Brooklyn is beautiful in the Fall

I love looking at trees in the Fall.

Topics: Brooklyn | 3 Comments »

Pray

 Angie is taking the next 7 days to pray 7 times over her daughters. If you have children, you may want to check on her blog and this wonderful exercise. Incidentally, Angie is quite funny and posts inspiring  scriptures regularly. Click on this pic:

Topics: Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Mistletoe Already

I didn’t feel well last night or this morning, so I called in sick. I woke up late and with coffee in hand browsed the Pottery Barn website. Not too much damage done. I got this cute ornament to help me get over my cold. It was $6.00 (free shipping).

I love mistletoe. Not really because it is mistletoe, but for all the romance that surrounds it. My great aunt, Ele and uncle, Joe owned a mistletoe ornament that they passed on to me. I placed it in our house in an area where Lee usually kisses me before he leaves for work. I leave it up year round so Lee kisses me under the mistletoe regularly.

Topics: Pottery Barn | 6 Comments »

Pottery Barn – Have a Huge Sale Please!

Seriously, I adore Pottery Barn. As I looked through the catalog, I saw these cute little reindeer. Oh they are so cute each with their own personality and their little names sewn on their clothes. I love Christmas items that go with songs such as these reindeer or anything related to the Patridge in a Pear Tree song. But the price is a  steep on these 9 reindeer – $69.00. So let’s take down the price to say $36  and this will be my gift to myself. (I understand these are very special Pottery Barn reindeer, but $4.00 a reindeer is plenty). I’d like to add that we are in a recession. I’ll always add that to get a deal.

Topics: Pottery Barn | 1 Comment »

Bloomberg Tax Your Cronies!

So after experiencing a wonderful evening where the first black American was elected president, I have to hear about Mayor Bloomberg’s budget cuts and tax hikes for NYC residents.

Yet, Ratner and big businesses will be getting huge tax breaks.  Since Ratner will have federal tax breaks, I am sure he wouldn’t mind a city tax hike.

Where else is the money? Markowitz’s concert fund is huge. The economy is down so we can cut some of Marty’s concerts.

Finally, how about NYC residents in Bloomberg’s tax bracket pay a bit more? Ya know it’s the American thing to do.

Topics: Brooklyn, Politics | 1 Comment »

No Tax for Brooklyn Rat

So if you happen to be a regular Brooklynite, you will be paying more tax this year.

We all know WE have to pay for the Bailout Program. BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT BROOKLYN RAT WON’T BE TAXED?

That’s right – no tax for Ratner.

Great reporting by the Brooklyn Paper!

Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Juicy Thanksgiving Turkey

As soon as November begins, I think of Thanksgiving. It’s my favorite holiday because it’s about family and being thankful.

Naturally, many people think about turkey when they think of Thanksgiving. Some people like it, most people think that it is too dry. My grandmother’s recipe makes for a very juicy turkey! When I tell people about it, they think I am talking about brining turkey, but we don’t brine our turkey. We use my Grandmother’s Juicy Turkey recipe.

To make a juicy turkey, my grandmother would prepare the turkey the night before by washing it. She would shake it out over the sink (yes she would shake a 22 lb turkey) to get out the extra water. The turkey would then be placed in the pan it will cook in the following day. Then my grandmother would put salt and pepper on the inside and outside.

In the morning, she would drain the pan and stuff the turkey. Now you are probably thinking…I do all of those things already. Well here comes her secret…..my grandmother would cover the top of the turkey with bacon. She would put several strips on top of the turkey vertically down the turkey’s back. Then she would basketweave more bacon across it. The ends of the legs would get bacon around them so they don’t burn. While the turkey cooked, she would baste it regularly with the turkey baster. If some of the bacon burned away, she would place another strip of bacon right over it.

When serving, you can remove the bacon, but I bet yourkitchen helpers will have already started to eat it. When I made the turkey for Lee’s family for the first time, I removed the bacon and put it on the side. Lee’s brother brought the bacon to the table as a side dish. I returned to the kitchen and he brought it back in. When I told him that I was using the bacon just to keep the turkey moist, he said that he loved bacon and wanted to eat it with dinner. So now it is a side at our table.

I’m curious if anyone else has used bacon to keep their turkey moist.

I recommend Shady Brook Farms turkeys.  I don’t work for Shady Brook, but I do like their turkeys – they are so clean.

:)

Topics: Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Stuff that works for me…

My sweetie often comments on the weird things I do that actually work well:

• After painting with latex paint, I throw my paint clothes, the paintbrush and painting rag in the washing machines – yep everything goes in and gets clean. This doesn’t work with oil paint though.
• I keep a dinner candle out for anytime I need to light something with a match. I light the candle and then I don’t have to rush to pass my light to the stove, birthday candles, etc.
• I reuse the mustard and ketchup squeezable bottle to hold glue. It’s great to have some Elmer’s wood glue around when something in the house needs a tap in a jiffy.
• I keep a present closet. Yep, a closet to hold a few bottles of win for when we are invited to someone’s house, a few Barnes and noble gift cards, a couple of children’s books, etc.
• I love to keep life interesting so every week or two I try to have a new drink. This week is an Eyeball-tini   Happy Halloween Everyone!
  

