Thursday, September 13, 2007

Wednesday's Sachet Winner!

Hello Everyone!

I know, I know, you've been hanging around all day waiting, wringing your hands, drinking mug after mug of spice tea, and I see I need to whip up a few more batches of chocolate chip pralines, but... finally I have arrived!

It's been like Christmas around here! All this fun with visiting tea parties and making new friends and getting totally sucked into the time machine that is my computer! If only my body would physically adapt and rest and repair itself while I am in the dream-like altered state that I enter when I fall down in the rabbit hole of blogdom, I would not have to feel guilty about it all. Eh, who am I kidding, I DON'T feel guilty! I'm sure I should but I don't have time to feel guilty about how I spend my time!

Back to feeling like Christmas.... Today has been such a groovy day. My new computer and HUGE new monitor has arrived. I'm so jazzed. I want to set it up RIGHT NOW! But I'm forced to wait. Agony. Pure torture. I have to have a place to set it up down in the studio, or rather the STB (studio to be) because it is not going to work on this dinky desk I have in my dining room/office/magazine vault. So, I am learning my lesson in delayed gratification until I can go to IKEA this weekend and shop for my new desk, shelves, storage, file cabinets and other organizational miracles that will transform STB into MPA
(Mama's Pocketbook Atelier! Fancy, No?!)

Ok, Ok, enough of my chattering, forcing you to endure the same torturous delayed gratification (torture loves company!) ~ here we go!

I have mastered the mathematical challenge of selecting a winner fairly and squarely by using a random number generator from http://www.random.org/.

Yesterday I had 11 lovely comments on my tea party post and so I entered the very complex computations to generate one random number out of the array of from 1 - 11 and the lucky number was:

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 3
Timestamp: 2007-09-13 19:11:52 IST

So the winner of the lavender sachet warmer is my 3rd comment poster, myy lovely and dear new friend Michele of Rose Petals and Blooms! (http://rosepetalsandblooms.blogspot.com/). Congratulations Michele! Please email me your mailing address so I can get your prize shipped off to you right away. (I will post a photo ASAP)

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...

I promised prizes for today and tomorrow too! So prizes there will be!

There are only a few new comments today so far, but I'll give it til midnight to determine the pool of potential winners of a brand new design I have fashioned ... how about a Wristlet? Do you know what a Wristlet is? It's an adorable (if I do say so myself) little bag with a wristband that makes it easy squeezy to carry around on errands or to those Fall Festivals where you don't want to have to tote a heavy bag and it leaves your hands free to browse and eat the yummy turkey legs and caramel apples and such! I'll post a picture of that too, just as soon as possible!

So LEAVE A COMMENT... WIN A PRIZE!!

AND THAT'S NOT ALL!!

THE BONUS ROUND will come on Saturday, when I'll throw all the commenter's numbers in the the hat and give everyone a second chance to win a Grand Prize Prize! How's that!

Weeeeeeeeee, this is so much fun!


Oh... and I almost forgot to give you some new recipes!

This is my hubby's specialty...
Caramel Glazed Pear Cake
This is a family favorite that my grandmother always requests my husband make for family get-togethers! Melt in your mouth goodness!

INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE
4 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled and diced (about 3 cups)
1 tablespoon sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

INGREDIENTS FOR GLAZE
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk

PREPARATION:
DIRECTIONS FOR CAKE
Toss together pears and 1 tablespoon sugar; let stand 5 minutes
Beat eggs, 2 cups sugar, and oil at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended
Combine flour, salt, and baking soda, and add to egg mixture, beating at low speed until blended
Fold in pears, chopped pecans, and vanilla extract
Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan
Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean
Remove from pan, and drizzle Caramel Glaze over warm cake

DIRECTIONS FOR GLAZE
Stir together brown sugar, butter, and evaporated milk in a small saucepan over medium heat
Bring to a boil, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 1/2 minutes or until sugar dissolves


Now being a Southern Girl through and through, you know I drink lots of sweet iced tea, sometimes with lemon. The secret to making great Southern Sweet Iced Tea is the way you mix the tea with the sugar and adding a pinch of baking soda! You simply cannot mix sugar into the tea later to get the right sweetness. It doesn't work. Or as my brothers would say... That ain't right!

EASY SOUTHERN SWEET ICED TEA

3-4 cups water (to boil)
1 to 1 & 1/2 cups sugar (depending on just how sweet you like it)
3 Family size tea bags
Water and Ice to complete filling gallon container

Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil
Add a pinch of baking soda to the water to boiling water and add 3 family sized tea bags
Remove from heat and cover, allowing the tea to steep for about 10 minutes.
Pour warm tea in gallon size pitcher and add sugar
Stir well to dissolve sugar
Fill pitcher the rest of the way with cold water or add water and ice to fill the pitcher
Refrigerate. Serve cold with thick lemon slices.

Baking soda cuts the bitterness and darkens the tea a bit but doesn't affect the flavor.
ENJOY!

2 comments:

My Pink Boutique said...

Congrats to Michele! Yay! You won! :)

Diane, I love your tea party! It's all been so much fun!

Hugs,
Kimberly :)

Tina Leavy said...

those recipes sound delish!