Yellows and Blues From CSN Stores: A Shopping Dilemma Update!

Thank you, dear friends, for helping out with my little shopping dilemma.  The majority ruled and I purchased... 

These melamine mixing bowls are fabulous! 


The pros:
Happy yellow!!
Lightweight and easy to lift when full of batter.
Each bowl has a rubber ring on the bottom to prevent sliding. 


Only one con:
The largest bowl won't fit in my usual mixing bowl cabinet-- but I don't care.


   Love these bowls!

To round out my order, I went completely off track from from the cute yellow items everyone voted on-- Sorry!  I loved each one but all would have been redundant in my kitchen.  Plus, none were giving me free shipping for some reason. The order has to be wrangled just so to get free shipping--- you know I'm all about FREE! 


So what did I do?


I went with my other happy kitchen color: Aqua!! Or is it turquoise?  I never know but it is the color shown on my vintage pyrex (or as close as my camera will allow)...

Aren't they cute? I use the little square lidded one as a sugar bowl on my counter.  I have several others of various sizes and shapes and they are all in use.  I do not collect; I use. Very important distinction... (I've seen that Hoarders show!)

My aqua buys...

Love this Le Creuset pitcher!  It arrived in perfect condition! Can't wait till summer to make lemonade!

This barbeque set looks girly but it is sturdy and deadly.
I'm very pleased by the quality-- and the handles add happy to my kitchen!  

Shopping with CSN Stores was a great experience! If you haven't entered our Blogiversary Giveaway Spectacular to win a $40 CSN Stores gift code,  time's a wastin'.  Only 1 day left...

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Gingerbread Snowflakes?

We love gingerbread cookies-- especially when it is cold outside. Last week was snowy so Talon and I used our snowflake cookie cutters.



Talon loves rolling out dough and cutting out cookies but his favorite part, next to eating cookies of course,  is painting  cookies. Looks like he is drowning them more than painting them.  Don't worry, the lemon glaze is thin so the cookies are not overpowered.

We used 4 snowflake shapes but they all turned out looking about the same-- Oh well, it didn't affect the gobbling any.



Caught him doing the finger taste test--- Well, at least it is a finger this time.  If you want to see Talon's previous technique and see that we can make prettier less messy cookies click here. 

So what kind of gingerbread cookies do we like?

Yep, good ol' trusty Betty Crocker!  So easy and tasty. Just add a stick of butter and one egg and that is it-- except for the rolling ect.  The cookies are spicy and moist... yum!

The only problem is that this mix is only available during the holiday season. I stock up on enough to make it through the winter. I've got 2 packets left.

So: To ration or not to ration, that is the question!

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Batmobile!

Not something one sees every day... and we saw it twice! 



Our first Batmobile sighting was at the carshow-- check it out to see lots of cool cars and canines and lots of reds, as a matter of fact.



Our second Batmobile sighting was at a Boomarang Diner on our way down to Texas! How lucky to spot it twice! How cool that it isn't just for looks! The owners actually drive it around... but, of course, they do get a lot of looks!

There is a Bat Beacon, a Bat Lift, Bat Lights and more...  everything that a self-respecting super hero of the bat persuasion might need!

The Bat Phone!

Guess that is the bar to grab  in an emergency bat turn!

Who owns this cool ride?

These two cool cats here! 

It gave hubby fits that they owned the batmobile and actually drove it around town but didn't go all the way and wear the costumes! 

During a chat, he even told them they ought to wear the costumes but one old guy said: I'd look like Fatman instead of Batman!

As for me, I was thinking they looked more like:

Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy!

You know, the aging bumbling superheros on Spongebob...

Please visit Ruby Tuesday and Rednesday for more rad reds!

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Nifty Thrifty Cups



Snagged these cozy cups at a local junkstore recently-- aren't they cute?! And only .25 each!

The white one is a thick heavy pyrex-- reminds me of old timey cafe cups.

The curvy yellow one is Mikasa.

The Mickey is from Disney.

The tall one is Royal Norfolk.

I like them all but can you guess which is my favorite...





Love it! I've never had a tall narrow mug before! The colors make me happy and the graphics remind me of spyrograph-- remember that toy?

Which is your favorite?

 Please visit  Mellow Yellow Monday and Blue Monday to view more cheery yellows and blues.

Also, visit Nifty Thrifty Tuesday for more thrifty finds!

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My Favorite Winter 2011 Macros... So Far

 



Icicle graveyard-- where icicles go to melt.


Please visit Macro Monday for more marvelous macros!

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Second Snow 2011

Scenes from Friday's playing and nature walk. We had to wait till Friday because the windchill had big sharp teeth on Thursday.

