Making a List...

Christmas is almost here! It feels like it is the day after tomorrow, though I know I still have 2 weeks to get ready. I have shifted into full gear Holiday Mode and can think of nothing but the prep work for the holiday and making sure we have all the presents and food and schedules ready. I am quite enjoying myself though. I tend to be one to make gifts that are useful rather than just buying random knickknacks, you know those ones no one wants and opens the gift already thinking about how long they will have to wait before they can re-gift it. So I am in the process of painting a picture for my future in-laws new home. I will post photos of it when I am done. I think it will be quite nice and I think they will appreciate it. I also usually make candles for presents. But this year I just don't feel as enthused about it as I normally do. I suppose that is because I have been doing it for a few years now and it seems like I should give something different this year. Plus I just feel like I won't have the time I want to be able and make them all. I might make a few, but not enough for everyone. I have decided instead to go with another home-made gift like mixes in a jar. I remembered something my mom used to make called Fireside Coffee. It is a hot chocolate and coffee blend which is absolutely yummy. I think I am going to get jars and make a few batches of the Fireside Coffee to give out this year. I tend to also have a few generic gifts waiting like some home-made cookies or ChexMix or something simple I can give out just in case we forget anyone.

So I have made my list and checked it more than twice. I am getting together all my supplies and starting to make all the gifts. It is times like this when I know I chose gift-friendly hobbies. Not to say that things like knitting are not good gift giving hobbies, on the contrary knitting is great for gift-giving, but you can tell by reading hokgardner, barb and madmad that you have to start way earlier than I have to be able to finish everyone's present in time for Christmas. My mother is an avid knitter and fiber enthusiast and every year I think maybe I should make a few scarves for Christmas presents this year, and then I don't. I love reading the knitting posts and quite admire the women who find the time and energy to make so many wonderful and individual presents. Maybe one day I will succumb to the forces that have so obviously claimed my mother, but for now I am happy with having her reteach me every time I want to make something.

I hope you are not too frazzled right now and your gift giving agenda is pretty simple.
I am off to make more presents!

Getting All Dolled Up

Last night I went out and bought earrings and lipstick and stockings. I also bought some of those nifty new Dr. Scholls inserts for heels. I am getting ready for the Great Big Christmas Party at work, can't you tell? I already have a dress, and the sweater to go over it, and the pearls that make the dress look fancy enough to wear to this, and two pair of shoes to choose from. I also have all the necessary hair products to make me look sophisticated rather than like I stuck my finger in a light socket. Oh and I bought a new perfume which I absolutely adore. I think I am pretty much set unless I decide I need a slip or one of those shaper things to go under the dress.

I also have all of the Penguin's stuff with me. All except the belt. I just need to drop his pants off at the cleaners tonight. I was not allowing him to forget to bring anything like his shoes or dress socks or even the whole jacket. I also wanted a say in what matched and what was appropriate. I want this weekend to go smoothly. I want us to have fun and not worry about anything.

This is the first Great Big Christmas Party I have ever attended. Sure I have gone to Christmas parties before but they were always small and at someone's home. This is my first year working with a big enough company to actually be able to attend a Great Big Christmas Party. I am looking forward to it. Even if it is not something the penguin or I would normally do. We are simple people you see. We do not dress up often, if ever. I had to buy a dress for the party and he had to buy a jacket. We do not wear these things, we do not go to events which might require us to wear such things. We are creatures of habit, we like to be comfortable. It probably takes us less than 10 minutes to get ready and walk out the door any other time. I so rarely wear makeup that I just remembered it is not at my house and I hope the Penguin remembers to pack it or I will have to go buy more. I am okay with the dress, I need one for such times where dressing up is important. And the Penguin is okay with the jacket. We opted for a jacket instead of a tie since I knew he would be more comfortable, it had nothing to do with the fact that last time we tried to tie a tie on him we were horribly unsuccessful, but after remembering that fact I am so very glad we decided on a jacket and no tie. And the jacket is a non-traditional suede which suits his personality so well, we love it.

