CVS Commercial with The Osmonds !

I usually have the TV on the background and don't half-way pay attention to it and found myself singing "Double Lovin" by the Osmond Brothers.

It took me a second to realize .... HEY - that isn't my CD player, that is the TV ! I then re-wind my TiVo to see and listen to this! The Osmonds singing on a CVS commercial - whoo hoo !

Clown Fear - Validated !

I've always had this weird un-natural fear of clowns (but I know I'm not alone out there in thinking this). They just have this kind of "creep" factor. Of course Steven King's "IT" didn't help matters one little bit.

That is why when I saw this USPS Priority Mail commercial - I laughed so hard. Guess I'm not the only one out there that thinks that clowns are just not a good thing.

North Avenue Presbyterian Church

Here is a wonderful video about my church - North Avenue Presbyterian Church. Please come visit us! I feel so blessed to be a part of this family. You can also see it at http://deepandwide.ning.com/video/the-holy-spirit-wants-us-to


Find more videos like this on Deep and Wide

National Blonde Brownie Day

My sis sends me a listing of Bizarre holidays at the beginning of each month. I usually don't share the whole calendar with the co-workers but sometimes will pick a day (such as national pie day, or national cookie day, etc.) and bring them a treat in for that day.

This month I decided to post the calendar in the break room - several of them were looking forward to National Blonde Brownie Day (today) and National Chocolate Cake Day (next week). Well... I'm not going to make them a chocolate cake (since I'm not overly crazy about it) and since I've never made blondies before, thought I would give my hand a try at that.

A while back, I saw a recipe for Snickerdoodle Blondies on My Baking Addiction's site (she had seen it on other sites) so I decided that would be one of the recipes.

Then I thought - let me seek out the World's Best Blondies - so I googled "world's best blondies" and of course several came up but the one at Simply Recipes caught my attention due to the addition of the butterscotch chips - which made these Blondies a bit different from the others.

Then I thought - well, let me try my favorite recipe site, so I went to Allrecipes.com and found this high rated Blonde Brownies I recipe and I liked that it had walnuts in it so picked it to try.

I tasted the batter of each one before I baked them and must say that I thought the batter of the Blonde Brownies I had the best taste. Then I tasted them all when they were baked and also thought that one was the best (I am sure the walnuts had a lot to do with that fact). My second fave was the Butterscotch Blondies and coming in a close third was the Snickerdoodle Blondies.

All three were great - my Snickerdoodle Blondies did not come out near as pretty as the ones on Simply Recipes and they were a tiny bit dry but I realized my mistake after re-reading the recipe. One, I melted the butter instead of letting it be room temperature and two, I attempted to mix all in one bowl instead of using two separate ones. They were still DELICIOUS but just not as pretty as moist as the original recipe.

My co-workers love them all but only one admitted to trying all 3 kinds - he liked the chocolate/walnut version the best too but admitted he was a huge fan of chocolate.

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Adapted from My Baking Addiction.com

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups packed brown sugar (I used light)

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

a pinch nutmeg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and/or line a 9×13 inch pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside.

2. In large bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar for 3-5 minutes. Add in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, and beat until smooth.

3. Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be somewhat cookiebatter-ish, so it’s best to spread it out with a greased spatula or your hands). Combine the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until surface springs back when gently pressed. Cool before cutting.

Makes 20-24 bars.

Butterscotch Blondies Recipe

Adapted from Simply Recipes

Ingredients
1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar (I used light)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/3 cup of butterscotch chips

Directions:

1 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter and flour an 8X8 pan. Whisk together the melted butter and sugar in a bowl.

2 Add the egg and vanilla extract and whisk.

3 Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, mix it all together. Add the butterscotch chips.

4 Pour into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 9 blondies. (I actually cut them smaller into 16 servings)

Blonde Brownies I

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Measure 1 cup sifted flour. Add baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift again. Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Mix well and set aside.

Melt 1/3 cup butter. Add 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar and mix well. If shortening is used, add 1 tablespoon hot water. Cool slightly.

Add egg (beaten) and vanilla. Blend well. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.
Spread in 8 x 8 inch pan. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool and cute into 16 squares.

(note: the directions never tell you when to add the walnuts and it says to put the choc chips on top. I didn't use chocolate chips but used chocolate chunks instead. I mixed both the chocolate chunks and the walnuts right into the batter - I didn't sprinkle anything on top)

B +

This year, I decided I would have a mantra...
my life will be like my blood type - BE POSITIVE (B +)

I don't want negativity in my life. I don't watch reality shows for this reason (although I am currently recording the Biggest Loser - I fast forward through any negative confrontations they have). So many "reality" shows have people fussing and arguing and yelling at each other. I don't want that in my life.

