All I Want for Christmas..

my mom has been on me about what I want for Christmas. I am sharing my list with you because who knows, it might turn out that you want the same thing and did not even know it!

1) Cooking Magazines

I know, I know. In this day and age, it is so easy to find recipes on the internet especially when you follow blogs like The Kitchn, Tartlette and Joy the Baker. However, there is just something about getting a new magazine in the mail and then going through your daily schedule in your mind to figure out when you can browse through the shiny pages. My tried and true favorites? Martha, Rachael Ray, and The Food Network Magazine.
Now is it a sin that I list Martha with the likes of Rachael? To some people yes but I have never been able to get Jack to eat Martha's Jamican Chicken Curry over Rachael's Chicken Parm Meatball Spaghetti. Also, my mom got me a subscription to The Food Network Magazine and I have been pleasantly surprised by how cool this magazine is! The latest issue has a hot cocoa recipe that LJ gleefully announced "tastes like I am sippin' pudding!"
Even though I already get my three magazines above, I always check the current issues of Cook's Illustrated Entertaining and Fine Cooking. I LOVE these two magazines and would love to find a subscription waiting for me Christmas morning!

2) Cookbooks

Checking out cookbooks from the library is a fun way of trying out a book. However, the fun always ends with me racking up overdue fees because I want to try just one more recipe. My favorites and must haves? Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Appretice and Whole Grain Breads, Nancy Silverton's Breads from La Brea Bakery, Artisan Baking by Maggie Glezer, I Love Macarons by Hisako Ogita and finally The Craft of Baking by Karen DeMasco. One can never have too many cookbooks! Plus, the one that bestows the cookbook get the goods.

3) Kitchen Timer

CDN PT1A Digital Timer/Clock 4 Event Programmable, $18

One thing in life is for sure: crying baby+bread in oven=burnt bread. There is no way around it. This is also handy for the times that I have loaves proofing while others are cooking and a sponge going.

4) Blowtorch
Yes a blowtorch. Do I really have to explain how cool this is?

BonJour Chef's Torch with Fuel Gauge,$29

John Hughes

This man was brilliant. Please enjoy his some of his finer works...

[waking up after sharing the same bed on the motel]
Neal: Del... Why did you kiss my ear?
Del: Why are you holding my hand?
Neal: [frowns] Where's your other hand?
Del: Between two pillows...
Neal: Those aren't pillows!


Gary is chanting incoherently. Wyatt seemed very confused by his best friend's odd behaviour. They are both wearing bras on their heads]
Wyatt: Gary?... By the way, why are we wearing bras on our heads?
Garry: [hesitates] Ceremonial.


Chet: Taking the last bite of Paul Bunyans's Old 96er
Roman: I think that just about does it.
Grill Chef: He's not done yet!
Roman: It might take him a moment for that last bite to go down, but it will go down!
Grill Chef: That ain't the last bite!
Roman: Well sure it is, there is nothing on that plate but gristle and fat!
Grill Chef: Raising his eyebrows
Roman: No Problem. If i can get a dessert down him, think you can throw in a couple of Paul Bunyan hat's for the kids?


[Long Duk Dong is dancing with Lumberjack, his head is on her ample chest]
Lumberjack: What's your last name?
Long Duk Dong: Dong.
Lumberjack: What's your first name?
Long Duk Dong: Long.
Lumberjack: What's your middle name?
Long Duk Dong: Duk.


Doris (TV Repairwoman): Are you crazy? You don't feed a baby chili!


Brian Johnson: Dear Mr. Vernon, we accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. But we think you're crazy to make an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us... In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...
Andrew Clark: ...and an athlete...
Allison Reynolds: ...and a basket case...
Claire Standish: ...a princess...
John Bender: ...and a criminal...
Brian Johnson: Does that answer your question?... Sincerely yours, the Breakfast Club.


