Omg This Week....!!

So, lets see how this works.




I am trying a different app on my tablet. I am not sure how it is going to work. With any luck, there should be a picture of cheesecake there. As deliciously awesome as that is, we are going to come back to that so i can tell you first about my last few days. And how i cant type on my tablet, and that it is getting frustrating. Really bad.




This is where we are gonna start. With any luck, there should now be a picture of my poor baby smashed to bits above. Thats not even how tuesday started.

Tuesday started where i had to trade shifts for work so i could close. I had a funeral to attend, as one of my family members passed away on thursday. Neat, right? (Sarcasm.) this little portion of my family has kind of been a clusterfuck for the last couple years, so it was almost a little awkward. At the same time though, everything seems to be okay, so i guess thats good.

At the funeral, just about the end, is where this happened.




My poor girl got smashed up because the limo driver backed into her. Yep. Supposedly it was the ice's fault (the icy ground?) but noone should have been moving any vehicles around. My car was also not the only one hit, but she took the most damage. Apparently this was not the first (or second) offense, either, as he hit someone on another occasion. Seeing as my headlight got its ass kicked, i couldnt really drive my poor girl at night. No thank you, tickets.

So fast forward a few phonecalls and hours later. I have the rental car and ron and i are on our way to work to be super late. I get out of my car, grab my phone, go inside....apparently dropped phone between car and home....leave for work....phones missing. I have officially deemed it stolen.








Funeral, smashed car, stolen phone....ALL in one day. How awesome is that? So i am using my tablet, hoping all of these pictures are going to post in a new app because A) the blogger app is not processing pictures, and B) my phone has my google authenticator app to grant me access to my google accounts. I added two step verification because my email was hacked last year, but since i hsave no phone, i cant reveive text messages.

Luckily, i can access my email anyway because that is linked to my laptop, since its windows 8. I still cant access it through a browser though, so i only have half of my email access.

Overwhelming saddness is over, extreme rage and sarcasm mode enabled.

Snapchat is my primary means of communication. Or work phones. Or rons phone.

At least we got one bit of good news. Ron is now officially assistant manager at rite aid. The raise will help out some, i hope. Especially now that the jackass that stole my phone is costing me $200 for a replacement, and all of this trouble. I am pretty sure he is the only one keeping me sane right now.





Lets look at some more cheesecake. Maybe, anyway.

I made two of them, one of those "mini is better" things. I made one with a chocolate graham crust and homemade strawberry jam, and another with graham crust, nutella, and a couple mini marshmallows. Nutella smores. Yep.

I used my basic cheesecake recipe i adapted from a recipe on allrecipes, a white chocolate raspberry cheesecake. Here is the recipe, in one third, enough for two 4" cheesecakes.




White chocolate cheesecakes

1-8oz brick cream cheese, softened
1/4 c + 2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
2/3 c white chocolate chips
2 tbsp half n half, milk, or heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2-3/4 c graham crumbs or chocolate cookie crumbs
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp sugar
Other fillings of your choice (jam, nutella, chocolate chips, etc)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat cream cheese and sugar together. Add egg and beat well.

In a separate bowl, melt white chocolate and milk together, either over a double boiler, or in the microwave. Heat slowly so chocolate does not get overcooked, as it will solidify. Let cool slightly.

Combine graham or cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press firmly into bottom of mini springform pan. (Ramekins could work well, but i am not sute how it woukd be removed. Unless you just eat it out of the ramekin.)

Combine white chocolate and cream cheese mix. Pour into springform or ramekins. If adding fillings, fill half way, sprinkle or swirl some filling in center, then top with more cheesecake filling. Top with more swirls or fillings. Be sure springform is only filled about 3/4.

Bake about 25 minutes or until edges are barely golden and center is still jiggly. Let cool 30-60 minutes before refridgerating several hours.




Yay! Now hopefully these images show up. Hopefully i either get my phone back, or someone gets struck by lightning. Hopefully, things will be normal soon. Another cool thing, the place repairing my car sends me pictures of the process of repairs. I miss her.

Well, we'll see how things are sunday if i want to struggle with the tablet anymore. I am getting really mad, this took me too long to type. Google better give me access to my accounts. Have a good weekend.

