Buche de Noel

Last year I got all crazy on Christmas Day dinner and made a huge meal. It took all day, I got cranky, the rib roast got smokey, everyone filled up on appetizers and the homemade "crackers" blew confetti in the horseradish(oh. the. horrors.). This year, like I said, I hit the easy button. I declared it a cooking free day and told everyone to bring appetizers. It was a smashing success and I spent the day munching fantastic hors d'oeuvres instead of galloping around yelling at people to not touch the table. This may become a tradition of mine at least while i have little kids because I actually got to spend the day with them not just in the vicinity of them.

The one thing I made last year that I decided to repeat was the Buche de Noel or Yule Log. It's an extremely flat cake that you roll up while it's still warm and let it cool. Then you fill it with frosting or whipped cream, frost it, add a branch and some meringue mushrooms. I skipped the meringue mushrooms because I just did not have that kind of time, I used a bit of white frosting to make a few mushrooms and dusted them with cocoa powder. It's actually pretty easy to whip one of these up ahead of time and they look kind of impressive. I'll be making one for a friend for her birthday in late January too, yes Lori I'm talking to you, so you can definitely make these NOT look like a piece of firewood and just make a plain jellyroll. Impressive either way, delicious too.

Buche de Noel
part one-
chocolate jelly roll cake
1/2 cup cake flour, sifted
1/4 cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

line a jelly roll pan, 11x17(ish) baking pan, with wax paper and then grease it
sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt together, set aside
beat the eggs until fluffy
add the sugar slowly and beat until very light and thick
beat in the vanilla
fold in the flour
pour into the prepared pan, spread evenly
bake 8-9 minutes, watch out for over cooking you don't want crisp edges
after it comes out of the oven let it set for a minute
dust a clean dish towel with confectioners sugar
flip the cake upside down on the towel
starting from the short end roll the cake with the towel to keep it from sticking
leave it to cool overnight, I like to wrap it lightly in a plastic wrap to keep t from drying out too much
to frost: you can fill it with real whipped cream(YES!) or this fantastic butter cream recipe below (YES!!)
gently unroll the cake, do not flatten the edges or force it flat simply unroll it enough to get the dish towel out
fill with your desired filling smoothing to the edges
re-roll it and set it seam side down on a cake plate or serving tray
trim one end off to form a branch, set it someplace strategic along the log
frost with the chocolate butter cream, covering it completely
then take a fork and drag it along to simulate bark
add mushrooms if desired
I made the frosting mushrooms with a ziploc and some crappy store bought cream cheese frosting
I just cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and drew on some lines
then I cut the same hole bigger and made some mounds of frosting
then I smoothed them with a finger dipped in water and dusted them with cocoa powder
I think they looked OK but next year I will be making the meringue mushrooms for sure

part two-
Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting
2/3 cup of softened butter
5 1/4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
6-8 Tablespoons heavy cream

cream the butter
add the sugar and cocoa, beat well
add the cream slowly and mix on low
add just enough to make it a spreading consistency
don't beat the frosting too long or hard or it will separate and turn out grainy


Kami all decked out for Christmas

Before kids


BOYS!!

Anybody else keeping the magic alive? Is it still the season for you? We are dining by candle light, still crafting, telling the story of Befana/Baboushka and playing games. Our season of joy is living on, we refuse to only enjoy one day and we still have until the sixth. In fact we all do! So while Walmart drags out the Valentines and Easter candy why don't you join us in boycotting the "what comes next mentality" and enjoy the here and now? We'd love some company.

Peace and Love,

Super Secret Winners!

Weeks and weeks ago I was contacted by My Blog Spark and was asked if I wanted to participate in a 'spark'. I always enjoy trying products for several reasons:

• it's nice to step outside my comfort zone
• it eases the food bill a bit
• I might find something fantastic
• I get to give stuff away, usually

I was asked to try out two different products; one was Pillsbury Crescent Rolls and the other was Progresso Panko. They arrived on the same snowy day delivered by a poor Fed-Ex guy who looked like he was ready to go home. It was crazy busy before Christmas but I found time to make homemade Hot Pockets for a pack of feral teenagers who actually declared them better than Hot Pockets. It was a simple quick snack to whip up for them, one of many that night, and I'll be making them again for kids.

Mom's Hot Pockets oven 375˚
1 cup of barbecue beef
16 crescents rolls

to assemble flatten each crescent roll to make an even triangle
top with one Tablespoon of barbecue beef
fold over and crimp edges with a fork
repeat with remaining dough and beef
bake 12-16 minutes until toasty brown and heated through
cool for a few minutes before calling teens to come and eat

The Panko was something I had cooked with before and I really like it to use it. The crispy crunch it gives to fried or baked foods is always a hit in my house. I wanted to make something not so fried last night but still with a crunch, not always an easy task. I ended up making Crab Cakes a la Laura. I have never made crab cakes before, I'm always making salmon patties because, well because, we always have lots of salmon to eat up. So crab it was. I used canned crab because I had some, that foul imitation stuff makes me gag, and real crab is too expensive for crab cakes.
These are super simple and the kids loved them. Go figure!

Crab Cakes

1 can of crab meat, drained and give it a quick rinse too
2 ounces of cream cheese
2 Tablespoon of dried dill weed
salt to taste
pepper to taste
3/4 cup Panko breab crumbs+more for the outsides
1 Tablespoon oil for frying
1 Tablespoon butter

stir together the crab, cream cheese, dill and Panko
taste for salt and pepper, add as needed
heat oil in a large heavy frying pan over medium heat
meanwhile pat into 8 patties and gently press both sides in Panko
when the oil is hot but not smoking
gently set the patties in the pan and cook to golden brown, flip and cook other side
serve while hot for best flavor

Even my little boys, who have proclaimed themselves to be vegetarians, ate these like they were going out of style. I served them with all kinds of unholy leftovers that really didn't go together but needed to be eaten.


And of course you all probably really want to know what I mean by Super Secret Winners right?
Well anyone who commented on my "Cans For Comments" posts last was entered to win either the Progresso Panko Pack or the Pillsbury Crescent Roll Pack from me, My Blog Spark, Progresso and Pillsbury. This is the Progresso pack one of you will win:




and the Pillsbury pack includes 2 coupons for Crescent Rolls and 3 beautiful white oval platters. Wish I had a picture but for some reason My Blog Spark doesn't have one for you.

So the winners are:

Michelle of Honest and Truly-A hilarious true to life blog that always makes me smile

and

Sandy AKA Doris the Great at Aging Disgracefully!

Thanks for all your comments and helping bring so much food to the Salvation Army Food Bank. Ladies email me with your address' so I can have these yummy prizes sent right out.

I am posting this to Tackle it Tuesday over at 5 Minutes for Mom. I don't think it's exactly what they had in mind but I'm taking liberties and saying this was a post I NEEDED to tackle. Think of it in a blog cleaning/getting things sort of way and squint one eye up real tight and then you'll see that it does indeed fit. Sort of.

Peace and Love,





oops per ftc regs “free product, information, and gift packs have all been provided by Pillsbury and Progresso through MyBlogSpark.”

Yes Christmas was grand

We ate.

We played.

It was good.

For once we didn't dump loads of stuff on each other that we don't really want or need. We got a lot of books, a new vacuum (Dyson) my last one was 10 years old (!), some legos and hotwheels tracks. Oh, and I got a Le Creuset frying pan, check it:

Yep my man rocks. I got him a pair of Keens, a sharpening steel and the first knife in a good knife set, you know for butchering. We are kind of practical in the gift giving department, if you can't tell.

It was sweet, lots of homemade gifts and relaxing. Last year I decided to go all out on Christmas and make a rib roast for 10 people, not this year. We hit the easy button and said bring appetizers only, no cooking allowed. It was perfect. Except I ate too much, we all did but that's nothing new. In fact we are still eating leftovers. Now I'm going to waddle off and eat more leftovers, by candlelight so we can still enjoy the season.

Peace and Love,

Busy Little Bees

We've been busy little bees around here these last few weeks. Projects, surprises, cookies, skiing, advent spiral, crafting, shoveling, caroling and wrapping have filled our days. I loved every moment of it, except the occasional punching and screaming that is.

