Mariannes Motifs

Texas Gulf Shrimp Recipe - Yummy!

Just listen to this yummy recipe: Texas Gulf Shrimp over hominy cakes with heirloom tomato relish drizzled with prickly pear gastrique.  This is one of the yummy gourmet seafood recipes from the www.GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff.com cook off contest.  The judges already voted the Mississippi Redfish Courtboullion by Chef John Currence as the winner but now the public can vote on the website and take part in a contest to win a trip to New Orleans.

Ok, no one wants to go to New Orleans THIS weekend with category 4 hurricane Gustav bearing down.  Maybe later though. 

I am not really sure what a prickly pear gastrique is, though.   It sounds kind of funny.  Up here in Georgia they just like to cook themselves up some good old fashioned Shrimp and Grits.  As a native Upstate New Yorker, I had never had Shrimp and Grits till I got down here in GA.  Now its one of my favrorite things.

There's really nothing like good old American domestic seafood.  I am very concerned about the sustainability of seafood so that we preserve our Oceans and Wildlife there.

For those who may be interested here is a link to the Georgia Aquarium's site where they have a pdf you can print for a seafood sustainability wallet card that lists which types of seafood are best in terms of sustainability and safety too.  You are almost always going to be better off with domestic seafood for sustainability, freshness, and great taste.  Plus you're supporting American fishermen and companies which is good too.

Scrapbook Fail

Here's a little funny from Fail Blog.

Charter Cable laptop a day givaway & new customer deal

If you are in the market for high speed internet, Charter Communications is having a good back to school deal and is running a laptop a day giveaway contest.   For complete contest rules, includng how to mail in a no purchase required entry form, go to the Official Rules link here. 

New customers of any Charter service are automatically entered in the  Charter Laptop-a-Day Giveaway.

Here are the specs of the system they are awarding the winner:

Computer Details:
New HP Compaq Presario C770US Notebook
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor
15.4" WXGA Screen
2GB RAM -160GB hard drive
DVD Burner
Built in Wi-Fi and Ethernet
Plus a NEOtec Laptop Backpack

I don't have Charter, but I do have cable modem Internet and phone service through a different provider here at the house.  I really like the fast Internet, and I will tell you that getting rid of traditional phone service has definitely saved me cold hard cash.  Now I have unlimited long distance and never have to worry about talking to my mom on the phone as long as I want to.  And I can do all the blogging, downloading, uploading, game playing, and web surfing I want and never have any issues.

The only complaint I have with the Cable company has to do with the cable cards in my HD Tivo... but that is another matter for another day.

How to Crochet a basic Granny Square - Crochet 101 from KnitSimple Magazine

I only know the most basic crochet, but I think I could manage to follow these simple instructions for making a basic Granny Square from KnitSimple Magazine.

Coupled with the information found on Coolest Knitting Patterns using just squares and rectangles the humble Granny Square could become a building block for some interesting things. 

Labor Day Coloring Pages, Printables, and Activities for Kids

Here are some free printable Labor Day activity pages, coloring pages, word searches, and goodies to keep the kids busy over Labor Day Weekend.

Labor Day Word Search from About.com

Labor Day Coloring Pages (All sorts of Different Jobs) from apples4theteacher.com

Cute School Bus Driver Coloring Page from primarygames.com

Workshop Tools Labeling Worksheet from Enchanted Learning.

Thursday Chit Chat - Voter Registration Info

Ok folks, if for some reason you have not yet registered to vote it's very easy at the Rock The Vote Voter Registration web page. 

Yesterday my Comcast email was full and all my mail never made it to me - so if you sent me anything important, well... send it again.  It turns out you actually have to "empty the trash."  Wow.  Good thing I am an email expert and all so I can be on top of these details.

Did you ever just want to rent a dumpster or moving pods and totally clean out your basement?  That is where I am mentally right now.  The worst part is that about 50% of the stuff in there is Melissa's so I have to put the strong arm on her to find someplace else for it.  I want to finish finishing the basement.  Of course I have no money for this little project but a girl can dream, right?

We might have some extra family staying with us for a while... I won't say anything more for fear of jinxing the deal.  People need to talk and arrangements need to be made before anything is settled.

Well...I have to go get to the office now.  Cheers

 

Fundraising for Ben's School

PRODUCT SEARCH
Please Help Support Ben! Hey Everyone - I am selling Sally Foster® products. 50% of all profits will be used for Ben's Elemantary School . If you'd like to help and get a great deal, please purchase some high-quality Sally Foster products today!
Here's How You Help Just click the button above and Benjamin (267090) will automatically get credit for the purchase. Sally Foster will notify me of your order! And 50% of your purchase amount will go to Ben's School .
If clicking the button does not take you to the Sally Foster® Online store, just visit www.sallyfoster.com/email to make your purchase and enter my seller number (267090) during the checkout process so I get credit. Thank you very much for your support, and enjoy your Sally Foster Products. This is my personal message. Thanks again, Ben
			SAVE THIS EMAIL
			Place your order today so Benjamin and Ben's School get credit. Ben's School will continue to earn 50% profit on online orders made through June 30, 2009. So be sure to keep this email should you decide to order more Sally Foster products.

New Scrapbook Layout

I've been really remiss on my digital scrapping lately.  I've been doing some knitting, but not had any "mojo" for scrapping since the dreaded computer got hit by lightning incident totally messed up my stash of wonderful discrap goodies.

Fortunately, I am still hanging by a thread on Kim Hill's team and she hasn't kicked me to the curb yet.  I love working with her products and I can feel my creative juices coming back up!  Which is good because fall is coming and there are all sorts of great projects to work on from Halloween invitations to presents for the family.

Here is a very simple layout I made last night using her ArtBin Solids Neutral Paper and the ever popular Printer's Block Alpha.

Monday Chit Chat

Happy Monday everyone.  I just got the call from my doc that my Celiac blood test came out negative.  So I am going to celebrate that with a big 'ol sandwich I guess.  She said that if for some reason it's a false negative they can "take a peek" the next time I get a colonoscopy.   How fun.

I am almost finished knitting Ben's pair of slippers made from Garter Stitch Squares.  (See my Squidoo lens on Coolest Knitting Patterns you can make with only Squares and Rectangles for more info)

I have a question for you - why is good face cream so hard for me to find?  I can't use anything!  The more expensive the cream the more likely it is to make me break out.  The only thing I can use is Olay Total Effects.  Of course its not even all that cheap at like $18 bucks a bottle.  Eye cream makes me break out too. Even acne scars cream is a dicey proposition for me.  A lot of times I use Olay's Smoothing Exfoliating cleanser and no face cream after.  The cleanser has just a bit of a creamy texture and is just enough to keep my face moisturized without making it too oily or whatever makes it break out.

When desperate in the winter I put Vaseline on my face before I go to sleep.  Go figure.  THAT doesn't make me break out.  You know we were watching a history channel show about how they make everything from oil and it was pretty interesting to learn how they get petroleum jelly.  It started out as the waste product that gunked up the drill bits on the oil rigs!

Coolest Knitting Patterns using just squares and rectanges

Don't forget to check out my Squidoo Lens:

Coolest Knitting Patterns using just squares and rectangles

And my Loom Knitting Lens.