feeling accomplished! (Crock Pot Dinner :)

So, this morning, I was determined to get some food into the crock pot before I left for work...and I did! Yay! :)

I had some stewing meat (beef chuck) on hand that I browned (in butter, of course!) and seasoned with some Arroyo Grande Seasoning (basically a dry rub/seasoning mix consiting of course ground pepper, course ground salt, & garlic - one of my favorite seasonings!) and a bit of Lipton's Onion Mix. Added about 1/4 cup beef stock to the crock pot, then threw in some Red Potatoes on top and some brown mushrooms (both sprinkled with the above mix of seasonings) .

Yum!!!

Looks tasty, if I do say so myself.
:)

If I had a *larger* crock pot I would have made the effort to go out to the store and buy some carrots and add those to the pot....but I don't have a large crock pot. (Someday, perhaps). For now, though, I'll stop on my way home and pick up some veggie (possibly carrotts, we'll see) to cook tonight and serve with my pot roast. Hmm...I guess its still a pot roast even if the the beef is cut into chunks and not one large piece of meat. Whatever you want to call it, it'll be tasty. :)

And no, this is not for any particular reason or for something special. (Just little ol me that will be partaking of this later on tonight). I just wanted to make something in the crock-pot so it'd be an easy dinner when I got home from work. :)

these Crazy Days...

Life hasn't really slowed down since Costume College, unfortunately. I came back from Costume College and was immediately thrown into a hectic work week...which turned into 2 hectic work weeks.

Ended up working till 8:30pm...twice, and then was so burned out I didn't care anymore about staying late to get the 'priority' urgent stuff done and just did what I could during regular work hours.

Dealt with a multi-day ant invasion at home...and finally found a product that worked (Yay!! for Epsom Salt!). Finally got to unpack my car from Costume College over the 8/8-8/9 weekend and start on laundry. Got into a fender bender around 5pm on Sunday (8/9)...sigh...cause I was *tired* and not paying enough attention. What a way to end that weekend! :p But at least I did get to hang out with my friend Gretchen for a bit and we went and saw Julie & Julia (which we both loved) on Saturday, so there was some good that came out of that weekend.

So, went from an awful week, and a so-so weekend, to an even worse week. (That 2nd day of working till 8:30pm was Monday 8/10...FUN, let me tell you!). But I got the urgent/priority stuff done that was super time sensitive, and I gave up on staying late the rest of the week.
(One contributing factor to why my workload was so awful was cause I normally share the workload with another lease admin - we split all the properties between us and it keeps everything manageable...most of the time. Though there are days when we're both swamped...that's just how our job goes. Our work load happens in cycles of super busy to barely anything. We've got not control over it either).

I also found out that our back-up location for the upcoming 1870s picnic was no longer available for our event on the date we wanted. (They wanted more than our simple picnic, and they said that that date wouldn't work for them and wondered if we'd consider changing our date. Date change is out of the question.) We've been planning on that date for months now...and we just want a simple picnic, so back to the drawing board in looking for a location to have our 1870s picnic. After emailing and talking with certain people, one location came up as a definite possible spot, and I had someone call to inquire (she knows the director) if they'd be open to having us for our picnic on the date we want...but the director was out on vacation (back on Tuesday, 8/18). So hopefully, we'll hear back from them soon and find out if that location is a go. :)

And there are other things that happened that I just don't feel like discussing over the Internet...so email me if you *really* want to know.

Two *POSITIVE* things last week - 1) I got to have a fun lunch at an Irish pub with a good friend (Jenn M)! We haven't done lunch together in a while. And we both love Durty Nelly's! :) , and 2) I did get a chance to go visit the Hensleys and play with the kids on Wednesday. (I SO needed some Kid Therapy time :) I brought over a new puzzle that I had picked up and Rhiannon and I worked on it together (she sure loves puzzles!) and just generally played with Rowan (and tired him out, really :).

Oh, and I got a "Fan Page" for Historical Citizens Association created on Facebook (and an event page for the 1870s picnic). Something semi-productive that was non-work related :) Small victory.

And my landlord had the AC serviced & fixed (got a new compressor!)...even if he forgot to let us know that he & the AC service guy were showing up at 8am on Monday morning (last week). I had asked him to scheduled service (its been a year, and the AC is old and faulty...and leaks coolant) and he said he would...but then he forgets to keep us in the loop as to when the repair guys are showing up. (My roommate was still home getting ready for work when the doorbell went off). He at least let us know that they were coming back sometime on Friday to install a new compressor. (That's something...I guess). But considering my week, I'm just glad we have a new compressor installed, so hopefully, when we next need to use the AC, it actually works!


