Reminders

Reminders

I am hoping you are all having a wonderful season of holidays!!!

I’ve been busy on my own, a lot with Christmas.  At this moment in time, I am done with everything, but Friday I will be baking a Banana Bread for my nephew who asked for it.  I am on the wall about making my pumpkin roll since I don’t have enough pumpkin for that and 2 pies.

But I have been busy over at the Food Blog, I made sure all the recipes I used were live, and then came back to tell the ladies that the Eggnog Fudge is freaking awesome.  I am still getting rave reviews from people on it.  I don’t even like fudge much, I end up nibbling on it for weeks since to me it is too sweet.  This is nowhere as bad, and the eggnog flavor explodes in your mouth.

I did spend Saturday making a mountain of cookies.  see?

That isn’t even all of them.  I made Snickerdoodles, peanut butter cookies, no bakes, peanut butter rice crispies. cap’n crunch bars (don’t knock them until you try them, everyone ends up eating them!), Soft gingersnaps, butter (oatmeal and coconut cookies), Chocolate covered Pretzels and the eggnog fudge.  Then on Monday I made: Pumpkin Cupcakes (it’s a 2 ingredient recipe that freaking rocks!) and my brownies that people love for some unknown reason.

Needless to say, I was tired.  I slept mostly Sunday, then back to work.  My presents are wrapped, I have a couple cards to give to the boys with their main gifts in them.

The house buying is coming along, it looks like we will be homeowners for the new year.  I am already excited, as we talk about the changes we will be making to the house.  Just to clarify, this is the same house we have been living in, we are buying it so that we can own it.  It’s an old house and has issues, but we are thrilled to have it since we are getting a huge freaking deal on it.  We will be here for a long time, if not forever.  It is big enough to satisfy our needs, as well as once we are done renovating it, won’t be too big for us to keep up.

The dogs are being…well dogs.  Murphy got to experience opening presents as he removed each of the presents under the tree that were sent to us by people in AZ to the back yard and opened them.  He didn’t chew up the presents, just opened them, and any boxes they were in.  We ended up calling to make sure we had them all, but it is now funny.  Yesterday, not so much.

The cats have mostly left the tree alone.  We have it spinning and the only things that have been bothered is a ribbon wrapped around the tree, and I fixed that, and one ornament.  Now the tree skirt?  That thing has all the animals BUT Connor in love with it.  It has stayed under the tree for 2 days so far.  A true record!!! The longest before this streak was 2 hours.  They all want to sleep on it, so fight over it.

I have started something, that has been lurking in the back of my mind.  I am not publishing it since I have no idea where the story is going.  But that is how most of your favorites have started.  But the prologue is a story all by itself.  The general consensus over at Facebook is that for me to write it out, and when I am done, look back at the prologue to see if it should be a story on it’s own. If you want to know about it, join us over at the Facebook Group.

I know it is late, but please do remember to use my Amazon Link to shop, and you can use it all year long. Using my link costs you nothing since it is me referring you to the site.  It helps waylay the price of Grammarly, Photoshop, and The Google Drive.  It also goes toward my virus protections and so on, since I need to keep them up to the highest level with me on the site so much.  Plus I research a lot, so I end up all over the internet, especially the Wiki sites for fanfiction.  All this you help me pay for by using my link to shop at Amazon.

Here is the link for those that want to keep it bookmarked: http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=kittyinaz-20

If you are curious on the finances of the site, please click here.  I will let Robin know that it is done so that she can put it where you can find it normally.  If you look at it all, there is a lot of times that we pay out of pocket, Robin more than me.  Luckily last year a snafu happened on my side and McAfee accidently charged me the wrong amount so I got this as a free year.  This year I will be paying the $70+ out of the Amazon funds.  We truly do NOT make any money on your donations or you using our link for Amazon.

Lastly, don’t forget the Christmas Carol Writing Challenge!  After this year, I am going to do the contests once a quarter.  I will be bringing back the Fairy Tale contest, as well as Angels through the Fire Series. Seems you guys REALLY liked those.  One will the Annual Christmas contest, so I will be using the last as whatever I come up with.

