USPS - what's up??

I mailed 2 packages to Greta on Tuesday, Dec 17th.
They were mailed with the same mailing labels, at the same counter, at the same time with Priority Mail 2-Day Shipping (although not guaranteed) and scheduled delivery of Dec 20.

These are the trackings of both.
Today is Sunday, Dec 22.

The first goof happened when it went to Sodus.  Somebody must have thrown it in the wrong bin.
And now it appears to be stuck in never-never-land.

Although my other thought is that the post office has stopped tracking because I got a notice a few days ago that a package was shipped to me and it hasn't shown up yet in the tracking system.

All's well that ends well
Greta called me this afternoon to say that she got the package.  Delivered on Sunday.
Just checked to see the tracking information.  I'm glad it got there in time for Christmas.

Ghiradelli Dessert Cups

Ghirardelli Dessert Cups

Ingredients
    •    1 1/2 pounds Ghirardelli Dark Melting Wafers
    •    8 small round balloons

Directions

1.    If you are using baking bars, break or chop the chocolate into 1-inch pieces. In the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over barely simmering water, melt half the chocolate, stirring occasionally until smooth. Cool for about 5 minutes.

2.    Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

3.    Inflate the balloons to a 4-inch diameter; knot. Holding a balloon by the knot, dip into the chocolate, tipping to cover the balloon halfway up with chocolate. Place the balloon, knotted side up, on the prepared baking sheet, holding the balloon in place until the chocolate starts to set. Repeat with the remaining balloons to make eight cups. Place in the freezer for 5 minutes.

4.    Melt the remaining 3/4 pound chocolate and repeat the dipping procedure. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes.

5.    Snip a hole in each balloon to deflate; carefully peel the balloon away from the chocolate. Refrigerate until needed. Use the same day.

Here's a video of how to remove the balloon

Deviled Eggs - Improved

Ever since I got that dish for holding deviled eggs it has been my go-to dish to pass.  For one thing it's easy and for another it's always popular.  I think I've now perfected the entire  technique for making them from boiling the eggs to making them so I thought I would post it here.  Especially when Laura and Greta called me from the car after dropping their Dad off at the airport, for the recipe so they could make them when they got back to Greta's.

Frittata

As we were eating dinner tonight and it tasted so good, I wondered if I ever posted a frittata recipe and the answer was NO.  The one tonight tasted really good so I'm putting it here.  It was a last minute decision to make it since at 5:40 I didn't have a clue of what we were going to have for dinner since I've been busy preparing things for tomorrow night when we're having company.

My Personality Type

My Personality Type: The Spontaneous Idealist

I just took this quiz.  Only 4 quick parts.  What are you?
Here's my description.  Pretty accurate.

Myles in AAU National Diving Championship

I finally made a photobook of our trip to San Antonio.
For a look at the book

Raspberry Orange Bread

I made bread from this muffin recipe. 
http://www.driscolls.com/recipes/view/3277/Raspberry-Orange-Muffins

My only goof this time was that I added all of the raspberries, which were 12 oz and not 6.  I knew I had the large container of raspberries but I didn't remember until I thought there were way too many raspberries in the bread.

If I do something like this again, I would replace or modify the amount of orange juice with some other liquid because the orange is too overpowering.

I've Been Diagnosed

I was so glad to get this email from Joan that explains what my problem is, and I'm not alone.  In fact a song was written about it too (see bottom of page).

 A.A.A.D.D.- KNOW THE SYMPTOMS!
    Thank goodness there' s a name for this disorder.

    Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.

    This is how it manifests:

Thanksgiving

Well, it's been 1 week since Thanksgiving so I suppose it's about time that I get to it.

Larry and I drove to New York on Thursday morning and found a great parking spot outside of Aunt Harrie's apartment. We brought the appetizers with us, deviled eggs, hummus, chopped liver (in memory of Aunt Millie who I remember bringing it to all the Thanksgivings we had at Aunt Harrie's when we were kids) veggies and crackers. The reason I'm listing this is so that I can remember if I ever want to do it again.  I also brought roasted brussel sprouts, a cranberry jello relish and wine.

