CANDY LAND

Along with my good friends, Barb and Claudia, we had a fascinating day at a candy and nut warehouse in El Monte today. It was Barb's first visit -- talk about a kid in a candy store! When you walk in the door you are overwhelmed at the size of the place and the aisles and aisles of floor to ceiling boxes of candies. I'll get to the nut story in a minute. After a minute of getting our bearings we headed toward the Christmas candy section. There was every candy known to mankind. We soon discovered that you could buy some of the individual packages, but mostly, you had to purchase gargantuan quantities. Cases of candy! It's hard to rationalize why we would need cases of candy. We found some fun goodies and purchased a case of milk chocolate and a case of white chocolate drops. Barb and I ran into a old friend that gave us some shopping tips while we were there. She showed us where the cheap stuff was. We found boxes of candy canes for 75 cents! We are all making some yummy treats for friends and family this Christmas. I spent every last dollar in my wallet and had to be subsidized for lunch at McDonalds! We never saw nuts. They must have been deep in the caverns of this warehouse. Maybe next time. Our friend said a 25 pound case of cashews were $190! I think not!

Scrap Scrapbooking

I've been working off and on, scrapbooking my daughters lives. It begins in 1974 and I'm up to 1981. I say I'm Scrap Scrapbooking because I'm using all the paper, stickers, and goodies that I've collected over the years in preparation for this. The funny thing is I'm going to a shop with a friend to scrapbook and they have been at it for years and years. Their finished product is so advance to mine. They buy all the latest and finest papers, etc. to pull together the most incredible pages. Mine pale in comparison. However, my effort is to get the job done and hope it looks good. I think my girls will appreciate the efforts I'm going to. At least, when I'm dead and gone, the photo albums will already be separated. I would love to get Christy's books to her as soon as I can because she can compare notes with her toddlers as they grow up. Fun stuff. The pages I'm posting are from 1981. First a page with us camping at Doheny State Beach Campground. There is Natalie and Christy; Brian; Mitch and Wendy; Wendy, Grandpa and Grandma Clemmons, and Brian; Grandma Clemmons and Brian. The second picture was taken in September of 1981. Note the kids ready for school. I'm having a ball scrapbooking. I'm learning lots of techniques from my friends. It may take me forever, but what the heck, I'm retired!

Shutterfly

Are you kidding? I love Shutterfly and have been a member since 2003. My life is documented in pictures at http://www.shutterfly.com/. I have oodles of photo albums to show for it. I'd much rather purchase a compact, beautiful photo book than scrapbook because it takes so little room to store them. In fact, I found some lovely, fancy boxes that I put on my bookshelves with the photo books inside. I have always received excellent service from Shutterfly and I love the quality of their product. Shutterfly's share sites are wonderful too. You can customize and post your family pictures to share with your family and friends. I have a share site for my sisters that has been great fun. You can see my share site at: http://newellfamily1.shutterfly.com/.

Chocolate Candy Experimentation

I learned about a warehouse in Montebello that sells chocolate by the bulk. My friend and I purchased 25 pounds of it! I've made marshmellows dipped in carmel, chocolate, and topped with sprinkles and nuts. Recently, I made brownies dipped in chocolate and crushed butterfinger. I'm thinking I should have incorporated a marshmellow as well. Can you imagine the yumminess? I've been inspired by http://www.bakerella.com/. Wendy made their cake balls, which have become a big favorite of her friends. Christy made chocolate trains suckers for my grandson's third birthday party. I can't wait to get inspired again.

Brownies on a Stick. Follow directions from a boxed brownie mix. I did use an extra egg to make it more cake-like. Pour into cupcake papers in a cupcake pan about 1/2 full. After baking, remove the brownies from the pan and when cool enough, remove them from the papers. Insert a stick in thickest part of the brownie. Melt chocolate in a high glass bowl. Gently dip into chocolate, or do as I did - butter the chocolate onto the brownie, completely covering it. Immediately dip into a shallow bowl of crushed butterfinger. Wa la!

Shopping Stress

As Thanksgiving approaches I go into a panic. I don't want Christmas shopping left for the last minute. Christmas traffic is a nightmare. I notice that even tonight the traffic is picking up at the mall. I really don't mind shopping for fun incidentals, like stocking stuffers, but the big stuff -- forget it! The crazies are in the stores already. Christy, my youngest, had a hater in her Winco line yesterday while she was juggling a child on her hip and child in the cart. Really people, have some patience and courtesy! I am made even more aware of the traffic since I chat with Wendy, my eldest, on her way home from work each evening. She has the Griffith Park Christmas light display to suffer. Soon as they flick the switch, her traffic multiplies and I hear about it! I also think it is necessary for me to wrap all the gifts (without ribbon) so that I can clearly see who I need to buy for. I now have presents all over the guest bed, soon to be piled in neat stacks on the floor next to the night stand. Yeah! I'm glad I typed that last so that I can feel gleeful after steering through all that traffic nightmare!