Trader Joe's Top Grocery List Items

After two years of extreme deprivation, Trader Joe's is finally making it's way to my neck of the woods. "Neck of the woods" being 150 miles away in Sarasota, Florida. This is practically a stone's throw compared to the next closest Trader Joe's - Atlanta, Georgia, a crazy 450 miles. Not having a Trader Joes nearby is one of the top things I loathe about Florida. See all 10 reasons here.

When we lived in California, Trader Joes was only 2 miles away. 80% of all my grocery shopping was done there and not because it was within walking distance, but because the food is delicious, high-quality and affordable. I am a Trader Joes junkie. So if given the opportunity to shop my favorite products at the expense of a two and a half hour drive, I'm so taking it.

Irrelevant little fact: The drive from my house to Sarasota is equivalent to driving to Palm Springs from our old house in San Diego.

So in anticipation of the Grand Opening (rumored to be July 2012) AND to assist the native Floridians who either don't know anything about Trader Joes OR resent the place because of all us transplants going on and on about it, I've compiled a list of items that should be on your Trader Joes grocery list.

• Masala Burgers. These are vegan-indian spice-potato patty-veggie burgers. Good on salads or as a burger. Seriously delish. By far my very favorite item in the entire store.
• Kettle Corn Popcorn. Very dangerous.
• Trail Mix. I am partial to the Happy Trekking trail mix because it has delicious chunks of chocolate in it, but really, any trail mix is good. TJ's has a HUGE selection and is priced very reasonably.
• Grinders. Pink Himalayan sea salt grinder or the sugar-chocolate-coffee bean grinder (yes, all mixed in to one grinder) or the South African smoke grinder or the Tropical Pepper sea salt.
• Pumpkin Bread and Muffin Mix. It's a seasonal item so come the fall stock up! Really, if TJ's has *anything* pumpkin, get it. Cheesecake, soufflé, pumpkin butter, ice cream... it's all good.
• Mini Beef Tacos. Easy-to-prepare snack with only 170 calories for 4. I usually bake mine in the oven till they are crispy brown then sprinkle a little cheese over the top of them. YUMM-O!
• Mini Peanut Butter Cups. These are 100x more dangerous than the popcorn. In fact, don't even buy these.... you will eat them all before you even get home.
• TJ's reusable bag. I am stopped in the store every time I have them with me, by people who want to know where they can get a bag like that. They are cute, stylish and completely practical. They are great for much more than grocery shopping too! Use them for storing junk, toting books or crafting supplies, trick or treating, camping, going to the beach... the uses are endless!

If you know of any other must-have items, please let me know. I've been out of the loop for 2 years now and bound to have missed something incredible!

These feet...

These feet ran 2 miles without stopping this morning.

Well, technically I walked for 1 minute around the mile and a half marker and 30 seconds on the last tenth of a mile.

AND, I almost puked on that last tenth (reason I walked for 30 seconds).

But I totally did it.

Our training doesn't have us running 2 miles till next Friday. But my running partner was home with her sick kidlette leaving me to run on my own this morning . The plan was to measure how close I was to actually running 2 miles. NEVER did I think I would complete it. CRAZEE!!!

RUN Alison RUN!

Have you ever **loved** the **idea** of becoming knowledgeable and/or skilled about something specific but discovered it was too expensive or difficult or even maybe finding out it wasn't for you?

For example... golf. Lots of people, myself included, love the idea of golfing. It's considered a sport that doesn't require sports-like exertion. You ride around in a golf cart all day with an ice cold beverage in your hand, hitting tiny balls across beautiful fairways. And let's face it, it's a bourgeois-kind of activity, the kind of pastime that upper-class retired people take up, and who doesn't want to feel upper-class retired every now and then?

But I've played golf and learned from experience that a.) there is exertion in golf, b.) trying to hit a tiny ball across the fairway is not as relaxing as one might envision and c.) there is a reason upper-class retired people golf... it's expensive and requires an enormous amount of free-time to practice and play.

I don't know about you but I pick up on hobbies all the time. Some people might call it ADD but whatever. Just once I'd like to pick up on something and master it (for a lack of a better word).

Well, I might have my chance. I have LOVED the idea of running but like most hobbies, never gave it fair chance. A few weeks ago, my friend suggested we started running and being the iPhone junkie that I am, found the perfect app for it.

