Jump in a puddle, go ahead, you know you want to!

It’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is… JUMPING IN PUDDLES! Long ago when my husband used to show horses I had a pair of LL Bean boots, they were the best, you could walk through anything, and at horse shows you did precisely that! From the stable to the puddles your feet were safe and dry. Today it’s raining, it’s pouring at times, yet I could don these LL Bean Rubber Mocs and go skipping through puddles with no worries (which is exactly what you want to do when you have these shoes on, well, maybe not the skipping part, but…). You can get these in a variety of colors and shapes, from tall boots to shoes, from plain ones like I have to the shearling lined for winter, they’re the ticket! If you’re in the market for a good pair of rain boots/shoes that will keep your feet nice and dry, and are comfortable to boot (hee hee, pun intended), check them out! LL Bean!
 
Hey, I think I’m taking the weekend off… If I run into a spare few minutes I’ll pop on a post, otherwise check back on Monday… Until then…
Remember to check out my photo blog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com! Have a great FRIDAY!
 
Images via www.llbean.com

Death by lemon squares…

Oxmoor House photo – Cooking Light

Everyone loves a good lemon square. Normally when I post a recipe I post it as I’ve made it with some changes, additions or subtractions. But this my friends is PERFECT JUST AS IT IS. It’s a Cooking Light recipe. You can copy and paste the recipe below… (the link to Cooking Light no longer exists).

Beware, this is “16 servings” which is really like “4 servings” in my book, so the calories, etc. do go up… but it’s worth every bite! Really…


EASY LEMON SQUARES – Cooking Light

 For the crust:

¼ cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup flour

In a mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter at medium speed until creamy. Gradually add flour to sugar mixture, mix on low until resembles fine crumbs. Gently press into the bottom of an 8” square baking pan. Bake at 350˚ for 15 minutes; cool pan on wire rack.

 For the topping:

3 large eggs

¾ cup sugar

2 teaspoons grated lemon rind

1/3 cup FRESH lemon juice

3 tablespoons flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs at medium speed until foamy. Add sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice, flour, baking powder and salt. Beat until well blended. Pour mixture of partially baked crust. Bake at 350˚ for 20-25 minutes or until topping is set. Cool on wire rack.

 Before serving:

Sift 2 teaspoons of powdered sugar evenly over the top once it has cooled. (I skip this step, but it’s pretty!)

Nutritional Information:

Calories 118, Fat 3.2g (sat 1.7g, mono 1g, poly 0.3g), Protein 2.2g, Carbs 20.5g, Fiber 0.3g, Cholesterol 47mg, Iron 68mg, Sodium 68mg, Calcium 16mg


Post updated 01/23/25

Will he or won’t he??

Image via http://www.groundhog.org

Dangit! I forgot to go to Hallmark to get cards… hmmm. Wonder if we get mail today… hmmmm. It IS a holiday. YOU did remember, right? What holiday you’re thinking… ahhh, that would be GROUNDHOG DAY. Yes, today is the day, in the middle of an ice/snow storm that good ole Punxsutawney Phil will be pulled into the limelight to determine if we’ll see six more weeks of winter…  DO WE SEE HIS SHADOW? If it’s cloudy and there is no shadow that means an early spring… I’m kind of hoping he see’s his shadow. Winter in Charleston is nice, I sure don’t want to rush it! Here’s hoping you have a great groundhog day! Until next time…

Hey, you need a watchdog… an airfarewatchdog!

Image via http://www.airfarewatchdog.com

I bend down and pull all the clothes out of the dryer and toss them on the bed, good grief, four loads… and no kids, crazy! I begin the folding process, hey, might as well turn on the TV I’m going to be here for a while… I turn it on just as someone was telling the audience about a website called www.airfarewatchdog.com, how you can enter your home airport as well as destinations you are interested in flying into and you’ll get an email every so often with the best possible deals. How did I not already know about this? I had JUST gotten tickets not a few days before that… hmmm. I signed up. I am a realistic person. Neither an optomist or a pessimist. I know when it’s too good to be true, but I also know there HAS to be a deal out there SOMEWHERE! Lets see what airfarewatchdog shows, does it really show any great deal? YES. IT. DOES! Some are unadvertised. Some are advertised, but all the information is included in the email. It’s a worthy few minutes to spend to save some bucks in the future. So if you haven’t heard of it before, check it out!

