PB & Chocolate

Original Photo Uploaded by Bakerella

My grandma's peanut butter balls are unbelievably yummy. I begged my grandma - okay, all it really took was a "please" - to make 400 balls for our wedding reception and our yummy giveaways were a huge hit. My zillion cousins and I fight over who should have the first ball at every family function; of course Grandma makes enough for all of us but she gets a kick out of us oohing, ahhing and slapping at each other over them.

Since the Christmas season is upon us and Kim has requested my grandma's recipe I figure it is the perfect time to share it with you. Let me know what you think if you end up making them. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Grandma D's famous Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

What You Need:
2 cups peanut butter
5 cups sifted icing sugar
8 tbsp butter
2 tbsp wax (I use a little less or it ends up tasting waxy)
1 3/4 cups chocolate chips OR 5 squares bakers chocolate

What You Do:
1. Mix peanut butter, icing sugar and butter together.
2. Form into balls and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.
3. Melt wax and chocolate in a double boiler.
4. Coat balls in chocolate (a fork with a bent handle works well for this job)
5. Set on wax paper or parchment paper and let harden in fridge.

EAT! Be warned, consuming too many of these puppies can leave you with a serious bellyache.

Thanks to Flickr I found the great shot of peanut butter balls shown above which led me to Bakerella's awesome blog! Now I think I might try out her Nutter Butter recipe and there's this Red Velvet Cake Balls recipe that looks delish and oh my god these peanut butter cookies dipped in chocolate. I think I've found heaven on-line.

Weekend SALE!

If you were considering purchasing yourself a pair of arm warmers by Eterknity (two posts down) this is the weekend to buy them!

Hop on over to their Bargain Shop and receive FREE surface shipping to Canada and the US on all items a FREE pair of fingerless gloves ($25 value) with the purchase of any pair of arm warmers.

That's what I call a deal.

go Go GO!

Things have been crazy around here for the last few weeks: 8 zillion major assignments and a whole load of lesson plans left me with barely enough time to eat, let alone blog. I'm now officially done all but one of my classes; one more assignment to do and I'll then be finished writing papers until the new year. Yay!

This is a crap picture but it shows you what the state of my sweatshop (named lovingly by Tanya) has been in, in recent weeks. The cat's like, "What the hell is going on in here?"

After this latest stretch of insanity I've come to the conclusion that I need a bean bag chair.

Of course that doesn't mean I'm off the hook for work. I just finished week one of my three weeks of teaching in a grade 5 class and I'm loving it! The kids are funny and really sweet. So far so good with the human body, it's a lot for the little monsters to learn but they're taking it all in stride: two systems down and three to go. I've been getting really great feedback from the classroom teacher and one of my profs came in to observe me last week and had lots of lovely things to say to me which helped boost my confidence. I'm finally feeling confident in my abilities, I can't tell you how good that feels.

An apology to my faithful readers, I've been failing miserably in the posting department lately; I'm going to try to write more often, I promise. Of course the posts will be in between sewing the pile of custom orders through Gingham Skies that I need to get going on and preparing for that little thing called Christmas that is quickly approaching. Argh. I should probably start my Christmas shopping huh?
**note to family: Christmas gift ideas please or tell me to go for it and surprise you.

This is... late

Better late than never!
This is my favourite thing from nature.

Photo by evaxebra

Flowers, the sky and clouds... what a perfect combo.

Thanks to Cloth and Fodder for this week's "This is..." theme.

New Girl On the Block

I have a new obsession with the colour purple. If I were to ride on some of purple amusement park swings I could die a happy woman.

This pretty lady can be found in the shop. I'm tempted to keep her for myself.

Can't Get Enough!

I nearly forgot... again.

Today I am thankful for Kraft Dinner. I am also thankful that Mike doesn't eat the stuff, if he did I would have a serious problem. Thankfully his lack of love for KD means I only eat it when he's traveling.

He's in Boston... guess what I had for dinner? You got it.

Thanks to The Faz for this pic.

I went to the gym after school today - don't look so surprised - so I don't feel too guilty about eating the entire box. YUM!

Last Week's Fab Pick - Cozy Arms

Eterknity opened up another Etsy shop! Bargain Boutique is the name and my oh my can you find some fab bits for unbelievable prices! I have a pair of these arm warmers in green and I can't get enough of them. Besides being a stranger stopping piece of eye candy they are super comfy and warm. The perfect accessory for the fall and winter.

A couple weeks ago when I posted this as the FAB PICK OF THE WEEK I had one pair of Eterknity's arm warmers but now I have TWO! A pair of the cabled (first pic) in green and a pair of the ribbed in plum (as seen in the second shot). Yay for me!!

