Cool News For Scrappers

It's been a really long time ... A lot has happened in the world ... Even more in our personal lfe ... But I just had to share this for any readers who scrap:

You know when people look at your scrap book pages and then comment on how they would "love a copy" of that photo that's been glued/adhered down?

Now at Archivers (check their website for your nearest location) you can get full sized 12 inch copies ... Yes you can get a copy of the entire page! You can even get it shrunk down to a smaller 8 inch size if you want to make a sort of "souvenir" album.

I called my local store and they said that copies start at $3.49 a sheet ... I would assume (but I could very well be wrong) that to shrink it might cost a tad more.

I can see where this would come in handy for weddings - one main album for the bride/groom, and copies for the parents and the people who stood up - maybe even the officiate if they are a personal friend ...

Maybe that favorite aunt who couldn't make it ...
One for each of the kids later in your life ...
Or grandiose ...

How about baby books? Make the main one for your family and copies for each set of grandparents ...
Ones for the Godparents ...

What about bridal/ baby showers? Same thing ... Main one for mom/dad/baby ... Some for the grandparents .... Maybe a book that not only has pictures of things like baby's sonogram but also photos of mom &dad as kids thru the years for comparison ... What a precious gift this would be! Just make copies of the parents baby pictures so that the grandparents can get their photos back ... Most grandparents will have them either loose, in some of those albums where the photos just slide in, or in one of those albums that had the tiny sticky dot pages ...

HINT: if you do have photos on those old photo books with the sticky dots,be very careful removing them ... after being there for 20-30 years we found that they will be PERMENATELY stck and maybe damaged while trying to remove them from the page.

Check at Archivers (sorry but they are the experts on this one) and see if they have a product to dissolve the glue without damaging the photos.

I mean I know there is something out there - it's like Goop-Off or lighter fluid ( BUT DON'T USE THOSE) but it's a liquid that comes in a nozzle bottle that you squeeze on and it will gently eat the glue but the photo has minimum damage to it.

Any how ...

Just wanted to share about the copies ...

I think it's a wonderful idea ... Even if it is expensive - you are probably only to need/want this type of service so price will be a smaller factor in the long run.

Review: Cropper Hopper Sticker Binder

Cropper Hopper sticker Binder
Herrschners Scrapbook Sale
$8.99 (plus free shipping)

This is the Cropper Hopper Sticker Binder ... I bought mine at Herrschner's for $8.99 - which is more than half the price of other places online that I've seen it.

As you can see the purpose of it is to hold stickers .... obviously the stickers shown are not included ... this is a stock photo that all the vendors use from the company ...

what is not said by anyone is that NONE of the POCKETS are sold with it either.

For the price, $25 at the highest, you get an EMPTY folder.

The binder itself is thin plastic with a nylon cover. It has a zippered closure so that if you have stickers slide out of their pocket they won't get all over. Inside there are two mesh pockets to hold any of those things you need to get to quickly, or instructions you want to keep on hand. Folder/holders, had they been included, are held in place by three large metal binder rings, but there is no pull-tab to open them so that after a while the rings will be pulled out of shape.

If it were not for the fact that I got this for half price, and free shipping, there is no way this would be worth the money ... it is about the size of, maybe a tad narrower, than a large cd/dvd holder .... which is cheaper than what some of the venders wanted.

The sticker pockets are available seperately in sets of 3 ... but that is a seperate review for later.

(((((0)))))

Ratings

Cost: *** because I got it on sale with free shipping, for full price it would have only gotten one star

Use: *** because I got the extra pockets because I have so many stickers, otherwise this would have also gotten just a single star

Value: * even with the pockets I bought seperately - this is simply not worth the money they want for it.

Single word to describe? Rip-Off (oh wait, I guess that's two)

Pea Pod Wine

Does anyone else remember the BBC import "Good Neighbors"? I think the original name was "Good Life"? on this show - they were eco-centric years before anyone else - the couple becomes completely self-sufficient ... well as close as they could get ... and part of that meant throwing nothing out and using things beyond their normal limits.

One of the things they made was Pea Pod wine ... everyone on the show would comment on how good it was -- well after they put their eyes back into the proper sockets since this stuff was so strong that everyone was knocked completely for a loop.

Well on the Today show this morning they "reviewed" ... that is they advertised ... an electric car called the Pea Pod. Its cute, looks kind of like a VW Bug with bigger windows and smaller trunk space.

I was rather excited about it ... it costs about 2 cents/mile to run and uses a regular 110 outlet (like you have in your house or apartment) no fancy charger necessary .... no having to go to a special station to get it. Cool.

It is supposed to be meant for short trips, like dropping the kids off at school, small grocery trips, etc. cool! I could go for that.

Maximum speed: 25 mph

WHAT?? Wait a minute ... so lets get this straight .... most city streets operate at 35mph unless otherwise marked, so if you use this car you will be going too slow causing driving issues (possibly getting a ticket - yes you can be ticketed for going too slow) - you could cause road-rage from people getting fed up with people making them late ... etc.

