How to Make a Good Impression

"Vienna Rolls: Just the thing for the newcomer in the community to take to a church supper. Fame will follow her." --taken from The American Everyday Cookbook, 1955.

Well, too bad I didn't read that a few weeks ago! Here I thought I'd have to go get red and purple streaks put in my hair to make a memorable impression at the new church we recently joined. If only I'd read this recipe note first, I could have saved myself a good $200 or so!!

My mom passed this cookbook down to me just a couple months before I was married in 1998. It belonged to her mother, Betty, who received it from her husband, George, in 1955. This baby has been well-used, believe me!

I got a wild hair (no, no puns here...) tonight to browse through it as I hadn't opened it up for several years. Both my grandmother and my mom had written little notes throughout---births, deaths, divorces...x's by things that were good. On an inconspicuous spot on one of the first few pages, I found a little note: "Betty + George".

I couldn't help but add to the page my own little note for generations to come: "Sarah + Jamie".

Top Secret Family Thanksgiving Recipe...For Your Eyes Only!!

Great 80's Movies Awareness Question: Who is this guy and where do we meet him?

I've decided to share with you a tidbit from my vault of family secrets! Here is a recipe for Date Nut Pudding, a family favorite for four generations now! This is to be eaten with your Thanksgiving meal and placed on your plate right next to your turkey. But don't be confused...you are not to place this next to the turkey that is in between the mashed potatoes and stuffing---the turkey that you cover with the same gravy that you cover the afore mentioned items with. You are instead to place it next to the other turkey that you've placed right next to the cranberry sauce that you place on your fork first before stabbing a hunk of the non-gravied turkey and eating it all with one bite.

Now that we have that straight, lets continue...

Date Nut Pudding

(from the current kitchens of Christy Virgil and Sarah Coller and the former kitchen of Betty Piper)

2 c. chopped dates

1 c. chopped nuts

2 c. miniature marshmallows

1 c. graham cracker crumbs

1 12 oz. container Cool Whip

Stir them all together well and press down into a 9" square pan. Sprinkle more graham crumbs on top and chill overnight.

Yum!

Raspberry Delay

Quick! What song is going through your head right now? (Sorry...)

I finally thawed out all my frozen raspberries this past Saturday and made some jam. YUM! It was the best I've ever made.

Those berries had been in my freezer since I went on a kick and bought $60 worth of them last MAY!

Just in case you aren't hearing Prince in all his annoyingness wheezing in your brain by now, I'll just post you a little link: http://www.last.fm/music/Prince/_/Raspberry+Beret

Random Candy Awareness Fact: Did you know they now make Sugar Free Chick-O-Sticks? I just snagged one from my son's candy bag. I was so excited to find it but once I saw the Sugar Free label, I lost interest.

Dewey Diddy Diddy Dum Diddy Dew

Last night my husband and I were watching the Stargate episode where Sam's new boyfriend is teasing her about quirkiness. He makes a comment that goes something like: "as long as you don't have alphabetized bookshelves...".

My husband looked at me and grinned his "you have weird quirkinesses" smile.

You see, I not only want my bookshelves alphabetized---I want them arranged according to the Dewey Decimal System. This has been a dream of mine ever since I began collecting books in my early childhood.

People keep telling us we need a bigger place because we have a lot of kids. They're all only half way right. Yes, a bigger place is needed...but not for the kids' sake. If we were to have one more bedroom than we have now, it would not be for kids---it would be for my dream library.

All arranged as Dewey would do it.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

This morning I was informed that this is National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo). This new venture excites me for more than one reason. Besides the fact that the acronym sounds like something the Nox would eat for breakfast, I have needed an encouragement just like this to get me writing in my blogs more.

So I figured that since I would be part of this nationwide effort, I'd need some sort of badge to make myself known. I borrowed this cute typewriter lady badge from Dory: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42wallabyway/2989196747/

When I first saw this picture, it made me wonder about the lady. The badge was obviously made from an old photo found online somewhere. Dory surely discovered this photo that someone had posted for a different reason and took the liberty to alter it to make it her own. I wonder how long this photo has been circulating and in what arenas. Most of all, I wonder who the woman is. Is she still around? What was the original purpose for the photo being taken? Does she know that her image is now circulating all over the internet?

I guess this just goes to show that you never know how you'll make your mark in this world! Some people are remembered for their prized apple pie, some are acknowledged generation after generation for a moving speech they made, and others...others are preserved in green---a testimony forever to the end of the finger wave and the birth of ready wear.

Sci-Fi Awareness Bonus Question: Tell us who the Nox are and in what way to we first come to meet them?