I used to feel sad and let down after Christmas was over but last year we resolved to keep the magic alive. Nothing fancy though. No extra presents. No Christmas II. More just the feeling of peace and joy that should fill our hearts this time of year but often gets stomped down by the commercialism of it all. We decided to fill the nights of the 12 days of Christmas, the days between Christmas Eve and Epiphany with simple pleasures. We dined by candle light all but 2 nights, re-watched Christmas movies, played games in our pajamas and there we found an inkling of that joy we all seek. It was found not in sparkling bows, battery driven toys and lcd tvs but rather a cup of hot coffee, a good laugh and the soft twinkle of candle light. Please join my family as we attempt to bring simple joy back to this holiday gone mad. Of course if you happen to be by on Christmas you'll find boys on a sugar high, playing with race tracks while we sit drinking champagne but the days after that is where the magic can happen. Don't feel let down rejoice in your loved ones and then put them to bed.

Today we donated 50 cans of food to the Salvation Army, we wanted to donate to the Food Bank but they appeared closed forever. We also brought in 7 boxes of candy canes and they seemed so happy to have them. It was a nice to donate every one seemed happy to be there and they also had a shopping area set up for parents to pick out presents for their kids. It was a fantastic experience for the boy-ritos all the way around. When we got home I gave them each a felt candy cane for their ornament this year.

We have been baking cookies

learning to sew little dwarfs

needle felting anything that sits still long enough

making yarn dolls

playing in the snow

making magnets from a wooden puzzle that was missing a piece

wrapping presents

taking too many pictures of the Christmas tree and the beautiful door to my bathroom(OK and the collection in the bathroom in the Hoosier cabinet )

and of course watching the angel chimes!

The Buche de Noel is rolled and ready for chocolate butter cream, mmmmm. Everything appears to be done. We have a can of dog food to wrap for Kami and some dog bones too. I guess what I'm wondering is: What am I missing? Is Friday going to dawn and I'll have forgotten some huge thing? Possibly but then I'll have to wing it, thankfully I'm used to that.

Peace and Love,



While waiting for the foodbank to open we found this charming little ice sculpture castle garden on the town green

36 and 7

That's 36 cans of food and 7 boxes of candy canes. Today I shop so I'll be adding in 36 cans of food and 7 boxes of candy canes to our cart. Yeah us!! I'll try to donate today too so I can actually fit our food in the pantry.

Thanks for all your kind words! I will be posting again later when I get a chance. I have some cute crafts we have been working on and hopefully the beginnings of a Buche de Noel.

What are your plans for Christmas?

Peace and Love,

Green White Elephant Reveal, Isn't it Ironic UPDATED

Today is the day! The big reveal, when everyone who participated in my Green White Elephant Gift Exchange reveals their goodies. Oh my it has been lots of fun hearing from people and who got what. Please check out the bloggers who participated to see for yourself what great little gifts found new homes.
But first I want to say a word or two about irony. First I should give you what I believe to be the most fitting definition of irony for my situation that I have found. According to Websters online dictionary irony definition 3A1: incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result. Another way to look at irony or an ironic situation is to think of Alanis Morrisette's song Isn't ironic?"it's a black fly in your Chardonnay, it's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife, it's like meeting the man of your dreams and then meeting his beautiful wife" It's like throwing a blogger gift exchange and not getting your present. And may I just say this now and for the record, I know this blogger, I trust this blogger and I know she mailed the present.

Ironic. It's like throwing a blogger gift exchange and then remembering later that you are saddled with the worst contract mailman in the history of the USPS. I swear this guy throws a dart at his route on a dart board and that's where he delivers to that day. It's never a schedule. Or daily. And uh God forbid you put a letter IN the box to go out, because he wouldn't deign to touch mail. That is ironic, no? This is the mailman who left my son's stereo system sitting in the back of the post office for 5 weeks and "forgot it" THEN left us a first notice to pick it up with the original received date on it and wrote "been here for 5 weeks!" on the pick up slip. Oh I have complained and I will be complaining again. SO I have no reveal today but sooner or later I will have one or the hide of contract carrier. **Insert evil grin here.** Or both.

Onwards! This is the list of bloggers who participated. Please check them out, leave a comment and enjoy their writing!