Yep, that’s my list of assorted things that work for me this week . Click here to see more from Shannon’s Works for Me Wednesday ideas.

CHECK OUT MY AMAZON GIFT CERTIFICATE GIVEAWAY

Topics: Uncategorized | 15 Comments »

$20 Amazon GC

It’s Fall Y’all Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. This giveaway is for a $20 Amazon giveaway. Leave a comment and your e-mail below to win the $20 Amazon Gift Certificate. One entry per day.

Click here to see all of the other great giveaways in this carnival. Last year there was over 1,000 giveaways in this carnival.

I broke my blog design this morning so now part of my blog is down here. Someone is working on it and it should be fixed shortly.

Topics: Uncategorized | 427 Comments »

Why I hate Blockbuster

I don’t hate Blockbuster in Brooklyn, New York.

I hate blockbuster.com

Sure they have every movie, but if you ever sign up with Blockbuster Online you will understand myhate for Blockbuster.

I signed up for a plan for $19.99. I expect to pay $19.99. when I received bills for almost $23.00, I asked what the additional charges were for. Taxes, I was told. Why am I being taxed on a membership? I am not taxed at my gym for membership and I am not taxed at any other social club for my membership. I did not purchase the movies, I purchased a membership.

Next, I signed up for the plan that allows you to rent movies and then return them to the store and get more free movies. It was summer time and I had plenty of time for movies, so I was returning to the store several times a week. Ahhhhhhh not so profitable to Blockbuster so they trottled the movies. This means that they slowed down the movies from being sent to me. When I complained in a letter, the associates wrote back that it must be the mail system.

After being trottled for awhile, Blockbuster sent me an e-mail to say that after being charged $19.99 a month for three months, now I was going to be charged $24.99 a month plus tax because the plan that I signed up for was no longer available. Without my permission, they charged my card. Thankfully American Express understood that was not acceptable and removed Blockbusters charge.

Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »

Christine Quinn

Christine Quinn, NYC council did what she today because she was caught dirty before. Let us all not forget her slush fund scandal.  Quinn never had a chance at becoming mayor so she did what she could to help herself. She will need to work under Bloomberg because no one will forget her mishandling of money.

Quinn must know that there is a difference between being assertive and being an aggressive in your face butch.   It’s sad that she had to bully some council members.

Topics: Brooklyn, Politics | No Comments »

NYC Call these Councilmen or Women

If you are against extending term limits in NYC, please call or e-mail the following City Council Members. Their office says they are undecided and still taking a vote. Some voice mail boxes are full because of citizens calling in to ask City Council to stick with their vote.

Here’s who is still undecided:
• Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Bronx
• Helen Foster,Bronx 718-544-8800
• Melinda Katz, Queens 718-544-8800 [email protected]
• James Sanders Queens District 31 718-527-4356 [email protected]
• Tom White, Queens 718-843-0792 [email protected]

A few brave councilmen/woman are introducing an Amendment with the vote: Alan Gerson, Gale Brewer and David Yassky have a compromise: They plan to offer the Council an amendment to the bill that calls for a public referendum on the term limits, which would effectively make the Council vote on term limits irrelevant.

Is your Councilman on the Mayor’s Crony List Last Night

Here’s the Bad Guys – Councilmen &Women reversing the people’s vote to keep term limits.

Voting with the Mayor are the following Councilmen/women. Some received large funds from the Mayor’s Discretionary Fund:

• Erik Martin Dilan, Brooklyn $100,000
• Domenic Recchia, Brooklyn $625,000
• Helen Sears, Queens $50,000
• Peter Vallone, Queens $400,000
• Maria Baez, Bronx Maria Baez [email protected] (extend for her own purpose)
• Inez Dickens, Manhattan – needs it for her own benefit
• Leroy Comrie, Queens
• Lewis Fidler, Brooklyn
• Sara Gonzalez, Brooklyn
• Robert Jackson, Manhattan [email protected] 212-928-1322
• G. Oliver Koppell, Bronx
• Miguel Martinez, Manhattan
• Michael Nelson, Brooklyn
• Christine Quinn, Manhattan – speaker
• Diana Reyna, Brooklyn
• Joel Rivera, Bronx
• Larry Seabrook, Bronx
• Kendall Stewart, Brooklyn
• Al Vann, Brooklyn

The list of who got what reveals the top beneficiary was Councilman Simcha Felder – long known to be a close ally of the mayor – with $1.925 million.
http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2008/05/bloombergs-member-items.html

Topics: Politics | 1 Comment »