Don’t forget to check out my photoblog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com ! Until tomorrow…

Sugar fix… Whew, take a peek!

The other day I told you about a neat bakery near us aptly called SUGAR BAKESHOP… Step inside the small but oh-so-cool shop and your senses explode… Ohhhhh the smells, the sights, then bite into one of those precious cupcakes and oh la la… Happy day! I know yesterday I talked about moving more and eating less… We had to move a lot for this cupcake but it was worth every step! Here’s hoping you have a sweet day! Until tomorrow…

A walk to remember…

Move more – Eat less… it’s what the experts say we should all be doing… Well, we’ve been really good about moving more, that’s for sure (we could probably eat a little less, but…). Charlie (our Jack Russell) is instrumental in our fitness regimen… if we don’t get him walked at the bare minimum of four miles he’s wound up tighter than a tick (ick, what does that mean?)… Here are a few pictures from our walk today. We live near the West Ashley Greenway, it’s a great path that goes many miles out… Today we ventured out 2 miles and back 2 miles with a quick reward stop at Petco for Charlie… He loves to shop… then as we headed back down the greenway we detoured at Dolittles (another pet store with cool toys and treats) and then headed home. Hope you’re able to get out this weekend. It’s so nice this week, I’m looking at my Brookstone “weather station” and it’s shows 75 for Wednesday… holy cow, can you imagine August? Eek… for now, the nights are still cool, YAY!!! So a fire in the fireplace is what we look forward to! Have a great weekend… until tomorrow…

Artist to watch: Robert Joyner

Image via http://www.robertjoynerartist.com

The day started innocently enough… taking the dog for a walk we ran into a neighbor. “What are you doing for Valentine’s Day?” she asked. Hmmm, we really hadn’t thought about it. We don’t usually go out to eat or buy flowers, etc since the dinners out that we have had on Valentine’s Day have been rushed and the flowers are at an overinflated price. But… that got us thinking… Fred was on Robert Joyner’s website (www.robertjoynerartist.com) and reading his blog, he saw this painting that we’ve had our eye on, Old Timer Number 5… it was still for sale… AND at that moment there was a 20% sale! Robert is very savy when it comes to his sales. Sales are there and then they aren’t, and then they are…  Earlier it was 15%…, now 20%, ohmygosh, a sign? We had just talked about cutting back, no more art this year. During the last year we’ve gotten some great pieces, but it’s time to slow down… we both agreed. BUT… IT’S. ON. SALE. So, we decided it would be our Valentine’s gift to each other (can we justify just about anything or what?), so it’s a done deal. It’ll be on it’s way here shortly and we CAN’T WAIT! If you haven’t been to Robert’s website I encourage you to visit it. It’s full of great information, stories and PAINTINGS! His blog is as interesting as it is informative. Speaking of his blog, there is a demo of him painting this very painting and it’s AMAZING! Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxZm8YxK3GI You won’t believe your eyes! If you’re looking for a painting, check them out, he paints a variety of subjects, ALL AMAZING.  Horses, cows, Maine scenes, landscapes the list goes on and on… Enjoy the demo AND your weekend!

Don’t forget to check out my photoblog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com ! Until tomorrow…

Why did Panera change their chicken noodle soup…

UPDATE: 2015 I tried their chicken noodle soup, it’s been years. It was very good! 

I lied. Not on purpose, but I did. I said I wasn’t going to post anymore about Panera Bread changing their chicken noodle soup recipe. BUT. I need to. I have gotten a tremendous amount of traffic on this site because of one thing. My fantastic writing skills PANERA CHANGED THEIR CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP RECIPE and (in my opinion) it’s not the best. I’m here to encourage those of you who haven’t, to let Panera know how you feel. You have reached my blog not because you enjoyed the new soup but because you were shocked at the new “improvement”. So go ahead, contact Panera (info from their website)…

👉You can email Panera Customer Support or give us a call at 855-3-PANERA (855-372-6372). Phone support is available every day from 7 A.M. – 7 P.M. CDT.

It’s a good company, so they would want to know why we aren’t buying the chicken noodle soup any longer.

Until tomorrow!