Let's see - I also mailed off my check for my ticket to attend the "Sound of Music Singalong" (Saturday, September 26, at the Hollywood Bowl) to Colleency since she bought a block of tickets for a group outing. (Yay!). Now if I only can find the time to make an Austrian Drindle...that would be neat to wear to the outing. Realistically, I don't have the time. But that doesn't mean I can't dream. (I did buy the Folkwear pattern and put it on my 'to make' someday list :). If I somehow manage to find the time to make it...in time for this perform ace...that would be really neat. We'll see. I've got a bit of sewing to do for my 1870s and Regency outfits first! Even if I don't get that outfit done in time, I'm still looking forward to seeing the Sound of Music at the Hollywood Bowl. Sounds fun! :)


Eventually, the 'Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad' week ended :). Yay for weekends! And sleep! :) I did manage to clean off my cutting table (and put things away that were sitting atop it...not just shuffle things around, mind you) but discovered when I went to start cutting fabric for my next project that I couldn't find my white cotton fabric. Ack! After going through my stash, I eventually found the fabric (sitting where I left it - in a semi-obvious place, if I had remembered), but it wasn't going to be enough for my current project(s). So time for a trip to my 'local' fabric store (JoAnn's Superstore - nothing else really close that carries fabric, really). At least I got to use my 40% off coupon on that purchase (which was expiring that day). So rest of my Saturday turned into washing all the fabric (including re-washing the previously bought fabric). Sunday afternoon = ironing the fabric. Wow, that was a LOT of ironing! At least THIS time I didn't burn myself on the iron! :) (I certainly did that while ironing right after Costume College - had washed all the cotton undergarments for Civil War and Regency outfits that I had brought with me to Costume College...so it was time to iron them. And I burned one of my fingers and got a nasty blister from the iron. Ouch! Blister has since then popped, and the burned area is healing...slowly. Looks...lovely. :P )

What else did I do? Oh yeah! I cut the fabric for a hem facing on my 1930s red skirt (I didn't have time to do that prior to Costume College, when I was attempting to fix the hemline by lowering it, so I just did a 'quick fix' to make it wearable, and now I need to actually fix it). I found enough of my original fabric (from leftover scraps) to cut the hem facing. So I cut some strips and sewed them together. Left off at the ironing stage (i.e. to work on later). I pinned the hem on my 1930s wool skirt (also fixing that hemline by lowering it). And I sewed up the ripped seam on my cheap Wal-mart pj bottoms. (I had arrived at the Long Beach Civil War event in May and realized I forgot my pjs, so ran out to Wal-mart and bought *something* to wear at night. Threw them in the wash after the event with other regular clothes...and when I took them out from the dryer, discovered that one of the main seams had unraveled. So I pinned it and threw it on my "to sew/fix pile" and left it there...until this weekend :).

I also got in a bit of cooking - yay! (missed cooking with my being so busy first prior to Costume College with prep stuff...then being away at Costume College...and then coming home to hectic work stress/schedules). Did have to run out just as I was starting to prep some food to pick up a new propane tank for the gas bbq, as we had apparently run out. But at least that wasn't too long of a trek. :)

And I got to sleep. Sleep is good
:)

And Thanks! go to various friends that the I talked with during the past 2 (no-fun) weeks to help me stay relatively sane :)

We'll see what this week holds in store. Hopefully, a much better week. :)

Costume College 2009...is over

Whew! What a weekend.

Sorry I've been silent on here lately - lots of time/effort has been put into prepping for Costume College (CoCo). And it definitely paid off :).

And if you don't know what CoCo is...Wow! you mean I HAVEN'T talked your ear off about it yet? :) For more info, go here: http://www.costumecollege.org/

This year at CoCo I ran the Information Dept (Information Desk at Costume College), which was completely new for me. And, to make things MORE interesting, I decided to have a game at the Information Desk that CoCo Attendees could play. Basically, its a Wheel that you could spin, after after it stopped on a category, you answered a trivia question. Many of them were images that you had to look at and then guess the time period, the sewing tool, the movie/tv show, etc that it came from. I even had a section on Costume College trivia (past colleges/conventions). :)

Here's the full list of categories:
1. What’s my Scene? (Movies/TV Stills)
2. Say What?!? (Movies/TV Quotes)
3. Costume College Trivia
4. Sewing Tools & Equipment
5. Unmentionables (Undergarments through the ages)
6. Words of Wisdom (Helpful hints and tips provided by other costumers and some of our vendors).
7. Out of Time (Guess the Time Period)
8. Spin Again
9. Ghodfuzzy to the Rescue! (Free Choice. Player gets to choose the category.)

I had 12 segments on the wheel, so a few categories were repeated. Overall, I had a great reaction to the game, and everyone had fun (Yay!). So I'm glad I put all that work into it. Thanks go to various people for helping me build the wheel itself (vadenalim) and assemble the categories on site too (including collency, casketgirl, Maria, bygoneglamour, and others that I'm forgetting right now). Thank You!!! :)

I had 100 Name Badge Ribbons to give out to those who played the game, and by Sunday (morning) they were gone!

Information Desk itself went fairly smoothly overall. Some minor kinks that can be worked out later. I definitely have ideas for how to improve it (though some things will probably change just cause we're changing hotels next year...BIG change for us). A few holes in the schedule for covering the Info Desk (schedule is a tad harder to fill when ONLY Committee members or CGW Board of Directors can man the table, but various people stopped by and stepped up when there was a need for another body at the table. Thanks! :)

Oh, and I taught my Intro to Leather Tooling class this year, and it went Spectacularly! I could have probalby used some more time, and a few minor glitches, but nothing serious. The students had a great time (I had limited the class to a max of 10 students - all pre-registered so I knew how many to prep for) and did really well on learning the various steps of tooling leather even though we had to rush through a few stages. (They got the idea of the stage, but they could have used some more time to bevel or pear shade...mostly beveling...cause there's a LOT of beveling going on in the design...and its a good thing to practice. Lots of designs incorporate beveling). I even got requests from various students to teach this again next year (so they can bring back their projects and show me what they've been working on and how they've improved) and got a round of applause. (Yay!!! :)

I attended my 3 Limited Classes and they were all great! So very glad I got it. :) (Though I had to leave early from my first one cause I just wasn't feeling well and had to lay down/get fluids in me. I admit I am a bit dissapointed I missed out on good portion of that class, since it was a hands-on demonstration of dying different types of fabrics - something I've been interested in for a while - but I did get the handout and some samples. Plus I have some contact info for the teacher. She and I bonded a bit, too, when I drove her out on Thursday to an office supply store to get new handouts copied for her various classes since they were forgotten at home...and she was from out of state! So I'm not too worried. I can probably pick her brain later if I have questions on stuff I missed while I'm reading the handout.)

