Turkey Cake Pan to bake the perfect turkey shaped Thanksgiving cake
When it comes to Thanksgiving desserts, pecan pie is usually the pie slice of choice. Pumpkin pie comes in at a close second, but you simply can’t beat the taste of crunchy pecans, brown sugar, sweet molasses, corn syrup and melted butter all baked up in a pie.
Yes, pecan pie is every pilgrim’s pleasure, but according to Men’s Health magazine, one small slice of pecan pie has approximately 450 calories, 21 grams of fat (4 grams of saturated fat) and 65 grams of carbohydrates, and that’s from a small slice! What about seconds?
This year I’m foregoing the pecan pie and baking up my own healthy version of a Thanksgiving dessert with this Turkey Cake Pan from Goosberry Patch.
Sing a song of Sixpence
A pocket full of rye
Four and twenty turkeys
Baked in a pie!
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Julia Child cookbook – Master French Cooking with the bestselling cookbook by Julia Child
Twenty-six years ago my college boyfriend gave me one of my all time favorite gifts, one of the most coveted cookbooks ever written – Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. I poured over every word in that cookbook as though French cooking was a religion and this book was my blanching, boiling and braising bible.
In short, I loved being with Child.
Fast forward to what seems like four score and seven years ago and I’ve mastered 60% of Julia’s recipes (still working on the remaining 40), became a goddess in the kitchen whether I was cooking Boeuf Bourguignon or Brisket, married the guy who brought Julia and I together, and the rest is history.
If you want your own happy ending, both in the kitchen and in life, pick up your own volume of the bestselling Julia Child cookbook from Organize.com. You’ll learn the art of preparing French cuisine even if you consider yourself culinarily challenged, because as Julia herself once said:
“If you can read, you can cook.’”
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Western toilet seats – A John Wayne toilet seat that celebrates the Duke everytime you’ve gotta go
One of my favorite eras of American history fell during the latter half of the 19th century in a period fondly referred to as the Wild West. Cowboys and Indians, saloons, gold rushes, Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday’s showdown at the OK Corall… it was a time.
It’s hard to find a good old time saloon nowadays, we need a license to shoot things up and outhouses are a thing of the past, but I can still celebrate the legends of the Wild Wild West whenever I hit the john thanks to this John Wayne Western Toilet Seat from Wild West Living.
When it comes to toilet seats, it’s #1.
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Lemon scented candles lightly scented with ginger, grapefruit and lemongrass
Some days, things just don’t go your way.
You realize your umbrella has a hole in it during a tropical storm.
You grab a doorknob at Disney World and get sick for a month.
The coffee maker splurts coffee grounds all over you.
You find out there’s 50lbs of honey in the walls of your house.
When life gives me lemons, I don’t make lemonade (too much sugar). Instead, I do two things.
1. I take a lemon-flavored Emergen-C packet for a burst of Vitamin C.
2. I light my Ginger and Grapefruit Scented Candles from Nice Aromas.
It works every time.
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Porcelain coffee cups for eco-friendly coffee drinking
I am NOT a paper cup. I repeat, I am NOT a paper cup.
I may look like a paper cup, act like a paper cup and hold coffee like a paper cup, but I am most certainly not a paper cup. Enough about what I am not… here is what I am.
- I am a porcelain coffee cup.
- I am white.
- I come with my own silicone lid.
- I am eco-friendly.
- I am dishwasher safe.
- I am microwave safe.
- I am 3.5 x 3.5 x 6 inches tall.
- I am from Modcloth.
I am saving the environment, one disposable coffee cup at a time.
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James Sadler teapots add Bard worthy charm to your Sadler teapot collection
Teapot, teapot, wherefore art thou teapot?
O! Where’st have I puteth my teapot filled with traditional English Earl Grey tea? I thinketh I doth have another teapot somewhere within my humble cottage by the sea, but would a spot of tea poured by any other teapot taste as sweet?
I thinketh not.
And…scene.
If you fancy all things English, you’ll fancy the English Tea Store’s collection of James Sadler teapots featuring the likeness of our beloved Bard, William Shakespeare.