We had the best time.  We arrived around 2 and everyone was there except for Em, Jon and Luke.  Emily got a speeding ticket on her way so she was trying to get there earlier (although I heard she always has a heavy foot).  I'll just let the pictures do the rest of the talking.  In case I never mentioned it before, this is where all our Thanksgiving's were held for as long as I can remember.  The last one I remember going to was after I was married in 1965 and it was the time that Grandma managed to get John & I and Mom & Dad together after I eloped, but I digress - - let the pictures show the fun.

Thursday night we stayed at the B&B a few blocks from Greta's, the Harbor House Inn.  We pass it all the time but never stayed there.  This time we stayed because Greta's was overbooked.  It was fun this particular weekend because there were people from all over staying there, South America, Europe and of course USA.   On Friday we went into the city for lunch at Osteria al Doge, 15 of us, and had the whole upstairs.

We said good bye to Kay, Gerry & Ashley, Em, Jon & Luke and the rest of us walked around the city

 making our way over to Radio City for the Christmas Spectacular.

 We then made our way back to Greta's for a couple of hours until bedtime.

Saturday morning everyone went home.
The End

Hope we can do it again, it was so much fun.

Blueberry Bubble Bark

This recipe was No. 9 in the 12 days of Cookies in the D&C yesterday.  My comments are in red.

Blueberry Bubble Bark

Ingredients
6 ounces white chocolate  
3/4 cup puffed rice cereal
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut (I used sweetened, couldn't find unsweetened)
1/2 cup dried blueberries (substitute dried cranberries if you cannot find blueberries)
1/2 cup unsalted coarsely chopped pistachios

Instructions
Grease a 4-inch-by-8-inch loaf pan and line the base and two long sides with parchment paper so the paper extends a couple inches above the sides.  (Note:  If you're going to put parchment paper down, why grease??  I didn't)

Melt the chocolate: You can do this in a double boiler by bringing water to a simmer in the bottom of the double boiler and putting the white chocolate in the top of the double boiler and stirring until the chocolate melts. Conversely, you can melt the white chocolate in a microwave. Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Set the power on low and microwave for 1 minute intervals, stirring between intervals, until the white chocolate is melted.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and spoon mixture evenly into pan. Cover the top with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until set. Remove the bark from the pan and cut into slices or break into chunks.

Makes enough for about 15 to 20 pieces.  (Note:  You can break it into way smaller pieces, don't need to eat such a big piece.  Very satisfying in small amounts.)

Note:
Since I had to buy all the ingredients I calculated the cost $7 for the batch and whether there are 15 or 20 pieces it is 3 PP per piece.

Note: (after making)
I didn't think there was enough white chocolate since it all crumbled apart, only some of it stuck together.  I melted more chocolate and added all the loose pieces to it.  After hardening I then had too much chocolate so I remelted all of it and added more coconut and nuts and it was much better.  I forgot the puffed rice which would have added more crunch to this batch.  Anyway, it is delicious.  I didn't think I would like it but I do and I'm going to make it again but this time I will start with more chocolate and just add the ingredients till I think I have the right consistency.

Best Friend

Saw this today, I thought it went with Laura's poem

19 Signs Your Mom Is Your Best Friend

Dec. 2, 2013
By Koty Neelis 
http://thoughtcatalog.com/koty-neelis/2013/12/19-signs-your-mom-is-your-best-friend-2/


1. You call her every day or multiple times a day just to tell her about little things going on in your life and to find out what’s going in hers. If you go a day or two without talking you feel like something is missing.

Sh-h-h

I just designed my own photo gift at Printers Studio:

This is an example of the cards I just ordered for each of the boys.  Each card has the same picture on the back but with their name on the stocking.  On the front, each card has a different picture, but maybe not for the same card because I had to recreate the 3 decks.

I sent a question through their site asking about whether there was a way to duplicate a project.  When I saw that it could take 2 business days to get an answer, I called.  They couldn't help me so I recreated 2 more decks which mainly involved rotating most of the pictures 90° on the cards.  When I went to bed, I saw that I got an email telling me how to do it so I'm writing it here so I remember in case I want to do something like this again.

"You can finish one project and save it in your "Wishlist", then you can add it in shopping cart repeatedly and edit it in shopping cart."

I tried this but what he failed to mention was that the items are still in the Wishlist after they are moved to the shopping cart (unlike Amazon) which makes this possible.

Their next version will have the feature to save variations of the project.  They are really good with customer support.