Saturday, January 14, 2006

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(I wasn't in a creative title mood today, so there you go...) :)

Well, I guess it's safe to say that I'm not a daily blogger, huh? So sorry for my extended absence! I've just been really busy with Noah's schooling, some design team projects, and doing things around the house. This may be a long entry, so it will more than make up for it! :)

To start off my entry....I got tagged by Sarah! Really fun questions, so I'll do those first:

4 Jobs you have had in your life:

1. Dairy Queen - Yes, I was a curly ice-cream cone maker! And hey, I can still do the little curl on top of the cone.
2. Sporting Goods store - This was a FUN job. I worked here in high school (in my small town) and we did all the shirts for the local sports leagues and also got to put those glittery decals on t-shirts for people. I'd give anything to have some of those now! (like Mork from Ork saying "Nano Nano" or a glittery Bo and Luke Duke decal. Hilarious!)
3. 1st grade teacher - my favorite job by far. I taught for 4 years before I became a stay at home Mom. I loved it but don't have a desire to go back now. My heart is in the scrapbooking industry, not sure what yet. (would love to be teaching SB'ing classes again, though)
4. Preschool computer teacher - oh my goodness...this was just a "filler" until I got pregnant. I went around to different preschools in the area with a laptop and gave computer lessons to preschoolers. I didn't do THAT job for long. :)

Four movies you would watch over and over again:
1. Sleepless in Seattle
2. That Thing You Do
3. Napoleon Dynamite
4. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (and they just released it on DVD with lots of extras!)

Four places you have lived:
I've only lived in 3 cities in Texas. I'm a homebody!

Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. American Idol (YAY, starts again Tues. 17th!)
2. The Apprentice
3. The Match Game (yeah, the old game show from the 70's! haha...my Mom will laugh at this)
4. Mama's Family (confession: I TIVO this show and watch it when I'm baking or everyone else is gone...ha! The humor is so campy and small town...love it.)
5. The Golden Girls (cheating, had to add this one)

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. I've been to 38 of the states thanks to wonderful parents who took us on yearly vacations! (lots of RV trips)
2. Disneyworld
3. Quebec City (honeymoon)
4. New England (one of my favorite vacation places)

Four websites I visit daily:
1. 2Peas
2. Wendispeciale.com
3. Marthastewart.com
4. my blog to read comments and other blogs

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Italian (my favorite!)
2. fresh fruit
3. Mexican
4. breads (I love the bread section of gourmet grocery stores!)

Four places I'd rather be right now:
1. World's largest scrapbook store
2. Disneyworld
3. Le Chateau Frontenac (we spent part of our honeymoon here and our room was in one of the top little round towers! If you click on Slideshow, you can see the green-topped towers in the photo)
4. a spa!
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Speaking of a spa.... that's where I'll be spending the day on Monday! For Christmas, David gave me a spa day, so I'm getting a hot stone massage, and a spa manicure and pedicure. I can't WAIT. David has the day off on Monday so he'll be keeping Noah while I go. I hope I get my new CK mag before then so I can read it while I get my pedicure.
Have you seen the new January Kit at Wendi Speciale Designs? Woohoo, it's awesome!! I have some fun ideas for our design team work this month. Can't wait to play with these stamps!



I've been doing some scrapbooking this week. Trying to make a dent in the numerous Disneyworld vacation photos that we have. I used some of the Homespun Harvest patterned papers on a couple of the layouts. I just love the colors! Speaking of HH...see the new logo in my links to the right? I just love it! It was designed by one of the new designers for HH.

I found some fabrics online that are soooo gorgeous!! (some of them are pictured above) I want them to be turned into scrapbook paper! Amy Butler Fabrics, Dots and Stripes, and Florals. Aren't they all so gorgeous and funky? They'd be so fun on a scrapbook page, paper OR fabric. :)

I mentioned above that I used to teach scrapbooking classes. I really miss doing that and wish the store where I taught was closer to me! It's a 45 minute drive one way and I go right thru all of the city traffic to get there. One of my former students emailed me a few days ago and gave me the biggest compliment. She's been to CKU and other expos and taken lots of classes by top scrapbookers. She said that I am the best scrapbooking instructor/teacher she's ever had next to Stacy Julian. WOW! Stacy Julian is THE best teacher and motivator ever. So this is a huge compliment for me and a real confidence booster! You know, you stay out of teaching for a while and you start doubting your abilities to get back into it. I'm really praying about where to go with my desire to teach and get into the industry. So a big thank you for that. :)

