picked something a little strange. My work timecards. I've worked at my current company for ten years and around 6 months into my first year I decided to start decorating the tops of my time cards for a couple of reasons, the first and foremost being that I hate standing infront of the cards trying to find mine and second because I personalize everything to within an inch of its life. Well, just this year I thought to make copies of them and keep an archive. And that's really too bad cuz there have been some real doozies in the past. Anyway, here's a collage of some of them...

I'm not sure which one I like most but I just wanted to mention a few of them. The one on the end of the second row was done the week of our latest earthquake, the one right below that has morning glories because that's the official September flower and the big 35 was in honor of my birthday. So there you have what takes up anywhere from 5 minutes to 20 minutes every Thursday morning. To see them in their entirety go here.

If you'd like to see more show-offs check us out at Three Buttons. Thanks to Katie for this week's theme.

This is...what I wanna be when I grow up.

This question has been the bane of my existence for the last 20 years. Mostly because at any given time there is a list of about 5 or 6 different professions that would easily fit as an answer. There's never been one thing that stood out as my talent, my calling, whatever you want to call it. Plus there's the whole boredom factor. I get bored very quickly with some things. Because of all this, my answer to this question is always "happy"...I want to be happy. Is it a cop out answer? I don't think so. It's true. I want to be doing things that will make me happy. Whether that be crafting, working, travelling, baking, painting, whatever.

This is...my favorite fabric/craft shop...

My all time favorite craft shop no longer exists. It was called the Magic Brush and was this huge craft shop where you could find everything from clay for throwing pots and such to fine art supplies and all sorts of things in between. It's now a Lebanese market where we frequently buy baklava so I can't complain too much.

Now my favorite shop is called Fabric Barn in Long Beach (The LBC).

Don't let the name fool you. They have a very limited amount of fabric but a huge, HUGE selection of ribbon/trim. I'm talking aisle upon aisle of ribbon and trim...you think I'm exaggerating don't you? Well, my friend I am not, take a peek at these pics...

That's not all there is, there's a lot more, did I mention there are rows and rows of these? So, if you're ever in the L.A./Long Beach area visit the Fabric Barn.

Thanks to handmaiden for the topic. For more great shops, go to Three Buttons and check 'em all out.

All ribbon photos are by Sherry over at Got Art? cuz I can never seem to think to take pictures when I'm there.

This Is...My Favourite Children's Book

My favorite all time children's story is Peter Pan. I was given a really nice edition of it in high school by a couple of friends and it has since been lost in one of the many times I moved in the last 10 years and I'm pretty heartbroken about it. One of these days I'll splurge on another one but until then here's some really sweet illustrations by Mabel Lucy Attwell. You can find more here.

Thanks to Potty Mouth Momma for this week's theme. If you wanna check out some more great books, go over to Three Buttons and check 'em out.

This is...how I like to spend my weekend.

Normally, I love to laze around the house, usually in bed. The Bubbers and I just hang out at home doing absolutely nothing, if possible. But...seeing as how we've been trying to buy a house, and actually found one, put a bid on it and had our bid accepted!!!!! we have been doing a lot of window shopping lately. This is the house we're buying...

It's small, 2 bed, 1 bath but there's so much potential in the house that we couldn't pass it up. Of course, there are things that need to be done like pulling up carpet, getting rid of that eyesore of a fence, etc. So, from now until we close escrow our weekends will be filled with window shopping, deciding on landscaping, new furniture (our old stuff needs to go!!), what to do in the slightly awkward garage, etc. It's very exciting. (Sorry there are no interior pictures, I was so excited when I stepped into the house because I knew this one was the one that I forgot all about taking pictures. We're going in again this week to do an inspection so I'll take more pics then.)

So, this weekend we went to Pasadena Architectural Salvage where they specialize in items from the 1880's to the 1930's (our house was built in 1936). Mostly we were looking for a new (old) front door and again, I forgot to take pictures but here are some of the ones we looked at that were on their website...

We also looked at lighting for the dining room. Check out these beauties...

Granted most of these aren't in keeping with the Spanish feel of the house (which we are trying to keep to) but I liked them so much that I put them on our list of possible styles/replicas. Buying these actual fixtures would be breaking our budget (they're way too overpriced) so we're going to be looking for some more reasonable replicas.

So that's how I'll be spending my weekends. To see more, go to Three Buttons and check us all out.

This is...a work in progress...

I bought this material...

back in April and have been meaning to make an apron out of it. I know that it isn't your typical apron material, in fact, if anything, it's anti-apron material but, of course, that's why I want to use it. I haven't decided what to use as the edging or the apron strings. I was thinking one of these...

Now all I have to do is learn how to make an apron and I'm all set!

Thank you Debbie for this week's theme and as always Angela for being the uberhostess.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

My computer is in the hospital. It suffered a near meltdown so we took it to Dr. GeekSquad and they said that it'll be somewhere between 2 to 6 weeks before we get it back. Luckily it's still under the extended warranty that we paid for (you know, the one that most people, me included, usually scoff at, saying it's all bollox, just a way for Best Buy to make money off us suckers, yeah that warranty).

