Category Archives: On a lighter note

Homemade Milano or Half-Half Moon Cookies?

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Regular readers are aware of my cookie and frosting obsessions. Now I’ve brought them together.

The other day, while waiting for the dryer repair guy and feeling bored (yes, I should have writing my blog or working on my novel), I decided to bake. I love to bake although I can’t keep the baked items in the house so I end up giving them to neighbors or taking them to work (when I was employed).

I was in the middle of making mini lemon meringue tartlets and lining the puff pastry with chocolate when I remembered some leftover sugar cookie dough in the freezer that I needed to bake-off (I made way too much during the holidays).

I quickly rolled the dough,cut them out, and put them in the oven but realized I forgot to sugar them! This cookie recipe is yummy without sugar but boring. So I took the leftover chocolate from the tartlets, scald some light cream and mixed it up. It made for delicious heavy ganache/frosting which I frosted the cookies with. Nom, nom, nom…. a few minutes later, they’re gone so time to make more.

The cookie recipe is from The Wellesley Cookie Exchange one of my favorite cookbooks as every cookie I’ve ever made is delish. The book is out of print but you can get it used through Amazon for pretty much nothing-here’s the link: Amazon

If you have no interest in the book but want the recipe, here it is:

Frosting:

Ingredients & Tools

1 bar of Ghiradelli Semi Sweet Chocolate                               
1/4 cup of light cream
Pyrex custard bowl
Pyrex measuring cup
Parchment paper lined cookie sheet                                                         
                                                                                                        
                                                                                             
My add-on to the recipe is:
Take a bar of chocolate and break it up into a microwave bowl. In a measuring cup, pour in a 1/4 cup of light cream and place in the microwave for about 30 seconds until is just begins to bubble (since microwave times and temps vary, be sure to watch this as you may need longer or slightly less). Once heated, pour it over the chocolate and begin to stir. It won’t completely melt the chocolate so put the bowl in the microwave for 10 seconds. Stir it, put it back in for another 10 seconds and then stir vigorously until completely melted and all the cream is incorporated.
Let it sit for about 2 minutes. It will become a thick frosting.

Take a cooled cookie (never frost anything that isn’t completely cooled-I’ve made this mistake before and it creates a runny mess!) and frost one half thickly with the frosting.  Don’t be stingy! Place on the parchment lined cookie sheet and leave to set about a half-hour. Peel off the paper and serve!!!! (Enough for about 6-8 cookies depending on how much you use per cookie and how big your cookies are.)

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Twinkies, Cupcakes, Ding Dongs, Snowballs

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Another vestige of my childhood on the way out. And I don’t like it.

Hostess was a part of my lunchbox (yes, a Partridge Family lunchbox with the thermos that had a glass liner that I seemed to break the second I got it) probably well into 8th grade. High school; it was the after school snack or late night study gobble.  And it’s true, we didn’t see much of each other after that but I will admit to buying them now and then. Although they’re smaller than I remember, but isn’t everything?

This week, Hostess declared bankruptcy. I suppose it’s not surprising. In a world where organic and free range are commonplace and the news is riddled with stories of schools forbidding cake at birthday celebrations and soda being removed from vending machines, Hostess was bound to fail at some point.

I’m not going to extol the health benefits of eating a lot of this stuff, because there aren’t any. It was a treat, meant to be as good or close to homemade when your mother didn’t have time. For some, it’s a meal replacement instead of a treat which hasn’t helped its reputation given the obesity situation in the US.

But I will tell you that its sad to see an old friend go. I remember scooping out the filling of the cupcakes or Twinkies, discussing whether or not you liked snowballs and watching (not participating in) Twinkie eating contests. All a part of my childhood.

Of course today, there are deep-fried Twinkies, Twinkie wedding cakes and the age-long discussion of how long a twinkle can sit on the shelf before going bad.

Not much longer, I’m afraid.

Hallmark Channel Makes Me Feel Like Shit

Posted in Adore, Doing Things Properly, Hmmmmm..........., On a lighter note by

For those that follow me on this blog know that I was laid off last Monday (3/29) and that I am pondering my next move.

Well, pondering is a VERY strong word.  Really, I’m doing normal things that most housewives/mothers/humans who have a life do: exercising, recovering from exercising, tweeting and watching Martha who makes me feel bad but it’s like an addiction, I keep going back.

I’ve been a Martha Stewart fan since the 80s and for the most part, besides her stint in jail and the foray into a daytime talk show, has been someone I admire very, very much. I watched her  original show every day, charter subscriber to all of her magazines; which now reside in the basement, collecting dust since I didn’t put them in proper homemade magazine cases or holders. This was just covered on the show this week.

Unfortunately, she disappointed me the one time that I came close to meeting her. OK, since you have asked, I’ll tell you about it and then back to my rant.

