The Biggest Back-Handed Compliment I’ve Ever Gotten
My New Year’s resolution this year was not about giving up anything. I always like to DO something as a resolution (giving things up also tends to involve a lot of will power).
So I decided January 1st that I would bury my sweat suits and dress a little nicer. And this turned out to be pretty darn easy because my sweat suits were my uniform: the gray one with a long sleeve t-shirt, the green one with a long sleeve t-shirt; you get the picture.
Since the first of the year I’ve been wearing khakis or jeans or a couple other pairs of nicer pants and you guessed it- long sleeve t-shirts. I’ve been feeling a lot more pulled together-
gee, go figure.
Then, I was talking to a friend of mine about make-up (the kind of friend who always looks like she just ‘threw something on’ from her fabulous wardrobe and is perfectly put together).
She joked that I had never seen her without make-up.
“Sure I have, you’re not wearing any now.”
“Yes, I am.”
Hmmm. I started thinking. Maybe I should start wearing a little powder or something. Maybe I could start off just trying to put on some make-up a few times a week…
So I did.
This doesn’t seem at first like it’s life-changing, but it is… just a little bit.
I always make sure my son looks nice and put together, and now I’m spending a few more minutes in the morning so I do too.
I was at the grocery store with jeans on, a relatively nice long sleeve shirt tucked in and make-up on. My hair was even down, not up in a clip.
All of a sudden I get that feeling that I’m being stared at and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up just a little. I look up from the Havarti I’m studying, to see the young woman behind the bakery counter staring at me. She’s staring at me intently… with squinted eyes.
I didn’t think much about it… maybe she needs glasses, thinks I’m someone else, etc.
Awhile later I had made my way over to the cereal aisle when I see the young woman from the bakery counter walking toward me with a smile on her face and she says, I kid you not,
“You look COMPLETELY different!”
The ‘completely’ really got me… Completely?
“You’re wearing make-up…”
“You look so pretty!”
Wow. That’s so nice… Then my mind goes into overdrive… Do I really look that different with make-up on?
That’s still nice… wait- how BAD was I looking without make-up?
How sweet of her… wow, I must have been looking like the Hunchback of Notre Dame every time I’ve come into this grocery store.
Still, what a nice compliment… I’ve been coming to this same store for 5 years, has everyone thought FOR 5 YEARS- ‘that woman should wear a little make-up’?
Wow.
A second later, I started grinning as I walked down that cereal aisle. There was a compliment in there somewhere.
Beauty is only skin-deep, but looking better can help you feel a little better too.
And my New Year’s resolution is validated!
* I actually wrote this a while back for DC Metro Moms… I wear a little make up EVERY Day now… :)
How to Make Gooey Cookies Every Time!
How do make cookies gooey, or even soft, and therefore edible? My cookies resemble bricks.
I’ve never been a big cookie maker. It just never occurred to me to bake my own cookies when I can buy great ones from the Giant bakery… Is that wrong?
Now, my son has his own baking set, complete with rolling pin, whisk, cookie cutters and cookie sheet and he LOVES to bake cookies because we get down on the floor of the kitchen and mix up all the ingredients and cut out the cookies on a sheet.
Yes, the sheet is on the floor… but the cookies are on the sheet, so they don’t touch the floor… No, you don’t have to sample any cookies when you come over!
We’ve been baking a lot lately, producing lots of hard, almost candy-like cookies. My son doesn’t even want to eat them. He just likes baking them.
And then, a breakthrough- soft cookies, like a grandmother makes! I did it! I found out the secret to soft cookies!
How you ask?
I mentioned my desire to know the magical formula to tender cookies to my mother-in- law. How does one achieve the wanted texture? How do I make cookies that don’t harden enough to hurt the teeth?
What’s the rub- practice?… a secret ingredient?… maybe just more of an ingredient, like butter?
My mother-in-law looked at me and very matter-a-factly said, “Oh, just cook them a minute or two less than the instructions say to.”
What? Are you kidding? That’s it?
So I tried it… and it worked. So… I feel good for succeeding in my discovery of good cookie making. But on the other hand- Man, do I feel silly!
This is not a physics theorem. This is not hard. Does everyone know this? Am I the only one who DIDN’T know this? Wow.
But, regardless of how non-chef-like I feel, I am now inspired. My next venture- CAKES!
Talk amongst yourselves…
I originally wrote this post for DC Metro Moms…
Giant Announces It’s Academic’s 50th Anniversary Reusable Bag Design Contest
Hey DCers, Marylanders and Virginians!!
