Need Basil?!

Can you believe this plant?! My basil plant has grown to an astonishing 3 feet tall! You can see I put a ruler down just to gauge it's height, and was surprised at how much the plant dwarfs the ruler! I have been trying to use it as much as possible, but unless I start putting basil in my cereal, ice cream, enchilladas, shampoo, and toothpaste, I will NEVER use it all up! Heck, I could use it as TP and still have extra!



You can see at the top of the plant that there are even more sprouts coming up! Each one of those sprouts has 20 or so leaves! I am going to check out on the web instructions on how to dry it, but until then, I need to get really creative in my uses for it!
Basil pancakes, anyone?

In a word.....YUM!

Hey! Are you just craving to get out your most comfortable sweatshirt? Are you just begging for summer to be over with so you can enjoy the fruits of fall? Want warm apple cider, pumpkin bread, or smores? Some people LOVE the fall, and are always excited when they feel that first nip in the air. So, in honor of those folks, I have a recipe for you! These bars are a-w-e-s-o-m-e!!!! I highly recommend you try them and imagine you at a campfire surrounded by hay and fleece, looking at the beautiful autumn moon.



S'more Cookie Bars

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 super-sized (4.4 oz.) dark chocolate bars (e.g. Hershey’s)
1 1/2 cups marshmallow creme/fluff (not melted marshmallows); About 16 ounces

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan.

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg and vanilla.
In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix at a low speed until combined. Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place chocolate bars over dough. Two 4.4 oz. Hershey’s bars should fit perfectly side by side, but break the chocolate (if necessary) to get it to fit in a single layer no more than 1/4 inch thick. Spread marshmallow fluff evenly over the chocolate layer.


Place remaining dough in a single layer on top of the fluff. This is most easily done by putting the second half of the dough in a gallon size freezer bag. Use your palms to flatten it out, and then use scissors to cut down both long sides of the bag, so it will open up book-style. Open it up carefully, and the dough will stick on one side of the bag. Then place the bag, dough side down, on the other three layers. From there peel the bag up ad spread the dough where it is uneven.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting into bars

Makes 16 cookie bars.

Chi-Town, here I come!!

On Tuesday, I am off on a culinary tour and shopping extravaganza in lovey Chicago!!
My blessed mother has gifted me with the trip for my 30th (eek!!) birthday and I am going to make the most of my 2 days there. I have plotted our course, and we will hit the ground running starting with a stop at the local Starbucks for my Tall, non-fat, decaf extra pump vanilla latte and then we're off to brunch at Orange on Harrison. I am very eager to try their Fruishi!! www.orangebrunch.com
Then, after checking into our ultra hip Hotel Avenue, www.avenuehotelchicago.com, we will hit the Miracle Mile!!
Then off to Garretts Popcorn for a tasty treat, that I have only heard rave reviews about! www.garrettpopcorn.com
Then it's off to the theater where we will get a behind the scenes tour of the Broadway show Wicked! Hello?! Can you tell I'm pumped?!?!
After a short break to have a cocktail (or 7) I will FINALLY get to see the show. My friends Amanda and Katie have gushed over how great Wicked is!
www.wickedthemusical.com
On Wednesday morning, we will have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and carb up for more serious shopping!
I found a neat little BBQ joint that I thought we could try for dinner named Smoque. www.smoquebbq.com
I will FOR SURE come back 90 pounds heavier from all of the yummy treats I plan on indulging in, but I have a feeling that every calorie will be worth it!
Wooo-Hooo!!!

I am grumpy when I should have patience, I yell when I should forgive, I run when I should have courage…I am not who I need to be, but thank God I am not where I used to be.

Painted Fingers

Bad blogger, Bad! Bad!

I
Am
So
Sorry!
I left ya'll hangin'. And how ironic is that?? I was complaining about that very subject, and here I go doing it to you! Thank you to the loyal few who even asked about an update! So, here it is.
After only a few hours of deliberation, we came up with a fair verdict. It was a very rewarding experince and I was so glad to have been able to be a part of it! All of the other jurors were very nice and we had a great time. It was an easy case to listen to because it all came down to contractual wording. It was not a violent crime, a rape case, or anything else disturbing. It was, no lie, 4 and 1/2 days filled with tree arguments and contract wording. Whew!

So, on to the next new adventure in my (yawn) life! I decided to enter 2 dishes into the Indiana State Fair competition! I entered a pumpkin loaf and some biscotti. I was up until 1:00 am on Saturday night finishing up since I had to turn it in on Sunday.
It was a good thing that I decided to look at the rules, because on Tuesday(!!!) I saw that I had to turn in my items this weekend! Oh geez! And don't even ask about my Amaretto wild goose chase and my near miss at being the lead story on Nancy Grace.

I can find out as early as Sunday night if I'm a winner, but I'm not holding my breath! When I dropped of my items on Sunday, there were tables, rows and rows, of loaves. They might not all have been pumpkin loaves, but who knows. One things is, they all looked pretty good!

Now, where do I go to sign up to be a judge?

But it was getting so good!!!

Imagine that you are sitting on your couch, late in the evening, with your favorite snack (or snacks if you were me), and your most comfortable blanket. You are preparing yourself to watch the BEST movie of your life. You have been thinking about watching this movie all day, and the anticipation is enough to make you giddy. You start the movie and you are instantly engrossed in the story line and you invest your emotions so much into this movie that you begin to feel that you are actually a part of it. The story's characters are introduced and you begin to feel connected to some, trust little in others, and you may even begin to hypothesize where their stories and plot lines may take you. You begin to learn about the main characters, which includes a villain (there's always one to some degree in every movie!), and all of the "little people" who support those characters.
The story is compelling and with each passing minute, new and interesting facts come into play. And with each new fact, what you thought was true is beginning to become doubt. And with each doubt, you try to chase down a new truth. Almost to the point where you are mentally exhausted!
The plot thickens and your heart begins to jump at every sound, your knees are pulled up to your chest and your eyes are as wide as the moon. You don't dare blink for the fear that you might miss something and you catch yourself holding your breath. The peak of the story is upon you! You are about to be revealed all truths, who did what, who said what. The characters emotions have turned into your own as you feel the tension in every muscle. As the climax reaches it's peak, you listen with ears perked higher than Dr. Spock. And then!, then!, the moment is finally upon you! The moment you have been eagerly waiting for. Here it is! It's......darkness. Silence. Nothing.
Your power has gone out and you are left with silence so loud that it's deafening. At first your mind takes a split second for it to fully comprehend what just happened. At when it does, you just may fall down on your knees and scream to the heavens..."NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
That's how I felt today. We had a great witness on the stand and the lawyers were asking the good questions, really getting down to the heart of the matter. "Yes!" I thought. We were getting there! I wanted the lawyers to keep asking and the witness to keep telling. Then, the power went out. The Judge adjourned us for the day, and we were left screaming "No!" in our heads. Well, the witness will be there tomorrow and we will in fact get to the bottom of things, but somehow I feel that it won't be as exciting as today. Stupid power company.