I'm already having withdrawals...shaking, cold sweats, etc. So, from now on all my blogging is going to be done at work which means that a) I have to be very sneaky b) All the bloggers out there that I read normally that are on Typepad or Wordpress I won't be able to access unless I go to a internet cafe or something and there aren't all that many in this area and 3) my This is....'s are all going to be done on Mondays (that's Tuesdays for those down under). I'm just glad that I can still access blogger here at work. Ed the internet Nazi is on vacation for 2 weeks so I'm in no danger of losing that privilege any time soon. He has a tendency of limiting my access and he's probably a little justified in that, seeing as how I spend at least an hour a day either posting to my blog or reading other blogs. I'm such a bad employee.

And because I don't have any real photos to go with this post I'll leave you with a collage of the Bubbers...

This is...not my trade secret

This week's theme (brought to us by Amelia at bollewangenhaptoet) is supposed to be "This is...my trade secret" but I don't have any. By day I'm a receptionist and by night a sewing newbie, craft hobbyist and art dabbler. Because I'm so new to sewing I don't have any trade secrets (but I'm sure I'm going to gain a whole lot of good tips from other people's posts this week!). As far as crafting goes, it's just a hobby, not a trade and I don't do it often enough to have any trade secrets.

The closest thing I have to it would be to do what makes you happy. While my day job definitely falls short of that, my hobbies don't. There's a satisfaction to finishing a project and a joy to finishing it well.

And that's it. My "trade secret".

Thanks to Angela over at Three Buttons for being our meme host.

This is...a day late and a dollar short.

But that's alright. How could I not do this week's post?!?! We get to have free reign...do whatever we want. So.....

I chose This is...my secret indulgence.

I know, it will no longer be a secret but that's ok too...after all, admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting help.

So, here it is, my secret indulgence(s)....




I love the show Wipeout! I can not get enough of watching other people do crazy dangerous stunts for money. Those of you out there that are familiar with Japanese game shows know that this show is nothing compared to those but I'm telling you...it is heeelarious!

The other one, I'm a little more ashamed to say I watch. That darn Harvey Levin! TMZ is, I'm sure, one of the catalysts for the downfall of our society but I can not help myself. Now, realize it's usually only about 5 minutes and then I get disgusted with both the show and myself and I turn the channel but for those 5 minutes I'm hooked...

Edit: I was told by Cathy that the video for TMZ wasn't working so I tried to find another video on YouTube to link to but my computer decided to poop out on me so instead, here's the link to TMZ where they have all sorts of videos on their website that you can check out. Thanks for the headsup Big Cat!

I am ashamed and will now go hide myself away. Thank you to Angela for the chance to do a free for all this week.

This is...what makes me happy

This post is actually being done on Saturday cuz we're leaving at 5am tomorrow and won't have a free moment until around 10pm tomorrow night and I'm pretty sure I'm going to be asleep at that point.

Ok, these are a few things that make me happy...

Travel

Friends (these in particular)

Family

and, of course, my Bub (doesn't he look dapper after today's haircut?).

Those are the big ones, the ones that make the smiles last for more than 5 minutes.

The 5 minute smiles are caused by pretty simple things...

• great shoes,
• wild flowers,
• kids (other people's bring about the 5 minute smile, I don't have any of my own),
• being able to link two difficult actors with the 6 degrees game (gloria that's for you)
• finishing a Friday Sudoku
• having the opportunity to sleep in past 8
• not going to work on a weekday
• finding money in a pocket that you had no idea was there (especially if it's more than a dollar)
• wandering through Ikea by myself
• unexpected compliments (yes, sometimes I do expect compliments...nuthin' wrong with that!)

Those are just 10 random things (I stole that from this week's theme hostess) that bring me happiness, there really is so much more than that.

Thanks to One Little Acorn for this happy post. And to Angela for the whole This Is... meme.

This is...what gives me goosebumps and what boggles my mind.

I promised I'd get my This is post in on Sunday and look at that...2 hours or so to spare. I'm awesome.
So this is what gives me the bumpies...


It's not just Josh Groban that gives me goosebumps. It's pretty much anybody with a beautiful strong singing voice. Needless to say, Jessica Simpson and Brittany Spears have never given me goosebumps.

As far as what scrambles my brain when I try to understand it...The home buying process is mind boggling to me. There are so many little things you have to pay attention to and so many things that people are constantly telling you to beware of, it's not only mind boggling but intimidating too. If you haven't picked up on it yet, we are in the process right now. By we I mean my sister is actually purchasing it cuz my credit is in the sewer but it's really our house, I think. Here's the one we put an offer on today...

This is the front, nice curb appeal, I'd say.