Halfmoon Cookies and More!

can you believe this blasphemy? how the hell do i have a sunday off and NOT ask for it? like, it just happened of its own accord?

say whaaaaaat?

yeah, i dont know either. i mean, my boss is actually working a sunday, and probably will be from here out for a while because hes going back to school. but really. maybe he broke or something. i dont know. all i know is i have a day off.....TWO in a row, tomorrow too! how bout that?

im sitting here in my pajamas all day, eating muffins and popcorn, and its awesome. i mean, i guess i put pants on for a couple hours to go out and grab stuff for dinner, but whos counting?

oh yeah, i suppose i should get to those cookies. my most favoritest of favorite cookies. i always forget how much i like them until i start eating them. lucky for me, i have stupid unheard of amounts of self control so i dont eat the whole dozen in one sitting. i totally could if i wanted to.

halfmoons, or as some may know them, black and white cookies. im not sure what parts call them what, but i know in my home area, they are halfmoons. there is a bakery in utica.....actually, a couple of them....that have pretty good ones. hemstroughs mass produces them and sends them out (i have seen them at some gas stations, and whole boxes of them at walmart), and holland farms who makes them as big as your face. that would probably be the other exception to my "everything mini is better" rule. i could eat them all day long. enough about my sick obsession with halfmoons though. lets get on with it.

GET ON WITH IT!

Halfmoons
(as printed from a really old newspaper article)

also- this is a half recipe, since i made a small batch this time. yield about 16-18 cookies

1 3/4 c all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 c (one stick) of butter, softened
3/4 c sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond extract (optional)
1/2 c sour milk/buttermilk (add a couple tsp of vinegar or lemon juice to milk and let it set about 5-10 min if you dont have buttermilk)

are you ready?!

grab all of your dry ingredients and put em in a bowl, whisk that s#*t together real good.
cream the butter and sugar together til its good and fluffy- do it like you mean it!!
add the egg and mix it the f*^k up some more!
next?! grab your extracts and pour them b*tches in there!
now get your dry stuff and alternate it with the milk and stir that up til its awesome and smooth!
DONT EVEN THINK about throwing that s#*t in the oven yet.....fridge that b*tch for a couple hours!
then, scoop it out, blast those f*ckers with heat vision to make the most bad ass cookies youve ever made!!

i mean......bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. they will just be golden on the edges, and should be puffy in the middle. nice and tall, like little cookie pillows.

oh, you probably need frosting to give them their trademark characteristic, right? my favorite is real frosting, but some places ice them with like a glaze. somehow. so heres my basic frosting, or at least what i used this time:

1/2 c butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 c powdered sugar
~1 tbsp milk (as needed)
~1/4-1/2c cocoa powder

beat the butter with the vanilla, and then gradually add the powdered sugar. add the milk to thin it out. once thats done, divide it in half and add the cocoa powder to half of it. you can do more or less depending on how chocolate you want it. i wanted really chocolate this time, so i opted for a little more. frost each cookie with half vanilla and half chocolate.

also, im sure you noticed, this is what i named my blog after. it actually started before the blog, i did a project in college to create a restaurant from the ground up. i decided then that i liked "halfmoon bakery" for a name, which of course, would sell halfmoons and other treats. i dont really know many places that actually sell or make them, so it would be something unique. i say that considering that when i leave new york, i pretty much cant find them anywhere. when i do, i totally buy them if they arent pre packaged or anything.

i knew i was forgetting some other things. i have to share cheesecakes, and i just made some juicer pulp muffins (today) for the husband to try later.

BUT....

i also just ordered my bobbin case so i can (might?) be able to use my sewing machine......finally!

that was something else i wanted to do today, but so far i managed to make dinner, juice some fruits and veggies, make popcorn, make muffins from juice pulp, clean and put away dishes....yep. side tracked by a million other things. oh, my blog, too!

there is still time left in the day though, and another day off tomorrow, although i have some family matters to attend to in the evening. my aunt passed away on thursday. my family relationships have been a kind of cluster fuck for the last couple years, but things seem to be turning around, so i want to try to make it out to see everyone, despite the situation. it really sucks. i am always confused on what to think, even though i didnt really have much to do with anything. things just happened and i got lumped into it somehow.

anyway.....i have been waiting a while to put my old tshirts (and a couple of rons) to good use with this nifty idea that i found on pinterest. i have all these shirts, and after a while the arm pits get kind of gross (sorry....tmi?) or i have lots of other shirts so i dont wear them as much anymore. what an awesome way to keep them, AND to keep warm! i love blankets. so this is super awesome.

its also really big. or maybe my apartment is really small? or both. i think i grabbed a twin size batting layer, or maybe a full, i dont really remember (pretty sure its twin though, because it wont fit over the bed). anyway, yes, there is a lot of white around it, but i am also going to use the shirt scraps to make a border, and in the end i may cut a few inches off the bottom. we'll see. i am excited to finally start it. january may be about over, but february is coming up and it usually gets really cold, so yeah blankets.

this was the reason i had to put pants on. (sounds absolutely terrible, right?) i went out to trader joes to get some peppers to make stuffed peppers! i havent had them in a long time, and we were talking about them one night. of course, i dont eat the actual pepper....stupid picky eater i am- but i dont mind that it flavors the filling. usually someone will eat the pepper i leave behind.

oh, i have to prep some potatoes for the side, too. i'll get to that though.

look at this teeny tiny carrot! isnt it adorable!?

i juiced it though.

