We're putting this blog on a diet!

We know y’all were expecting a Hunger Games post today, and we’ll get to it, eventually (probably) but after over a month of daily posts we’ve realized that in addition to our real lives and stuff, that trying to post something entertaining every day has just gotten to be too much.

So, instead of just putting out crap every day to keep up with the blog, we’ve decided to scale back a bit and stick with the parts of the blog that everyone seems to enjoy the most.

We’ll still swap recipes and music, and you Nosy Nellies will still get a peek into our lives. We do reserve Wednesdays for something else if the fancy strikes us. We will be able to talk about a certain tv show or movie or maybe an outfit we need to put together. It’s going to be our random day. Friday will be our new food day, and it will pick up next week with Sass telling y’all about a recipe that Snark sent her.

So join us back here on Monday when Snark reviews some music Sass sent and all will be right with the blogosphere again...only lighter.

Photo taken from nataliedee.com

Take a Peek, Above the Sink, the mediciiiine cabinet*

Today we're giving y'all a glimpse into our medicine cabinets. You know...those things you peek in when you're visiting friends. Nah...don't claim that you don't. You know you take a little looksy. We decided to save you the guilt and shame and freely show you what's in ours.

Sass: We actually have 2 medicine cabinets in the Sass household, so you get a peek into both. Here’s the first one - it sits above the toilet.

There’s really no rhyme or reason (or organization) to the cabinet. The top shelf has an array of things from baby powder to a squeeze tube of allow to homeopathic teething tablets (that nobody uses anymore) to a minty face mask and poison ivy lotion.


The second shelf houses Q-Tips, deodorant and all my hair stuff. We’re partial to Tom’s of Maine deodorant in this house - in a variety of scents. As for hair stuff, both Mr. Sass and I use hair elastics on a daily basis, so we have a huge bag of those. In addition, I have tons of hair clips, scarfs, etc... for all my fancy hair needs.


The bottom shelf doesn’t have any doors to close in front of it (and yet still, not organized!) This one contains a whole slew of stuff. A funky clock that shows the time from the shower so we can make sure we’re not running late, my “beauty products” aka my face cream, toner and junk. My glasses, some hair clips and various lotions all also reside there.


Here is cabinet #2:

This one has mirrored doors (cut into thirds, which kind of annoys me) and sits above the sink. Again, no real organization at all going on here. The top shelf houses make up I haven’t touched since probably 2006, some hemmheroid cream (which I haven’t touched since I was pregnant. Fun times) and some Compound W (I’m still trying to figure out who in my family had warts...).


The second shelf is full of band-aids, more baby powder and some Gold Bond (can you tell somebody’s a sweater...here’s a clue - it’s not me!).


The bottom shelf holds our toothpastes - Tom’s of Maine - mint for us and silly strawberry for the kid, some rubbing alcohol, fancy mouth wash we got from the dentist and a junk load of bug spray. It gets buggy here in the summer.

Snark: I have one actual medicine cabinet, but I have another cabinet that I stuff with more crap. I seem to end up with a lot of things that I never use. Just take a look at the picture below.

I use the toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, headache medicine, Qtips, face wash and that’s about it. Everything else is just... there. I mean, sure, I might need some a bandaid or take some allergy medicine, so I’ve got it. I should probably throw that fake tan stuff away though since it’s rather old. Let me go do that now.

This cabinet houses washcloths, tampons, razors, hair products that are rarely used, a tissue box crocheted cover I got at an estate sale, nail polish remover, a hair brush. On the top shelf, maybe you can see the sugar scrub I made myself. I think I’ve used it once. What a waste of good olive oil.

We showed you ours, now it's your turn...What’s in your medicine cabinet?

*Snark would like to note that the blog title is a play on the theme song to the 80s kid's show classic, Reading Rainbow. Sass would like to note that she still gets down to that theme song every now and again.

An Apple a Day...

So, I don't know if y'all have figured it out by now, but I'm no gourmet chef. I know, I know, you're surprised. This week I try my hand at baking a pie.

FROM SCRATCH!

I have never, ever done this. Have I made pies? Sure. We're the crusts pre-packaged and frozen in their pans already? Of course.

This time, I did it all, and I made a rather delicious apple pie. It all starts here:

Well, really, you make the crust first, as I learned today when I finally read the directions, but the apples were how this all started. Sass and I live in total opposite sides of the country, so we have a lot of different food choices. Something normal for me would be very unusual for her. Like, Sass goes to the orchard and picks apples. Yeah, I don't do that. Last week, she mailed me some of those apples, and then she sent me this.

