Pushing Daisies

I watched this show last night and was so very pleasantly surprised! Just what I needed-- another show in my repertoire. Like I don't watch enough of the boob tube already.

For those who don't know the (slightly silly) premise, Ned is a pie maker who has the bizarre gift of reviving dead folk with one touch and can send them back to death with a second touch. He is in business with a P.I. and together they solve murders by reviving the victims to ask who killed them. Slightly morbid but somehow very very cute!!! He then revives a childhood crush, a girl named Chuck or Charlotte Charles, and he decides to keep her alive. Their crush is rekindled, but he cannot touch her again or she will die all over again.

Ok, sounds really morbid? It's so not! It's one of the cutest things I've seen in awhile. The best parts about it: the tres Amelie-esque narrator who refers to Ned as "The Pie Maker"; the Tim Burton-like colors, backdrops, and the scenery are beautiful; the name of Ned's bakery is called The Pie Hole (ha); and Chuck's wonderfully weird ex-synchronized swimming aunts (The Darling Mermaid Darlings) played by Ellen Greene and Swoozie Kurtz. How can you go wrong? Anyway, it's on Wednesdays from 8pm-9pm eastern time.

You can watch the opening scene on Youtube! Let me know if anyone else watched it and/or liked it.

I'm BAAAAAACCCKKKK

We had a lovely stay in the Twin Cities! Check out what we did (brace yourself for the boringness and notice how the whole trip revolves around food).



Thursday: Checked into our hotel, Chambers. They couldn’t find our reservation even though I provided them with my confirmation email and confirmation number therefore we got an upgraded room (that cost $565/night!!!). God bless incompetent computerized reservation systems. In the lobby, they had an art vending machine. You put $$ in, and get a lil' piece of art! That night, we ate at Chambers Kitchen. I was drooling over the lovely drinks like ginger margaritas and cucumber mint cocktail, but alas, no could do.

Friday: Ate breakfast at Hell’s Kitchen. Oona told me they have great homemade peanut butter. YUM, did they (we bought 3 jars)! Ryan got a bloody mary made with beer instead of vodka and said it was the best bloody mary he’s ever had (I’m not a bloody mary fan myself). Went to Crafty Planet, and I met Rebecca. She’s so cute. We were at DUCF together, but I never got a chance to meet her. Didn’t buy much though because I was feeling uninspired, but it was so great to see all those lovely Japanese import fabrics in person! Then went to Patina and bought a few things for Q. Then went to the Walker Art Center and sculpture garden. At night, ate at Cosmos with some friends of my hubby’s sister. Great food! Although, my pregnancy upchuck reflex kicked in a bit with the palette cleanser (a shot of carrot ginger juice with a ball of “exploding coconut” which tasted like an eyeball). Everything else was tres magnifique though—our waiter was great and resembled Andy Dick. I’m sure he’d love to hear that.

Saturday: Ate at Town Talk Diner—Ryan got awesome steak and eggs. Went to I Like You, another indie shop, and saw many cutie pie wares from The Glitter Workshop. Drove to the burbs for my friend’s wedding and then to the reception near the Mall of America. At the reception, we sat with some random people who were from St. Paul but kept referring to Minneapolis as “Murderapolis”. Let me tell you that downtown Minneapolis looked like Pleasantville to us. Ryan said he would love to drive them down to Detroit and just leave them somewhere. They’d poop their pants. Now, we LOVE downtown Detroit—such great restaurants, museums, theaters-- but people from out of town freak out. They also were so kind to suggest going to a chain restaurant near the Mall of America as well as to a local Renaissance Festival for fun (we have one in the Detroit area too; I'm sure the MN one is equally as sucky). I just nodded and smiled politely.

Sunday: Ate at Hell’s Kitchen again! Had THE MOST amazing ham, pear, and fontina sandwich ever. Ryan got their Mahnomin Porridge which was also super tasty. I may try to recreate both things. Went back to the burbs to hubby’s sis’ friends’ house. Met their kids and played Pretty Pretty Princess and Life and ate fresh baked cookies. Fun, rainy afternoon stuff. For dinner, went to Ike’s for just a burger. We were sick of eating out by this point. Weird joint. Lots of drunk Vikings and Packers fans about too.

Monday: Back to Detroit! Thanks for listening to my synopsis. If you were my mother, you’d say, “Are you done yet? It’s like I’m listening to a story about a dream you had!” xo

Lazy Gertie

I'm feeling so lazy! We went to my parent's house over the weekend-- Ryan and I were supposed to go to my 14 year high school reunion (don't ask) which was just tailgating before the homecoming football game, but I chickened out THEN Ryan couldn't go anyway and ended up dropping me and Q off at my parent's house and heading to Beaners to utilize their wi-fi and do some emergency brief-correcting for work. I am sure I would have known everyone there (I only graduated with 130 some kids), but none of my friend friends were going, and maybe if I were feeling hotter and thinner and not so "mom-like" (how shallow), I would have gone. Off topic, Beaners is changing their name to The Big B due to the um, racial connotation. Just a lil' tidbit for you.


