In the four hours that I was at work my car accumulated about 3 inches of snow. The drive home was the worst of the winter. Wind and snow are getting the big f. u. from me today. Driving through the place where there is Lake superior on one side and wetlands on the other, leaving nothing to block the wind was scary and creepy. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they close down that part of the highway. They literally have permanent long metal bars that come down and close this stretch of highway (the stretch that gets you from ashland to washburn). AGAIN, F. U. I'm starting to take this personal now.

These muffins are absolute staples in our house. It's a bad start to a morning if there aren't some of these around. They taste wonderful with a chai latte during the drive to work. You make a big batch of them and store them in a container in the fridge. An ice cream bucket works great. You can then take them out at any time and make however many you want. I will admit, it kinda freaked me out at first that the batter can be used for an entire month. I've been making them for awhile now and we're still alive.

Magic Bran Muffins

6 Cups Raisin Bran Cereal
5 Cups flour
3 Cups sugar
5 tsp baking soda
4 eggs, beaten
2 tsp salt
4 Cups buttermilk
1 Cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 Cups raisins (we always use craisins, love the little bite of tartness)

Combine flour, sugar, cereal, soda and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Combine buttermilk, oil, and eggs in a separate bowl. Whisk well. Pour egg mixture into cereal mixture. Stir until just blended. Fold in craisins. Place in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator overnight. The batter will keep for four weeks and improves over time. Do not stir at anytime after refrigerating or when preparing to bake muffins.

Preheat oven to 400. Grease muffin cups. Spoon batter into pans (fill them up). Bake 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in muffin tins 10 minutes. Serve warm or remove to a wire rack and cool completely. Makes 4 dozen.

Alright, boo. I have pictures, but apparently Mike updated his computer and they've gone missing for the time being. I know they are still around somewhere but I can't find them...I'll post when Mike leads me in the right direction.

Working in retail, you're always about two seasons ahead with merchandise. It kinda lulls you into a false sense of reality. I'm doing all spring and easter and bright summery stuff right now. I painted grass on the windows. Its months before we'll actually see green grass! We even have goggles and flippers in the window for cripes sakes! When I walk out the door at the end of the night and put on my gloves its a rude awakening.

First of all, I stole this picture from Jenny, my former co-worker's Facebook. Hope she doesn't mind!

Story about Sven: Sven is our mannequin at one of the stores I work at. Yes, he's a little creepy. Back in the day, Sven used to move, and even talk. He still has his cord, but not too much happens when you plug him in.

Last year I was at a sporting goods store waiting for mike to show up, and I walked in and a mannequin talked to me. I looked at it and it was sven's twin! I mentioned to the workers that we have the same one at our store and the man says, "yeah, sven's been here for a long time." I said, "Wait! Did you just call him sven?! Did he come with that name!?" The man, calmly explained to me that they had a big contest to name him and the winner was Sven. That's when i really freaked out at them yelling, "that's what we call him too! Our sven doesn't talk and move anymore though!" They were, to my surprise, not at all impressed. So I sheepishly walked and pretended to be interested in the golf equipment. How could they not be impressed by the coincidence?

Anyways, this weekend I have to do a display for the window of our store. The window is "Sven goes green" for both St. Patrick's day and the environment. Any ideas what I could do??

Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

that I have money. I would buy this car:


Isn't it cute??

So this is a recipe from Rachel Ray, while I can't really stand her, I do like some of her recipes. I tried this one last week and it was really yummy. Perfect for a day like today, rainy and icky.

Chicken, Chorizo, and Tortilla Stoup

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken tenders
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 pound chorizo sausage, in packaged meats case near kielbasa (mexican chorizo is uncooked, spanish is cured, like pepperoni, you want mexican)
  
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (didn't use this)
  
• 1 medium onion, chopped (or this, Mike wouldn't eat it then)
  
• 6 small red potatoes, diced (I just used regular b/c that's all I had on hand)
  
• 1 (15-ounce) can fire roasted chopped tomatoes (recommended: Muir Glen)
• 1 (15-ounce) can dark red kidney beans, drained (I used chili beans, making it taste almost like chili and black beans would be good too)
  
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce (couldn't find it)
  
• 1 quart chicken stock
• 1 sack red or blue corn tortilla chips (I used Plocky's Black Bean's and Rice chips...amazing tortilla chips)
  
• 2 cups shredded pepper jack or smoked Cheddar (I just used colby and jack shredded, and added a little to the soup itself to thicken it up a bit)
• I also added a can of corn, was perfect in it.
  
• Suggested garnishes: chopped scallions, chopped cilantro or fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Preheat medium soup pot over medium-high heat.

Chop tenders into bite-size pieces. Wash up, then season chicken with salt and pepper. Dice chorizo. Add extra-virgin olive oil and chicken to pot. Lightly brown chicken 2 minutes, then add the chorizo and garlic. Cook another 2 to 3 minutes, then add peppers, onions and potatoes. Cook 5 minutes, then stir in tomatoes, kidney beans, and hot sauce. Add chicken stock and bring soup to a bubble.

Preheat broiler.

Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender 10 to 12 minutes. Ladle soup into shallow bowls and top each bowl with a generous handful of crushed tortillas and cheese. Melt cheese under hot broiler. Garnish with scallions and herb.

Alright, I made a double batch of the chorizo and chicken mixture and saved half of it to put in tortillas, you must try. Put some rice and beans with it, one of my favorite meals.

With the soup, we didn't broil it and the cheese melted just fine without doing that. I also added a little sour cream to the top. We really liked it and I will probably make it again. It did have a little kick without the hot sauce, so if you don't like hot, I probably wouldn't add that too. I aslo cooked it longer than she did, to let the flavors come together more. It's actually even better the next day.

Thoughts of summer drifted my way today as I was once again stuck inside working on a lovely day. Seeing as I was annoyed that I was at work, I thought of the things that customers do that just drive me batty. So if you come in, please don't:

• Ask me prices without first looking for yourself, (over and over and over again) prices are clearly listed.
• Call salt water taffy and caramels, "toffee."
• Order an ice cream flavor and then completely walk away not telling me what kind of cone or how many scoops, or leave me standing there holding your cone.
• Talk on your cell while I'm helping you at the register, and pay me no attention.
• Ask me if I can do better on a price. I am not running a garage sale.

While, I'm very thankful that I have a job sometimes I just want to scream at people. Seeing as I can't if I want to continue to have a job, I guess I'll have to do it here instead :)

This is mine and angies conversation from a phone call at work, she does not explain herself before she delves into the nine minute conversation and I transcribed some of it to angie:

me: oh god

12:28 PM me: yikes, that was some weird stuff

that I'm 26 years old and absolutely adore these two things?


they are earrings and you can find them at http://www.girlzlyfe.com/ if you're just like me.