The Saturday Evening (Time Traveler's) Gala this year was fabulous! I arrived a bit late (was working on my 1930s hair with the help of my roommate, first time attendee Laura who also happens to reenacts 1940s, and it took a bit longer than anticipated to get it just right...but it was worth it. :) Sewgirljen and Becca M (my other rommates) had managed to save me a seat at a nearby table. I must say - that table was a lot of fun. It's always nice when you meet new people and you get along! Plus the "Who am I?" game did help break the ice a bit more. (Only suggestion is to play it earlier in the evening, like between one of the courses, to help the table socialize earlier).

Dancing at the Gala was a blast. Of course, we started off with the Time Warp (tradition!) and the floor was packed. Then other music kicked in and the dance floor varied between decently croweded to packed most of the night, courtesy of obishawn's great ability to read the mood of the crowd. I gotta say, that was the best selection of dance tunes at a Gala yet. (Yay! Keep it up obishawn! :) Never made it in to the Red Carpet room to get my picture taken, but oh well. Got a few pics on my camera and friends cameras...I was too busy dancing and socializing in the main room! :)

Sunday afternoon had the Tea, and I had never attended the Tea at Costume College before...and chartreusekitty was the Tea Mistress (and had put together an awesome looking tea filled with fun games and had arranged for various people to bring their teapots so the tea could actually be served in real teapots - I brought my 1 teapot for her to use :) so I decided I just had to attend! Just as the Tea was starting, and I was about to buy one of the remaining tea tickets for sale (i.e. tickets sold are ones that someone had purchased before it was Sold Out, but now the person could no longer attend so the ticket is being re-sold for original purchase price) someone handed me a ticket that an attendee could no longer use and was willing to GIVE it away (without selling it). So I took it (gratefully)! I had a great time! (I did have to duck out at 3pm so that I could cover the Information Desk...since it was a blank slot on the schedule...but then Natalie, the CGW's treasurer popped by to see how things were going and sent me back inside to finish my Tea and she covered the Desk. Thanks Natalie!!! :)

Sunday Evening was the CGW Annual Meeting...and fortunately it was under 2 hrs. Woo-Hoo! And...bonus...the various people I really wanted to get elected to the Board, and I voted for, of course, actually *got* on the Board. Yay! :)

Afterwards, a bunch of us (9 total) went over to Millies to have dinner and just be silly. We had a blast! A lot of us are/were on the Committee so we've been super busy all weekend and prior to the convention with planning/prep and the actual mayhem of CoCo. So we definitely needed some downtime. :) I gotta say that dinner (the company) was great as always! And of course, we were silly...the laughter just flowed from our table/area. Good thing we kinda had a section to ourselves! :)

Monday was packing up and making sure we got everything out of the various rooms (including conference rooms). I stayed to help collency make sure all the stuff was out of the boardroom (where committee stuff had been piled) and also helped collency and obishawn make trips of stuff to their car so they could check out of their room. Afterwards, I hung out with collency while we waited for Chaz to come by and pick up the last bit of Tea decoratations (the Arch) and we brainstormed ideas for CoCo 2010. :) We (Collency, Chaz, his Head Minion, and I) grabbed lunch at Beeps down the street...and then we all went our seperate directions.

Back to real life...and unpacking...now.
(And figuring out my receipts so I can turn in the ones for Costume College committee stuff and get reimbursed :)

Videos from England Tour 2008

Ok, I *finally* got around to uploading some of my videos from when I was on vacation in England in May 2008 to YouTube.
:)

Two are uploaded so far - and I've got a couple more I'll upload later.
Enjoy!

-- Evensong at York Minister
or click here: http://bit.ly/fptG8

-- Bells of York Minister
or click here: http://bit.ly/14dWix


Both of these were taken on 5/22/08 in York UK.

And now for something completely different...in hair color :)

Some of you may not be aware, but I've been thinking (planning) about dying my hair reddish for the month of July for a while now....especially once I decided to do a Molly Weasley outfit for a group trip (in costume) to see the Harry Potter movie.

And since I wanted it to turn out nice (and look fairly natural), I decided to spend the money and have a professional do my hair instead of attempting it on my own. And let me just say, I am SO glad I did. (I love my hairstylist, btw - she's awesome! I would recommend her to anyone. She's the only one I go to when I get my hair cut or trimmed.)

So, anyways....today I had my hair appointment at 4:30pm. I arrived WAY early (I know, me! You can pick yourself up off the floor now ;), and crocheted and chatted while I waited for my appointment. I also took a few "before" pics to use as a reference for comparison with my 'after' pics.

=)

Before Pics

After looking at my reference pics of Molly Weasley, Sherri set to work and started mixing dyes.

First, she mixed up something that stripped color from my hair WITHOUT bleaching it. (And it actually worked. Nifty, huh?)

Here's a shot of me sitting with the 1st round of stuff.