(side tracked again.)

i juiced a bunch of things for ron. i even kept the top to a pineapple....im gonna try to grow it. i guess it takes a couple years to actually produce fruit, but it will be kind of cool if it does. we'll see how that goes.

yet another thing that i probably wont take part in. i will make the juice, but i wont drink it. ive tried sips here and there, but the carrots and stems make everything taste like dirt. i think the only one ive liked so far (to consider a small serving- not to chug a gallon) is cucumbers, oranges, apples, and i think there was some spinach in there. it was like 90% oranges and apples though, so you only got a hint of the spinach and cukes. i am so weird about food. i cant help it.

so after i juiced a pile of produce, i looked into some pulp recipes. he had mentioned before, some juicer pulp crackers, but apparently the oven has to be on for like 12 hours. either that, or you invest in a dehydrator. NOPE. no money. moving on, there are also recipes out there for juicer pulp muffins and bread.

experimentation day! the batter looked a little interesting. i tried to pull out some pulp from the carrots, the oranges and pineapple. there is totally some spinach in there too. if it wasnt for the stuffed peppers cooking all day, they would smell pretty good. they have cinnamon and spices in them (i added a little ginger and allspice). there is no sugar, but maple syrup. i am still debating on trying one. like i said, they smell good. the oranges and pineapples will probably make them taste okay. we'll see how im feeling about them later. maybe its the peppers throwing me off.

in the meantime, ill stick to blueberry muffins.

i should probably check on dinner and get those potatoes going. i should also stop eating all the popcorn i made. i forgot that a little popcorn goes a long way when its popped, and made a half cup unpopped. it just about filled this big red bowl that i have....made maybe 8 cups popped? i dont know. its a lot more popcorn than i usually eat. it will just be snacks for later. healthy snacks!! look at me go!

these assholes here.....they have been torturing me lately. ever since fridge kitty passed, they have been more....active. especially at night and first thing in the morning, when i have little to no patience or tolerance of any kind.

i should be waking their asses up every time i see them sleeping during the day.

fuckers.

i suppose i will post about my mini cheesecakes next time. it will give me something to write about in case i dont get anything done in the next couple of days. i also may post on thursday since i am working a double on wednesday. now that i am back to 32 hours or so a week at one job, i will have to take what i can get from the other. i have to do what i can to make ends meet.

i am hoping things will turn around. i feel like i say that a lot, but seriously, things get better one day, and the next day its right back to where i started. it makes me a little sad. i start thinking about things, and wonder to myself if i am still good enough for anything, either at work or at home. if i can still make people happy. i get nervous after all that ive been through. BUT...new me keeps saying to look up and think of all the good things we have now. it helps. there are still more good things than bad for now, but sometimes i just need a hug. maybe a little surprise here and there to get a smile.

speaking of surprises, i was told to take valentines weekend off. i keep thinking about it, and ive been wondering if maybe i will get some sort of surprise. i kind of hope so. ♥

alright, enough of my mindless babbles. i have to make some potatoes of some sort. that is, if the real ones are still good, im going to make these baked potato slices...kind of. not like a baked potato, but you skin them, cut them into thin slices, toss them in olive oil and seasonings, and bake them. almost like chips, but not. if that doesnt work out....mashed potatoes. yep.

have a good week! thanks for reading!

(and come back for cheesecake!) ☺

Bake Crazy

i went a little crazy on monday.

i baked all sorts of things, but i am only going to share a couple (one? two? i dont know) with you today, just because i know that most likely, i wont be able to get anything else done the rest of the week.

look at my awesome silicone baking cups! rainbows are one of the best things ever. i love all the colors. these are so bright, it makes me happy, even when its cold and snowy outside....although lately its been mostly cold.

i made a rendition of these power blueberry muffins in the midst of my baking chaos. they have greek yogurt, oatmeal, and of course, blueberries, although i did not have greek yogurt on hand, so i used a little vanilla yogurt in place (along with some coconut oil and vegetable oil). so maybe they arent as healthy as the original recipe, but hey- antioxidants, whatever oatmeal has, and some of the yogurt and coconut oil arent too bad. i am trying to be good. the fact that i also made cookies, cheesecake, and muddy buddies is besides the point, but shut up.

power muffins

makes 12 muffins- depending on the muffin tin and cups (i got 15, the silicone liners are a little smaller than a normal muffin tin/baking cup)

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick or regular oats
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups greek yogurt- i did not have this on hand, so i used 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1/3 cup coconut oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 tablespoons melted butter- i also omitted this because of the oils i used
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries

preheat your oven to 350F. grease or line your muffin tins.
combine all of your dry ingredients and whisk together. in a separate bowl, combine all the wet and whisk together well. add the wet to the dry, and stir to combine (it may be lumpy, you dont want to over mix). fold in the blueberries gently. bake muffins 20-25 minutes, although i would start watching around the 16-18 minute mark. mine got a little dark after 20 minutes, and do not look as pretty as the ones on the website i got them from.

