Greetings from the Future!

Future Morning Commute

Future BFF

Future Family Portrait

Future Vacation Home

Future Romantic Getaway


Ahhhh I can't wait!

gosh this is entertaining!

reload the page to make endless fun phrases!!

http://palin.appspot.com/

i'm more concerned with this child's dire need of some bacon fat on those bones!

i'm not even quite sure what this little girl is trying to say with her delicious poster. but....eat something! your leg is a pop sickle stick!

"the more cheese, the better"

Wise words from Paula Dean.
Ahh there's nothing like sitting at home in pajamas on a rainy day, blogging and watching the Food Network.

We don't post enough anymore on here, and hey...why the hell not? I have no job now so what's my excuse? So here I go.

This weekend I ran off to Pittsburgh with Scott. Ahh how I love getting out of town. It really did feel like a vacation, and I forgot all about Philly and my case of unemploymentitis. We strolled around the Strip District, which has lots of delicious food stores with lots of allie-friendly free samples of cheese, dips, fudge etc...
And then Sunday we relaxed at Scott's friend's house for a baby birthday party...lots more free food and mimosas all afternoon. I love suburban life sometimes!
I was also treated to amazing and expensive fine dining all weekend, which was fantastic...I mean I know I'm kind of a charity case these days, so I can't really say no to free meals, but when bills come out to over $200 for 3 people, it's a little strange feeling. So, of course, owing Scott in a major way, I treated him to McDonald's on our drive home on monday!

lookin' good on mt. washington...overlooking the city

we stopped at fallingwater on the way home...i've been wanting to visit this amazing house
since i was probably 13 years old...daddy would be proud!

Needless to say, I'm having major weekend withdrawal. But I suppose I can't avoid reality forever...

the only way emo would be cool again

my new favorite comedy duo

So these guys are Clarke and Dawe, from down under! (another reason to go) Yesterday Jordan's mom sent us a video of these guys (or one of them) doing s sketch about the front of a ship falling off. We totally thought it was real until i found all these other hilarious videos. Ok maybe not everyone's cup of tea but i know all those Charlie Rose fans will love it.

i submitted a teeshirt to threadless!

cats are kinda creepy

The Dramatic Cat - Watch more free videos

must drink more milk

Stupid? Maybe. but it totally made my day

My friend Kirsten at work passed this along to me. It's the look on the cats face that gets me the most. .... As you can tell there's a lot of hard work going on down here in Miami.

just 8 days away!

i can't wait! only 8 days til i'm in sunny florida!
i can almost taste the key lime pie!!

this is my new summer/beach hat! awesometown here i come!

P.S. checkout my atlantic city weekend! so super fun!!
http://flickr.com/photos/alliedale/sets/72157606285758755/

i 'aint lion

i saw this video on the today show this morning and it made the lady host cry! haha...try to ignore the ridiculous soundtrack choice! wild animals are awesome...remember that time you wanted to move to texas and own tigers?

gay for barack!

My friend Deb and her friends started up this new teeshirt site!
http://www.barackobamatees.com/

go check it out and order a fun teeshirt to support and show your undying love for barack! do it now!

i need to move to NY

my cub is half full

i saw this in a dream last night and thought it was the most clever thing in the world. until i woke up. drawing courtesy of eric.

oh chocolatey goodness!

photo credit: scotty b.

If you need a major chocolate fix, this is the one. Don't get eeked out by the addition of the beer. you can't taste it at all, but that combined with the sour cream makes this cake super-moist! you will definitely need a hefty glass of milk with this one! a definite finger-lickin' crowd-pleaser!
major plus: 5 extra bottles of beer to drink while you bake, and wait around for it to cool. our time-killer of choice: sushi and wedding crashers!


