Back Off, Would You??

Ok, Ok, I've only gotten like a ton of requests to update my blog in the past few days (ok, only 2, but in my blog world that's A LOT!!). The truth is, I did get an entire (and very lengthy) blog written the other day and just as I was about to post it, something happened. I don't know what, but my computer just started to go crazy and then kicked me offline and didn't save ANYTHING. So, I was mad. Really mad. But I'm over it now and so here I am.

I won't reject these apples:



I have been wanting to go to this farmer's market on my drive to work for some time now. It is always packed and very difficult to find a parking spot. I decided to find out what all the rage was (you know, all the rage that a farmer's market could generate). It was so well organized and clean and cheap that I soon understood why it was always so crowded. I bought some red and yellow bell peppers, cucumbers and sitting all alone under a sign that read, "Reject Apples $2.50" was this box of assorted apples that looked perfectly fine to me. All these apples for $2.50!! Wow, that's a deal. I knew that I could turn this into something tasty! I was so thrilled that I got to keep this little box that they came in that I never even told the cashier that she ripped me off a quarter (hey, I'm cheap) but I thought it was a fair trade. I decided to make some homemade applesauce:



It was a lot easier that I thought it was going to be. I sliced them up and cooked them down, I added a couple of pears (ha ha a pair of pears!!) and then added some Cinnamon and sweetened it with splenda. Delicious! It was best warm, but it is still really good cold.

Then, I got this really amazing recipe off of a new Food Network show and decided to try it, with a few substitutions. It called for a homemade pie crust, but honestly, I don't have the time (or ambition) to make a from-scratch pie crust. It was a Potato-Bacon Torte. You just layer sliced potatoes, crumbled bacon (I used fakeon) and Parmesan cheese and then pour heavy cream scented with thyme on top (I used light cream because I thought it would really cut down on the calories and fat because, you know, the potatoes, parm cheese and pie crust are SO healthy!). But anyway, it was delicious. I paired it up with some scrambled eggs and some of the applesauce that I made. Yummy!



Look at the delicious flaky layers:



I pass this look-out point on my route to State College and wanted to get some pictures. I pulled over and got out only to be met with two Penn State buses full of college kids, perhaps studying the potential effect of global warming on this cigarette-littered piece of history?? I don't know but nothing makes you feel old like a bunch of 18-22 year old's discussing the effect of not having health-care reform while sitting right next to you on the only available bench to enjoy the view. So anyway, I snapped a few pics before I felt like I was going to be pressured into voting for Obama in '12. Here it is:



It was pretty anyway!
Well, I've got a lot more to say and pictures I want to post, but right now I am scrambling around to get some things done for football and I really want to go walking. So, I will post again, soon!!

No Animals Were Harmed In The Making...

Of this delicious 'chicken' pot pie. I got a mini recipe book on my way out the door at Sam's Club the other day and it was filled with some really great recipes. Jason made the easy chicken pot pie recipe (well, I made it, he just cooked the chicken!) and it looked super good and smelled good, too. It was also very easy to make, so that's a bonus. After reviewing the recipe, all I had to do was make a few minor adjustments and it would become a cruelty-free dinner! I swapped out the real chicken for this:



This is possibly the best meat alternative on the market. It's so delicious and it works in any chicken recipe. Then I used veggie broth instead of chicken broth and here is the result:



It was delish!

Here is the project that I made for my Aunt who is currently at home, resting after being in the hospital. I bought this shadow box at a yard sale for a couple of dollars and I couldn't wait to tear it apart (I mean WHO would buy something like this for their home??!).

Before:



After:



I made a template of a tea cup and switched the placement of the smaller box, added some hand curled paper flowers and pulled it all together. She is an avid tea drinker, so I am sure she will enjoy this!

FOOTBALL PRACTICE STARTS ON TUESDAY!! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself! I love to watch Mason play football. He got his uniform the other day and yesterday was picture day for the team. He looks so awesome in his uniform! There are only 15 days left until school starts, although I will miss him dearly as he starts 3rd grade, I am ready for school to start!! It has been a long summer. I will miss the pool days that are coming to a rapid close. We didn't have much of a summer, although I preferred the cooler temperatures, it didn't make much for a great pool season. There is always next year, the borough is upgrading the pool and adding some water features and slides, how cool is that going to be?? As the summer wraps up, I can almost smell the cool, crisp fall nights spent at football games and preparing for the holidays. I happen to love fall, it's my favorite season. In the summer the windows are mainly closed because the air conditioning is on (and I can't live without that!!), so I love to have the windows open in the fall to let the fresh air in (the kitties like it, too!). I love to plan Mason's birthday party (November) and of course, my favorite holiday--Halloween! I love pumpkin pie, Black Friday and the kick-off to the holiday shopping season. And how could I forget, Steeler Football!! So, here's to another summer, not that I want time to pass so quickly, but I am always ready for the start of another fall.