they sure as hell look pretty cool in the muffin liners. go rainbows!! yay!

they actually came out pretty good, although i dont think eating them cold is the best option. i didnt have any space after baking everything, so half of the stuff i made went into the fridge. oh well. i can just grab them in the morning before work. they do go nicely with a cup of tea.

i did, like i said, get a little carried away with baking things. maybe its because i didnt really make much for the holidays. maybe i was bored. who knows. i mean, my hand is doing pretty well, despite the fact that it gets a little tingly once in a while if i brush it against something, but that just means i can go back to doing things almost normal. it still gets a little tired sometimes, but hey, i am a workaholic, and i am used to making myself tired from working too much.

i also made miniature cheesecakes, halfmoon cookies (my most favoritest cookie ever), and butterfinger muddy buddies (which i think are rons favorite at the moment- i feel like every time i turn around i have to tell him to put them down so they last more than a day, i want to try to help him get back into juicing, which he is a little, but i know baking 85 things in one day isnt helping- maybe thats another reason i did it- get it out of my system? who knows). i will share my cookies and probably the cheesecakes on sunday though.

yes, this is my fortress of breakfast and sweets. how exciting is that? well, its not the most exciting, since the cookies were in the oven at this point.

i am not going to type out the muddy buddies recipe, but if you have ever made them before, instead of powdered sugar, you use ground up butterfingers. i didnt have enough, so i added a little powdered sugar in place. here is the link if you want to check it out, along with some other muddy buddy recipes.

i finally took down the tree today. it was starting to turn brown, and was kind of....crispy? it was drying out. it would have been a great bonfire tree. have you ever had a bonfire with a christmas tree before? once they dry out enough, they make the most spectacular crackling-fizzing noise when you toss them in the fire. it is pretty awesome. it doesnt last long, either, so if you ever decide to, dont let someone toss your tree into the fire without you. you will totally miss out on the best part of saying goodbye to christmas.

anyways, check back sunday, i will post my cookies and cheesecakes. i have to head to work for now. have a good weekend, and come back soon! ☺☻☺☻

Breakfast Sandwiches and a Quiet Weekend

So saturday was a pretty crappy day. Well, it started on friday, with an on and off migrane. It kind of got out of control, so i spent saturday trying to relax and make it go away. Its been on and off today, but not to the point where lights, sounds, and smells hurt.

what kind of fun is that, right? less fun that making sammiches.

i made these on thursday, i think. the last few days all kind of felt the same, minus saturday. ramekins and my panini maker turned out to be super handy.

i made scrambled eggs and baked them in the ramekins so they would keep a small, round size. they fit nicely onto the english muffins.

then, i took those sausage links and cut them open, added an egg, and mixed it all up really good. i made them into (mostly round) patties and cooked them on the panini press.

i imagine you could probably take shortcuts with all of this, like buying pre cooked sausage, and- oh, i dont know, maybe those egg beaters things? and just make one big scrambled egg sheet, and then cut it into squares or circles? i like to do things myself when i can though. makes it a little more interesting that way. not to mention, this was pretty easy.

while the eggs and sausage were cooling, i toasted the english muffins. then.....breakfast sandwiches- assemble!!

okay, well they arent the fanciest or prettiest sandwiches, but at least they arent full of preservatives and stuff like that. for the most part, anyway. i probably could have made the english muffins, too, but these were multigrain at least.

eggs arent really my thing, i made them for ron to have for breakfast. i guess they came out pretty good, although the english muffin was not quite toasted anymore after being cooled in the fridge. its bread. i suppose its partially expected. he liked them though, so thats all that matters. i do it all for love. ♥

speaking of love, look at this stupid ass. this bird is a mountain of dick.

that day that i had the nasty headache, saturday? yeah, he would not leave me alone. i had to step into the light, and once i did, he firmly attached himself to me. there is no escape once you have been claimed by lord poopsicle.

at least he stayed quiet once he was in place. he was licking my face, and preening my hair for a bit. hes a special one.

work has been pretty uneventful, surprisingly enough. it will be quiet for a little longer, that is until everyone gets their taxes back. it wont be any holidays by any means, but people come in. this early in the year there arent many big game titles. spring usually has a few. i ordered my collectors edition of majoras mask for the 3ds. i am super excited, and super poor. i dont buy many games though, so ill be good for a while at least. my other problem is that i should actually play said games i buy, though. i work all the time, and usually find other things to do at home- there is always something to clean. someday....

so anyway, i am going to finish this up, i had most of it typed out last night and then fell asleep. i am a bum. i am planning on making some tiny cheesecakes, maybe some muffins. we'll see what i can get accomplished today. see you wednesday! ☺

 

Cold is Soup Weather- Cheddar Broccoli

anyone near me not happy with the nasty cold temperatures we have been having? i woke up this morning to negative 8 degrees.

