Cookies, Cookies, Cookies

Hey There Peeps!!

I'm back with a couple of quick links to some amazing cookies.   I found these first cookies in the Southern Living magazine back in September of 2017.    I've made them a few times since then and let me tell you this....PUT THEM IN THE FREEZER.  Seriously, after you've made the cookies and they've cooled completely pop them in the freezer and eat them right out of the freezer.  I promise, you'll thank me later!   Don't skip the toasting of the pecans either, it brings out the flavor of those pecans.

The Abogg particularly loves these cookies and whenever he's coming over to babysit his fur brother I always make sure to have a batch in the freezer for him.   Here's the link for these Fudgy Flourless Chocolate-Pecan Cookies.   Oh, you won't miss the flour in these in either so pour a big glass of milk and enjoy the chocolatey goodness of these cookies.  

The next cookie I have for you has become one of my absolute favorites.  I mean I am completely in love with these cookies and because of these I've found an amazing blog and I want to move in with her and let her cook for me all the time! 

These are called Traditional Italian Breakfast Cookies and they are in fact quite delicious in the morning to dunk in your coffee!   My dear Brother-in-Law, who is not a big sweet eater, actually loves these too.  They are pretty simple to make but just cookie perfection in my mind!  They aren't beautiful to look at but man oh man do they taste delicious.   Make a batch...or two, of these and you won't be disappointed.  Besides, it's an "official" breakfast cookie so that's just a bonus! 

On another note I've also made her Easy Fresh Lemon Squares several times and they are the BEST!  Everyone in the family agrees they are the best Lemon Squares we've ever had.  I think it's because there's no fake lemon involved in these.  I will tell you that I do add a couple of drops of my Young Living Lemon Vitality essential oil to the batter.  I like the little extra oomph it adds but seriously this Lemon Square recipe is easy and amazing so if you are looking for something on the citrus side you won't go wrong with that one.  

Once again, I made some goodies to share with my family (well, maybe not the breakfast cookies) and I gave you unedited phone pictures and recipes from other people's blogs and I'm totally cool with that.  Hopefully you are too!   

Peace, Love & Cookies

Subscription box - Coffee and a Classic August 2018

Happy Monday Peeps!!

I'm just sitting and resting for the first time today, that's not exactly what I should be doing but for now it works.  I'm currently Day 4 post op of a Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy and if you aren't sure what that means I had my gallbladder removed so technically I should've sat down to rest a few hours ago.  I never was one to "follow the rules" very much but my body said "hey lady, I'm really kinda tired" and I decided to oblige.  Of course my rest came at the perfect time because I got a first time order of a subscription box today that I wanted to share with you.   I seriously love subscription boxes and I would love to review every one of them out there but alas, that's not practical for me but I have decided to do a trial run on a few since it is time to start thinking about Christmas gifts.  * she says as she wipes the sweat away since it's still 100 degrees in Texas  

This box is called Coffee and a Classic.   I'm going to put the link here for you and I'm not an affiliate for them or anything, this just helps you find their site easier.   I was kind of interested in a book type subscription so I waded through a TON of choices and here are the things that I really wanted my subscription to include:  1) a book  (not kidding many do not come with a book)  2) a theme for the month 3) flexibility in genre selection: preferably in advance of the box shipping  4) good value

Let's start with the basics:  There are 2 subscription choices; Standard & Starter.   I ended up going with the Standard even though it was originally more than I had mindfully budgeted.   Here are your differences and this is straight from their website.

STANDARD Classic Subscription

The Standard Subscription is perfect for you if you want the full Coffee and a Classic experience and love bookish things! The Standard Box includes: • A classic book • Something to sip on (coffee, tea or hot chocolate) • Something to snack on • A mug • Two bookish items • A bookmark and • Packaged in a high-quality photo box. The Standard Classic Literature is the original Coffee and a Classic book box! 

$39.99

STARTER Classic Subscription

Treat yourself or the book lover in your life with the Starter Classic Book Box. The Starter Book Box includes: • A classic book • Something to sip on (coffee, tea or hot chocolate) • Two bookish items and • A bookmark. This is the perfect subscription if you have too many coffee mugs or any food aversions. 

$28.99

You'll notice the comment about the Starter set is best if you have too many coffee mugs or food aversions.  See....yeah, I am sure there is no such thing as too many coffee mugs so my choice was made.  