On a side note: in order for me to enjoy or be successful at anything, it requires an app for my iPhone. Yep, it's like I'm married to the thing. Pathetic I know.

So the app I found is C25K, "Couch to 5K" in 9 weeks. Simply put, it's freaking fantastic!!!!!!

It's a running program that alternates between walking and jogging and increases the jogging time each week. The app keeps time and actually speaks to you so you know when to walk and when to jog.

Week one we ran 60-seconds intervals... one minute, that's all. It totally KICKED MY BUTT. I remember thinking "I won't be ready to run 90 seconds next week!". But then week two came and I was able to run 90 seconds no problem. Last week the intervals bumped up to 3 minutes... THREE MINUTES!!! And I did it easily. To some that may seem laughable but it's almost unbelievable for me considering my athletic ability. I'm completely amazed at my body's capacity to adjust to the increases each week.

So starting tomorrow, the intervals bump up to 5 minutes. The following week, 8 minutes and the week after that we should be running a full 20-25 minutes. I'm amped!

59 days till my first RUNNING 5K!
248 days till Disney's Marathon Weekend!

265 Days

Greetings Interwebs!!!

I'm back! Did you miss me? (chirp chirp chirp) *cough* Well I've missed you!

After 8 long months of life getting in the way, I've answered the beckoning of my beloved blogget. I love my little corner of the web and feel rejuvenated to give her the time and attention she deserves.

Much has happened over the past 265 days.

• We caused some liver damage and spent a small fortune at Epcot's Food and Wine Festival.
• We took a cruise to the Bahamas.
• We adopted TWO cats from the shelter.
• I colored my hair purple. On purpose.
• After only a year and half, I finally know my neighbor's name. (first wrote about it here)
• We started a weight loss program and to date have collectively lost the equivalent of a ten year old child.
• I started training to be a runner and have the blisters to prove it.

And yet some things have remained the same.

• We still live in Orlando and love it here.
• I still love Jesus, my iPhone and carbs.
• I'm still addicted to Pinterest. You can see all the time I've wasted pinning here.
• I still cannot do a cartwheel.

In the words of Slim Shady, I'm back.

Lightening Capitol of the World

 Lightening Capitol of the World, a photo by A!ison on Flickr.

This is a palm tree.
This is a palm tree across the street from my house.
This is a palm tree across the street from my house that is not dead.
This is a palm tree across the street from my house that is not dead but scorched.

By lightening.

DIY Mini Ironing Board - GENIUS!!

I'm addicted to Pinterest.

If you don't know what Pinterest is, it's kinda like a categorizing slash bookmarking network. I create virtual "pin boards" and label them, i.e. Sewing Projects, Recipes, Christmas. I then "pin" images to the boards. So if I find a pumpkin bread recipe on the web, I pin it to my Recipes board. What's more, the images I pin are linked to their origin so all I need to do is click on that pumpkin bread image and I'm taken directly to the recipe.

The coolest part of Pinterest is I do not have to scour the web for great ideas or recipes. Because the site is networked, I can just look through other Pinterest user's images/pins/boards. I have spent HOURS looking at images on Pinterest. If it's photographed, it's on Pinterest. So not only is my sense of sight stimulated, all the images are backed up with how to's.

And it goes beyond what I'm explaining here. Crafting and baking is my thing so that's what I look for on Pinterest. Special K got tired of looking over my shoulder when I was "pinning" so he started his own boards. He's all about architecture and landscapes. Some people pin quotes, fashion or gift ideas. I have a board dedicated to just Harry Potter and another to just Star Wars.

So anyway, I found an idea on Pinterest... turn a TV tray into a ironing board. I'm a sewer and the one thing I hate is having to get up from my sewing machine to press a seam. Having the TV tray ironing board allows me to stay seated! mo.honey suggested I move my ironing board closer to my machine but I will still have to stand up and sit down. And before you go and judge me on not wanting to stand up... when you sew, there is a lot of small pressing you do. This idea is like a god-send to sewers.

So I made one! And it's fantastic. I love that I can keep my rhythm and position! I also love how easy it is to fold up and down and I can slide it between the bookcase when I'm not using it. It was so easy to make I wonder why no one else has thought of this. Well maybe someone has and I've been living under a rock.