Ok, so to the lazy part. I got like 9 to 10 hours of sleep each night I was there. Last night I went to bed at 9:30. This thing in my gut is sapping my energy. I haven't had energy to blog or to craft-- nothin! I have, however, watch a lot of movies and tv shows like The Descent (scary!), Prison Break (suspenseful!), How I Met Your Mother (funny!), and Big Bang Theory (stupid!). Never too lazy to sit in front of the boob tube.


More weekend stuff-- Saturday, we met friends at a pub for 2 buck draft beers and of course I did not partake. The kids ran amok (speaking of this, see below). Saturday night, my mom and I whipped Ry and my Dad's arses in Sequence. That sentence sounded less dorky in my head. Sunday, we went out to a farm and had cider and donuts.



More sleep is in the future (mmmmmmmm). I can't believe it's already here! Our Q-free vacation in the Twin Cities for my friend, Lisa's, wedding. Thanks so much to my new friends in the St. Paul Craft Mafia for telling me what's what. Especially Oona from Run Amok. I love her name, I love her Etsy shop name, and I love her stuff. And she seems so sweet! I'm so excited to shop Crafty Planet, I could almost pee my pants. Ryan has a tight lunch and dinner schedule with reservations in place. We're staying at a pretty hip hotel, so that's nifty too.


So I'm sure there won't be much action this week, but I promise to get on the blog writin'/craft makin' stick as soon as I get back. But for now, Lazy Gertie is going to go watch Tivo'ed Prison Break.

Candy-Colored Twine

I was very pleased to read Sondra's comment on a previous post that Martha decided to take pity on us and allow us to use our 40% coupon at Michael's. Sure enough, it was true! I had to take advantage. And actually even used a Joann's coupon there to get this so-sweet twine.

Perfect Girl Land colors (well, except the yellow was missing)!

*Insert Maniacal Laugh Here*

Have I told you how much I love Halloween??? I do, I do, I do! Well, not as much as a co-worker who got married on Halloween in costume (she's now divorced), but pretty darn close. Did you know that it's only 41 days away? I've been buying things left and right to make some Halloween projects, but just have been too lazy to start. So I just made something little tonight...it's in my Etsy shop. It looks so cute across my fireplace, so I won't be *too* sad if it doesn't sell.

My friend, Dave, also bought some bags o' stuff at the last flea market we hit. He rifled through the bags and gave me a few odds and ends he thought I might appreciate. This guy being one.

He really scares the poop out of me. I believe he's daydreaming of chocolate treats. Or drinking my blood, I'm not sure. I think he will look smashing in a mini Halloween diorama, no? I picked up some black tinsel trim at my favorite dollar store today to line said diorama and also to adorn some treat pails.

Oh, one more thing to round out my Halloweenish post. I was birthday shopping for my niece today at Borders, and I came across some books I remember fondly from grade school by Alvin Schwartz, however I will NOT be getting them for her because they were rather disturbing (they would probably even disturb YOU, I'm not kidding), but I may end up buying them for myself. Last year, I bought Q a book called Tailypo that I loved as a kid, but I will wait a few more years before I freak her out. It's about a man who chops off a creature's tail, and the creature will not rest until he gets it back...even though it's in the man's stomach!!!! Wait for it.........MWAAHHHAA HAA HAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....

**I'm so excited! The lovely Naomi bought my banner! I will have another in my shop in the next few days in case anyone is interested**

Cinematic Couture

We decided to venture to our higher end mall today. We haven't been there in awhile, but over the past 6 years, all but 2 of our Crate and Barrel drinking glasses have bit the dust typically due to a tragic cycle in our dishwasher. Anywho, we decided high time to replace them. Good timing! My mother emailed me last night to inform me of their Cinematic Couture event at the mall. Being the celebrity junkie I am, this was right up my alley. I don't know how I hadn't heard of it.

It was fun, but the only dress I was REALLY excited to see was one Gwyneth Paltrow wore in Emma. Emma is one of my fave movies-- one that I could (and have) watch"(ed) over and over again. They also had costumes from Sense & Sensibility which is another "over and over" movie for me, but they were not as lovely as Ms. Paltrow's. There were also costumes from Phantom of the Opera (which were beautiful!), Miss Potter, Evita, Becoming Jane, Ever After, etc. You cannot believe how small those women are! Gads. Something fun on a lovely fall afternoon anyway.

