Monday, June 30, 2008

Congo Bars

A little bit ago, I asked a friend if she could help me out by baking something for our congregation. The event I needed baked goods for got postponed, but her recipe name sounded so dang good, I had to have it. And sure enough, not only is it a very tasty desert, but really dang easy to make!

So, without further ado, I give you Eve's Congo Bars:

Congo Bars

Really easy because you don’t need a mixer!

  • 2 ¾ cups flour
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt (I don’t use)
  • 1 lb box brown sugar
  • 1 cup chopped nuts OR 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1 6 oz pkg chocolate chips (I usually use extra)
  • 1 cup cooking oil (not olive oil, canola or safflower is good)
  • 3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, baking powder, brown sugar, nuts OR oatmeal, and chocolate chips in a big bowl. Break up lumps of brown sugar so nothing is very big. Mix oil and eggs together in another bowl and then add to dry ingredients and stir to mix well.

Spread on a greased and floured jelly roll pan. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until lightly browned. These get hard fast, so watch carefully the last few minutes. Makes about 70 bars. (Well, maybe only 50 or 60…)

I usually make these on a 15 x 17 pan. They look like they will be too thin. But it is OK.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Name that candy!

Fun quiz over at AOL for all you chocoholics out there. Can you name the candy bar with just a cross-sectional picture to go on?

I got a 13 out of 20. That means I taste like snozzberries, according to the quiz. Now I need to watch Willy Wonka again (the Gene Wilder version, of course).

I was surprised by how many many candy bars out there I had never heard of. Guess I had a deprived childhood.

By the way, the candy in the picture? My personal favorite - 3 Musketeers.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Whip it! Whip it Good!


Devo is suing McDonalds. Yep, you heard that right.

Apparently, McDonalds has released a series of "American Idol" toys (don't get me started on *that* particular show - *sigh*). The 80's toy is called "New Wave Nigel," and is wearing a Devo-hat on his head. A COPYRIGHTED Devo-hat on his head.

Whoops.

Devo is none-too-pleased about this. Especially considering that Devo took it's name from "De-Evolution" - the idea that society, with the help of things like McDonalds and American Idol, has de-evolved/regressed. Irony!

Click on over to the Consumerist to read more about it, with links to Stuff Magazine, and Rolling Stone.

Friday, June 27, 2008

The Sucker

I've found a sure-fire way to make my son scream - get out 'the sucker.'

Poor Kicker has a cold (for that matter, so does Mommy). Every now and then, Mommy has to suction his little stuffy nose out. It doesn't matter that he's upset that he can't breathe while eating, that he's got something running out of his nose - nope, doesn't matter. He doesn't want the nose sucker anywhere near his face.

Arms start flailing, Kicker starts hollering, legs start kicking. Still, Mommy persists. A few moments later, Kicker sticks out a lip at me, and I pick him up. Suddenly, all is forgotten, and I have my smiling, happy boy back.

Until the next time, that is.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Mama Merit Badges!


Ever walk through a grocery store carrying your cranky and sleepy baby, trying desperately to make it through check-out before a melt-down happens, while fending off sniffling and coughing strangers?

Then you, my friend, deserve a Mama Merit Badge.

There are 10 different ones, and I couldn't stop laughing at the thought of sewing one onto my Mama sash, then bravely soldiering on.

On the site, they have "Merit Badge Tales." If you want a giggle, read them.

As for my merit badge story, here goes:
In the hospital, the nurse warned us that breast-fed babies could projectile-poop, and that we wanted to get a diaper on it as soon as possible. We took our sweet Kicker home, where Hubby hadn't yet set up the changing table. He told me not to worry, that he'd take care of it. So, for the next two days, I changed the baby on our bed, on top of a changing pad.

Hubby, however, wasn't as picky about where he changed Kicker in the house. In fact, Hubby's favorite place to set up the changing pad was on my new glider in the living room. It didn't seem like a good idea, but Hubby assured me it was perfectly fine.

Cue the baby shooting a stream of yellow mustard poop straight across, covering Hubby's shirt, pants, socks, shoes, the chair, my ottoman, and the carpet.

I didn't know whether or not to giggle or be mad at Hubby. I think I chose the giggling, because I'm pretty sure I remember Hubby's glare. I helped Hubby clean up baby, chair, carpet, and clothes. Hubby then spent the remainder of the evening setting up the changing table.

Monday, June 23, 2008

We'll miss you, George.

George Carlin has passed away.

So many things on the internet have been attributed to George Carlin, while almost none of them were actually written by him.