So here is my mini-ironing board:

And if you are pinterested in making one yourself, here is the linky link: mini-ironing board

Juno Launch

Juno Launch, a photo by A!ison on Flickr.

This week we were invited as VIP's to the Juno Launch at NASA Kennedy Space Center. How did we get VIP tickets you ask? My brother's fiancé's uncle works on the project and they knew we lived in Florida so they got our names on the list. Pretty freaking cool huh?

We figured this was a once in a lifetime chance so we took advantage of every opportunity that was thrown our way from cocktail parties to briefings! It's been a pretty awesome week.

The launch itself was AMAZING! I really didn't expect it to happen the first day and anticipated returning to KSC every day for a few days but to our delight it launched on the very first day!

The rocket was armed with FIVE "SRB's" (Solid Rocket Boosters), the space shuttles have two (although they may differ in size, I'm not sure). None the less, five SRB's insured we would "feel" the launch with all it's power.

We sat in the sweltering heat for about two and a half hours. I brought frozen paper towels to place on our necks and we bought an umbrella at the gift shop. These items saved our hide let me tell you.

My brother was at JPL (Jet Propulsion Lab) in California and was giving me blow by blow updates as we waited for liftoff. We could hear Mission Control but sometimes it was garbled or too many acronyms were used (kinda like this post).

When we heard we were clear for liftoff the entire crowd burst into cheers. When the countdown got to T-10 seconds, everyone started counting down along with Mission Control. You first saw smoke and then a very short moment later you saw the orange/yellow fire coming from the bottom of the rocket. And within seconds that sucker was high above the clouds. We could hear the ripples of sound almost immediately but it took a few seconds to actually feel it. The entire area around us shook like an earthquake. And then just like that it was over.

You can tell that the KSC is no stranger to controlling large crowds. We were off those bleachers and in our bus headed back to the main visitor center within about 5 minutes after launch. Every single person seated on our bus still had that silly little adrenaline grin on their faces, Special K and I included.

What an experience. What a sight.

Here is the launch video.
Here is the Juno image gallery.

Here is the image I took... so far away.
The sights are much more spectacular in the gallery so go check them out!

Yet Another Butterbeer Recipe

Last Tuesday I set out on a mission to recreate The Wizarding World of Harry Potter's Butterbeer. I sought help from Fox News and Bakingdom, the two most splattered butterbeer recipes on the interwebs.

I started with the Fox News recipe. To put it plainly, it was elaborate and unmistakably wrong. If you love fussing with candy thermometers and want a bizarre drink that alcohol could easily be added to or in other words, you don't want the WWofHP butterbeer, make this recipe. The End.

I then moved on to Bakingdom's recipe. After troubling myself with the aforementioned recipe, this one was a breath of fresh air. But sadly, it is wrong as well. However, not all is lost, Bakingdom gave me some ideas of where to start.

THE SODA

• I sampled cream soda via IBC in the glass bottle, A&W in the can and cheap ol' WalMart brand in the 2-liter bottle. IBC is expensive and A&W is too fizzy (which is a problem I'll expand on later) so that leaves the P.W.T. 2-liter. It's my first choice. Did I mention it's cheap?
• Barkingdom added butter extract to the cream soda. This was muy bueno. The sweetness needs to come from the cream. The butter extract seems to make the soda less sweet. It also adds some yummy butterness to it which, when ever is butter a bad thing?
• I tried adding butterscotch ice cream topping to the soda instead of the butter extract. It didn't combine well and left the soda murky. (gross) And if you are wondering about adding real butter, see Bakingdom's notes on the subject.

THE CREAM

• I started with the base of clotted cream or sometimes called Devonshire cream. Clotted cream is incredibly unhealthy and English so it sounded like a good place to start!!
• Clotted cream however is not something you would describe as "sweet" so I added a fair amount of sweet deliciousness to it. Don't worry.
• Now, I tried granulated sugar in one version and powdered sugar in another (clotted cream recipes called for one or the other). As you can guess, the granulated cream was more sweet than the powdered and sweet is what we want so granulated is what we get.
• As for all the healthy people out there, I tried using Bakingdom's method which is beating the heavy whipping cream into submission (not using cream cheese). In the end, the cream cheese gives the cream a nice rich heaviness. Sorry but cream cheese is a must.

So without further adieu, I bring you my butterbeer recipe!