We live in an area where there simply is NO way to get to anything without going 55 mph -- there are no back roads or other access roads that could be taken to get to the store, to the high school, to the dr or dentist ... not with this car - it is IMPOSSIBLE under any circumstances.

they designed the thing to look like its smiling ... it was designed that way - what?

hey if it looks cute is one thing, making it look cute is kind of underhanded .... its made to 'trick' moms. The bug looks cute by accident, it was designed first and cute came after it ... not it was designed cute first and then focus on the rest came after wards.

Maximum miles/charge: 30 miles. well that's not that not bad.

Wait .... What?? so you can expect 1 hours worth of charge during the summer ... you can expect that to be even less during the cold winter months when you may find it unusable during extremely cold climates like ours where even cell phones take a hit in the cold.

charge time is 6 to 8 hours ... for 1 hour of power. It uses 6 batteries, and it is supposed to last 8 yrs (humm, wonder if they guarantee that? after all, car batteries and laptop batteries don't last as long as they say they should why should these ones?).

I hate the arrangement of the cable control - that is all the info I could get before the wrong button was pushed and the memory cleared out.

scary part of it all is --- this is supposed to be the new plan that Obama has hoping for. It will be released by Chrysler and should be out nationally by next year ... so one has to wonder if they are going to have to start lowering speed to match the cars anyways ....

why not just lower the speed limits now anyways???

oh yeah ... because people will find that going slower will save too much $ & lower emissions and then they won't feel the need to buy the 'new' cars which you can bet will be soon take the same path of digital television ...

that is, soon you will have NO OTHER CHOICE by the time Obama leaves office.

If the vehicles can match the performance of the gas powered machines - let them compete ... steam still holds the best bet in my mind with electric heaters to produce the vapor needed for power ... it would even use 'grey water' ... there of course is still issues with colder climates though.

maybe a car that runs on hooch?? at least the syphoners would be easier to smile :-)

Missing post

Hmmm, I'm missing a post about the Domino Pizza sandwiches.

Thought for sure I had posted something about it ... rats

Hubby out of town, and the norm is to order pizza so he has some when he gets back ... maybe I will order sandwiches again and redo the review.

Interesting though -- I wonder where that post went .... I hope I didn't post it on one of the Hogwarts blogs!! I didn't see it on any of my other blogs - so it could be a possibility.

OOPS!!

Review: The Marine

well okay -- its not exactly a 'review' .... I caught the last bits on FX network and had to write about the stupidest scene I think I have ever seen in a movie ... and trust me I've seen many.

So this former Marine needs to rescue his wife from a group of bad guys -- there's the movie in a nutshell (main bad guy was the guy from Terminator 2, the Marine is some wrestler).

Apparently sometime before I got there he was caught by some drug dealers who think he's a cop so they have him bound to a chair ... meanwhile in the nearby woods/swamp the bad guys are trying to find a place to hide from the cops ....

In a totally unbelievable scene the Marine gets away from the drug dealers (reality check -- real dealers probably would have shot him before asking if he were a cop or not) .... but still this isn't the scene ....

Its after the Marine gets away and is going after his wife .... a police copter goes overhead and he starts to run headlong, full tilt thru the woods ....

he jumps over branches, downed trees, etc -- while carrying AN OPEN UNSHEATHED KNIFE!!! Big honking nasty thing that I thing even Rambo would have been afraid of .... oh yeah that's believable.

I'm sorry .... I think a Marine would know better than to run with an exposed blade.

BTW, his wife??? She played Kimber on "Nip/Tuck" - the former porn star who seduced, married, and bore the child of the son of the man she was going to marry but she got kidnapped on her wedding day and had all the plastic surgery reversed by her captor ....

yeah, this is her type of movie.

WTF?

Note to self: If you are going to write a Prequel ... you may wish to watch the actual series first so you know a few things about the characters first. such as ... Kirk did not have a fling with Uhura, this was addressed in the series with the telepathic Romanesque people ... Spock would not have attacked Kirk, it would be illogical, and he went thru his control issues as a kid - remember the whole scene in 'Search for Spock' when the vulcan chick teaches him to control himself? the real ... no the prototype Spock would have been taught all this as a child - coverd they the animated series ...

When did Kirk ever refer to himself by his full name where he wasn't do so for a court record?? In fact if anything he would have said 'James T. Kirk' not 'James Tiberius Kirk' (although there is controversy about that middle name too) ...
And why was he driving a car in the Grand Canyon? he grew up in Iowa and didn't get to see the world until he left for the academy (several TOS eps & movies)

This will be going down in the books as the worst sequel EVER when it comes out ... and that's just from the preview. From what I've seen, this could kill the series.