-8.

thats not even taking any windchill into account. i was too scared to look at that. but yes, i walked out into that heading to work this morning. ball. shrinking. cold.

see, that's almost where this fantastic soup comes in, though. i made it last night, and it was quite cold, but not negative cold. regardless.....this is my new favorite cheddar broccoli soup from peas and crayons.

i have seriously made this three times now in the last few months. okay, maybe three times is not many times, but i make like 2-1/2 times the recipe so it usually lasts a little bit, and i can share with a couple people. it is relatively easy, and it reminds me a lot of panera's cheddar broccoli (which is how i came to make this again....someone talking about panera.)

here's what you need, or at least what i buy to fill my 5 quart stock pot:

4 broccoli crowns (about 1 1/2-1 3/4 lbs)
1 small onion
3-4 carrots
2-3 cloves of garlic (i dont mind it, so i put a little extra in)
2-3 bay leaves
1 quart vegetable stock (you can use chicken stock or broth as well)
6 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp flour
2 cups half-n-half, plus 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1- 8oz brick of sharp cheddar cheese, grated
10oz (3/4lb roughly?) gouda cheese, grated
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp chili powder (i do not have cayenne pepper on hand as the original recipe calls for)
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp salt
a few shakes of black pepper

it looks like a lot, but half of it is spices. anyway....we start with chopping up all the veggies! i save a couple cups of broccoli, chopped somewhat large, to steam and throw in at the end. everything else- the rest of the broccoli, the onion (chopped very fine), the carrots....toss it all into your pot with the stock and simmer on med-med hi heat for about 15-20 minutes, or until the veggies are tender. reduce heat to low. remove the bay leaves from the soup before adding the roux (next step).

in another saucepan (something large enough to hold a few cups of liquid), heat up and melt your butter. whisk in the flour to make a roux (it will be a little pasty, but not super thick. once there are no lumps, ladle some of the stock into the roux and whisk away! (i have done this a couple ways, i tried putting a little stock into the roux, and then adding that back to the big pot. yesterday, i took most of the veggies out of the big pan, set them aside, added the roux to the bigger pan, heated and whisked until thickened and lump free, and then reduced the heat and added the veggies back in. both worked out okay! you just dont want any flour or roux lumps in your soup.)

once you incorporate your roux and things start to thicken up, add your half n half gradually. make sure it is room temp, and your soup is on low heat. if it is too hot, the dairy could curdle and that does not make fun for a soup. you can also add all of your spices at this point. the nutmeg and allspice, you can vary the amounts. i like them in there, but you can start with less if you are unsure. the spice amounts i listed are probably close to what i used, i just kind of shake a little out until i feel like i have enough. (i think i might have had about a half tablespoon of spices? so maybe even start with a little less and add more if you need it.)

last but not least.....the best for last.....the cheese!! shred the f*ck outta that and dump it all in. or most of it. you can save a little to top your soup and make it all fancy, but i just like cheesy soup. stir it in real good, it took maybe about 10-15 minutes to melt and incorporate on the low heat setting. low heat takes a while, but with cream soups and dairy, you gotta be careful. oh, i lied about the "last"ness of that. that other broccoli if you saved it? steam it up til its bright green and toss it in there. i love the way it looks in the end, since the first broccoli has been in the soup cooking for a bit longer. its like a pretty little pop.

yummy, super delicious cheddar broccoli soup. it is one of my favorite soups. next is probably beef stew. maybe i will make that sometime soon. i have an awesome go-to recipe for that, too.

so, thats my attempt at writing a recipe. i so badly want to write one out like this lovely little tutorial. seriously, click on it. this is how i roll. i kind of started to a little bit at the end there, i couldnt help it. i could make any recipe that kind of bad ass.

maybe i will next time. i will give you time to mentally prepare for that. your mind will be blown.

in the mean time, i have been working, as usual. i actually went out for an interview on monday, but it turned out to be a door to door sales thing. i dont really want to sell door to door. or have people slam said doors in my face. i guess the main job is doing okay for now. i talked to my district manager about the situation. i will just have to keep an eye on things and am hoping a little time will fix it, somewhat. i can only do so much as one person.

i will tell you what, though, if i actually get sick, i know the first person i am going to infect. if you're gonna act like that to me, you just have it coming. jerk.

so on another note, i guess i am still looking around for a backup just in case something happens. i cant really go without a job. i have worked very hard to keep things good; all my bills, my car, my credit history; and i will not let it be destroyed. of course, maybe i can arm knit a million scarves, make some hair bows, and sell those. oh, and maybe some cupcakes in there too.

so, after i made the soup last night, kris came over to share some with us, and we watched glee. i didnt really know what was going on (since ive only watched a few episodes here and there), but its all good. i dont mind the music. anyway, just for the record, you shouldnt leave your phone laying around. this is what happens:

that, and about 10 other pictures. and yes, that is totally me in the background putting the birds to bed.

so the week so far has been pretty quiet. i am not complaining after last week. i just hope things can be okay soon. i dont need any more stress, especially if it is bringing things back, you know, like panic mode and stuff. i like having all the hours, but maybe a couple days off would not be a bad thing.

some time off, and some hot cocoa, blankets, and relaxation.