A grassy snow angel-- once the temps made it to the mid-30s,  we had to play fast!

bird tracks

Tiiiiimbeeeeer!  Mr. Beaver has been busy!

We found Mr. Beaver's big dam-- much bigger than this small one.

see the broken ice... could it be where Mr. Beaver surfaced?

Talon's snowman!

Lemon balm twig icicles

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Lesa's Rustic Taco Soup

What is the perfect soup for a cold winter night? Rustic taco soup, of course!  

Too tired to make soup? No worries-- this soup is so quick and easy that you will have energy to spare.

This is what you need plus one pound of ground beef and toppings of choice.

Brown beef in a skillet then drain.
Place drained beef in a soup pot and add:
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Rotel any flavor (I like lime/cilantro)
1 packet of regular taco seasoning mix
1 packet of ranch dressing mix
1 can of ranch style beans undrained
1 can of black beans drained
1 can of cannellini beans drained
1 can of kidney beans drained
1 or 2 cans of hominy drained (I like 2 to balance out all the beans) 
1 bottle of beer
enough water for soupiness

All drained beans/hominy are optional-- use and/or double your favorites. Green beans or sweet corn work as well. This was my first time using kidney beans-- tasty. I'm thinking of trying green limas next time-- to add color and I love limas.

Now that's one plumb larapin bowl of soup!

Delicious topped with cilantro and a squeeze of lime or shredded colby/jack or a dollop of sour cream or all of the above!

Serve with tortilla chips, tortillas or cornbread.

Enjoy!

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Table For Two

Even when feeling puny after a doctor visit, Talon is full of silly beans.
  

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My Review of Three Piece Rubber Coating Handle BBQ Tool Set in Blue

Originally submitted at CSN Stores

Features:

• Three piece rubber coating handle BBQ tool set includes tongs, fork and spatula
• Blue color
• Overall dimensions: 1.75" H x 9.5" W x 18.75" D

Three Piece Rubber Coating Handle BBQ Tool Set in Blue

Love!

By Okietexslp from Oklahoma on 1/20/2011

 

5out of 5

So pleasantly surprised when I pulled these out of the box. I wasn't expecting such quality since the price was so cheap. These tools are very sturdy-- sturdy enough to hold up to outside use but they are so beautiful that I'm using them inside. Plus, the aqua is perfect in my yellow/aqua kitchen! Sorry, hubby!

(legalese)

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First Snow of Winter 2011

Not a big snow but the roads iced and school closed. Yay, Snow Day!

this tree has something growing on it...

a close up

snowy beaver dam

This vibrant red sure cheers up the dreary winter landscape!

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Canter's Deli: Now That's a Matzo Ball!

My hubby has been raving about Canter's Deli in Los Angeles for the 25 years that I've known him. Just reminiscing about the piled high pastrami sandwiches caused him to swoon. 

Finally, I was able to sample the delights of Canter's at their recently opened second location at Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas!  My verdict: OMG! Awesome! Spectacular!Scrumdiddly! Plumb Larapin!

The menu is much more limited than in LA but the hot pastrami sandwiches were offered, thank goodness.

The toasty rye bread was perfect and the meat was piled high-- the sandwich was huge!

We were so hungry that I had a very messy plate before I thought to snap a photo-- which isn't like me at all but I did get a photo of the matzo ball soup.



This was a large bowl not a cup. This was my first experience with matzo ball soup so I can't compare  but it was very tasty. Hit the spot on a freezing cold night, that's for sure! 

The broth had a hint of some spice that added pizzazz-- maybe clove or nutmeg?



Can you believe the size? Like I said, this was my first bowl of matzo so I don't know if this is the norm or not. Is it? I was expecting lots of small matzo balls floating around like dumplings. This thing was a monster! 

The flavor reminded me of Premium crackers and the texture was not too dumpling-ey-- it was juicy throughout like soggy bread.  So not my favorite but I might order it again (it was interesting and fun to eat) or I might just order the chicken noodle-- that broth was amazing!

LA was never a destination that I aspired to travel to but now it is-- Love me some Canter's Deli! Now pardon me while I swoon...

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A Winter's Day Nature Walk

Beauty is where you find it and in the winter you take what you can get-- the starkness of an old dead tree against the bright blue sky caught our attention.

The grass in the back forty is almost as tall as Talon!

Can you spot him? I reckon he needs to trade the Elmer Fudd hat in for a pointy red gnome hat!

Talon is outstanding in his field! ;o)

He couldn't get enough of hiding-- kept saying: Can you see me? Of course, I pretended I couldn't-- except when snapping shots.

Checking out the creek with Gram

Fuzzy seed heads

Here are a few photo effect experiments from Picnik-- which do you like?

this is called Holga-ish

Sepia with red hat



Black and white with red hat



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