X-mas wrapping...

I have always liked wrapping gifts and finding interesting ways of making each wrapping even a little different/unique, rather than just wrapping and sticking a pre-made bows. Although I am guilty of doing that, I do enjoy taking the time to wrap a gift. During x-mas I buy wrapping paper both before and after x-mas and am always stocked full of paper and things to embellish like ribbon, bows, ornaments, etc. Last year I decided to get only solid colors during the after x-mas clearances on wrapping paper, that way I could use it on other occasions rather than only during x-mas. This x-mas I decided that there is just so much waste that comes from wrapping gifts, that I will no longer buy any wrapping paper. I am trying to reduce the among of waste I produce. Probably a product of seeing Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. So I am using the remaining wrapping paper I have for this x-mas (pictures of some of my wrapping to come later) and any other events thereafter until I run out and will no longer buy wrapping paper nor things to embellish. Doesn't mean I won't be wrapping gifts whenever there is a gifting occasion, just using more clever wrapping options with things that can be used and reused as opposed to just tossed in the garbage. Some tips I have already picked up for when that time comes is using pretty hand towels, kitchen towels, even t-shirts. It's not much, but it's a start right. If you have any ideas on clever waste reducing gift wrapping techniques, send them my way :)

Just listening to music...

On a normal Monday I wake up around 4:30am and get ready for work leaving at around 5:30am to get to work by 6am. When the alarm went off in the morning I just did not feel good and could not get myself to get up to go. I don't have a cold or the flu just felt really drowsy as if I had taken a sleeping pill. So just before 6am I called out from work today. It seemed as though seconds later I woke up, however it was now 10:30am. WOW!!! talk about sleeping in. For me that is very late. Aaron made breakfast for us at that time. Thanks Aaron, and then we sat down to watch ELF. Everyone needs to see this movie and get themselves the DVD. Amy calls it a modern classic.

Feeling better now...

Just listening to music as I copy as many of my cd's to my computer. I have decided that I want to get rid of my cd's. they just take up unnecessary space.

I had originally started doing this several months ago, actually last year when I got an external hard for this sole purpose. Of course the external hard drive I got last year is now half the price and at some sites less than half the price as compared when I got it last year. SO now I am thinking of getting a second one just for movies.

So I had started copying the cds using .wma format. I now have decided that I want them in .mp3 format instead. So I hae started this process today. I will either give away or sell the leftover cds. I'll post here the ones I decide to just give away in case you want them, as they become available.

Anyways this is just one more step to get rid of all this crap I have. I have tons of stuff not in use that takes up space. I even thought of getting rid of the stored decorations from Halloween and Christmas as they take up too much space just being stored and are used 1-2 months out of the year. I probably won't get rid of that though.

Ya'll have a good day!!!




... Updated 02/14/2010, link to Amy's blog http://thosecrazyschuberts.com/ 

Holiday Party 2006!

Holiday Party 2006!

nothing... just pictures...

Nothing just pictures from the holiday get together at Rocio's.

Blueberry coffee cake not pie I tell you!!!

There's a holiday party I am going to today. Starts in about an hour and I am not even ready so I'll be late. It's a potluck party.

I woke up around 6:30am on the back of my mind what will I be making for the potluck party. Should I make a main dish, a side dish, or dessert, or snacks. The decision lied really in how much time I wanted to put into this.

Yesterday I bought a cookbook with nothing but chicken recipes. I scanned through that. It has many dishes/recipes I want to try, however not for a potluck. First, I would need to taste test the recipe by making it home at least once. So scratch of the main dish idea.

I then noticed a cookies and bars magazine I got a few days ago.I started going through it and one of the first recipes was called Minty Meringue Drops. Recipe simple, check. Gets me into the x-mas mood, check.

So off to the pantry to check and make sure I have all the ingredients. Not too good of an idea as I ended up going through all the baking stuff to see what else I would need to make more cookies from other recipe magazines. The meringue drops recipe required 2 egg whites. I though what a waste of egg. Would I toss the egg yolks, or make it into dinner. Jackpot I found a recipe for yellow cake that uses egg yolks and no egg whites. That recipes requires four egg yolks. So hey I figure I will just double the meringue recipe and well win. I would take tons of cookies and cake to the party. Plus I have all the ingredients to make butter cream icing from scratch. Perfect.

