What could be more exciting for children than to receive personalized Letters From Santa? My two grangirls (ages 4 and 6) are at the age where getting a letter in the mail from Santa Claus would thrill them. And  when you go through lettersfromsanta.com, you can customize the letters by providing information such as three items on your child’s wish list, your child’s name and 3 of your child’s accomplishments. You can even write a customized P.S. to add to the letter.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

I was watching TV and working on a blog post, when my computer beeped to let me know that I had an email.  I clicked over to the email program and found the following  from my wonderful and loving son.  It’s no wonder I adore him:

Hey Moma, 

I was just remembering how you used to play the piano every once in while when I
was younger.  I love the sound of a piano, most of my favorite songs have a
piano in the background.  I remember watching tv and hearing you play, it wasn’t
for a long time or often but it left an impression on me and I love the sound of
a piano because it reminds me of you. 

I love you mom.

Joey 

Yes, it made me cry. He’s a very fine 29-year old young man. I’m so proud of him.

Now for the coincidence.  This past Saturday RT and I were visiting my mother.  My mother had just bought a piano.  She wants to take lessons, and she got a great deal on a used piano.  She’d also just had it tuned.  So as my mother, RT and I sat in her living room chatting, she said I should play the piano for her.  I sat at the piano, opened the Methodist Hymnal and started playing some hymns - not very well, but I muddled my way through about 10 or 12 of my favorite hymns before calling it a day.  I told RT that someday I want a small piano to go in our library at home.  I don’t play well, but I really enjoy occasionally playing the songs I know.  It’s just a relaxing and happy thing to do.  Even when I do it poorly, it puts me in a good mood.  I’m not sure why except that I love the sound of a piano.  I just talked with RT and told him about Joey’s email, and he swore he had not mentioned at all to Joey that I had played the piano at my mother’s just a few days ago.

What are the chances of those two occurences happening so close together?

I LOVE visiting art galleries. Maybe it’s because I have no artistic talent myself, and so I enjoy seeing the work of people who have talent and know how to express that talent through their art. In looking through art galleries online, I came across Park West Gallery in Southfield, Michigan, which has twenty-three different galleries - each one devoted to either a particular artist or style of art.  They’re currently having a fall sale, and I plan to order their catalog to see everything that’s available.  Park West Gallery is home to the largest collection of fine art in the world, and they conduct fine art auctions throughout the United States and Canada.

The winner was the race car driver - Helio what’s-his-name.  Yawn.  Poor Mel had to look at another option after all. 

So Marie and Jonathan are out.  That means that the Dancing With The Stars winner will be either Mel B or Helio.  YAWN!  Really - this is the least exciting DWTS ever.  I just can’t imagine two less lackluster contestants.   I don’t even know Helio’s last name - and am not sure I’m spelling his first name right, but it’s not worth checking it out to be sure.  Whatever . . . Does anyone (other than Mel B, Helio and their respective partners and families) really care who wins?  I sure don’t.

Okay, I just changed my mind.  Mel B just declared that coming in second “is NOT an option.”  Hopefully Helio what’s-his-name will beat her and Mel B will learn that she DOES have other options.

A friend of mine brought this cheese roll to a party one time.  It is colorful and very festive-looking.  It also is delicious - very different from the typical cheese roll.

 Holiday Cheese Roll

two 8-0z packages cream cheese

1 small jar Maraschino cherries, drained, blotted and finely chopped

Very finely chopped onion (just a little bit - maybe 1 or 2 teaspoons)

1 bell pepper, finely chopped

1 small can crushed pineapple, drained

Seasoned salt

Mix ingredients well and form into a roll or ball.  Once formed, roll in finely chopped nuts (pecans are best).  Serve with crackers. 

This is a wonderful cheese roll to use at parties - colorful and delicious!

