Same Recipe, Different Outcomes

This past week, I wanted to try out a cute recipe I found at The Noble Pig.  It's actually a cute brunch idea and the first time I made it with my sister and her kids.  The idea is to take sturdy rolls, cut off the tops, hollow out the middle, put an egg in them and bake them.  Sounds simple, right?  And it was.  My sisters' kids had a ball scooping out the bread, breaking the eggs into them and then putting cheese, cream and herbs on top of them.  They baked for about 20 minutes.  We took them out and realized that we didn't want them that soft, so we baked them for another 5 minutes.  They came out great! Other than the fact that the sturdy rolls came out a little crunchy, they were great!  We served it with asparagus and it made a wonderful brunch that day.


So I decided to do the same thing for my husband at home.  I showed him the beautiful pictures on the website, told him about my first experience, and so he was really quite excited about it.  That's great, because he is an unadventurous sort when it comes to cuisine.  He knows what works for him, so he feels you don't mess it up by trying funky new things.  I'm just the opposite and love trying new recipes and ingredients.


I confidently went to the Super Market to get the rolls and some herbs and cream.  I had a successful trial run under my belt, after all. Well, I live in a different town than my sister, who lives in Sugarhouse, a suburb of SLC.  I live in Provo.  I chose to go to Macey's for my shopping.  Do you think they had nice firm beautiful Batchi rolls?  No, just flimsy dinner rolls, the kind with sesame seeds on them.  So I decided to get them anyway.  Next, the cheese. No fancy cheeses here.  Just the regular chedder and mozarella, etc.  I chose the chedder. Next the herbs.  Well, here is the frugal part of me that belongs right here in this frugal giveaway blogasphere world. There were actually some fresh chives there but jeez, a little fingerful for $3.00?  I just couldn't do it. I needed even less than that and then the rest of them would go to waste!  (Now that is definitely revealing as to what an inexperienced and uncreative kind of a cook I am, not to think of something else to do with some remaining leftover chives, not to mention cheap, but my parents grew up in the depression and wasting food was not tolerated!) I decided to play around with what herbs I already had in my cupboard at home.


Long story short, I came home, put my 'eggs in a basket' and got them out of the oven.  They seemed a little runny so I put them back in for another 2 minutes.  Got them out and served them with asparagus.  Served them to dh, and ugh!  Not a good reaction.  The eggs were still very runny, my herb combination of thyme and basil were horrible with the eggs and chedder.  The rolls were a disaster.  My dh couldn't finish even one of them and he had requested I make 3 for him. I ended up throwing it out.


Moral of story: Use good ingredients and don't cut too many corners b/c you'll end up wasting a lot more than just a few sprigs of chives!


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I Need Photoshop!!

So, I decided to just show up in some pictures on my blog, holding up two fingers indicating that I need 2, yes, 2 blogs.  This picture was taken by my son at the end of last Sunday evening after cooking and eating Country Bob's Fabulous Baked Beans. They were so good, but man, was I full and my makeup and hair were totally gone by this time.  But hey, this is life and I don't do photoshop. You can go to OMG for those kinds of pictures.  Have a Great Day!

note: I have since decided that Photoshop is a good thing and so is plastic surgery, lipo and injections!

Cinnamon Lotion & Massage Oil Giveaway - Ends 2/5/10

Just thought I would post this again to let you guys know that yes, I also am having a giveaway. ($26.00 Retail Value)

Do you love the smell of cinnamon? Did you know that cinnamon may be an aphrodisiac?  Yes, that is why this would be a particularly fitting scent for Valentine's Day, ladies.  If you don't believe me, go to Wikepedia and look up uses for cinnamon.  It states, "Cinnamon may also be an aphrodisiac."  Nickell, Nancy L. (1998). "Nature's Aphrodisiacs". Crossing Press. Retrieved 2010-01-03.

 I know, some of ya'll out there need nothing of the sort.  In fact, you need something to calm you down.  But for those of us who wouldn't mind a little pick-me-up, well....here ya go!  Go to my Giveaway page  and enter!   It's low-comment, since this is sponsored by me, so yer odds are gonna be good!

Cinnamon Lotion & Massage Oil Giveaway - Ends 2/5/10 - CLOSED!

Start the mood out right! Valentines Day is coming and if you have a honey to share this with, it would be a really nice treat.  Sun Valley Cinnamon Moisturizing Lotion and Sun Valley Cinnamon Massage Oil in a gift bag!  From my favorite Consumer Direct Marketing Company!

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• Tweet this giveaway (1 twitter/day)
  
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Each entry should be entered separately,with a separate comment, with your e-mail address!  Sorry, US residents only, please!
This giveaway will be closed @ 10:00 pm MST, 2/10/10.  Winner will be picked at random with a drawing. (Probably out of a hat or something!)

I Am At A Loss...

Here I have just started in the world of social blogging.  I love all the Mom's and women who are writing up a storm and have such  a beautiful way of expressing themselves and giving us, as women, such a universal and powerful voice.  The way companies market their products will be changed forever. Why pay a PR firm, when a company can get the news out better and faster via "word of mouth" advertising in the form of reviews and giveaways?  Awesome!  I think some of us (c'est moi) just do it because it's fun and addictive.

Well, one of the foremost blog sisters out there, Karissa, of PrissyGreen, took her life very unexpectedly this past weekend.  It has really shaken the blogosphere to the core.  I can see why.  She was the very epitome of success in this genre.  Her site was going great and growing by leaps and bounds.  She did much to progress this type of blogging.  I personally never even visited her site, but there sure were a lot that did and were dedicated followers.  She was just 31 years old, beautiful, in a loving relationship, had a loving family and had everything ahead of her.  But apparently not everything--at least to her.  It's just so sad.  It raises several painful questions:  1)  Can you ever be sure of someone else's inner state of mind?   2)   What is true happiness?  Is there such a thing?  3) Is blogging an addiction?  If so, I could be in trouble.  I'm really not trying to be facetious here.  I'm taking this as a word of warning to myself.  I need to get out more, no matter how much I have decided that blogging is my new love.

If there is anyone out there reading this humble post, please know that I also am deeply saddened and sobered by the passing of Karissa.  I've read through many of the tributes to her and was particularly touched by this one. (No longer available)