A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Coffeehouse 2255 The New Year Is Coming Alive!!

Best wishes, everybody!!!


Here's to you and 2010...






Merme

I'm a-polishing up the bar nice and glistening. The lights are low and ohsopretty. We've got champagne aplenty and snacks galore and all the hot foods you could wish for.....

sounds good, merme---I have to relenquish the comoputer to the DH here in a bit--but I will be back ASAP. save me some champagne, OK???

I made ham & three bean soup w/ potatoes, carrots & turnips w/ plenty of noodles for tonight and tomorrow afternoon. We made homemade clam dip. Maxi wanted his with a Cool Ranch base and I wanted mine w/ a bacon/horseradish base. Yummsville!

We had wraps. We had pickled herring on triscuts...that's a Scandinavian tradition for a prosperous New Year we always follow.

Shrimp is for tomorrow, too.


Maxi went out at midnight and banged pots and pans until I got the sparklers lit. He had fun running around in the snow with the sparklers!

Then he came in and called his dad and made me a pot of coffee. Nice kid I have got, even if he does drive me crazy in Wal-Mart!!!


Mimosa's anyone? I'm still pouring!!


Merme

Pour me one, merme---those sound good right about now.

Here ya go, Miss Carol Jean....

Icy cold and delicious right to you!





Merme

yummy !! Thanks.

& now that I have ushered in the new year here in the mid west, I think I will go to sleep.

........Happy 2010 everyone !!!!

Good night Carol. I hope the new year brings you health and happiness and a little wealth would be nice to toss in too.

Thank yo so very much, Tina.

I send all those wishes back to you.

Well, I just passed 301,040 on Text Twist and decided to shut the game off because I'm too tired to continue. But I sure did enjoy reaching that high score before shutting 'er down for the night. Tomorrow is another day, and another high score for the New Year....


Safe away home, O my palies, and sweet dreams to you all.



Merme

My cheesecake is chilling. I am going to bed and hope no one gets silly with noisy stuff at midnight. Good night all.

I still can't believe it's 2010. How did this happen?

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful day.

Good morning. I did watch the ball drop as I lay down and drifted.

Happy 2010 everyone!!!

Tina I should have watched the Ball drop too. But I turned off teh TV about 10:30 or so.

I wish everyone a restful day.

I will try to rest. But I have a New Year potluck to attend this afternoon. I'm in a cooking mode this morning.

I am taking a break from taking the little coats off of dozens of jumbo shrimp. My hands get cold and don't work after a while.

thanks for reminding me of the shrimp, Tina---mine are still in the freezer.

I guess I should get them out, huh???

They will be tonight's treat.

Have fun at your potluck, Tina--is that why you made the choc cheesecake???

Yes, I have the shrimp marinating, will skewer and broil in a while. I have a 10 inch choc cheesecake that will be surrounded with Oreo balls. I will eat black-eyed peas and cornbread for good luck. All is well in my world.

sounds yummy---
Rod said why not eat more spaghetti---
last time I will make a full recipe of that dish. it was good but sure made a lot.

Tina, tell me what are Oreo Balls??? sounds interesting.

Oreo Balls

1 package regular Oreos
1-8 oz. block of cream cheese , softened

In a food processor, mix Oreos until they become crumbs. Add cream cheese in chunks and process until you have dough. Roll into balls and place on a baking sheet. Set in freezer or refrigerator to harden for 1 - 2 hours.

Once Oreo balls are set, dip in melted chocolate*.

Store in refrigerator and serve cold.
I didn't like them dipped in chocolate. i thought it ruined the basic wonderful flavor. So After dipping a couple, I rolled the rest in a little powdered sugar to stop them from wanting to stick together.
Keep these in the fridge if you can keep them around long enough to matter. They are addictive.

thanks, Tina--I will send this recipe to me--and then print it out!!!
and thanks for the tip.--I was wondering about rolling them in either coco or ground dk chocolate ???

oh what fun experimenting will be!!!

do you serve the balls on the side or "dress up" the cheesecake with them??

We had a fine day today.

Maxi had his friend Dom come over while I was at Dialysis. They played on the PS2 some of the new games they'd received.

When I came home, I had a snack and the boys helped me tidy up the living room, particularly the debris from around the Christmas tree. Dom got permission to spend the night.

We did leftovers from our party for dinner. Shrimp. Spinach dip on toast. Clam dip on chips. I'll heat up the ham & bean soup later and make the cornbread.

We watched the rose Bowl Parade here and I finished watching it at dialysis. I also showed Maxi more of the Philadelphia area tradition of the Mummer's Parade. He wants to grow up and be in it some day, maybe in a Fancy Brigade. It is truly wonderful stuff.

He also practiced his Irish Jig a little bit. That was fun. I can Jig and also do the Mummer's Strut but they are hard to demonstrate from the chair. YouTube helped!

We are fond of the Jig in my family.... the day my oldest sister was born, my dad got slightly inebriated and danced the Jig in the hallway of the hospital! A few people were amused but I'm doubtful about the nuns.....

Our huge storm is due in tomorrow and I have no plans except to hunker down and clean up the apt while we wait it out.


Merme

all in all it sounds like a fine day, merme.

I am so glad for you that you had warning that this storm was coming.

Yes I was considering rolling in cocoa or fine chocolate also. The powdered sugar was handiest. The more they hung around the more I ate.
This is a stand alone recipe and makes a lot of balls. I had them in a separate container from the cheesecake.

ok sounds good to me--thanks

because we all know how much I needed another dessert recipe,
esp. with oreo cookies in them--

--I love them so much, that I do not buy them often, because I would sit & eat them all in abiout 1-2 sessions.


they sound easy too

My sister Nancy/Wildwood flower adores Oreos. She could eat them all day & night, I am certain. I do not care for them, Carol Jean, but I understand those who do!