FLEXIBILITY:  Honestly, this was probably one of the biggest selling points for me.  While I do like the element of surprise I also want to pay for something that is going to interest me. BEFORE your box ships you have the ability (if you want) to see which of the books will be featured in each of the 3 choices.  My August selections were the following:

CLASSIC LITERATURE: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (generally considered to be the first detective novel!)

CHILDREN'S CLASSICS: Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne

CLASSIC NON-FICTION: The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn

These were listed under the Sneak Peaks tab and if you'd like to be totally surprised then you can pick your genre and go with it.   I did look back over lots of social media posts about what was included in previous boxes and I can see that this will change month to month for me so this part of the flexibility helped seal my decision.

Beverage choices: Not only do I get to choose my genre, I also get to decide if I want my beverage to be coffee, tea or hot cocoa.   I like that choice, it's a minor detail but it's nice to know that option is available if I want to give as gift.  Another point in the Flexibility category.

I did choose to pay more than the $30 I added budgeted in my mind for the box but I felt like having choices made it worth testing out.  Let's get to the nitty gritty and see what I got.

I selected Classic Literature (you know I love me some detective/murder mysteries) and I elected to take Tea for my beverage.  Tea just seemed to fit the genre ;-)   (see what I mean about little details)

It comes very attractively packed in this nice photo box.  This box is also packed in a not so lovely but necessary protective outer mailing box.  I can use these boxes for storing my planner stickers or for gift giving and since they came inside another mailing box they aren't all beat up from the mail. 

All items were packed very attractively and securely in the box.  Every item arrived unbroken and in excellent shape and all the pretty packing confetti is there in case I want to reuse this as a gift giving box.

A photo of everything after I pulled it all out.  My initial impression was very positive.   I didn't feel like I wasted my money or was disappointed in my selection.  

This is the card that was inside the box and you can see everything is themed to the box and plot of the book.  I like the extra notes about the book because I'm quite excited to read this one.  Let's take a look at each individual item:

The book:  The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

A very nice hardback book with jacket cover.  I've become a Kindle girl for sure but it's still nice to have and hold an actual book occasionally.

Beverage:  Royal Grey Tea from Numi 

Described as a brisk, hearty and bold black tea accentuated by real bergamot orange. Fresh marigold petals add a complex finish.  I think I really just need a stormy night to curl up with this book and mug of tea now!! 

Mug: This mug has no description other than it was a custom design painted by Evan Stevens.   The picture doesn't show the art that well but it appears to be a lovely interpretation of the book.  Not a coffee mug "mug" size for me but I think it will be perfect with my tea. 

Snack:  Yellow Rock Candy Crystals - Lemon Flavored from Oh! Nuts

It tastes like bits and pieces of lemon drops and I'm really good with that!

Bookish item #1:  A book themed pencil set from Coffee and a Classic

I'm sure the names on these pencils will make more sense once I read the book but a set of pencils is a nice touch.  I work on a Mystery Puzzle book and it's nice to do in pencil so these will come in handy. 

Bookish item #2:   A journal from Coffee and a Classic

This is an utterly cute little journal with a quote from the book embossed on the cover. 

The pages are lined and it's got a nice elastic strap to hold it closed.  At the size of an index card (3x5) it's perfect for dropping in my purse to jot notes or lists. 

Bookmark:  This is noted as being hand-made by Coffee and a Classic

It's a nice heavy metal piece that came on a little card.  Since most of my reading nowadays is done via Kindle it's nice to have a solid bookmark. 

I pulled the jacket cover off the book so you could see that it is a lovely deep burgundy book and you can also see the details of the book mark a little better.  (please don't open and lay your books like this- it's really bad for the binding-I did it only for a super quick photo)

That's it folks for my first ever Coffee and a Classic book box.

It's a decent value for the money although I think $12 shipping is wee tad on the high end and I'd like the box itself to be more in the $30-$35 range but  I can see where there are times when socks or a t-shirt might be included and we'd see more value.   I'm ok with this especially as a gift and that was one of my main objectives to see how this played out in that direction.  I like the idea of not just giving the gift of a book to someone but a book experience if you will.  To emphasize an earlier point, not all book subscription boxes come with a book so take that into your final consideration. 

Will I order this again? 

Yes, I most likely will order again and I'm really hoping for some cool boxes to come out to order for Christmas gifts.  I really think this will be a nice box set for our Christmas Eve book tradition.   Plus, I'm really intrigued to see the October box for myself now because I love me some Halloween!!!

What do you guys think? Yay or Nay? Do you do any book type subscription boxes? If you do I'd love to hear about your experience! 