Jealous?! Hop on over to BargainBoutique and pick up a pair or two for yourself.

Poppies fields(2)
Originally uploaded by Zé Eduardo...

I am thankful for those brave men and women who have fought for our freedom.

ANUS!

Did you laugh? Well I can just about guarantee that if you were in grade 5 surrounded by your friends and you heard the word anus you would laugh. I'll be able to tell you for sure in a couple weeks when I teach my lessons on the human body. The hardest part will be not joining the little buggers in their gigglefest. Yep, the digestive system lessons mean "anus" and "bowel movement" in the same 45 minute period. Lovely. I think I'm going to skip out on "bowel movement" and just go for the ever so popular POO.

I wonder what new Google searches will be bringing visitors to my blog after I publish this post.

More Freebies!

Another giveaway on How About Orange; pop over to enter for a chance to win two very cool posters of your choice from The Poster List. I haven't purchased a poster since high school but I am tempted to do so now. I want one of these for my office/studio:

Primary Cameras

Sew or Die

Another awesome freebie is being offered over at Make and Takes... you have the chance to win the cutest little print making kit by Jacobella. If you're the winner (and don't you worry, you're all winners in my mind) you can create a little somethin somethin like this:

This is... my favourite quote

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
~ Helen Keller

Strawberry Kisses suggested the theme for this week's "This Is..."

Special Order

I had a special order for Christmas stockings, three of which will be heading overseas to Ireland.


I love the pink and silver fabric and that cuff is just too cute.

What little guy wouldn't love an alien stocking?!

I've decided to donate $5.00 from each Christmas stocking purchase to the Make a Wish Foundation. This awesome organization sent my nine year old cousin (who has inoperable brain cancer) along with his brother, sister, mom and dad to Florida's Walt Disney World just last month - they had an amazing time! Make a Wish certainly does make dreams come true.

The stockings listed in the shop right now are reserved but more will be posted there soon.

Oh and before I miss another day...
7) I'm thankful for Indian Summers! Here's hoping this beautiful weather sticks around for a little longer than they're predicting.

Snip It Real Good

Recently I added the blog The Heart of Papercuts to my Sew Crafty blogroll. I'll be featuring the Etsy shop where you can buy beautiful prints of these phenomenal papercut pieces (for just $7.00) as my Fab Pic of the week (which should maybe be titled Fab pick of the Every Few Weeks) soon, not tonight though because I swore to not procrastinate and am already breaking that promise to myself. Holy run-on-sentence.

I'm in love with these and may have to treat myself to a print sometime soon. What a perfect decoration for my office...

Blech to homework.

I missed my Thankful for 30 yesterday so it's another double shot tonight:
5) I'm thankful that America made the right decision and voted for change! What a relief.
6) I'm thankful for the glass of red wine in my hand which gobbled up my headache and helped me to destress after one hell of a day. Oh, and I'm thankful for this Indian Summer!! I know that's an extra one but I'm allowed to be thankful for more than one thing each day right?!

Pick Me Please!

Giveaways are always a good thing so before I hit the memory foam I wanted to share a link with you. Pop on over to See Katie Sew and enter to win a package of fabric and then if you really wanted to you could pass it my way.

A girl can dream, can't she?

You could also pass this fabulous giveaway my way if you win. My most fav blog How About Orange is giving away an apron that I have admired on Etsy on many occasions and a super cute bag too.

Puh-lease pick me!

Who Am I?

Photo credit: Stanco on flickr

I'm so tired I'm not even sure I would know my name if it wasn't for blogger displaying it for me. This teachers college thang is making me very sleepy. Work, work, work, work. It's crunch time and there is an insane amount of work to be completed in the next two weeks. Thankfully I know my limit and don't stress myself out like I used to. No more working past 10pm unless it's to finish one of my 8 billion assigned readings; I'm less likely to whip a textbook at the wall after 10pm if I'm reading it for knowledge sake than I am if I'm reading it for the sake of a research paper. Trust me, I know from experience.

Only two and a half weeks until I begin my second teaching block placement, yep that means three weeks with twenty-seven 1o year olds followed by a three week break for Christmas, I can't wait! It's hard to believe I'm nearly halfway through my program... it seems like just yesterday that I posted this and now I'm only 6 months away from completing my dream. Time flies!