I have no idea how well we will match as a couple, but honestly I do not care that much. I would rather us both be comfortable and like what we are wearing rather than worry about matching. My dress is black and the sweater red, I have red and black strappy shoes to choose from. His jacket is a tan suede which he is wearing with a black shirt and shoes and a pair of green/khaki pants. I cannot say this actually coordinates but I can't say it will look hideous either. I think it will be fine. I know we will be fine at least, other people may disagree but I do not so much care for their opinions. I do however care for yours. Do you think the combo screams ewww mismatched, or will it be fine?

I do so hope we have a good time. I hope we are not so uncomfortable playing dress up that we do not enjoy ourselves. I also hope the food is good. I know it will be good, but really I just hope we are willing to eat it. We are not so much picky eaters as we just have simple tastes. I hope the fancy seasonings and garnishes do not bother us. I am thinking we will be fine as long as we are open minded and I know we can do that. Well I can at least.

Wish us luck!

P.S. The Great Big Christmas Party is Saturday night and I promise to tell you all about it.

Holiday Toilets

So the Thanksgiving Holiday week is over. I am back home and somewhat ready to go back to work tomorrow. I did lots of shopping and got lots of great things. I made and ate lots of good food. I had a great time with lots of friends and family. And what do I have to show for it? What wonderful things did I take pictures of this past week? Nothing, nothing but toilets. See...
Yeah pictures like that one are all I have to show you about my fabulous week. I am amazing aren't I? I suppose I have sort of a good reason. I totally forgot that I even had my camera with me until last night. I found it in a bag and was so happy because that meant I could take a picture of our toilet. I had good reasons for taking a picture of the toilet. The Penguin's dad is a plumber and we have asked for 2 new toilets for Christmas. Our current ones are yellow and avocado green. They need to be replaced badly. As do the tubs and counter tops and floors and wallpaper and fixtures, but we figure one step at a time. So on Thanksgiving I mentioned to the Penguin's dad that 2 new toilets would still be a great Christmas present. He told me no problem but asked me to look at the toilets and tell him what kind of nut was on them. (I am avoiding all the dirty jokes I could make with that statement, but trust me there were quite a few witty comebacks.) Apparently the shape of the nut tells you what kind of fittings go under the toilet to help seal it to the floor.
I don't know if you can really see that or not but the nut on our toilet is cone shaped. If I got any closer to the nut the pictures came out all blurry like this.
Out of the twenty some odd pictures I took of this nut on the toilet, I only got that one semi-good picture of the nut that I posted before this one. I knew I needed a new camera but this experience really made me sure of that fact. I have already asked Santa for a new one, I even pointed out which one while we were at the mall this weekend. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

The entire point was that our nut is not flat like a normal nut. This means something to the plumber and he wanted to order all the stuff together which I think is awesome. That way we can actually install the toilets when we get them, which would be a good thing.

So yes, those thrilling pictures of my lovely dandelion colored toilet is all I have to show for such a great week. I totally rock!

Unreliable Wireless

Internet connection is being spotty. Every time I write a post it gets deleted as I try to put it up. I am getting tired of writing it all over again. I suppose this is my cue to get off the computer and just go shopping. Have a good day!

Black Friday

So I spent the day with the Penguin's mother and sister. We had a quite a good day. We did not wake up early by any means. Matter of fact we were quite lazy, but it worked for us. We did go shopping and it was not absolutely crazy like we were expecting. Then again were were in no hurry at all.

We were successful in finding the cutest strappy red shoes to wear for Christmas parties, with no lines at the checkout, woohoo. We found a few Christmas presents for family. We managed to avoid long lines everywhere we went. I actually had a really good time.

So if you went out shopping today I hope you had a successful trip. I know I enjoyed it more than I dreaded it.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a happy Turkey Day.

