Current Favorites: A New Syndicated Column

When unable to think of an interesting Facebook status, I will occasionally update with my current favorites (I like to think of myself as the poor college graduate's Oprah). Thus came the idea for a new segment on the HPG blog.  This is also a testament to my indecisiveness and inability to choose concrete faves-- they are always changing.

Let the first round of favorites begin!

1. Food

Salted Sweet Caramels                                  

After discovering I loved pretzel M&M's, my MIL recommended the above chocolates from Vandewalle's sweet shop... and boy was she RIGHT. Salt brings out the sweetness in desserts and makes for a delectable treat. 

     Iced White Mocha from Starbucks 

To further my Starbucks addiction, I switch from hot to iced beverages during the summer and find the White Mocha to offer the best combination of sweetness and coffee. Here's the "Jamie" version: Iced Grande 2 pump, nonfat, no whip white mocha-- delish!

Tofu Pad Thai

Rice noodles, peanuts, lime, scallions, tofu, and spices... Perfect.

2. Fashion

                            

Dexter - Loop Twisted Wedge (Payless)

         

        

     Kassidy Huarache Sandal (Payless)

Who doesn't love a good wedge shoe? And since you can't keep this 5'11" frame out of heels these are both a must for my summer wardrobe.  Sadly, I own neither pair (the bane of unemployment until the 20th then bills to take care of... boo to adulthood), but they're on my wish list.

     

  Ring Strap Sleeveless Knit Dress  

             

     

Embellished Sleeveless Top

I received these two amazeballs pieces from Lane Bryant as early birthday presents: my husband got me the dress and my mom got me the top. There were a few other pieces-- like the World's Most Comfortable Crop Pants-- but these are definitely my faves. Also, I got the dress in a deep purple, not black, because the consensus from my shopping buddies was a big "WOW!" when I stepped out of the dressing room in that color.  The best part? I won't have to stop wearing these clothes come Fall.

For all things accessories...

      

Francesca's Collections

                             

  

 Charming Charlie's

For the woman on a budget (or the woman who just loves to purchase purses & jewelry on a consistent basis), these shops are where it's at. They both have clothes and shoes as well, but since my clothes shopping is greatly limited by my size, I'll focus on the accessories.  Francesca's has great BoHo style and is the place to find statement earrings, necklaces, and rings.  Charming Charlie's has EVERY style, affordable prices, and is sorted by color so you can shop easily for that new coral top you just bought for the season. I warn you, when you walk in the door of CC the first time, you will gasp at the size and variety of the place... heavenly.

3. Fun

Sarah Jarosz - "Follow Me Down"

I heart Sarah Jarosz. This album is beautiful, from the fast-paced "Anabelle Lee" to the haunting "My Muse" and is worth every penny on iTunes or Amazon. Sarah is a young singer/songwriter with an old soul, talented in a number of instruments in the guitar family, and writes in the styles of bluegrass/folk/country. Such a beautiful, soulful sound...

Ke$ha - "Blow"

Yes this is the second time I've posted a Ke$ha song on my blog, and I should know better than to listen to music by someone who substitutes a dollar sign for the 's' in her name-- but I can't help it! Her songs are catchy, and she can actually sing (heard her perform live at the Billboard Music awards). She might be on the ridiculous end of the spectrum, but I've shed a lot of calories to this song.

               

The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens

This is a great young adult fantasy adventure novel with one of the more horribly creepy villains I've come across in YA Lit, and three different yet dynamic and layered main characters.  Loving it.

         

Amazon Kindle

And I've been reading the book on my Kindle (a Christmas present) and I'm more and more enthusiastic about this device as the months progress.  It's convenient, easy to use, stores a TON of books, and I love all the options for text size, annotating, and playing games.  Plus I never have to worry about losing bookmarks (this happens to me more than it should). For you old school book lovers, the switch will be an adjustment-- still is for me-- but it's worth saving the storage and money-- did I mention all pre-1923 books are FREE?!  I'll never get rid of all my hardcovers, but I like having the option of a tangent as well as a digital library that saves space.

4. For the deeper side of me...

Long Walks

On my seemingly never-ending quest toward weight loss, my husband and I began walking.  It's become an almost daily activity of ours. Walking, talking, enjoying the beautiful open spaces in our area (we live near a nature preserve and a little out of the way of civilization)-- it's been therapeutic.  Though we haven't walked anywhere near a beach, I chose this photo as a foreshadow of the new life awaiting us in California. You bet your ass there'll be long walks by the beach.

