Spiced Nuts

(updated below)

I am not a food blogger, but these are so freaking good, I had to share. I am invited to a BBQ tomorrow for the 4th of July holiday. It is a standing invitation with a friend's family and I am never expected to bring anything but myself. Today, though, my friend jokingly said that everyone was required to bring something and then I realized that maybe I should. Knowing I have to work tomorrow before the party, it would have to be something that can be made ahead of time and stored in the tiny fridge at work. I was thinking about what I would want to eat at a party and I started to think about the Chocolate Bar and all the yummy things they offered on the cheese platters. So, I made my own cheese platter. I bought various kinds of cheese slices, some nice crackers, toasted some Bosnian bread and some nuts for spiced nuts. Mmm spiced nuts! I actually had a recipe from a long ago Camp Jeep, but some where in the moving I seem to have lost it. Food Network to the rescue! This is a recipe from Emeril and I've been "tasting" them all night to make sure they're all right. ;)

I didn't think about taking pictures until the end, so this is the last few minutes of folding the nuts into the glaze.

The Bosnian bread that I ruined under the broiler, apparently Rachel Ray and I DO have something in common. (Yes, I really do watch too much Food Network!)

Smoothed it out to cool

Yummy! Sweet and salty with a spicy kick!
It didn't turn out like the ones at the Chocolate bar, but I'm not sure if it's just the recipe or the fact that I multiplied the recipe by 4.
(It's a big family, but I'll be eating these for weeks, which is A-Ok with me!)

Update: The nuts and cheese platter were a hit but I was greeted periodically with,"Oh Bri, your nuts are great." and "Excellent job with the nuts, Bri!" Yes, we are all a bunch of 12 year old boys. (Even my friend's grandmother!)

A Tidbit That is Too Many Characters for Twitter

I was sitting in Blueberry Hill (Chuck Berry's restaurant) a couple of nights ago and I kept hearing this very distinctive laugh. I felt like I knew this person, but I couldn't remember who it was, or tell where exactly the laugh was coming from....until it hit me. Duff from Charm City Cakes! It wasn't actually him, but I'm thinking that I watch too much late night Food Network.

Even if you don't watch LOST, this is hilarious!

One More Thing Because It's Not Like I Need Sleep or Anything

I was talking with someone at work today and the conversation went something like this....

Her, talking to someone else: Was it Darrell?

Me: And his brother, Darrell?

Her: Ha! I know! That will never stop being funny to me.

Me: I was talking to someone one day and they said something about their cousin Darrell and I said "And your other cousin, Darrell?", but they just stared at me blankly!

Her: How can you not get the joke?

Me: Exactly! Did you not SEE television as a child?! Come on, people, it's comic GENIUS!

Hot Gay Kisses (or how Greys' Anatomy prompted me to once again bare my soul to the internets)

I can't wait to see the Google searches that find this post. Hee.

I love that TV is back to normal and how great is it that Grey's and LOST are on the same night? Grey's is back to the amazing show it was at the beginning and I have a confession to make.

The kiss between the two soldiers was desperate and passionate and full of pain and fear. It felt very real, which is not the norm between actors, at least I don't think so. Also, it was HOT. Full on HAWT. ;) I bring this up, because it started me thinking about a "quirk" of my personality that can give me trouble in public, one that I often hide from others. (How many of these little quirks do I have, you ask? I'm only getting started.)


If you knew me in "real" life, you would probably know that I have a small problem watching movies with comedy based on the embarrassment of the characters. If you and I are close you would know that it goes much deeper than that. I have a hard time watching other people express emotion, whether it's in real life or on the magic box we call television. I can't watch others cry without crying. I get terribly angry at fictional injustice. But, I have the biggest problem with embarrassment. (my friend Sarah is reading this right now and nodding her head emphatically) This little quirk has grown to a full blown phobia in the last few years. What used to make me vaguely uncomfortable, now makes me almost physically ill. Yeah. am. FREAK.

I first realized that I had a problem when I would change the channel away from or fast forward through Friends when one of the characters was about to do something stupid (Joey) or feel really embarrassed because of something they had done (usually Ross). This was fine when I was alone but when I was watching with my boyfriend, it was all I could do not to snatch the remote right out of his hands. PLEASE! for the LOVE OF GAWD! Don't make me SEE this!!!! Then, one day he caught me fast forwarding and I had to confess.

I CAN'T WATCH THE EMBARRASSMENT!!! And I do mean CAN'T. Can not. Can't (getting the picture?) My heart starts to race, my face gets hot, I scrunch down in my seat and cover my face, cringing until it's over. I'd much rather fast forward or change the channel. Unfortunately, that is not really an option every time. So what do I do? I avoid. I won't see a movie in the theater that I think is full of humor brought on by embarrassment. (Dumb and Dumber, She's the Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) If enough people tell me how good a movie is, I'll rent it and watch BY MYSELF to save others from the crazy. I avoid sitcoms for the most part. (That's right, I've never seen The Office other than bits and pieces that made it obvious that this show is NOT FOR ME. Great for others, NOT FOR ME.)

