Family Finale on the Food Fest

It was a St. Paddy's Day filled with food, feasting, family, friends and a lot of fun.

We had seven family members making bolognase sauce which we all put on our plates, then we tasted them and voted. It was an anonymous taste test. We had Fatina put the sauces in the bowls and label them 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Only Fatina knew who made what . . . or which sauce was whose. Then we all went around and filled up our plates with a dab of each, labeled so we couldn't get confused. We all tasted the sauces then wrote the number of the best sauce on a piece of paper and slipped that paper into the ballot bowl.

That way no one knew who made which sauce, or who voted for whom.

It was super fun and filling :D

Fatina counted the ballots so there could be no cheating because some family members tried to stack the ballot box (not mentioning any names...Steve).

Nikki won! It was a great way to spend a St. Paddy's Day...and next year there will be prizes and a trophy.

Dinosaur Cupcakes

Fun shamrock day cupcakes

Here's one with fondant

This one is with frosting

COOK OFF

So for St. Paddy's Day we're having a family cook-off. You know, blind-taste-testing and all. And what do you think we're cooking...?

Cabbage rolls and corned beef? No, we're not that typical.

Instead we're doing Polonaise...or was it bolognese? I think I should listen more when my brother's talking. He put this contest together. I think because he used to have a restaurant and misses the feasting. But who fixes Italian food on St. Paddy's Day...am I right?

But, we're having the family over to have a celebration of food, family and feasting so it can't be all bad...well, unless I lose the cooking contest. ;D

I'll be sure to take pics and post on Monday.

What are you doing for St. Paddy's Day?

So Sweet - Yeah, Maybe NOT

We all know eating too much sugar is Bad for you...with a capital B. But, if you've been thinking that eating "sugar free" products will be better, THINK AGAIN.

Artificial sweeteners like aspartame are safer, are chemicals. Chemicals that your body doesn't recognize as food. So don't think you're doing the right thing by using products artificially sweetened with aspartame.

Because you'd be DEAD wrong... well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration but don't be surprised to learn that
corporations, government-sponsored regulatory agencies and politicians are more interested in lining their pockets than protecting your health and the health of your loved ones by confusing the issue and making you think that you'll be watching your weight and eating/drinking more healthy if you delete sugar from your diet.

Marketers and others with financial interests have successfully convinced millions of consumers the chemicals used in artificially sweetened products are safe. Don’t believe them!

If you don't believe me, read this article here by Dr. Mercola or listen to this episode of Dr. Oz.

All I'm saying is that if it's a man-made chemical that you can buy in a store, you might want to avoid lining someone's pockets with your money and doing . . . who knows what to your health. I'd rather consume a little natural sweetness, like honey, sugar, fruit juice, etc.

Any way, it never hurts to read the labels and stay away from high-fructose corn syrup! Oh but that's another blog post for another day. . . or thought for Thursday.

The Woman in White - Book Review

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins was our book club book for February.

It's one of the first mystery novels. But it wasn't even written as a novel. It was written in installments, sort of like a sitcom television series but in the written form. The Woman in White is also considered one of the first detective fiction stories.

The Observer listed The Woman in White number 23 in "the top 100 greatest novels of all time" and the novel was listed at number 77 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.

So I really expected to like the book...unfortunately, I didn't like it very much. To me, the story was super slow. I don't usually mind archaic language but this wasn't old English. This was sloth English.

I barely made it through the entire novel but I did. I finished it the night before our book club gathering.

There were a few people who agreed with me and a couple people who loved the story. So, I guess that just goes to show that you can't please everyone.

This would not be a recommended read by me unless you were reading it for a homework assignment.

St. Paddy's Cupcakes

Tonight is book club night at my house and I wanted to have something sweet to eat ;D

So I mixed frosting with coconut flakes and blended yellow and blue food coloring together to make green edible grass. I stuck pipe cleaners into the cupcakes and placed gold coins (really foil wrapped around chocolate) on top.

I put the cupcakes into my cupcake holder and wah-lah something sweet!

I'm thinking this will be a festive treat for us all to eat while we talk about the book we read: The Lady in White.

I'm hoping the cupcake treats will be better than the book was :( okay, so there's a hint about what I thought about the story. It wasn't my pick...

Sew EZ - St. Paddy's Day Tablecoth

I saw this cute fabric and wanted to make something out of it. Sew I made a tablecloth.

It's super simple to sew straight lines but even if you don't want to sew or don't have a sewing machine, you could always use iron on Wonder Under. It's easy to turn fun fabrics into something like a tablecloth or curtains. Kids love 'em and they will even make adults smile.

I have a book club meeting at my house on Tuesday "sew" I wanted to have something to make everyone smile.

And don't you think this little guy will do the trick?