We are going to some friends' home for dinner tonight and I'm in charge of bringing dessert. Gee....what a chore! :) I decided to make a Barefoot Contessa cheesecake recipe that I had seen her make on her TV show. It has no flour in it (which makes it creamier and dense) so I can't wait to taste it. I'm going to top it with dark chocolate shavings and maybe some lines of melted dark chocolate. Here is the recipe, with my modifications. She calls it Raspberry Cheesecake, but I'm doing chocolate. (It's only raspberry because of the topping):

Barefoot Contessa's Raspberry Cheesecake
by Ina Garten
Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs (10 crackers)
1 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. (3/4 stick) butter, melted
Filling:
2 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 c. sugar
5 whole extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 extra-large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/4 c. sour cream
1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest (2 lemons) *I only used one so the lemon flavor wouldn't be overpowering with the chocolate
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup red jelly (not jam) such as currant, raspberry, or strawberry
3 half-pints fresh raspberries
* I'm using shaved dark chocolate and some melted chocolate for drizzling instead of the jelly and berries.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
To make the crust, combine the graham crackers, sugar, and melted butter until moistened. Pour into a 9-inch springform pan. With your hands, press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and about 1-inch up the sides. Bake for 8 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
Raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees.
To make the filling, cream the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce the speed of the mixer to medium and add the eggs and egg yolks, 2 at a time, mixing well. Scrape down the bowl and beater, as necessary. With the mixer on low, add the sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Mix thoroughly and pour into the cooled crust.
Bake for 15 minutes. Turn the oven temperature down to 225 degrees F and bake for another 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn the oven off and open the door wide. The cake will not be completely set in the center. Allow the cake to sit in the oven with the door open for 30 minutes. Take the cake out of the oven and allow it to sit at room temperature for another 2 to 3 hours, until completely cooled. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the cake from the springform pan by carefully running a hot knife around the outside of the cake. Leave the cake on the bottom of the springform pan for serving.
To make the topping, melt the jelly in a small pan over low heat. In a bowl, toss the raspberries and the warm jelly gently until well mixed. Arrange the berries on top of the cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
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Thank you, Lord, for some "down time" to blog.
Enjoy this weekend with those you love!
- Jennifer
"If you haven't got problems perhaps you should get on your knees and ask, "Lord, don't you trust me?" - Les Nixon

11 comments:

Jennifer S. said...

Ugh - I don't like your quote today... But the dessert sounds good :)

Kim said...

Missed keeping up with you, Jennifer. Glad to see you blogging again. Have fun at dinner tonight!

Michelle W. said...

Love your list. Very cool!

Michelle

Anonymous said...

Hey! Fun to read your answers! I guess you got tagged twice! :-)

What a great compliment on your teaching skills too! I'd love to take a class from you some day!
Robin

Jenn said...

I worked at DQ for my first job, too. My kids love to have me make them their cones at the buffet type restaraunts where they have the soft serve machines.

Have you talked to anybody about teaching? Can you travel? Email me, I might have a lead for you if you can.

Anonymous said...

Jennifer, I love that you are a Ferris fan! I will definitely head to Best Buy for a copy of the new release! How fun! I'm sure that you were a fabulous teacher! With your enthusiasm, you couldn't be anything but! (Is that a double negative?) It's good to see you posting! Have a great day!

Sophia

Anonymous said...

Was thinking the same thing about the fabric samples you posted being turned into paper. That would be my dream scrapbook job.
Designing paper. Yep.

That dessert sounds divine.
Ina Garten's a fabulous cook.
(or at least she appears to be on her show!!!)

:)

Deanna- yep Dee-na said...

DQ Icecream lover here girl! :)
Love those fabrics... would be yummy as paper!! Checked out your layouts at 2peas... good schtuff! I really dig the HS Harvest.
I know what you mean about teaching. I haven't taught much in awhile either.I miss it. Would love to teach at my LSS. But Dh works too much. Good to see ya today!

... said...

love the fabric, I am a fabric hound too and love using it in lo's, makes thing different. Send me some cheesecake, ain't I always asking you for food, you just seem like such an awesome cook and I'm not. Wish I was there :)

Anonymous said...

Hi friend! I've missed you. It was so good to read this entry and catch up with what is happening in your world. Great stuff you share, from the tag list to the Wendy S. designs. Yep, I've missed you!

TracieClaiborne said...

I am cracking up reading this post because you are more like me than anyone I have ever met. ha! It's like I could have written this post!