Re: Chatters Talk: Happy or Sad
 

I just love that we can jack this thread all day long if we so desire. woohooo!!!

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Well, Sam...truth be known...I enjoy taking part in the jacking! 1rnfl :redface:

Oh my, since the elephant was in my fridge, I had to drink the wine before it got cold and look what it did to me...

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You have to watch out for that warm wine. I :read: that somewhere.

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Perhaps this idea would serve you well...

Warmth and friendship are hallmarks of the holiday season. This year, welcome your guests with a traditional Italian winter aperitivo, or before-dinner cocktail, of warm wine flavored with a variety of nuts, dried fruits and spices. Or, if you prefer, serve this as an after-dinner beverage with Italian Christmas cookies or panatone, sweet Italian bread.


For red, consider a Chianti, Barbera or Cabernet:

• 24 ounces red wine
• 2 medium plums, quartered and
thinly sliced
• 1/2 pint whole blackberries
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh nutmeg or 1/8 teaspoon jarred
• 1/4 cup sugar

Combine first three ingredients in 2 quart saucepan. Heat at a steady simmer for 5 minutes, but do not boil. Add cloves, nutmeg and sugar and stir to dissolve. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Turn off heat and allow to steep, or sit, for 10 minutes, to let the flavors infuse the wine.
• 24 ounces red wine
• About 8 chestnuts, cooked and peeled (2 per person)
• 3 fresh, whole cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh nutmeg
• 1/8 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons cognac or Sicilian brandy, optional

Combine first five ingredients in 2 quart saucepan. Heat at a steady simmer for 5 minutes, but do not boil. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Turn off heat and allow to steep, or sit, for 10 minutes, to let the flavors infuse the wine. Add up to another 1/4 cup of sugar based on preference, and cognac or brandy, as desired.

For white, Chardonnay is a good choice:

• 1/4 cup whole almonds
• 24 ounces Chardonnay
• 1 teaspoon orange peel, freshly grated (careful to avoid white, bitter pith); or 2 teaspoons orange liqueur
• 1 fresh, whole cinnamon stick
• 1/8 cup sugar

Toast almonds in 2 quart saucepan for 1 to 2 minutes or until you smell aromas. Add remaining four ingredients and bring to a steady simmer for 5 minutes, but do not boil. Turn off heat and allow to steep, or sit, for 10 minutes, to let the flavors infuse the wine. Add up to another 1/8 cup of sugar based on preference.
• 1/4 cup whole almonds
• 1/4 cup dried apricots, sliced
• 1/2 vanilla bean
• 24 ounces Chardonnay
• 1/8 cup sugar

Toast almonds and apricots in 2 quart saucepan for 1 to 2 minutes or until you smell aromas. Split vanilla bean down the center and add to pan. Add wine and sugar and bring to a steady simmer for 5 minutes, but do not boil. Turn off heat and allow to steep, or sit, for 10 minutes, to let the flavors infuse the wine. Add up to another 1/8 cup of sugar based on preference.



Use a ladle to pour mixture into wine glasses with sugared rims or garnish with cinnamon sticks, orange peel or freshly ground nutmeg.

“The best part is what’s left at the bottom of the glass,” said Lafata. “The wine-soaked fruit and nuts are a delicious ending.”

Warm or cold it is good.

Re: Chatters Talk: Happy or Sad
 

Naw. I'll have mine without the fruit and nuts, but thank you most kindly.

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Aaaawwwwhhh Gracie were is your sense of adventure?

Besides, putting all those fruitty, nutty things in your glass might be the very thing that keeps you sober. It takes up space therefore less alcohol....it works.

That's why I take three olives in my Dirty Martini's. We have to consider these things if there is going to be so much partying when we all finally move in.

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Susan, I still have your Dirty Martini Olive mix in my refrigerator. You'd better get back down here and use it before it goes bad!! Does it go bad???

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:dontknow: :dontknow: :dontknow:
I have no idea...it has never lasted long enough to find out!

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It is Friday at 10:20 am.....anyone up for meeting for lunch at 12noon???????

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I was going to clean house. Where did you have in mind?

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I am suppose to be cleaning too!!!

I am up for anywhere!! Golf cart access though!!

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Toojays LSL?

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GREAT....I have on a bright dark pink shirt....skort with black and dark pink and green leaves/flowers etc.....have short hair....should we say around 12:30....then I can finish up around here!

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12:30 is good.

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See you then.....sent a note to some others....perhaps they will join us!!

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LSL? I wish there were more hours in a day, sometimes. I need to do some work on the computer today and the laundry is backed up! KB's tonight! The Spectors are playing and I need to dance. Find me on the dance floor, if you have the notion to do the loco-motion! Have a great lunch!!

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Oh Ronda....can't make it tonight we have plans oll weekend! Come have lunch...casual...just an hour!! Sssshhh we won't tell anyone you didn't do the laundry!!

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Had a great lunch yesterday!! Next time we will grab a few more of you!!! We had a great time!!! Samm....give my best to Mr Samm and Bill!!!

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Will do, Cassie. It's a shame more of you could not make the impromptu lunch. It was fun!

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My house is so clean and uncluttered I feel like I am developing OCD. I hope it sells before this becomes a permanent affliction.

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/j...s/23_34_41.gif

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You hiring out?????

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Heck no!!!
I hate housework !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Honest!

That is one of the reasons why I liked being a Designer so much. I would design it, build it, make it real purty like, take pictures....then get out before someone messed it up. In my mind all those clients still have brand new perfect projects.

When we get there I will volunteer for the Helping Hands concept, but it will not be anything to do with cleaning. Trust me.