I'm relieved to say that I'm actually looking forward to my block with the grade 5 class, although I requested a grade 5 or 6 class I was nervous about it (which was the reason I went for it, figured I better grab the bull by the horns so to speak) but now that I've spent a few days hanging out with the teacher and the students I'm not worried at all. They're a sweet bunch of kids and the teacher is good, I think I'll survive. I'll be teaching a unit on the human body in Science, that should be interesting... not interesting 'hmmm', more like interesting 'uh-oh'.

Oops, I nearly forgot...
Thankful for 30 thought of the day:
4) I'm thankful for my cozy bed and cushy pillow made of that weird memory foam stuff; it's going to feel sooooooooo good when my lid hits that foam tonight!

Cravings

Keeping with the Thankful for 30 plan...

3. I'm thankful for chocolate peanut butter ice cream (but would be more thankful if I had some in the freezer), chocolate peanut butter balls (made by my grandma, chocolate bars and hot chocolate with whipped cream. Oh and Swedish Berries and Fuzzy Peaches.


Can you tell I'm craving junk?

What's There to Be Thankful For?

While procrastinating taking a break from my zillion assignments I stumbled upon this beautiful blog, seriously it is really lovely to look at, you should check it out. Not only is Confessions of a Craft Addict pretty it's a good read too. The most recent post is where the Thankful for 30 pic above came from; what's this all about? Well it's pretty self-explanatory, what are you thankful for? For every day in November, yep there are 30, I'll write down something I'm thankful for. I've found myself whining about school a lot lately so this will force me to be positive for at least 30 seconds of every day.

Okay since it's the second of November I'll think of two things.
1. I'm thankful that Mike has shingles and I don't. I know, that wasn't very nice. Let's try this again.
1. I'm thankful the police made the creeps (that is putting it VERY nicely) across the street get rid of their KKK jack-o-lantern (No I'm not kidding. Just thinking about it makes my heart start pounding all over again) and I'm thankful that everyone who has heard about it has reacted with utter disgust. I have good peeps in my world.

2. I'm thankful that I have a husband who is as fabulous as Mike, without his support I would not be living my dream of attending teachers college at 30 years old. Three cheers for shingle boy!

This is... a favourite recipe I would like to share

Mike will be thanking Three Buttons for this weeks "This is..." theme. Typing up this recipe has me craving Pad Thai, guess what we're having for dinner...

Thai It You'll Like It Pad Thai
Recipe from Looneyspoons by Janet and Greta Podleski

What You Need:
12 ounces uncooked fettuccine or linguine
2 cups sliced red bell peppers (colour really doesn’t matter, just slice them in strips)
1 cup snow peas, trimmed and halved
1/3 cup chopped green onion (or whatever you have on hand)
1/2 cup low-sodium low-fat chicken broth
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons reduced-fat peanut butter (or soy nut butter)
1 1/2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon white vinegar or rice vinegar
1 teaspoon grated gingerroot (I never add this, no ginger fans here)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb cooked chopped cooked chicken breast (or shrimp)

What You Do:
1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
2. While pasta is cooking, prepare sauce.
3. In a large saucepan, combine all ingredients except shrimp; mix well.
4. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium.
5. Cook and stir for 3-4 minutes, until vegetables are crisp-tender and sauce is bubbly and slightly thickened.
6. Stir in chicken (or shrimp) and cook just until heated through, 1-2 minutes; do not overcook if using shrimp or it will be rubbery.
7. Toss hot sauce with pasta and serve immediately.

This is supposed to be a low-fat recipe but it's also supposed to serve four people. You guessed it, we split it in half and devour it with absolutely no problem. DELICIOUS!

Halloween Hangover

I ate far too many of the little chocolate bars meant for the goblins last night. I have a chocolate hangover. blech.

Of course nephews and niece were definitely the cutest trick or treaters stomping around town.

The Mario Brothers costumes Joanne pulled together turned out phenomenal if you ask me:

They've got the poses down pat.

And of course Princess Belle made an appearance.


Jess and I watched The Exorcist as planned last night. I arrived home at 130 am totally freaked out and planned to sit in the living room until Mike got home; that was until I checked my mail and realized Lola had sold. Her new home is in Savannah, Georgia! Thanks to the sale I was distracted and got over being creeped out.

Mike and I had planned to attend a Halloween party as zombies tonight, unfortunately Mike is really turning into one so we can no longer attend. He found out yesterday that what we thought were some nasty bug bites are actually shingles! Ick and ouch. Thankfully I've had the chicken pox; unfortunately we can't be sure everyone else has so we're skipping the bash.

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween and that you enjoyed my Blogtoberfest run this month, I can't believe October is gone already. I'm going to attempt to stick to the daily posting so be sure to stop on by regularly.