2012 It Wasn't A Very Good Year

I wish I could say a lot about 2012 that is favorable.

~ The Presidental election drove me insane and caused a huge rift in my family.

~ My father spent several weeks in the hospital throughout the course of the year, and my mother tried to play catchup with him, spending 2 weeks there this summer.

~ I didn't get any further than Bethel Park to Barnes and Noble...and I only did that one time.

~ My original Nook went splat on the floor of the YMCA about a month after its warranty was up.

However I am alive and there are some good things that happened in 2012

~ Miss Itchy came into our lives, and with her Mucker, Blinky and 'Mokey my adorable little kittens.

~  I got a new laptop.

~ Doctor Who was pretty amazing as is The Neighbors.

~ Discovered a lot of great independent authors thanks to my book blog.

~ Really came to love cooking and baking...and sadly my waistline shows it.

A Little Doctor Who Christmas Fun

Top 5 On Friday

Top 5 albums, songs, artists of 2013. Tell us all your musical favorites of this past year!

Albums:

Songs: 

Love & Theft - Angel Eyes

Zac Brown Band - Goodbye In Her Eyes

Little Big Town - Pontoon
Florida Georgia Line - Cruise
Lady Antebellum - On This Winter's Night

Christmas Presents

Here's a picture of some of the things that Santa brought me for Christmas this year.

That's because those tins are filled with lots and lots of Christmas cookies.

What did I make?

Easy Chewy Macaroons, Chocolate Cherry Slice Cookies, Chocolate Krinkles, Mini Chocolate Chip Balls, Fruited Nut Chippers, Florentines, Chocolate Shortbread, Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies.

I'm Santa's best buddy now!

So, after looking at this pile of goodies, do you think I have enough Starbucks and mugs?

Merry Christmas

Happy Christmas to all! And to all a holiday earworm!

Recipe! Chocolate Cherry Cordial Cookies!

Chocolate Cherry Cordials...care of Parade Magazine

INGREDIENTS:
For Cookies:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg 1 tsp rum extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
30 maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry with paper towels
2 Tbsp sugar, for coating
For Glaze:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp rum extract
4 tsp maraschino cherry juice
 DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar, egg, and rum extract until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Beat well.

2. Flatten about 1 Tbsp dough. Place a cherry on top; mold dough around it. Roll in sugar. Repeat with remaining dough.

3. Place cookies 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 minutes. Cool on a rack.

4. For glaze, whisk ingredients; spoon over cookies.

I Need A Break

I think I'll be taking a blogging break for the next few days, so that I can get ready for the holiday.

Lots of baking to do.

Lots of stuff to do.

Not much to say that everyone else isn't saying a 100 times better.

So if I'm absent until Tuesday or Wednesday, just know I'm going crazy...

Things I Need To Do

Thank God for the long weekend before the holiday!

I need to clean.

Make many more cookies.

Do some more grocery shopping

Somehow find some Christmas spirit.

And maybe, just maybe read a book?

I'm not really asking for much, especially since I'm not doing the whole presents thing for the holiday.

Right?

Right?

And if I can't have the time to read, I'd like to put that time to good use, SLEEPING!

I've Got Problems

~ The roof in Grandma's house, that would be my house, is leaking, and I don't have money to fix it.

~ I can't afford presents this year.

~ Dad is not doing well, as much as I don't want to sound pessimistic, this may be our last Christmas together and that scares me.

~ Right now I'm hoping the Mayans are right.

The Great Gun Debate

Ah the 2nd Amendment. That right to keep and bare...bear...arms.

Here's something to think about.

If you say criminals will get guns anyway..

When it comes to these mass shootings, these people aren't criminals,  yet. They are mentally unstable.

Plus, why do civilians need assault rifles?

I have no problems with hand guns, though I have to say, having family that was murdered in their beds, the guns that were sitting in the nightstand did nothing to protect them. But again, I have no problem with those.

I also have a huge problem with turning our schools into high security prisons and having principals armed.

How long before a kid gets hold of a faculty member's weapon.

There has to be a better way to keep people and our children safe.

I think it has to come from tougher screening and keeping weapons out of the hands of people with mental illness and even their family. If not that, tougher regulation on the amount of ammunition.

Then, the media needs to shut up.

These children and adults are gone. Let the families pick up their pieces in silence. Let them grieve and get the cameras out of their faces.

If you want to do something for them, pray for them. Their loss won't be forgotten.

Big Sigh

Laundry and cookie making

That's what I did this weekend, along with sitting at the hospital with my dad.

This time it was his heart acting up.

If it isn't one thing it is another.

I just don't have it in me to do much anymore.

1st Christmas Cookie Of The Year

Angie Dzurinko's Mini Choco Balls

These cookies are essentially Russian Tea Cookies with chocolate chips in them.

Yum!

When making these, don't be afraid to get your hands in the dough or you won't get a good cookie. This is one that a mixer won't really help you on.

iMini Choc Chip Balls
3 sticks marg or butter.
3/4c Powdered sugar
1tbls vanilla
3c Flour
2c(12oz) Mini choc morsels

Beat butter and sugar tog Add remaining ingredients. Make into 1" balls

Bake 375 10-12 mins on lighty sprayed pans

Let cool and sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar!

