Bright Spot For Those Depressing Winter Months

Marimekko...love the wall hangings...thinking about finally decorating my room.

Cheaper By The Dozen

Went to a sneak preview of Cheaper By the Dozen. It was hilarious! I've been totally excited about seeing it for a while since I loved the book growing up...although the only thing the book and movie share is the dozen kids.

Sesame Topped Scallion Chedder Biscuits (yields 8)

With input from plasticmom & co., I've tweaked yesterday's Cheese Biscuit recipe.

2 cups Bisquick Baking Mix
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup milk
2 stalks chopped scallions
1/2 clove of chopped garlic
1/8 cup melted butter
sesame seeds

1. Mix Bisquick, cheddar, scallions & milk until mixture is doughy.
2. Knead dough with hands or beat vigorously 30 seconds.
3. Form into 8 biscuit patties and dip in a shallow bowl filled with sesame seeds before placing on baking sheet.
4. Bake biscuits for 10 minutes at 450 degrees until golden brown.
5. Brush tops of biscuits with the melted butter/garlic mixtures before serving warm.

Chocolate Truffles cont.

I made another batch of truffles this morning. This time I didn' chop the chocolate chips a bit finer and I added 2 teaspoons of peppermint extract. The texture was a bit crumblier, but that could be due to either the addition of the peppermint, skipping the chocolate chopping or I may have used a bit less heavy cream. All in all, the mint truffles are mighty tasty.

Cheese Biscuits

Plasticfamily is a fan of the Red Lobster Cheese Biscuits and I succesfully replicated them this morning using this recipe. They're really simple to make and a hit with the family.

Chocolate Molten Cake

I tried making Chocolate Molten Cake using a recipe from the latest issue of FOOD. Getting the cake to set with the inside molten was very difficult. More trial and error is needed.

Rounding out the top one hundred with [drumroll please] number one...

I pondered very seriously what the last gift idea should be. Should it be whimsical (a pink tutu)? Spiritual (peace on earth)? Random (carton of toilet paper)? or Bizarre (two parakeets in a cage)? I've settled on cheating off of today's Wall Street Journal Kitchen Addiction gift list. My favorite random gadget from today's list is...

1. Chocolate-Breaking Fork

By the way, I'd like to point out the ORKA silicone mitt I featured in my exhaustive food related entry a few weeks ago. I first noticed an ad for it in one of those airline skymall catalogs last Christmas and I jotted it down in my little notebook. Folks scoffed at the mitt idea whenever I mentioned it. However, I feel vindicated because the mitt is now available everywhere and It's been featured as a kitchen gadget must have in both the WSJ and Bon Appetit.

"Oriental Swirl"

Following today's observance of plasticfamily's time honored weekly tradition of "sushi day," we stopped by Mikawaya Sweet Shop for some mochi when I spotted their "Oriental Swirl" Ice Cream. It's essentially a Neapolitan Ice Cream combining Green Tea, Red Bean & Vanilla. I had to have it and it was surprisingly delicious which reminds me of Nina's whole "Harlequin versus Neapolitan" debacle. There's an unfortunate generational divide, she calls it "Neapolitan," but her family calls it "Harlequin." I'm with Nina on the whole "Neapolitan" thing, but apparently both names are valid.

Wild and Crazy Behavior

A Wall Street Journal article on Wednesday about low carb alcoholic beverages warned readers that, "...drinking can weaken inhibitions, making people likely to indulge in wild behavior such as eating pasta." I suppose pasta to an Atkins’ dieter would be pretty much a tragedy. We should start a chapter of MADPC: Mother's Against Drunk Pasta Consumption.

Truffles

I'm presently kickin' around on the west coast taking in the warm sunshine, running errands and today I made truffles. Having pored over my latest issue of FOOD, I decided to try making chocolate truffles namely because they are scant in ingredients and don't require much equipment. It's an understatement to say plasticmom's home is not equipped for baking. The truffles turned out great and weren't as difficult as I was anticipating. Here goes...

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips...chopped up a bit finer
1/2 cup heavy cream (4 oz. or half a 1/2 pint) I'm not familiar with all the grades of dairy products so I used "heavy whipping cream" which seemed to work.
Assorted Coatings: I used crushed candy canes and chopped up cashews. Other ideas from FOOD include coconut, other nuts and cocoa powder.

