Cruised through Tumblr today and came across SpecialBored, the home of Vinnie’s Pizza on Tumblr.
For a good laugh, go visit!
specialbored.tumblr.com. “special boards from vinnie’s pizza in brooklyn by sean berthiaume”
As seen on Jimmy Kimmel, so you know it’s good!
The Husband found a super-delicious bag of granola being sold at the bike shop recently- Fit Chick may be pricy, but is definitely worth every penny. It’s delicious. Click the picture (swiped from the Fit Chick web site) to connect with ordering info if you are so inclined…
I’ve been meaning to try a granola recipe that I found and squirreled away on Pinterest, and now I have a great model to imitate- I used a recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, tweaked the ratios to make a smaller batch, and added chia seeds and pine nuts to come close to the Fit Chick bag o’ goodness.
Here’s how it went down…
Cherry Almond Granola
makes just over 4 cups
Mix together the first seven ingredients (syrup through the oils). Mix in the oats, almonds, pine nuts and chia seeds. Press into a 13″ x 18″ half sheet baking pan (or a cookie sheet) and bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Watch that the granola doesn’t get too browned! Let cool slightly, break into chunks, mix in the cup of dried cherries and try to keep yourself from eating it all in one sitting.
This was another “Holy Yum” recipe. If I were to rank it, it would be worthy of an 11 out of 10, à la Spinal Tap.
11/18/17 Update: I’ve continued to make and share this awesome recipe, and started adding 1/2 teaspoon of ground cardamom. Wow, is that a great addition! Another change I’ve made in the recipe is to increase the coconut and canola oil from 1 1/2 tablespoon, each, to two tablespoons, each. I think it needed a bit more of the oil to help keep everything together. And I also realize now that when you bake dried fruit in a granola, the fruit turns into little tough rocks. That’s not good. I’ve learned to mix the fruit in at the end!
Nothing like coming back home to the tumble-fur. You know what “tumble-fur” is, don’t you? Similar to tumbleweeds, they are the piles of fur shed by your sweet pets in your absence. The longer you are gone, the larger the tumble-fur becomes.
Four day vacations are all it takes to produce some mighty fine specimens.
All I did on Tuesday and Wednesday was clean up and do laundry. I didn’t even log anything new on Wednesday, unless I count trying The Husband’s beer that was new to him as well…
The setting goals is always an interesting endeavor. We often accomplish more, we are encouraged to do better… “Shoot for the moon; even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” (Norman Vincent Peale) We need goals and drive to accomplish them.
But, we must also be flexible. In being flexible, we are open to surprises and blessings we might otherwise have missed! “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” (Albert Einstein)
I’m temporarily setting aside my month’s goal of attending to home fixer-upper chores this month. There will still be time to repair the damage from barstools gouging into the wall under our kitchen counter, and I will eventually repaint my stair risers to cover up six years worth of scuffs. Instead, it looks as though we will be swapping over my two teens’ rooms and adding on a third one. Teen, that is, not rooms- oh my GOSH, I don’t think I could put up with remodeling a home… I’ve heard the horror stories.
We have never played host to an exchange student or any houseguest for more than a month at a time- usually, it has been my mom and we have had a ball with her long stays. But my parents, on the other hand, many years ago they have had a few of my friends live at their home for one, three, twenty-five months at a stretch. They made me proud. To know that my parents were ready, willing, and able to help out a friend gave me such a good feeling about my family. They taught me well.
If we can, I look forward to having one of my teen’s friends hang here for his senior school year, as my parents did for my friends.
It will be a pleasure.
I grew up in Southern California. That means that I went to Disneyland at least once a year- it was less than an hour’s drive from our home. By the time high school came around it grew to two to three more trips with band and choir trips plus the yearly family visits. When The Husband and I moved our kids back to The Southland (where we add the word “The” in front of our freeways like nature intended), we didn’t visit Disney or any of the local amusement parks at all. Every time the kids asked or casually mentioned how the neighbor family had yearly passes our answer was always “Nooooo! Your father/mother and I are sick of Disney!” At least we put up a united front.
We won four “Park Hopper” passes at the same school fundraiser that also netted us two cases of wine. I think that these two prizes are meant to go together… “Park Hopper” passes provide access to not only Disneyland, but the sister park California Adventure. Here is where the need for the wine comes in- after three days with three teens in Anaheim at the Convention Center for VidCon, we thought it would be a great idea to pick up two more teens and go across the street to the two parks.
It was worth it.
Neither The Husband nor I have been to California Adventure, and not only did we love the park, we both want to return. We screamed and laughed through California Screamin’, the biggest, fastest coaster in the parks. We got soaked and ooh’d and ahh’d through the World of Colors water show at the end of the day. Crammed in the day were some of our other favorite rides and a few new ones, too. We loved the Soarin’ Over California- a 4-D ride/movie/experience… despite my issues with vertigo.
We did make it back and forth between the two parks. Several times. My feet are killing me, but I’m in good company- people thirty years younger than me are hurting, too. Ha!
And about Disneyland? Both The Husband and I think that Space Mountain is even more cool than it was when we were kids.
branching out... on a limb 