A favorite recipe from our wine tasting

Sweet-and-Spicy Nuts

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

Servings: Makes about 2 cups. (I tripled this recipe just fine)

Ingredients:
2 cups unsalted mixed nuts such as pecans, whole almonds, peanuts, cashews
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
In a heavy skillet cook nuts in butter over moderate heat, stirring, 2 minutes. In a small bowl stir together sugars, cayenne, black pepper, and salt and sprinkle mixture over nuts. Continue to cook nuts, stirring constantly, until sugar carmelizes, about 8 minutes. Transfer nuts to a sheet of foil and cool. Break nuts apart. Nuts may be made 3 days ahead and kept in an airtight container.

Went to a play last night...

It was more like stand-up comedy though. I went to the Overture Center again to a show named Dixie's Tupperware Party. It was an actual party where you could order some 'great plastic crap', as she put it. She was hysterical and I enjoyed myself. She had some great uses for the standard Tupperware items and she loved to drink and be merry on stage. The crowd participation was unreal. She has a pretty interesting story. Feel free to check out the link above to see what she's all about.

Sometimes it's good to 'up-do' an original!

I was always a sucker for a candied apple and have been known to bob for apples in my youth. Here's a fun twist to one of my favorites.

S'mores Apples

INGREDIENTS
6 Granny Smith apples
6 wooden sticks
1 (14 ounce) package individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
Insert wooden sticks 3/4 of the way into the stem end of each apple. Place apples on a cookie sheet covered with lightly greased aluminum foil.
Combine caramels and water in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring often, until caramel melts and is smooth. Stir in the vanilla. Dip each apple into the caramel and gently run apples around insides of saucepan to scrape off some of the caramel. Scrape excess caramel from the apple bottoms using the side of the saucepan.
Combine the miniature marshmallows and graham crackers on a dinner plate. Roll the apples in the mixture to coat. Place on the aluminum foil and chill.
Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until melted and smooth. Drizzle over the apples and return them to the refrigerator until ready to serve.

5 Days and Counting...

After a nice day of rest, I'm back in the swing of things this week. My last 5 days before going to Puerto Rico. I just looked up the condo info and they have a lazy river! I love lazy rivers. I'm just having one of those day dreams of myself floating down the river with a rum drink in hand... OK, back to the grind and I'll have to wait patiently for 5 more days... it's going to be tough.
We are going to Loiza, which is just 25 east of San Juan and near surfing (which I'm trying), the rain forest, and mountainous hikes. I'm so excited to see such a diverse area. They just had a tropical storm go through and 10 days of rain. I hear it's supposed to be nice and sunny while we're there. Rum distillery, hear I come.

Wine Tasting Heaven

We hosted the 2nd annual Wine Tasting at our house last night and it was a blast. We had a pretty good turnout (19 winos in attendance) and I think everyone had a good time. Jeff and I supplied the tasties and each friend brought a wine to taste. I had gone by Woodman's Grocery a few days prior and picked out a couple of fun ones to try; Bitch wine (cute pink label), House Wine (generic white label with black text), and Menage' a Trois (needs no explanation). I went with the names alone on my picks. The wines inside the bottles weren't bad too. Some of the treats I prepared were a cheese sampling of 10 cheeses, chocolate covered strawberries, roast beef and turkey tea sandwiches, Oreo balls, and some other goodies. Yum!

We gave out prizes to the best red (Escudo Rojo), best white (Wollershiem' s Prairie Fume') , and best bottle presentation (Pacific Rim Dry Riesling).

I think it was a success and everyone had a blast trying to locate that wine of choice. There were about 20 or so to taste and enjoy.

Grandma's doing good

Got a call from the family saying that Grams is doing good and will be going to a care home soon. They are going to get her into a home (temporary home) until one opens up in New Prague (so she can be closer to Gramps. I guess her heart is stronger and she just needs 24/7 care at this point. Not too sure about the food, but at least she doesn't have to cook/clean anyway. Good luck Grams with the move and we are thinking of going to visit possibly the weekend of Nov 8th.

Please register to vote

Get to your local polling place or city municipal office and register to vote prior to Nov 4th. This is will make lines shorter and more efficient on election day. Absentee ballots are a good option too.

Mark your calendars to vote on Nov 4th. It is your responsibility.

We are fighting in another country to give them the right to vote and we have people here in America who are trying to take our vote (our right) away from us.

Take it back and VOTE on Nov. 4th.

And please think of your children and our future when voting. Now is not the time to be ignorant of the important issues.

Got some great news today from Jules

She wrote to tell me that Grandma Kubes is doing great with her temporary pace maker. She was rushed up to the Twin Cities last night because she was having some difficulties. I guess they have her on a temporary one for now and she's feeling better already. She goes in for the real procedure today or tomorrow. Good Luck Grams! We're thinking about you from across the miles!

Hello to all my college friends

I got a great e-mail from a past college friend that I haven't talked to for years. What a blast from the past! Tanya's been doing great in the Twin Cities and has a second child (girl) now. I bet she's cute as ever. I hope I get some photos in my in-box here soon. I love to catch up with friends, so I hope she's got some contact info for some of the others out there. Like I told her, I feel so bad that I get so wrapped up in my life, that I forget about my friends sometimes. Life just keeps you so busy at times, that it's hard to put it on hold for stuff like that. And it's a little too easy to put your friends second (or third) in line to family and work. It would be great to get everyone back together at some point. I bet they all are starting their families now. Jeff and I started ours a lot earlier than most.
Thanks Tanya for writing. It brings back some fond (fun) memories for me.

