TheSnackHound

XYZBikes.com, maker of very economically priced and very cool beach cruiser bikes, is offering us all $5.00 to get off of our butts.  Well, there is a little more involved than that.  You have to do more than stand up.  When you purchase one of their calorie burning products, you can use Coupon Code 5OFFXPP, and they will take $5.00 off of your order.   Many of their bikes are available for around $100, they look cool, and they ship around the country.  That may not sound like a lot of money to you, but they have bells, baskets, and decals in that price range.  So, when you buy a bike, it is like “upgrading” it for free!

I always wondered why mens beach cruisers have the high bar in the middle, where it is lower on women’s. Regular bikes have that too. Is it because women can’t swing their leg as high? If that is the case, shorter women just get a smaller bike, so it would seem that wouldn’t be a factor. Is it not due to anatomy at all, but rather just tradition? Afterall, when bikes first caught on, women wore huge hoopy skirts or bicycling bloomers and their clothes would not fit if they had a high bar right against them.  It seems to me, however, that men would want a lower bar since they have more bodyparts that could get injured in that area.  I guess that is just one of the silly things rolling around in my brain.

This coupon has caught me on the day of the year that I decide that I am going to purchase a bikini.  I have that extra little smattering of confidence once spring is in the air and I stop wearing a sweater. I seem to say to myself, “Ah, I look rather svelte and feel 5 lbs thinner in this black stretchy turtleneck more so than I do the faux angora cardigan and the snow boots.” It, of course, is just an illusion. On that, or this, particular day, I grab my wine glass, filled 1/3 cranberry juice and 3/4 seltzer water and I wander around on the swimsuit selling sites. I take it stiff. I like the cranberry juice that only has about 2 grams of sugar. Of course, if things go according to plan, I won’t order the bathing suit.  I will eat another piece of chocolate cake, because I deserve it, even though it is only healthy in moderation.

For the rest of you, I will join you as soon as I put down my cake and get serious.

The Homer Laughlin Company has announced the latest Fiesta Ware color. The new color, Lemongrass, will be released this summer.  It is a yellow green that is meant to coordinate with the recent releases of chocolate, released this past winter, and 2008′s ivory.  It is a bit less green than the chartreuse color.  Macy’s is going to be among the first to receive and offer the new color for sale.  The new color will begin shipping in June.

I quite like this color, and look forward to seeing it in person in a few months.

There are also square luncheon plates in a variety of colors. The shape allows much flexibility to mix and match on the same table.   There is going to be a larger line of square dinnerware introduced throughout 2009.

I am not sure yet whether I would go to a whole table of square, but it does evoke a slightly art deco motif.  I have had square dishes before and rather liked them.

What are your thoughts?

Photofiddle.com  is giving away $10 Gift Certificates to all of my extra special super duper readers.  Actually, I snagged the deal off of their Twitter Feed.   All you have to do is email mom@photofiddle.com and tell them you want a $10 Gift Certificate.  It can be used towrds  any of their products.  You can print your favorite photo on canvas with stretchers, on art prints, or on rolled canvases that you can stretch or frame your own way.

Those would make some pretty cool mothers day gifts, don’t you think?  You could even make something artsy on the computer as well.  Something abstract.   Or, what about taking a photo of the view out your window and placing it on the opposite wall over the kitchen table.  People will keep waving their hand in front of it wondering if it is a mirror.  That would be too silly.  I digress.

Ask for your Gift Certificate by May 4th, because after that, you are out of luck!  That would be Monday, so hurry up.

I just love everything Carolyn’s Kitchen has to offer. I blogged about a giveaway another blogger was having for the Cupcake Apron, but unfortunately, I didn’t win it.  It has been awhile since I browsed around the website, but I decided that I must thank Carolyn West, or whoever her website blurb writer is for the quote that speaks to my soul:

“So whether you’re a gourmet chef or can’t boil an egg, nobody will even notice when you’re wearing one of Carolyn’s hot and spicy apron sets.”

A-ha!  Light dawns on Marblehead, as they say in Boston.  This is exactly what I have been waiting for all of my adult life.  I am far from the master of the kitchen domain, but sometimes I think with the right shoes or the right tools, you can either fake your way through pretty good or just look pretty good doing it.  In fact, I may decide to spend hours dolling myself up to mentally prepare for making my next “ugly but tasty” cakes.