I am off to see what I can do while doing the chores.  I think tonight I will be in here for awhile.  For those not in Texas, we are having whiplash weather.  2 weeks ago, it was flooding.  Enough to make us glad we have the home we have since we are a pier beam house. While we are not as high up as this shows, we are the lower blocks…

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I figured those not on the coast will not know what that means, but it means that the house is up on blocks.  They are NOT the stilt houses but are perfect for our area that floods often.  We had a moat around the house 2 weeks ago and thankfully we didn’t have to worry about anything but getting out of the house.  Then we had a week of 75+ temps.  To only have us drop into the 40’s this past weekend.  By Christmas, we are supposed to be up to the 70’s again, with another snap of cold weather to be coming our way.

For me, it is perfect.  But a lot of people are getting sick, and everyone is going to bed early in my house with the cold weather.  Today we are beating the 50’s by getting into the 60’s.

Man, do I miss my tea maker!!!!!!  And of course, when I got it, I gave away to everyone the other tea stuff I used. Hopefully, Santa brings me one?

Ah well.  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!  I hope to touch base with you guys after Christmas when things will be slightly calmer.  Well, slightly.  We have the house signing soon to do.

It’s Time To Snuggle Close…

For the Banners are made, the poll is ready for you to vote for your favorite story.

Yes, the Christmas Carols are ready for you to read!   There are some really long ones in this batch, that took me longer than normal to read.  That with the holiday season and the purchasing of our first home took more out of me than I expected.

Sorry.

But please read these submissions, leave a comment behind for the authors to read.  You have until the 30th (since I am busy, I am thinking others are also!!).

So settle down with a comfy blanket, some snacks and a beverage of your choice.  Pull up your reading device and read some awesome stories.

Authors, grab the participation banner and let your readers know that you participated!!!!  You just can’t give any hints away!!!!

And also, if you are looking for more Christmas Stories, The Fangbangers Anonymous is doing their Advent Calender, The awesome miss Carol E Stweart has a Christmas story for you to read with Eric.  And I have my story from last year called Carolized…  Click on the banners below to be taken to each of these awesome event(s)/Story(ies).

If I don’t see you before then, please have a wonderful holiday(s) that you celebrate…

 

Get those entries in!!!

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I know, I said I would remind you guys,but I managed to wipe myself out from Thanksgiving.  The food was awesome, per everyone, and my taste buds!!!  But I went to bed last night at 7pm and didn’t wake up until 10am today.  Then I still had to take a nap.

I managed to pull something in my right shoulder, so yeah.

So, I will push the entries to be in my the 30th of this month.  End of the month.

I still need to get the house all Christmasy, as well as switch out the summer clothes for the winter stuff.  Seems it likes to be cool for the nights, so I may as well get the stuff out since I save t-shirts since I like to layer clothing.  With this in mind, Tomorrow is the last day M is working for the holidays.  I will be asking for help to get the Christmas stuff and clothing down so I can let my shoulder rest.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving for those that celebrate it, as well as getting ready for the slew of holidays that are coming up for the world. I say Happy Holidays not because it is politically correct, but because I truly hope that everyone I say it to DOES have a happy holiday.  Plus, for the clerks and so on, who knows if I will see them in the next year?  LOL!

I have received three entries so far…

They are:

I’ll Be Home

Once Upon a December: Winter Memories

Letting Go

If you have sent in your entry and it is not here, let us know.

Hope to see more entries when I can sit down and work on them, I am so looking forward to listening to the Christmas music and doing these!  (I have my Friday list on with the Christmas Songs, but I think I will need to go through and purge some of the songs…)

See you guys soon!!!

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

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Tonight I did the thing we hate.  I put together the shopping list for Thanksgiving.

I also updated the Food Blog to have those recipes that I will be using. For once upon a time, I tried to use websites that were popular on Thanksgiving.  It took forever.  Then there was the time mom accidently threw away the Turkey instructions and we didn’t find out until much later.  I went online to get what I needed and it took a half an hour to load the Butterball site.

It took me less than a second tonight.