More food preparation tonight. I don't know what's come over me! No, it was very simple and yummy and light. Roasted Apple Salad with Pecans from BHG for a late dinner tonight. I just received my Better Homes yesterday, and I was roped in by all the yummy-sounding apple recipes! Cheddar soup with apples and potatoes? Comfort food! I can't wait to try that next.

The salad turned out great, and I don't know why I don't use butter lettuce more often. We

usually use a spring green mix, but I really don't like raddicchio. I would have added some crumbled stilton though if we'd had any. It could have stood for a little bit of cheese. Again with the bad pictures:


Here is the recipe:

3 fuji apples, halved and cored

1T butter

3 T packed brown sugar

3 T pecans, chopped finely

1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive)

1/4 cup apple cider

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 T honey

6 cups butter lettuce or mesclun greens

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine oil, cider, vinegar, honey in container, stir and shake. Place halved apples on foil lined baking sheet. Brush with butter, top with brown sugar and pecans. Bake 15 minutes. Arrange lettuce on plate and divide up apples on top. Voila! It's supposed to make 6 servings, but Ryan and I wolfed all 6 down between the two of us. We were starving, and it was light! I went light on the butter (I only used half) and same with the dressing. You probably could use less oil too.

Saw another movie tonight! Fracture with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. Eh, it was ok. Entertaining for sure and kept my interest. And I love both AH and RG. I kept waiting for AH to tell RG he was going to eat his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! xo

Fried Chicken Apple Tarts

I brought in Maple Glazed Breakfast Apple Tarts to work this morning. My photos leave a bit to be desired (they look like rectangular fried chicken). In fact, these pictures are REALLY grossing me out. As I’ve shared before, I rarely cook or bake, but this is one of maybe 5 things I don’t mind making. I can *almost* make them without a recipe. They really are good...really!

Anyway, I brought them in because I was featured in our monthly employee newsletter along with the recipe, so one of my co-workers (no joke) demanded they be brought in. Dang! I baked them last night and warmed them up this morning, so they were all gooey and warm. I, on the other hand, could not even look at them because I was nauseous…

Yes, my bloggy blog friends, Girl Land must make room for another wee citizen. I am not very far along, and when Ryan told me we should probably refrain from telling too many people, I told him to stick it. I gotta big mouth, and I gotsta be me. If something happens (knock on wood), I’ll tell you that too. I’m due in early May.

So now I’m just counting down to the date I can find out the sex (probably around Xmas). As I’m looking at my calendar, it’s sickening. We have something planned for 10 of the 13 weekends between now and Christmas. GADS. Fun things though-- Vacations, reunions, more vacations, birthday parties (Quinn will be having two this year, one for each side of the family… long story), etc.


Oh, in case you are interested, here is the recipe for the tarts. That’s my breakfast/brunch staple when we have guests: the tarts or Krusteaz blueberry scones, Adell’s Chicken Apple Sausage and fresh fruit.


Mapleglazed Breakfast Apple TartsRecipe Courtesy of Gourmet Magazine

8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 medium Empire, Gala, or Golden Delicious apples
1/4 cup granulated sugar
17 1/4 ounce package (2 sheets) frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 large egg, beaten lightly with 1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

In a small bowl stir together cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Peel, halve, and core apples and cut into 1/4 inch slices. In a bowl toss apples with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface roll 1 sheet puff pastry into a 15 by 11 inch rectangle. From a long side, cut four 1/3 inchwide strips. From a short side, cut two 1/3 inchwide strips. Set pastry strips aside. Halve lengthwise what remains of rectangle and put halves on a baking sheet. Just inside pastry rectangles' edges, brush 1/3 inchwide borders of egg wash, reserving remaining egg wash. Arrange pastry strips on borders so that they are flush with edges of rectangles, trimming strips to fit. Spread creamcheese mixture inside borders on rectangles and top with apples. On a lightly floured surface roll remaining puff pastry sheet into a 14 by 10inch rectangle and halve lengthwise. Cut several 2 1/2 inch diagonal slits down middle of each rectangle (do not cut within 1-inch of edges). Brush pastry borders of appletopped tarts with some remaining egg wash and top each with 1 pastry rectangle. Press edges gently but firmly together to seal. Brush remaining egg wash over pastry tops and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake tarts in middle of oven 30 minutes, or until puffed and golden. In a small saucepan simmer maple syrup 10 minutes, or until reduced to about 1/3 cup. Brush hot syrup glaze over warm tarts. Serve tarts warm or at room temperature

Oh, just got done watching Year of the Dog. Very disappointing. Although, I really love Peter Saarsgard, it just kind of lost momentum and dragged on. Ryan and I always like Thomas McCarthy too. He played Molly Shannon's brother in the movie but also directed a movie Ryan and I both really love, The Station Agent.

Have a wonderful weekend, y’all! Love, Britney (ha).