(She applied it in streaks, to do a sort of highlight effect. This helped her see how my hair would react to the dye...plus it would help give some lighter highlights later on to make it look more natural :)

After washing out that step, and drying my hair, a new batch of color (tint) was mixed up and applied ALL over my hair...and really worked in.

Here's two pics with the 2nd stage tint worked into my hair...and me crocheting while I wait for it to do its magic.

And here's afew pics from the final result!

(And from while she was curling/styling my hair - after she trimmed it, of course :)

Of course, by the time we're taking these last shots, its pretty dark in this hair salon (still sunny outside...but bad lighting inside). In the sunlight the blondish parts really show up...and the whole think looks natural with the multi-shades/hues.

All in all, I'm completely happy with my new hair-color. :) It's certainly different...and fun.

Can't wait to get some pics of me in the sunlight, to see how it looks in natural light. :)

Adventures in Ticket Purchasing (Harry Potter Group Movie Outing)

Yesterday afternoon tickets for non-Midnight showings of Harry Potter at Cinema Fusion Anaheim went on sale. Yes! (Finally!!)

Besides the fact that Cinema Fusion Anaheim is a pretty nice movie theater, in a nice outdoor shopping center (Garden Walk of Anaheim, near Disneyland), it also happens to have a 21+ Screening Room! Yes, that's right - one of their theater rooms is reserved for patrons who are at least 21 years old. (And yes, they do have a bar, so you can have beer or wine with your movie, if you prefer :)

The main selling point for my group with regards to this location for our group movie outing is the fact that while we all like the Harry Potter movies, and most of us going are costumers (or know someone who costumes) and will use any reasonable excuse to dress up ;-), we all REALLY like the idea of seeing the next Harry Potter movie without a gaggle of noisy kids in the audience!

As I'm the designated person to check show times and buy a block of tickets for our group :), I've been checking the website seems like daily for a while now, but no luck....until yesterday afternoon/evening. (I was in contact via email with someone at the theater, and had been told to definitely start checking on late Monday afternoon, 7/7...but unfortunately nothing was posted on Monday ). So, yesterday when I got home from work, I checked the theater website and saw that times were now posted for non-midnight showings! Yes! I immediately looked to see if there's *an around 8pm* showing for Friday 7/17. (Our ideal time since we have people driving down from Los Angeles to join us in the OC). However, the only 8:00pm showing was in the regular (general/family) theater and not the 21+ theater. Our choices were either 7:15pm or 10:15pm...so I quickly decided upon the 7:15pm and attempted to buy the block of tickets.

Problem! Oh no! Website would only allow a max of 6 tickets to be purchased at a time. I could theoretically purchase 6, and then go through the steps again...twice... to make sure I buy enough tickets for our group of 13. But that's just plain annoying. Group ticket discount doesn't start until you have a min. of 25 people, but you can't purchase more than 6 online? What's with that? (Plus, who knows if the credit card company will find multiple purchases from the same place w/in a matter of minutes a tad suspicious? Don't really want to find out).

So, by this time, I'm a tad frustrated cause I can't find a number to call the theater directly and talk to a 'live' person. And I decide I'll just DRIVE over to the box office and buy the tickets directly. They should be able to sell me enough ticktes in one purchase. So I did.
=)

I quickly sent out an email to the group to let them know of the change in estimated time (to an actual time), and that I was driving over to purchase the tickets. And then while I was driving I started placing phone calls to make sure people got the message. (Didn't want to get tickets for someone if they couldn't make the 7:15pm show after all!) Fortunately, no one had a problem with the slightly earlier time for the show. (Later would have been easier for people traveling, obviously, but that wasn't the hand that we were dealt).

Instead of heading directly to the theater, though, I took a detour and headed over to the Hensley's place, since they're fairly near my destination. After chatting for a few minutes (and they finished their dinner), Charlie, Rowan, & I went over to buy tickets (while Maegen and Rhiannon stayed home...Rhiannon decided to skip joining us cause she was dressed in her pretty blue princess dress and wanted to watch Cinderella while mom sewed ;-).

At the Garden Walk, we made our way over to the theater, and I went inside to purchase 13 tickets while Charlie walked around (pushing Rowan in his stroller).

Success!! I was able to purchase 13 tickets for Friday, July 17th at 7:15pm.
And I let them know we were coming in costume!
The guy working the register asked me what I/we were coming as, so I rattled off a few of the names of characters (outfits) we had signed up. He then turned to his co-worker (or manager, not sure), and said something to the effect of 'make sure I'm working that night' :).
LOL!

I made sure to get the parking structure ticket validated at the Theater, then went to find Charlie & Rowan. I eventually met up with them, and we made our way to the car...only to discover at the car that the now-validated parking structure ticket was MISSING! Ack!!! Frantic searching was to no avail. I went through my entire purse and wallet (a few times)...even had Charlie look. Nothing. I retraced my steps, went back to the theater and inquired if I had somehow left it or dropped it as I left...still nothing.

Dissapointed, I continued to retrace my steps and even asked a janitor if he saw a parking structure ticket on the ground. (His English wasn't that great, so I'm not sure if he really understood my question. Oh well).

I met up with Charlie on a different level of the parking structure, where he had stopped after driving around with Rowan (who had started fussing while just sitting in the carseat in an unmoving car). We watched the end of the Disneyland fireworks (well, I semi-watched...I was still going through my purse and wallet...again) while Rowan had a bottle.