Ingredients

Makes one 9-inch pie

· 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface

· 1 to 1 1/2 recipes Deep Dish Pate Brisee

· 1 large egg yolk

· 1 tablespoon heavy cream

· 3 pounds assorted apples, such as Macoun, Granny Smith, cortland, Jonagold, or empire, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

· 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

· 1/4 cup granulated sugar

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

· 1/8 teaspoon salt

· 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

· Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one pate brisee disc into a 13-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. With a sharp paring knife, trim dough flush with the rim. Freeze again until firm, at least 30 minutes.

2. Roll out remaining 2 discs of pate brisee to about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes. Remove from freezer; using a 2 1/4-inch leaf-shaped cutter, cut out about 65 leaves and place them in a single layer on baking sheet. Place in refrigerator until firm.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and heavy cream; set aside. In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Remove pie shell from freezer, and fill with apple mixture. Dot with butter.

4. Remove leaves from refrigerator, and score with a paring knife to make veins. Lightly brush the edge of the pie shell with water. Brush the bottom of each leaf with water; beginning with the outside edge, arrange leaves in a slightly overlapping ring. Repeat to form another ring slightly overlapping the first. Continue until only a small circle of filling is left uncovered in the center.

5. Carefully brush the top of the leaves and pie edge with the reserved egg wash, and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Freeze or refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.

6. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crust just begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. If the crust begins to get too dark, drape a piece of aluminum foil over the top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

BRISEE (Fancy word for DOUGH)

Ingredients

Makes enough for one 12-inch deep-dish pie

· 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

· 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

· 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

· 3/4 cup ice water

Directions

1. Place flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; process to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds. Test dough by squeezing a small amount together; if it is still crumbly, add a bit more water.

2. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Press into a flattened circle, and wrap in the plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.

Read more at Marthastewart.com

Well, y'all know I always have some mishap. This time, I couldn't work my new food processor because I'm dumb. My friend got it to work like THAT. Anywho, I couldn't work it, so I had to use a fork and my hand to mix in the butter... it took awhile. Then, you have to roll it out. That's when I realized I don't have a rolling pin. Doh.

You see that water bottle? Well, I considered using that as a rolling pin. lol. Yeah, um, not my smartest idea. It definitely didn't work.

So I just smooshed it out on my countertop and then wrapped it in saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. During that hour, I cut and peeled seven apples and rushed around like a mad woman to finish cleaning my house before my guests came over for pie. I also, during that time, texted everyone so they would come thirty minutes later.

Once that hour was up, I smooshed it even flatter and put it in the pan. I cut around the excess and then smooshed that all up together and tried my best to flatten it (I was not very successful - you'll see). I then had to stick it back in the freezer for thirty minutes. It was about this time I was starting to really not like making crust from scratch. I don't want to do things in steps with waiting in the middle. I want it all done right away.

I took that time though to mix up the stuff that goes on the inside of the pie.

These ingredients plus the lemon in the first picture with the apples make this:

Then, I also had to make an egg yolk, whipping cream combo to put on top of the pie. It was easy, but I really need to find a better way to get the yolk out of an egg. I ended up with it in my hand. Don't ask me how that happened. I'm still not sure.

Then, I had to take the dough out of the freezer and fill the pie pan up. Easy enough. The problem now was that my top layer of crust was really thick, but it was too cold to smoosh further with my hands, and I didn't have enough time to wait. So I just put it on top, cut off the excess and mushed it a bit around the edge. I remembered some slashes in it from the picture, so I cut it with a knife. The directions above are actually for that criss-cross strip crust thing, and I was not all about that. Simplicity is key. For real. I rubbed the egg yolk and whipping cream mixture on top of the pie (because I don't have a brush) and then stuck it in the oven.

And, somehow, I didn't burn it.

It's definitely not winning any pie contests based on looks, but it smelled and tasted delicious. Everyone enjoyed it very much. We had it with french vanilla ice cream, though, Sass swears I have to try it with cheddar cheese. I totally forgot to buy cheese at the store, though, so I will have to save that weird combo for next time.

The pie was cooked to perfection, the crust flaky and brown, the apples soft and juicy. The only thing wrong was that damn top crust. It was comical thick in some places of the pie.