CROOKED TIARA'S BUTTERBEER RECIPE

Harry Potter Butterbeer
(click to enlarge)

1 - 2-liter Generic-brand cream soda
4 - 1/2 tsp. Butter extract (imitation butter flavor)
6 oz. Softened cream cheese
1 c. Granulated sugar
2 c. Heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. Butterscotch ice cream topping
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
A dash of salt

Set out 4 16-ounce glasses. Place 1/2 tsp. of butter extract in each glass. Pour 12 oz. of cream soda into each glass, over the butter. Stir and set aside*.

In a medium bowl add the cream cheese and sugar, mix together on medium until well blended. Add the heavy whipping cream and mix on high until soft peaks begin to form. Fold in the butterscotch topping, vanilla and a dash of salt.

Add a generous amount of cream to the top of each soda glass. Form an even layer rim to rim to rim. This will prevent foam bubbling up the sides. Drink without delay!

* The cream soda needs time to settle. A freshly poured soda is packed with carbonation which leads to lots of foam when the cream is added. The real WWofHP butterbeer does not contain much foam as you can see from this picture. Setting the glasses aside helps the soda flatten a bit.

You're welcome very much.

In all honesty, this recipe, just like all the others, is a poor substitute for the real WWofHP betterbeer. I don't know how they do it and there is nothing like it on earth. Guess y'all just have to come to Florida to try the real thing. Viva WWofHP!!!

A Storm

You can see it literally rolling in.

Rainy season has for sure hit Florida. It seems like every other afternoon a rain cloud rolls in and waters my grass. Within a very short period of time, we've had two HUGE storms pass through and yesterday afternoon was one those storms.

I walked into the kitchen and through my kitchen window I saw the biggest, darkest clouds coming strait for us. You could see the lightening raging inside the clouds, such an ominous sight. The strange part is it was still sunny over my house so it almost magnetized the color of the clouds.

Less than 10 minutes later a storm unloaded with lightening strikes so close there was no seam between it and the thunder. The lights flickered and the rain pounded on the roof. At that moment I was praising and thanking God for two things: 1.) that I had a roof over my head, one that protected me from the lightening and the rain. Not only do I have a roof but one that does not leak and a floor that is protected from runoff and 2.) that my soul's mate was already safely home from work.

I'm sure you get tired of hearing me carry on about Florida storms especially if you are my Facebook friend, but they really are something spectacular.

Click image to see bigger. For some reason blogger pixelizes the image when I change the size???

Easy Lemon Burst Cookies

Thanks to Pinterest and ultimately Tidy Mom, I found an irresistible recipe (among many others) for lemon cookies and tried it today. Do you want the good news first or the bad? I'll give you the good 'cause it's really good...

The recipe calls for FOUR ingredients, that's it AND each cookie is only ONE point!! So good. Right?

The bad news is you can't eat just one which makes it very dangerous to even make this. You start with a one point cookie that turns into ten by the end of the night. So bad.

So here it is in all it's good and bad glory...

LEMON BURST COOKIES

1. One box of lemon cake mix*
2. One - 8 oz. tub of cool whip**
3. One egg
4. Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350°
In medium bowl beat cool whip, egg and cake mix until well blended. Dough will be thick and sticky.

Drop teaspoonfuls into a bowl of powdered sugar and roll to coat.
Place on cookie sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Eat warm! The cookies should be chewy deliciousness.

* Don't like lemon? Try an orange or strawberry cake mix!
** I used a tub of "lite" cool whip so the cookies were one (Weight Watcher) point. If you are not watching your waistline, use the real stuff (it's what the original recipe called for)

Note: You should yield 50-60 cookies to get each cookie within the one point range. Also, the smaller the cookie the better. The cookie is already quite chewy. Making a large cookie leaves the center raw-ish.

Harry Potter Butterbeer EXPOSED! Part I

OBJECTIVE: to recreate Wizarding World's butterbeer.

MOTIVE: Wizarding World's butterbeer is about the best thing I've ever had, yes, even better than coffee and tangerine wheat. =) If you've never had butterbeer, it's like a butterscotch cream soda with a smooth creamy top. Kinda like a float but with a strange delicious cream instead and without all the foam.

REFERENCES: Fox News recipe, Bakingdom's recipe, and my own concoction.

