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Cinnamon Rolls -- a Thanksgiving Tradition

It seems that cinnamon rolls are becoming a Thanksgiving weekend tradition in our house.  This year I tried Alton Brown's Overnight Cinnamon Rolls and they were delicious!  I didn't do the boiling water in the oven thing that he recommends, but I did let these sit out for a few hours in the morning before baking them.  I baked them Thursday morning and we ate the last of them on Sunday.  Popping them in the microwave for 20-30 seconds made them as fresh and gooey as the day they were baked.  I'll definitely use this recipe again.

Up by Pixar

Another Amazon deal -- Up for only $13. And you don't have to battle the Black Friday crowds to get it :)

He would have been 60

My dad would have been 60 today.  Difficult to believe he's been gone for over 10 years.  We still miss you, Dad.

Black Friday Deal

I found this awesome deal at Amazon while I was looking at their Black Friday Deals. Basically you get the Nintendo DSi pre-loaded with 5 games for $15 less than the plain DSi with no pre-loaded games. (This is of particular interest to me since my DS lite finally gave out after years of daily play.) So just wanted to pass it along in case this is on the wish list of someone you know :)

Stress and Star Trek

The past week has been very stressful (family issues I shall not discuss here, but rest assured, things do seem to be improving -- or my attitude toward them perhaps.) So all I really wanted to do this weekend was hang out with Pete and Maddie, go out to dinner at our favorite restaurant and rent Star Trek. I didn't hold out much hope for that last bit since I knew it just came out on DVD and would most likely be all rented out at the video store, but it was my lucky night! Pete fell asleep (probably thanks to the calming effects of the La Mex Margarita that he had with dinner :) but Maddie and I had a great time watching the movie together. Even if you aren't a Trekkie, it's difficult not to like this move. It was very well cast and super exciting. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

Here's hoping this is a better week!

Margaret Atwood does it again

Margaret Atwood returns to the dystopia she created in Oryx and Crake in her latest novel, The Year of the Flood.  This time she follows the stories of two women, but employs the same technique of jumping back and forth in time which was so effective in the first novel.

Here we have two women caught up in the God's Gardeners movement -- a group fighting against the corporations which have taken over the planet.  We see them before the pandemic as they struggle with life in this nightmare scenario and after -- perhaps just as nightmarish, or perhaps not.

I loved this book so much, that I immediately reread Oryx and Crake when I finished it.  Since one is not a sequel to the other, but a retelling from a different perspective, you could read them in whichever order you chose, but I might recommend reading Oryx and Crake first for reasons I don't want to mention here for fear of giving away too much. 

I literally could not put these two books down and would highly recommend both of them.

Remembering Kurt Vonnegut

"I have been a soreheaded occupant of a file drawer labeled 'science fiction' […] and I would like out, particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal."

~ Kurt Vonnegut

Happy Birthday, Mr, Vonnegut, the world isn't the same without you.

Advent Calendar Time!

I'm obsessed with Advent Calendars. When I was young, our crafty neighbor made one of those felt advent calendars which was a tree, and it had all kinds of little felt ornaments which would be added one day at a time. With four kids in the house, we each got to take turns adding those ornaments. It seems like a simple thing, but it was so exciting as we got closer and closer to the big day.

This year Maddie has another LEGO City Advent Calendar.  She's had these in the past and loved them, so I knew it would be fun for her.  Each day you get a little model to put together -- perfect for my Lego obsessed child.

I have to admit that I want an advent calender for myself too, but I'm having some trouble deciding.  I was thinking chocolate -- traditional and good for someone who reviews chocolate, right?  But I'm having a difficult time finding a calendar with decent chocolate.  That nasty "chocolate" stuff that comes in most calendars is inedible as far as I'm concerned.  

I did see this Hachez Haus Advent Calendar on Amazon which looks like it might be promising.

And I could always make my own and add my favorite chocolates:

• Embroidered Felt Advent Calendar at Purl Bee
• Advent Calendar Pockets at Allsorts
• Quilted Advent Calendar at Sew, Mama, Sew

And there are some darn cute advent calendars for sale over at etsy.

Do you have advent calendar ideas?  I'd love to hear them!

Fingerless Mittens

I do still knit -- in fact, I just finished knitting a pair of fingerless mittens!  I used Sophie's Toes Sock Yarn in the colorway Pumpkin Spice.  It is a lovely yarn that was a joy to knit with.  I think this is a fun little project that would be great for holiday gift giving, so I have written up the pattern and am offering it over at Ravelry for only $1.

Coupon

I don't mention it here often, but I have a rubber stamp store online which I've run for over 8 years now called Stamping Online.  Right now I have a promo going on -- 15 % off your entire order.  Just use the coupon code HOLIDAY during checkout.  Plus -- for my blog readers only -- mention BoogaJ in the order comments when you make your purchase and I'll send you a free Hero Arts catalog (filled with card ideas) as well as a free StampIt!  (A ClearDesign stamp with some adhesive gemstones!)  This sale and promo end on November 7th.

Updating

Do you read David Lebovitz's blog?  If you like food, you should.  Why?  Because he's funny, he lives in Paris & he posts great recipes.  If his blog leaves you wanting more, he has written a book, The Sweet Life in Paris, which is filled with great stories about his move from California to Paris and his adventures as he adjusts to this crazy city.  Each chapter is punctuated by recipes that, usually in some strange way, relate to the material presented.  It was a great read -- fun and light.

I mentioned a while back that I forgot to post a few books I had finished reading, and now I'm not sure I remember what I read.  I do remember that I finished Rabbit Is Rich by Updike a while back. This is the third Rabbit Angstrom book and the most depressing. Rabbit is reaching middle age and is quite pathetic really. At points the story moved a little more slowly than in the first two books, but a little over halfway through the plot picks up and once again I am left wanting to read more about Rabbit. Luckily I have the fourth book -- Rabbit at Rest -- which I'll probably read before the year is out.

I also read a collection by Will Eisner, a graphic novelist, called Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City. The stories are wonderfully engrossing and really pull you into New York as seen through Eisner's eyes. His style is detailed, old school and fits the subject matter perfectly.

I think I'm missing something else in there, but can't for the life of me think what it might be. Recently I've picked up Margaret Atwood's The Year of the Flood which I'm liking quite well -- probably not surprising since I liked Oryx and Crake and this new novel revisits the same world she sets up there. It doesn't appear to be a sequel, but rather a re-telling from a different perspective.  More on that as soon as I finish reading the book.

Halloween

We made it through another crazy October.  Last week was our annual pumpkin carving contest and this year Maddie carved her first pumpkin -- it's the cute little one in the top row -- second from the right.  She did all the carving herself and I was proud of her, because she chose a white "pumpkin" and those things are hard!  the carving tools were completely bent up and destroyed when she was done.

Our nephew received a *giant* pumpkin from his "big" (he's in Big Bothers/Big Sisters) and he spent at least an hour cleaning the thing out.  It looked great all lit up on the porch at my mom's.

I lost the contest once again (mine is in the top row -- far right), but I'm used to it by now.

Maddie was a witch once again -- I think it's her third time and I'm convinced she does it for the dresses.  She has her old costumes and loves to dress up in them from time to time.

Here she is with her cousins, ready for some trick or treating.  The sumo costume was a real hit with everyone (but perhaps not so easy to walk in!)

Luckily we had dry weather here after many days of rain.  It was seriously chilly, but at least it was partly sunny.  All in all, a good year for trick-or-treating.