The problem with my little "problem" is that it is so hard to explain WHY it is a problem at all. I don't KNOW why I can't watch others be embarrassed. I don't KNOW why it has gotten worse over time rather than better. I don't KNOW where it came from. I KNOW it's not logical. I KNOW it's funny to others. I UNDERSTAND why my friends make fun of me about it. It's annoying as HELL. But. It's me. That is all.

My Very Own Episode of 24

I wore a new pair of sandals to work for my shift today. Can we say stupid? And ouch?

So, I was already running late to work today (forgot to eat lunch, had to stop at 7-11 for a soda and a snickers bar. mmm, snickers!) and, of course when I exited the interstate onto Lindbergh, I was unpleased to see bumper to bumper traffic. As I was inching forward, trying to make it the FEET to the mall entrance, firetrucks were shoving their way through to get to Toys R Us, which already had a couple of firetrucks and police cars out front. (Hmm, car fire?) I inched forward and snickered at the morons who kept getting in the way and yelling at the asshat who nearly hit the woman in front of me. I finally noticed the blinking traffic light ahead that was causing the backup (why, yes, I AM observant!)
As I watched, more and more police cars were weaving their way through the intersection, confusing people and running around like chickens with their heads cut off and in the back of my mind I heard the beep. beep. beep. beep. of the opening credits of 24. I wouldn't have been surprised if Keifer Sutherland showed up and commandeered my car (except that it is a piece of shit and not exactly car chase material).
Now I was curious and I noticed more police cars and firetrucks in front of Best Buy and again across the street in front of Macy's. Oh, it's ON now, nobody messes with MY mall, even if I have to call CTU myself, Jack Bauer better get his ass down here and fix it! At this point, I'm half expecting to be turned away from the mall all together, but other than another police car at the entrance I use, trying to look all official, nothing happened and I walked right in.
I sent a twitter about this unusual scene and tried to find out what was going on. No one inside seemed to be concerned and the only sign that anything was happening was the closed doors of Macy's and the darkness inside. I walked up to a man sitting at the cookie stand and asked him what was going on. This is what he said. "Oh, the power went out and they're trying to figure out what happened." W. T. F.??!! A power failure caused all that drama going on outside?! I was expecting a bomb threat or anthrax or something, but power failure?! How does that make any sense?!
Disappointed and suspicious, I went into work and related the depressing tale. And then my cell phone battery died, so I couldn't even tell anyone what I had learned. I still think the whole thing was fishy and I'm willing to bet that Jack was in Macy's torturing a terrorist. Makes more sense than a power failure in three stores that requires the services of half a dozen firetrucks and twice that many police cars. Just saying. ;)

Update!
News story on ksdk.com here....that still makes no sense. Smoke reported at all those stores...on the same street but not really close to each other? Fishy. Just saying.

The producers of LOST are trying to kill me!!!!

I just finished watching LOST on my TIVO and OMFG! I just...Claire...and then she wasn't...but then Sayid....oh, Sayid he played you and I knew it....and the time travel (that was definitely time travel and you can't convince me otherwise) and Jack...I KNEW it was appendicitis, my Dad did the exact same thing and we are STILL making fun of my Mom for insisting it was the flu and he was being a big baby...Yea Bernard and his skills.....Hugo is the best....oh my god, the smoke monster killing the bad guys, AWESOME...poor what's her name (what IS her name? Damn, I forget!)...the time thing is confusing me still, can't figure out when is the future and when is the past...man, really proves that whole time is relative thing, huh?

Have to be up in...uh, 6 hours...going to bed.

My thoughts on the latest episode of LOST, let me show you them

Let me say first, if you have not seen this week's episode of LOST, go see it already! I don't care what's up first on the TIVO, YOU. MUST. WATCH. But, if you haven't yet, may ye not go further, there WILL be spoilers. Oh, yes, there will be spoilers. Let me say second, if you have no interest in the TV show, LOST, this is not the entry for you, feel free to skip this one.
** denote flashbacks


Previously on LOST:
Locke killed Naomi with a machete. Ouch.

The Losties were split on whether or not to take the frieghties up on their offer of rescue. Notably, Sawyer, Claire and Hurley went with Locke to avoid the freighties.

Jack, Kate, and Hurley make it off the island. They are part of the group, The Oceanic 6, which in the flashforwards, are the only people to make it back to the world...so far. So, still don't know who the other three are.

Hurley is seeing Charlie in the present(?). Charlie is dead. Dead Charlie is PRETTY. Ok, I get why Evangeline Lily likes him so much. Still short, though. Bummer.

Hurley feels safer in the mental institution. I would hug Hurley if I could. I get it Hurley, I do.

Hurley apologized to Jack about going with Locke and promised he wouldn't tell. What, exactly, we're not sure.