Us and our butterbeer at Harry Potter World this past April

__________

RECIPE ONE: Fox News Butterbeer Recipe

• 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 6 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
• Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

1. In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.

2. Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.

3. In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.

4. To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

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RECIPE TWO: Bakingdom's Butterbeer Recipe

FOR THE BUTTERBEER
6 12-ounce bottles chilled cream soda (IBC or A&W)
3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) imitation butter flavor,

FOR THE FOAM
2 cups heavy cream
6 tablespoons sugar, or splenda for sugar free version
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons imitation butter

To make the butterbeer: Set out 6 16-ounce glasses. Place 1/2 teaspoon of imitation butter in each glass. Pour 12 ounces of butterbeer into each glass, over the butter. Lightly stir, if necessary.

To make the foam: In a large bowl, or the bowl of a standing mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium high speed for 3-4 minutes until it starts to thicken. Add the sugar and continue whipping until very soft peaks begin to form, another 3-4 minutes (if you need to whip more or less, then be sure to do so, the times can vary quite a bit based on environment). Stir in the vanilla and imitation butter, then whip for another 30 seconds or so, until soft peaks form.Spoon a generous portion of foam on top of each glass of butterbeer, mixing gently, if desired (or spoon the foam into the bottom of the glass and pour the butterbeer over the top). Serve immediately.

__________

RECIPE THREE: Crooked Tiara's Butterbeer Recipe

Welp, I don't have one yet so stay tuned. All I can say is I bought some butterscotch topping. Bam!

LET THE FEAST BEGIN! ~Dumbledore

Photo Assignment: My Self-Portrait

I finally took the plunge and purchased a Canon EOS Rebel xsi Digital SLR camera. I've been wanting a starter camera to get my hands dirty and this insanely-reduced floor model was right up my alley. The camera came with dust though, consequence of buying cheap I guess. It's still perfect, for my bank account and skill level.

Needless to say I've been brushing up on my f-stops and shutter speeds. The web is chalked full of photography lessons of which I have been taking advantage of. Guess that's a big part of the reason you have not heard from me here.

The truth about photography is you can sit and read about it all day long but the real learning comes from actually getting out there and taking photos. And for me, this has been a real challenge. You can only photograph your household items and the landscape around your house so many times. What I really needed was photo assignments and again, the web was full of 'em!

So today I bring you my first photo assignment, my self-portrait.

First let me say that photographing myself from my beloved iPhone is a heck of a lot easier than shooting from a tripod-mounted camera where I have to worry about white-balance and exposure. My iPhone in a way has hindered me and there have been times (especially with this particular shoot) when I've wanted to throw in the towel and just use my iPhone. But I persevered with results that I am satisfied with.

My Self-Portrait
Taken July 17, 2011

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel xsi
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6
ISO speed: 400
Exposure: 1/30
Aperture: f/4
Focal Length: 18mm
No flash

You can see the original photo here.

Legal Fireworks

Legal Fireworks, a photo by A!ison on Flickr.

Epic.

Guns of Navaronne

 Guns of Navaronne, a photo by A!ison on Flickr.

Fourth of July is TEN days away so on our way up to Jacksonville we stopped at Phantom Fireworks. To our sheer joy, they were having a buy one, get the second for $0.99. JACKPOT!

This past New Year's was our first experience with fireworks. Like the amateurs we were, we settled on lots and lots of fountains. We now know fountains are for babies and people from California.

This time we went strait for the aerial shooters. Special K is pointing to the biggest one in the store "The Guns of Navaronne" which also happens to be one of our favorite movie quotes (this You Tube clip is not censored, the f-word is used many many times).

So here's what we got:

• Nineteen shot aerial repeater - Pyro Palms
• Sixteen shot aerial repeater - Red, White and BOOM!
• Eight Smiley Face Rockets
• Six Ten-Ball Long Rifle Roman Candles
• Six Assorted Roman Candles (the grab bag of Roman Candles)
• Nine shot aerial repeater - Gunner Mates
• Twelve Eight-Shot Flashing Thunder Roman Candles
• Nineteen shot aerial repeater - Molotov Cocktail
• Four sets of Firecrackers
• Twelve Military Satellites "spins upward with showers of sparks"
• Four Strobe Flowers "spins on ground with flashes of lights"
• Four packs of Snaps

We gonna light our neighborhood up!