Sweets for my Sweeties

We made these for Ella's class to snack on on Thursday. They were muy yummy. You can find the directions at NO FUSS FABULOUS. They are way easy, but I did have one problem. The directions suggest 5 minutes to soften at 400 degrees. My first batch hardened. The second batch I tried I was able to soften at 375 degrees in about 45 seconds. So watch them carefully!!

Today we sold a house

It is not the house that we have listed on McMinnvillehouses.com but one we have had a contract on for a few weeks. The couple that bought it has been saving for many years to buy a house. They were very sweet and excited.



This is what they brought to us:

Adrian and I counted it out. Those are stacks of $10,000.

It felt all gangsta'!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! They brought it in those envelopes they give you your withdrawal at the bank in. 7 of them with $10,000 each. Adrian was so nervous carrying it that he had to cancel his appointments for the rest of the afternoon. He is such an nervous guy when he is dealing with these houses! I was thinking about how I wish I could be reading the new book I had in my purse and he was sweating through his shirt.

Here it is after he took it to the bank and put it through the money counting machine. They stack it in $2000 stacks.


Now if only I could convince him to use that a stack of money to book a cruise around the Mediterranean....

NOT A CHANCE!!!

rice pudding

I have an unnatural obsession with pudding.

I need a twelve step program.

Until I find it I will sit in the corner growling at anyone that comes near me while I am eating pudding.

So you will not have to risk me biting your hand as you reach for a serving of rice pudding at my house, I will share the recipe.


RICE PUDDING

1 cup water
1/2 cup rice
4 Tablespoons of butter
4 Cups of milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Cook rice in water until it is almost all absorbed. Add the milk, cover and simmer VERY gently for 1 hour. Stir it every 10 minutes or so. Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla until smooth. When you take the pan off the heat stir in the egg mixture until well incorporated. Cover with Saran Wrap to avoid that creepy skin on top and refrigerate at least 6 hours.

See, it will be ready for breakfast. And much less sugary than Captain Crunch. It is practically a health food!

He is an official blogger, sort of...

I created a blog for my husband. He was kind of resistant at first. He had a different plan.

But it was harder. And not as pretty.

Now he loves it and is sending everyone to look at it. No, he doesn't reveal any funny stories about himself on it. Or give us any good housekeeping ideas. Or recipes.

It has pictures of the houses that he has for sale. I have only put one up right now because he has contracts on 2 others and renters in the other two. But rest assured. There will be more. He has a house buying obsession.

A lot of times I don't really even know what houses he has. And I like it that way. He doesn't know what I am buying at the grocery store on any given day and I do not know if he is headed to the courthouse to attend a foreclosure auction.

It is all about taking care of our own stuff and delegating to the other what they are good at.

If Adrian was in charge of grocery shopping we would have 743 pounds of red meat, some white bread and mayonnaise. Oh, and some Breyers ice cream.

If I was in charge of buying houses I would say they are all too icky and I am too cheap to spend the money and all of our retirement would be sitting in mutual funds.

So it is a good thing that we divide and conquer here at our house!

So, here is his site: http://www.mcminnvillehouses.blogspot.com/

Go and leave him a nice comment.

Or better yet, make an offer on the house!!!!

A joke for all my friends who have adopted

"Adopted kids are such a pain; you have to teach them how to look like you."

Gilda Radner

today is a list day

and not only do i have to make a list, i am making one for all of my faithful readers. all 8 of you.


FAITHFUL READER TO DO LIST:

1. SCROLL DOWN TO YESTERDAYS POST AND GIVE ME AN OPINION ON WHAT TO ORDER FROM ANTHROPOLOGIE.


there, easy, right? sorry for saying it so loudly, i just didn't want you to get off the computer later and think: oh darn, i forgot to give Cynthia my opinion.

you know, like when you get home from the grocery store and didn't get one of the things on your list. Even though you carefully marked each item of as you placed it in the buggy.

well, enough of me talking about nothing and you all shaking your heads wondering why in the heck you read this drivel.

Cynthia's to do list: (feel free to give me direction on these these tasks.)

1. strangle husband (he is teasing me right now. I tease on the Internet. score one for me!)
2. clean kids bathroom. they are supposed to do this. they are given instruction and tools. I swear they go in there, sneeze, and leave. it is gross.)
3. clean my bathtub. *WHINE* i haaaate doing this one *whine* so i guess i understand the kids, except they can't even clean a mirror or a sink.
4. bake more English Muffin bread
5. order pizza for church tonight
6. shower (yes, sometimes i need gentle reminders. I am cold and do not like to get wet.)
7.run ROOMBA twice
8. put away laundry laying on couch
9. send email to senators and congressman to please put their head on straight and get rid of this 1.6 billion SPENDING package. UGH! Don't even get me started. A recession IS the fix. You do not have to fix a recession. We are supposed to be a market driven economy.....
10. clean sewing table
11. make cookie dough


will i finish this all? plus all the other junk that i have to do even though it never makes it to the list?


Yes, I think that I can. I am going to race against myself and try to finish everything but the pizza ordering before I have to leave and pick up the kids at 2:30.

On your marks.....

Get set......


GO!

I've got issues

help. please.

help me spend my Anthropologie gift card. I cannot "borrow" their pics, so you will have to click on the links and then come back and give me your opinions.


Choice A:
Matryoshka measuring cups

Choice B:
Artist's tote
but do I get it in orange or blue? be sure and look at the back view, because the fabric is different

4 quick points

many exciting things to share but only a few moments to share them, so I may have to post twice today. First, the post below this one is my 350th!!!

as lucy would say: i know, right?

second, i signed up my two little girls for an amazing art swap

you can read all about it here

third, i made english muffin bread yesterday. it was delicious and both loaves are already gobbled up. i used it this morning to make bacon egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast. you can find the recipe here at dlyn's blog.

fourth, i went on an adventure yesterday to a place that reminded me of narnia.

and i took pictures.... more to come!

no knead bread

During one of our snow day vacations I tried out this recipe for no knead bread.


Wow, what a neat recipe. So easy and tasty. All the kids liked it. I used 1 cup King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour and the rest all purpose white flour.


I baked it in a Pampered Chef stoneware bowl with the round baker thingy as a lid.


The outside is really crunchy. I think I may try cooking it a few minutes less next time, but I don't know that it will make a big difference.

Adrian thinks I should have a loaf ready everyday when the kids get home from school.


Ummm, well, it's not that easy!