I definitely need it. Escpecially after taking care of 3 times my weight in cardboard at work. Stay warm, everyone. Thanks for reading!

Cold, Winter Weather and Such

the perfect time for warm and toasty.....like hot cocoa!

it has been nasty cold for the last week or so. like, windchill in the negative numbers, more snow....i know its january and all, but the weather should either make up it's mind, or go away. we had a weekend where it was 30, the next day it was 52 or something, and the next day it dropped to like 21. new york has the most bipolar weather ever. i am almost expecting next week to be warm again, since it just keeps going back and forth.

it's not even february yet, and usually it gets even colder then, so maybe this is a way just to prepare for what is coming. maybe i'll take a vacation or something to stay inside for the whole month. i can skip three weeks of work if i take my time all at once.

of course, theres also the option that i end up with a completely different job too. too much is going on lately, and i don't really like the way i am being treated. this has been such an awful week. i couldnt even eat for a day because i was being harassed outside of work on my days off. i won't share directly now, but it was something i only had so much control over. the few people ive spoken to have all told me its not my fault, and things should not be the way they are.

it basically amounts to super mega frustration. i got desperate and applied to a bunch of different places because i wasnt sure if i would have a job or not. luckily i am okay for now, but we will see how things turn out. i might respond to a place that emailed me yesterday.

 

isnt hot cocoa great?

i think so. this is the special dark cocoa that i made for everyone for christmas. it came out pretty good. especially with marshmallows. yeah buddy.

i know i missed out on wednesday, i honestly didn't really have much go on this week other than getting stressed to the max by work (like, seriously, its been a while, but i have been getting these "mini panic attack" sensations for the last few days. i would be better off without that happening).  i did have wednesday off. ron and i ended up going out and using a gift card that his dad got us for dinner and a movie. it would have been an awesome night, but then the harassing texts started coming from work. i had to stop responding because it was just dragging it out, and made it worse to the point i didnt feel like eating.

cheesecake makes everything better though. i finished what i could for dinner, and we got a slice of cheesecake to split for later. we walked around, went to our movie, and ended up having movie cheesecake in the theatre. best idea ever. would do again.

how cool is this? this was not from wednesday, but monday at my work. i was on a conference call (kind of, my other guy and i had the conference on speaker so we could both listen), i happened to look out the door and saw this. you could see all of the suns rays through the clouds and whatnot. i stepped out into the freezing cold to get a good picture rather than through our grimy glass doors. totally worth it. things like this make me want to paint. the colors of the sky were really awesome.

well, considering i didn't really have a super eventful week, i will wrap this up. i have tomorrow off, and am planning on making cheddar broccoli soup. i can't wait. i keep thinking of panera's soup and i decided that instead of spending $5 on a cup, i'll just spend $15 and make a whole bunch of it, and im pretty sure my soup is just as good.

that also reminds me, the soup topic came up at my physical therapy. i am actually done with it now, and doctors visits for a while. everything with my wrist/hand is doing pretty good. not 100% yet, but better than 10 weeks ago. i just have to keep exercising it at home. the nerves are still a little awkward, but those will take the longest to heal. at least i can function somewhat properly.

okay! i have to go to work and get everyone ready for the day.

i will leave you with this creepy snapchat from some morning....wednesday maybe? this is what we do when we have nowhere to go. lay in bed and torture the cats....they totally like it though, so its okay.

have a good week, i will hopefully have some delicious soup and whatnot on wednesday!! thanks for reading! ☺

Panini Maker Cake and More

Yes, this definitely happened. The internet is a mystical magical place. I found this while scrolling through one of my recent website finds, which surprisingly enough is not pinterest. Panini Happy is all about.....well, paninis. And panini makers? Or something like that. There are lots of recipes for paninis, but on the side bar, there was a link to bake a cake in a panini maker.

Of course i had to try it. Not to mention it is mini, so anything mini wins by default in my book. Second "not to mention:" i have ramekins now, which were required for this experiment. Double win. 

But oh mygoodness. I am not sure if it was the wine talking or what....but this tiny cake is so friggin adorable. I almost felt bad eating any of it.

