Starbucks and The Secret of the Sorcerer's Pumpkin Syrup!

Yesterday I went for my pumpkin latte. I pulled up to the drive through window placed my order and was told "Sorry, that doesn't begin until tomorrow".  I paused, half expecting her to tell me to come back at the the stroke of midnight when magically the pumpkin latte syrup would be available!

So off I drove down to the street to my favorite coffee place Dunkin Donuts, where I was able to get( in my opinion) the best cup of coffee.  

As I was driving home I couldn't help wonder....

Is coffee syrup availability turning into a Harry Potter book unveiling?

Seriously, would it have killed her to just get the syrup container, crack the seal and pump a couple of drops in a cup?

A little eye candy

Recently I have started scrapbooking upstairs, rather than in my scraproom. I think I have lost a couple of extra pounds from running up and down the stairs getting pictures and supplies. I like to work on multiple projects all at once. So, this weekend I finished up a couple of the project's  I've been working on. You can view them in the photo- op area and the Front n Center Parties area.

The first is a summer book I did using the House of 3  summer add on kit as well as the valentine kit, but with more summer like paper. What I love about this kind of scrapbooking is it is easy, you don't have to scrap every picture you took and it is a great way to use postcards and memorabilia  that you have collected from  your summer vacation and or day trips. To view, just press on the photo op link and scroll down to the summer album, then it will take you to a slide show of the book.

Next, I posted the pictures of the baby shower album I did as a baby gift for the new mom. Just click on the Front- n- Center Parties and scroll down to the baby album and you can view it as a slide show.

Tomorrow is September 1st. My mom always used this day as the official day you could put out all of your fall and Halloween decorations. Usually this is a bit early for me, I like to wait until the 1st of October, but the weather is  so fall like I feel like I should be doing fall stuff. I  got out my fall shoes, and I hear that starbucks has out their pumpkin lattes. Last night I cleared off the scrap table and got out all of my Halloween scrapbooking stuff, so I'm ready to start creating some new projects. now all I need is that latte.

Thanks for looking

Mastering the art of everyday cooking.

What's the best meal you have ever eaten? Well, for me it wasn't the black trumpet mushroom sandwich I hoped to make this past weekend.These days I seem to be cooking for everyone but myself. I'm not complaining, I do enjoy it.Years ago a friend introduced me toIna Garten's style of cooking and I have been enjoying cooking ever since. I've cooked more in the last year than ever before. Since mom passed I have been cooking for my dad as well as for my own family. What I usually do is spend an entire day just cooking and freezing.To entertain myself as I'm cooking, I pretend there's a hidden camera on me and I am a contestant on a reality cooking show called" So You Think You're a Chef" or even better ...."Cook You're Ass Off"!

In addition to cooking, I have also been reading about cooking with the books Julie and Julia, and JuliaChild's memoir. I can assure you after reading Julia's memoir, if she could not have found those trumpet mushrooms at the market, she would have strapped on a backpack, grabbed a walking stick and and scowered the countryside searching for theperfect mushroom. Instead, over my morning coffee while watching the  the food network,  I caught the preview for this show, and decided to go with a sure thing.

It is to me one of the best meals I've ever eaten. It is Giada's turkey meatballs and her marinara sauce.

What I love about it is this, it's healthy, it doesn't feel like a heavy pasta  meal, and there is tons of flavor.

What made them even better was this:

This gadget makes a perfectly round meatball. It adds that grilled flavor and texture. After they came off the grill I added them to the sauce, and let them simmer a while.

Another favorite of mine is this from William Sonoma.

It is pricey at  $23.00 a bottle, but it is worth it and it lasts a long time. I mostly use it to drizzle on things like this:

Or even a berry salad, or a cup of berries with a dollop of whipped cream. Yum- mo!

 Thanks for visiting,

I'll leave you with this quote from Julia Child...

 Drama is very important in life: You have to come on with a bang. You never want to go out with a whimper. Julia Child

"wich"craft

I'm a HUGE fan of this show. Last night was the season opener, and it did not disappoint. These may be the most talented chefs yet. Well, that's what the hosts say, so I am taking their word for it. The one draw back to watching this show is that it is an hour long show all about FOOD! Sometimes I have literally salivated while watching it. Not good for someone currently having this guy kicking my butt.

(I'll save the contents and results of this for another blog entry.)

Getting back to food. Tom Colicchio, the head judge for Top Chef has come out with this book and these relishes which are available here.

On the weekends I do allow myself to have something the Tony Horton plan does not call for. This weekend it is going to be this:

 I have no idea where I am going to get black trumpet mushrooms but, I'm going to try.

Here's another view of the book without the jacket....... Can you guess why I liked it so much?

I'm also going to give this a try for our Sunday spaghetti dinner. I'll let you know how it goes!