Designer Jeans at Target!!

So a few weeks ago I learned from the Today Show that William Rast was putting out a line of clothes for Target and they would be in stores on December 19th. Now I have never heard of Mr. Rast and his clothing line before but I figure if Bobbie Thomas was excited about it then, dammit, I would be too! Knowing that I would forget this bit of information before the mid-day news came on, I programmed my phone to remind me of this event. William Rast jeans normally sell for about $150 to $200 which is a lot more than I would pay for jeans but that is me. Although if I can ever get close to my college size I am so going out and buying a pair of Lucky jeans. Until then the ones I have do quite nicely thank you very much. So a few days ago I am going to Target for completely unrelated items when I saw my phone had a little icon that I normally do not see. It was the reminder. So I find the jeans, try them on and was all "Yeah, I can see it." I get up to the cash register (although they should probably call them credit card registers these days) and as I am putting the jeans on the belt I notice the $49.99 tag. Now that is a much better price than $200.00 for jeans but $50? For jeans? At Target? There should be no item of clothing in Target that is more than $40.00 and that should be a winter coat. I did not buy the jeans. My children need Christmas. Then I get home and look up this designer and see the price range of his jeans and notice that he sells jean shorts for $165. Here is your visual:


http://http//www.williamrast.com/SCARLET_SHORT/pd/np/12/p/1008.html

Now I feel like an old person because I am all "why would anyone pay that much money for that little material when you can get the whole jeans for less?!?!?!" Then my inner 16-year-old hung her head in shame and slowly walked away muttering and cursing under her breath. I am pretty sure I saw an eye-roll.

Days 4 & 5 of 12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Fudgy BonBons and PB&J Bars

So my internet was down from yesterday morning thru late this afternoon. Therefore you get two cookie recipes!

The first is Fudgy Bonbons. I got this one from a Pillsbury cookbook. It originally came from a lady named Mary Anne Tyndall who was Pillsbury's grand prize winner in their 1994 contest. And because of the glory of all things on the internet, I do not have to type it up! (although if the link does not work, let me know and I will post it)

http://http//www.pillsbury.com/recipes/fudgy-bonbons/96997a31-793f-4411-b43e-e8b154de46c1/

I do not do the drizzle over the cookies because I just don't want to. Instead I take a shaker of powdered sugar and lightly dust the cookies. I find they look more festive.

Now your healthy meal: Filet with Merlot Sauce. A bit on the fancy side but super easy if you know how to cook a steak. And because I want to make my life easy tonight here is the link:

http://http//www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Filet-Mignon-with-Merlot-Sauce-5653

I only cook this at Christmas or for my birthday so it is served with either mashed potatoes or twice-baked potatoes. To keep with the healthy theme though, serve it up with a salad and maybe some sauteed green beans.

Yesterday was a day to run around. And around. And around. Luckily I had my momz to chauffeur me while my Christmas/Birthday presents were being installed on my car. I am seriously going to put bows on my tires Christmas Eve and make the kids go to the driveway to see what Santa brought Mommy. Or maybe just the one new car bow and have four hangy-down bits with arrows pointing to the tires. Yeah, that's it. So I am going into the grocery store to pick up five things when the garage calls to tell me the car is ready. Cool, I only a few things then I can pick up the car! Of course when I go into Harris Teeter they are having another free Holiday Wine Tasting!!!! FREE WINE!!! AGAIN!!! And of course I do not have time to hang out. Blast.

The cookie recipe for today is from Ina Garten. Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars. I came across this one while flipping thru a cookbook at the library. It has that lovely salty/sweet combination and I believe I used blackberry jam instead of raspberry although I bet any jam would be good. I just picked up a jar of Marionberry jam yesterday so now it knows its purpose. Here is the link:

http://http//www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/peanut-butter-and-jelly-bars-recipe/index.html

For your healthy dinner I am going to take the easy way out tonight because I am just that tired and I need to finish a book that is already overdue at the 'brary and it is late and I think I still have laundry in the wash. . . . . . . . . Yes, I do. Frick. Ok, so before you make or eat the PB&J bars have this for dinner: Baked salmon with this marinade:

The marinade does have a bit of heat from the red pepper flakes but is sooooo tasty. I get it at either Harris Teeter or Fresh Market. Serve it up with some steamed broccoli!