All the Small Stuff

The Queen of My House

Just add Walter

Keeping up with the Schultz Family

Heather in SF

Beach Eats

Food Snob

Uncovering Food

Healthy Wife Crazy Life

Dinner at Christina's

Lick the Bowl Good

OK I have one more piece of irony for you. I live next to the stop sign that everybody runs. No one ever stops and I feel like I am constantly watching cars roar through the intersection. I have called parents of kids who run it. I shake my fist at them and have been known to occasionally raise a broom in anger (I take after my Grandmother that way). These stop sign runners are the BANE of my peaceful outdoor existence. So here is the irony: I'm admiring my tree tonight, also avoiding writing about irony when I look beyond the tree and see a car practically float through the intersection. Then it slammed on the brakes. Turned in our driveway. And my son was home. Yes the SAME son who has witnessed my screaming, spit flinging stop sign runners hissy fits. THAT same son ran the stop sign. Ironic.

Oh cans/candy canes for comments is over!! I'll tally it up later my brain is fried! I also have some more quick and easy Christmas presents for kids. And a Buche de Noel. Then? I NAP!

We also celebrated Winter Solstice today by having a small bonfire and beating on some drums. I even pulled out my mandolin and plucked out a few small tunes. I need lessons but it is still fun. We got about 6 hours of ambient light today, no direct sun, we had cloud coverage. Usually we have 4 hours of the sun skipping behind the mountains and about 1 hour on either side of brighter sky.

Peace and Love,




UPDATE: so it looks as if only 2 bloggers got their gifts...hmmmm I'd like to know if anybody else got theirs but they HAVE TO CHECK THEIR EMAIL for that to happen. **sigh**

Up for a Challenge+Can-dy Canes for comments today!

I was recently challenged by Challenge Butter to come up with a side dish using their butter and a variety of Spice Island spices. Was I up to the challenge? I said yes and then kind of freaked out! No that's a lie I totally freaked out. I'm fine when it's just me playing in the kitchen but when I have to write about AND produce food well then that's a different story. But nonetheless I was in and that meant a lot of deep breathing, and wracking my brain.

I finally just bit the bullet and started trying out dishes. I came up with an Oven Hash which is practically ethereal and Potato Blossoms which my children promptly named Bantha Ribs (Banthas are a mega beast thing from Star Wars) and proceeded to claim them all. Second time around I doubled the recipe and they were instantly inhaled but I managed to take pictures before they were all eaten. Thanks for the camera Rachel!

And can I just say how much I love Rachel?? I was teasing her for being young and then muttered something about turning 40 next year and she said "WHAT?! I would have said maybe 32" Even if it was a straight up bald face lie I don't care. I. Don't. Care. She is now totally my best friend forever. Until she makes me look old by looking all young and then she's gone.

Back to my recipes, panic and ensuing calm. Or whatever.

Oven Hash oven 375˚

4 large potatoes, scrubbed and cleaned
2 sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cleaned
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 teaspoons smoked paprika, divided
salt
pepper
4 slices of thick cut bacon, snipped into 1 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons butter, cut up

Chop the 4 potatoes in to 1 inch or so chunks
in a large bowl toss with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon smoked paprika a dash of salt and pepper
pour in to 9x13 baking pan
sprinkle on the bacon and stir it in
roast in a 375˚ oven for 15 minutes
meanwhile prepare the sweet potatoes the same way
when the 15 minutes are up remove the potatoes from the oven
add the sweet potatoes to the baking pan
stir them in and dot with the butter
bake for 25-30 minutes more, stirring every 10 minutes

This unfortunately has not been photographed but it is in heavy rotation so I'm sure before long I'll get a picture of it. Patience is a virtue, snort.

Potato Blossoms AKA Bantha Ribs oven˚375

6 medium baking potatoes scrubbed and cleaned
1 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of kosher sea salt( I love Alessi!)
2 Tablespoons of melted butter
2 teaspoons of dill weed
topping
1 cup of sour cream
1/2 a cucumber, scrubbed and finely chopped
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of dill weed

cut each potato almost in half the long way leaving each about a 1/4 uncut
then cut crosswise 2-3 times to open it up
don't cut it all the way through, just almost all the way through, see photos
repeat with the other potatoes
in a large bowl gently coat the potatoes with the olive oil
line a baking pan with foil
place the potatoes on the foil, sprinkle with salt and pop in the oven
bake for 20 minutes
meanwhile melt the butter and 2 teaspoons of dill weed together
after 20 minutes remove the potatoes from the oven and baste with the butter mixture
continue baking for 20 more minutes basting with the butter and then pan juices about every five minutes
meanwhile sprinkle the cucumber with the salt and set in a strainer to drain for 10 minutes or so
stir the remaining dill weed into the sour cream, squeeze out the cucumber and add to the sour cream
add salt and pepper to taste
when the potatoes are done serve them with sour cream and additional kosher sea salt