This is what you see when you walk in the front door. Huge space! The kitchen leaves a lot to be desired but that's part of the fun, putting your own stamp on things. Although I do like those pendant lamps.

This is the wall that's between the dining/kitchen area and the living room. If it's a load bearing wall we're making it into an archway so that it's more open, if it's not, the wall is going bye bye so we have one huge room. Oh, and that mantle and paneling is going to go too.

This is the hallway...just a hallway.

So that's the house. Hopefully it'll be our house soon.

If you'd like to see the other mind-boggling, chill-inducing posts, go on over to Three Buttons. Thanks to Juddie at Flightless Boyds for this week's theme(s).

This is... my most treasured childhood possession

Well, this is actually the only item from my childhood that I have with me. There are countless treasures that are either still at my parents' house or have been heartlessly tossed out or given away. Included in these is my first teddy bear (tossed) that was all white with really long soft fur and blue eyes, a favorite stuffed chimp (at the parents' house) whose hands and feet and face are plastic so the poor fellow suffered through many toe and fingernail paintings, and my most favorite baby blanket (also at parents' house) that was a hawaiian print like you've never seen (think smiling happy coconuts). Going through everyone else's posts makes me wish I had these three items with me, if for nothing else but to look at and maybe stumble upon a memory I had forgotten.


Since I don't have any of those with me, I'm posting my baby ring as my most treasured childhood possession. Given to me when I was born, I find it amazing that any of my big old sausage fingers actually fit into it (that's my pinky in the picture). It's a Black Hills Gold ring which just means it's tri-colored. It needs a good cleaning but I think you can see it pretty well in the pics (forgive my unmanicured cuticles).

Just a side note...there was also a very treasured white plastic guitar with Shaun Cassidy's face on it that was unfortunately thrown away by a cruel & heartless parent...oh Shaun, with that feathered hair and big brown eyes...*sigh*!

Thanks to Teacups on Treetops for this week's stroll down memory lane. Take a look here to see other treasured memories and childhood ephemera.

This is...my best op (thrift) shop find.

There's really not just one thing I consider to my best find. If you're selective enough everything you bring home should be a great find. Since I've been on this sewing kick lately I guess my current favorites have to be the sheets that I've bought to use as fabric. Before I started browsing through blogtown, I never thought of buying a used sheet for yardage. But after reading about it, I, of course had one of those moments when somewhere in the back of my brain a bell goes off and I realize that, Holy Crap! That's a great idea! Surely, this person writing this blog is a member of Mensa, pure genius! So, I went out and bought some sheets that I thought would be great in a quilt only to use up a couple of them before I even started on the quilt. Ahhh, c'est la vie!

Here are the first sheets I bought after my epiphany...

The one on the far right is my favorite. It's actually just a pillowcase but it's a really pretty little vintage pillowcase. And that one on the bottom in the middle - I swear we used to have those sheets when I was a kid!




These I bought to make a baby boy quilt...haven't quite gotten to it yet but one of these days I will.

And these I bought for a vintage sheet swap over at Oh Fransson!'s Funny, that purple one is my favorite out of this lot and it's by the same designer as the pillowcase in the first pic.

Anyway, that's what I'm doing lately at my local thrift stores. If you wanna see some more thrifty goodies, head on over to Three Buttons (see the little "This is" button on the side bar?!). Thanks to Lino Forest for this week's theme!

This is... my most favourite outfit that expresses my individual style...

I must admit, I've had this love affair with business wear since I was in high school. Nerdy, I know but what can you do? I had my first business suit when I was in the 10th grade and thinking back on it now I wonder why - it's not like I had any board meetings to go to or even any school events like debates cuz I wasn't that big on extracurricular activities. I just liked it, with it's lovely cranberry color and one button blazer and acetate lining...*sigh*. It was by far my favorite outfit, brought out only when there was some extra special occasion. WOW, I was such a nerd!! Put down in writing, it makes me realize it even more.

Anyway, that being said, these days I still have an affinity for office attire. My current favorites are all winter wear (because I absolutely hate the heat). They are...


This jacket...

(actually, this jacket with anything cuz it's my all time favorite)

These creamy wide leg pants...

(add any blouse that matches, usually when I'm wearing this jacket I have a real hard time taking it off so the blouse doesn't usually get seen anyway)

With any of these shoes (they are for 1. rain, 2. when my feet can't handle heels 3. when my feet can handle heels)



In reality, I'm not always up to dressing this way and, luckily, my employers have no problem with casual dress (people have been known to come dressed in sweat suits, or trackies for those of you on the other side of the ocean). So, I can usually be seen in this...


or a variation of the same. There's not a whole lot of accessorizing that goes on. Usually, it's a scarf during the winter and, every once in a while, a bracelet or necklace, but very seldom. So that's my "style" in a nutshell.

Thanks to Kitty's Kaboodle for this week's theme. For more, go to Three Buttons and check out what everybody else is wearing, who knows, you might be inspired by what you find.