Peace, Love & Mystery Books

Chicken, Blueberries, Guilt & Dog Beds-

Hi De Ho My Peeps- Did that title make you go hmmmmmm, she might be off her rocker?  haha

I have a quick dinner idea for you and some encouraging words to relieve you a little bit of that "guilt" word.   Then we toss in some leftover blueberries and new dog bed for fun today.

We follow blogs, we obsess on Pinterest, we scroll through Instagram and social media all the time and we find ourselves thinking less of ourselves and more of others.   You know the words....."I'll never be able to put those beautiful dinners on the table for my family", "it's just the two of us, why bother".   First thing I need to tell you is that if you see gorgeous photos on a blog of a "perfect" dinner what you need to remember is  1) their kitchen probably looks like a disaster rolled through 2) There's probably camera equipment everywhere  3) the kids/husband probably had food snatched away from them last second to get one more photo  4) the dog is probably eating something he shouldn't off the floor  5) People are whining about being hungry and/or   6) this is the 4th dinner that blogger has cooked and photographed today and nothing you see will be fed to the family for several days.

We all think that everyone has it all together when the truth is we are all just swimming to keep going.  To pay the bills, to feed our families, to get healthier, to be more involved.  Anyway, you get the picture and what I'm trying to say is STOP letting social media make you feel less than you are. Everyone is swimming...EVERYONE!

                              
                                                                                via GIPHY


Do you guys know why I stopped doing food posts?  Because I didn't follow my own advice up there!   I didn't think my food/recipes/photos were good enough and you can get inspiration so many places why would you look at my blog?  Then the other night I was whipping up a quick dinner and I snapped a photo with my phone and all of a sudden it hit me.  My dinner is good enough to share....it's good enough for us, it's relatively healthy, it's something a tired single parent could do when they get home from work, it's something someone who lives alone can do...dangit people it's good enough for anyone and good enough to post!  You know what we had?  Grilled chicken and roasted broccoli.  My husband thought it was wonderful, it's pretty healthy and we were happy.  Isn't that what dinner is about?

So I present to you my unedited, non fancy, not staged dinner photos with a little bit of description of how I made it.

Grilled Chicken Breast:  Drizzle olive oil over chicken breast, sprinkle on salt & pepper or season of your choice.  I happen to have used Cavender Greek Seasoning this particular night.   Then grill, or bake.  Whatever makes you happy or is easiest. 

Roasted Broccoli:   Cut up your broccoli (or buy a bag of pre-cut broccoli heads like I did) and then drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and bake in the oven on 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the roasting has reached your preferred level.  

THAT IS IT!!  That was dinner, well technically that was Hubster's plate.  Below is the photo of my plate.

As some of you may know, I've had a wee bit of trouble with my gallbladder.  I've pretty much been in constant pain and my food intake has been minimal while awaiting the gallbladder eviction.  That plate was a HUGE meal for me and it was still too much.  I ended up in some pain later that evening but nonetheless I did manage to eat something other than animal crackers.   

Point here is ..... It's good enough for us and it's good enough for you and your family too!  Don't condemn yourself for what you can't do or don't have time to do.  Celebrate and embrace what you can do and I promise to try and post these very un-pinterest worthy dinners more often to help you out.  

Because he's such a hoot- here's a photo of the ever sleeping Sir Winston L. Churchill.  I ordered a new bed for him because he has to go to the kennel in a week or so and when he goes to the kennel he tends to shred his bed.  I don't know why people, he just does.  I figured at least this one he can't defluff and it should be more comfy than the concrete floor.   Apparently he approves, he slept there in the middle of my floor for a couple of hours.  

Moving on to the blueberry portion of the post.   You guys already know that I hate wasting food and I've done many blog posts regarding that so I found myself on this day before surgery with a big bowl of blueberries that were looking pretty crummy.   So I did what everyone does...I searched Pinterest! Hey, why let someone else mess up their kitchen and take lovely photos for nothing?   I found this blueberry sauce/syrup to try.   

I'm not going to recreate the recipe for you guys because this lovely blogger already has done all the hard work.  Just click right here on Fresh Blueberry Sauce and you'll be whisked over to her page.   It's quite delicious and we can't wait to serve it on waffles or ice cream or whatever and I didn't have to throw out nearly 2 cups of fresh blueberries.

#WINNING

                         
                                                                              via GIPHY

That's it for today my friends, keep swimming and keep #winning, you've got this!

                                                           Peace, Love & Gallbladders