Despite the crazy crust, this was very, very good. I think Martha and I need to give ourselves a big pat on the back. 

Waiting For The Party To Start

Over the weekend Snark sent me a bunch of songs by the band, Bloc Party. I have to admit that I've never heard of them before, so this was my first time giving them a listen. Snark let me know that this was "her band" during college - the one she'd listen to driving around being a general badass.

I downloaded all the songs, and let iTunes do its thing while I answered a few emails and caught up on blogs/websites that I read. The first song that came on, Like Eating Grass, wasn't bad - it started off kind of funky and had a nice beat to it. I found myself bopping my head along, but wasn't too distracted to not be able to continue doing my other stuff.


'

I felt the same way about a few of the other songs... They were nice to have as background music, but I didn't find myself really getting into them or really wanting a closer listen. I could see how this would be good driving around music for sure, and can picture young Snark driving around in her car, windows down and Bloc Party blasting.

I'm not sure, however, that Bloc Party is the band for me. I don't really see adding them into the mix of music I play, but I wouldn't necessarily change the channel if I heard them on the radio...

I'll let Snark hold on to this band as her own, and maybe go play some Dr. Dog...

Playing Dress-Up

Sass: I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m pretty fashion fail for the most part. I mean, sure - I can get it together enough not to wear pajamas to the grocery store (which is not to say that I don’t want to wear pajamas to the grocery store), but when I have something specific I need to get dressed up for I go into near panic mode.


Snark: You should NEVER EVER go to the grocery store in your pajamas.

Pshaw. Anyway, I have a wedding to go to next week and I am all stressed about what to wear. Here are the deets: Backyard wedding at noon on a Sunday, and....GO!


Oh? You need more to go on? Okay...I’ve narrow it down to two choices.


First up we have a dress I’ve had for a while. It’s a dark plum color...sheer, patterned material over a slip.


(for the record, lets forgive the horrible quality of the photo and my Sears catalogue posing...it’s hard taking a picture of yourself!)

Ok, so I’m thinking I look a bit hippy in this dress (and not in the peace/ & love kinda way...)

You look fab. Don’t let her convince y’all that’s she’s not a super hot mama.


I like this dress, but it’s going to be cold, right? I mean, it wouldn’t be that cold down here in October, but you could freeze.

A quick check of the weather informs me it will be in the mid 60s. For us hearty New Englanders, that's still shorts weather!

Same dress, but now with tights and boots (and less hippy? hmm...)

Ah, tights! I like it better with tights, but I’m not sure about the boots just because the length of the dress. Ooh! You know what you need here? A belt! You should totally Estate Sale shop for that. Oh, and you know what? I have this book that shows you how to make this belt with tape and ribbon. It sounds janky, but it’s cute. I’ll share if you want. Seriously, my motto right now is, “If you like it, then you should put a belt on it.” Sang in the key of Beyonce. So oh oh oh lame, but it’s true.

I’ll...consider the belt idea. I’m always afraid belts accentuate my bum. I’ll give it a shot though. What color would you suggest?

Hmm... I would say black or brown, either one would work. If you could find one with a cute gold buckle, that would be even better. Like these!

Belt #1
Belt #2

Yeah, I'll get back to you on the belts...


Dress #2 - I picked this on up the other day at Urban Outfitters - It’s short, but with tights it makes me look like less of a floozy.


I think.

I adore this dress. Just so all of y’all know out there in internet land, Sass and I went through a lot of dresses on UrbanOutfitters.com to find the perfect dress. She went to the store and got in on sale. I think it’s so cute. It makes you look all boobylicious as well! (And, she plans on wearing a cardigan, so I think it will be not floozy at all.)

And with black tights for contrast:

THIS IS IT! WEAR THIS! I love it with black tights. I would rock this look so hard.


I think I like dress #2 better as well, but I'm not sold on the black tights...I still kinda dig the gray ones. What about you? Pretend I'm your own personal Barbie (but please don't make me do the depraved things I made *my* Barbies do) and tell me what to wear! I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments or in the poll below. I'll post a pix in a couple weeks from the wedding and let you know what I chose.

 Which Outfit Should Sass Wear?

• 
  
  Longer dress with wedges
• 
  
  Longer dress with boots
• 
  
  Shorter dress with gray tights
• 
  
  Shorter dress with black tights
• 
  
  Find something else

view results
Free vote poll

The Opening Ceremonies

Well, hello there, wonderful people who we hope read our blog. I know yesterday it was mentioned that we would be talking about The Hunger Games today, but we made the sound decision not to...