When the fireworks ended, we gave up on finding the ticket and made our way to the exit where we spilled our sob story about losing the ticket and only coming in to purchase tickets (which I showed). This guy wouldn't budge - no ticket = pay max parking fee ($12!!). Bummer!

Though dissapointing to have to pay the parking fee, at LEAST we did manage to score enough Harry Potter tickets for the day and time we wanted. :) Yay!!!

(And yes, I double checked that I had all 13 as we left the parking structure :)

So that's my adventure in buying tickets for the new Harry Potter movie!


AND if anyone else would like to join us, feel free to come along. (You just need to get your own tickets). The more the merrier!!
:)


DATE: Friday, July 17, 2009
Movie Showtime: 7:15pm
Theater: Cinema Fusion Anaheim (21+ Screening Room)
http://www.cinemafusionanaheim.com/
>Located at the Anaheim Garden Walk (on the corner of Disney Way and Clementine, on the 3rd floor)
>Address: 321 W. Katella Ave, Anaheim, CA 92802
>Parking: there's a parking structure off Disney Way or Katella Ave, but the closest access to the theater is from the 4th floor of the structure off of Disney Way. (4 hours FREE parking with validation from the theater).


Current "Cast of Characters" attending:

Molly Weasley (me!)
Ginny Weasley
Hermione Granger
Luna Lovegood
Professor Sybill Trelawney
Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody
Draco Malfoy
Rita Skeeter
Fleur Delacour (in her blue Beauxbatons traveling outfit)
Nymphadora Tonks
and the rest are probably misc. students from Hogwarts.


So, if anyone else would like to join the group movie outing, here's a simple, easy costume: a generic student (from any of the houses)! We could always use a few more "Hogwarts Students" in our group. =)

Generic Hogwart's Student Outfit: Black skirt or pants, white button up shirt, black or grey sweater, tie, and black shoes (and in the case of girls, some Mary-Jane's for shoes). Easy!

HCA – 501(c) 3 status update

As many of you know by now, I'm heavily involved in the Historical Citizens Association (HCA).

(Heck, I'm one of the founding members and I'm the current president :).

Earlier this year we filed for our offical Letter of Determination from the IRS, which would officially recognize our group as a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization....and ...

.

.

.

~ ~ drumroll ~ ~

.

.

.

I can NOW announce that we have indeed received our Letter of Determination! (Woo hoo! :)

In other words, this letter officially recognizes that the HCA is currently, and has been since its inception (when the Articles of Association were signed), a tax exempt organization.

What does this mean for the HCA? Basically, it means that:

- any donations made to the group (including ones previously made) are *officially* tax deductible, and

- it gives us added credibility in pursuing joint ventures / event planning with other organizations.

And you can bet we're definitely interested in planning some of our own events. (We've already got a couple of fun events in the works for later this year).

Yay!!!!!

=)

You can see why I’m SO excited.
=)


-=-Becky
http://www.historicalcitizens.org/

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

Ok, as promised, here's a few pics and the recipe from when I made homemade cinnamon rolls from a week or so ago.

=)

Ready to Bake

* * * *

Fresh from the Oven

The Rolls turned out FABULOUS, though I realized I should have probably greased the sides of each roll as I placed them in the pan (in order to make it easier to pull the baked rolls apart from each other). Another (minor) critic is that next time I'll have more very softened butter ready when working on the butter/cinnamon/sugar layer. Having softened butter (but not *melted*) worked really well during the cooking to flavor the inside portions of the rolls during baking. Since I had run a bit short on softened butter, I quickly microwaved some butter for a few seconds, but it was too melty to work properly. (It all worked out - and I was able to use that melted butter - but the softened butter definitely works better for spreading on the dough). As for the cinnamon/sugar ratio - let's just say I used the suggested amounts as a starting point. (A Guideline =). I started with those amounts, and just started covering the dough with a layer of cinnamon and brown sugar. When it *looked* right, then I stopped. (I like mine cinnamony/sugary! =).

Instead of doing just "baker's flour" (which I didn't have on hand), I used a mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour (see recipe for ratio). I am certainly pleased with how the dough turned out, so I'll definitely use that mix of flours again.

Another note - the original recipe mentioned using an 8" x 8" pan. However, since I let mine rise for quite some time (I really wanted the rolls to *at least* double in size =), there was no way that I could possibly fit mine into the 8" x 8" pan. Instead, I managed to get them to fit into a 9" x 13" pan.

And lastly - next time I make these, *if* I don't want to bake ALL of the rolls at the same time, I might just freeze some of the formed rolls (uncooked/still in the dough stage - but all formed & ready to bake) so that I can just bake a few at a time.

The original recipe for both the rolls and the frosting were found on AllRecipes.com.

Click here for the cinnamon rolls and here for the icing/frosting.

(Note: Frosting recipe was part of another Cinnamon Roll recipe, submitted by a Pat Myers. I did not try the roll portion of the recipe. The icing/frosting is a fairly standard recipe for frosting, and it's hard to mess up or improve upon =).

However, me being me...I tweaked the recipe. =) So, I've rewritten the cinnamon roll recipe and incorporated my notes into it. (And I've included the frosting recipe/steps in my roll recipe)

Enjoy!