That being said, I would like to post something he actually *did* write, in memory of him:

“SUPER-CELEB KICKS BUCKET”

I dread the deaths of certain super-celebrities. Not because I care about them, but because of all the shit I have to endure on television when one of them dies. All those tributes and retrospectives. And the bigger the personality, the worse it is.

For instance, imagine the crap we'll have to endure on TV when Bob Hope dies. First of all, they'll show clips from all of his old road movies with Bing Crosby, and you can bet that some news anchor asshole will turn to the pile of clothing next to him and say, "Well, Tami, I imagine Bob's on the Road to Heaven now."

Then there'll be clips of all those funny costumes he wore on his TV specials, including the hippie sketch, where they'll show him saying "Far out, man, far out!" They'll show him golfing with dead presidents, kissing blonde bombshells, and entertaining troops in every war since we beat the shit out of the Peloponnesians. And at some point, a seventy-year-old veteran will choke up, and say, "I just missed seein' him at two, 'cause I got my legs blowed off. He's quite a guy."

Ex-presidents (including the dead ones) will line up four abreast to tell us what a great American he was; show-business perenials will desert golf courses from Palm Springs to O.J.'s lawn to lament sadly as how this time, "Bob hooked one into the woods"; and, regarding his talent, a short comedian in a check-ered hat will speak reverently about "Hope's incredible timing."

And this stuff will be on every single newscast day and night for a week. There'll be special one-hour salutes on "Good Morning America," the "Today" show, and "CBS This Morning." Ted Koppel will ask Henry Kissinger if it's true Bob Hope actually shortened some of our wars by telling jokes close to the frontlines. CNN will do a series of expanded "Show Biz Todays." One of the cable channels will do a one-week marathon of his movies. And it goes without saying that NBC will put together a three-hour, prime-time special called "Thanks for the Memories," but at the last minute they'll realize Bob Hope's audience skews older, and sell it to CBS.

Then there'll be the funeral, carried life on the Dead Celebrity Channel, with thousands of grotesque acne-ridden fans seeking autographs from all the show-business clowns who dug out their best black golfing outfits to attend "one of the hottest burials to hit this town in decades" -- Variety. And all this shit will go on for weeks and weeks and weeks. Until Milton Berle dies. And then it will start all over again. I dare not even contemplate Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan.

Rest in peace, George.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

WW: First Bath


In a week, my sweet lil' Kicker will be 5 months old. I can't believe how big he's gotten. So, because I'm reminiscing by going through photos, I'm sharing a picture with you of his first bath. Even 2 days old, he's being charming for the camera.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Anniversary blues

Well, our anniversary evening did not go according to plan. But I still enjoyed my night (well, at times).

First, my husband came home with a dozen red roses, and kissed the baby and me. Aww. I quickly put on the earrings he gave me that morning ( a subject for another post - we have a yearly 'zoo earring' tradition, because we usually spent our anniversary weekend in San Diego). Unfortunately, his present had not arrived - thank you, USPS.

Then, Hubby and I, along with Kicker, pile into my car, and drive to a nearby outdoor mall, where we go to an Italian restaurant. The bad thing about living in Southern California - too many tourist places with very high prices, mediocre food, and even worse service. Our appetizer, salad, and main courses were brought out practically at the same time. Because it's summer, they were trying to turn tables as quickly as possible. I understand the sentiment, but not exactly nice for those of us who are trying to have a nice dinner.

We strolled over to the movie theater, and bought two tickets for Indiana Jones. Kicker was REALLY good during the film, suprisingly so, and fell sound asleep, with him holding my hands over his ears.

The movie ended, and we walked around, and into the Lego store, where we admired all the fun toys (which are now choking hazards in our house, so no legos for us, for a while).

Now, we're to the end of our evening, so we walk to our car, pop Kicker into place, and drive home - where we find that police have cordoned off the area. We drive up to our house, to find an animal control vehicle, and countless police officers outside our home, along with a police helicopter flying over head.

Apparently, a store down the street was robbed at gunpoint, and the guys fled down our street and hid in our driveway, ditching some things in our yard. They also needed to clear out our backyard, where one of our poor dogs was, so they could search there. Apparently, we arrived just in time - the animal control vehicle was for him. They asked us to please go inside, bring our dog in, and lock all our doors. Oh yeah - and not to park in our driveway. Naturally.

The police cleared up around 1am, and by the time I fell asleep, it was after 2am. I went from having a good day, to being afraid and stressed out - what if the guy had gotten into our house? What if he found a way in, and somehow didn't trip the alarm?

