Today was a good day. Apparently some cute guy checked me out/flirted with me today at work. However, I had no idea because I'm clueless like that. He bought a gift card, and after he left my boss was like "That guy was totally checking you out." And I made this face 0_0 She said she saw him looking at me and he noticed her looking at him (looking at me). She said she was telling me in her head "Look up. Smile." But like I said, I'm clueless in that area. When I helped him out though, I did notice that he was kind of cute. And then at Starbucks, after work, the lady taking my order called me 'beautiful' which made me :)

Also, I got out of work 2 hours earlier than originally scheduled; I had a delicious meal with my boss; I have a peppermint mocha from Starbucks; the company who owns the store I work at gave everyone a $20 VISA gift card; we're closing earlier than planned on Christmas Eve; it's almost Christmas; my dad, stepmom, and sister are coming over for Christmas Eve dinner and we're going to be watching their dog, Willy, while they're in DC (xmas to new years); I have Monday off (after having worked 7 days in a row this week); I have new Merlin and Never Mind the Buzzcocks to watch; I finally finished One Fine Day and I absolutely loved it; I'm going to be getting a new phone soon (which is good because the other day mine did some weird countdown thing and then turned itself off); I finally named my laptop Nakatsu; and there's more, but I'm too hyped up on caffeine and sugar to think properly.

If you guys really want to get me something, #1 on my Christmas list:


Also, I just sent out my Christmas cards. I've been a little distracted by RL, and I'm sorry if you get them after Christmas. But if you asked for one, you're getting one!

We've seen a few of these lately, but this is a different combination. Chocolate Guinness cupcakes with peppermint Irish Cream frosting.



( Recipe. )

Nesmith made a short appearance in Videoranch 3D this afternoon during the Christmas Party. Here are a few screen shots courtesty of monkees_news  for your viewing pleasure. ( pix behind the cut )

I got the recipe from the December 2007 issue of Gourmet Magazine. I just love this recipe. I just made a few minor changes. www.gourmet.com/recipes/2000s/2007/12/trios I did not cream for 4 minutes (the last time I made them they spread too much. I also chilled the dough after I shaped (my garage was very cold, so it worked out nicely)

( pic...becuase I can't figure out to make it smaller )

I woke up at 5 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep. Since yesterday was an exhausting day (a midterm, 3 quizes, an organic lab and finally a very pointless excursion through the mud and the rain in the evening), I decided that rewarding myself was the best way to get me motivated to push through the final weeks the semester. So, I did some early morning baking. ( here's what I have done )

Here is an interesting article on Southern Layer Cakes. It includes a recipe. Enjoy!

X posted tovintage_chefs




( Mmmm Southern Layer Cake. I do declare! )

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Title: A Rush Of Blood To The Head
Disclaimer: Still don't own 'em. Sadly.
Rating: Still G. Sadly
Chapter: 3 (snails and wine)

( Read more )

Original

America Ferrera Set To Volunteer in Africa
December 18, 2009 by Tom

While Ugly Betty is finishing up its break during the holidays, don’t expect a whole lot of paparazzi photos of America Ferrera partying in NYC or glamming it up back in LA.

The Betty star will instead spend a Christmas with family, then travel to Mali with Save The Children. Ferrera has been the organization’s Education Ambassador, and she will be traveling to Africa in that capacity. She will be handing out books to children and families and visiting schools that the charity is currently building.

"It’s strange to be an ‘Education Ambassador’ when these children lack such basic need like food and shelter," says Ferrera. "The line gets blurred between providing education and helping provide for these needs. Really, my goal is to help promote a healthier environment for these children where they can get education and have better lives."

America maintains, as she has in the past, that her own background inspired her to be an education advocate. "As the youngest of 6 kids with a single mother, I was taught that school and education was our way out," she says.

About her involvement with Save The Children: "The reason I care so much about this is that I’ve witnessed for myself the concrete difference that their [Save the Children's] work makes between the child that has been helped and the one next door who hasn’t," says Ferrera. "They hold their head higher, make eye contact and have more confidence in themselves. It’s incredible to see the difference that education makes."

Ferrera has more information about the trip and Save The Children at her Facebook page.

Ferrera deserves much praise for this. She puts her effort where her mouth is, and inspires many of the rest of us to do the same!