Chocolate Stout Cake (from smittenkitchen.com)

• 1 cup stout (such as Guinness)
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 6 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
• 3/4 teaspoon instant coffee granules

Cake prep:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or spray a bundt pan well; make sure you get in all of the nooks and crannies. (Some people even go so far as to brush the inside of their bundt pans with melted butter–you cannot be too careful!). Bring 1 cup stout and 1 cup butter to simmer in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add cocoa powder and whisk until mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Transfer cake to rack; cool completely in the pan, then turn cake out onto rack for drizzling ganache.

Ganache:
For the ganache, melt the chocolate, heavy cream, and coffee in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. Drizzle over the top of cooled cake.

Muffin Time!

Last night Beth and I bought a big bottle of red wine, a wedge of brie, and the ingredients for these delicious spicy corn muffins! They're pretty easy to make and everyone at work loved them! I ate three today...hahah

Spicy Corn Muffins - from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours

• 1 cup all purpose flour - sifted
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal - stone ground, sifted
• 3 tb sugar
• 1 tb baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 8 tb unsalted butter - melted and cooled
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/4 cup corn kernels
• 1 small jalapeno - seeded if you wish
• 1/4 red bell pepper finely diced
• 2 tb cilantro - finely chopped

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk together all purpose flour , cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking powder, chilli powder, baking soda and black pepper and set aside.

In another large bowl lightly whisk egg yolk, buttermilk and melted butter till blended. Pour liquid into the dry ingredients. Add corn, chopped cilantro, jalapeno and diced bell pepper to the mixture. Divide batter into muffin pans lined with paper muffin cups.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until the tops are brown. Cool muffins on a rack before serving. Makes about a dozen.

R.I.P.

Today is a very sad day. I have been aching because my favorite food blog, Tastespotting hasn't been updated in two days-and now I know why. I gave it another shot today and all that existed was this tragic message. I have been entertained, delighted, inspired, and tantalized for hours on end by this great site. What shall I do without you, Tastespotting? Where will i find a more beautiful and delicious collection of food images and recipes? My life and tummy just won't be the same without you.

sadfaces!

beth is famous!

my favorite bethie got her drawing of We Are Scientists on two.one.five's site yesterday! i'm so proud. my little girl is all grown up! hehe

and as a reminder. her stuff is always awesome. beth! i'm still waiting for my stuffed panda!
http://elizabethgarvey.com/

bible fans rejoice!

Apparently somewhere in Germany they are planning on building a bible-themed theme park! omg i can't wait! there's going to be a life-sized noah's ark, a heaven and hell roller coaster, and even a Tower of Babel panorama restaurant.

Bible-Land!!

hooray!

summertime yummertime!

I wish i was better at food photography!

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

For the topping

• 1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted
• 2/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3 cups 1-inch chunks fresh pineapple (about 1 pineapple)

For the cake

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup milk

Make the topping:
In a small bowl stir together well the butter and the brown sugar and spread the mixture evenly in a well-buttered 9- by 2-inch round cake pan. Pat the pineapple very dry between several thicknesses of paper towel and arrange it evenly on the sugar mixture.

Make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Into a bowl sift together the flour, the baking powder, the salt, and the cinnamon. In another bowl with an electric mixer cream the butter with the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, and beat in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternately in batches with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and beating well after each addition. Pour the batter into the pan, spreading it evenly, and bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, run a thin knife around the edge, and invert the cake onto a plate.


P.S. Ms. Ashley Beecher! Get your tiny butt to philly and come bake up a storm with me! k?

terrifying i think

I just finished watching Jesus Camp. Man, this movie is terrifying. Its insane how these children have devoted their lives to Jesus, and i really fear ever running into someone like this. These people are pretty much assholes "warriors for the lord" or whatnot-i mean, they're just assholes. This one little girl said she always dreamed of being a manicurist, because she thinks that's the best opportunity for a person to be accepting of the lord. wtf?
Another gem of a scene, the sermon about how Harry Potter is evil, and in biblical times would have been put to death. Boy oh boy-its frightening. A room full of sobbing shaking children-if i didn't have the sound on I would've been apalled-what are these people doing to make these kids cry? It's gotta be wrong...I'm pretty sure Jesus never was recorded as being such an asshole crazy person. idk, i kind of like imagining him just chillin on a hill, talking to whoever would listen. oh and he looks like Willem DeFoe...