Nothing To Say

After watching the news today, I have to say, I have no words for the tragedy that occurred in CT this morning.

Nothing I say will be of any use, except that this was just senseless and cruel and horrible.

But we already no that.

Anyone with two brain cells to rub together knows that.

The world weeps for the parents of those children lost today..for the families of the adults that were lost today, as they were doing their jobs...helping to educate those children.

It is a sad sad day.....

Brrrr

I'm cold.

I don't feel good

I want to go to bed and sleep for like forever.

This teenage rant...brought to you by someone that's closing in on 40....

And yes, my friends, I would like some cheese with my whine

O Christmas Tree

Well, I finally got the tree up.

One of them.

The question now, is how long will it stay up.

The little grey kitten has been living in its branches for a few days.

Today I finally put ornaments on it, and said a prayer that the thing will last til Christmas.

One more tree to go!

I'm going to go for bows and dollar store ornaments to be on the safe side!

Look At What I've Got

This is today's shirt over at RIPT apparel!

I'm such a fangirl and this shirt combines my two favorite fandoms, The Nightmare Before Christmas and Doctor Who!

Squee!

I'm so excited.

And yes, I'm easily amused by T-shirts that mash up my favorite things.

I'm pretty easily amused all the way around!

Monday Monday Go Away

I'm not ready for Monday.

I didn't get any time to myself.

It is 10:30 and I'm still doing laundry.

I haven't started the holiday mix CD.

I've just about finished buying the baking stuff for all my cookies.

Still unsure of what's going to happen with the trees, since I now have a kitty climber. No joke, I've had a cat since I was in college, and I've had multiple cats just as long and none of them bothered the tree until now. ARGH!

I'm tired, I'm cranky and I get no time to myself.

No one helps me.

No one does anything.

I really can't take it anymore.

I haven't been to a concert in 2 years. I have't been to a mall in over a year. I haven't even been to a flipping Target...in...I don't know how long.

This is not right!!!!

I demand a do over on my life.

Weekends Suck

I'm not saying I didn't get anything accomplished so far, because that would be a lie. I got a lot of my baking stuff bought. I even put the tree up. I didn't decorate it yet, I just assembled it. I'm giving the cats time to get used to the idea of a tree standing in the room. So far only one cat has decided to climb it. That's a first actually. Smokey thought the tree was a fun place to be though. Such fun! Now I'm going through cooking magazines. I'm trying to get rid of some because, well, I'm just sick of everything. I just want someone to send me a garbage dumpster and have it parked right below a window so I can just start tossing stuff. I don't care whose stuff it is, I want to toss it all. I would just like this house to look semi-decent once in my life. I think that is an impossibility. Unless of course I won the lottery.

I'm Making A List

I'm sitting at my computer typing up all the Christmas Cookies I plan to make and the ingredients each needs, so that I can do my shopping in one swoop. That's pretty smart of me, isn't it? Aren't you proud. So far I'm up to about 5 different kinds of cookies. No, make that 6, I've added Christmas biscotti to the list. I might do Florentine's again and the Oreo Cream Cheese Cookies too. What are your favorite holiday cookies?

If Santa Were Republican

I Want This!

A freaking Tardis purse.

The cost is insane, because its hand made and just crazy gorgeous.

Would you believe $180?

Yikes!

So, yeah, I want it, but no I'm not getting it.

But isn't it so darn cute?'

The leather one is $249!

The Big News Of The Week

Duchess Catherine (note I don't call her Kate Middleton) is pregnant. Big whoop tee do. Sure she's going to produce the heir to the throne of England, but geeze that kid is actually 4th in line to the throne..after Grandpap Charles and his daddy. It doesn't seem much to get excited about. Plus poor mom to be is puking her guts (and mind you, Catherine doesn't have much in that area) up with an extreme case of morning sickness. Such sickness sending her to the hospital, and giving the media cause to speculate she may have twins! GAH! What a way to produce the sibling rivalry from hell. Cos the kid that comes out second is not going to be happy about that. However, I'd rather hear about Kate's pregnancy woos over the Fiscal Cliff that our inept Congress is about to send us over. How about we push all of them off the cliff and start over?

Funny Doctor Who Images!

Cos I love me some Who!

BBC America Sucks

I love British TV, but BBC America doesn't really like to play much of it.

I'm sick of Top Gear and anything with Gordon Ramsey.

Oh and why do they play Star Trek? Having Patrick Stewart in the cast does not make it something that should be on BBC America.

I want Britcoms!

I want something interesting.

I don't want more crap reality shows.

Don't we have enough of those already?

Miranda is starting back on the 26th of December, and it sucks that getting to watch it is next to impossible, because god forbid BBC America play any comedies anymore.

I think the last comedies they aired where The Catherine Tate Show and Little Britain, and that was back when Catherine was the companion on Doctor Who...and that was uh...a few years ago!!!!

Grrrr!

The Cat Came Back!

I had something to say, but now its gone.

Instead, watch this cute funny video..and see if any of you know the song...