Scary tall black guy visits Hurley, says he's from Oceanic, and offers Hurley a better institution. Hurley says no thanks. Scary guy doesn't have any ID and asks Hurley, "Are they still alive?" Huh.

So....tonight:
Tonight's episode is freightie-centric.

The freighties' helicopter is going down. They bail out.

*A salvage operation finds Oceanic 815 in a deep trench off the coast of Bali. Since we all know that's not where it went down, we are left to wonder how that plane got there, or rather, who put it there and why? I really can't think of a reason for that sort of hoax, especially something so elaborate. You see later in the episode that they put BODIES in the plane to give the passengers' families closure. Can you fucking BELIEVE that?! That is some evil ass shit and I can't wait to find out why they did it.*

*The first freightie, Dan, is watching the news in Massachusetts as they talk about the discovery and sort of crying. He tells his girlfriend/wife/sister/whatever that he doesn't know why he's upset. Er, okay.*

Sawyer is my boyfriend. Kate's gonna have to fight me for him. (Hey, I could totally kick a fictional woman's ass for the love of a fictional man, but only if he's as HAWT as Sawyer.) Sawyer loses his temper and beats somebody down. I love it when Sawyer loses his temper and beats somebody down. Especially when it's Ben he's giving the beat down to.

That Locke's Dad stole his kidney is what saved him when Ben shot him last season. Can you say awesome?

*The second freightie is a ghostbuster? And a con artist? Ahhhhh, ASSHOLE, should have given Grandma the money. On this island that you find yourself? It has a monster, made of black smoke, and it kills bad guys, even if they're sorry. Although, cool, a psychic. (He talks to dead people.) Anyway, his name is Miles. Miles is an asshole.*

Sawyer is my boyfriend, but Sayid is my fiance. Yummies.

*Third freightie is Charlotte. She's some sort of Indiana Jones. We see her in Tunsinia. She interupts a dig where they found the skeleton of a polar bear. In the freaking desert, people. Even weirder? It had a Dharma collar. So, the island is not the first place Dharma experimented with polar bears in strange places. Interesting. Charlotte knows something about Dharma and she doesn't beleive that 815 has been found. Hmm, does she think Dharma is the perpetrator of the hoax?*

Charlotte makes the mistake of telling Locke that she is wearing a tracking device. Locke puts it on Vincent and sends him running out into the jungle.

*Freightie number four, is a pilot, named Frank. He sees them showing the pilot's body on TV. Must have been hard to find that body, you know, since the monster ATE HIM!!! He knows it's not the pilot, he knows him. In fact, he should have been flying that day. Oops, survivors guilt. Don't worry, dude, the island did it, nothing you could have done.*

Ben shoots Charlotte!! Yeah, that'll save you. Dumbass. Luckily she was wearing a bullet-proof vest. Interesting. Guess she was expecting trouble.

Frank is a pretty good pilot, cuz he managed to land the helicopter, even though he says it was hit by lightening. Good job, Frank.

*Naomi is getting briefed on "the team" by scary black guy. She's supposed to protect them on "the mission". Naomi knew that survivors are a possiblility even though scary guy insists, "There WERE no survivors of Oceanic 815. Don't ask questions, just do what you were hired for." Oops, I think she failed. That dude creeps me out. Seriously.*

Miles tries to call what sounds like McCastle. He can't come to the phone. (Scary guy?)

Frank is very familiar with the plane manifest. He knows Juliet's not from the plane. Miles is REALLY pissed off about that. Damn. What did Ben do this time?

Locke is ready to finally kill Ben. But, it seems he knows quite a lot about Charlotte. How exactly? Seems the freighties have a traitor in their midst. Ben knows they are there for him.

In the previews: Next week, we learn about about the next member of The Oceanic 6.

note: Spellcheck isn't working. Sorry if there are any obvious errors. Spelling is not my thing. Also, if you actually read this, thanks. I just love this show.

The Replacements

I'm a sucker for feel-good sports movies. I was flipping through the channels and just caught the end of The Replacements. One of my exs loves this movie and can't pass it by when channel surfing. For the next few minutes, it's his birthday today, so Happy 28th Birthday, darlin', hope it was a good one. I know that you hate celebrating your birthday, but you know that I don't care. :)

My newest project....

Using a big piece of plexiglass(thank you millwork guy from Home Depot!), I am making a faux stained glass window that will hang in my grandma's kitchen. (not the crazy one, the nice one who is a sport nut) I made one a few years ago for my Mom and my grandma decided she needed one, so I was informed over Christmas that I had been commisioned to create one with a rose (grandma's last name) as the central symbol. the plexiglass with pattern taped to the backside

the central symbol outlined and ready for color

This is what I did while watching all my tivoed epidsodes of Ace of Cakes. I love that show! I would totally be friends with those people. (except for Anna, she sort of worries me...I don't know) If you like the food network and find yourself drawn to cake like I am, try this show, you'll like it.

Can I just say how INCREDIBLY excited I am for this?