I just got back on her website after not being able to visit and get inspired for months. They let me change my user name and viola! This is the perfect website for domestic goddesses like myself.

Make this:
Spice-Infused Simple Syrup
Makes about 3/4 cup
1 cup sugar
4 whole black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 strip (2 1/2 inches) orange zest

1. Bring sugar, 1 cup water, the peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon stick, star anise, and zest to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. For milder flavor, remove star anise, and discard; simmer 10 minutes more. Remove from heat. Let cool completely. Pour through a sieve into a bowl; discard solids. Syrup can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 1 month.

To make this:

A Fall Mixer

Celebrate seasonal spices with a simple syrup infused with cinnamon, cloves, star anise, orange peel, and black peppercorns. The syrup, which has a taste and fragrance reminiscent of a holiday dessert, can be stirred into tea, coffee, or sparkling cider. Or make a cocktail redolent of apple, citrus, and spice: Mix 1 tablespoon of the syrup with 1 tablespoon Calvados and 1/2 cup sparkling cider; garnish with a curl of fresh orange peel.

I got the best kind of email this morning from my good friend Karin. She and her boyfriend Michael are engaged! It’s sort of a whirlwind romance, though they have known each other 5 yrs, but only through the web and telephone. She decided to go meet him in North Carolina about five months ago and sparks flew! So they have been traveling back and forth from Illinois to NC to see each other. Her engagement ring was her grandmom’s-it’s about 58 yrs old-so beautiful. I wish them much happiness.

Ok, you probably have strange dreams, correct? Now why would I dream about my late grandmom Ruth and me at a stock broker office with cans of coins, purses of money and ‘Mom mom’ telling me to ‘buy the figs?’ Stop laughing, I’m serious! And my grandmom only tried to sell a mail order item once-the Stanley steamer (which actually got popular within the last decade, I have one and think of her everytime I use it). ‘Mom-mom’ never went to a stock broker either! What’s with the figs anyway? She ate prunes, no figs. ; )
TV wise…
I am hooked on the rebroadcast of ‘Six Feet Under’ on Bravo cable. They show about 3 in a row on Sundays. These are 5 yr old shows, but I like all the characters and their strange behavior. Rachel Griffiths is now on the ABC show ‘Brothers and Sisters’ which I also watch. I should get off the computer to watch ‘Iron Chef America’ which is airing now. If anything inspires me to just experiment with what I have at hand in the kitchen, that show does!

BTW, Barbaro, the race horse is getting the cast off his leg soon-after over 5 months. He’s at an area hospital and it was touch and go for a while. The news just updated on him.

I have joined the Pay It Forward Challenge:The first five people to respond to this post (via the comments section) will get some form of “art” made by me. It will be a hand crafted item made from sewing, crocheting, stitching, decoupage-just about anything. I will try to make the item something special just for you. After you comment, please email me your snail mail address (to diadsie at comcast dot net). It will likely take me a few months to get them made and out (beginning in January) If you sign up, you then need to post the challenge in your blog to continue the fun!

Could you say a prayer for my sister-in-law Colleen’s family? Her dad passed away this morning (11-6). It was expected, but it’s still so hard to finally have it happen for her.

I thought I’d give you all a break-lol
Busy on Friday-my van got an oil change and two new tires. No reports of mice. I check the door jam daily and I think the varmint realized it had to move or be moved! Sean was nice enough to go the the Firestone place. We got pizza and did a little shopping-Marshall’s, Michael’s Craft (me that is, Sean went in Old Navy) and Target. I got some cute marked down Halloween stuff at Marshalls. I tried to get one marked down even more as it needed repair, but the girl just wouldn’t do it, so I left it there. I told her no one else would be willing to repair it and that they would probably be tossing it. She had a tiff with the manager as she waited on me-great timing!
Yesterday Brian hooked up the bagger to the mower. It had to be put together first. It worked great the first time and then it got clogged the second run through. He got up leaves that would have before taken him 2 hours-now only about 10 minutes!
We ate dinner at Wendy’s-it was pretty bad. Don’t get the cheddar bacon burger-the cheddar is horrible-it didn’t taste like real cheese at all. Mom went to her Wendy’s and said the food was bad too!
We then headed for Wally World as I needed a printer cartridge and paper and some. I spent the evening looking at a craft magazine and working on a cute cross stitch piece of a little boy making a snow angel.
So nothing too exciting, but that’s life most of the time. : )

The Democrats blame Bush and the war in Iraq-if you vote for any Republicans, ‘you are following the Bush herd’-one ad actually shows a herd of cows.
The Republicans say many of the Democrats are slamming them for being in favor of the war. They also say the Democrats are all for illegal aliens (millions of them!) getting into the country and stealing funds for social security, etc. Okay, that definitely isn’t a new thing-illegals have been sneaking over the borders for years. I want to know what they ALL are doing to protect us from security threats-like 9-11. And I think most people have their minds set, so why waste millions of dollars on the lame campaign ads? I know I will vote for Ed Rendell because he’s a proven politician. How many governors do you see singing the Eagles football fight song and tailgating with the common folk? Arnold?
Rick Santorum is worried because Bob Casey, Jr (he’s dropped the junior) is running for senator. Casey’s dad was the governor in the 80s. I personally can’t stand Santorum or a fellow Penncrest high graduate Curt Weldon who has been a congressman for years and years. Weldon has his wife sticking up for him in an ad!
So I say, give us a break! I hate your stupid ads. We get so confused and fed up, we want to hit the mute button during every commercial break. Sean says he doesn’t even feel like voting. Bombard us on Monday-the day before, not for a month. And we have to listen to campaign ads for New Jersey and Delaware too! My nerves are frazzled!!
BTW, I really don’t give a ‘s’ about what John Kerry said. BUT, if you are going to make such a statement, get it correct in the first place (like Bush never makes mistakes in his public speeches). You should have known all the conservatives would jump down your throat over it.

My one brother says that all politicians are slime balls anyway.

Check out the awesome music box found here:
Krazy dad has really undone himself! Be sure to check out all the variations.

I put away most of my outdoor decorations yesterday. I have a lot of them and they go in crates or buckets. The only things I washed off were the water pumps from the pond and the bird bath. Everything else looked okay. When I take them out again in the spring and they look too faded, etc, I’ll just toss them and look for others on sale. I was sitting resting on the bench (we had high 70s-real Indian Summer weather) and of course I can’t think of one thing I had out this year that’s more than 5 yrs old. Those things just don’t last. I had to throw away my cute little green cart (that I assembled) because the bottom rotten out. I placed all the things in the shed and Brian had put in some large items like the glider and table, so I couldn’t get them pushed in the corner. We have mice that get in there and phew-the smell. Mice are a pain. I found one making a nest in the corner of the door jam on the van! And that was in the parking lot of the shopping center-eek! I hope I ditched him on the 23 mile drive to my mom’s on Tuesday.
It’s cooler today and I am off to the store. We all love to snack (Bri and my downfall) and the only snack food we have are pretzels. I’ll eat a few, but I like them with mustard and won’t eat mustard at 10 at night.

Oh! And Happy Birthday to my friend Annemarie in the Netherlands! I mailed a little something for you. That was her cross stitched piece I just finished up.

I never smoked-I tried smoking a few times, not my addiction-chocolate is! Anyway, I hope that if you smoke or know someone who does, that you can really try your best to quit or help. Two of my brothers tried, and one was successful (not sure if my brother in Florida has tried again, but I heard he was a vegetarian; but I think quitting smoking would be more beneficial to him). I saw this photo and was saving it to share on blog. Makes quite a statement don’t you think?