REVIEW: Documentary

If you get a chance, watch the History Channels program 'Black Blizzard' about the American Dust bowl.

While its interesting, I really hate the way they seemed to blame the farmers for everything, even though they tried to wrap it in the blanket of it was just the practices of the time ... but it really comes down to 'farmers are to blame for the nation's woe' - and its a feeling you can still feel today ... well maybe not you, but try being a farmer and you will feel it.

It did go about explaining how the natural prarie grasses were destroyed by farmers ... how the farmers made money during the first decade or so (how dare they) ... and then how they didn't take care of the land.

once they get past all the blame and actually get into the story of the dust storms - then it got interesting with first hand accts from people who lived thru it ... men & women ... most children at the time, but some oral traditions ... lots of old footage. Tons of dramatization.

Once super interesting part was when scientists created their very own dust storm, on a much smaller scale of course. They used great big fans like they use on hollywood sets ... bigger than the ones you see on the back of those swamp machines (like the one on "Gentle Ben") ...

they also talk to other scientists who have been studying why the soil was so fine at the time. i did notice that they weren't getting the lift of dirt like they wanted so they grabbed shovels to 'kick it up' ... I think this might be a no no, since the whole experiment was to see what would have happened.

some of the footage they used, I have not seen before - such as a farmer shoveling the dust away from the front of the house as if it were snow just so you could get out of the house ... they showed people deating the dirt that they couldn't avoid as it covered their food.

They even covered what was called Dust Pnuemonia at the time, but it was basically the Dust Bowls version of Black Lung Disease ... they had footage of the hospitals/triages set up at the time by the Red Cross to deal with all those effected - the majority of whom were children.

Then they got into the plague of insects that attacked the people & homes trying to escape the outside enviroment -- yuk, can't watch that part ... i really don't like creepy crawlies. But they also talked about the grasshoppers and the rabbits that plagued the area ... i didn't know about the rabbits but it makes sense.

After all rabbits are nothing about rodents, and every one knows that rodents can survive just about anything ... they are the cockroaches of the furry world.

It is a very interesting program and I highly recommend that anyone watch it ... as it could happen again so easily, even with the cloud seeding that they feel could prevent such a thing again.

Review: DVD = Road to Avonlea

This week we picked up the 4 disk set of 'Road to Avonlea' ... a spin off of the famous 'Anne of Green Gables' series which looks at the other families in the small Canadian village of Avonlea.

Three of the disks are double sided ... the other, which contains the pilot for the series, is single sided but while it did work in my DVD player it would not work on my DVD-RW computer player.


Right away we learn that Sara Stanley has as wonderful imagination as Anne Shirley, however unlike Anne in several ways ... starting with the fact that not only does she have a father at least but she also has a governess who has come to fill the void of her mother.

We also meet several of Sara's distant relatives -- her Aunt's Cordelia & Hettie (one sweet, one very much like Mirella), her cousin Andrew (extremely bright), and her cousin Felicity King (snooty to beat the band and 'enemy' of Sara for no good reason) ... there are several other relatives as well who you will meet in the show.

Sara spends much of her time getting even with Felicity and trying her best to get under the skin of Aunt Hettie for embarrassing her in front of her classmates and the belittling Hettie dishes out with a large ladle, whether she realizes it or not.

We began to watch this series on the Disney channel after the birth of our first child and it became a staple of our early married/parental life so having a set of episodes is like being able to relive those precious moments (when there was just one child trying to get my attention) ...

The set comes in a thick box but it seems to be wasted space when you open the box to find that it is just 4 disks and a single sheet of paper ... I had thought that since the case was so thick that there would have been a chapter card for each disk at the very least, a booklet about the series at the most.

I bought my set at Sam's Club for $39.88 plus tax ... although prices may vary in your area.

***************
10 out of 10 for family appropriateness ... the series has little to no violence and little strong language but does deal with such issues as bullying, teasing, injustice, and growing-pains.

Based on L.M. Montgomery's tale "The Story Girl" ... the link is to Project Gutenberg's free text copy ... some of the facts have been jumbled while keeping the characters ... such as in the book it is Felix and Bev who are going to live with their Aunt Cordelia who is married while their father goes to Rio de Janiero - yet in the series it is Sara who moves in with her maiden Aunt's due to her father being investigated for embezzlement.

However, Disney has done a wonderful job maiking a wonderful tale, I'm just thankful that they changed the name instead of trying to pass it as the same story.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
number of disks = 4
number of episodes = 13, plus early screen tests of the children, behind the scenes look, and credits.

price = $39.88 @ Sam's Club

Reality TV: Greatest American Dog

Okay so my hubby's best friend got us curious about this new show on CBS - America's Greatest Dog or Greatest American Dog, or something like that. Well I got really curious and decided to check out a couple of the previous episodes ... well the last one shocked me.

Why?

Well they had one dog attack another and not get expelled (which I believe he should have) and judging by all the other dog owners' responses I think they all would have supported it (except for the poor guy that got booted).

