Saturday, July 14, 2012

My mouth cheeks hurt

Picture from http://www.tagmagazine.com/user/Photo_Bigupload.aspx?pid=PIC0090611014049953&page=1
Me this morning
I woke up this morning looking like a chipmunk with its mouth full, but considerably less adorable.  The bare wire that goes across the gap where I'm missing a molar has gouged a thick crevasse in the inside of my right cheek and IT REALLY HURTS.  My mouth cheeks are sore.

I think I'm going to compile a list of foods and recipes for people with braces, mainly for my own reference, but also because there seems to be a paucity of similar lists out there.  Maybe my compilation will help someone else with braces eat a little more comfortably.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Glow.com GC winner!

Congratulations to Danielle, the winner of my Glow.com GC giveaway!

I also want to thank everyone who entered for their great suggestions: there were a lot of calls for me to post recipes.  I think I can handle that!  Your comments about the "most despised" current trends made me laugh.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks shortie-shorts, crop tops, and printed grandma slacks are fudiculous.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Berry crumble bars recipe

I will admit, I do like Martha Stewart.  She's a little prickly, but there's something about her I enjoy.  So, when I was looking for dessert recipes to use up some of the surplus berries we bought at the grocery store, I decided to try Martha's blackberry crumb bar recipe.  They're some of the best bars I've eaten, and naturally, I was thinking, "hey, that would make a good blog post!"

I made a half batch of these the first time and there was an enormous amount of topping, but I was ok with that; the second time I made them, I made a half recipe again but poured the batter into muffin cups and halved the amount of topping.  The muffins were better-received than the bars: my husband, who is a vehement sweets-disliker, ate two of them.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures of the bars or the muffins, so you'll just have to imagine their berry-studded goodness.

Suggestion: omit the berries and add lots of cinnamon (and possibly nuts) to turn this into a traditional coffee cake.

Berry crumble bars
Serves 9, maybe more if you're stingy

Ingredients

Cake base:

3/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 c confectioner's sugar
1 stick of butter (we're doing it Paula Deen-style here)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 pint of berries (blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries are good choices)

Topping:
6 T unsalted butter, melted
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 c flour


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line bottom of an 8-in square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides.  The original recipe says to butter and flour the parchment paper, but that kinda defeats the paper's purpose.  The batter is very thick and sticky, though, so butter at your own discretion.

2. In a small bowl, combine topping ingredients.  Mix with a fork until large, moist crumbs form.  Refrigerate until ready to use (this ensures the topping will be firm and crumbly after baking; if you skip this step, the topping will be sticky and not quite as pretty, but still very tasty).

3. In a large bowl, beat butter, vanilla, and confectioner's sugar until light and fluffy; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add dry ingredients and mix until a thick batter forms.  Spread batter evenly in pan; sprinkle with berries, pressing them down slightly.  Add the chilled topping.

4. Bake until golden brown and delicious and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into 16 squares.

Monday, July 09, 2012

Inspiration?


I'm pretty sure I need to get this shirt from Woot!  Apparently, the shirt's designer and I are both geniuses, though I think the t-shirt came out before my blog did.  To be fair, I started blogging in 2001, when I was a prickly youngster... though I guess that doesn't have anything to do with my current blog.  It was nice then, because not everyone on Earth had a blog.  Now, it seems the only way to get people to even give this blog a passing glance is to give away prizes.

UPDATE (7/9/12): I bought the shirt and it will be shipped on 7/18. *party horns*

Sunday, July 08, 2012

Cookie Monster coffee mug

funny food photos - Cookie Monster Mug

Someone on Facebook posted this image, so I had to track down its origin.  Turns out, the Etsy seller apiecebydenise sold the original version on May 1, 2011.  According to her Facebook page, she's supposed to be making and shipping more of them soon!  So, um.... if anyone wants to buy me a cup of coffee... or a coffee cup....

Wednesday, July 04, 2012

Glow.com giveaway!

In my Farm Rich coupon giveaway, a lot of you suggested I run more giveaways.  Whether that was an honest response or not, I've decided to post another one here.

Last year, I signed up for an account with JustFab, one of the myriad "shoe clubs" out there.  I had nothing but problems since my first order, and the JustFab team decided to compensate me with a $20 gift card for Glow.com.  Since I don't wear makeup (yep, it's true), I would like to offer one of my readers the opportunity to use this gift card.  I did check to see that the code is still valid, so the winner shouldn't have any problem using it.

Enter using the Rafflecopter widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway