Yummy Oat Bran Muffins

Through chit-chatting with a friend at Zess's co-op preschool, the Zakins have discovered a new muffin recipe. They are only 12o calories each (less than a cookie!) and low in fat. My friend Zane says that she makes them once a week for her kids and they disappear almost instantly. I thought I should test this premise and try them out with my kiddies, as we're always looking for healthy new snacks that we can make together. 

So this week Zess and Zames fought over beating the eggs and stirring the dry ingredients for Oat Bran Muffins, courtesy of the red Quaker Oat Bran hot cereal box. Zhor true to form was enjoying his afternoon snooze at the time. We added 1/2 c chopped fresh cherries for some glamour. And abracadabra, six muffins went poof warm from the oven!

As I am writing this I have just enjoyed a muffin rewarmed for 10 seconds  in the microwave and eaten with honey and butter. Yum!

Minicards are IN

Got my minicards from Moo.com yesterday and they're pretty awesome. Now I just need to find someone to give them too. I have a feeling our 100 cards is going to last quite a while.

Giant Cookie

I baked a giant chocolate chip cookie for a coworker as a fun jokey birthday gift last weekend. It was ginormous, about 10 inches diameter or the equivalent of 10 normal giant cookies or about three dozen small cookies. I found a cake round and used it to support the cookie underneath so I could transport it. To mimic the look of a deli counter cookie, I saran wrapped my creation and even made a giant label reading "Chocolate Chip Cookie...$1.50...Serving Size=1." Basically, it was totally awesome. I kept bugging Adam all of Sunday night asking him to admire [repeatedly] my giant cookie which probably explains why Adam had giant cookies on his brain when we went to sleep that night. The following is a reconstructed conversation that happened in Adam's dream:

Scene: Adam is sitting in the office and his friend Zanny is hanging out in another part of the house.

Zanny: [walking into the office] Hey Adam, can I eat that giant saran wrapped cookie in the kitchen?
Adam: No!

a few minutes later

Zanny: [walks into the office holding the giant cookie with a big bite missing]
Adam: Wait, what's going on?
Zanny: Some woman in the other room said I could eat the cookie.
Adam: Noooooo! That's Ann's cookie.

I'm happy to hear that Adam is looking out for me even in his dreams.

Minicards

I found the really cool site, Moo.com, last week for personalized mini business cards, postcards, stickers, cards, etc. There's a high level of personalization and customization plus the products are really well thought out and cool. For example, they have these minicards which are smaller business cards that come in a pack of 100. You can customize 100 different cards or have 100 of the same card all for the same price. You can upload your own photos or you can choose from their design gallery filled with really awesome and cool designs. Adam and I ordered some minicards for ourselves and I'm looking forward to getting them. The site is highly addictive and potentially dangerous since I wanted to buy everything for myself and everyone around me.

Inanimate Objects

Adam tells me that it's not possible to "love" inanimate objects, but I disagree. It came up because I'm loving my new black patent leather peep toe shoes that are awesome because they look great, go with most of my wardrobe and they're super comfy since they have Nike Air technology. Ever time I wear them, I am tempted to tell someone how much I love my shoes. I find myself bouncing around on the heels of my shoes so I can feel the air cushioning. So if you're looking for some cute low heeled comfy peep toe shoes, I highly recommend the ones from Cole Haan. Did I mention that I love mine?

Corinna Got Hitched

We went down to NYC for Corinna's wedding to her new husband Zian last weekend. The wedding was super fun and everyone looked like they were having a great time. I got to sit with some friends from Zrown so it was fun to see everyone. I also got to be MOH for the first time when Corinna bumped me up two weeks ago from bridesmaid. I packed an emergancy kit which was actually handy and I got to make a toast mostly to Corinna. Adam and I ended up taking a late train home on Sunday so we spent the day walking around mid town and the upper east side. I got to check out American Girl, we ate hot dogs at Gray's Papaya, I ate a soft serve, checked out cool stores and had a grand old time.

Donut Kabobs

I had some friends over for brunch this morning and served a super simple menu of gourmet breakfast sandwiches, fruit salad, chai tea, OJ and donut kabobs. I dreamed the kabobs up last night while I was trying to fall asleep because I was trying to figure out how I could avoid waking up early to bake a sour cream coffee cake that I neither had the time nor the ingredients to make. I created my donut kabobs out of fresh donuts I purchased at the corner donut shop this morning and some skewers. I bought a honey dipped also known as a glazed donut, a buttercrunch and a cinnamon raisin cruller. I cut each donut into quarter and I used some wooden skewers to make donut kabobs. They were a hit since it's fun to try small portions of three different donuts and it was super easy and looked kinda cool and subversive all at the same time. Afterall, who needs a fruit or a beef kabob when you can eat donuts on a stick.