Yard Sale Finds & Chillin' @ The Pool

I went to a yard sale on Saturday in hopes of finding a treasure this summer as yard sales are dying down for the season. This one that we stopped at (ok, the only one that day), Mason found a bag of used stamps (the postal kind).



It was a great find because, although they have no monetary value, they have artist value. Some of them were postal stamped as far back as 1954! I think that is pretty cool! There were hundreds of stamps in this bag and I sorted them into categories such as patriotic, flowers/fruit, animals, Christmas and people. I will be able to use them for card making, scrapbooking and other projects. So, great find, Mason! I have always thought about keeping stamps for this purpose, but these fine yard sale people did all the work for me!

I also found this:



I have never been a history buff, but this struck me as very interesting. I mean, it's been around longer than I have (so it must be old!). It is dated August of
1977. It's full of pictures of the J-town flood and ads for really old movies. It was a pretty interesting read. The paper sold for 15 cents back in the day and I paid a dollar for a 32 year old paper, so I guess you could say it's a great investment to keep old newspapers and sell them three decades later for an 85 cent profit!!

I have a project to show that I am very proud of but I can not post it until the recipient receives it. That should be in a couple of days.

Here are some fun pool pics, it's finally getting hot enough to swim (not that I enjoy the heat or swim for that matter).





Some self-portraits that made me laugh:




What a goofy-goober.

Perhaps My Middle Name Is Idiot

I had to get a new cell phone recently because old one would no longer hold a charge (which really wasn't the entire issue with it) and then one day when I went to answer it, the entire flip top flew off! I am still tied into a contract with AT&T, so getting a new, free phone was out of the question. So, Jason went to Walmart and bought a 'GO' phone for $30! You can use it with your plan, just pop in the SIM card, who knew? However, that happened about a month ago, so what I'm leading up to now is this cheapy, yet reliable Nokia cell phone, that I just got used to using is now headed to cell phone heaven. I opened up a cooler that I had taken to the pool a few days ago and it had melted ice in it. I was on the phone at the same time. Can you guess what happened?? Yep, the phone slides right off my ear and into the still cool water! I frantically pulled it out and dried it, turned it off and back on and it worked! Or so I thought. I quickly put a hair dryer to it and dried it all up. It was working just dandy until about an hour later. I started getting 'Error' messages. Then the phone just would not power back up. So, Jason is back at Walmart getting me another cheapy phone and I will once again have to add all of my phone numbers back in!! Oh, well!

This reminds me of the time years ago that I washed my brand new cell phone that was in the pocket of one of my zippy's! Do you see a pattern?

{Tuesday Afternoon}

Mason and I went to a place called The Waffle Shop the other day when I had to work (I can always bribe the kid with food!), so we stopped in and was it ever busy on a Monday morning at 9AM, I was guessing this was a good sign. So, we get seated and looked through the menu, we didn't get very far, I mean we came there for waffles, it is, after all called the Waffle Shop! I choose the banana pecan Belgium waffle



and Mason got the chocolate chip Belgium waffle with whipped cream and (holding my breath....bacon).



He started off the breakfast with some hot chocolate with more whipped cream and some mini chocolate chips, YUM! Just look at that:



It was all so delicious that we will make that trip again!

Then on my way home, I've seen this car dealership many, many times as I drive by it on a regular basis. He always posts political and anti-Obama signs and I find them rather funny! It's all about free speech, ya know? Here is his take on the outbreak in this country on having the government bailing out pretty much everyone:




Funny!

I got this in the mail today and I can't wait to sift through it:



The closest IKEA to me is Pittsburgh, but that's not too far. This will be good pool readin' tomorrow!!



Yet another story of animal abuse, right here in rural PA:

It's sickening to know that the police, the one's who are supposed to uphold the law, are the ones that will not do anything. Nothing at all. Tami did the 'right' thing this time and the dog died, only after many, many years of being tied to a chain to just rot away like the piece of garbage he was treated like. This 'owner' is scum and I pray one day he will get what he deserves. He is on the front page of the paper stating that he has nothing to be ashamed of. Again, I say, if they are 'just dogs' to you, why get them? Isn't it too much of a burden on yourself to have to go outside to feed them? Or do they even get fed?

Here's the link to the video