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Smore maker makes yummy smores, 3 at a time
I’ve been on a strict, no sweet diet for what seems like all eternity. Ignoring the occasional chocolate urge, (or supressing it with cornicopious amounts of veggies) I have successfully prohibited myself from enjoying the sweeter edible things in life. After my daughter’s birthday I spent an entire week bringing in leftover sweet treats to share at the office – cake, doughnuts, cookies. I still look smashing, my co-workers gained 5 pounds.
I just returned from a vacation to Boston for the 4th of July. I celebrated the birth of America by taking in the beauty of the Cape Cod Bay while eating gooey, delicious smores (some say s’mores, I don’t need the apostrophe). I hadn’t had a smore in decades, and sans my trusted band of sweet eating co-workers, I had no choice but to submit. Now I want to eat smores round the clock, and I can with this Campfire Smore Maker from Gooseberry Patch.
I’m biting off smore than I can chew.
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Compost kitchen pail keeps compost hidden in an attractive bamboo pail
Ever since Earth Day, I’ve been making a calculated effort to be more kind to the environment. My son has been on me about it and I want to do my best to leave an eco-footprint smaller than my size 10 clunkers. Here are a few steps I’ve taken on my path to a greener lifestyle…
1. Fuel efficiency – I’m riding my bike everywhere, except if I’ve been drinking. I don’t want a BUI (biking under the influence).
2. Energy preservation – I switched to fluorescent lighting, even though it makes me and all my guests look like Vincent Price.
3. Recycling – I inherited this cute top one of my girlfriends was getting rid of (one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure).
4. Composting – I’ve been saving my eggshells, coffee grounds and kitchen scraps in this sleek and natural Bamboo Kitchen Compost Pail from All Seasons Homestead Helpers.
How do you like them apple cores Earth?
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Say goodbye to germs with high tech kitchen gadgets from Horchow catalog
I don’t like germs. Especially if they’re lurking around on my food. Before I sit down to lunch I double wash my grapes, lettuce, tomatoes and every other fruit and vegetable that’s going anywhere near my mouth. It’s no picnic. I hate germs, but I love gadgets, so this Nano Ultraviolet Disinfection Scanner from Horchow is the perfect gift. It makes all of my fruits and veggies completely germ free by sanitizing my kitchen countertops, plus I have a new hi tech gadget to play with while I’m mincing and dicing.
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The tea pot did it in the billiard room… or was it the kettle in the library
Some people call me Amy, but those who know me to a tea (sorry, tee) call me Sherlock, Super Sleuth Extraordinaire. When I’m not working my day job at Catalogs.com, I would do Sir Arthur Conan Doyle proud, solving various neighborhood crimes and mysteries. I don’t like to brag, but most recently I single-handedly nabbed the culprit who stole my garbage can. The proper authorities were contacted immediately.
Once the crime solving is finished and the mysteries are solved, I like to come home, take off my trench coat, smoke a pipe and use this Japanese Tea Pot from Todd & Holland Tea Merchants to brew the finest Earl Grey tea… just as my dear predecessor Sherlock Holmes would have done.
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Keurig and the coffee maker of my dreams
If I don’t have my coffee in the morning, I’m of no use to anyone. Don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t breathe near me. Try it and beware of the Wrath of Linda. That’s right, it’s so bad, it’s italicized. Times are tight and I’m tired of spending gas on numerous coffee runs, so I’m thinking it’s time to invest in a new coffee maker that will keep me properly caffeinated. This Breville Keurig Single Cup Brewer from Green Mountain Coffee® isn’t just a coffee maker, it’s my coffee savior.
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Why have a glass of vino when you can have a whole pitcher with Tuscan china and pottery from Artistica
Who doesn’t love Italy? I adore all things Italian: the art, the fashion, the gondola rides, those men with the striped shirts, red scarves and funny hats that steer the gondolas, the pizza, the meatballs, hey, I even love having a little taste of Italy now and again at Olive Garden. But most of all, I love the Chianti vino muy delicioso. (Was that Italian or Spanish?…romance languages kill me). One of my most prized possessions is my Tuscan China Vino Pitcher from Artistica.
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