This weekend has been nice. No plans, nowhere we need to be, nothing we need to do.
Today we took Tessa on a couple of walks, ran a couple of errands (used them as an excuse to be out in the beautiful weather), had an awesome dinner… And now we are settling in with a DVD rental.
We are enjoying the peace and relaxation while it lasts!
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Michael is out with a couple guys, so Tessa and I are at home lazing on the couch with season 1 of Grey’s Anatomy on DVD. Ahhh… This is the life.
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For about 10 minutes every morning, I sit on the couch, eat my cereal, and watch Saved by the Bell television news. This week, I’ve mostly stuck to CNN’s American Morning, because every time I flipped to Today, it was either on commercial, or Lester Holt was on. I didn’t think anything of it, just that the usual crew was out this week.
This morning, I apparently turned the channel to Today at just the right moment, because 1) I saw that Matt Lauer was in a sling, 2) People in the crowd outside were all wearing deer antlers, and 3) They showed a clip of Brian Williams leaving a “get well” message for Matt and an animated deer suddenly hopped across the screen.
And since I didn’t have any other TV time left, I was left to simply wonder… what.the.hell? I was wondering if the people on this show had finally lost their marbles.
Now, several hours later, I just remembered to Google. And now I know what happened to Lauer!
From Newsday:
Matt Lauer nearly collides with deer while biking
March 24, 2009
NEW YORK – A deer got the best of Matt Lauer.The 51-year-old “Today” show host separated his shoulder while bicycling on Long Island over the weekend when he slammed on his brakes to avoid a deer and went flying.
Lauer missed Monday’s show and became the butt of good-natured jokes by his colleagues. Executives say he should be back later in the week. Meanwhile, “Today” weekend co-anchor and NBC “Nightly News” anchorman Lester Holt is filling Lauer’s slot.
Lauer, an avid bicyclist who took a practice ride at the Beijing Olympics, was wearing a helmet at the time of the Saturday mishap.
While this has been on my list of fears as a cyclist, it is also some really funny shit. Made even funnier by the fact that it happened to Matt Lauer, of all people. I actually don’t even really like him–I just think he’s kind of a tool–so I’m not sure why I even watch Today. (I don’t care for Meredith Vieira, either. I’m “meh” on Al Roker. You know what? I like Ann Curry. When I was in NYC in 2004, she was super awesome to my grandmother. So, Ann Curry? You’re the reason I watch Today.)
Anyway, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh a little. You know, since he wasn’t seriously injured and all. Apparently, all of his coworkers were getting a big chuckle out of it, too.
In the spring/summer/fall, we often ride our bikes along a canal trail that goes through some pretty heavily wooded areas. And we have seen deer along the trail. There have been more than a few times when I’ve been speeding down one of the hillier portions, and I’ve thought to myself, If a deer ran out in front of me right now, I’d be in so.much.trouble.
So thanks a lot, Matt Lauer. Thanks for the laugh (and for being a good sport about all the crap you’re getting). Oh, and for helping to confirm my fears. Yikes!
Once again, you have a mission (please accept it!): Brighten the day of a soldier serving overseas. Our soldier for Round 7, Jennifer, is on the other side of the world, and she’s had some rough times lately. And you can help cheer her up.
How? Well, it’s simple. Packages from home. From YOU.
If you’re a regular reader, you probably remember my post about Operation Baking Gals in December. And then you probably remember the post about Round 6 in February. Well, now Round 7 is officially upon us, and we need to get started. So many of you participated last time, and I’m hoping you’ll all be willing to do it again.
There is a new organizer over at www.bakinggals.com, and for some reason, she wouldn’t let me have two teams this round. So I guess that means Jennifer will be receiving a LOT of packages, right? RIGHT?? :) Once again, I hope you’ll knock my socks off with your willingness to help our “Heather Drive” soldier.
All you have to do is go to www.bakinggals.com, sign in (or create an account if you don’t have one–so easy, it’s free, and you won’t get spammed by a ton of e-mails, either), and then register with Team Heather Drive – Rossin. You’ll do this by clicking on “Join a Round 7 Team Here” (you must be signed in to do this).
You will find the shipping address information for our soldier under “Round Seven Info – Meet the Teams.” There is an article in there for our team that contains details about our soldier, her story, and the address for where to ship your packages.
DON’T BAKE? No TIME to bake? Well, that’s NO EXCUSE. :) There are plenty of store-bought things that the soldiers can use and enjoy. Please visit the Baking Gals FAQ section for a list of acceptable items to send.
