Archive for April, 2009

A few months ago my sister talked me into signing up to do these “house parties” for different products.  They range from food related, beauty products, to TV shows and even cars.  Jacqi (the non-driver) had a Saturn sitting in her driveway for a few weeks!  You sign up when you see a product you are interested in and eventually you get an email saying you’ve been rejected (more often) or chosen (less often).  After that, you pick a day to host your party, invite a bunch of people and take photos of the celebrating and upload them to the House Party site.

The perks include a “party package” that usually includes coupons or samples.  I’ve signed up for a few of them over the past few months and have never been chosen.  About a month ago, I signed up to host  a party for Werther’s chocolate caramel candies.  To my utter surprise I was chosen to host a party.

I got my party package in the mail today.  It was a box weighing 27 pounds. Yeah, I was worried.

When I opened the box, I saw a blanket with the Werther’s logo, a stack of post-it notes, a sealed envelope that looked like it was stuffed with cash, and 5 cases of chocolates…dark and milk.

What to do first??  Of course I ripped open the cash-like envelope and found about a million coupons. Bummer.  Then we opened one of the boxes of chocolates, opened a bag of milk chocolate caramel candies and had a taste.  They are good, but nothing I’d devour in the middle of the night. I’d venture to say the chocolates are safe from me, however, I’ve already caught Jose hiding a bag or two in his book bag.  He claims they are for his friends at work.  Riiiight.

So don’t be surprised if you receive some chocolates from me. I have more than enough to share.  Taking requests for milk or dark chocolate starting…NOW!

Here’s the lowdown on part 2 of the Great Springfield Experience…

We also visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum again.  I think this museum is amazing.  It’s small, but filled with a lot of great exhibits including two short, well done movies.  I was lucky enough to run into the Lincolns while I was there!

After the museum we walked to the “new” state capitol building.  It’s lovely.  I like the old one too, but we visited that one on the last trip to Springfield.

These are just a few photos from inside the Capitol building.

After that, we walked to the old Lincoln neighborhood and took a tour of the Lincoln’s home.  I LOVE this kind of stuff.  Just the idea of being in a house where people lived over a hundred years ago gives me the chills.  In a good way. (assuming it’s not haunted. I would not like that experience)  The house, and neighborhood in general, is in amazing condition as you can tell from this street photo.

A few shots of the indoor toilet, if you can call it that, and the short bed for a very tall man.  How uncomfortable does that look? (see the bed pan down there??)

I had to take a photo of the crazy carpet and wall combo.  Apparently this was all the rage in Springfield during this era.  Check out the wallpaper in the photos above.  How did people not have seizures in their own homes?

I touched that doorknob…also touched by Lincoln.  (And about a million and a half tourists)

Ahh, the kitchen.  Much bigger than my own.  I love the layout of the items on the table.  This scene reminds me of a painting I’ve seen somewhere, possibly the Art Institute, but I can’t recall.  Either way, I’d like to frame this one.

Freshly popped caramel corn with pecans and a drizzle of coconut oil. Sampled while it was HOT!  It was delicious!

And so this brings me to the end of my trip to Springfield, IL. We had a great time.  It’s a good place to visit if you have 2-3 days.  It’s quaint, and comfortable and a great walking city.  You can get everywhere you need to go by walking or driving a short distance.  Lots of things to see, and eat.  Highly recommended.

I bid you adieu, Springfield…a city with a sense of humor.

No, those two things don’t actually go together.  Thank God.  I can’t imagine a pencil that smells like a Swedish meatball being a *good* thing.  Can you?

A few years ago the Smencil became the big new thing at school.  They are pencils made out of recycled paper that are heavily scented (guaranteed to stay scented for a minimum of 2 years — and they do!).

One thing that I have discovered about smencils, is that in addition to smelling like peppermint or cotton candy or tropical fruit or (yuk) chocolate, they also tend to smell like sweaty hand after a few minutes of use.  Add the desired scent to the odor of sweat and it’s not a great combination.  That is easily avoided by just saying “No, thanks” when my students ask if I want to sniff  their smencil.

This year I gave a bunch of them away with Christmas gifts.  I had to choose scents for people who don’t live close to me, but I let those who visited choose their own. It’s always fun to watch.  Everyone does the exact same thing.  First they look at all the choices, then pop off each lid (they come in a protective tube) and sniff.  Then they are put into YES/NO piles and the second round of sniffing begins.  No surprise here…few people choose the dreaded chocolate smencil, which I put firmly in the same category as chocolate scratch ‘n sniff stickers. Yes, the ones I used to put on F papers because they smelled awful.

Onto the Swedish Meatballs.  I am using a recipe from Alton Brown and it looks fairly straight forward.  They sound yummy and I just hope they taste as good as I think they should.

I’ve gotten into the habit of buying fruit at Sam’s on Sundays and cutting it all up for the week (or two depending on how much fruit I get).  It’s nice to have fresh fruit every day and I make a decent size portion of fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, blueberries and strawberries (which have not been great lately, but I keep hoping!)

I also got a salad spinner for Christmas this year and I can’t believe how much I use it.  I buy two big bunches of green leaf lettuce each week, and wash, chop and spin it dry.  Then I put it in a large plastic container with paper towels on the top and bottom to keep the moisture to a minimum.  The lettuce stays incredibly fresh and viable for up to two weeks.  It’s crazy.  I used to use a lot of those bagged salads, but I found that whatever chemical they used to preserve them made me sick.  Even with washing it off, I can’t handle it well.  I only get them now if the bulk lettuce looks terrible.

more later,