So I put all the recipes that I will be using on the food blog.  I offered for those that are in the Facebook Group or associated with the food blog to get their recipes added to the menu, but no one answered.  The recipes are all still on the site, I just haven’t been able to link them up since my computer has been acting up and turning off the internet all the time.

Here are the recipes I will be using in one week:

NANCY’S PARMESAN CHEESE BALL

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BUTTERBALL’S TURKEY INSTRUCTIONS

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GRANDMA’S STUFFING (AKA SOUTHERN STYLE STUFFING)

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CLASSIC GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

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SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE

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PAN GRAVY

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LIBBY’S FAMOUS PUMPKIN PIE

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On the post, is a shopping list for all of the items above.  You can find it here. I also mention an app I use for Shopping, OurGroceries.

I am off to relax, and I will get the Dying out as soon as I can, I just need to relax so I can wake up earlier tomorrow.

See you guys later!

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Food Blog

Food Blog

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For those that don’t know, we have been redoing the food blog.  We have updated the theme, added a new menu system that is based on a menu you might find in a restaurant.  It is picture based, with it telling you approximate times and yields of the recipes as well as where the recipe is from.

It is simpler, but at the same time, it is taking a slight amount of time to generate a picture and entry for each recipe we have.  We have 297 pages.  And so far 81 of them have been converted to the new menu. Now the 297 pages also include headers and recipes not published yet, but I am getting there.  There are 15 pages of recipes and I made it to page 5.

There is a fun side of this, and that is that I can reintroduce the blog followers to the recipes that we have accumulated over the time we have had the blog.  Today, I am going to share the recipes I added to the menu today.  If you would like to see more, please click the above banner to be taken to the front page of the blog.

I hope you visit, wander around, and let us know what you think.   The old recipes are all there, so if you have a favorite, please use the search engine to find it.  NOTHING has been erased.  We are merely making it easier to look at the recipes and find one that may interest you.

So here we go (and yes the pictures will take you to the site and the recipe):

COCONUT PUDDING CAKE

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LAZY DAISY OATMEAL CAKE

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NUT CAKE

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PINEAPPLE CAKE

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PINEAPPLE SHORTBREAD CAKES

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PUDDING CAKE

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PUMPKIN CHIFFON CAKE

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RED VELVET CAKE

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STRAWBERRY CREAM MUG CAKE FOR TWO

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TEXAS SHEET CAKE

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CARAMEL BANANA CAKE ROLL

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BIG GRANDMA’S BEST PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

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BLACK FOREST DREAM BARS

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BROWNIE DROPS

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OATMEAL AND COCONUT BUTTER COOKIES

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CARAMEL-FUDGE TURTLE COOKIES

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CHEWY COCONUT OATMEAL COOKIES

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CHOCOLATE-MINT THUMBPRINTS

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COCONUT OATMEAL COOKIE

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COOKIES AND CREAM BARS

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EGGNOG SNICKERDOODLES WITH A CREAMY NUTMEG GLAZE

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CAKE MIX FUDGE CRINKLE COOKIES

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PUMPKIN SWIRL CHEESECAKE

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CHERRY PIE JELLY SHOTS

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CARAMEL BANANA RAVIOLI

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PULL-APART SPIDERWEB CUPCAKES

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PUMPKIN CAKE/CUPCAKES

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RED VELVET CHEESECAKE MINI PIES

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VALENTINE PARFAIT CUPCAKES

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EASY CARAMEL APPLE BREAD PUDDING

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EASY DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP BROWNIES

PUMPKIN SWIRL BROWNIES

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MARBLE FUDGE

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CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

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I hope this might tweak your interest in the food blog.  It is a massive undertaking that Meganba, Missleighwarner, Missaliceunsub, and t6james6.  4Padfoot aka Robin has also spent time on the blog to help out. All this to help us when we want to find that recipe that we love so much.

And always, if you have a recipe you wish to have us to add, please email them to KittyinazFoodBlog@gmail.com.

I plan to push forward with this as much as possible to have it ready by Thanksgiving.  Since during that time, I have found many sites crash from people trying to use them.  This way we can have our own that we can see what recipes are available and use.

See you guys later, I have an appointment with Grandma I have to make early, so we will see what happens.

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