Image via www.panerabread.com

Take me AS I AM…

Image via http://www.aliciakeys.com

Ok, if you were going to be stranded on a desert island and could take only one music album with you, which one would it be? That is the WordPress topic of the day. Kind of fun, so I thought I would play along… I like to listen to Alicia Keys – AS I AM. It starts out with the Intro that is slow and sultry, you have to turn up the volume to be sure it’s even on… then it segues into more of a beat, perfect for walking… I love to listen to it when I’m cooking or painting… So I think I’ll go ahead and turn it on now and get dinner rolling… How about you? What ONE album would you take with you if you were to be stranded…? I guess we should all take that one album with us since between the wild weather and the traffic we most certainly can be “stranded” in our cars! You can listen to these songs at www.aliciakeys.com !

Remember to check out my photoblog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com – Until tomorrow…

Sugar Bakeshop – Charleston, SC

Image via http://www.sugarbake.com

Sugar. Not sure why, but I’m craving something sweet right now in the biggest way. I’m trying to re-route my thinking, but I’m not too successful so far… banana for the resistant starch to make me skinny (ha ha), ok… now some oatmeal with walnuts and raisins, more resistant starch… ok, I think i’ve worked my way up to something tasty! Maybe some homemade brownies or that darn apple crisp that was so good I can’t get off my mind… Poey… I had visions of Sugar Bakeshop in downtown Charleston pop into my head… oh what I wouldn’t do for a lemon cupcake, or a caramel cupcake, or just about any other cupcake, not being piggy… just wanting  a cupcake, not a big cake… I. DON’T. THINK. Hmmmm… If you get a chance, check it out, we’ve had most of their cakes (except chocolate, for that we always go to the Chocolate Cake Charleston, the best chocolate cake in the world, and a future post!)… Sugar Bakeshop shows their cake images as a slideshow, so I couldn’t include here, but check them out at www.sugarbake.com ! If you haven’t been before it’s worth the drive FROM ANYWHERE! They even make dog cookies, and let me tell you, Charlie gets just as excited about his cookie as we do with our cupcake! Have a sweet day, until tomorrow…!

YO BIRDIE, IT’S ME… CHARLIE!

What’s one thing you like to do on a Sunday? One thing we like to do is take Charlie (JRT) to the James Island County Dog Park. We had heard so much about this specific dog park, then we decided to check it out… The dog park is separated for small dogs under 25 pounds, which is where we started with Charlie… He finally graduated to the “big dog” side where there is a LOT of land to run, there is water to stand in to cool (he’s not a swimmer yet, but he will go stand in the water and maybe do a few paddles, even when it’s brutally cold!). If you have a dog do you take it to the dog park? if not, give it a try some time, you meet (mostly) nice people and the dogs are awesome to watch!
Charlie and his PBGB friend, Birdie…


See the water in the distance… This is where ALL the dogs are in the summer… In the winter everyone is really hoping they DON’T, but they always do…


This was his running buddy this past week… This dog was hilarious, would jump over smaller dogs while he was running…


This is what he looks like after soaking in the nice cold water then running and rolling in sand… The sun in his hair, he’s having the time of his life!

A router to rock your world!

Image via http://homestore.cisco.com

I am someone who loves gadgets. I love computers and all the fun stuff that comes along with them… until it gets super technical… I am creative. I learn quickly. But I draw the line at super complicated code talk… I might as well be in Siberia… We have an iPad, but couldn’t watch the videos… seemed like a shame. After taking it to the Apple store and trying their network, I determined it wasn’t the iPad itself, next I thought it might be our cable service, maybe I wasn’t paying for high speed Internet, a call to Comcast said I was paying for it… hmmm, then WHY did everything take so long to load, why could I not watch a short uTube clip? Hmmm, only thing I could think of would be the router, so I called Linksys. They couldn’t determine a problem with our router. So back to Apple, tried again, and the iPad was fine… I could watch video at my parents and they have Comcast and a Valet router… SO… maybe it IS the router! Off to Staples we went, armed with a 15% coupon and we are now proud owners of a Valet Plus. They say it’s easy. Whattttt? It’s so easy we did it in NO TIME! This is brilliant for those of us who don’t need the complicated settings that many of the other routers provide. I can watch painting videos again! Woohoo! If you’re in the market for a router and are dreading setting it up… LOOK NO FURTHER! This thing is awesome! Until tomorrow…

Remember to visit my photoblog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com