The boys are winding down for the night. After the late hours last night, I did not think they'd last too long tonight!

And it is still snowing. The worst part is due in tomorrow. Our immediate area is expecting 16 inches. Just north of us is expecting 22.

I'm glad we have no where we must go.

If my girl shows up, we will clean. If she doesn't, we might just sleep. "A Long Winter's Nap!"


I'm busy on a new writing project until I can pull out the newest crochet work I owe a dear friend....



Merme

Dropping in to drop out. Good night all.

Safe away home, O palies mine, and sweet dreams to you all.



Merme

Good Morning, Everybody!

Well, my girl made it here through the early phase of the storm. She drives a big truck but even so, she said the roads are already getting pretty bad.

We've loaded the dishwasher, are doing laundry, and after the boys got up, I encouraged them to haul out the last of the big Christmas boxes and debris. Which they did, happily enough.

Now they are eating as a prelude to playing PS2 games through the storm. I think they believe they need quite a bit of fuel to play well!

Maxi is still fighting his cold, so I dosed him up with good stuff and am pouring OJ down his sore throat. This is his second cold this year already and Maxi is a kid who usually does NOT get head colds. Dunno what's going on with that.

Gee, it is only 9:30 and I am already exhausted!

What are y'all doing today?



Merme

Howdy!

I am saying goodbye to my daughter who is going back to NYC because she has a 3 day a week part time job there and can't stay home during winter break from college.

Then I am staying inside today because once again the wind is fierce here and the windchill is supposed to be near zero today - temp. is only 20. I don't mind the cold but I DO NOT do WIND!!!

Merme - I'm with you - I don't like Oreos much - I do like the cookie part, but once I found out many years ago that they use lard for the cream I could not eat another one after! Don't know if they still use it, but I can't eat that part anymore.

Went to the movies yesterday to see "What about the Morgans" - cute but not worth the $11 it cost me for the ticket - WOW! BUT... last night I heard on the news that yesterday afternoon in THAT movie theater, in the ladies room (which I used after seeing the movie!), a 7 year old girl was groped by a man in a stall in the bathroom!!! HUH?!? I am thinking that this is NOT true - it was soooooooo crowded in that 21 movie theater yesterday that one could barely walk in a straight line. I hightly doubt that a man went into the stall with this 7 year old girl in the LADIES room and no one noticed??? Or heard her??? They showed videos of the man who "supposedly" did this on the news - in that mob, how could there NOT be any witnesses?

The entire thing is very sad - whether it happened or not.

Lynne ~ That is the EXACT reason why I do not eat Oreos. I found out the same thing many years ago. We musta read the same report or seen the same show! Lard with sugar! No thanks!



I'm sorry for the scandalous trouble in your area. You are right: true or not, it is very sad!

Gee, it is sorta a shame that your daughter can't stay home during break, but on the other hand, her job is a good thing, but on the other hand....

You must miss her when she is gone. When will she get to come home again?

I wonder if your wind is a back lash from our storm?

Our storm came up the coast from your area and headed off to the Maritimes as they often do. But this one got out to sea, formed a "back trough" and came roaring backwards through that trough to dump a far greater storm upon us, picking up energy and moisture from the ocean. Geee, thanks. Anyway, you might be getting some of the hurricane winds which are blowing in a Southerly direction now...

Merme

Oreos:
Ingredients: SUGAR, ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE {VITAMIN B1}, RIBOFLAVIN {VITAMIN B2}, FOLIC ACID), HIGH OLEIC CANOLA OIL AND/OR PALM OIL AND/OR CANOLA OIL, AND/OR SOYBEAN OIL, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA AND/OR CALCIUM PHOSPHATE), SALT, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), VANILLIN - AN ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CHOCOLATE. CONTAINS: WHEAT, SOY.
No more lard. But there are trans fats still. And I am quite sure the addition of cream cheese upped the fat value. And why I chose to give them away rather than to keep them around.
I hadn't bought or eaten real Oreos for a long time. I had forgotten how good they were. I avoid a lot of fatty foods unless I am adding my own butter to things. The older I get the harder it is to maintain a decent weight.

Yeah, just what we were saying... basically fat flavored w/ sugar.


Man alive, the storm is rolling on and getting worse by the hour. It is supposed to be roaring out there by midnight.

Already, the harbor area of Portland is underwater and high tide plus the storm surge is yet to occur.

The beachfront community known as Camp Ellis which is just 1/2 mile from us already has the sea breaching its seawall again.

Merme

so sorry to hear about teh bad storm that is upon you. But so glad that you & Maxi are safe & warm inside your house.

I have been laying down for a bit---I guess I need to think about bed---bit I am not really tired---gee I wonder why

Safe away home, O my palies, and sweet dreams to you all.







Merme

good night, merme--I am headed to bed as well. nighty night...

Good night, Carol. I will be headed to bed soon myself.

Good morning. I have no major plans for my day beyond laundry and getting ready for back-to-school tomorrow.

Good morning, everybody! I slept so late today, it is almost afternoon!

It is still snowing lightly. I am grateful we didn't lose power considering the high winds and heavy snowfall in the last 24 hours.

Maxi is making the coffee and I am going to make brunch... bake some rolls, do some meat and eggs or whathaveyou.



Merme

wish I could have slept late, merme. But no, I got to get up & go to church. Don't get me wrong--I like going to church--I just wish it didn't begin so early is all. I do some of my best sleeping in the morning.

it sure is cold here. luckily for us it is not windy at all.

Last day of the holiday vacation. I so hate for it to end--I love the christmas holiday. Ah well, there is next year, right????