As I said this was a challenge(oh yes it was!) from Challenge Dairy. They sent me butter, spreadable butter and spices to help get me started. I received no monetary compensation for writing about them and this was an offer I CHOSE to accept. I never take money for blog posts and if I did or ever considered it you would know right off the bat.

Additionally Challenge Dairy is sponsoring a contest here for a 7 day/6 night trip for 4 to Mountain Sky Guest Ranch in Montana's Paradise Valley. It's worth 17,000 dollars so you might want to think about entering. I know I am cause you know I need more snow and uh mountains yeah that's right! OK the LAP of luxury might have a hand in it too.

Today your comments will be buying Can-dy Canes for the food bank. Now I know some of you may be thinking "why do hungry people need candy canes?" Well I have been pitifully poor, unable to buy new clothes or toys for my son (when I was a single mom) and getting a box of candy canes given to me was a big deal for my son. I don't think we ate them we just hung them on the tree and admired them. I'd like to give that feeling to someone else, so for every comment today I'll be adding a box of candy canes to my donation!


Peace and Love,

Brrreautiful

Oh the weather outside is frightful












but inside it's quite delightful



since we've no place to go, let it blow, let it blow, let it blow

Think of us this weekend as we face a weather report of 60 mph north winds. Better yet think of hungry people, leave a comment to help feed them and have yourself a merry little weekend.

Peace and Love,

Brown Sugar Shortbread-Oh yes you can!!

Shortbread used to intimidate me. Maybe because they were my dad's favorite and therefore I felt like I HAD to get them right. Which I don't think I ever did, but hey I was 13 and it was long ago. LONG LONG LONG ago, damn really long ago!

Now? I'm not scared of them. I have found the perfect easy recipe. It has 3 ingredients, 4 if you bake with unsalted butter. And please do only ever use butter in cookies. Margarine, beside being completely bad for you, makes the worst cookies. Real whole ingredients mean real good product. Just say no to frankenfoods, they are only there to enable us to eat more, rather having a smidge of self control.

This recipe makes a bunch of shortbread but it's really impressive to whip these out for family parties. They are so simple and plain no one ever expects too much of them and then WHAM a kick ass cookie that blows all the other overdressed, iced, sugared and spiced to the gills cookies right out of the water.

I sent a huge tin to my husbands office party today and took the leftovers to the farm school play day. Which coincidentally did NOT happen because we have gotten about 18 inches of snow in the last 60 hours and peoples brains just fell right out of there heads, I swear it's true. Two, not one but two double trailer semis caused a huge problem on the highway up to the farm. They apparently thought "why bother with chains on the steepest vertical grade off the floor of the valley?" and started to slide back down the hill, yes into on coming traffic. When we got there it was a huge mess and the state sanders were there attempting to sand around them. As we drove by a guy was kicking sand under the tires of one of the rigs. Good thinking! You know what they were hauling? Hmmm you guessed it Gasoline! SO anyway we were late to the play day and I thought everybody else said forget it, turns out we were the first ones there, so we went out for coffee instead. Hero loved a tin full of shortbread and ate them right up so they were enjoyed nonetheless.


Brown Sugar Shortbread oven 300˚

2 cups butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons of salt** if using unsalted butter

cream the butter
add the sugar, beat well
add the flour and salt if using mix well
divide into 4 balls, flatten each
wrap each disk and chill
when ready to bake let them warm up until workable
pat each disk into a pie pan, poke all over with a fork
bake for 15-17 minutes or until done

alternately you can flatten two disks together into a 6x18 rectangle between to sheets of waxed paper
cut the rectangle in half, peel off top sheet and flip onto a baking sheet
remove 2nd wax paper sheet and cut into 3/4 by 2 inch slices
move slices apart slightly
repeat

See I like the pie pans because they require less work but more pie pans!


