Mariannes Motifs

Happy Place

My mom is having radiation treatment tomorrow. I told her to "go to her meditative happy place." She said "I don't have a meditative happy place, I only have a meditative pissed off place."

My Iran Conspiracy Theory

My personal conspiracy theory is that Ahmadinejad rigged the elections against the wishes of the Mullahs. I think that is why they are allowing the demonstrations to proceed. Both candidates are already accepted by the Mullahs before they are allowed to run. The president is supposed to be a figurehead but Ahmadinejad’s major evil side and strong personality have been bringing heat on Iran so I think the Mullahs want to get rid of him, but he rigged the elections and is attempting a coup against the old guard.

Best Swag Ever

My favorite part of blogging is when companies allow me to review their products.  I have gotten some sweet freebies through blogging, everything from coupons for frozen veggies, to protein drinks, to free pearls!

However, this week's totally cool freebie is seriously the best ever.  I simply love my sock monkey from genuinemonkeez.com which is run by the folks from Colonial Candle.  (They sent me a yummy lavender candle too - Thanks guys.)

They sent me Izzy, the purple striped sock monkee.  He is so cute!  Fun too - he has magnets in his hands and feet and also a magnet to keep his cute little hat on.  Also his scarf connects with velcro. My kids went nuts for this guy, and so did I.

Here is a picture of Adam with Izzy the sock monkey.  I can't believe these are only $15.00 either since it has great construction quality.  Beats  Webkinz any day in my book.

Birthday Cupcakes

birthday_cupcakes
Originally uploaded by mar1annec

Well the cupcakes are finished (see post below for recipes). They look mahvelous, if I do say so myself. And since it's my birthday, indeed I can.

Birthday Cake

I told the kids it was my birthday when I took them to camp and they were all like "Oh good, you get birthday cake."  So I decided to make myself some cake.

However, I needed something extremely easy because I am like that, you know.  Just the entire concept of baking cake is amazing to me, I don't need to push my luck with a complex recipe.

This one - Simple White Cake looked like it fit the bill.  6 ingredients, if you count the fact that I had self rising flour that hubby bought by mistake so I didn't need to add the baking powder.

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

I made them into cupcakes - I actually had balloon cupcake cups from some time I thought I was brave enough to bake for the kids.

Thinking that something this simple deserves icing, I found a simple buttercream recipe - Almost Professional Buttercream.  The cupcakes are in the oven and I am going to start on the frosting now.  Will post a pic later.

Happy Birthday To Me

Hey look - Google put up a special graphic just for me!  What's that you say?  Igor Stravinski?  No - it's for Marianne.

Even the Beatles want to wish me a happy birthday.

Tuesday Chit Chat

It's Tuesday boys and girls.  So far I took the kids to camp, picked up a set of size 7 long straight knitting needles, emptied the dishwasher, soaked the dishes in the sink, cleaned off the kitchen table, played Mafia Wars on Facebook, and made stew. 

The stew is made with three little chuck tender steaks I got at Walmart for $3.44.  Then I cut up potatoes, carrots, celery, and Vidalia onion.  I cut the steaks into cubes, browned them in olive oil, and then added the onions and veggies.   I threw in a pack of onion soup mix, paprika, and some brandy to deglaze the pan.  Dumped that over the cut up potatoes in the crock pot and set it to go for 6 hours.  It smells absolutely yummy.  I was tempted to drink some of the brandy but I will restrain myself until after dinner.  LOL!

Did I ever tell you guys about how I had a diamond fall out of the anniversarry band we bought in St. Thomas?  I need to price loose diamonds and see how much it will cost to replace it.  Its a small piece so maybe not that bad.  After I am working...

I applied for some new jobs yesterday.  I am no holding my breath waiting for company xyz to call me back.  I am trying not to sink into the deepest pit of unemployed depression.  Blah.

Best Chili Ever

I made chili tonight and it came out so totally yummy, I had to write down what I put in it for posterity.  And so I remember next time.

Best Chili Ever - Turkey Ancho Black Bean Chili

 

1 pound ground turkey

1 small onion

1 big clove garlic

“brown bag” chili mix – about 1.5 TBSP  (I don’t use the whole bag at once cause the kids like stuff mild)

Ancho chlili powder – 1TBSP

1 can Bush’s chili beans (mild)

1 can Ro-Tel Mexican diced tomatoes mild

1 can black beans.  (rinse the black beans well in water before putting in the chili otherwise they make everything black.)

1 squirt of ketchup   (imparts a certain "je ne sais quoi"

 

 

Chop onion and garlic and sauté lightly in some olive oil.  Add ground turkey and cook through. 

 

Dump in all the other ingredients.  Cook up for 15 minutes or so to thicken the sauce.  Enjoy.

Made $1.62 on Squidoo

I would just like to report that my Squidoo page Coolest Knitting Patterns using just squares and rectangles just made me $1.62 in revenues.  Add this to the $14 and change I made from my Amazon affiliate sales  (See search Amazon box to your right if you are in the mood to shop and I get a 4% commission) and I am just rolling in the dough.  Rolling, I tell you.

Actually if you are a knitter wanting to know about super easy patterns made with squares and rectangles the page is a great collection of free and cheap patters.  Some are very simple, like the knitted kitty and bunny.  Other's are more complex modular knitting.  If I do say so myself the page is a great collection, and loom knitters really love it as it is a bit more tricky to increase and decrease on the looms as compared to needle knitting so loom knitters really like squares and rectangles.

Down with the Sickness

Last night after the kids went to bed Jin and I played rock band until the wee hours of the morning.  I particularly enjoyed playing Down with the Sickness, by Disturbed.  I think this song is very cathartic. 

Just in case you need a laugh here is a fan made Alvin and the Chipmunks style version of Down With the Sickness.

What kind of sickness you may ask?  Not mesothelioma.

Wa-Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah