After many guilt-filled trips through the Trader Joe’s checkout line, I have finally purchased a reusable bag. Though I have forgotten to bring it along on every subsequent trip, it’s bound to catch on with me one of these days.
This one was cheap ($.99) and soft. Hopefully I can use some of my brown paper bag stash as gift wrap this Christmas. It is a recession. I think I’ve used the word ‘recession’ in most of my posts this month.
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I tried them once, back in January. They rated merely okay. This time around I gobbled them up. The difference between then and now, I believe, is the size of the sprout. My batch last night was made up only of baby Brussels sprouts. I used the same recipe as before, a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them just like last time. So I think a smaller vegetable is better tasting with better texture.
For many years now I have been drinking tea pretty much daily. So what’s in my daily cuppa? Generally I’ll go for the Republic of Tea PassionFruit Papaya black tea blend. I started drinking it when it was known as Zen Dream Tea and had a bit of a meltdown when they changed the name because I thought it had been done away with. Luckily the PassionFruit Papaya appears to be an exact match. I buy in bulk, 250 bags at a time.
Around the holidays I like to mix it up a little and brew up some Tea of Good Tidings, also from the Republic of Tea. It’s a little fruity with some hints of holiday spice. Another one of my favorites during the holiday season is Joy from Starbucks.
So those are my tea habits. What kinds of tea does everyone else favor?
I like bananas. I buy them sometimes. I never finish them all before they turn brown and mushy. That’s when I toss them in the freezer.
This being recession times, I have been using up food that I already have. Turns out I had about a dozen frozen bananas. First I made banana bread. It was delicious, but I wanted something different.
Banana cupcakes! They were really tasty. You can find the recipe over at marthastewart.com.
There were two brave souls who entered the comics giveaway contest. To choose one winner, I visited my favorite random number generator at random.org. Contestant 1 left the first comment and Contestant 2 left the second comment. So I had an integer between 1 and 2 generated, meaning 1 or 2. The winner?
Contestant 2, Jackie, is the big winner! Your comics are on their way.
Yes, I know it’s not even Thanksgiving yet, but I am preparing for holiday baking. My dear Mom (wow Mom, you’re showing up a lot in my blog these days) used to slave over the stove near Christmas pumping out a dozen or more varieties of cookies. Swiss butterhorns, fudge, pecan pie bars, peanut butter blossoms, Cain candy and of course, sugar cookie cutouts.
This year, I plan on pumping out a variety of cookies myself. I found some red and green sprinkles on sale at the store, but I am still lacking the cookie cutters. What shapes does everyone else use? I remember a tree, a snowman, maybe a Santa. This is my chance to build a collection of my own, though. So what should it be? Anybody in my neck of the woods know a good spot to get these puppies?
Here’s what Oliver gets up to when he visits his grandparents on Vashon Island.
If I were to go to only one NBA game in my life, last night’s was the one. It was neck and neck the entire time, the Celtics were down by 1 with 7 seconds left and bammo, sunk the basket to win!
Not into basketball? Watch little nephew Oliver race around his living room.
One last thing for today is Today. I watch the show pretty much every weekday while I get ready for work. I eagerly look forward to the segments that are waved in front of my nose and I shout out disappointment every single time because they are pretty much never any good.
This morning, however, was the best Today show ever. The Muppets took over for a half hour and it was really hilarious. They made fun of the show just like I do every morning. Thank you, Muppets. Here’s a little taste for anyone who missed it (though they’re missing some of the good parts).
It seems I’m headed to the Celtics game tonight. This will be my first NBA game. Last year I attended my first NHL game. The only one of the big four professional sports that I’ll have left is NFL. I think I’ll have to go somewhere other than Patriot’s territory to snag tickets to a professional football game.
I didn’t really either, until I was clearing out some comics from the book shelf. Looks like I never finished reading it. I’d hate to think there are any gems of wisdom left unread, so I guess I’ll pick up where I left off. Hopefully the guy doesn’t use the ‘bunkle’ term too much more in the remaining pages.
Oliver’s first Christmas is coming up. What does a good aunt get for a one year old? I also have to start early with not forgetting to celebrate both the holiday and his birthday. No cheating from me, I promise.
Today is a day off for me. Thank you Veterans. For the day off and everything else.