Ok, there is a lot going on in the news lately, something about Wikileaks and some dude who does not mind spreading secrets but wants his house-arrest location kept underwraps and then there is something about taxes and politics. I really would like to know what is going on but it is hard to listen to the news in the morning with two kids all up in my grill while I try to guzzle a vat of coffee to keep up with them. The one thing I did learn from the Today Show this week is that Teva and someone else made a Teva stiletto. Four-inch high sandals. And they can be yours for the low, low price of $330.00.

http://http//www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2010/11/30/2010-11-30_teva_stiletto_heels_have_velcro_straps_teva_sole_shoes_have_fourinch_heel_retail.html

I also learned that some guys will think that a wrapped tampon can look like a Christmas treat:

http://http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/40606754#40606754 or try this one:

http://http//www.nbc.com/news-sports/today-show/meredith-hoda-willie-geist-try-alcohol-whipped-cream/

If you watch this video, the bit I am talking about is about 7 minutes in and if you let the video load, you can fast forward to the Bobbie Thomas section.

Hanger Steak Fail!

So I tried this recipe for Pan-Grilled Beer Marinated Hanger Steak: http://http//www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/photo/Pan-Grilled-Beer-Marinated-Hanger-Steak-236873. The marinade was good even if I did not have a couple of the ingredients. I think I would try a different cut of meat next time. Also, when I put it in the very hot pan my kitchen filled with smoke. We were so afraid the smoke detectors would go off (not the first that has happened during one of my recipe experiments) and freak out the dogs and wake the kids so we froze our asses off with the door open. Coincidentally, a neighbor told me that there were 12 deer in my yard at the same time we were airing out the steak kitchen. Do deer like steak? Is that not a bit ambitious of them?


What I learned from the Today show: if you need to pick up holiday stencil (or anything else stringy) but duct tape on the end of a paint roller and go to town. And playdough (is that one word) for broken glass. They said even the kids can do the duct tape on a paint roller thing but I have a feeling Luke would run around trying to get dog hair off the dogs. Pass. This was kind of a lame "what I learned from the Today show," I know, but tomorrow is another [To]day! (I cannot believe I just typed that.)


I finished reading "Good Enough to Eat" by Stacey Ballis:

Here is the link: http://http//search.barnesandnoble.com/Good-Enough-to-Eat/Stacey-Ballis/e/9780425229637/?itm=2&USRI=stacey+ballis

I really enjoyed it. It does fall directly into the category of chick lit though which is perfect for my current condition. There were good supporting characters and touch of mystery and I liked the ending. As a bonus, there are recipes in the back of the book. The author is a good friend of one of my personal heroes, Jen Lancaster, so initially I checked it out solely based on her recommendation. After reading this one, I will read more by this author.

I have added more pirate names to my list: the pirate with highlights and the pirate who failed at hanger steak.

Avast Ye, Landlubbers!!

I just found out that the folks who so brilliantly brought us "Wallace & Gromit" are making a movie out of "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!" This just mere hours after I suggested these books! I must have some sort of special power! However I have no idea what it could be and how I can use it to clean my house, get my kids to nap or put some doubloons in the kitty for new windows.

Here is a news bit about it from the author's website: http://http//www.gideondefoe.com/page3.htm

I decided to re-read the books because they make me laugh and am coming up with a list of pirate names that I think I should start signing on my receipts and tax returns. For example, "the pirate with moxy" and "the pirate who sees too much poo." Or, for my Chanukah folks, "the pirate with chutzpah." I am so excited that I am following, in a twitter manner, the director of the film who just posted that they have completed roughly 14 minutes of the movie so far! With any luck my total social security distribution should just about cover the ticket price when the movie comes out. In the meantime, I shall reread the books and eagerly await the next in the series.

In baking news, I made Congo Bars from the Fat Witch cookbook "Brownies, Blondies, and Bars From New York's Legendary Fat Witch Bakery." Since this came from a non-web-based source and I could not find the recipe on-line, I am a little hestitant to reproduce it here what with all the copyright infringement lawsuits flying around. If you would like me to pass it along I would be happy to do so. Verbally, on a secure line or in person under conditions determined at the last minute by me via a prepaid cell phone. There are a lot of versions out there but this one is a graham cracker crust bar, with chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, coconut and sweetened condensed milk baked to a lovely golden brown. It is a chocolate chip macaroon on a graham cracker crust. Glorious!!! Here is what they look like out of my kitchen:

And here is what it looks like about to be eaten:

I would also like to introduce a new segment that I am calling "Things I Learned from the 'Today Show'." I admit it, I like the Today Show. I find Al Roker hilarious and I believe I heard Meredith say "shit" this morning during a cooking segment with the Barefoot Contessa. Awesome. What I learned today is that with some anti-bacteria cleaners, you have to spray it on a surface then let it sit for 10 minutes before wiping it up! Who knew? I did read the directions and it clearly states to do so on the label, but really, how many of you read the labels for something like a spray cleaner? All this time I was all spray-spray-spray-wipe-wipe-wipe. There are some cleaners with less drying time so I am going to look into that. 10 MINUTES YA'LL! And all this time I thought my boy was sniffly from hanging out in and on germy things at the My Gym.