Coffee Talk

Can you believe I found a coffee talk photo with "marriage" on it?! How perfect is that!  One of our favorite past-times is journeying to a local coffee shop (or Starbucks), ordering a latte (or macchiato), and discussing... well... EVERYTHING. Our plans for Cali came to be while sipping coffee, as well as choosing an apartment, working on our webisode series, purchasing a minivan, and all other manner of creative & life-altering conversations.

Cooking

Though I don't cook all the time, I find myself more and more dissatisfied with restaurant food and their prices, and am turning more and more to my cookbooks for a solution. And honestly, there's nothing like creating something beautiful and delicious from scratch.  As my skills and courage with recipes progress, I'm loving the idea of me as a grandmother chopping, simmering, and baking away in my kitchen for children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren (God willing).

What are you LOVING at the moment??

Hawt Summer Television

Before I had cable and before cable had an endless array of networks, summer television-- for lack of a better word-- sucked. Either reruns of shows you already watched during the previous mainstream seasons or crappy test shows that hardly ever got picked up by a Primetime network.  

Now, however, the Summer Season is becoming almost as important in terms of programming content as the Fall. Networks want to keep viewers tuned in with fun reality TV and more supernatural programs. Here are few of the options ready to record in my DVR.

Vampires, werewolves, witches, sex, and violence accented with a fabulous soundtrack: the perfect ingredients for one hell of a show. Yes, I've read some of the books (I'm starting #5 for my summer reading list... post to come later) and both are different but equally great. Check out "True Blood" on HBO starting June 26th and the "Sookie Stackhouse books" by Charlaine Harris.

This show is all about analyzing facial expressions and body language to solve crimes and catch lying criminals. Sounds somewhat interesting, but when you add a quirky, slightly insane character played by the underrated Tim Roth, this is a program you can easily get sucked into.  Unfortunately "Lie to Me" has been moved to Fridays in the summer at 9/8c starting June 10th-- Fridays and Summers being the two death sentences for a syndicated show.  Ah well... can't wait for the box sets!

Masterpiece Mystery-- a PBS program I've obsessed over since I was a kid-- is now hosted by the wonderful Alan Cumming (previously the elegant Diana Rigg) and contains the best British actors portraying the best British detective characters. David Suchet as Poirot, Julia McKenzie as Miss Marple, and Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox as Inspector Lewis and DS Hathaway: the best people to spend Sunday nights with at 8pm on PBS.  Also, come the Fall, keep your eyes and ears open for Series 2 of Sherlock Holmes: a modern day take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective and a visual feast!

On to Reality TV...

Ah "The Bachelorette"... what can I say? I love the overly dramatic, totally unrealistic romantic setting of 25 men trying to win the heart of one woman (this season it's Ashley Hebert-- see above photo). The drama, the romance, the 'villain,' the epic trips-- it's FUN! The one thing I must admit about this season: Ashley is ANNOYING... and kind of clueless. In case you're curious-- Mondays on ABC at 7pm.

NBC's "The Voice" has proven to be a surprisingly entertaining show with the blind auditions, battle rounds, and coaching provided by 4 of the biggest stars in the music industry.  Some of the talent is absolutely incredible, but the pretend bickering between the judges gets old and isn't amusing.  It's drama free and perfect for anyone who appreciates live performances by great vocalists. Tuesdays @ 9/8c

And now... my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE reality show and one of my favorite TV shows ever: So You Think You Can Dance!!! I can't tell you how much I look forward to this every year.  Because I have no dance ability whatsoever, the art form fascinates me beyond words. The expression of emotion and telling stories through music and body movement is utterly beautiful and even though it's surrounded by stage lights, a huge audience, an overly exuberant host, and judges, none of it matters when you're watching the performances. They just picked the top 20 tonight-- now the fun begins.

And the premiere I'm looking forward to the most this summer:

I haven't read the books so I'm jumping into this blindly, but the promos have me intrigued. Young adult angst in a supernatural setting: can't get more entertaining than that!

What shows do you watch in the summers?

Apple Cinnamon Crumb Bars with Cherries

In honor of my mom coming to visit (and the fact I couldn't make it down to Chicago for her birthday), I decided to make a celebratory treat that would be easy, yummy, and appealed to Mom's taste buds. Mom claims she's not picky, but having grown up a baker's daughter adds tons of pressure on my amateur baking skills.  Since I avoid chocolate unless I have the odd craving and because I knew Mom loves apple-cinnamon anything, these bars sounded PERFECT.