1. Chop up chocolate chips a bit finer and place in a medium heat resistant bowl.
2. Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan...this doesn't take long so keep an eye on it so it doesn't boil over and cause a raucous.
3. Pour boiling cream over the chocolate and let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
4. Whisk chocolate mixture until smooth. (I used one of those hand held upright blenders because I couldn't find a whisk in plasticmom's kitchen.)
5. Refrigerate (uncovered) until somewhat firm (about 1 hour)
6. Spoon mounds of chocolate mixture onto a plate lined with wax paper/saran wrap/etc.
7. If the mounds are not too soft that they melt in your hands, start rolling mounds into balls and coat them with various candy/nut/etc. coatings. If too soft, return to fridge for 15 min to firm up.
9. Return to fridge to firm up...around 30 min.

Keeps for 2 weeks in the fridge

TIP: I found that if the surface of the chocolate balls were cold, the coating wouldn't adhere properly. I rolled the chocolate balls a few more times in my hands to warm them up so the candy/nuts would stick.

2. Cozy indoor slippers: Completely random, but plasticmom purchased several pairs of these lovely squishy indoor slippers covered in a knit material with leather traction pads sewn on the sole from Japan. I was admiring her red slippers when she offered me one of her extra pairs of slippers. I think they might be the best gift in my stash of stuff this season...they're really quite lovely if I haven't mentioned before.

Back here in "La La Land"

I'm back in "La La Land," for the holidays and boy oh boy is this the land of wonderful eats. I started off with juicy dumplings and I shared a Baja Burrito with plasticmom. The shining sun and warm weather have lifted my spirits significantly in addition to the prospect of two weeks of good eats. I'm currently the hero of the household having registered our matriarch up with her own online verizon wireless account so she can keep track of her cell phone usage followed by a lesson in excel...it's the least I could do for the one who potty trained me as a wee one. It's all in a day's work, but hero status doesn't last long as I'm sure to regress from mature adult to whining teenager who can't be bothered to wash the dishes. I'm hoping for the best that the mature adult will hold out for the duration of this visit. Later folks...gotta figure out what's for dinner...it's tough when you've got tons of delicious options.

3. B*Stylin with this button maker toy: Now Nina can finally make buttons filled with lint and other "found" (trash) materials inspired by this Onion article..."Fourth-Grader's Button-Making-Machine Priviledges Suspended Indefinitely."

The Cookie Exchange Storm

This past weekend's snowstorm coincided with Laurel & Co.'s (her lovely housemates) first annual cookie exchange. CAD Cowboy suggests refering to the storm of Dec 5-7 the "Cookie Exchange Storm." I think it's an excellent idea...good job CAD Cowboy!

Allergic to mailing packages

4. If you're the type who looks for gifts that easily fit in an envelope (flat items such as stickers and baseball cards)...send this flat packing novel pop vase available locally at Paper-Source.

Introducing CAD Cowboy & DJ Methane...

...a website devoted to their favorite victuals...also a work in progress so check back often.

Fun & Games

5. Replace their missing board game parts: Kate's roommate for life, Monica, slaps down a full sized dinner knife on their Clue board because the miniaturized version is long gone.

6. Scene it...perfect for pop culture fiends. My friend Steve has an amazing gift for singing theme songs to TV shows of yesteryear....as does MGDub.

zero inches of snow

Zrad's overheard response to the question whether Saturday Men's Basketball would commence given the snow emergancy conditions of this past weekend was "zero inches of snow are predicted for the Morse school gym."

7. Help them keep track of their Book, Music and Film collections

Demotivators

8. In a much appreciated effort to cheer me up, my coworker Steve sent me this link. I had forgotten all about despair.com. A few years ago, my friend Marc went on and on about these mocking spoofs on inspirational posters. My favorite classic features the leaning tower of Pisa and reads "Mediocrity...It takes a lot less time and most people won't notice the difference until it's too late." Snaps for Steve and thanks for the chuckle.

Those Crazy Brits

9. Coupling: Totally Bawdy Yet Completely Hilarious...it's laugh out loud funny and I loved it even though I'm puritanically uptight. I haven't seen season 2, but season 1 is awesome.

10. Fawlty Towers: John Cleese at his obnoxious best

Elmer's Gift Stik

I'm a total sucker for "new" stuff. I'm not sure what makes this glue stick more suitable for gift wrapping than any old glue stick, but I used it last night to wrap some gift and it seems to be pretty adhesive. I would stick to using the stik on boxes. (Was that a pun?) I'm not sure if the adhesive residue is harmful if it comes in direct contact to your gifts. On another note, apologies all around if I've been "smug" about my not having procrastinated about Christmas shopping. If it makes anyone feel better, while I don't procrastinate about Christmas shopping, I do tend to neglect other areas of my life such as housekeeping.