Here is a great design contest for High School Students-
Your have until October 31st to submit entries !!!!!
Giant Food has announced a reusable bag design contest for high school students to celebrate ‘It’s Academic’s’ 50th anniversary. Entries will be accepted October 1 – 31. The winning design will be printed on reusable bags and sold in Giant stores across the region. First, second, and third place winners will also receive cash scholarships in the amount of $1,500, $750, and $500 respectively.
This is open to high school students in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Entries will be accepted October 1 through 31. Proceeds from the bags will benefit the A+ School Rewards program which schools use to enhance and supplement their budgets.
Go to Giant’s Bag Contest Website for all the Details !!
Win $1000 for Your Original Crab Recipe- Right Now!
GET OUT YOUR COOKBOOKS AND CRABS!
PHILLIPS SEAFOOD PRESENT
the ‘ULTIMATE CRAB CHALLENGE’ !!!!!
Crab Lovers and Cooks are Invited to Submit Relished Recipes to Win a Cash Prize and a Spot on the Phillips Menu!
Giant Food and Phillips Seafood are hosting the first “Ultimate Crab Challenge” recipe contest, inviting crab gourmets to submit their favorite original crab recipes for a chance to win $1,000 and the opportunity to have their recipe featured on Phillips Harborplace’s menu. Entries will be accepted online at
beginning July 16 through August 15, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. A panel of Giant and Phillips Seafood chefs will serve as preliminary judges. The top three finalists of the recipe contest will participate in a cook-off on Saturday, September 11, at the Maryland Seafood Festival taking place at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis, Md.
General rules of participation in the competition are as follows:
All recipes must be original creations and submitted electronically at http://www.UltimateCrabChallenge.com by 11:59 p.m. on August 15, 2010
Crab meat must be the primary ingredient and recipes must call for at least one pound of crab
Recipes can be for a hot or cold dish
Preparation time, including cooking time, must not exceed 30 minutes
Three finalists will be selected by a panel of Giant and Phillips Seafood chefs; if selected as finalists, participants will be allowed 30 minutes to prepare their original crab creations during a cook-off at the Maryland Seafood Festival on Saturday, September 11, 2010
All U.S. residents of at least 18 years of age and of the legal age in their state are welcome to participate
Recipes will be judged based upon taste, ease of preparation, creativity and clarity of cooking instructions. Three finalists will be selected and notified on or before September 2, 2010. Finalists will be invited to participate in the inaugural “Ultimate Crab Recipe Challenge” cook-off at the Maryland Seafood Festival from 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. on September 11, 2010. The first prize winner will receive the grand prize of $1,000 and the honor of having their recipe featured on Phillips Harborplace’s menu. The second and third place winners will receive $100 gift cards to Giant Food and Phillips Seafood Restaurants.
For contest rules and to enter, please visit Ultimate Crab Challenge!!
GOOD LUCK!!
The CRAZINESS of 6-Year-Olds… How Does That Seem Logical to You?!
Ahhh, it’s usually very nice, I imagine, to be 6… playgrounds, milk and cookies, the tooth fairy- all good stuff.
But sometimes, it just makes no sense!
Case in point:
My son LOVES:
* Ketchup
* Pizza sauce
* Spaghetti
* Cheese
BUT refuses to eat Spaghetti Sauce ON Spaghetti because he says he doesn’t like it…
I’ve explained to him that spaghetti sauce is very much like pizza sauce…
AND THAT IT’S ALL BASICALLY TOMATO SAUCE… LIKE KETCHUP…
which he eats with EVERYTHING… and basically couldn’t live without,
And he looks at me like I’m lying to him, or something,
like Spaghetti Sauce has some hidden booby trap and it is laced with HOT PEPPERS,
or something.
And I’ve told him, ‘Why would I lie to you? I’m your Mom. Trust me.’ I mean- I’ve taken care of him every day for 6 years now and loved him… so why would I lie to him about Spaghetti Sauce??!!
Oh, and now, this morning, he just informed me that he doesn’t like the hot dogs at school anymore…
Because of how they taste with chocolate milk ??!!
What sense does that make?
Does Your Child Have any weird food hang-ups?
Have You Ever Seen A Snowman Tomato? I Have
Filed under: Food and Drink, Kindergartners, The Cool in Everyday Life
“Mom! We gotta get a picture of this!”
