Tournament Weekend

Alexis had a soccer tournament over the weekend. Here she is going after the ball.

And here she is cheering for the goal she just kicked!

Here are mom and dad watching the game. It was pretty nippy at the 9:30 AM game, but it warmed up by afternoon.

Blogger wasn't cooperating all weekend. If you missed me, I missed you, too!

Meanwhile, here's what the younger boys did while the girls were playing their games. I love watching kids, don't you?

Campbell's for the Cure

I bought a case of these. It's just freaky to see a pink can of tomato soup, isn't it? They look like they faded in the sun or something. But then you take a good look and see the pink ribbon.

Mel, I was thinking of you as I made the purchase!
Where are those wedding pictures?

And people? NOBODY has sent me a recipe to share...now that's just wrong. I'm feeling sad....

Bread Pudding

Nonstick cooking spray
8 cups 1-inch cubes dry, sweet egg bread (such as challah or Hawaiian)*
1 cup chopped pitted dates
3/4 cup real butter
6 beaten eggs beaten
3 cups milk
1/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoons vanilla
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped toasted hazelnuts
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 2-quart rectangular baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In large bowl combine bread cubes and dates; set aside.

In small skillet heat and stir butter until browned. Remove from heat. Place 1/4 cup of melted butter in another large bowl (set remaining butter aside for sauce). Beat in eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Pour egg mixture over bread mixture; toss to coat.

Turn bread mixture into prepared baking dish. Place baking dish on cookie sheet. Bake, uncovered, 40 to 45 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean.

Remove baking dish from oven; cool slightly. Sprinkle with nuts.

In small bowl stir together reserved browned butter, powdered sugar, the 2 tablespoons milk, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla until smooth. Serve on bread pudding. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

*To make dry bread cubes, spread the cubes out on a large baking sheet. Let them stand, uncovered, on a kitchen counter overnight, stirring the bread cubes occasionally.

Blogger Problems

Blogger isn't letting me post pictures this weekend. I have some I want to share, but will post a draft I already have ready, so there's a new post.

Sorry!

Cranberry-Pumpkin Bars

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Blogging at Petticoats and Pistols Today!

BEHIND THE BOOK
I'm blogging at Petticoats and Pistols today!

Stop by and pretend it's all NEW and exciting, won't you?

Deep Chocolate Cake

Deep Chocolate Cake

New Season TV: Journeyman

I CAN'T DECIDE

Opinions anyone?

I've watched three episodes now. I hadn't read much about it, so had no preconceieved ideas. At first I thought, "ah ha, Quantum Leap," but no. Yes, he jumps around in time, but he's himself and weirdly sees his dead wife who is traveling as well, and occasionally even sees a younger version of himself whom he avoids.

It's kind of complicated how he was married and his brother had a girlfriend, then his wife died and he married his brother's girlfriend. And when he jumps around in time three or four times - call me tired or not entertained - but I get confused.

I'm not in love.

From Wikipedia:

The series centers around Dan Vasser, a normal man who, for an unknown reason, begins jumping back in time. He soon learns that each series of jumps follows the life of a person whose destiny he seems meant to change, although it doesn't always turn out for the better. While in the past, Dan reconnects with Livia Beale, his ex-fiancée, whom he lost in a plane crash.

Dan's "shifts" through time occur seemingly at random, the only indication of the shift being a slight flash so brief that even Dan himself fails to notice some of the time. Dan appears to have no control over the shifts, though sharp headaches do precede them. The destination date is usually several decades in the past, but the distance usually decreasing by years at a time, as Dan alters a specific destiny. Dan can appear in a different place from where he departed, but he seems to limited to the same general area, such as a city or aircraft. Dan can also encounter himself in the past.

The shifts only affect Dan, ignoring any other nearby object. For example, one shift pulls Dan out of a moving car, and the now-empty car proceeds to crash. His personal effects (e.g. clothing, mobile phone, etc.), however, are taken with him. When this occurs, Dan vanishes from the present for a period of time that has no relation to that he spends in the past. This creates initial tensions with his family and co-workers, who wonder what has happened to him when he seems to disappear for days. He has used his ability to leave a Time capsule, to resolve the issue with his wife.

Dan's journeys appear to have an innate purpose, which is not always apparent to him, but involve positively changing the destiny of certain people he encounters.

Okay, so it's not just me. I might have to watch next time because Dan disappears while he has his little boy with him, and it looks as though the child is lost in a crowd. Scary.

The Best Bread Ever! Linda's Recipe

CLICK FOR THE BEST BREAD EVER--LINDA'S RECIPE

HERSHEY'S MUDSLIDE COOKIES

CLICK FOR HERSHEY'S MUDSLIDE COOKIES

GUEST BLOGGING WITH LUCY MONROE

Today I'm guest blogging at Lucy Monroe's lively site!
For those who love the behind-the-book scoop, this is for you!
For those of you who love brownies, this is for you!
That just about takes care of everyone, right?
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? CLICK HERE and PEEK in to see what it's all about.
For those of you who don't like brownies...well, I'm just sad for you.

