does that come in gold?

parmesan kale pasta

doesthatcomeingold — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 02:59:35 +0000

I made this easy parmesan kale pasta a couple of days ago. I found the recipe on Budget Bites. It’s a great web site, because not only are the recipes inexpensive, they also require few ingredients.

If I stick with blogging, I’m going to need to invest in some new plates. Gorgeous as these are, they’re going to get old quick!

Best Of

doesthatcomeingold — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:38:52 +0000

I couldn’t help but make a few of my own top of the charts lists for 2011, mostly just for posterity!

The Sounds of 2011

What I listened to this year… not necessarily albums that were released this year. Just your typical collection of hip hop, folk rock, jam rock, and crunk rock.

She & Him: Volume 1, Volume 2, A Very She & Him Christmas
Kina Grannis: Stairwells
The Civil Wars: Barton Hallow
Family Force 5: III
O.A.R.: King
Lecrae: Rehab

Best Reads of 2011

Again, not necessarily published this year, though some are. Here we have a ridiculously strange mix of Christian memoirs, celebrity autobiographies, business tales, and popular fiction. But some really great reads.

A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life - Donald Miller
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? - Mindy Kaling
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose - Tony Hsieh
Hear No Evil: Marching in the Lord’s Army, Fleeing the Devil, and Finding a Righteous Groove & Ghurched: One Kid’s Journey Toward God Despite a Holy Mess – Matthew Paul Turner
Stories I Only Tell My Friends - Rob Lowe
The Lantern – Deborah Lawrenson
The Help - Kathryn Stockett
The Memory Keeper’s Daughter - Kim Edwards

Favorite Movies of 2011

Most of the movies I saw at the drive-in this year did not make the list, but I did love Cowboys & Aliens, and not entirely in an ironic way! The Muppets takes the cake though by far!

The Muppets
Harry Potter 8
Soul Surfer
Cowboys & Aliens
The Help
Sherlock Holmes 2
Super 8

Favorite TV Shows of 2011

New Girl is definitely the best new entry. I can pass hours on end watching Storage Wars, and the Sing Off had its best season yet.

New Girl
Storage Wars
Parks & Recreation
The Sing Off
Top Model All Stars

Most Disappointing TV Shows of 2011

I gave Project Accessory many chances, but it was really, really dull, and I pretty much fell asleep every time I tried to watch it. And to quote something I read elsewhere, “Glee has become little more than the show before New Girl.”

Project Accessory
Glee

Favorite Web Sites & Blogs of 2011

to read

doesthatcomeingold — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:52:36 +0000

My “to-read” list grows like a weed. I’m not really sure how I don’t manage to keep up with it, with as much as I read, but it’s a little nuts!

Here are a few of the highlights I’m super anxious to read.

cranberry and white chocolate muffins

doesthatcomeingold — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 12:00:41 +0000

So a couple of days ago, I was out at the produce stand, and bought a bag of cranberries on impulse. I have never ever done anything with fresh cranberries before, and wasn’t sure what I’d do with them when I got home. I decided muffins sounded good, so I did what I usually do when I have a loose idea of a recipe I want to make, and did a Google blog search on cranberry muffins. I find recipes from blogs are way better than a typical search, because you’ll find those awesome recipes with photos of every step. And lo and behold, this search introduced me to the blog Delightfully Tacky, which I promptly spent a good hour or so reading.

Elizabeth’s Cranberry White Chocolate Muffins (via cranberryrecipes.org) were the easiest muffins to make ever! I didn’t even need to get out the hand mixer–just a whisk and a wooden spoon and one bowl. I had some vanilla candy melts left over from making peppermint bark popcorn at Christmas, so I cut them up and used them in place of the chocolate chips. Unforch, my chocolate all sunk to the bottom… I’m not sure if this was because I used the candy melts instead of chocolate chips, but since I’ll definitely make this again, I’ll find out!