It’s a tomato… but it’s way more than that,
according to my son, it’s a ‘snowman tomato’.
It’s 2 tomatoes grown together… I think…
Very Cool! The coolness of this tomato did not stop my son from
immediately eating it after this picture was taken, however…
Sorry Mr. Tomato, a 6-year-old’s loyalty is brief and fleeting
Who Knew Deviled Eggs Were This Easy?
The Short Answer to that question is…
probably everyone but me.
BUT, for everyone else out there who has never attempted to make deviled eggs,
because, like me, you thought they were
‘so complicated’ and
‘kinda gourmet’,
But really you think,
‘Why make them when you can buy them already made in the grocery store, and even-in-a-cute ‘deviled egg container’? …
Well, I’m here to tell you- Deviled Eggs are incredibly EASY to make,
Incredibly QUICK to make,
And I’m sure you have all the ingredients in your pantry already…
READY? Here we go-
Boil eggs.
Cut them in half.
Remove the yolks,
and mix them with
Mayo,
mustard,
and a touch of vinegar…
Yeah, that’s it…
Add a touch of paprika on top for a nice little spice.
And Yeah, that’s it.
I’m feeling like,
‘How have I been alive for this long and never knew this? How can I have been a mother for this long and never attempted this before? Who knows how many ‘hard’ things out there… are really pretty easy?! I bet you poached eggs aren’t that hard either!’
So now you know,
and you’re the Cool Mom… with deviled eggs for snacks!
This May be a Little Random But- Here’s How to Open a Pomegranate
How does one go about cutting a pomegranate?
Yes, this is a little random, but stay with me for just a second… last week I bought a pomegranate to show my son. He had seen one on TV and he’d never eaten one, so we got one at the store.
But, I got it home and cut into it, and immediately had bright red pomegranate juice going all over my kitchen counter…
Needless to go into any more detail- I ruined the pomegranate and thought, “Why don’t I know how to cut open a pomegranate?”
Fast forward to last night- Andrea from Andrea’s Recipes twitters about pomegranates-
which is a little weird, in a good way, because I hadn’t bought a pomegranate in about a DECADE, before last week,
I twitter her back asking her how to cut one open (because she knows everything about food and cooking)
She twitters me this site that has everything you need to know about pomegranates!
So, How do you cut open a pomegranate? Here you go-
How to Open a Pomegranate
Pomegranates may seem intimidating, but they are easy to open. This efficient procedure for opening a pomegranate has six simple steps:
- Cut – With a sharp paring knife, cut off the top about a half inch below the crown.
- Score – Once the top has been removed, four to six sections of the pomegranate divided by white membrane will be visible. With the knife’s point, score the skin along each section.
- Open – Using both hands, carefully pull the pomegranate apart, breaking it into smaller sections.
- Loosen – Over a bowl of water, loosen the arils and allow them to drop freely into the bowl. The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top.
- Scoop – Use a spoon to scoop out the pieces of white membrane that have floated to the top of the water.
- Strain – Pour the arils and remaining liquid through a strainer.
Enjoy your pomegranates… they actually make festive decorations in your kitchen this time of year!
We made it 3 weeks before purple grape juice spilled all over…
Well, we made it 3 weeks in this household before purple grape juice was spilled all over my son’s brand new, white, uniform shirt…
3 THINGS I’VE LEARNED IN 3 WEEKS FROM WEARING UNIFORMS TO SCHOOL:
* Suggest that your son change out of his uniform when he gets home from school
* If he is tired and doesn’t want to- ‘make it a rule’ that he changes out of his uniform, when he gets home from school
* Have a BIG bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide on hand, at all times, to get out stains (I do. And Hydrogen Peroxide does get ANYTHING out of clothes. You may have to soak the shirt, etc. in a bowl, but the stain WILL come out.).
** Note: I realize this picture is not of grape juice, it looks more like cranberries and cranberry juice, but I couldn’t find grape juice images on the internet… Who knew grape juice images were so rare?
Oyster Rules
Ahhh, it’s summer! Seafood… my favorite, is in it’s prime! Or is it?
According to Grey Goose Vodka, OYSTERS are best when ordered in months that contain the letter ‘R’
Oh well, I’m still ordering them! I don’t even drink vodka, so why listen to Grey Goose?
Enjoy your oysters! Remember, they are best when local!
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I Was In The 2012 Show !
Check Out …
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COUPONS.ANSWERS.COM
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