Actually my issue isn't so much the fight ... its that (a)blood was drawn and (b)the dog's owner didn't seem concerned one way or the other about it. Its not like the time that my husky got into a fight defending himself against my SILs dog who lunged at my tethered dog for no reason ... that was a self-defense bite that wound up bleeding, it was given as her dog was trying to pin my dog to go for its neck .... not this one was by the eye and no reason for the fight was evident (although it was a very quick scrap).

The second thing that shocked me was the judges reaction to how one handler handled her dog -- granted I thought she was being a bit rough at some places (clamping the dog's mouth till it yelped) -- but what got me was the judge who made the fuss about it.

I wish they had the embed code up for this one yet - I did d/l it to real vid but was afraid it would violate some copyright if I put it up here - anyways, Elan (Kenji's owner, Kenji is the biggest dog there) has a tendency of making a loud, annoying sound to correct the dog .... which the judge Victoria found really really annoying.

If you have EVER watched Victoria's show on Animal Planet (Its Me or the Dog) - she is using these loud annoying sounds ALL THE TIME (which is why I can't stand her) ... and here she is being so annoyed with it that it actually caused Elan/Kenji to get booted. Now granted that Kenji did break the sit/stay, but still it was NOT as bad as the woman who kept dressing her dog in full-length dresses! And then ARGUED with the judges over their comments...no no no...she should have been the one to go home.

There was one incident earlier where Kenji wanted to play with another dog during a challenge (not the one in front of the judges) where he growled ... and I think that is why he was eliminated. I think the judges wanted to get the Schnauzer out of there because they have a bad rep (they were after all bred to be police dogs and fighters) - but still I don't think the dog did anything that needed to be eliminated for.

The handler could be worked with to not make the annoying noises - but the one who dressed the dog ... I think the only reason she got to stay was because she played the sympathy card over her dog's recent operation ... I'm sorry but from what she said, and the way she acted she will ALWAYS dress that dog like a 'barbie doll'.

They let the wrong dog go in this episode.

I won't tell what happened this week in case someone is waiting to watch it ... but I'm not sure I will watch it again - I can't stand the judge.

I'm in the wrong business

Okay so daughter had a choncert at school yesterday and afterwards we went to 'Cold Stone Creamery' who moved into our area in the last year -- well okay we noticed it there this summer.

we got a bowl of ice cream - that is about maybe 2 cups (supposed to be 12 oz)? maybe less ... it was there "gotta have it" size; kids got the "love it" size (1 cup size)... anyways we could NOT believe the prices!

$5 for the 1 cup size and $6 for the 12 oz size -- so for our family we wound up spending over $30 on ice cream! Wouldn't have been so bad if it had actually been worth the money.
Don't get me wrong ... I'm not putting down the company ... I'm not a big Ice Cream eater - in fact other than strawberry and peppermint bon-bon I don't like it at all.

but out ice cream had chips of ice in it ... not crystals of ice - flat slabs on ice. It could have occurred during the mixing process as the gal (who put on a GREAT show, wish I had gotten video for you) had to dip the ice cream paddles in warm water to clean them.

It was really nice to see them work stuff into the ice cream, but the presence of the ice just pulled it all down for me .., well that and the Mint Mint Chocolate Chocolate didn't have as strong of a mint taste as I was expecting.

we got Strawberry Blonde for my older daughter and I got a taste of it -- that tasted like a strawberry cheesecake. I wasn't sure that the caramel would work with it, but it didn't taste bad (at least not the bit I got).

They have got to be cleaning up in the money dept.

Product Review: Coffee-Mate Chocolate Raspberry

OMGs!! If you know high-end chocolates you know that the raspberry filled one's are fantastic...this stuff tastes just like it.

I love this stuff. One tablespoon per cup...keep the sugar low (its sweet enough).

It is like drinking a cup full of lucious chocolate---YUM.

Highly recommended. Prices vary from place to place, but I paid about $4/32 oz. or about 85 servings (serving size 1 Tablespoon).

I found that the 'normal' cup size on these things is 6oz.....but most mugs are 10-12 oz so ou will have to double it.

Review - Earl Grey (Caribou)

Okay so I went to Caribou coffee with daughter to meet with friends and she could work on a health presentation.

Decided to give the Caribou teas a try--I chose Earl Grey.

I love Earl Grey....I love the smart taste of bergamot, I like the light taste of the black tea behind...I figured it was a safe bet for me.

The tea comes in the same cups as their coffee and if it hadn't been for the little tab on a string you would never have known it was tea.
So I sat down and took off the lid to add my sugar (1 tsp/6-8oz cup)...and found that it was not a regular tea bag but it looked very much like a coffee filter that was bundled up around the leaves and tied with the string.

I wish I had paid a little more attention to what she was doing to see if she made that bundle herself or if it was pre-made.