Caramel Cheesecake Bars

CLICK HERE: Caramel Cheesecake Bars


I'm doing recipes differently now. I'll give you the notice here, and then you click on the link to the archives page to view the recipe.

And -- for future reference: when you want to find something, there's a little search box in the upper left-hand corner, see it? Type in "cake" or "brownies" or whatever you're looking for. I believe I've labeled the archives well enough that you'll be able to pull up what you want.

NEW FEATURE

Let's have a little interactive fun!

Send me your favorite chocolate or dessert recipe - or chocolate dessert recipe - I want your tried-and-true hands-down winner. If you have a pic of it that would be GOOD, but if not, send me a pic of YOU - that would be GREAT.

I'll add them to the recipe archives so everyone can enjoy.
Please send the recipe in the body of an email, nicely formatted to
SaintJohn@aol.com
in the subject line: RECIPE
and attach a photo or tell me where to grab one. If you don't include a photo, I'll pick one to use. !!

I LOVE MY BLOG BUDDIES!

Remember the new feature is accessed on the right sidebar of this page - scroll down to the links.

New Feature! Recipe Archives

Introducing a New Blog Feature!

You can now find all of the recipes I have ever posted by clicking on the link CHERYL'S RECIPE ARCHIVES in the sidebar to the right.

How cool is that?

Drawing Winner: End of the Week with Pam Crooks

The winner is:

Lila!

My husband and I have a very sophisticated way of drawing winners for my contests--he picks a number and I count entrants. LOL.

Lila, since you were his lucky number, please email me - pacrooks@radiks.net - with your snail mail addy, and I'll send you an autographed copy of WESTERN WINTER WONDERLAND, signed by Cheryl, Jenna and myself. A real keeper!

Thank you all so much for visiting with me! And thanks most of all to Cheryl for having me. Her blog is always unique and interesting, and this has been a real treat.

NEW SEASON TV: Pushing Daisies

As a boy Ned finds out the hard way that he has a special gift. One touch will bring dead things back to life. A second touch makes them dead again -- forever. One minute after bringing the deceased back to life someone or something else dies. You kind of need to watch episode one to understand how he feels responsible for killing Charlotte's father. You can watch full episodes at NBC.com. Grown up Ned (Lee Pace) puts his talent to good use by touching dead fruit and making it ripe with everlasting flavor. He opens a pie shop. But his gift leaves him wary of becoming close to anyone, as beautiful waitress Olive Snook (Kristin Chenoweth) finds out. (Week two she does a hilarious spoof of Hopelessly Devoted.) His life as a pie maker gets more complicated when private investigator Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) finds out about Ned's secret. Emerson convinces the cash-strapped Ned to help him solve murder cases (and collect the hefty reward fees) by raising the dead and getting them to name their killers.

Then Ned is handed the case that changes his life forever. His childhood sweetheart, Charlotte "Chuck" Charles (Anna Friel), is murdered on a cruise ship under strange circumstances. Her death brings him back to his hometown of Coeur d' Coeurs to bring Chuck back to life, albeit briefly, and solve the crime. But once reunited with Chuck, Ned can't bring himself to send her back. He helps her escape after her grieving aunts, Lily and Vivian (Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene), former synchronized swimmers Darling Mermaid Darlings, think they've buried her forever.

Chuck becomes the third partner in Ned and Emerson's PI enterprise, but she encourages them to use their skills for good, not just for profit. Ned is overjoyed to be reunited with Chuck, the only girl he's ever loved. Life would be perfect, except for one cruel twist -- if he ever touches her again, she'll go back to being dead, this time for good.

Perfect romantic conflict, when you think about it.

I'm still considering my rating for this show. It's stupid, but it's funny stupid. (Coming from someone who laughs at My Name is Earl, consider the source.)
Combine a Desperate Housewives-style theme song, the omnicient narration of a Walgreens commercial (I swear they hired the same guy) to an Edward Scissorhands atmosphere and surreal look and you've got a pretty weird venue. I really liked week one. I was mixed about week two, so next week will probably make me decide whether or not I watch this one.

Anyone else watching?

White Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti

Great Gift Idea!

White Chocolate-Cranberry Biscotti

2 cups flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 cups POST SELECTS CRANBERRY ALMOND CRUNCH Cereal
3 squares white baking chocolate, chopped
4 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Mix flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat butter and sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Blend in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in cereal and white chocolate. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into 14x2-inch log with lightly floured hands; place on greased baking sheet.

BAKE 25 to 30 min. or until lightly browned. Remove from baking sheet. Place on cutting board; cool 10 min. Using a serrated knife, diagonally cut each log into 12 slices; place upright on baking sheet, 1/2 inch apart. Bake an additional 15 to 18 min. or until slightly dried. Remove from baking sheet. Cool on wire racks.

DIP biscotti in melted semi-sweet chocolate. (Or drizzle chocolate over biscotti.) Let stand until set. Store in tightly covered container at room temperature.

YIELD: 2 dozen

Photoshop the Stars

You know how I love this stuff. From now on I want a Photoshop professional to do all my pictures.

Wednesday Update

It's official, the contracts are winging their way toward Ontario as you read this. And we got matching his and her phones, isn't that sweet? We didn't have camera phones last time, so this will be fun.