AAAAHHHH!! Look at it! It definitely needed sprinkles. The sprinkles made it extra cute. 

And then i think this one was the wine....."the sprinkles look so big." Yep. All i could imagine was this tiny cake being blown up to normal size, and the sprinkles being like cookie sized or something silly. 

Drunk pictures. Or maybe mildly inebriated? Im not sure. All i know is we are at the laundromat doing laundry now at 11:30pm because noone wanted to do anything. Lazy sunday, other than me working, because what sunday is complete if i dont work? Im pretty sure i am banned from sundays off according to my boss. Unless i get fired. Who knows! Oh work, you make me so....so......hmm. Lets go with "frustrated" today. 

On another less frustrating note, i also made mini "cinnamon rolls" this morning. I kind of improvised, but they turned out pretty tasty.

All you need is a can of croissants, a couple tablespoons of melted butter, a teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tbsp sugar, and a muffin tin.

I was lazy with the muffin tin, and also wanted to use my neat new silicone muffin cups. Theyre also rainbow. Did i mention that? (Another gift from the best guy ever.)

The icing was just powdered sugar and a tiny bit of milk. I made mine pretty thick, then threw them back in the warm oven so it would kind of melt over the top of the rolls. 

I am not too much for shotrcuts, i like to do things myself. This was a last minute decision this morning before work, and i had forgotten i bought the croissants like two weeks ago. Theyre breakfasty, right? If they werent before, they are now!

Lensigh. At least i got something delicious out of the weekend. Not like on friday when i got rear ended. My poor girl takes so much crap. Luckily noone was hurt, but i got a couple nice screw sized circles on my bumper because the dumbass wasnt paying attention. If you are decked out in fire department gear, you should probably not drive like a dumbass and be safe. Not,"oh, i wasnt paying attention," being on your phone probably. I am acually surprised at how sane i was considering she hurt my girl. There is nothing i could do about it though, since i knew my deductible would not cover a tiny dot of damage. Tell me its dirt? Youre lucky you are walking away without a scratch. I should have asked her for money for the buffing compound. The things you think of after the fact. 

And of course because it cant get any better than that, i am wondering if my job is being threatened again. What now? I exchanged defective product. Completely reasonable, right? Theres a thing you should know about my job, that when we take trades on phones, newer models need to have any emails and info erased or else it is worthless. Now, if the device is not functional and is a defective exchange, where you cant access or do anything to erase the data, do you tell them they are out of luck?

It is just doing the right thing. Why deny someone assistance? Another manager i spoke to, and another co worker seem to think it should not be an issue since it was defective at store level. Its not my fault if they got it to work over a month later at the home office. Who knows. I guess i wait to see if i get to keep my job for helping someone. 

Sigh. I guess ill see what happens anyway. As usual.

Cinnamon rolls! Tiny cake!! Happy things! Yay! 

Hopefully i will have some more fun things to share on wednesday. Have a good week! Thanks for reading!

(Oh, and wish me luck with the job. Anything will help!)

New Year

well, i know i am late again. what else is new though. i am late pretty much everywhere i go. its just how i am.

so, it's a new year, and next month will be one year that i have been writing my blog! it may not be the most well known blog out there, but the few of you who read (at least), it's something. maybe i will refresh it, try some new things, i don't know. this is my personal venting place, when i am not venting to my husband. i don't frequent facebook (again.....i said that a while ago, then went back, but im pretty sure its been a couple weeks. they send me emails saying i have so many notifications). so if you want to know whats going on with my life, come and find me here, along with all of my tasty treats and little crafts i conjure up. it is what makes me me: a little bit of everything.

that, and balls.

i always have balls. mostly edible ones like these buckeye balls. they are so super easy to make, and consist of peanut butter, powdered sugar, and melted butter. oh, and don't forget the chocolate.

i made them on monday night i think? they are one of ron's favorite christmas treats. his dad's girlfriend usually makes them, so when we got to their place and there were none to be found, he was a little disappointed. as soon as we got into the car, he asked if we could make them because he was expecting them! easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.

i was running low on chocolate, and they're not the fanciest buckeyes, but theyre still pretty tasty. i mean, how can you go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter? ever? exactly.

they do look a little nicer than my regular truffles i made this year though. slightly less crippled, but my hand still gets tired. i am glad this was a small batch.

it has been getting so cold the last few days. i know it's december and all, but if this was here all along, it might not be so bad. BUT.....weather dictates we had a green christmas, and then two days later, drop into the teens. oh, it burns your nose its so cold. that, and breaks your car.