=)

* * * *

Ingredients – Rolls:
1 (0.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
¾ cup warm water (approx 110 degrees F or 45 degrees C)
– double check with Yeast package for optimum temp.
¼ cup white sugar
¾ teaspoon salt

1 egg, room temperature
2 ½ cups bread flour

(~OR~: 2 cups all purpose & ½ cup wheat -- my preference)

¼ - ½ cup butter, softened (*very soft*, but not melted)
1+ tablespoon ground cinnamon
½ + cup brown sugar

Ingredients – Icing/Frosting:
½ (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
¼ cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar (aka - powdered sugar)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract (My Preference: Watkins Original Double-Strength Vanilla )
1 ½ teaspoon milk


Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. (Careful that water temp is in correct heat range for the yeast!) Let the dissolved yeast stand until creamy (about 10+ minutes, depending on ambient room temperature).

2. In a large bowl, combined the yeast mixture with the sugar, salt, egg and about 1 cup of flower; stir well to combine. (You may want to use a whisk for this stage).

3. Stir in the remaining flour slowly, about ¼ - ½ cup at a time, beating well with each addition. (A wooden spoon works well at this stage).

4. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. (About 8 minutes). Cover with a damp cloth and let rest for about 10-20 minutes. (You may also remove to a lightly greased bowl and cover it, to let it rest).

5. Lightly grease a baking pan. Depending on how big you will make your rolls, you may want to use a 9” x 13” pan (instead of an 8” x 8” pan).

6. Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thick RECTANGLE. (This will help you roll the dough into an even cylinder shape later for cutting).

7. Smear the dough generously with the softened butter so that the dough is completely covered.

8. Sprinkle with both cinnamon and brown sugar either to taste and evenly covered. (Feel free to use more cinnamon & sugar if you like it extra cinnamony/sugary! =).

9. Roll up the dough along the long edge until it forms a roll. (Try to keep the roll tight, but don’t worry if it’s loose. You can always reform the cut roll into a tighter roll before placing it into the baking pan.)

10. Slice the roll into equal sized pieces (approximately 16) and place them in the pan with the cut side up. *Optional: You may want to brush the outside of each roll, including sides, with melted butter...or at least lightly grease the sides with cooking spray.*

11. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight OR cover and let it rise at room temperature until doubled in volume. (Min. 45 minutes – but you can go more like 1 hr to 1 ½ hrs, depending on your ambient room temperature).

12. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Bake until rolls are golden brown, about 20 minutes.

13. While rolls are baking, make the icing: stir together cream cheese, softened butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla, & milk until well mixed.

14. Remove rolls from oven when golden brown and let them sit a few minutes. If serving immediately, top with frosting. If saving most of the rolls for later (ex. refrigerating them), save frosting until you re-heat individual rolls.

happy news! =)

My new bluetooth headset just arrived!! (Ordered one from NewEgg.com on Monday - had a deal going...basically 40% off & free shipping).

 

No more calling via speakphone while driving for me! (fingers crossed) And as most of you know, I do like to talk while driving.

=)

 

(I *still* can't believe I lost my old one that I've had for years!! But oh well, new one is here =)

 

Headset is currently charging so I can use it today. Yay!!

=)

-=-Becky

Pics Online: Long Beach Civil War Event

DSC07125
Originally uploaded by marcailgaelyn

Pictures (and video) from my camera at the Long Beach Civil War Event (at El Dorado Regional Park East) are now online at my Flickr site!

To view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbec/sets/72157619172902492/

All in all a very fun event, as you will see from the pictures!
=)

As at other events, I left my camera out and available so that others could take photos with it too. (Two people I know used my camera at times, and should get credit, Maegen Hensley and Vanessa, Annette's grandaughter).

Enjoy the pics (and videos)!

Reading the Oak Street Weekly in the Parlor

Civil War re-enactment
Originally uploaded by bill90814

Here's a neat picture taken by a spectator (bill90814 on Flickr) of some of the ladies of Oak Street (part of the Historical Citizens Association) as we read from the latest edition of the Oak Street Weekly while in the parlor of the Johnson Oak Inn.

(This picture was taken on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at El Dorado Park in Long Beach, CA - Civil War Reenactment).

Photos from *my* camera will probably be posted to my flickr account (and facebook/myspace) probably tonight.
=)

Pics Online: Shooting Trip (5/16/2009)

DSC07008
Originally uploaded by marcailgaelyn

Never got around to posting to my blog an announcement that I have indeed uploaded pics from my shooting trip in May....

So here's the announcement: Shooting Trip Pics (and video) are online!
=)

To view:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbec/sets/72157618516544801/

It was a fun day, even if it was blazing hot. (Good thing we had a pop-up shade!) And we definitely liked the range, which was new to us, so we'll be back in the future.

Enjoy!

Switching to Darker Hair

Well, as the next Civil War event approaches (next weekend), that means I must say Adieu to my fun (lighter/redder) hair color of the last month...and dye my hair (temporarily at least) to a darker shade of brown.



Actually, I need to dye it darker than what my original hair color is since my hairpieces for Civil War are actually a tad darker than my normal shade. (My braids & twist were fairly close to my original hair color, but the braided chignon - i.e. a bun - was actually darker than my normal shade. See the attached picture.-->>

Cool thing about the braided chignon? The braids are sewn together! How awesome is that?!? (And no, I did not sew them together. It was a gift to me last Birthday - I believe Jenn Mulvey is the one who put together this gift).