When I worked for Henri Bendel; my General Manager who was as big a Martha fan as I was, bought a table at a Lupus Foundation fund-raiser and it coincided with the release of one of her cookbooks.  We sat through a bad lunch at the Boston Copley Hotel, an even worse slide show from Martha about her gardens, and then waited in line for her to sign the book.  It was a huge turnout for her and we were towards the end of the line.  45 minutes later and 10 people away, Martha’s handlers announced that she was leaving, and wouldn’t be signing any more books.  With that, she got up from the table and left.  I stood there with my colleagues and our mouths hung open in shock. Disappointed just doesn’t describe it.  Devastated is more like it.

Back to the Hallmark Channel.

In my time off, I’m embarrassed to admit that I have watched a little too much TV and discovered the Hallmark Channel as it is hosting the old Martha Stewart Living episodes packaged in 1/2 hour segments as Martha’s Kitchen, Home, Garden.  I DVR them as I haven’t completely lost all focus on life and catch up when free at some point during the day or evening.  I adored this show and so glad that it is finally available to her fans.

However, her perfection makes me feel like shit.

Martha always looks good, hair is perfect-never behind in getting her roots done, clothes pressed, has amazing ideas that she executes to perfection and without perspiring or looking tired, or frustration.  Obviously, I realize she has a team of 400 who make it all look easy but let’s be fair, this woman gets some of the credit and has shed some blood, sweat and tears to get where she is.  It makes me think that I need to buckle down, get serious and move onto the “next step” whatever that might be.

Friends call my watching of Martha, ‘self flagellation” and they aren’t far from wrong. Martha does represent everything that I will never be good at: arts & crafts, scrapbooking, gardening, homekeeping and generally, perfection.  She has built an incredible empire that she also destroyed with her time in jail, but is terribly driven and successful which I admire. It gives me hope that I might somehow get my shit together and tackle whatever it is that she is doing!

So, I’ll continue to watch and feel bad about what I’m NOT doing, NOT accomplishing, until I turn her off.  And yes, I am watching her while writing this.  It’s a problem-I know.

Maybe I’ll start a support group.

I’m not into ‘new age’ but sometimes the signs are hard to ignore

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I take Kung Fu from Gisele’s instructor.

Yao is amazing.  He really has a special way about him-never preachy, quietly encouraging but genuine and when you need it the most-he just knows when to give you a push or a hug.  I have been going to his studio since June 09 and besides getting into better shape, losing weight and learning something new, he gives me little nuggets of his wisdom about life.

One of the nuggets that has really stuck with me is this: the signs of what is next for you are always there.  You just have to open your mind to seeing them.

Now, I must confess that I am not a religious person but rather a very lapsed, non-practicing really, Catholic, who really doesn’t give religion or spirituality a thought. I will admit that people who are religious intrigue me.  I find these people interesting because it gives them comfort, purpose, a sense of belonging and something to talk/debate about.  I find myself at a loss when these conversations come up because while I have an opinion about it (no, I won’t bore you with my views on this for this entry), I am not as passionate as they are given their proclivity to religion.  I can take it or leave it.

Yao is very spiritual but in a quiet and respectful way so I must admit, I listen carefully when he share these viewpoints.  And since late August when he shared this wisdom, I have been looking a little more closely at what the world has to show me.

I discussed this one night with my close friend, Jamie, one night at the Writers Bar, because when you start looking at the world this way, and see things, it makes you wonder.  We didn’t come to any conclusions that night-Jamie is a good listener and didn’t interject his opinions or if he did, I’m not remembering (a few too many drinks I’m afraid so if that’s not factual, JB forgive me).

However, lately, when I have been thinking about giving up on something (not ready to share what that is here), I find little things coming out of the woodwork that seem to stare at me in the face, daring me to continue on, and to not give up.

It’s hard to give specifics here as people who know me, who read this blog, may figure it out if I share too much and while I’m not ready to share with strangers, I’m really not ready to share with friends.  But little things, music, television, signs on the road, things on the computer etc. that are enought to make me pause and take notice.

You could chalk this up to seeing what you want to see.  And there is a part of me that agrees with you.

Then there is the part of me that really wonders enough to keep plodding on. Thoughts, ideas, that just don’t go away.  Equate these moments to a deja vous sort of thing that make you pause and take notice and think about what you saw before moving on with whatever you were doing.

Just had to share this as one of those moments happened this evening.  Still don’t know what it means but I hope the universe reveals itself soon as I am getting impatient.

Thanks for reading-try not to judge me, look for yourself and see what is revealed to you.

I have Yao tomorrow and maybe I’ll have him analyze what I’m seeing and get his take on what to do next.  Or maybe he’ll work me out so hard that I won’t think about it because I’ll be too busy trying to recover.

