Can't Decide What To Eat?

I just saw a commercial on tv for the Nintendo DS game The Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What To Eat. Are enough people willing to go consult their game console when they feel indecisive about their next meal? The concept is cool, but I can't imagine the people that would actually use this even have a DS to begin with.

Jon and Kate... is great!

If there is just one Gosselin that tugs at my heartstrings, it would be Alexis. She's adorable. I'd love to spend a day with the cheery, little girl, exploring the world with her toy "aldigator."

Alexis is one of Jon and Kate Gosselin's eight children. If you're unaware, they have their own show "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" on TLC. Yes, I like this show - a lot. Tv is sort of my companion these days - it welcomes me home after a long day of work and keeps me company at night. Jake finds this ridiculous, as well as the tv shows I choose to watch.

So imagine my surprise yesterday when Jake admitted he watched a few minutes of *gasp!* "Jon and Kate Plus Eight!" Hurray! It gets better - he came up with a hypothesis about why I like the show so much... He thinks we are like them. Hm... At first I didn't really think so, but now I can see that he's kind of got a point. Interesting.

If I had children as the Gosselin's did I think I'd name them:

Twins: Lily and Violet
Sextuplets: Aiden, Blake, Caleb, Caitlyn, Olivia, and Zoey

[Image from The Gosselin 10]

Best 'Burb to Bring up Baby

Congratulations, Mount Prospect, IL. 

MP was named the Best Place in America to Raise Kids by Businessweek. 

It's a nice village - it raised Jake and his siblings well. It likely wouldn't top my list, but then again, I don't have kids yet so who am I to judge?

An apple a day...

On October 4, Jake and I traveled up to Oriole Springs Orchard with Joe and Melissa to pick some apples and pumpkins. Tasting an apple straight from the tree is so much better than an apple bought in a grocery store. There's a certain crispness... juiciness.. and satisfaction that the fruit came straight from the source. Although we were too late for Honey Crisp (a great apple we found - but also missed last year at the orchard), we picked a bushel and a half of other tasty varieties. 

Afterward we drove down the road to the cider house where we tried these fresh donuts. They were so good! We sampled an apple cider shake and were just in time to get an unexpected taste of homemade apple wine made by the orchard owners. 

Renegade and Renaissance

The Secret Service Codenames for the President Elect and his family:

Renegade: Barrack Obama

Renaissance: Michelle Obama

Radiance: Malia Obama

Rosebud: Sasha Obama

In looking at other code names, I discovered Sarah Palin's code name, Denali. 

Sorry Denali (showing sympathy for Jake's dog, also Denali). 

And the beet goes on...

Fresh beets! These beauties were my first attempt at roasting beets. I washed them, trimmed the greens and any long roots, and placed them in some tin foil on a baking sheet. I sprinkled them with some kosher salt and covered them with another piece of foil, making a pocket. They cooked at 350-400 for about 45-50 minutes - I don't recall - just until they were tender. After they cool the skins slip right off, and you have delicious beets! 

Next time I think I'd have kitchen gloves or something when peeling them. My fingers were an interesting brownish-red color for a a day or two. 

Lil bunny foo foo...

I wasn't sure if I was cut-out for crochet - especially animals - but I've done it! I just need to add a face and maybe a scarf and this bunny is complete. Without boasting, I have to admit I'm proud of myself. It turned out very well for my first attempt. Who wants a crocheted animal for Christmas? :)

Congrats, brother!

A big congratulations to my brother as he took home some top honors at his football banquet tonight...

• 1st Team All-District, Defensive End
• All-Academic District
• Captain letter (pin)
• Football bar (pin)
• Coach's Award (plaque)
• Hammer Award (plaque for most physical)
• Weight Room Award (plaque)

Way to go! Love you, brother!

Snap, crackle, marble pop!

Ramune is a brand of pop from Japan. It's sold in Codd-neck bottles and sealed with a marble that is held in place by pressure from carbon dioxide. To open it, you push the marble into the drink, where it rattles as you drink, or you catch it on two little nodes to prevent the rattling. Very cool. I have yet to try it, but I saw an ad for it in World Market and found it really interesting.

New ornament friends

Last night's quick run to the HomeGoods store proved to be a success. I hit the Christian Steinbach jackpot. This store had the most Steinbach ornaments I've seen around here (maybe just because it's really early, and they hadn't been picked over yet). I was so excited - so I purchased three for this year's addition to the collection. At some point I'm going to have a Christmas tree especially for all my little german ornaments. How fun. Aren't these guys cute?

Election Night

What were you doing when the historic announcement was made that Barack Obama will be our new President? I was in the kitchen, making Obama cookies.

This is... something I'm surprised I like.

People enjoy all kinds of interesting things, but I find this particular joy of mine a bit strange. As soon as I receive a new magazine I immediately flip through it to tear out the mail-in cards and cardboard inserts - anything that makes the magazine pages stutter as I glide through it. The funny part? Usually I don't even read it after that. I just really like to remove the cards - then I put the magazine in my stack of things to read later.

Somebunny stop me!

You're probably wondering, "What the heck is that?"

I'm proud to say this is a picture of today's progress on my very first amigurumi crochet project.

Step one: Remember to how to tie the slip-knot. Seems easy enough, but I ended up looking it up. I've only crocheted once - a complete afghan for my boyfriend's birthday, and sadly nothing since then (and that was 3 years ago)!

Step two: Attempt to conquer the pattern without any help. Hm.. While this proved to be exciting, after the 6th time of unraveling my work I decided to consult YouTube to figure out why my stitch count was off. Then I was off and running.

So - what is this? The head and ears for a cute gray bunny. Use your imaJENation. I'll post the final result when I'm finished. At this rate and level of excitement, I predict it is merely hours away.