Imagine my glee when I got a special “flier” in my mailbox about the new Safari So Good collection.   The collection comes in zebra, as you can see here, and Wild Cat, which is a cheetah-like print.  Carolyn’s aprons are retro inspired, and many have the option of also owning matching gloves.  What is truly another cool added bonus, is that the gloves that are to be had at Carolyn’s are not merely just wallflowers, but are completely functional and ready to dive into the suds!  I have a photo of the “Rock and Roll” gloves before that I think would look wonderfully outrageous with the Safari apron.

Some say the pathway to a man’s heart is his stomach, and maybe by looking pretty foxy slinging that microwave dinner on the table, he will suddenly fall in love with you all over again as the gourmand that you deserve to be. Be careful, because depending on the individual dude you are dating or married to, maybe he will get so confused about your new ability that he will think that a body snatcher came in the middle of the night.

I believe that cooking is not strictly a woman’s domain, but since I am a woman, I can only concentrate on myself.  Maybe there will be a guy’s version of sexy BBQ aprons that come with a special hat that not only keeps the sun out of their eyes while flipping on the grill, but also has a mind altering data chip in them to reprogram them to put the toilet seat down.

Some of these aprons are just too cute and would make good shower gifts, or a mother’s day gift for the hip mom.  I know a hip, sassy gal that is getting married soon, so I think I may just see if the maid of honor thinks that this is up her alley.

Hustle on down to Carolyn’s and check them all out.  The link is right HERE.

*****
Do you like the atmosphere around here?
Okay, this was more pathetic than funny, but still it would be nice if you would rate me on Humor Blogs!
(You will have my undying appreciation!)

Readymade magazine has named Andrew Wagner as its new editor-in-chief.  Whenever I find a magazine that I love so much, such as Budget Living, it either switches around their staff line up or crashes and burns.  It is still a mystery about Budget Living, since it was award winning and well received, but apparently not as popular with advertisers of Conde Nast.   Hopefully, Wagner, who was previously at the helm of American Craft will let the magazine keep its quirky, interactive, and useful tone.

One of the things I love about Readymade is the useful coded sidebars, whether you are making a chair, or a recipe with actual food, you will know what you are in for. The estimated for budget for materials is not the only thing. Time is also a mere convenience. What is most useful to me is the evolutionary chart, that lets you know how many brain cells, or skill you actually need.  Somedays I wonder if it is about learned skills or “potential.”  Either way, the evolutionary color coded scale goes something like this:

• Monkey (has opposable thumbs)
• Cro-Magnon (has tools and fire but may be clumsy with both)
• Drudge (has tools and basic know-how)
• Craftsman (knows that a confirmat screw isn’t as kinky as it sounds).

Some days I am not sure where I fall.  I guess it depends on the project.  I do have opposable thumbs, so at least I qualify for some of the projects and recipes.  One of the most intriguing recipes is Grilled Salad.  When I fire up the grill, I am going to try it out, and report the damage here.

What is your favorite recipe from Readymade?

Wow!  That is the longest stretch I have gone not open the fridge.   Back awhile, I issued you all a missive to let the games begin with my onine refrigerator magnets. Days went by with no refrigerlaureats.   So, as I naturally do, I forgot about the whole thing.  Today, I wandered over there and found that a note had been waiting for me all along!  Someone HAD played with my magnets.   In fact…because my nose was nerdily always in an Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie book as a kid, my powers of deduction are well developed.  I suspect that because of the word choice and diction, the perp was either a LOLCat, LOLDog, or was at least a big fan of them.

Alas, the trail is cold, except for the timestamp and the location of the author.  Therefore, I have no idea if the message is indicative of the author or a copycat based on a prior message that I missed.  Silly me has not checked back and the note was left on the twenty-first of March.  I vow to check the fridge every day from now on.

Now it is your turn.   Travel to this page HERE. Pretend you are seven or ten years old again and you can’t resist…

In a week or so, I will show them all off like a proud aunt.

*****
Do you like the atmosphere around here?
Okay, this was more pathetic than funny, but still it would be nice if you would rate me on Humor Blogs!
(You will have my undying appreciation!)