I got the recipe from Erica's Sweet Tooth and made a couple slight adjustments. Very slight. Accidentally. I also took pictures of the process because I'm a goober and like visual aids when giving a presentation.

First, whenever attempting a new recipe or complicated cooking, gather all ingredients and tools before beginning.  Yes that's a Mickey Mouse spatula and yes, that's my iPod. No I did not bake it.  I find good music essential for good baking. This dish pairs nicely with the album "Follow Me Down" by Sarah Jarosz.

You have to peel, core, and slice the apples and as I do not own a device that does all three at once, I peeled them by hand-- check out my uber long strip (I'm especially proud since this was my first time ever peeling apples. Not too shabby.)

Slicing away.

Can you smell the cinnamon?! A perfect answer to canned apple pie filling.

The recipe requires you to mix the flour, sugar, 1/2 cup of butter with a pastry cutter (???) or two forks until the dough has the consistency of bread crumbs. This is what it looks like for reference.

While the dough is baking, prep the fillings: apples, jam... or in my case cherry preserves (I'll get to that later), and the brown sugar streusel (it looks like the dough but I dug my hands in that time and tried to get bigger clumps).

Baked.

These look more like cherry bars but I promise there's plenty of apples and cinnamon.

Hodge Podge Tips:

• Double the cinnamon from Erica's recipe. I actually used 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 cinnamon spice blend from Williams-Sonoma.
• Pick any apple you want. I chose Granny Smith since they're used for baking pies.
• Note: the recipe calls for JAM not preserves. Apparently there's a big difference that hadn't registered in my brain plus I had a coupon for preserves not jam. So there. If you do "pull a Jamie" (that's my name, Peeps), go ahead and use the preserves, they still taste good.
• I'd recommend picking a jam flavor that pairs well with apples, such as plum, strawberry, or cherry. I especially like the idea of apples and cherries as I hail from northern Wisconsin where apple and cherry picking are prime for the autumn.
• Next time I think I will add more brown sugar to the streusel.

Mom Jeans and Mini-vans

After some debate, a little apprehension on my end, encouragement from my mother, and discussions with my husband.... we bought an almost new mini-van!  Now hold on: before all of the jokes, the scoffing, the snobbery of being above Suburbia's #1 Family Transport, let me explain...

Since planning our move to the West Coast, a main concern we've had about traveling cross country was what the heck to do with our two cats.  Where would we put them in our PT Cruiser with the litter box, our luggage, my computer, and our driving supplies?  At first we considered flying them to California-- but that's hella expensive and makes me nervous (an airline just lost a famous Spanish basketball player's dog for 5 days!). Then I thought about bribing my mother with food, gas, and lodging to caravan with us and keep the cats in her mini-van-- this was pure delusional theorizing.  Finally, we concluded sedation and bringing them with us was the only way... and so we were back to square one with the insufficient size of our car.

Several weeks ago, my husband suggested we trade in our cars for a mini-van, thus solving our space problems and ensuring a comfortable drive, not to mention the benefit of having the vehicle for future moves. I was not happy.  Though I've grown up with them, I hate driving mini-vans.  They make me nervous... or at least I thought they did.  Turns out my nervousness was more due to my mom's overprotective attitude toward her van than my actual driving abilities.  Plus I felt like vans are boats, impossible to park, and just not cool.  I'll be honest, the words "soccer mom" and "Girl Scout cookies" flashed across my brain and my immediate reaction was NO.  Then after sharing the idea with my mom-- obviously an advocate for mini-vans and who I thought would disagree with getting a van since we got our PT not even two years ago-- LOVED the idea.  It made sense.  So the seed was planted, my husband and I began discussing the benefits and weighing our finances, and now you know the result.  Sure, in L.A. terms a mini-van is bottom of the barrel cool, but think how useful it'll be to have in an area that has a car pool lane and for hauling film equipment.  The practicality continues to grow. So excited to pick it up on Tuesday.

Oh! And here are some specs: we bought a used 2010 Chrysler Grand Caravan with 4600 miles on it, stow and go seats, DVD player, MP3 player, 30GB hard drive, electronic safety driving features, in-car phone capabilities, wireless headphones, rear camera, and the capability to download navigation & SIRIUS traffic software (we've got a touch screen!). To lower the payment, we traded in our PT for $9000 (they were originally going to give us $7500 but changed their minds when we were about to walk out the door empty handed) and ended up getting a $31,000 barely used van for half the price.  Of course we're financing-- a new adult experience for us-- but they finally dropped the payment to a doable range for us so we couldn't say no.  And we'll be selling our Ford Focus to add a couple thousand dollars to it-- anyone in the market for a cheap car?