Did you know about this? The Starbuck’s card…

Image via http://www.starbucks.com

Do you know about this? Does everyone know about this? My husband and I received a Starbuck’s gift card for Christmas (thank you Lindsey and Drew!) – I saw something printed on the card that mentioned registering the card… hmmm. Curious I checked it out… Turns out if you register it, each time you use it you get a point (also known as a star), after so many points (5?) you get FREE REFILLS on coffee or tea (hot or iced, nice to know in the summer!) a free birthday beverage, a free beverage with a whole bean purchase AND some trial offers!… but when you jump to the GOLD level (30 stars) you get all of those benefits PLUS a free beverage with every 15 stars (transactions), coupons for free stuff and they send you a gold card… all for using (and reloading) your gift card! If you’re a regular visitor to Starbuck’s it might save you a buck or two! Check it out, information is on their website… hmmm… a cup of joe sounds good right now! Until tomorrow…

Apple crisp recipe… heat your house and your innards at the same time!

My version of APPLE CRISP

You know how it is when you’re chilly… the house feels chilly… it’s hibernating time and you want something sweet, but semi-healthy (ha ha)… well I’ve got the recipe for you! APPLE CRISP! I used almost a full 3# bag of granny smith apples AND there is oatmeal involved… therefore… HEALTHY’ish… Enjoy, it’s best topped with a little vanilla ice cream! Remember it’s a recipe, which is simply a guide, use more of what you like and less of what you don’t… the apples however are essential!

This recipe does more than make your house smell divine… it helps heat it up, and when you eat it… ahhhhh, finally warm! It’s better than vacuuming to get warm, hee hee…

APPLE CRISP (recipe adapted from Novia Scotia Apple Crisp that appeared in the Post & Courier newspaper years ago!)

Apple portion:

1- 3# bag of granny smith apples – PEELED AND SLICED

cinnamon, nutmeg and a little sugar – if you use sweet apples you may not need sugar!

Topping:

1/3 cup flour

2/3 cup rolled oats (use the regular oats, not the 1-minute kind)

1 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter (or whatever you have that resembles it)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Peel and slice apples. Arrange apples in a buttered baking dish (lasagna size pan or large casserole if you don’t have lasagna pan). Although I used 11×17 and it worked fine!

Sprinkle apples with cinnamon (I use quite a bit, use how much you like) and just a light sprinkle of nutmeg (it’s stronger). Then sprinkle a tablespoon or two of sugar over top of the apples.

In a medium bowl mix the flour, rolled oats, brown sugar together. Cut in the butter (can use two knives and cut it up in small pieces while mixing in with flour, etc.), until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs (it was cold when i made it last so they were bigger hunks, it’s OK).

Spread this mixture over the apples.

Bake at 375 F until apples are tender (poke with fork) and topping is lightly browned (35-40 minutes).

Serve with ice cream…. ooohhh la la!

Laugh until you cry!

MODERN FAMILY - Image via http://www.abc.com

Have you ever laughed so hard you cry? I LOVE when that happens! You can’t plan for it, something just strikes you as hilarious and you lose all control… It has happened to me many times and they say it’s GOOD FOR YOU! I just read something about this, WHY do we cry when we’re really laughing? They’ve been studying this (ugh, please study more important things!!) and they just don’t know… I can remember my mom and I stopping at this little roadside diner. Very small place. We were seated near the window… I think its after we worked at a boatshow all day in Detroit and were over tired… we got the giggles that turned into full blown I-just-can’t-stop laughter… It’s like doing hundreds of sit-ups once you’re done, ha ha… Everyone was looking at us like we weren’t right or perhaps had too much to drink, but neither was the case… It. Just. Happens. There are countless times my sister Bridget and I would either see something funny or the funny bone is just tickled for some reason and we just lose it… same with Fred. I can’t wait until the next time this happens.

Do you need a laugh? Well if you haven’t seen Modern Family (on ABC) the ‘Caught in the Act’ preview, it cracked me up, especially the very end… can’t wait to watch the show! I wish you a weekend full of laughter!!! Get out there and laugh, laugh hard, laugh with someone, laugh alone and most of all… LAUGH OFTEN!

Video link via U Tube (it’s only 1 minute 23 seconds long…):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY5YjRGpNPI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Remember to visit my photoblog at http://almostdailypic.wordpress.com!