Clark: Since this is Aunt Bethany's 80th Christmas, I think she should lead us in the saying of Grace.
Aunt Bethany: [turns to Lewis] What, dear?
Nora Griswold: Grace!
Aunt Bethany: Grace? She passed away thirty years ago.
Uncle Lewis: They want you to say Grace.
[Bethany shakes her head in confusion]
Uncle Lewis: The BLESSING!
Aunt Bethany: [they all pose for prayer] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands/ One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Clark: Amen.

Look What I Found!

I know it is a hot mess right now (nicotine covered...damn you smokers!) but this is a General Fireproofing Co. Tanker Desk that was at our local Salvation Army.

What's the big deal you ask? Well you can check this desk out here and here as well. I have no idea what model mine is due to the fact that I can't find a pic of it anywhere. It does have a spring loaded typing tray that almost took Wade's face off though. Oh, and if it is worth more than $15...then I am good to go!

Homemade Upside Down Tomato Planter!

Now that we have our lovely egg-laying, plant-scratching, fertilize the world chickens, growing anything on the ground is a challenge. It takes a total of 5 seconds for one of my lovely ladies to rip out a plant and scratch it all to shreds. When it came time to plant some veggies around the yard, I had to get creative.

I have seen commercials for the Topsy-Turvy tomato planter but at $20 a pop (for a plastic bag and a sponge), making my own was at the top of my list. Soooo here we go!

First, find a hanging planter that does not have a drip tray attached. I found some at Bi-Mart for $6. With a utility blade, cut a hole in the bottom that is just big enough to get your tomato plants through without breaking off leaves. Mine was about 2" in diameter.

Pause, and flex for your husband so you can show off your big muscles from carrying around the kid all the time. Please no sneaking peaks at all the other projects in the works. Also, please don't mind my rolled up sweats from 10 years ago and tie-dye doo rag. Really people...I am playing in dirt.
Next, after you stop admiring my whiteness, thread your tomato plant through the hole cut in the planter. Use the edge of a table and your knee to prop it up while pushing the leaves through.
This is the only part that is tricky...and not "oh it is hard to do tricky" but "what the heck can I use here instead of a sponge tricky". I tried some leftover weed barrier that I had laying around but I am almost positive that you could use a plastic bag as well...or anything else that would help the dirt stay in the planter. Cut a slit in one side of whatever material you are using (like you are making a Pac-Man shape) and wrap it around the stalk of your plant. Make sure to overlap the cut so no dirt is showing through the bottom.
Then fill it with dirt and hang it up! On that note, make sure you have everything ready to go so you can hang it up as soon as you fill it with dirt. Once your plant is in...you can't put it down.
The plant on the right was planted a couple of days before the other two. The tomatoes will try to right themselves but will eventually be weighed down by the awesome amount of tomatoes they will produce. I can't wait!

Total cost: $18...3 planters at $6 a piece, tomatoes were free from the Rock Garden Nursery here in town. They were getting rid of all their veggies before they moved. Score one for the big girl.

Michael Jackson

I know he was a strange-plastic-surgery-addicted-maybe-child-molesting-chimpanzee-loving man BUT before he was a punchline...he was the original Michael Jackson. Just try listening to Billie Jean without bouncing your foot up and down.

I remember watching MTV with my older brother Brian and the "Thriller" song came on for the first time. Oh the good ol' days of music movies. I swear to God I did not sleep for the next week.

As a tribute to him, here is the Thriller dance broken down on a chart so we can all learn it in time for Halloween parties.

Christmas in April?

I totally realize that I am a little late on this but ebay has plants! I found a lot of 26 assorted succulents and managed to scoop in at the last second and win the auction. Three days later, this is what arrived at my doorstep.
I was like a kid in a candy shop! Each little plant was labeled and packaged separately and I had no problem telling what was what. The seller even threw in 2 free plants.
After reading up on transplanting these little guys, I ended up sticking them about a 1/2 inch down into to dirt and then watered them thoroughly.

Not bad for $24! Check out more from this seller here.