This had to be the worse cup of Earl Grey I had ever tasted.
There was very little bergamot flavoring...so little that it couldn't be tasted over the bitterness of the tea. It was only steeped for a few minutes, but it was really really bitter.

To me this is a sign of old tea---little flavoring, over-brewing.

I'm glad it was only $2 a cup or else I would have been really upset.

First the bag did not look like it held enough leaves in it for a large cup of tea (16 oz)...swollen the leaves took up less room than those of the traditional teabag--for a 16 oz cup they should have used 3 heaping tsps of dry leaves. I would estimate that the bag used 1 - 2 tsps.
I did go to their website and Caribou sells the premade canisters of 'tea balls'...so chances are it was not the brewista's fault.

The site does not say how many cups their container is supposed to make--so I'm just guessing that they figure, one bag all sizes--just brew longer for a bigger batch.

Well as any tea lover knows---it doesn't work that way....over brewing tea will simply make it bitter...and too much water will wash-out the flavor you wish to enjoy.

Ah-ha moment here!

Would I buy this again? No.
Was it worth the price? Yes. 16oz=$1.60

Final thoughts:
Caribou should stick with coffee---they don't know tea in my mind.
I will probably try some of their others...but I recommend that you steer away from the Earl Grey.

review - Cuisine Internationale Tea Ball Infuser

2" Tea Ball Infuser

$2.00(reg. price) @ mountain rose herbs

I love loose tea, but lets face it tea bags are more convienient. Thus the beauty of the infuser ball--its the best of both worlds.

I had not originally intended to use this for tea though, I bought it for cooking so I could easily remove herbs & spices from my dishes so the kids wouldn't know what I used.

What I like about this ball: it is stainless steel, it is 2" diameter (plenty of room for a cup of tea or pot of soup), the mesh is small so bits of leaves don't get in my cup, it is heavy enough to be a good 'dunker'--that is it want's to go under the water and not float on top.
What I thought needed some work: doesn't open wide enough for easy filling, flip latch is thin and can easily mis-shapen making it easy to open, hook at end of chain came crimped almost completely shut, chain could stand to be a little longer in my opinion (I like to loop the chain around the handle of the cup and hook it to itself)

Here it used and opened. This was enough for one mug of tea, notice that the leaves of the tisane (herbal tea) had plenty of room to swell - this is important to tea...the better the flow of water between the leaves the 'cleaner' the taste.
it cleaned up very nice although it was a bit of a bother to get the leaves off the screen (the tendency is to cling on).
I have used the infuser balls with the pierced metal before and was not pleased with the dust & impurities that would work their way thru I didn't notice this at all with the mesh. Although many of you may think it is due to a better quality tea--I truly believe the mesh is what made the difference...it is just finer.

Will I use it again---you betcha and for a variety of uses!!

Product Avoidance--trust me

Product Detail - Balboa Desserts 8" Mom's Fluffy Coconut Layer Cake

Okay they want $30 for an 8" cake. Granted it is a coconut cake...but you can probably do a better job or at least as good a job on your own.

Just make your favorite cake mix, then frost with 7-minute frosting made with coconut extract-don't worry about imperfections because the whole outside gets covered with shredded coconut...press it into the frosting (if you toast the coconut it will bring out the flavor but will not have that nice white look). Allow the frosting to set up a little bit before cutting so the coconut doesn't all fall off before serving.

I'm sorry but that is just too much money for a cake....especially an 8" cake!!
I will post a entry will a link to a nice recipe in a bit.

Review - QVC Tea Server Ball

So you may notice in my SVTea/Eve's Garden review the little tea pot.
I got this for Christmas for myself and picked up one for each of my girls for their 'hope chests' but of course my oldest daughter had to use hers right away.

The Tea Server Ball purchased from QVC.com cost:$11.75, +shipping & tax for first in order, each additional pot in same order get for $8.75, +1/2 shipping, +full tax.

Here is a shot of it assembled--it even comes with a scoop for measuring out your tea. Very cute. Available in 7 colors.

It comes apart for easy cleaning--but hand wash only!

I was kind of disappointed when I got them because I found that many of the things I take for granted with my other pots I can't do with this and the one thing I thought I could do with this I can't. Namely:

Hand wash only (all parts), no boiling water (let it cool before adding, even if you heat pot first), no microwave---what???

That's right no microwave, even if you remove the metal screen--the glass just can't take it.

The scoop is small for my hands and makes this feel almost like a toy.

The tea gets cold fast because the glass is not very thick...not even as thick as the cheapest coffee pot I've seen.

I do like that it comes all a part for cleaning and that the screen can be removed for when I wish to brew with tea bags. having the plastic lip for the basket come out seperately is very handy too for cleaning.

If you are going to drink the tea fast...go for it. Me I like to linger on my tea....I will probably still use my small metal pot (no longer available) which stays hot for about 1/2 hour. I mean its not a bad little teapot...just not what I was looking for.