Anyways, since that hairpiece is "solid" (with the braids sewn together), it'll really help me out in putting my hair up in a 1860s appropriate look since I can hide my layers and shorter ends underneath the massive braided chignon. (FYI - the general hairstyle look for this period is low - like piling the hair in a bun on the base of the neck. 'Horizontal' look in hair and clothing is the "In" look for the 1860s ;-)





So last night (after seeing the new Terminator movie) I dyed my hair using a dark brown (non-permanent) hair dye. It should definitely last through next weekend, at least...which is all I'm really aiming for with this current shade. =)



And actually, its not that bad. Something slightly different for me. Which is cool.
=)

Soda Can Warning

So one day a Co-Worker of mine added this label to a Coca-Cola can in our office Fridge...which I found hilarious.
=)

Had to take a picture, of course. (I ended up taking the can home with me to make sure I'd get a picture of it before someone just drank it without reading the warning label. =)


Label reads:

WARNING: Shaking this carbonated beverage vigorously before opening may cause moisture in unwanted regions and could result in extra-fast depletion of product.



Of course, there was also another 'fun' warning label used at work, but I unfortunately did NOT get a picture of it before it disappeared...

WARNING: This paper can cause papercuts.



LOL! Too bad I didn't get a picture of that one too!
=)

Yarn Bought! (Molly Weasley Outfit)

Pile O' Yarn for the Molly Weasley Sleeves

It's official! I've bought the yarn needed to start crocheting the Molly Weasley sleeves. (Chamber of Secrets movie, outfit worn by Molly in the Burrows)



I think I bought enough of each color...but we'll see as I start to crochet it.
=)


Guess that means I better get cracking at this project, now that I've bought the yarn.
;-)


(Of course, I'll still need to go Thrift Store shopping to find a pink knit cardigan that I can rip off the sleeves and attach these sleeves too...I'm better at crochet than knitting, so I'm not about to knit myself the sweater just to attach the sleeves to it! =).

Back on the road! =) Tire changed and we're cont. on our way to the shooting range. Pics of tire will follow later today.

Today's trip already off to an interesting start - currently changing flat tire on the truck (not my car/wasn't me driving.)

Pics Online: Ren Faire 2009

DSC06921
Originally uploaded by marcailgaelyn

Just a quick note to say my pics from yesterday's Ren Faire outing (yes, all of 'em...and there's a LOT of pic, so you're warned!) are now online at my flickr site.

Enjoy!

To view pics, visit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbec/sets/72157617947462000/

Ren Faire 2009

So, yesterday, was the big day...Ren Faire outing! All my scrambling to finish (well, make at least wearable) my new Elizabethan bodice paid off as I got to wear it to the Faire. Yes!!! (Of course, I was hand sewing eyelets for front lacing holes in the car during the drive and in the parking lot while the others finished their prep...but I got it wearable! ;-)

Candice Yacono, Gretchen Foltz, and I all had a BLAST yesterday at the Faire. We entered the gates around 11am (or just before) and didn't leave until we were kicked out in the 2nd (final) security sweep for closing. (When they make you show your ID to prove your a guild member, etc.).

After wandering through the St. Ives' area and the initial vendor booths, including an interesting booth with Steam-punk items (some cool googles and belts attracted my attention to the booth, mainly), we came upon the Food Area and St. Cuthbert's (guild) nearby. There we found Elizabeth McCash...who was glad to stop winding balls of yarn and come wander with us for a bit.

Of course we just HAD to get our pictures taken in the stocks....there were 4 of stocks just sitting near Friends of Faire...and we had 4 of us, so we managed to snagg a nearby person to take a couple of pics on my camera of us. (Unfortunately, only 1 of the 4 "titles" posted above each stock is visible...the rest are blocked by our heads...bummer).

During our wandering, we caught the tail end of Broon's show (always fun). By now, though, it was near noon, and we all decided we were hungry enough to wander back to the Food Area to see if we could beat some of the rush to stand in line for various food vendors. (Food at Ren Faire is always so yummy! Just so dang expensive! Especially Water!! Oh well)

For myself, I bought Toad in the Hole, a skewer of Bacon-Wrapped Asparagus (a "Knight's Lance" ;-), and a skewer of grilled veggies (mushrooms, peppers, squash, etc. - aka "a Royal Scepter"). After we got our food, Elizabeth had to leave us as St. C's was about to serve their own food, and then she'd need to be around for the Queen's Progress (parade). So we went back to wandering the Faire. We made our way down the winding pathway, past many more 'trader' selling their wares. We passed a "Green Man" who was grooving to some Dulcimer music (actually, it was really good music - I ended up buying 2 cds from him later in the day since I enjoyed the music each time we passed him). Then we stopped by Clan MacColin. I chatted for a few minutes with the wood-worker (he was planing a piece of wood to smooth it out to prep it for cutting a groove in it later to fit 'tounge and groove' with another piece of wood). We then stopped by the German camp for a quick walk-around (or walk-thru). Afterwards, we came across the Clan MacColin Irish Dance performance (already in progress) at Drake's Golden Hinde (stage) and stopped to watch a good portion of that show. (I got quite a few pictures and even some video of some of the dancing, singing, musicians performing, etc.) Next up: more browsing through vendor stalls. =)

Soon, though we made our way to the Royal Tournament of Horses to snag a seat for the Queen's Joust. We had a great time...not just cause it was a fun show, but we 3 got to make fun comments from the sideline. ;-) The other nearby spectators in same bleacher section were certainly amused by us and our comments. (And yes, I took a number of photos during this show too).