Halloween is right around the corner... Boo!

These little cakes make delightful individual desserts for any Halloween buffet table.

Ingredients:

12 baked chocolate or red velvet cup cakes (follow recipe on cake mix box)

Chocolate Buttercream icing

white, yellow and black fondant

Instructions:
Make, bake, cool and frost the 12 cupcakes using your favorite Chocolate Buttercream Icing. Using white rolled fondant, cut strips of bandages, place randomly on cupcake, leaving an area for eyes. Using the yellow fondant, make eyes and using the black fondant, make pupils for the eyes and attach with a teensy bit of water (to act as glue).

Call from Jenny

I just got a call from my sister Jenny who said that she's kicking the sugar train like me and is going to see how it goes. Good luck girl and I'm with you all the way! This is going to be great for her and her family and it's easier to do the 'meal plan' with others. She said that she has a gym membership too and is going to do the exercise plan with the new diet.
The start of the meal plan is this: Just go into your cupboard and throw away the 'bad' food and don't buy it again. If you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Most of my shopping nowadays is the outside walls of any grocery store. (produce to meat to 'some' dairy) I don't go down many aisles anymore. My shopping habits have changed quite a bit and that's a good thing.
I sent her an extensive list of stuff I've been successful with and I hope it helps. I told her to call me on a regular basis to check in and then we can hold each other accountable. I want to see if she has the great results I've had. I think a lot of it is hereditary too. She said it's been a couple of days now and she's already feeling better.
If anyone else is interested in the plan, let me know.

Happy 10th to us!

Well, Jeff and I had our 10th anniversary yesterday (on 10/10). I think that is a sign in itself. believe, not planned that way 10 years ago. He and I decided to go to dinner at one of our favorite romantic restaurants in town. To be fair, we initially drew another restaurant choice out of a hat, and still decided to trump that victory with our all-time favorite. This place has the ambiance that we needed to ring in our 10th year. I just want to say that I love my quirky husband. With all the ups and downs through life, I'm glad I met and married him. He's a great guy and no one can compare. Ok, done being sappy now...
Even a few days before we went, I was looking online at all my dinners choices and opted for the shrimp pizza. I normally don't eat bread carbs now, but figured I NEED to splurge on our day. It was fabulous and I'm glad I did. I even had room for dessert (which we shared, of course!)
Happy anniversary sweetie! Here's to 10 more! Cheers!

My Recipe of the Week

Since October is full of pumpkins, I figured I would give a good recipe that uses pumpkins.

Pumpkin Pie Bars‏

INGREDIENTS
1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup melted butter
3 eggs
3 cups pumpkin pie filling
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.
Pour one cup of yellow cake mix into a medium size mixing bowl; set aside.
Combine remaining cake mix, 1/2 cup melted butter and 1 egg; mix well. Press into the baking pan.
Combine pumpkin pie filling, 2 eggs and milk in a medium size mixing bowl; mix until smooth. Pour evenly over the crust in the 9x13 inch pan.
Pour the sugar and cinnamon into the mixing bowl containing the 1 cup of yellow cake mix. Cut in the butter until the mixture looks crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture over the pumpkin filling.
Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the bars come out clean. Let cool before cutting.

Went to a play last night

A few months back, I ordered season tickets for the Repertory Theatre for Jeff and I. They are a local organization that has shows at the Overture Center in downtown Madison. We saw our first play "Fully Committed". It brought me back to the restaurant portion of my life. Nothing like bringing your self back in time. It was a one-woman play. She did great with all of her characters in the play. I was expecting a one-woman show, and I think it was my first experience with an involved monologue. Very interesting. She held the audience for 87 minutes, no intermission even. More talent and stamina than I have, for sure.
Play info: "Sam, an out of work actress from the Midwest, is a reservationist at one of New York's hottest restaurants, and you can't imagine what she has to put up with. From the society matron who is accustomed to getting her way, to the mob boss who wants a reservation for his parents' anniversary, and "Mr. Laryngitis Guy"; everyone is in need of a table.... as long as it is not by the kitchen. This witty, fast-paced comedy has been a hit in theaters across the nation."

Happy Birthday Josie!

Look who's turning 8! And 8 sure is great!

Yard Dogs Road Show

Last night I was able to attend the Yard Dogs Road Show at the Majestic Theatre here in Madison. I was listening to the Mic (92.1) yesterday morning and they were giving away 2 free tickets. I never call into radio shows and figured I would give it a try. I heard that the Majestic is a great venue and the show was awesome. I'm intrigued by side show circus performers (especially after reading Water for Elephants). I can't believe that people are able to swallow swords, eat fire, and contort their bodies. They had a great live band that plays for their shows and they even had a whole Vaudeville/Burlesque portion that was out of this world. If you get a chance to see this show, GO! It was one of the best live shows I've seen.

Got a great e-mail yesterday...

From Jules that said plan and simple, "25 Days until Puerto Rico!!!‏".

It put a HUGE smile on my face. Thanks a bunch Jules! I really needed that. I was very busy at work for the past week and needed that little reminder of fun in the sun coming soon. I guess today I can change it to "24 Days until Puerto Rico!!!‏". I'm like a little kid waiting for Christmas to get here. :)