Weekend Update... :)~

Been kind of busy for the last few weeks to post. Sometimes I just can't sit down and write off the top of my head. I need inspiration. Well this weekend I went to a rather unusual party that inspired me to write away!

So a couple of weeks ago we got an invitation in the mail from my friend Christine. It said it was a party, and it was for Oscar. Hmmmm Oscar? Who the hell is Oscar? Does she mean THE Oscars? Hmmmmm....The only possible Oscar in her life was maybe the cat??? So I called her that night and got the scoop.

Turns out that Oscar is her St. Benard Webkinz. For those of you who aren't schooled in Webkinz....They are stuffed animals that you register to an online community, and take care of them virtually.....like a Sims game sort of.


At Christmas her sister's kids got them as presents, and said she was going to get one for herself. Well I guess she did cause it's his birthday, and she had a party for him.

So Christine totally Did It Up!....Balloons, hats(for both us and the Webkinz), party games, pizza, cupcakes, goodie bags filled with games, candy, and our own Platipuss Webkinz inside. A green/white screen station to take pics with Oscar. Too much I tell ya! Ohhhhh I almost forgot! Oscar came out at his party. Yep he is a GAY St. Bernard Webkinz!....Who knew!


And I thought Ella's party for her beagle... Molly's first b-day .....was the most outrageous reason to have a gathering of friends.....Ha!

We will come up with anyting to have a party! :)~





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..........AND WE"RE BACK....... :)~

Daaauuuummmm! I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost 2 months....For some reason I just couldn't bring myself to sit for a couple of hours and write......and it wasn't writer's block either.....Cause sooooo much has gone on in the past few months to blah, blah, BLOG about......

I think it was a matter of not wanting to waste hours sitting at the computer...Instead I spent them being out of this apartment..... Outdoors..... with friends or family....Or sometimes just myself down at the beach or at the park...... I have found myself Seeing... and Being..... and Acting upon things differently since I have known about my surgery. You know... the whole mortality thang!... Especially since I have a date for it to happen.....

I've found myself not caring about allot of stupid shite anymore!

Like yesterday..... I hosted a GRLZ brunch out on the patio..... My close buds....The "regulars" were there....
But I had invited 2 cousins and 3 of my friends that I have known for a few years now .....and have been to their places plenty of times.....but have never been invited to ours........
WHY???.......
Location ...location....location.....

Kat and I are city grlz.......We live on a street of color, ethnic diversity, and....... the occasional crime scene.....For the most part this street is pretty quiet for being a major road with a high school 1 block away.......but for a few hrs. a day, while the gang bangers ...errrr I mean kids that are getting out of school are on the street..... I even plan my outings around them...lol........

Anyway back to the point.......you know ......
NOT giving a SHITE about the stupid .... :)~
To quote Stan from South Park...I think I've learned something here today.....

A few months ago I probably wouldn't have invited those people over .....
But instead........ I chose to share a little bit more of myself, my home, and my food with people that I care about!... :)~
Hope everyone had a good time!......and those of you who couldn't make it were truly missed....
PEACE OUTIE......TMC

Go Shorty ....It's yer Berfday... :)~

Happy birthday shout out to my wife Kat....Happy Born Day baby... I Luv ya more!!!
Made her her favorite breakfast this morning.......Eggs Benedict. And tonight.... her fav cake... chocolate with white frosting. Just having Tina and Jess and hopefully Katie will be joining us for that. Next year will be the BIG 40 and celebration on a much bigger scale!....better start planning that now...lol.......Actually my mom turns 60 in June....I need to plan that like yesterday!... :)~

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I also want a certain friend to know that you, and your family have been in my thoughts and prayers these past few days. " Embrace life and live it to your fullest."

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Started physical therapy today...The stretches they had me do just felt like they aggravated everything more.....but I know its gonna hurt to get better....No Pain No Gain....Right???
It was the first exercise I've gotten since this happend....been scared to do anything....I usually do between 300-500 crunches 3 times a week, and use free weights for my arms and back for strength training...plus I try to hit the gym once a week....Gotta keep my tan up...Ha!...This is killing me not being able to exercise.....I feel like I gained at least 10 lbs sitting around the house. On the plus side I've gotten to watch alot of the Food Network and shows, and have been inspired with ideas for specials when I go back to work....That is, if there is work to go back to....