On the bright side, I had Hubby to cuddle up with - it made things feel much safer. My mind stopped running wild the second (okay, a minute later) he held me and Kicker. Also, I know this is one anniversary I will never forget.

Oh, also - his present *still* hasn't arrived. I love priority mail.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Happy Anniversary!

Today is Hubby and my seventh wedding anniversary! Wow! Seven years and no itch! ;)

Because of celebrating Father's day just yesterday, Hubby having a cold, and no sitter for Kicker, we decided we'd go out to a nice restaurant (but not too fancy - we are bringing Kicker, after all), and then go to see Iron Man, finally. The idea being that a) it's been out for a while, so won't be as crowded, and b) I can walk out with Kicker, if need be.

For our anniversary, I got Hubby a digital photo frame, and a SLR camera. Okay, well, I didn't get him the camera - he did, for Mother's day. But still, it takes great photos of the baby!

Hopefully, dinner goes well, and we'll get that cuddle time on the couch that we didn't get last night.

First Father's Day

Yesterday was Hubby's first Father's day, ever. Unfortunately, history repeated itself, and just like with Mother's day, Hubby was sick. Luckily, he felt his cold wasn't bad enough to cancel our plans, so we still went out.
We spent the day at the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where they had a Father's Day luau, and we took lots of photos (which I'll upload some later), and saw the animals.
At the very end of the day, right as the park was closing, we got to talk to a keeper while she fed a lion, all while standing right next to us. Seriously - the lion was just a few feet away, separated, of course, by a big steel mesh door.
Then, we went to dinner at a nice restaurant, where Kicker behaved the entire time (hey, I was suprised of that - he stayed awake through his usual nap times while at the animal park), and made our way home.
As we pulled into the driveway, I heard Kicker fill his diaper, and Hubby said he'd let the dogs out, while I took care of the baby. We walked into the house, to be greeted by --- Eww!!! --- the stench of one of the dogs having taken a poop inside the house.
So, later that night, much later, we crawled into bed, our plans of cuddling on the couch to watch a movie forgotten.
Other than the ending, a very nice day.

Graduation mess

Hubby's best friend in the whole wide world graduated Saturday from UCLA. They've been best friends since first grade, longer than (as his best friend put it when Hubby and I got engaged) I've been alive.

We drove out to UCLA, and thought we were making amazing time. Hah! Then we sat in a half-hour line to park our car. Unfortunately, we parked in the wrong lot, and had to trek all the way across campus, uphill. With a baby stroller. Did I mention that UCLA is covered in stairs?

It was a beautiful ceremony, and I got to see my niece and nephew (best friend and wife and kids are our extended family). We had seats right in front, so we had an amazing view, but the kids (the 2 year old, the 4 year old, and my sweet 4 month old Kicker) all didn't like sitting in the heat, so we walked over to the shade, and played under the trees, while my Hubby motioned to us to get back into place when the important stuff started happening.

Afterwards, we had a nice lunch at a Japanese restaurant there in Westwood. All throughout, Kicker remained giggly and laughing, while sitting in his car seat. He's becoming pretty good about letting Mommy eat a meal.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

WW: Aquarium







Thursday, June 5, 2008

Free Donuts!!!


It's not my birthday. It's not my anniversary. And yet, tomorrow is a very special day for me! It's free Krispy Kreme donut day!

Also, if you go to this link and sign up for their email, you get a coupon for a free glazed donut. That's *two* free donuts.

On top of all that, tomorrow's Friday! Ain't life grand?

A little salmonella with your tomato

Both this Thursday and last Thursday, I went to the Farmers market and stocked up on fresh produce, especially tomatoes, since they were such a great price! I love the farmer's market!

Now that I'm back from my errands for the day, I read this article: Food Poisoning Outbreak Linked to Tomatoes.

Yum. Okay, tonight's menu needs to have a slight change of plans. I know the risk of my tomatoes also being infected is small, but I just can't eat them now. Guess it's zucchini again tonight.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Argh...

A nightclub just opened up right around the corner from my house. Literally around the corner; I can see it from my backyard. It's modeled after the one a few miles away that was shut down permanently because of crime and gang activity.

Lucky for its guests, they have a very small parking lot, so everyone that doesn't want to valet park can just park on my street.

I don't live in Los Angeles. I don't live in an area that has nightclubs. So why, why oh why, am I this lucky? And does anyone know of a good brand of ear plugs?

Monday, June 2, 2008

Leak proof.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/stream/538224784

This is why I use Huggies. But it's totally fake - what husband changes a diaper at a party?

 
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