Update

I thought I would update you on a couple of the posts I’ve written about in the past.

The “diet” is NOT going that well but I haven’t given up. I’m still determined to lose 10 lbs. by January. Wish this Chunky Monkey luck as the holiday season is definitely upon us. I actually kicked off my holiday season in Vegas on October 15. I swear it has been a non-stop party since then. Lots of eating and drinking going on in my world. I need to go pick out a sexy birthday outfit for extra motivation.

I tried the Stolichnaya White Pomegranik. I am not a fan. It takes like cherry cough syrup. I certainly can’t drink it straight and, in all honesty, I couldn’t even stomach it in a Cosmo. I’m pretty bummed about this. I will be sticking to Stoli Orange on the rocks and plain Stoli in my Cosmo.

I took a photography class. It was great, if not overwhelming; I’m looking forward to practicing everything I learned. Look for some better photos to start appearing on the blog. I also got inspired to buy Photoshop to help take my photos up a notch – so I will have to learn that also. So much to learn, so little time.

My posture is getting better. I still catch myself slouching all the time but I do catch it and try to correct myself. I think I need to strengthen some specific muscles to help hold myself up properly. (As I just caught myself slouching again.)

Oh, and I found my heart rate monitor buried at the bottom of my bra drawer. I think I left it out and my husband put it “away.” I went 5 months without it (took that long to find it), now that I found it again, hopefully it will help me stay in my “fat burning zone” while working out.

That is my update for now; in case you are following along I didn’t want to keep you guessing.

Fun Drinking Quotes

I just came across these quotes after the holiday (Thanksgiving) weekend and thought they'd be fun to share.

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.” -- Frank Sinatra

"I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it." -- Rodney Dangerfield

"If your doctor warns that you have to watch your drinking, find a bar with a mirror." -- John Mooney

"My grandmother is over eighty and still doesn't need glasses.  Drinks right out of the bottle." -- Henny Youngman

"Being drunk is hell; getting drunk is heaven." - Kingsley Amis (English novelist) 

Cheers!

Homemade Hummus

I don’t know about you but I’ve always bought my hummus at the store.  For some reason it never occurred to me to make my own.   Well, I was reading Women’s Health magazine and they listed a simple recipe for hummus and declared that after making this recipe you will never go back to store bought hummus.    Well, I decided to take the challenge.   And the verdict?   It is true, I will never buy store-bought hummus again.   I loved it!   

Here is the recipe for you to try. 

Combine the following in a food processor:

2 cloves of garlic

1 15-ounce can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

2 Tbsp. tahini

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. water

3 Tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp, ground cumin

½ tsp. salt

Blend until smooth.

(I added cayenne and extra olive oil to mine; and an extra clove of garlic. You could also add roasted red pepper or jalapenos for variety.)

You will get 2 cups of dip that will keep for a week in the fridge.

Serve with pita chips, carrots, snap peas, and cucumbers.  (Or whatever you little heart desires.)

Let me know what you think!  It is so good.   I’ve now stocked up on chickpeas so I can whip up a batch next time I’m craving it.

Nothing says fall like Apple Crisp!

I recently made apple crisp for, what I think is, the first time.   I don’t remember ever making it before?  How can that be?   Anyway, I got a recipe from my sister and then tweaked it a little bit.   The result was an amazing apple crisp; the perfect dessert for fall.   I even got inspired to make my own caramel sauce from scratch, which also turned out great.    I did not, however, get inspired to make my own ice cream.   I have to draw the line somewhere otherwise I really wouldn’t get anything else done.    But I will have to try to make all three sometime in the future.   The recipe is below.   The perfect use for those fall apples.  And, due to the apples, we can go ahead and count this as a "healthy" dessert.

Apple Crisp

Topping

1/3 cup softened butter

¾ cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

2/3 cup oatmeal (quick oats)

½ tsp. cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. white sugar

Pinch of salt

Knead together with hands.

Apples

Peel and cube 3-4 apples (I used honeycrisp apples, which were amazing due to their natural sweetness).   Mix the apples with a splash of apple juice and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.   Top with the oatmeal crumble and bake at 375 for 50 minutes.

Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes – take off foil for 25 minutes.

Serve with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.  YUM!

Exciting News!

Back in March (March 23 to be exact), I posted that I was inspired by a new idea that I was really excited about and promised to keep you posted.   Well, I’ve been working on it since then and it has finally come together.   

I’d like to introduce my new website:  www.thesparklingqueen.com

This is how it all came about….  I was sitting by the pool in Palm Springs, CA trying to figure out ways to put my sommelier classes and certification to good use.   I took the classes two years ago because I love wine and figured since I will be drinking wine for the rest of my life, I might as well learn as much as I can about it to make my experiences and food pairings that much better.    Well, the world of wine is a bit overwhelming to say the least.  There are hundreds of varieties, hundreds of regions, and thousands upon thousands of producers.   It is hard to stay on top of it all.  Then I asked myself the million-dollar question: what is my favorite type of wine?  The answer being Sparkling wine, of course!    And there I had it, I realized my niche.    I’ve been drinking and learning all I can about it and launched the website to share my love of the bubbles with everyone.   My goal is for the site to be informative and fun.   So many people reserve sparkling wine and Champagne for a special occasion and it should not be that way.   Bubbly makes every occasion special and just adds something festive and fun to the moment.  Check out the site and my  Sparkling Wine blog and let me know what you think!

Cheers!