Source

FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/AmericaFerrera?v=wall

inb4 Rule 34 amirite?

Title: His Winter Song
Author: blackmamba_esq and tokenblkgirl
Fandom: Original Fiction
Characters: Original Characters
Series: Anna’s Boys and La Sinfonia, posted at The Chamber Archive.
Response to the “All I Want for Christmas” Challenge
Summary: John Landon had seen his share of battles over the years. But nothing quite like this. Over the past ten years, the ex-CIA agent and sometimes mercenary has fashioned what he considered a pretty normal life for a guy who used to sleep with a loaded gun under his pillow. Faithful husband to former hired gun, Ana Lucia Reyes and an attentive father to their daughter Joanna, Landon figures he’s just about reached his domestic obligations quota for this lifetime.

But family has a funny way of sneaking up on you where you least expect it. And this Christmas, John Landon will rediscover his roots, face a few demons he thought were buried long ago, and realize that the last place on earth he’d want to spend the holiday is starting to feel a lot like coming home.

I'm looking for suggestions/recipes for sweet goodies that I can make with my nieces, other than just decorating sugar cookies.

Recipes similar to this one: http://bunsinmyoven.com/2009/12/16/buttons/

It needs to be simple since they're only 4 and 5.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

So, I'm normally pretty hardcore about making everything from scratch but Kroger recently had a sale on all Duncan-Hines cake mix for a dollar a box. Which was way too awesome a deal to pass up so I grabbed a few in hopes of being able to modify them from acceptable to OMG delish. Duncan-Hines mix requires the addition of: 1/3 c vegetable oil, 3 large eggs, and 1 1/3 c water.

I thought I could try this instead: 1/3 c melted butter, 2 large eggs, 2 oz cream cheese, and 1 1/3 c milk.

Do yo think this would work? Or would it just result in some bizarre mutant cake thing? My trial run is going to be with the lemon supreme mix, which I am making lemon cupcakes with black raspberry cream cheese frosting. Lemon and raspberry gets me all sorts of happy. Doing this trail run is really important, as I will be applied the same modification to the yellow cake mix I got for my boyfriend's bday cake. His mother used to cook everything out of a box so sometimes he prefers box to homemade from scratch. His is going to be a classic yellow cake with rich chocolate fudge frosting and a chocolate ganache filling and chopped reese's on top. I can't wait to see him eat it!

Moving past the rambling, any advice on altering a box mix would be great and if my idea would work.

Thanks!

Hey guys,

So I've been a member of this community for a few years. I don't update all that much, because I never think to take pictures before people have begun devouring my baked goods, but this is where I always go for a lot of my recipe ideas. So a few years ago there was a brownie request post (I tried looking in the tags but I couldn't find it) and it had this link to a scanned image of "The World's Best Brownies." I'm pretty sure that was the title. I don't remember what it was from, but those are the most epicly amazing brownies I've ever had. I had it saved to my hard drive, but of course, my hard drive failed and now I'm left without the world's most delicious brownies. Does anyone remember the recipe I'm talking about?

I remember it had nearly a pound of butter, a ton of chocolate, and recommended that you let them sit for a day before eating them (a feat that is nearly impossible to accomplish). I do however, remember the taste. They were super moist and gooey and chocolatey and amazing. If anyone knows what recipe I'm talking about, I will pretty much love you forever.

Oh and so it's not entirely just a wordy post...

Last night I made Cake balls!

( om nom nom )

This is one of the most beautiful ecards I have seen:  CLICK HERE! Play Farmville: http://apps.facebook.com/onthefarm/index.php?ref=tab Yoville is cloning my friend and web-sis Stephanie! My friend Sudan is also getting cloned! Lime Sherbert Kitty 12-18-09

Image Neopets, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Used With Permission. http://neopets.com Profile: http://www.neopets.com/userlookup.phtml?user=pixiewildflower To play: http://www.neopets.com/refer.phtml?username=pixiewildflower

Check out my Poupee!

Sugar under the tree. http://apps.facebook.com/happy-pets/?source=80&rfid=576344862

Sadly, I was away sick from baking lab last Friday, which meant I had no pictures of the lovely Creme Brulees, the Panna cottas and the other beautiful treats we made. However, I did bake two Yule Logs earlier this week (one chocolate and one vanilla), which were received with great delight! ( Yummy Yummy this way... )