Good Day!

...and good night to Paul Harvey.

I remember Jack listening to him at lunch break at home. Mr. Hinajosa, my 6th grade teacher, made us listen to him, too. I thought he was annoying as heck! He was part of the fabric of my childhood.

Police Blotter

From the Daily Sound:

Feb. 14, 1:22 a.m. — Police arrived at City Lot #5 after receiving reports of a non-injury traffic collision possibly involving a drunken driver. While some officers spoke with the possible DUI suspect, a 43-year-old woman, other officers spoke with the 27-year-old woman who had been driving the other vehicle involved in the collision.

Based on their investigation, authorities determined both women were driving under the influence. After citing and releasing the two suspects, police arranged for the suspects’ vehicles to be towed.

From the Izzy Files:

At approximately 11:00 am on Monday, February 23, police were called to the intersection of Hot Springs Road and Coast Village Road where a non-injury traffic collision had occurred. According to witness Izzy, the driver of a brand new pickup crossed the center line and collided at slow speed with a late-model VW Jetta. When the driver of the Jetta instructed the driver of the pick-up to back up, the pick-up driver gunned the truck into drive, causing more damage to both vehicles.

Witness Izzy handed the Jetta driver her card in case he needed a witness account and planned to leave the scene, having a busy work-day planned.

However, she noticed the driver of the truck exiting the vehicle, carrying a tan piece of clothing bundled around something. Decribed as acting "hyper," the bald suspect then started walking away from the scene.

Witness-turned-detective Izzy followed the man, abandoning her plans to continue her work day. The man walked around a shopping center, and when she caught up to him, the bundle was missing. She encouraged him to go back to the scene and wait for the police. "I'm dizzy," he explained.

The suspect returned briefly to the scene and again walked away. Izzy followed a second time and was informed by other witnesses that he had entered the Vons store. At that time, she looked into the trash can and found the clothing bundle that the suspect has deposited there.

Izzy returned to the scene to wait for the police. After they interviewed both subjects and placed the pick-up driver into the back of the squad car, Detective Izzy showed an officer the trash can which contained the deposited bundle. The officer retrieved a tan sweatshirt wrapped around a six-back of Budwieser and a plastic bag containing an aeresol can of compressed air.

Further reports of the suspect's arrest are unavailable. Thank goodness there were no injuries and the huffer was taken off the streets.

Dontcha love Trader Joe's?

Lovin' the Kitchenaide

OK. I've fallen in love with baking bread. Pagrs pointed me to King Arthur Flour's recipes, and they really are great recipes! The Kitchenaide Stand Mixer makes it sooooo easy!

So far, I've made one loaf of white bread (recipe from the Kitchenaide recipe book), four loaves (2 batches) of Classic 100% Whole Wheat, and two loaves of 100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread. This last recipe is my favorite. The first loaf was great, though not perfect. The second one just came out of the oven. It looks and smells fantastic. I have a feeling this one will be near-perfect!





I can't keep up with the demand for bread! I have a teenage boy in the house, you know. I have a feeling I'll need to adjust my weekly routine to include a bread-baking day. I'll enjoy that, though, because it smells so good!

Thanks again, BobBIE!

Jumping in the Cracker Barrel

Seems like every one else has tried Chuckbert's cracker recipe, so I had to follow suit tonight.

My recipe changes included:

• I used salted butter, and then left out the salt (I was going to add part of the amount, but plumb forgot),
• I sprinkled Kosher salt on top,
• I used non-fat half-n-half.

"What's that? Non-fat half-n-half? I didn't know there was such a thing!"

Neither did I. Never buying half-n-half, I grabbed the one that my hand reached for first, not reading the label. It wasn't until I got it out for the crackers did I notice. Fat-free half-n-half. Isn't that an oxymoron?

I don't think I got the crackers thin enough, as they were soft-ish, except the ones on the edges, which were crispety.



They were good, and we enjoyed them!





They were plenty salty. I'll try the recipe again with real half-n-half, I'll roll them out thinner and maybe work them more to make them flakier (the added fat of real half-n-half should help, too), and I think I'll try Poss's technique of separating them before baking, as that will make them brown better, I think.


What's the story with fat-free half-n-half???

Despondex: New Medication on the Market

From The Onion

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

My third use of my new Kitchenaide was making Valentine's Day cupcakes. I used the White Cake recipe from the Kitchenaide recipe booklet. It was fast n' easy! The hardest part was separating the eggs, but Erin did that part!

All I had was bread flour. I had grabbed bread flour instead of all-purpose flour the other day. So they probably aren't the best they could've been.

Here they are:

There is one missing because some little Elf came home in the wee hours of the morning and sampled them. By "little Elf" I mean "Little Mikey," my Valentine!

I am going shopping with E. today to Bed Bath 'n' Beyond to get some new baking pans for my invigorated baking career!

Sony's new gadget according to The Onion.

From The Onion.

For anyone who has tried to install new gizmos.

****DO NOT CLICK IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY "BAD" WORDS*****

Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn't Fucking Work

A Brand! New! Kichenaid! Stand Mixer!

Today I got a surprise on the porch. It was a big, heavy box! What a mystery!

I had worked a full day, went to Trader Joe's, had to do laundry and make dinner, so I didn't get a chance to open the prize until late (8:30pm)!

Imagine my surprise, a new Kitchenaid Stand Mixer! With attachments! It mixes! It whisks! It kneads!

Wow! I am the proud owner of a beeeautiful Kitchenaid mixer! It is something that I have always wanted! I am not much of a chef, but I love to bake, and this will keep me baking and baking! Wow! I'm so happy!

COOOOOOOLLLLL!

Izzy's New Love

There was another mystery.....just who sent this wonderful present? The return address listed the UPEX shipper in Lost Almost. There was no note. There was no packing slip. Was it a secret admirer? Detective Karen went to work and found in tiny little writing on the shipping label: "FROM BOBBIE S______N"

COOOOOLLLLLL! My big sister loves me!

THANKS, BobBIEEEEEEEE! It's the coolest present ever!


I've got a Kitchenaide mixer.....I've got a Kitchenaide mixer.......tra-la.....I've got a Kitchenaide mixer!

Watch out, crooks!

After 11 weeks nursing his broken clavicle, Officer Squid is back on the beat tonight.

Congratulations!

An Important Lesson Learned

The other day, I knew I might need new batteries for the camera. So, on the way out of the house, I grabbed a couple AAs and threw 'em in my purse.

Lesson: Don't put batteries in the coin compartment!

Today I was waiting for Kevin to get his arm checked to be cleared for wrestling tomorrow, and I started looking through my purse to pass the time. I noticed today's reciepts were black. I thought, "These are heat sensitive. ....what the .....!" Then I quickly noticed that my purse was HOT. The bills were HOT! The reciepts were HOT!!

I remembered the batteries. I ran into the bathroom and dumped the coins and batteries in to the sink. The coins were HOT and stayed warm for 30 minutes afterward. It took quite a bit of strength to separate the melted-together batteries.



Remember the lesson: DON'T put batteries in the coin compartment! Unless you WANT your purse to burst into flames.

Shark!