Good Golly!!! ...Lil' Miss Molly turns 1 :)~

Sunday, Kat and I went to ( i kid you not...LOL...) a birthday party for my friend Ella's Beagle.....Lil' Miss Molly....She turned 1 this week....Looky how sweet she is!
Last year in early May, Ella needed someone to help her pick up Molly from the airport, so I got to hold her on the way home. She was soooo stinkin' cute. I didn't want to give her up at the end of that ride!!!... So I self proclaimed myself to be her Auntie Tina....LOL

I wanted to make something special for the occasion, so I surfed the net for a cool recipe. Of course I switched it up a bit to make it mine...and made a double batch so our Alex could have some too!...He loves em!!!....did you have any doubt??? (Scroll down for the recipe!)...So I packaged them up in these cool bags with ribbon, and asked Kat to make some tags and ingredient labels....it was kinda cute if I do say so myself... I found a cool pink Kong flyer for her too...

Here are some pics of Molly with her some of her presents, Kat and I.... and Molly in her faux fur, that Nicole gave her ... too stinkin' adorable I tell ya!

We had a really nice time, and got to meet some cool people! Especially Ella's friend Nicole!...Man that girl cracked me the F--- Up! After the food was done ...Which was awesome by the way!!!......and there were only a few of us left....we just sat around the table shootin the shit....Hope we do it again soon!...Thanx again ladies for an afternoon of great food, and conversation!

Here is the recipe for the dog treats: Mine are the heart shaped ones, and the cocktail glass was one of the treats Ella put in the goodie bags!...Ha!...gotta love it! :)~

Cheezzzy Bacon Dog Treats

2/3 c organic unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c butter
2/3 c organic brown sugar
1 large organic egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c oatmeal
1 c cheddar cheese shredded
1/2 c honey crunch wheat germ
3/4 lb. raw bacon....small dice

Cook bacon till crispy , drain and cool and set aside. In a bowl combine flour, b.s. oats, wheat germ and salt. mix well... In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar, and beat in the egg, and vanilla. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter bowl while mixing on low speed. Add bacon last. I pressed them into cookie cutters. You can roll them into balls or what ever shape you want! Bake at 350 for 15 min. Turn oven off and let cool for a few hrs in the oven. Over night if you can to get them crunchy.

New Year...New Hope...2007... :)~

Hope everyone's holiday season was a good one!!!

Mine was great! I think I gained 10 lbs. though...LOL.....
Spent Christmas Eve at my sister Lisa's with her boyfriend Manny, my mom, and our friend Tom .....Lisa and I suprised the hell out of my mom with a new T.V. She started balling her eyes out, and having a panic attack.....Totally didn't see that reaction comming....

THen Christmas day up at Auntie Pat's .....with the usual cast of characters......I love spending the day up there.....it's so ....Christmassy.......
Talked to my bro John on the phone.....he had to work...poor thing. Thought about calling my father....then decided in my head that he can call me for once in his damn life....He Never called......Big Shocker....NOT........

I got Kat her pink Timberlands.....
and she got me the green ipod nano........and we both got the pink razor phone..........I love my new toys!! She is turning me into such a gadget geek.

