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Top 5 on Friday Food Porn

Top 5 Vacation Albums (albums you have to have with you when you travel or make you think you’re on vacation)…via The Mistress

From Chocolate Chipped…something summery….

Chocolate Mousse Parfait

Just so you know…

Layer 1: Raspberry coulis

Layer 2: I’m saying that that’s crushed chocolate cookies (note the cookie used on top for garnish)

Layer 3: Chocolate Mousse

Layer 4: Fresh Blackberries

Layer 5: Whipped Cream

Layer 6: Raspberry coulis

Layer 7: White Chocolate Mousse

with what looks like raspberry sauce on the side….omg.

Cat Bowls, Dog Tongues and The Death of a Cookie

Lonely?  Looking for an abusive relationship?  Get a cat. We used to have two, brothers, but we are down to one and since the untimely passage of his sibling and the disappearance of his keeper (my daughter - who is living (on purpose I’m sure) with someone allergic to cats), Spanky has chosen me to be his soul mate.  The only one upon whose lap he will deem worthy to grace his presence (you cat owners know what I mean).  The only one upon whom he will dare to creep up next to at 5 AM and scream his head off for one of two things - to be scratched, or to get a drink.  It’s worse than a three year old.  And speaking of drinking, the animal has his own water bowl, which he ignores.  There is a sink in the spare bathroom usually filled with water, which he ignores unless I am in there with him.  Then we do our water dance.  I empty the sink.  He yowls.  I scratch him.  Then he jumps on the sink.  I turn the faucet on.  He sits and watches it.  I turn the faucet off.  He climbs in the bowl and licks the now dry faucet.  I turn the water back on.  He jumps off the sink.  I turn the faucet off (I’m really not exaggerating here - we go through this all the time).  He jumps back on the sink.  I turn the faucet on.  Then he starts lapping at the running water.  However, if I don’t go in the bathroom, his secondary source applies. His bowl you ask?    Hardly.  It’s more along the lines of “OK.  I’ll show you.  Won’t go in the bathroom and have the nerve to drink in front of me? Then take this…”  My cup of water is taken hostage…

Now I never go through this with the MuscleHead.  She just waits and waits for the next thing to happen.  Flops on her bed or the sofa in my office just waiting,  waiting for a tasty tidbits to come along, like groundhogs, rabbits or chipmunks.  Something to kick in her overactive drool glands then, like Hooch, it looks like she has sneaker shoelaces hanging from her mouth.  But at least she doesn’t wake me up screaming in my face at 5 AM.  She is more likely to kick the shit out of me at 5 AM while she’s snores away on the bed and dreams of someday catching one of the above mentioned furry morsels.  Otherwise she’s a semi-calm companion, more than ready to hop in the car, go to the dog park, meet new friends, and go berserk whenever and of the non-English speaking gas station attendants put the pump nozzle in the car. Most of the attendants now stand about four feet behind the driver’s side door when taking my money, like a cop waiting for some lunatic driver to pull a gun.  She can be intimidating when she wants to be.  It’s always easy to spot my car in any parking lot of any size.  Just look for the four-door with smeared dried nose prints on all four windows.

The Cookies were officially put to rest today.  I wielded the hammer that sunk the last chocolate nail in the coffin.  I closed down my little home baking business with the State, officially un-registered.  That’s two businesses I’ve closed down and I gotta tell ya, I don’t like it.  Doesn’t fill one with a sense of accomplishment.  More like crossing the finish line while the rest of the runners are already in the locker room, showered up and partying down. Even though this was a foregone conclusion, I actually stopped baking things for cashola a month or so ago, that final nail still jostles my already fragile self-esteem.  Maybe I’ll go have a Devil Dog to soothe my ego.  After I feed the cat, of course.

Top 5 on Friday Food Porn….the Redneck Version

First, from The Mistress…

Top 5 albums from the first half of 2008

Hmmm…I have not purchased a single iota of new music this year. Sooooo….my list is the top 5 albums released in the past 12 months that I’d like to get (I can’t come up with 5 for just 2008)…

1. Flavors of Entanglement - Alanis Morissette

2. Crayons - Donna Summer

3. Migration - Antonio Sanchez

4. The Big Idea - Nat Townsley Trio

5. Now I’ve spent 30 minutes looking through iTunes and the Billboard charts and the only, ONLY, thing I’d consider even listening to is Emmylou Harris’ new one All I Intended To Be - and that’s only out of respect for her as an artist, not for an overwhelming love of her music. Although I have seen her live and thoroughly enjoyed it…Man there’s a lot of crap out there…

Back to Chocolate Chipped

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars (I gained 5 pounds just typing that)

And now…for the latest in Redneck fashion we take you (allegedly) to a flea market in an Alabama K-Mart parking lot…

Who really looked at a pair of men’s jockey’s and thought, “Hmmm…that would make a good top?”. Three for $9.99 is a pretty good price, though…

Or as Mrs. Coopernicus so blithely put it…”I wonder if she has teeth…”

A-One and A-Two…

A little music today…just a couple things rattling through my head today…(not that my mind is a place you want to visit…)

Dream Theater

Blues Brothers - This is a great compilation…Turn It Up !!!