I hope you had a good time with your families.

I hope everyone is going to bed tonight happy and full,
no matter what you ate for dinner.

I Made Cookies Today

Spaghetti & Cheese

I promised that if I was able to find a decent substitute for Velveeta that I would post my recipe for Spaghetti & Cheese. Well luckily I found just such a thing. I was very happy with the way my casserole turned out using this new cheese. I found this wonderful creation:

It is Kraft Deluxe American Cheese. I found it right next to the Velveeta. My only qualm about it is that it only comes in a 1lb loaf when Velveeta comes in 2lbs. I do not really mind the price difference so much since I like the way it tastes. The 1lb loaf means adjusting and having to buy some sliced cheese for the top of the casserole but I can handle that. So as promised here is the recipe.

I used these ingredients

I hope you can see all of that. But here is a list of ingredients you will need. This recipe will make a 9x13 pan and can easily be halved.

1lb Spaghetti

1/2 Onion, diced

1/2 Bell Pepper, diced

1 can Evaporated Milk

1 egg

2 tablespoons butter
1lb Kraft Deluxe Cheese

1 package Kraft Sliced Cheese

As you can see I don't have a Bell Pepper in my picture of ingredients. I used what I had on hand which happened to be 2 green onions and they worked just fine.

So here is how you put it all together.

Put a pot of water on the stove to boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil, dice 1/2 Onion and Bell Pepper. Once the water comes to a boil throw in the Spaghetti, Onions, and Bell Pepper. I like to break the noodles in half before I add them to the pot, but that is just me. You can add in a spoon of minced garlic as well, I always do. (But I always add garlic to everything, except dessert.) Boiling the noodles with the vegetables gives the noodles a really good flavor and I promise you will like it.

While the noodles are boiling you will need to dice the pound of Kraft cheese. Toss a few cubes in your mouth because you just can't wait. Pour the can of Evaporated Milk into a medium bowl and whisk in the egg. Toss in the cubed cheese and stir together to get the cubes to not stick together so much. Set this aside.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take your 9x13 baking dish and add the 2 tablespoons of Butter. It helps if you dice up the butter some. Once the noodles are done drain them and then add to your pan. You will more than likely have too many noodles but that is normal. You want to make sure to leave enough room for the cubed cheese mixture so you do not have to fill the pan to the top. Now toss the spaghetti around in the pan until the butter is melted. Once the spaghetti is coated level it out and pour in the cheese mixture. Use the pasta fork to kind of wiggle the noodles so that some of the cheese gets pushed down and isn't all just laying on top of the noodles. You want the level of the liquid to be right at the top of the noodles. If you think the level of liquid is too low you can add some more evaporated milk, or be like me and just add a splash of half and half or milk since you already have some in the fridge. You don't want the noodles to be swimming but you want an adequate amount of sauce, so adjust to your taste. Now take the sliced cheese and cover the top of the pan.

Place the dish uncovered in the oven for 30 minutes. Check on it after about 15 minutes to make sure the cheese on top is not getting too brown. You can always cover it if you don't want browned cheese. After 30 minutes take it out of the oven and be sure to let it cool for about 20 minutes or so. Allowing it to cool lets you cut and serve it easier.

Enjoy the cheesy goodness!

This is what mine looked like when it was done.

I kind of browned it a little too much but it was still yummy. You definitely do not need to brown it this much, I made it in two small pans and it cooked faster than I was expecting. If you do brown it this much don't fret I promise it still tastes great.

And this is what my serving looked like

I was very happy with my results.

So lets recap:

Boil the spaghetti with onion, bell pepper, and garlic.

Put the noodles in a pan with some butter to coat them.

Add in the diced cheese, evaporated milk, and egg mixture.