I have to say I am pretty excited even though I'm more of a mid-size SUV person. This mini-van lifts a load of stress off my shoulders about traveling, will be great for hauling stuff since I'll no longer have the use of my mom's van on the other side of the country :(  and is perfect for carting our children (YEARS from now people!).  And though I've compromised a bit of style for substance with the Soccer Mom mini-van, I can safely say the Mom jeans will never come into play.

Farewell: Oprah's Final Show

Unless you've been living under a rock-- or without TV and Internet and Radio and human interaction the last couple years-- you'd know the world watched Wednesday as the Big O ended the 25 year run of the phenomenon that was her daytime talk show.  And what... an ending.  My husband and I watched her last 3 shows back to back.  The two-part, A-list star-studded Farewell Surprise Extravaganza held all of the glamour, excitement, and emotion expected in a tribute to the "Queen of America." Her best pals Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, and the Smiths (that's Will and Jada Pinkett) co-hosted a celebration that included Madonna, Dakota Fanning, Diane Sawyer, Michael Jordan, Halle Berrie, Katie Holmes, Queen Latifah, Rosie O' Donnel, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Nate Berkus, and performances by Rascal Flatts, Patti LaBelle, Josh Groban, Kristen Chenoweth, Usher, and Aretha Franklin.  Did I mention there was an original poem about the Guest of Honor written and read by Maya Angelou and accompanied by Alicia Keys?  This was a big deal.  Thinking about all the travel and security precautions for the array of celebrities and guests staying in the Chicago area is giving me a headache.

Although the tribute seemed a tad over-the-top, I can't deny the impact Oprah and her show have had on millions of people.  Not only has she personally helped millions with charitable contributions, scholarships, her "Favorite Things" show... she has also inspired numerous charities and good works to spring up from the hearts of loyal viewers around the world. Even the Haters (and there are many) have to make allowance for her positive influence on others. Anyway, final shows 2 and 3 were fun, heart-warming, and just what a send off should be for a billionaire celebrity with very important friends.

Then the dreaded day arrived: Wednesday, May 25, 2011.  The Final Show. The End of an Era. Oprah's Farewell to the World.  Unfortunately the episode, in my opinion, was an EPIC FAIL.

You see, the beautiful thing about Oprah is her affinity for "keepin' it real"-- classic reactions to conversations about sex or poop, moving from "Anchor Speak" to "Southern Speak" when topics get awkward, and wearing her heart on her sleeve. I love that she never watched clips or saw makeovers before taping because she wanted her reactions to be in sync with her audience. It definitely added to Oprah's charm and "real woman" appeal throughout the duration of her show. Furthermore, she was great at interviews: asking the hard questions, remaining as neutral as possible, and not fearing the tears in her eyes when the conversations became difficult. What can I say, Oprah is a people person (insert "face palm" here).

However, the final show moved away from these classic guidelines and instead to the "Lessons with Oprah" hour, which basically consisted of Oprah Winfrey-- "Silent Leader of the Free World"-- preaching to everyone on how to live.  Actually, if you go to her website currently you will find a link in the center called "What Oprah knows for sure" and it takes you to a video of the final episode.  Condescending, no?  I understand that Oprah couldn't choose between the thousands of guests over the last 25 years to have on her final show, nor could she pick a topic to discuss other than the show itself so it left her in a conundrum. Also, it seemed Oprah wanted to create an intimacy between her and viewers reminiscent of FDR's Fireside Chats. The concept was not lost on me, but the execution was less than successful.  Oprah spent the entire time walking around, standing on the metaphorical soapbox, telling her audience to live the life that makes you happy so you can impact people around you, bring positive energy into your space so you can impact people around you, and listen to God or that Voice inside your head so you can impact people around you.  

Rather than discuss what she's LEARNED over the years, Oprah ministered about what she thinks she KNOWS: like a college professor without a degree lecturing millions of students. Of course her life experience is expanisve (though somewhat different than the rest of us in her later years, wouldn't you agree?) but Oprah could have approached the topic with a semblance of humility.  And yes, I know her final words were "To God be the Glory" but it just felt a bit hypocritical considering almost the entire last season felt like a tribute to Oprah... not God's Glory.  Why not interview crew, document the last day, read more farewells from viewers, or take time to discuss the future of OWN?  How about discuss your feelings on the goodbyes or show a tribute montage over the years? Overall the last episode of Oprah's talk show left me with a bad taste in my mouth and I'm glad it's over; had it continued another few years I sincerely believe it would've become "Lessons With Oprah" and we would have seen one of America's historical icons descend into arrogance and self-proclamation (though some would argue she's already there).

