Busy, busy

Been swamped! Have been working some local concerts....James Taylor, Chris Isaak, Lyle Lovett, etc and will be working Seahawk games. Those will be fun! Pretty wiped out because I am used to going to bed at 9PM and have not been getting home until 11PM or later. Starting to take a toll. Will be volunteering in the beer garden at the Seafair Hydroplane races the first weekend in August. That will be a blast!!!

Starting to do some promos for the spa buckets (as opposed to baskets) that my friend, Shari, and I make. They are really cool and SO much cheaper than others we have seen. This is one of the Blackberry buckets with salts, bubble bath, bath bomb and a scrubber. This particular bucket is only $25! That's at least 1/2 the price most we have seen.

We have a great variety of buckets and flavors. Let me know if you would like a brochure.

Made the most awesome salmon with pineapple salsa the other day. Will be posting the recipe soon. Sure wish I had taken a picture of it, it was SO pretty!!

Whoo hoo, it's Sunday!

I know that title seems odd but, it means that tomorrow Rick will be back at work and all of the time I spent on the computer will not look like I am just playing. Sheez, the majority of my puter time is spent working. Though I do adore Pogo!! HAHAHA! Seriously though, I am working very hard online to make money, create a website for my spa products, researching laptops for Nick, soccer info for Mario, writing more ads for my affiliate program (please someone click on my links....maybe I should post those here....duh!) and, of course, loads of new recipes for the next month.

Speaking of recipes, on Comcast news this morning there was a deal about a lady from the east coast who started entering cooking contests just for fun. She has won a TON!! So of course, I needed to start looking for cooking contests and then start creating recipes. I put together several this morning. After I test them on the family, I will post them. No, wait. I will post them AFTER they have been entered and accepted into contests. Don't want anyone taking them s they can win. HAHAHA!

Happy Saturday!

Hope all had an awesome 4th!! It was also our 6th wedding anniversary. :) Not sure if it is old age or just common sense but, I just stay home and avoid the traffic and crowds. Haven't seen a great fireworks show in years.

I have some new projects in the works. Click here to check them out. http://www.usfreeads.com/1308588-cls.html I have links at the end of each of my little postings that take you to some pretty cool other sites. Would appreciate you checking them out!

July is a busy month around here. Our anniversary yesterday, Rick's birthday today, Nick's on Tuesday the 8th, my Mom's birthday the 14th. I should have gotten married in April or August when there is not so much going on.. LOL!

Thought I would share a couple of the recipes I used for the teen party. They were both well received and gone at the end of the day.

PUNCH

PREP TIME
5 Min
READY IN
5 Min
SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: 5 quarts

INGREDIENTS
32 fluid ounces cranberry juice
32 fluid ounces lemonade
32 fluid ounces orange juice
32 fluid ounces pineapple juice
32 fluid ounces ginger ale
DIRECTIONS
Chill all of the juices and ginger ale. Combine them in a large punch bowl when ready to serve.

I ended up making 2 batches of punch that each were supposed to serve 50 people. It was 85* at least so glad I had them.

PESTO TORTE

I have had this a couple of times at fancy parties, loved it and finally got around to making it myself. I use a mini cheesecake pan (no Saran Wrap) and freeze at least 15 minutes between each layer. I cut the recipe in 1/2 for the party. It is really impressive looking when served! With my small cheesecake pan, I used much less than what this recipe calls for. Just use logic when preparing each layer. You cannot go wrong with this at all. It is SO easy!

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
1 (6 ounce) jar sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 (1 pint) container refrigerated pesto sauce
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
French bread


Directions
Beat cream cheese and butter until well blended.
Mix pesto and parmesan cheese in small bowl.
Line two 8 oz.
custard cups (or loaf pan) with plastic wrap.
Divide cream cheese mixture into four parts (2 for a loaf) Spoon 1/4 of cream cheese mixture into each custard cup.
Sprinkle each with 1/4 of the tomatoes.
Spread 1/4 of the pesto mixture over tomatoes.
Repeatlayers.
Fold plastic wrap over each torte, sealing well.
Chill overnight until firm.
Unmold, remove plastic wrap.
Serve with crusty French bread slices.
Garnish with chives, parsley, or"whatever" for color.

ENJOY!

Teen parties

One of these days, I will get used to adding to my blog every day. I love it when people say they would be so bored to be a stay at home Mom. Say what??!!!

My oldest, Nick, graduated on Friday, June 13th from Nathan Hale high school in Seattle. Yep, Friday the 13th! Told him he will never forget the date of his graduation. Mario, my youngest, will graduate in 2 years and it most likely will be on his birthday, June 11th. Poor kid. His birthday got pushed around so much this year because of senior awards night, a huge program Mario's class put on another night, graduation night and too much more. Nick will be starting college at UW Tacoma come September. Very proud of that young man.

I was up for 46 straight hours the day of graduation. I was the number one fundraiser for the class all night party and had agreed to work the party. (I would be happy to help anyone who is raising money for their school!!) It was a blast!! We kept 165 kids from drinking and driving on their big night. It was the largest turnout ever for the all night party. We did good!!! Mario has told me I need to make his party even better. I am the procurement chairman for the class of 2010 and know I will do a great job.

Last Friday, I hosted a party for about 15+ teens to celebrate the graduation. Warning!!! It would probably be cheaper and easier to just take them all to a restaurant!! Silly thing cost me $300 and 2 days of cooking, cleaning and weeding. It was scheduled to go from 1-7PM. However, it actually started at noon and the last of the group did not leave until midnight. They all had so much fun!! I love all of these young people so I had a great time, too.

Completed a big landscape project while getting ready for the party. And worked for about 25 hours in my own yard. It is not done but, looking a lot better.Now that I have recovered, I am ready for another project. Need to have another plant sale, too. Trying to get rid of what I have left.

After winter lasting until last week, we hit 100* on Friday. Wow!! A tad cooler Saturday and Sunday. Only 75* today. Easier to work outside.

Hope everyone has an amazing week!!