Catching up......or ketchup.... :)~

My posts seem to be spaced further apart than I would like these days.....Things have been busy at work, and in my personal life. Before I know it...It's 10pm and I'm half asleep on the couch....Ohhh, who am I kidding....I'm out like a light...LOL...5:30 am comes way too early! :)~

So here's a little catch up..Congrats to my cousin John and his bride Kate....I was sick the night of the wedding and missed it...sigh...

shout out to my best friend Lisa...woot! woot! Happy B-day ya old Lady...I can say that....she's older than me...ahahahahahahahhahhaaa!....Luv ya Lis

For Halloween this year I dressed up and went out with her, and her 3 girlz...I was a vampire of course...Sara my God-child was a little devil....hehehe...Anna was a dead bride and Kayla, the youngest, was a kitty.
Being the big kid that I am I went up to most of the houses with them with my booty bag held out proud!!!....HEY! I think if you take the time to get dressed up....You deserve the Treats damn it!!! Kayla was totally into it. She was always the first one to the door. She had a little system. She'd ring the bell, take 2 steps back, and patiently wait to almost in a whisper say...Trick or Treat....That child paid attention to every thing she got. After every house she would get so excited to tell her mom what she just scored...too cute I tell ya!



This past Saturday I got to catch up with Ella, Catherine, Angie, and Katherine at lunch at Kobis in Fairfield. I love this place. They have Hibachi there. I like watching the chefs cook right in front of me, especially when they have a good sense of humor. Some of them really put on a good show. However our chef this time had no personallity. It's hit or miss with that. But the company was great. Also on Sunday Val and Linda, and Val's family came to Brunch at work. I love when friends and family come in when I am working. I get to make the table something complemetary from the kitchen...Go out to the table and chat a bit if I'm not too busy.....BTW congrats to Val and Linda on their engagement. I got to see the ring live and in person. It's so sparkly.

Did Someone Say Cheesecake?... :)~

What up people???......Had a crazy ass busy... but totally fun time last weekend. Had some friends stop by Friday night. Saturday we hit a local car show....Then later the beach bbq, and bonfire at night w/ Ang, Katherine, Elizabeth, and the rest of the boat crew. It rained til like 1 in the afternoon...but the sun finally came out. It turned out to be a perfect day! We grilled, we ate, shot the shit, we drank, we made FIRE!!!!!!.......We've been planning this for over a month, and wanted a bonfire at night....Which meant we needed a permitt ...This was the date they gave us ....Thanx Ang for obtaining that by the way....I know what a pain in the ass it is to get one... :)~. Then on Sunday, after work, I gave my friend Sue a buzz and stopped by there for a bit. I had to be home on time to watch Desperate Housewives.....LOL...

A birthday shout out to my sister Lisa......Her born day was on the 30th.....She had a party at her place. Here we are with our mom in the middle....Got to see alot of people I haven't seen in a while there. My friend Steve came down from East Bumble F***. .....He is the boy next door...No, literally.... well actualy he lived two houses down from us growing up....LOL....We have kept in touch through the years, as have the rest of neighboorhood gang . He recently moved somewhere upstate NY, and I missed saying good-bye to him and Mary. So I got to say a very happy Hello to them.......... and a :( good-bye.......Also, I cleared up a misunderstanding with a very dear friend.... Hearsay is baaaaad M'Kay!.............

Ok.... so here is what you came for ......the recipe!

Ricotta Mascarpone Cheesecake

3 lbs. Ricotta cheese
8 oz mascarpone cheese
12 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 TB. pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
2 TB soft butter
6 chocolate biscotti

In a mixing bowl, with the wisk attatchment, add the ricotta and mascarpone first, mixing on low speed. When blended stop the machine, and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. Then add the eggs one at a time. Break each one into cup before adding it. It is much easier to get any egg schrappnel out of the cup rather than the batter. Scrape down sides of the bowl again to ensure the batter is smooth.....Add the sugar vanilla and lemon zest. Mix on low for 1 minute.

For the bottom crust, and sides: In the food processor add the chocolate biscotti and grind till very fine. With a paper towel spread the softend butter around the pan to coat throughly. Add the biscotti crumbs to the butterd pan. Coat the sides well and level out remaining crumbs to at least 1/2 in. Pour batter in pan and bake in a water bath for 1 hr at 350. Then turn down to 250 for 1-2 hrs more. The top should have a light brown color and not jiggle when done. Let rest at room temp for 1 hr and then refridgerate.

As shown in my pic I like to use a raspberry coulis, and Hershey's chocolate sauce to decorate the plate and it also compliments the cheesecake.