NOTE:

During the video presentation on the QVC site you will hear the inventor of this pot make a statement that implies this pot will prevent bitter tea---this is not true. Most 'bitter' tea is simply over brewed.

To prevent 'bitter' tea you can do one of two things:

1. shorten your brew time.

2. brew for 1 minute then dump out the liquid, add more water to already wet leaves and continue brewing again.

The sharpness of black tea tends to come out within the first minute, the caffine with in the first two--if tea gives you the jitters, try brewing for 2-3 minutes, dump the liquid, add more water and begin brewing again (using same leaves)

Review - SVTea...Eve's Garden

First it has been a while since I have done a product review so indulge me while I share with you a nice find from several years before I ever got a blog....

Simpson & Vail, Inc. a wonderful tea company who has been around for nearly 80 years.

I had never ordered tea via internet before so I was a tad leary, but they are a wonderful company who were very helpful and seemed to enjoy answering my questions on quality and shipping time....I was so impressed that I easily ordered enough tea to start my own tearoom!

They have a wide variety of tea, coffee, food stuffs, and teaware (pots, cup sets, mugs, infusers, pot warmers, linens, etc.) but I found them for their teas. So it is one of their teas which I will review for this posting....

This is Eve's Garden. It has Red Clover blossoms, pau d'arco, chamomile, strawberry leaves, damiana, spearmint, vitex berries, cramp bark, nettle leaf, and licorice root.

here is a better shot of the color of the brew and its colors

now I like a sweet tea, usually 1 tsp/cup. To brew use 1 tsp per cup of brew and brew for at least 5 minutes but as much as 10 minutes(I like mine at 5 minutes), and I use my coffee maker to heat the water so I don't have to wait for it to cool too much before I drink it.

It has a very delicate flavor...rather mellow. It reminded me very much of chamomile although it is different (its kind of hard to explain). You can not taste the licorice as I thought I would be able too...nor the nettle....nor the mint for that matter (which is unusual, mint is so overpowering). The purpose of this tea is to help with monthly cramping and other needs (although they say it has "herbs that are noted to tone and strengthen a woman’s system") although I think it could probably use a bit of rose hip and/or rose petals for flavor, color, and vitamin C.

I like it and will more than likely use it quite a bit. My daughter swears by it during her 'trying days' every month. It is very reasonably priced.

4 oz. (pictured) for $5.95 .....it should make approximently 56 cups, that's about 10 1/2 cents a cup!!! Much cheaper than those boxes of pills.

Review -- TeaLovers Boutique (Free Plug)

Tea Party Essentials : Tea Lover's Boutique, Where Tea Lovers Shop

Okay---for us tea lovers out there---there's a great podcast called "TeaCast" from the Tea Lovers Room/Tea Lover Chick.

If you love tea you will really appreciate this podcast. it isn't "snooty" but it is informative.

But this link isn't for the show---the Tea Lover Chick has tried to take the run-around out of setting up a tea party/gathering by doing the runninf for you...and last year opened her own supply shop.

I love her stuff....probably too much....she has many unique items that I have not been able to find any where else---such as the inside-out heart tea cup sets.
I did see a single cup/saucer being offered online last year for about $30...but she offers a set of 6 cups & 6 saucers in a wonderful storage/gift/display case for $49--well actually she offers two seperate sets.
The first is done in rainbow colors (a more contemporary/'now' look) and the second is in a more traditional pink/cream with gold accents... in fact the entire handle is covered in gold (talk about luxurious!).

She has got everything you could possibly need for a tea party--including the tea.

Remember tea parties aren't just for kids---it was started by adults and we should claim it back. Need some ideas? Check out her selection of tea based books, she even has issues of 'Tea Time Magazine'...if you haven't heard of it, its worth the $5 to check out a copy!

Product Review-Nonni's Gingerbread Biscotti

My kids and I absolutely love biscotti....be it with coffee, cocoa or tea...we love having a cookie that is made specifically dipping. We are however fussy...we want a cookie that can be dipped for a 1second count and come up nice and soft.

We have found some that need to be dipped as long as 5 seconds-that's an eternity in the cookie world-and we've even found some that in less than a second it is falling apart in your cup and leaving sludge in the bottom...yuk!

Now you have to understand that any cookie you dip into a liquid will leave some sort of residue, its just the nature of the beast...what I'm talking about here is having a glop of it fall off the cookie...or even worse, have the cookie break in half and you pull up the stub of the cookie...that is just sad.

If you don't know about biscotti now is a great time to go over a primer....just a quick over-view. First the cookie is made into a large loaf and cooked just long enough to firm it up; the loaf is then removed from the heat, allowed to cool slightly then cut again (generally at an angle) in slices like a loaf of bread; these slices are then place upon a cookie sheet and the cookies are cooked again at a low enough heat not so much to cook them as to dry them out. Once cooled the cookies should be firm but dry...nothing you would eat on its own...the cookies are made for dipping...literally.