So off to the store now to get the remaining ingredients plus more for various other recipes I want to make throughout the next few weeks. One of the recipes is called Blueberry Macademia Nut Swirl Coffee Cake. Sounds yummy doesn't it. The sample picture looks scrumptious.

Back from the store and everything on the counter I decide I will make the blueberry. I had more than enough time to make the coffee cake and then make the cookies and yellow cake and butter cream, then get ready and go to the party. So yeah, cookies cake and coffeecake.

The recipe making comes out perfect. I always read the recipe completely before making it to make sure I know what I'll be doing and where I will have time to do what and in what order.

The recipe says to "Spoon batter into grease 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Drop blueberry filling by..."

So off I go with greasing a pie plate and spoon the batter and then the rest of the steps, and into the oven. Yeah I am happy. The pie in the oven and with enough time to start on the rest of the recipes... Nah... I'll just take coffee cake only don't feel like doing the rest of the recipes, plus Aaron started making a big cookie to take to a party he is going to. So I sit and watch tv.

About half time into the baking time I think to myself, "I can't wait to try the Blueberry Pie... wait a minute, wait a minute. Blueberry Pie... That sounds yummy but the name of my recipe was yummier." So I go take a look at the recipe calling for a greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Crap!!! I put it into the wrong type of baking dish.. I open the oven and sure enough it was had started to overflow. Come to think of it, When I was putting everything into the pie plate I thought to myself, "wow, this is alot for a pie plate" So I put a cookie sheet under the baking pie and just let it finish baking.

Alright so what the heck am I taking to the party. At this point I have a headache. I take a chill pill. Well it was ibuprofen, and head to the store to get blueberry pie filling. The recipe is so simple that I could still make a new one and this time put it in a "greased 13x9x2-inch baking pan.

So right now I just finished putting the new blueberry pie... correction Blueberry Macadamia Nut Swirl Coffee Cake into the oven. I still have to get ready. I just took another glance at the recipe and it says 1 cup blueberry pie filling. I put the whole freaking can(15 oz) that's about almost 2 cups of blueberry pie filling. That's it this blueberry coffeecake will be the moistest coffee cake they will ever taste!!!

Everyone have a good evening!!!

Building a graham cracker house...

Building a graham cracker house is fun. At work, we are set into different teams/groups. Last Tuesday we got the mere basic ingredients, a can of icing, colored sugar for sprinkling, and a box of generic brand of graham crackers, for the "Gingerbread House Contest." We could however supplement whatever other ingredients we chose to bring. The top three teams would get a prize. Sonia, Nancy and I brought extra stuff for the house. I put together the base and height of the house, placed almost half of the marshmallows used as snow, and put some of the pretzels to be used as fence. Mollie put the roof and iced the house and decorated it. Nancy finished the fence, the marshmallow snow and the trees. We did an awesome job. Just take a look. Most teams did an awesome job and had alot of creativity. We did not win , however I enjoyed this activity very much. Here are some pics of our house in progress and Mollie's creative touch.

First place went to a team that made an island near a volcano with water and dolphins and more. Truly a first place winner. I had to take several pictures of this one. Take a look:

Second place went to this one:



Third place went to this one:


The second and third place winners I don't agree with much. Well, actually I could have seen the second place winner take third.It was after all well put together. But the third place winner really should not have won. Sure it looks nice, but there was more creativity in some of the other houses that did not win. Another thing. The original contest said it was the top 2 teams who would win, and somehow there ended up being 3 winning teams and I have the filed e-mails to back that claim. Anyways, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the first place winner is definitely a winner, second place winner surely could have won, but take a look at the houses of other teams who did not win and you'll definitely agree that the third place winner should have been one of the other teams. Take a look at the rest of the houses below:



Judging for the contest was on Wednesday and Thursday we got the results. On Wednesday we also had our holiday dinner. I helped put together the tinsel trees used as center pieces. The food was good and we had team members as carolers. Yesterday, Thursday, we had our team potluck and gift exchange. Lots of food, laughs, and gifts. It was a great work day.

It's Friday now and off I am to do some final X-mas shopping.