Blah

That about sums it up.  There’s a lot going on, which is a good thing.  Some of what is occurring, tho, sort of shakes my faith in my fellow homo sapiens.  Each little thing is kind of innocuous in and of itself (well, most of it is) but looking across the board I get the feeling that as a species we’ve slipped down the hole and it’s every man and woman for themselves. It’s as if life is both raging at Mach 1 and has slowed to a turtle crawl at the same time.  I know that’s incongruous but that’s the way it feels.

For example, someone stole a tomato. I know, what’s the big deal, but we live in a townhouse so having a garden is not high on the list.  The Mrs. bought a right good looking tomato plant, potted it and has been nurturing the little sucker for awhile.  We have about eight green tomatoes on the little sucker but we had one fat juicy one just starting to redden on top.  We went out yesterday and the big one was gone.  It definitely was not eaten by an animal, no seeds, no remnants…it was picked.  And it was the only one picked.  All the others remain intact even two days later.  Why?  I guess respect for others has dwindled to below zero.

Also, a trusted professional with whom we’ve been associated for over ten years got their hand caught in the cookie jar and has been indicted and may serve time.  Great.  Just great.

Makes me want to drive to Montana (or wherever it was), find the Unabomber’s abandoned shack and spend my days in peaceful seclusion.  Unacooper.  That’s got a good media ring to it…

Jo Wymer & the IBB - My Band

Some of you have asked about the band. I put some stills up previously but here’s a piece of an interview Jo did this year while we were at Arlene’s Grocery for Mamapalooza ‘08…

Top 5 on Friday Food Porn

From The Mistress

Top 5 Songs with America in the Title

1. American Tune - Paul Simon

2. America - Simon & Garfunkel (re-done by Yes)
Written by Paul Simon

3. America - West Side Story Soundtrack (re-done by The Nice - Keith Emerson of ELP’s first band)
Obviously not written by Paul Simon

4. America, America - Bloodrock
Paul Simon never heard of this band.

5. American Woman - The Guess Who
Paul Simon sang this to Carrie Fisher on their honeymoon - - - not.

(I shied away from American Pie as it was already taken previously)

Chocolate Guinness Cake w. Cream Cheese Frosting courtesy The Domestic Goddess

R.I.P. Natasha Shneider

It’s safe to say that she was not widely known but she had a strong fan base nonetheless. Known primarily for her great work with husband Alain in the band Eleven (below their most well received song Reach Out) Natasha also dipped her toes into the acting waters, appearing on several TV series, mostly as a Russian immigrant, but also had a small part in 2010, snuggling with Roy Scheider. It’s not fair to be taken so early in life…

Summer Fun

You Should Spend Your Summer on a Road Trip

For you, the summer is all about possibilities. And you’re not going to be tied down. This is the time for you to embark on an epic road trip, with no ultimate destination in mind. You know you’ll have a ton of crazy adventures… at least until you run out of cash!

Where Should You Spend Your Summer?

What the Beach Test Says About You

You tend to be a very social person. You live for your friends and family. You can get social burnout occasionally though. You aren’t a total extrovert. You fall in love with ease and confidence. Even if you’ve had bad experiences in the past, each new love is a reason to start completely over. You are deeply passionate about several things in your life. You’re not passionate about much… and the few passions you have are truly obsessions. Your sense of humor is goofy and silly. You are good at making almost anyone laugh.

The Beach Test

What These Fireworks Say About You

You are deeply passionate about a few things in your life. Everything else, you couldn’t care less about. Your passions tend to hold steady over time. If anything, they intensify. Once you hold on to something (or someone), you don’t let go!

The Fireworks Test

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You are not a particularly modest person. You’re proud of who you are, and you don’t care who knows it. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild… but they would call you responsible. You are a fairly open minded person with a wide range of tastes. You are quite accepting of unusual ideas and people. You tend to have a one track mind. You prefer not to multitask. You are fun loving and sweet. You tend to enjoy joking around and teasing people.

The Ice Cream Personality Test

Your Summer Ride is a Beetle Convertible

Fun, funky, and a little bit euro. You love your summers to be full of style and sun!

What’s Your Summer Ride?