November is always the “open enrollment” month for our company insurance.  And that means I’ve been studing insurance policies the past couple weeks.  It’s a job to try to figure out what kind of insurance and how much insurance to get.   Just the terminology is confusing to me.   We all want to Reduce Premiums, and since I’m a Dave Ramsey fan, I know that term life insurance is definitely what he recommends. 

Advantage Term Life Insurance company provides all types of insurance - universal, term, employer group policies, whole life policies - a phone call or an email will get you Insurance Quotes for whatever type of insurance you need.  Something else that is really helpful is that they provide you with Insurance Plans Pros and Cons to help you decide what you need and want in insurance.

I love bananas foster.  It’s warm and creamy and banana-y.   I’ve made it a few times for my family.  I also love bread pudding for the same reason, except typically bread pudding isn’t banana-y.  Just delicious.  Now you I present you a recipe for a bread pudding that features the best of bananas foster.  Here’s the recipe:

Bread Pudding a la Bananas Foster

5 eggs

2 cups half and half (you can use heavy cream for a richer texture)

2 1/2 cups milk

1 1/4 cups sugar

2 Tablespoons banana liqueur

2 Taablespoons rum (dark rum is best)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 bananas, mashed

12 cups cubed white bread

custard sauce

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with Pam.  In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, half and half, sugar, rum, liqueur, bananas and cinnamon.  Add bread - coating well.  Let it stand for 20 - 30 minues.  Pour into the baking dish.  Put the baking dish into a larger roasting pan.  Add about 1-inch of water to the roasting pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes 0r until the center is set.  If it starts browning too much during the last half of the baking time, you can cover lit ightly with aluminum foil.  Remove from the roasting pan.  Spoon into dessert dishes and serve with custard sauce.

Custard Sauce

2 egg yolks

1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk

3/4 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup milk

1 Tablespoon corn starch

1 Tablespoon water

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons rum

5 Tablespoons butter

In a bowl whisk together the eggs  yolks, evaporated milk, brown sugar and milk.  In a separate bowl whisk together the corn starch and water until smooth.  Add the cornstarchmixture, rum and vanilla to the egg mixture and poour into a medium saucepan.  Simmer, whisking continuously until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Add the butter and mix until melted.  Serve warm over the bread pudding.

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Savannah. I remember as a child, riding the train with my Girl Scout troop to visit the home of Juliet Lowe, the founder of Girl Scouting. Then a few years ago, I visited Savannah again with one of my friends. We visited the downtown shops on River Street (LOVED the pecan pralines at River Street Sweets), ate some of the best barbeque in the world and took some long walks along the river.  Then, just a couple weeks ago, RT had to be in Savannah on business.  I wanted SO badly to go with him! Doggone having to work!

If I ever get the chance to visit Savannah again, I’d like to take a tour. I especially think a Civil War Walk would be fascinating.  I would love to see the homes of some of the most famous Civil War generals and to learn more about Savannah’s role in the Civil War.  Besides a Civil War tour, I’d love to take a tour of Savannah’s famous haunted houses.  Cool, huh?

I was checking out Trusted Tours and Attractions and found that by subscribing to their free e-newsletter I would automatically be entered to win 4 free tickets to tours in a city of my choice.  So I’m entering so that the next time I can join RT on one of his business trips, I’ll be able to take advantage of tours in that area.  The e-newsletter offer ends Friday, December 14th, 2007.

Trusted Tours has a long list of cities with available tours, including San Diego and Key West.

My mother (Ruthlace) made this for Thanksgiving.  It was so good that everyone asked for the recipe.  She tells us that you can make two as easily as one because all the ingredients (except the pie crust, of course) will fit in a blender, and then after it’s blended, you can just pour it directly into the pie shells.  That means there’s very little clean-up.

Chocolate Chess pie

1 stick margerine (mellted)
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoon cocoa
3 eggs
dash of salt
I small can evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie shell

Put first seven ingredients into blender and blend well.  Pour into an unbaked pie shell and bake for 35 to 40 minutes at 350, May be topped with whipped cream or Cool Whip to serve.