at least my car, anyway. she is so spoiled because shes an xrs. (for those who don't know, the corolla xrs is the top model with the bigger engine, fancy sport package stuff, and only about 2% of corollas made that year were the xrs. hence why i had to have her.) since she thinks she's so much better than all the other corollas out there (which she totally is), she hates the snow. my first car, midori (my green 1996 corolla), was a tank, and protected me through everything. miku? nah, bro. "that white stuff on the ground? better not go too far, cuz i'm not touching that." *slides* "ice on the ground? abs and oxygen sensor malfunction." *nice big cup of NOPE*  "temperatures below 20 degrees? how about i freeze up the e-brake so it drags on that shiny new rotor thats only a couple months old? yeah? e-brake not working means stop taking me outside. "

holy f*ck. i love my car to death, but i am pretty sure every winter i've had her, she sends me some message to go somewhere warm. at least the e-brake issue is not too big of an issue. ron drove out to my work to meet me on tuesday night because i didnt want to drive with the brake dragging like that. we got it loosened up, but it stuck again the following morning.

on the way home that night, though, we were coming into town, almost home. there are lots of lanes here, and they merge off in a couple of places, and people drive really stupid, so there are many near accidents from people trying to merge. as we made this turn, there was nobody in the left lane, just me, the two guys in front of me, and ron behind me. as i straightened my car out, some guy came out of nowhere (from before the turn i guess? i have no idea), speeds up, and forces his way between me and the truck in front of me. the speed limit is only 30, and there should not have been room for another car between us, but i had to hit my already iffy functioning brakes to let him in, no turn signals or anything. he was very close to clipping the front of my car, as well, and i am surprised he didnt.

we head up the hill, the truck that was in front of me turns, this guy now in front of me whips around the truck on the shoulder and speeds off. i turn up my street, and then ron drives around me, and speeds away. i tried calling, no answer. text, no answer. at this point, i am in my garage apologizing for asking for help with my brakes, when he finally answered, and says, "i'll be right there. i chased that guy down and yelled at him."

wat?

so, because the guy cut so close to me, my husband followed him home, and basically said, "you cut off my wife back there. you could have caused a serious accident for multiple cars. what the f*ck were you thinking? dont drive like a dumbass." to top it off, the guy had a kid in the car with him, and started to threaten to call the cops, when ron asked, "what are they gonna do? nothing," and then left.

(dont worry, i am getting to the lava cakes soon.)

so yeah. my husband chased down a stranger for cutting me off and yelled at him for me. how cool is that? if that isnt love, then i dont know what is.

i definitely felt a little like, "what were you thinking, he could have pulled a gun and shot you or something" at the time, but it's done and over with, the guy should drive safe, especially with a kid in the car, and my husband that kind of awesome.

that is my story of the week. work is a totally different one, and i still want to burn it down. i mean, i feel like i hate my job sometimes, and have wanted to quit and stuff before, but lately this is like a new level of hatred, where i can't even stand going into this store. but who can be upset when you come home to new years eve dinner and home made nutella lava cakes on new years eve?! eh? not this guy!!

ron was asking me to make these a while ago, too. i said that unless i was to make them in the mugs again, i couldnt unless i had some ramekins. they would make it easier, and less likely to explode on their way out of the mug. SO....he got me ramekins for christmas. ♥☺♥

new years eve, after i worked both jobs, i came home and we had a little chicken broccoli alfredo, and then i made these epic nutella lava cakes. they are so super easy, you just have to be sure to time them right. they are eggs, egg yolks, a little flour, and nutella. the end. beat the eggs really well, add the flour and nutella, grease and flour the ramekins, oven, BAM. make sure they are still a little jiggly when you take them out, kind of like a cheesecake, so that when you cut into them, they are all molten and delicious.

i totally had andes peppermint chocolate ice cream with mine. he had caramel caribou. equally delicious. oh, and lets not forget the chocolate wine. yeaaahhh buddy.

and then we played diablo until midnight. the end. ♥

well, we finished the dungeon we were playing and then went to bed, since we both had to work in the morning. who wants to do that? *not this guy*

anyway, it is now officially 2015. i have high hopes for this year to kick last year's ass. 2014 totally deserves an ass beating for being an asshole. i don't do resolutions, because i always forget about them and am never able to stick to anything. i do know, that i will do whatever i can to make 2015 the best ever for my family, my friends, and more importantly, myself. if i can't be happy, i can't really do my best to make everyone else happy. some time off from time to time is definitely in order, since i pretty much get taken advantage of and work every single weekend. especially sundays. im gonna have a sunday off. ask me how many f*cks i give.

(i'll give you a hint.....zero is a pretty good answer.)

i will not lose anything or anyone, and i will just become stronger.

and then f*ck sh*t up. (because NOBODY messes with DR TRAN. NOBODY.) (if you have never heard of the doctor, watch him now. one of my heroes.)

alright. well, heres to an awesome 2015. thank you for the support last year, and hope you all continue to follow my adventures! thank you for reading! stop back soon! ☺☺☺