Not to leave you disheartened, I want to say that I agree with a lot what Oprah said about energy and pursuing what ever makes us happy, and being a blessing to someone every day.  She has done many good works over the years, and I believe Oprah's love of people and her desire to help is completely genuine.  Yes she's created a billion dollar industry out of her namesake, but she's put millions of that to good use.  And so, I will miss learning, laughing, and crying with Oprah on a weekly basis and I say God bless her... but I'm ready to move forward.

Quick Fire Reviews of "Fast Five" and "Thor"

Ever since the 2001 release of "The Fast and the Furious" I have followed the series with fervor and an adoring affection for ridiculous fast car action films. However, when the announcement came about number five in the series, I wondered, "What the hell is there left to do?"  Thankfully, the writing/directing/producing team had the answers, which basically consisted of gathering the best characters from all the films, creating even bigger stunts (car through a train? yes please!), moving to an exotic location, and finally, adding Dwayne Johnson as Vin Diesl's arch-rival. Amazing.

        You can see the two sexy beasts facing off in the photo above-- an awesome realization of a dream as I was such a fan of "XXX" and "The Rock" as a teen.  "Fast Five" is my favorite of the series so far and I can't wait for the sixth. It's a full blown action film with a great cast of B actors that deliver one-liners with all the cheese expected in the fifth film in a series about criminals and cars.  I wish I could make lines like "Let's get some fresh air" sound like I'm about kick ass and take names.

       If you're curious about this film but haven't seen the series, the beauty is you don't have to watch all four films.  To understand who most of the characters are and the back story of the main three, you only need to watch 1 and 4 (those are the good ones anyway), then check out the trailers of 2 and 3. I HIGHLY recommend "Fast Five" for a trip to the theater and a snack of soda and popcorn.  

"Thor" is your typical first-of-the-series comic book film, introducing audiences to the character, his back story, and the initial archenemy.  There are some exciting action sequences, beautiful visuals-- actually I thought it looked better than "Tron"-- and an abundance of funny moments. Kenneth Branagh did a great job bringing the world of Norse mythology and Marvel writers to life in a well-paced and entertaining film.  And Chris Hemsworth has a nice bod. 

    If you liked "Iron Man 2" then you'll definitely enjoy "Thor" since it's much better and overall it's a worthwhile movie to see in the theater.

Tri-color Cupcakes

I meant to blog about this after Mom's Day but I've been neglecting my blog-o-sphere duties.  There are no excuses... just plain procrastinating laziness.
Anyway, since we were spending the day with my in-laws I decided to bake cupcakes I was sure my MIL would like (especially since she's not really into sweets). So I went for multi-colored semi-homemade buttermilk yellow cupcakes with homemade cinnamon butter cream.  Before viewing the photos I need to clarify that this was my first time baking cupcakes and using food coloring in a non Easter egg capacity, as well as making butter cream.

Okay so the colors I chose for the cupcakes were supposed to be Chicago Bears blue and orange with magenta.... next time I'll just stick with blue and orange. Also, next time I will stick with NOT doing multiple colors in each cupcake-- you need to have a lot of patience.  Furthermore, the recipe did not specify how much batter was required to fill each holder so I ended up with only half-filled papers and some that were a bit high.  Ah well, you live and you learn.  I still loved baking them, serving them, and eating them so if you need cupcakes for anything that aren't too complicated, this is a good recipe.

After mixing the batter, I separated it into 3 bowls and dyed each to my specific colors.  You need a TON of blue food coloring to get it that dark, as well as yellow for the orange.  The "magenta" came out "raspberry" and in the photos looks a bit... brown. Coloring batter takes time.

The general effect of all the hard work.

My uneven marble cupcakes. At least they tasted good!

The final product... man that was good frosting.

Hodge Podge's Baking Tips:

• When choosing a cake mix for the recipe, don't be afraid to spend a bit more on a good brand.
• Use an electric mixer, either a handheld or standing one will work, it makes for a smooth batter & frosting.
• Check each cupcake after they've baked unless you have an awesome convection oven.  I don't so the items in the back bake faster than the ones in front.  Adjust according to your appliance.
• And the food coloring is completely optional-- the batter is delish.