On our way back to the Food Area (yes, we were hungry again - snack time! =), we got sidetracked by the "Famous Shakespeare School led by William Shakespeare" at the Rogue's Reef. Eventually, we got our snacks (fresh cut curly fries and a cream puff - best of both worlds...salty & sweet) to share...and we ran into a friend I know through Civil War reenacting, Cat Lane! (I thought I had seen Jordan, her boyfriend, pass by us in the opposite direction earlier! =).

While waiting around a few minutes in the St. C's area, to see if Elizabeth McCash was around (and if we could snag her again =), the Queen arrived for Tea. So I snapped a few pics. =) Back to wandering on the pathway, we were waylaid by the Official Merchandize booth as a worker threatened to shoot a rubber ducky (with a tiny pistol) if we didn't step inside the booth. Seeing as how both Candice & Gretchen love Ducks, I was litterally pushed into the booth to avoid seeing the rubber ducky shot! LOL! After browsing a few minutes, we managed to sneak out w/o purchasing anything. ;-)

Further on in our wanderings, Candice & Gretchen got sidetracked by a bunch of ducks (possibly even geese?) on the other side of the fence, near the water, and just HAD to get some pictures. So I snagged a nearby bench in the shade and people watched for a bit while they got their "ducky time". =). A few minutes after we all met up again, Elizabeth (McCash) appeared on the road next to us! She had been over at the Brass Rubbing booth (where she had done a few rubbings) and was on her way back. So we all joined up again and then set out again to wander the faire for a bit. On our way towards the Gelato booth (yum!), we passed by the Fencing booth...and all of our attention was instantly drawn to a gal who was learning fencing...in bright pink sandal heels! (Yes, I got a pictures of this!) It was just so amusing!

Once we got to the Gelato booth, we joined the long line and started chatting with a nearby German (?) soldier. He was a lot of fun to chat with. =) (We also ran into a spectator that was annoying him...and us...but eventually he moved on when he realized his comments had quickly passed the 'appropriate' level and we didn't want his company anymore). Then we headed back to St. C's so Elizabeth could put down/away her brass rubbings (and not have to carry them anymore). There we snagged a couple of benches near the side of the road, in the shade no less, (in the St. C's area) and people watched as the parade of spectators (and occasionally performers) passed us by. There were some INTERESTING outfits, to be sure, as it was "Fantasy weekend"...or something like that. ;-)

Elizabeth soon had to leave to go particpate in a parade (as Banner gal), so we snapped a quick pic of her before she left. Candice, Gretchen & I continued sitting in the shade...until Candice and I wandered over to get another skewer of bacon-wrapped asparagus. Unfortunately, they were out of ones that were already prepared/ready to grill, so we had to wait 15 minutes (which turned into like 20 minutes) for the skewer. While waiting, we ran into Annie (from CGW) as she was passing by on her way somewhere (she was out of costume by now, since it was near closing). By the time I got back with the asparagus skewer to share with the others, Elizabeth was done with her part in the parade and had re-joined us on the benches. We all shared the yummy asaparagus (bacon wrapped & seasoned with fresh ground black pepper) while we continued people watching. After a bit, a commotion ensued behind us in St. C's...in which an old shirt that was 'past its prime' was beginning to be torn literally to pieces, by some of the gals in the guild. They were having such fun that I had to take pics. They started tying on strips of the shirt on to their arms as if they were 'favors', so we got them to pose for a couple of pictures with them. Candice and Elizabeth even joined in! (I took pics for everyone). As everyone was settling down, I made the comment that we didn't have a picture of them and the shirt pieces with the original owner of the shirt, Daniel. So of course they just HAD to have a few more pics so they could get him in them! =) It was hillarious! (Yes, Pictures will be online).

As we were doing this, the first wave of 'shooing' spectators (like ourselves) was going on, so we were missed. =) We chatted and hung out with the St. C folk for a bit, then started to make our way towards the front as the second/final wave to get spectators out would soon be coming. We managed to squeeze in one more picture shoot, however, as we passed the 7 Deadly Sins board. We 4 each put our head through a spot in the wall, and had a passer by take a quick shot or two of us with my camera, and then we all joined the last of the revelers leaving the faire.

Whew! What a day!
=)
Lots of fun, to be sure. It was one of the most fun packed days at faire I've had in a while...plus the bonus of the fact I actually made it in costume this year! Oh, and it was also definitely a plus that I did NOT end up with a major sinus infection (despite the dust and wind factor). Yay! =)

OC Register Video re: History/Civil War School Demo

Just thought I'd share a link to a video with you. My old millitary group (1st Penn, Battery B, Light Artillery - aka "Cooper's Battery") annually participates in a School Demo at the Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA). This year, the OC register did a short video about their History Day (and interviewed a few people - a reenactor, a teacher, and a student). The video is now posted on the OC Register website. It's pretty neat. =)

To view the Video, click on this link:
http://www.ocregister.com/video/index.php?bcpid=1127694947&bclid=1125901233&bctid=22226129001

"Watch Boom! Civil War re-enactors set up camp at RSM school"
Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate School's history day event
brings the sounds, sights, and smells of civil war and western
era history to life.


(And yes, I did this demo back when I was with the Battery - and the students are encouraged to dress up. Many will go out and rent costumes and the like.)


-=-Becky
aka - Miss Violet Johnson, Johnson Oak Inn (47 Oak St)
www.HistoricalCitizens.org