How I Spent $55.39 -or- How I Saved $57.74

I usually don't shop at Shaw's since it is a LOT more than the local grocery prices. Today I went in knowing I was only going to searching for the deals. I paid regular price on nothing and walked away paying less than half!

Totally avoided anything in an aisle, this was all perimeter (against the outer walls). Aisles can be a dangerous place, especially when they are overpriced to begin with!

Ricotta Cake

Today has been such a crazy day that we decided to take Diva out for lunch at the local family style Italian restaurant and even ordered dessert. Yes, it was that kind of crazy...

OldMan ordered a tiramisu and he loved it. I am glad he has finally caved in and tried new things. The downside is, once he has something, he wants it again... as soon as we get home!

Okay, I admit it, this is so simple it's almost not a recipe! I didn't have mascarpone cheese or a package of lady fingers hanging out in my fridge (I know, the shock) but I made my version of a tiramisu.


3 egg yolks
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/8 cups ricotta cheese
1 rectangle pound cake
1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
1 tablespoon cinnamon sugar (for topping)


        In a medium bowl, beat yolks with sugar and vanilla until smooth and light yellow. Fold ricotta into yolk mixture. Set aside.Slice pound cake in to 'lady finger' size and arrange some of them in the bottom of an 5x9 inch dish.  Pour half the coffee over the pieces. Spread half the cheese mixture over the cake pieces. Repeat with remaining cake and cheese. Cover and chill 1 hour. Sprinkle with cinnamon just before serving.

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Second Easiest Dishcloth EVER!

(half way mark)

SECOND easiest only because the #1 easiest is just a square of garter stitch.

I have been doing some 'home prep' and going through the mountain of yarn. My energy level isn't at it's highest today so I wanted to make something simple. This pattern IS simple.

If you are new to knitting you can still manage to follow along. I am far, far, FAR from a knitting expert but this is almost imposable to get wrong... and if you do, big deal, the dishes won't care!

REQUIREMENTS
1 ball of knit worsted weight cotton (I use Sugar 'n Cream or Peaches 'n Creme)
Size 10 needles (You can use smaller but it takes more to make the right size, I use size 10)

DIRECTIONS
Cast on 4 sts.

Row 1: Knit one row.

Row 2: K2, YO, knit to the end of the row.

Repeat row 2 until there are 40 stitches on the needle.

Next row: K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, knit to the end of the row.

Continue decreasing until 4 sts left. Cast off.

Yes, Yes... I am still alive!

Just a quick little update from the House of Chaos - all breathing and accounted for.

Someone stole my front license plate - in Shrugs driveway!!! I was in shock to say the least. Long story short, I caught him stealing it but he still got away. The police came and he was very friendly and even sympathetic when he told me that *I* would have to pay for new plates. It made no sense to me either. I was the victim in this... I even gave a description of the car, the driver and the passenger. He did knock me for a loop when he asked if I noticed any body parts in the back seat of the car --- WHAT????

We made some financial decisions that we hope will get us on the right track. Elvis' car loan is 11.99% and no matter what we threw at it, the balance barely budged due to not being able to make principal only payments. I won't bad mouth the credit union, they gave him the loan when others wouldn't. Now, don't get me wrong, we don't have bad credit, we have next to NO credit because we pay for everything on time and in cash. Financing is an evil word in this house!

I managed to get a loan for the remainder due ($8400) for only 2.99%. Yes, it's still evil interest, but it's more of an imp than a demon. I ran the numbers and the final pay-off will be November 4th.

Dance if you want to... I know I do!

Blame the stuffy nose, but being sick has it's advantages. I don't want to go out in public with a "nose-so-bright" so I stayed in all night crunching imaginary numbers. Income vs. Expenses. As long as the first is bigger, I am a happy reindeer. (I tried to find a pic of Rudolph with a stuffy nose, but, lets be honest, who can really tell?)

So, that's where we are right now. Shrugs is still in his cast - the 16th can't come fast enough