While my lazy photo doesn’t do them justice, these were reeeallyy yummy. I’ve had three so far.

wall art

doesthatcomeingold — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:35:35 +0000

This is my new living room wall and I just LOVE it! All the decals came from a single pack, which is actually a 2012 calendar (get it now before they’re gone!) that I received for Christmas. The letters were also a Christmas gift… the R is mine, and the B is for Brita, my hedgehog. And then I had this mirror that I think came from the dollar store, and these little hanging pieces I bought at a flea market a couple of years back. The best part? It’s all removable…. decals and command strips.

another nyc cupcakery

doesthatcomeingold — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:50:40 +0000

I was in NYC on Friday for the first time since MAY! Nuts, right? What’s really crazy was seeing some things that had changed since then, like a new cupcakery that popped up on 7th Ave. I immediately wanted to walk in and check out Baked by Melissa. The presentation was gorgeous, the price was right, and the flavors sounded fantastic, so we were sold on a 6-pack.

L-R, top row: chocolate graham, cookies & cream, chocolate chip pancake, s’mores, cookie dough, and tie-dye.

Picking them out was fun, but… I left not quite blown away. The flavors were minimal. The two I tried (cookies & cream and cookie dough) were basic chocolate and yellow cakes, and that’s all the cupcakes really tasted like. Plus they are soooo tiny…. like, smaller than the two-bite brownies they sell at the grocery store. And while the calorie count makes them a winner, if I’m craving a cupcake (which pretty much never happens, sorry cupcake industry!) I’ll just go to Crumbs. Although if I can buy just one for $1 on my way home from a late night class…. well, then we might be talking!

i actually sewed something

doesthatcomeingold — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:02:27 +0000

I should be ashamed of my bunched up and crooked seams, exposed lining, and sloppily cut shapes…. but since this is the first thing I’ve sewn since 2002, I’m not! I made two stockings start to finish yesterday–one for me, and one for Brita, my hedgehog.

Reference: My Life at Pansy Cottage & Village, Purple Panda Quilts

pumpkin pie dip

doesthatcomeingold — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:38:34 +0000

This evening I tried a new treat–pumpkin pie dip via skinnytaste.com.

It is a low-fat, weight watchers friendly recipe that mainly appealed to me because it was the only pumpkin pie dip recipe I could find that didn’t involve cream cheese. (Yeah, so I don’t like cream cheese!)

This is one of the easiest dishes in the world to whip up. You just measure and mix the ingredients. I substituted 1/16 tsp nutmeg for the 1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice, because pumpkin pie spice was $5.99 at Shop Rite.

I ate plenty of it, but I still just can’t quite make up my mind about whether or not I liked this stuff. I think you can taste that it is healthy. Next time I might use splenda instead of brown sugar for extra sweetness. We served it with apple slices and graham crackers, and they worked great. I’ve also heard gingersnaps and nilla wafers are yummy.

The verdict: If you’re on a diet or being conscious of others who are, it’s a perfect holiday treat. If not, go for a real dessert. There are so many good ones out there.

skull & glossbones

doesthatcomeingold — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 05:02:53 +0000

Opi’s Skull & Glossbones (from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection) is quite possibly my favorite nail polish… I mean, other than a good gold. Lately, I’ve been very inspired by nail art that I’ve seen on Pinterest and various blogs, so I tried to do a little freehand french manicure. I think it is HIGH TIME I pick up one of those nail art pens!

sure, I’ll take a free ipod

doesthatcomeingold — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:35:46 +0000

I was beyond surprised by the email I received from Apple letting me know that my ancient ipad nano could pose a fire risk. I’m assuming that some 50% of the folks they sent this email to no longer use the same email address. The other 50% of us are trying to remember what an ipod nano even looks like or how it works. I actually have two other ipods since then–a gold shuffle and a touch. Fortunately, I found my first one easily and the number was accepted into the replacement program‘s web form.

So even though I haven’t touched this thing in a good three years, I’d love a new one. After double-checking that this wasn’t some kind of clever phishing scheme, I plugged in my serial number and address. They’ll be sending me a box. Let’s see how this goes.