Okay that said....

Nonni's Biscotti, Gingerbread Macadamia flavored cookies.
Found them at Sam's Club, $9.95/26 cookies (not cheap, but they are only out for a limited time), they come in a plastic container with a screw top lid.

Nutritional Info:
Serving Size: 1 cookie
Calories: 170//40 calories from Fat
total fat 4.5 gr....0 trans fat, 2.5gr saturated fat
14g of sugar
Protien 2gr
Calcium 2%
Iron 4%
(see its healthy!)

Okay single word: YUM

These are delicious! They are a light orangy tan color and look like they would taste more like pumpkin bread than gingerbread (which I always associate with a deep brown color); they have a fair amount of macadamia mixed within the cookie, though none on top; the bottom edge of the cookie is graced with a nice coating of white ganache-type frosting...its not gooey like regular frosting but not too firm like chocolate...although I wish it had been a little thicker, you can see the bottom of the cookie peeking thru but that's getting a tad too knit-picky.

Each cookie comes individually wrapped...very nice for putting into a lunch or keep the frosting from gooping up the others if they get warm in the summer...I find having them wrapped is really helpful with kids--they always have to look at each one to find the one that looks the most delicious to them. Also, being wrapped you don't have to worry about that stray cough or sneeze contaminating them all.

Each cookie is very uniform in size, as one would expect from mass produced items, each measuring 7" long and about 1" high and about 3/4" thick.

I would have enjoyed a bit more snap to the gingerbread, perhaps the addition of a bit of white pepper would have helped or maybe a tad more clove. The frosting was almost too sweet for the cookie itself and tended to over power and hide the taste at the ends where the cookies isn't quite as thick. Towards the center of the cookie once it reaches the uniformed thickness the frosting isn't quite so overpowering and the cookie taste starts to shine.

I did the one second dip test: dip the cookie in the warm liquid, count (one thousand-one) and take out the cookie, hold the cookie point side down over the cup to allow extra drippings to leave on their own for five seconds (no shaking or tapping allowed), then move the cookie into a horizontal position for 2 seconds before consuming.

This cookie did very well, although it dripped a little more liquid than I would have hoped. It soaked in just enough liquid to soften the cookie without becoming too mushy...in fact it was easy to find the drink-line on the cookie (biscotti are made for double dipping, triple and quad dipping even!). The cookie still has that cookie feel in the mouth without getting doughy or bready from the liquid...also as you hold it there is actually very little absborbage within the cookie above the dipline. If you have ever dipped a cookie and had the inside get soggy outside of the dipline you will know what I mean-its kind of like biting into a bruised orange-but that is not an issue here.

Overall taste: 8 out of 10
dipping ability: 9 out of 10
value: 4 out of 10 (if it hadn't been for the holiday season I would never have paid so much)
chances I will buy again: 6 out of 10...mostly due to price and seasonality of the product.

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Biscotti Etiquette

Okay I should say that I have seen several faux pas when people eat biscotti. So here is a little etiquette lesson.

It is okay to re-dip a biscotti after you take a bite...however if you are at a formal occasion, or one where you are in public you may wish to avoid this by breaking your biscotti into more managable bite sized pieces before you begin to dip.

Do not dip your fingers in your drink while dipping your cookie....and for goodness sake, if your liquid is low in your cup and you can't easily get to it with your cookie do not, repeat do NOT put your fist in your cup trying to get that last little bit. Don't tip your cup to reach the liquid either, that is just as bad. Small cookie or cookie piece, small cup....don't try to dip a small cookie in a large travel sized mug....that's too much like a Chihuahua going after a German Shephard...it just doesn't fit. And it isn't pretty!

Do not hold a cookie in one hand and drink out of your cup with the other....put the damn cookie down...if you are on the road and don't have a plate to put your cookie on---what the hell are you doing dipping a cookie while driving? WATCH THE ROAD!!!!

One dunk per cookie or cookie part at a time; don't plunge your cookie. I can not tell you how many times I have seen people pop their cookie up & down in their cup like it was a fishing bobber. Once...no reason to make waves and it will not make the liquid soak in faster.

Let the cookie drain. Don't shake your cookie, you will get a plop; don't try to hurry the cookie up to your mouth before the liquid drips off--you won't make it. It is best just to let the cookie hang over the top of the cup for a few seconds while you casually continue your conversation. Don't worry that the liquid will cool off...it is so concentrated in there - it would probably burn your mouth if you pop it in right away anyways.

Don't hold the cookie high above the cup. When holding the cookie to drain you should hold it just barely above the drink level yet high enough so that your fingers are above the lip of the cup. This way if the cookie does plop there isn't quite the mess to it; the more distance between the cookie and the liquid level the larger the splash area.