Religion is scary. Children are scary. This is the scariest horror movie I've ever seen! haha

should i?

should i get a kitten?

holy poodles!

my favorite sealab episode.

eri eri awesometown

i love how she can render cartoons really well, but they're still slightly deformed. which also reminds me of this.

http://themonsterengine. com/art. html#monster
this guy takes drawings that kids do of superheroes and monsters and re-paints them to look professional. its so cute!the weird thing is, i just picked this one at random, turns out the kid that drew its name is alyson. teeheehee.

i think this should speak for itself

i need butter on everything!

must. buy. season 2-3 on dvd. now.

Today I found this Necessary

shmitten kitten

anyone not in philly won't get this site for the most part. but my friend kathleen linked me to it, and i find it enjoyable. little drawings of philly characters and their traits. amusing!

http://www.shmittenkitten.com/

i love a man in a sexy white pompadour

This fine gentleman is named Wayne Cochran

Free Cone Day!!!

Sorry I didn't let you know sooner, but I just finished off a delicious Chocolate Therapy cone. (and the meter was already full so i didn't even pay for parking!)

some foods of late

Me and Scott put some shrimps on the barby. And they were delicious.
Shrimps and Chili pepper rub. Put it on a stick and grill and yum.


In other food news. I stayed up making these beauties last night.

Strawberry and White Chocolate Cupcakes

• 2 cups sugar
• 1 pack strawberry jello
• 1 cup butter
• 4 eggs
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 1 cup mashed frozen strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Combine flour and baking powder in separate bowl and stir into batter alternately with milk. Blend in vanilla, jello powder and mashed berries. Divide into cupcake papers (cake is dense and doesn't rise very well so fill papers just about full-cakes will sink a bit after removing from oven). Bake for about 25-30 minutes.

Icing

• 1 pound white chocolate
• 1 3/4 cup butter
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups powdered sugar
  

Melt chocolate in bowl resting above just-about-boiling water. Make sure bottom of bowl is not touching the water or chocolate will burn. This will melt nice and slowly, just stir as it melts. Remove from heat and let cool but not set. Cream butter until fluffy and add melted chocolate and vanilla. Blend in powdered sugar. Keep in fridge until cupcakes are fully cooled and frosting is good consistancy for spreading.

Enjoy!

babies

If you insist on posting pictures of the ugliest animals on earth then i'll have to respond with pictures of one of the cutest animals on earth. look at this tiny baby!!! and shes got the goof eyes and smush face and all that good stuff.

now she's a spotted monster but these are from the good ol' days

I need to open a new window without gaging

eric made me do it

but its gross. indeed.
this chimp has no hair.

Newport Guitar Festival

Today Jordan and I went to a vintage guitar and luthier show. It was super fun, good excuse to use my camera.

Paul Reed Smith Guitar


"Dragon" neck inlay


luthier tools






Jordan Plays a 1950 Stratocaster, $15,000 guitar right there.

Art By Erica

this is what my little sister drew for me inside my birthday card. you know what? she's a better illustrator then i am.

of course this was coming at ya

I love you!

Hey Kiddo - Just a happy little birthday note for you. Hope your day has been going well. Are you the proud new owner of a time share on the Jersey Shore? Hope so!

When the work day is done I will contact you about super special secret (not really secret but whatev) birthday present!

laser cats! 3D

this is just cute. and i love the mixture of real cats and stuffed cats.

Cute stuff on the internets

http://www.darlingclementine.no/

greeting cards and other cute stuff i wish i did.

I like playmobiles. And i'm wearing pirate-boots today.

you dig?

http://audio.skeyelab.com/howtospeakhip/

really worth a listen. its fantastic. dig?

giggle