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I would pay $20 an hour...we only have a 2/2 courtyard villa....not too hard....$60 cash every other week???? Not so bad.....any takers???? SSShhhhh....don't tell Sue!!!
I hate to clean!! We were entertaining today....had to show the house.....Sue was golfing all morning (hard life) and I was cleaning.....I hate clutter...I hate cat hair under the coffee table.....I would have gladly gone to brunch while paying someone else to clean it!!!

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Cleanliness equals order equals peace. IMHO.

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Hi, I am back on line again. With my magnetic personality I seem to have problems with computers.

I will not have to clean, cook, shop, do laundry, for the next 15 or 18 days starting September 15th.

I am going to be a Mystery Cruiser for :edit: cruise line. We will be sailing from Copenhagen to NY (if they let us disembark there.)

It will be a very hard life I know, sitting back, enjoying new sites and sounds as I do write up site inspections and other reports. ;)

HB

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Susan..My Villa is so clean, I told John we CANNOT stay there...LOL

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Donna I know what you mean.

I can clutter up a place so fast it is unreal. I think sometimes it is scary how fast I can clutter a decluttered space.

I am at my worse, or perhaps my best, when I start to clean and declutter. Then I bring things from one room to the next and start decluttering that room before I am finished with the first. At the end of the day, and loooooooooooooooooooooooong hours of work I have cluttered every room I have been in.

Remember one can have a cluttered clean home.

If you do a spell check on this post you will see I have invented some new words to the English Language. ::)

HB

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Susan, you have my sympathies. It is a lot of work to have your home 100% pristine at all times.

I listed my house in May, and it sold in two weeks! But it was sold conditional on the purchasers selling their home with an escape clause. So it was still available for other purchasers to consider. I swear, it seems like I did nothing but clean house all summer long. Before every showing I made the house look as if no-one lives in it. No small feat with Fireboy, 2 dogs and a cat.

Susan, I've seen pictures of your home and it is a lakefront paradise. Someone is going to fall madly in love with it. It is so unique. Good luck!

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Susan, I know your pain. We practically lived in the garage for 4 months until our house sold. I saw more bugs in that :edit: garage then I ever saw here in Florida! Bury St. Joseph and good luck to you. chels

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1rnfl Ronda! What the heck are you talking about???? Are you on the right thread! :a20:

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OOPS, how the heck did that happen! :yikes: deleted

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:'( :'( :o :o


I have to get a root canal done at 3pm today!!! :edit: :edit: :edit: :edit:


I hate my teeth and dentists....I am sure they are very nice....but I can't stand it!

Just looking for a little sympathy! ;D

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Re: Chatters Talk: Happy or Sad
 

To all of my friends, (who are, thank goodness secure enough in their charms that I don't have to name you all).

Thank you for your sympathy and understanding. We are now living on the pontoon under the lift cover for shelter.

I had to ban Tom from the house because he just doesn't understand that toilet covers must remain down at all times ("I don't care if you have to go..."), that we must walk lightly on the carpeting, so as not to mess up the vacuum pattern...and of course we are not cooking anymore because then we will have to clean the kitchen again!!

Anyway, I felt sorry for him and his hangdog look, so I moved to the boat with him. Not too bad actually. There is a table and chairs and a grill that attaches to the railings. The bathroom is a bit over the edge, but why not, like the fish don't poo???

We have a TV plugged into the lighter outlet, and the lift cover frame makes a great closet and the clothes help to make sleeping cozier at night...they also seem to confuse the mosquitoes.

Not bad, maybe we won't sell the pontoon with the house, maybe we will just float it down the mighty Mississippi through New Orleans and then head due East. Hmmmmm.

Oh, in case you are wondering, the garage is in the process of becoming a huge garage sale, so we can't live there just yet. Hope it is done before the weather turns cold.

I just re-read that last statement...am I really going to sit there and price all that :edit: or is some deserving charity going to get really lucky next week? I will let you know.

And thanks Bare I am glad you liked it. The house will have its own website by Monday, which I have to go write the copy for right now.

Talk to y'all later.

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A sense of humor when chaos prevails .. that our Susan!

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I remember back 41 years ago to Sorority Hell Week at my University when I had to push an egg down the sidewalk with my nose.

That is how I'm feeling after my first week back at school.

I have a boy who talks as if he's outside at recess yelling at his friend across the playground. His voice is deafening in the room and I think I need to buy earplugs to save my hearing.

I have a girl who loves to sit behind boys and scratch their neck. Think that sounds relaxing? Not if the scratching leaves 4 inch gouges in the neck!

I have another girl who wants to do whatever she wants to do whenever she wants to do it. She talks, laughs, gets out of her seat, tries to roam the room, and opens her desk and rummages through her papers making crinkling noises while I'm trying to teach.... doh

I have a boy who loves to throw rocks...especially at the backs of heads... :duck:

I have a girl who thinks everyone's locker is her property. She loves to open the lockers, put trash inside, close them...then blame her act on being an "accident".

I have a girl who never knows how she is getting home...not sure if she is to ride the bus or if her mom is picking her up. The problem is...she never knows until we are lined up ready to go home and there's only minutes to figure it out! (I got this one nipped in the bud with a call to mom...no more games with me!)

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY and the first week is over!

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I will just say MANY prayers for you!!!! GOOD thoughts only coming your way!!!!

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awww Bright. Keep Christmas in mind and one more school year and you'll be a Frog! YEAH! 040

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Bright, sounds like you have a real challenge ahead!. It takes special angels to be teachers. Obviously you have the Right Stuff!

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>:( OH DEAR!!! Don't they know summer is over? I know you will have complete control in no time. My friend in RI had a similar nightmare class and within 2 weeks they knew who the boss was and things got much, much better. That class ended up being her favorite of her past 15 years teaching! Have faith!!