Always take a drink from your cup before you begin to dip. This will reduce the surface tension of the liquid and lower the level in the cup so that you are less likely to spill over the edge--unless you are a clutz.

Practice at home before you go into public. Watching a newbie try to eat an item is painful and eating etiquette just is not taught any more. Save yourself embarrassment--because, yes, someone is looking...and it might be ME!

I'm so evil. LOL.

Product Review--Coffee Mate:Pumpkin Spice

Okay I'm late on this....how late? well the container of Coffee Mate is gone.

How do you like your coffee? I like mine blonde, hot, and sweet--no wait that's men....no, that's my coffee---and when it comes to creamers I have found that the Member's Mark brand that I get from Sam's Club beats the Coffee Mate powder without a doubt...so when Sam's club offered the liquid Coffee Mate in a duo pack I was a tad skeptical.

The creamer comes in a duo pack-one of French Vanilla, one of Pumpkin Spice.

Well I had the French Vanilla powder before so I had some idea what too expect--too much vanilla and way too much hidden sweetener**note later** So I decided to start with the Pumpkin Spice.

I began with a standard coffee cup (not the 18oz cup I usually use) just in case I didn't like it. I used one sugar cube for sweetness and 1 Tbsp (using a measureing spoon) of creamer per cup.

It was surprisingly delicious. You would think the combination of pumpkin spice, cinnamon, cream & coffee would be horrid but it was quite pleassnt.

It reminded me of the International Instant Coffees my mother used to buy me in high school. Or like a Snickerdoodle cookie in a cup.

Being that I don't drink a lot of flavored coffees I decided to consult my local coffee-house expert....oh okay, I had my teenaged daughter try it too.....she loves going to Caribou and dislikes the brews at Starbuck's--in fact she calls them over priced, froo-froo drinks there.

She loved it! She liked the creamy texture and the way it exploded up from the bottom of the cup--she likes to add the creamer after the coffee is poured, I like to have it in there before hand--she even switched over to one of the clear glass cups to observe the explosion when it hit the bottom.

Hey, coffee & science in one great moment--I can live with that.

She did say that she could feel almost a powderiness to the cinnamon, but I couldn't feel it at all. I did note what seemed like a very slight coconut undertone to the creamer.

all in all I would give it an 8 out of 10 for taste, and a 3 out of 10 for price (I will need to find the reciept but it wasn't cheap)

Now that note** I have found the flavored Coffee Mates are over flavored so what I do is get the giant container of generic (in this case Member's Mark) non-dairy creamer powder and mix to it one of the regular containers of the flavored powdered Coffee-Mates. Put it back in the container (remember you now have more than you did before so you will need a container that is bigger than both the generic & namebrand combined)...now put it in your cupboard for a couple of hours, maybe even overnight and you will find that ALL the powder is now flavored the way you like it. Viola! You now have 3-5 times the amount of flavored mix at only the fraction of the cost.

Also--like those mocha drinks? buy cocoa powder w/o the marshmellows...now mix it with an equal amount of non-dairy powder and use your coffee instead of water to make it....ummmm, frothy!

Product Detail - Large Talk-to-Me Paw-Activated Treat Ball

Product Detail - Large Talk-to-Me Paw-Activated Treat Ball: {wish I could incl. the photo but I hate to run into copyright issues with anyone on this}

"Does your dog miss you when you're not home? Keep your best friend company even
when you're out with the Talk-to-Me treat ball. This ingenious toy lets you
record a personalized message that is activated when your pet touches the ball.
It dispenses treats randomly as it rolls along--thanks to a patented inner
dispensing system. Fits most standard-sized treats. Recommended for pets over 30
lbs. This is not a chew toy. It is also recommended that your pet be supervised
the first couple of times they use the Treat Ball. Dishwasher safe."

Okay...have you spotted the irony yet? This is NOT a slam at the website--they write what they are told from the manufacturer, I'm sure. Irony?

It dispenses treats randomly as it rolls along--thanks to a patented inner
dispensing system. Fits most standard-sized treats. Recommended for pets over 30
lbs. This is not a chew toy. It is also recommended that your pet be supervised

Okay (1) the reason you buy the thing to begin with, assumably, is because--you won't be there (see the first line of the blip)

(2) what exactly is "standard sized" treats? Dog treats come in all sorts of shapes and sizes....and textures & moisture content...notice they didn't say anything about that? There are a lot of products that look like Milk-Bones, but they are way different--some are just slightly larger/smaller, some are thicker/thinner, some are more rounded/edgy....there is no "standard".

(3 & my favorite) It is meant to dispense treats--but its not a chew toy. I'm sorry I have a Newfoundland--a couch isn't supposed to be a chew toy either, but it can become one! You put treats in anything and I don't care what kind of dog you've got, unless it has a really tender mouth--its an instant chew-toy.

P.S. the ball is 5 1/2" diameter---Addy is over 30 lbs---but this thing is a choking hazard!