We are going to talk about the first book... next week. This way, if you want, you have more than enough time to read them and join in on the discussion. Next Thursday, we're going to dive a little deeper into The Hunger Games and it's characters, talk about what we want to see in the movie version and also give you some pictures of who we see playing each role in the movie.

We are looking forward to it!

Tomorrow, we're going to help Sass pick out an outfit for a wedding, so come along and bring your opinions.

Baby, You Can Drive My Car...

Sass: Remember that MTV show Pimp My Ride? I wonder if they ever pimped a Mazda Protege, because I think my ride could use a little pimping.

I mean, it’s a fine ride, easy on the upkeep and gets me to where I need to go, but...it’s beige. Actually, I believe the official color is something like “Sand Mica” but really, that’s just fancy talk for “sort of shiny beige.”


We’ve had this car since 2002 and have done a fairly decent job of taking care of it. Despite a few dents, knicks and crappy rims, it hasn’t been in any major collisions with other cars or grocery store shopping carts.


Inside, however, is another story.

We have a toddler, so our car tends to not be, well...clean. I debated cleaning it up to take pictures for this blog post, but ended up being too lazy, deciding that it would just end up messy anyway, so why bother. I know, my ability to rationalize is truly a gift.


Anyway, The backseat is stuffed with all sorts of stuff, the biggest being my kid’s carseat. Looking at that picture I see a book, some papers, pens, blocks all on the seat. What you can’t see if a huge red stain that is in fact, melted crayon. If anybody has a supersecret tip for getting melted crayon out of car upholstery, I’m all ears!


There’s also a large picnic blanket, mini basketball, a stuffed turtle and apparently the top of a bowl of nuts. No clue where the actual nuts are. Let’s just assume they’ve been eaten.


The front seats are a bit better:

CDs get shoved into the side of the door along with maps, tissues and the occasional snack. I really do try to clean out the car every week or so, but it feel fruitless when it easily returns to this state within minutes of cleaning.


We are a one-car family, with our other modes of transportation being...our bikes! I strap a kid seat onto mine and haul the kiddo to run errands, take him to school or just putter around town. Mr. Sass takes his bike to work everyday.

I have to say...My bike is all sorts of sassy...and I love it.


Snark: I love your bike, too! I have a red cruiser that I need to get out of my parent’s garage. I’m just not sure where I would put it at my apartment. There is barely any room.


Anywho, that is a boring story for another day. Today, we’re talking cars. Here is a pic of my beauty:

Oh, now, I know y’all are jealous of 2008 Pontiac G6, but that’s okay. Everyone feels that way. (Not really)


Seriously, though, I like my car. Before the G6, I had a car that BUSTED on me at 60k miles. I think it was a lemon, and it was sour as hell if you know what I’m saying. My whole last year of college, I was dependent on other people to drive me places. Thank goodness my sister lived practically next door, and I never felt bad about asking to take her car. That’s what sisters are for, right?

So, when it came time (read: when I was actually able) to buy a car, I wanted something new and with a WARRANTY. If something broke, I wanted a guarantee that it would get fixed. I got a good deal on it too. I mean, it doesn’t hurt that I work at the dealership...


But, what do I do with a brand new car? I proceed to scratch it, dent it, back into things, etc. etc. I never hit anything in my old car, but with a new one, I’m like Monster Trucking it through Target’s parking lot. It’s quite sad.

That picture is proof -- my pathetic side mirror. What’s REALLY pathetic about it is, that is not the original mirror. No, I knocked the original mirror right off, backing out of the driveway. I hit the garbage can. In my defense, I was looking at traffic not the driveway, and the garbage men didn’t put it back in the right spot. They couldn’t wheel the damn thing two feet over! Sorry. What was I saying?  
Well, after paying $120 or so to get it replaced, I then hit it on the side of the garage when I was backing out. I broke a piece of the mirror off as you can tell from the picture.

Then, I have a picture of the inside of my car. It’s not too messy right now. There is a cardigan and a book in the passenger seat, some bracelets on the shifter, my iPod connector. My iPod isn't even in the car, though. I keep it inside becuase I have XM Radio and that's all I listen to practically. There is also some trash and receipts and such, but I don’t think that’s too obvious in the photo.

Well, that’s it for this Wednesday. Join us tomorrow when we shut off the television and crack open a book. It’s time for The Hunger Games.