Generic Gifts for the hard to shop for Parentals

For Christmas, plasticmom has requested one purple ballpoint pen, not a box...not two...just one that's preferably retractable. Perhaps purple pens are the hottest item topping all the Mommy wishlists, but just in case your mommy wants more than a purple pen and your daddy doesn't want underwear and tube socks, a few items that toe that fine line of what Adam calls, "useless crap." Gift cards or cold hard cash are viable options as well, but may be perceived as thoughtless. As for plasticmom's purple pen...done!

11. Pocket Reference: countless hours of fun looking up random stuff like where one's social security number was issued and the proper proportions of ingredients for cement.

12. Philosophy [an upgrade from the usual Bath & Body Works fare from the mall] & Caldrea [an upgrade from Mr. Clean, Dawn & Dial]

13. Sew D'Lite: a more convenient mini-me for smaller projects

TWENTY-ONE---an effort to spare the non-foodies by getting the rest of the food related gift items out of the way

*Vegetarians need not apply

14. Brand your Meat

*Foodies: Enjoys the Cooking Process

15. Cooking Class or Special Event Dinners

16. Cooking Light: rated highly by all my gift recipients for its highly cookable, delicious and healthy recipes

17. FOOD: Martha Stewart's Reality Check...easy recipes & great ideas

*Foodies: Couch potatoes who are unenthused about Cooking

18. Restaurants to Check Out: be the critic

19. Sandwiches That You Will Like: great title and it's PBS so it's holy enough for Jesus Day

*Foodies: Curious Georges

20. French Fry Science---geek alert

21. Pickin Alton's Brain...my friend Dave's favorite show on the Food Network

22. Get in my Brain: study and eat up...the hungry man's counterpart to WineSmarts

*Bakies: Sweet Tooths...I know a great dentist by the way

23. "Domestic Goddess doesn't feel like feeding the cats"...I purchased this for plasticaunt last X-mas and she's taken to refering to herself in the third person as "Domestic Goddess,"...I've created a monster.

24. Fake it by barely Makin' it or Clone It

25. Retro Cake Stand [Round & Square]...even oreos look that much cooler

26. Pie, Pie & Pies: a road trip in search of pies...what's not to love

27. Take Away With Me: safely tote your creations on the MBTA now available with a stackable insert to convert the cake carrier into a double decker pie carrier.

28. Silicone Holly

*Hungry, yet Clueless

29. Help, My Apartment has a Kitchen and I could use a case of Ramen...also available in Dining Room edition

30. The essense of Julia without the warbling

*Funny Stuff

31. Garlic Breath...CUTE

32. Easy Guac w/ this Avocado Masher

33. Flip over this Oink Oink

34. Mad Inventor...my favorite is the pepper ball

Ben Who-Fleck

I was reading a couple of issues of Us Magazine this past weekend and noticed a couple of paparazzi shots of Ben, one with JLo & one without her but Ben was holding a Baja Fresh cup in both photos. I deduce that Ben loves Baja Fresh more than JLo...then again who wouldn't.

"With Child"

35 Hot Mama

"Wee"

36 Latest in the Worst Case Scenario Series tackling the scariest of them all...Parenting

37 Keep those little piggies toasty with these Baby Uggs

38 Get squeaky clean with bath tints, finger paints & crayons

"A Little Bigger than Wee"

39 Puddly Fun Rain Boots...supah dupah fly

40. Crayola Crayon Maker

"Freakin' Huge"

41 These watches remind me of those grosgrain ribbon belts that are all the rage...once again if you feel compelled to buy me, I'd be more than delighted...pink striped please!

"Hello Kitty Pretty Kitty"

42. Toast her adorable image onto every slice of carbo tastiness

43. Luggage that could persuade me to stop my rantings on the negative externalities of carry-on suitcases....oh no...rage rising...here goes...it's all fun and games if a few people cart on their suitcases as carry-ons, but it's not OK when everyone does it. It's a problem if your "carry-on" requires two to lift into the overhead bin...that's a good indication that it's TOO heavy and you're taking up TOO much space. It becomes my problem when the heft of your "carry-on" causes you to lose your balance and it whacks me in the head. Finally, "carry-ons" that clear the width of the aisle by merely an inch are TOO wide because they clog up the aisles. That said, if anyone feels so inclined to buy me one...who am I to refuse, but I would definitely check it.

44. Illuminate your love for Hello Kitty.

45. If not for my oddly shaped ears, this FM Radio would be awesome...gently poke her eyes to change the station.