What the hell is up with the bathrooms at work?

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Ok, I know this subject/rant has been done to death-one of my favorite versions is from a Janeane Garofalo bit about using the john at Starbucks-look it up on YouTube if you haven’t seen it; it’s hysterical.

But back to me.

I work in a corporate office that was built about a year ago.  So everything is new…I tell you this because the old office down the street was disgusting, dirty, had bugs, mold etc. so there were high hopes for the new place.

The above picture is fairly accurate-basic bathroom, not too fancy which is fine. My story is not about the physical facilities but rather the condition of them on a daily basis.

The only thing that is missing is how gross it is.

What the fuck is up with the women I work with?  They all look clean and well groomed but you would never know it from their bathroom habits.  Honestly, I have some questions for you, dear reader, that perhaps you can help me with:

1.  Why is it hard to flush the toilet when the automatic flush doesn’t work?  Most of the time it does, so the one time out of 20 flushes, why you can’t press the damn button?  No one wants to see what you left behind.  Believe me, no one!

2.  Ahh, the old conundrum of whether or not to put the new toilet paper on the roll.  I don’t give a shit if it is over or under.  I would prefer not to have to pick it up off the floor where it has come in contact with nothing that I want to wipe myself with!  Is this too much to ask?

3.  If you’re sick-and I think you know what I mean here but I’ll spell it out-and have diarrhea, and somehow splash your shit all over the bowl, the wall-THEN CLEAN IT UP! It is not a special pleasure for me to walk into the stall and see the mess you have left like I am gonna want to sit in it. It makes me wonder what the hell goes on at your house and if I knew who you were, I would decline any dinner invites as well as call the Board of Health since they need to know about this health hazard and call out the haz mat team to get it cleaned up.

4.  I am going to apologize in advance to my male readers who will be appalled by this next statement ( brace yourselves boys) but Jesus Christ, if you are having your period, special time, Aunt Flo is in town, WHATEVER you want to call it, just get the used tampon into the toilet and FLUSH IT.  I will never understand how these things end up anywhere else.  And if there was some earthquake and it didn’t make it in, why you wouldn’t get some tissues and take care of it.  Let’s remember this is corporate america and not the 60s, where there were bathroom attendants who went in and cleaned up after every use.

5.  Finally, are you showering at the sink?  It amazes me the amount of water that ends up all over the counter, the floor, the mirror.  Believe me the water pressure is not that good so you must be trying pretty damn hard to get the water all over the place.  And how hard is it to put the used paper towel into the garbage can that is provided for you??  RIGHT NEXT TO THE SINK!

Frankly, the bathrooms at the local run down pub or gas station are cleaner.  I often wonder at the end of the day if there was a keg party in the bathroom that I missed out on.

Would love to hear your answers.  Can’t wait to see what I find tomorrow.

Pinkberry-Please come to Boston, in the Springtime……

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You are looking at my most favorite thing in the world-well, maybe not the most, but certainly it’s up there……

PINKBERRY-ORIGINAL FLAVOR WITH FRUITY PEBBLES!!!!!!

It is the first thing I always get when I am visiting Los Angeles and during my last visit, I barely was off the plane before I got to the closest Pinkberry and got this (pictured above).  Purchased at the Century City Pinkberry.  I always think that I want a medium or a large, but truth be told, I can never finish it, it’s so rich and yummy!!  Supposedly there are other all you can eat options out of humongous bowls from Pinkberry wannabes but that’s not what this is about, it’s about FLAVOR-and if it is amazing, then…..you don’t need more.

I’ve been told that there are Pinkberry wannabes in Boston/Cambridge but they aren’t the real thing.

So in the meantime, I look longingly at the below picture from my last visit and hope that the folks at Pinkberry find some real estate in Boston pronto! as they have their first customer waiting to make a purchase.

On a lighter note

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I work in the sneaker biz and have befriended an actor (yes, this person is still my friend unlike the other person I rant about in my earlier post).

He is a total shoe whore and proud of it.  It is actually one of the things I like best about him.

The Company I work for sent him shoes to wear during his many gigs.  No matter what color, style, the reaction was the same; he acted as if he were a child on Christmas morning opening a beloved present.  I often refer to this as the ‘twirl” and am sad as I don’t always get to see his reaction as he is on the left coast!

But, alas, our heroine is well taken care of.  My friend has sent me pictures of his feet  with every new shot that is filmed!

This has become hysterical as he has sent me pictures of his co-star’s feet as well.  So of course, I had to send a picture of my feet one day as well (fully shoed mind you, I am a proper girl).  This has become a long running joke between us.

I hope you find this as funny as I do-or perhaps you are completely grossed out as one of his managers is and wish that I didn’t post this at all!