I decided whatever obstacles I am going to face this year (trying to lose weight, pressures at work, etc.) that I will work to maintain a positive attitude at all times.

It isn't easy, you know. You don't really realize how much negative energy is around you until you try to be positive all the time. I find I rarely watch the news now (just give me the weather and traffic report) - since 99% of the news is negative stories. Some of my Facebook friends (especially one in particular) seem to only post negative things such as "Jane is not feeling well", "Jane is tired", "Jane is disappointed that it is snowing today", "Jane had a bad day at work". Of course, the name has been changed to protect the negative person (none of my FB friends are named Jane) - So I decided to hide "Jane".

If there is something I deem as negative on TV or the radio, I change the channel. I don't keep myself in the dark with what is going on in the world but I limit my exposure to the hardships in the world. If someone says something that hurts me or disappoints me, in my mind I turn it around so that it doesn't effect me in a negative way.

I'm not normally a negative person but I haven't been known to be overly positive either, so I just decided to start 2010 with a positive attitude. It is something you have to work at but with all things, I believe that overtime, it will just be a habit !

Live life, Be happy, Be positive !

Baby It's Cold Outside

I generally like cold weather but this is ridiculous - it has been in the teens every morning for about 2 weeks now - it is really and I mean really cold.

However . . . it does make for some cool photos. I love to see a frozen fountain. I spotted this one downtown near Woodruff's Art Center/Symphony Hall. I've always liked this fountain anyway but I was so excited when I saw it all frozen over like this.

Here are a couple taken at my friend's apartment complex. Very pretty !

Extraordinary Measures

Today is only the 7th day of the new year, and this is the 3rd movie I have seen in the theaters. I love going to the movies - I would go everyday if I could.

I was lucky enough to go to this advance screening of Extraordinary Measures, which isn't released until Jan 22nd. If you think I like going to movies, then you must know I LOVE going to advance screenings!

I wasn't sure how this movie would be. I haven't heard a lot of buzz about it but I had seen a preview for it. It is based on a true story. John & Aileen Crowley (Brenden Fraser & Keri Russell) have 3 children. Their 2 youngest have Pompe Disease, a severe neuromuscular disorder, which is fatal - at the time of their diagnosis they were not expected to live past the age of 9.

John has a MBA from Harvard Business School and a high position a Bristol-Myers but his daughter had a very close call and he decided he had do something - he couldn't just watch his children die. He has spent years researching this disease and found out about Dr. Robert Stonehill (Harrison Ford), who has done a lot of research about this disease. He left messages for Dr. Stonehill but just can't get in touch with him so he drops everything and flies out to meet him.

Dr. Stonehill tells him he knows what they need to develop - what other scientist are not doing - that will help Pompe kids, but he doesn't have the funding. John (right on the spot) sets up the Pompe Foundation and decides to raise the money on his own - all $500,000 thousand of it. The thing is, he only has a month to do it. Does he reach his goal? Well, I won't spoil that for you, you'll have to see the movie to find out.

Eventually, Dr. Stonehill and John decide to start a bio-tech company together, which is later bought out by a larger bio-tech company. They know they can't cure John's kids but the goal is to save their lives - which is what John wants. Dr. Stonehill is a brilliant scientist, but he also knows that and as a result can be a difficult person to work with. He likes things his way, he does not like others having control of his work. He doesn't like the business end of the drug business - luckily John can handle that but he doesn't always like the way John handles things.

A drug is finally developed but then they have to do a clinical trial and John's kids don't qualify since they are only testing the drug on infants. John is heartbroken of course, all this work and his kids won't get the drugs they need. In addition, there is another problem, since John works for the drug company, it is a conflict of interest so even if his children were infants, they still wouldn't qualify because of his position. It was like a double-whammy.

To make matters worse, he is on a race against time since they've been told that one child had about a year to live and the other had even less. He doesn't know what to do now, but Dr. Stonehill has an idea.

Does his children get the medicine they need? Do they both live? Well... once again I won't reveal that especially since the movie hasn't been released.

It was a good movie - a nice steady pace. It is heart-wrenching at times and funny at times - Harrison Ford delivers a lot of great one-liners. I enjoyed it a lot as well did others that saw it.
A bit of trivia: Harrison Ford also directs this film and it is the first film to go into production for CBS films.

This is probably not a movie that would have been at the top of my list to go see but I am glad I did.