So don't forget that this post counts too in the cans for comments food drive! Leave one here and on each post this week to help feed the hungry in my small cold snowy town. This is a call to all lurkers! I see you out there, you think you can just read and slink away?!? Well you can of course but why not leave a comment. You can't get ANY communicable diseases from it and it's fairly easy too! So whatcha waiting for? Or not your call, or course!


Peace and Love,

This stuff is for the birds+Cans for Comments Continues

We spent this very snowy day working contentedly on a few projects for Christmas, feeding hungry birds, shoveling, sledding and playing the thankful game(details to follow). I love days like today. It snowed almost a foot in the last 24 hours. When you step outside the entire world is absolutely silent. Then the roosters crows and a snowplow roars by but for a moment you may as well be alone in the big wide white world. A lovely dream when your kids may or may not need to be thrown in a snow bank. I'm joking I would NEVER throw them in a snow bank, if they didn't deserve it.

One project we worked on was making peanut butter pine cones to feed the birds. We just spread a good wallop of peanut butter on to some thrift store pine cones and strung them up in the big birch right outside our living room window. Seems people aren't the only hungry ones this time of year. Our little chickadees were on the cones within a 1/2 an hour and ate happily until it got dark at 4PM. Yes 4PM.

This is the second day of my cans for comments food drive. Leave a comment on ANY post this week and I'll donate a can of food for each comment. From each post. Until Monday. So far I'm up to 14. Good thing I have a truck with 4 wheel drive and studs, I'm going to need it to haul all this food to the food bank next week. If you feel like helping out in other areas besides Alaska my friend Christina in Chicago is hosting a cans for comments food drive and so is the Diva on a Diet in New York City. So check them out! Maybe I should issue an official challenge something along the lines of "MY READERS KICK ASS AND WE WILL STOMP YOU INTO THE GROUND" or not. What do you think? Leave me a comment or forty and let me know. Hey does your dog want to leave a comment? That's totally cool too. Anyways I think I will be making a huge drop to the Palmer food bank and you can help, so please do.

The thankful game. I read this in the latest issue of Family Fun Magazine. Basically you hand out a gift bag or lunch bag to each person. Then they 'shop' around the house for the perfect gift to give. Everybody comes to the living room and the giving commences. Each person gives their gift to someone else, work it out so each person gets one. As they give the present the giver says "this is for you, Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday etc." The one getting says "thank you for the present" before they open it. Then they open it. They can exclaim or show signs of excitement and then they need to say one nice complimentary thing such as "this roll of toilet paper will come in really handy when we run out" or "these garden gloves are so great they will keep my hands clean next summer" Then you return the items and play again. It sounds really silly and easy but for some reason my kids ATE IT UP. And it's harder than you think. I read about this and thought it was worth a try, my kids are cool but they lose it when confronted with a pile of presents. I hope they will at least have a little practice at using the right words, now if they will only USE them! Thanks Family Fun!

To sum it all up: snowy-feed birds-feed people-comment-be thankful

Tomorrow? Brown Sugar Shortbread. Yes, I know. Pure goodness and pure evil in one bite!

Love and Peace,

No I live here-Cans for Comments starts now!

Yesterday I was yearning to live in my chocolate house or the pretzel vacation cabin but alas I live in the real world, most days anyway, and I live here:
















Alaska

It's cold up here this time of year and some folks may have to choose between food and heat. It's definitely a bad situation in Alaska where heating fuel can cost upwards of 3.39 a gallon plus delivery and at 50 below zero temperatures you have no choice but to heat your home. I have even heard reports of heating oil costing as much as 7 dollars a gallon in the bush. Ouch!

For the next week, starting when this post goes up until next Monday, December 21st at midnight ANY comments on ANY blog posts between now and then earn a can of food for the Palmer Food Bank. 1 comment=1 can=full bellies for Christmas and beyond. Do you yearn to make a difference? Make someones life better by leaving a comment. This is a call to all you lurkers who I know are reading but don't leave comments now is the time to make your voice heard and help out! Christina over at Dinner at Christina's is my inspiration so if you feel so inclined head on over and spend a little of her money too!

Simple. Easy. Fuzzy. Go.


Peace and Love,