Cover with sliced cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

It is really pretty simple and you can adjust proportions for your needs. Please use this recipe as more of a guideline and add in whatever else you want. I sometimes add in frozen broccoli with my noodles. You could definitely add other ingredients and make it your own like diced chicken or maybe even spinach. What makes it unique is the use of spaghetti and the fact that it is a casserole. It is really easy and really versatile. Make it special!

P.S. If you do not think Velveeta tastes funny and/or you want to use it because it is cheaper and you only have to buy one cheese, go right ahead. Dice about 1/3 of the loaf for what goes inside the casserole. Use a cheese slicer and the rest of the loaf for the cheese which covers the top. One 2lb loaf of the Velveeta will be more than enough for one recipe.

P.P.S. The type of noodle you use will affect how dry or wet the casserole turns out. We normally use spaghetti and I remembered the first time we used angel hair it was soupier. If you use more of a fettuccine I can say it will be more solid.

P.P.P.S. You can make this ahead of time and keep in the fridge until you need it. Just make sure to have a little less milk in it if you want to do this so that it is not too runny.

Color me Black

It has been a pretty good weekend. I am ready for the coming holiday. I am ready for cold weather. I am ready because I got a wonderful black pea coat yesterday. It looks a little something like this:

I love this coat. I have been wanting a pea coat for years now. Seriously I have always adored pea coats and been envious of the really nice ones. I just never could make myself break down and buy one, they were too pricey. Well I finally found one I liked. And it was on sale! I got it for about $75 and was sooooo happy. It is black, does the whole double breasted thing as pea coats do, and has this "belt" around the middle which is sewed directly onto the coat so I don't have to worry about losing it. I quite adore it.

I took it out of the closet today to pack for my trip home for thanksgiving. And I noticed something was not quite right. They left the freaking security device on the coat, you know the ones you can't remove on your own because they have the dye in them and will explode all over you and ruin your clothes and make you look like you just robbed a bank? Yeah one of those, still on the coat. I was not happy. Now I have to go back to another store on my way home today and hope that they will take it off. I hope I can find the receipt! Anyways, I started to think about how they could have left this on my coat, I mean this has never happened to me at this store before. Well the lady who was checking me out was a little older and really nice and was all chatting me up and we had some trouble with my gift card and she got distracted, which is totally acceptable. But she was not even the one who bagged my coat. Another person, a manager I think, came over to help with the gift card and then proceeded to bag my coat for me. So I had to laugh at the fact that two people missed this security thingy. I am not however laughing at the prospect of having to go out of my way to get to another store to have the device removed. It is in such a spot that I cannot wear the coat without it being noticed. So I have to find a store to remove it before I can wear it. I was so looking forward to wearing it, like today.

Oh well, such is my life.

Tired Equals Meme

Today was great.

We ate Breakfast here:

And went shopping at an outlet mall and La-Z-Boy.

Then we ate lunch here:

Then we went shopping here:

And I got lots of neato kitchen gadgets.

Then I went shopping here and here:

Then I made french bread pizzas for dinner. And now I am too pooped to come up with anything else good to write so...I am going to do a meme. I stole this one word meme from hokgardner because I liked how simple it was. My brain needs simple right now.

Where is your cell phone? pocket

Where is your significant other? home

Your hair color? brown

Your mother? knitter

Your father? cook

Your favorite thing? home

Your dream last night? none

Your dream/goal? happiness

The room you’re in? living

Your hobby? reading

Your fear? loneliness

Where do you want to be in 6 years? together

Where were you last night? Houston

What you’re not? perfect

One of your wish-list items? ring

Where you grew up? country

Last thing you did? packed

What are you wearing? jeans

Your TV? tiny

Your pet? boyfriend

Your computer? ancient

Your mood? sleepy

Missing someone? Penguin

Your car? reliable

Something you’re not wearing? shoes

Favorite store? Wal-Mart

Your summer? crazy

Love someone? duh

Your favorite color? royal

When is the last time you laughed? tonight

Last time you cried? Wednesday