Ship dates for Round 7 are April 1 through April 10, so you can basically bake and send starting this weekend. So preheat those ovens and start whipping together those baked goods!
Be sure to include a bit of “yourself” in your packages as well. Cards, letters, pictures… anything that will give Jennifer a little bit of an idea of who you are, and let her know how thankful you are for the sacrifice she is making for all of us. You may even want to include a link to your blog, or an e-mail address. Last round, I know some people received e-mails from the soldiers they baked for!
If you are baking, there is important information for you in the FAQ section, too, including tips on how to ensure that your baked goods get there in good condition. Additional info about the organization and my experience with it so far can be found in my original post from December.
Remember, the best thing to use is a large Flat Rate box from USPS. You should be able to pick one up at your local post office (the box is free). Take it home, pack it full of as many goodies as possible, and then take it back to mail it. You’ll get a discounted rate for sending it to an APO/FPO address. Normally, it costs $12.95, and I think it’s $10.95 to send to the soldiers.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. E-mail me at roadtotheaisle@gmail.com, or leave a message in the comments. If you do that, though, just make sure to check back, because I will answer you in the comments as well.
Also, if you participate, I want to hear about it! If you have a blog, post about your experience–Pictures of your baking, you with your package, etc., maybe post the recipe for the goodies you made. Then send me a link to your Baking Gals blog post, or leave a link in my comments section. Only one or two people did this for me last time, so it wasn’t too much of a success, but if I get a big enough response, I’d like to compile everyone’s pictures and stories and post about them later in April.
So come on, baking gals! Get baking! :) And thank you so much!
For the baby shower, in addition to the cookies I made for favors, I also made a bugs-themed cake–you know, for dessert. :)
I used my big jelly roll pan (10.5 x 15.5″) and made a gigantic chocolate fudge cake. And OK, I’ll admit it. I cheated. The cake was from a box. Good ol’ Betty came to my aid yet again. (It was good stuff.)
Once it was done, I did cut it into two layers. The filling? Oreo buttercream. Then I frosted it with vanilla buttercream that I colored bright green. I put a couple handfuls of Oreos through the food processor to make “dirt,” and then spread that around on the top of the cake in a big rectangle. Then, using one of my Wilton piping tips, I piped all of that awesome looking grass onto the top edges and the sides. It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but it was worth it in the end. I absolutely loved how this turned out.
To finish it all off, I placed several gummy worms on top, then made a little sign with a quote on it that tied the cake back into the “baby boy” shower theme. “Boys are meant for kisses and hugs, for watching rainbows, and catching bugs.”
Perfect!
We didn’t stop with just a “dirt and grass” decorated cake. No, sir. On Friday night, when were doing the food preparation at my mom’s, Marie and I also threw together a “real” dirt cake. And we served it right out of a bucket!
It was the cutest. Vanilla pudding, cream cheese, cool whip, butter… all mixed together and then layered with… you guessed it, more “dirt.” The dirt for this dessert was made up of about 1.5 packages of Oreos. It was a lot of dirt!
Topped it off with more gummi worms and stuck a small bunch of fake flowers in it. Also made another little sign with another quote on it that related to boys and dirt. “Trucks and dirt and shades of blue, little boys are angels, too.” Put together, and with the rest of our decor, it was really quite adorable.
Here is what it looked like once it had been mostly devoured. It was a huge hit! (Such a hit, in fact, that Kara’s 6-year-old cousin told me she wished I was her mommy! *gasp* It was really sweet, I just wish she hadn’t said it right in front of her real mommy!)
I wasn’t sure how many people were going to want to eat the dirt cake AND the chocolate cake, but everyone wanted both. Since the dirt cake was kind of like “cookies and cream,” it went really well with the chocolate cake–it served as a good ice cream substitute. In case you’re interested in trying this out, I’ll share the recipe that we used.
Dirt Cake
(Source: Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
– 1/2 cup butter, softened
– 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
– 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
– 2 (3.5 oz.) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
– 3 1/2 cups milk
– 1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
– 32 oz. (2 packages) Oreo cookies
Directions:
1. Chop Oreo cookies very fine in a food processor. The white cream will disappear.
2. Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in a bowl.
3. In a large bowl, mix milk, pudding mix, and whipped topping together.
4. Combine pudding mixture and cream cheese mixture.
5. Layer in flower pot or bucket, starting with cookies, then cream mixture. Repeat layers.
6. Chill until ready to serve.
7. Add gummy worms, artificial flowers, and trowel. Enjoy!
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