Extreme Makeover: Chicken Edition

Here it is! We finally finished the new coop for the chickens! Well, there is still a clear poly-carbonate roof to screw on but everything else is done. Want to see all the extras? You know you do...
We'll start with the basic coop design. We have a little hen house (any suggestions on paint color?) that is accessible by a ladder from the dirt run below.
I know it is kind of hard to see, but there is a small cut out on the side of the house with a latch on it. When you open it you see this...
How cool is this!? It is like two little egg filled pots of gold every morning when Jack and I go out to see the chickens!
And here is an all exclusive look at the inside of the hen house...two boxes and a perch.
The ladder hole...we cut out the floor from the old fake wainscoting that we took off the walls from upstairs. Makes it really easy to clean because it it so slick.
The ladder coming down from the coop...this needs a little adjusting due to the fact that the chickens surf down it from rung to rung. I also hung the feeder to stop them from scratching straw and poop into their food.
We dug the fencing down about a foot so nothing could get into get them (a.k.a. installed a home security sytem...ok I will stop with the lame jokes).
Also, we elevated their water up with pavers to keep the straw out of that. They are crazy scratchers and stuff flies everywhere. They LOVE the straw I put down every week and it keeps them pretty clean.
She really is happy. I promise!

We based our coop on this design but have to say that the plans were pretty sketchy. If any of you want them, we will give away our plans that we used for the project (with notes and everything). Just leave a comment!

Because I Never Know What to Do With My Leftover Duck Fat...

Thanks goodness The Kitchn does! Here is their post on "75 Ideas for Leftovers and Ingredients".

Feeling Left Out...

Sometimes while I catch up on other blogs, I come across things that I find very amusing in comparison to my life. One of those things is the "Through Her Eyes" series by Maria at Layers of Meaning. She featured a sneak peak into 9 bloggers purses and I had to laugh at how simple these ladies live. Oh the good old days of manicures, cell service everywhere one goes, and long dangley earrings. Here is a shot of the contents of my purse......glamorous huh. You want a break-down of the goods? Here it is: a corduroy purse I got in China (completely washable BTW), disposable paper table covers for when we eat out with Jack (made of recycled paper and they have animals on them, double score), disposable diapers for when we travel or in case of emergencies (the number of these grow due to the fact that I always forget I have some before stuffing another in there), wipes that Jack so lovingly unpacked for me, my wallet, my coupons/gift certificates/receipt holder, an old shopping list, goldfish, gum, random bobbi brown lipsticks, the best lip balm EVER, barrettes, random napkins that I at some point picked up due to the impending mess Jack was going to create by eating something, gum wrappers, ipod, fabric swatches, pacifier (for emergency car break-downs), one of Jack's baby spoons, his body wash (no idea how it got in there), a roll of quarters and a pen.

For all my friends out there that haven't had a kid yet, your purse will look like this once you do. Totally unavoidable.

Please Watch This Show

Sooooo we don't have cable at our house *huh* I know! How dare we! We do, however, have our poor man's tivo (no not a VHS recorder and TV in one...which is what we did have for awhile) but Hulu.com. That being said, the list of TV shows that I am watching these days is slowly dwindling. I gave up on Grey's after Izzie started sleeping with her dead ex-fiance...(yeah I know she is sick...still a lame storyline)

...Heroes is just awful...(ok as a cheerleader, totally unbelievable as someone that kills people)

...and has left my much anticipated Monday nights with one shiny bright star...

CHUCK!

To make a long story short, an old friend in trouble at the C.I.A. hacks into Chuck's brain and inputs all of the government’s secrets, then blows up the mainframe they were originally stored in. This leaves Chuck as the most valuable asset the C.I.A. has, and turns his life upside down.

I am not kidding...give it a try.

Things That Will Never Go On Our Wall

Red Velvet Art Underwear Set Wall Decal ($30)

Coffee at My Table

Slowly but surely our furniture collection is building...waiting to eventually be refinished after the living room is remodeled. $25 at Sane Jane's in Baker City...

100 Ways to Keep Yourself Entertained While Mom Does Dishes

#14. Pull all baby wipes out of little container.


Not the way to start off the day. Inchie is pretending that this is not happening.