Tired of the drama?

Copied from a blog: beingwindham.blogspot.com 

Here's a few things that might work if you're sick and tired of daily upheavals in your life:

1) Don't take on other people's stuff! Sure, it's okay to be a shoulder and care, but it's THEIR stuff. Don't own it like it's your own.

2) Set boundaries! My favorite hot topic right now. Be clear about what's okay and not okay for you. If it's not okay, then stay away!

3) Be as clear as possible in your communication. This is hard if you're not used to it. Tell people what you need or don't need. No one I know is a mind reader. If you're not getting what you need, you may only have yourself to blame.

4) Take care of business now. Procrastination is a petri dish for drama. Deal with what's on your plate, and let it go.

5) Gossip and TMI breed drama too. Not only does it make you perhaps a not so great confidant, you are doing nothing but putting junk on your plate.

6) And speaking of your plate.....Keep a "clean spot" on your plate. As an painter, I make it a practice of leaving a spot on my palette that's clean. I may need that spot and working to keep space open, allows for those little surprise moments when I need it. Chefs do this too. A plate with a "clean spot" is much more appetizing than a plate piled high.

Drama is a drag. It's an energy drain.......just saying!

From Nikki Hardin..............Heels!

Heel!

September 27th, 2010

I change my point of view when I’m wearing heels. I’m taller, tougher, tender…and I don’t know why. It’s such a silly cultural stereotype, but who cares? I know that Keen and Merrill and Birkenstock are all good for me, but they make my soul feel flat-footed and clunky. Like I’m a Hobbit extra in Lord of the Rings. I know flats are more convenient, but they make me feel childish. More like Madeline, less like fey and sylphy Audrey Hepburn. I know flip flops are always there by the door for errands and taking out the garbage. But they make me feel like I have dirty feet. I know running shoes are for my own good. But there is nothing remotely attractive about tractor-pull soles. Of course, I’m not going to walk around in high heels every day, all day (unless they’re black suede Cole-Hahn heels with Nike Air soles), but I love to have a reason or make a reason to dress up and step up–to bring the world to heel, if only in my own mind.

Bourbon Balls

Probably the best thing about Winter here is that as far South as we live, it doesn't very often get just uncomfortably cold...it's nice weather to be outside most of the time. The part I enjoy the least is that there aren't very many festivals going on.

This recipe makes oh, probably thirty or forty bourbon balls, so they're perfect for a party. With this particular recipe, they can be frozen for a while too, so you can make a batch and then a week or two later take them back out and enjoy them then.

The more traditional recipe for bourbon balls calls for vanilla wafers and cocoa, but this recipe is a little different, mostly because the wafers aren't used, and the bourbon balls are actually dipped in chocolate. Av likes just about anything chocolate, so I figured this recipe would suit him best:

Bourbon Balls

Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1-1/2 cup pecans, chopped as fine as you like
4 tbsp bourbon (I used Maker's Mark for these)
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, thinned with a couple tbsp. butter and a splash of sweet milk (this is one of those things that you just have to play with the consistency, getting it not too thick and not too thin. Melt this chocolate/butter/milk mixture using the double boiler method - in a bowl over a simmering pot of water.)
Directions:Cream together the softened butter and powdered sugar. Once the butter and sugar is mixed together well, add the chopped pecans. I like the pecans in these to be pretty fine, but it's entirely up to your preference.

Add the bourbon, and mix again until the pecans and bourbon are entirely incorporated:

Place the mixture into a bowl, and set this in the freezer for an hour or so:

Even though the mixture will be cold, it will still be pliable enough to work into a round shape. I make these round and put them back in the freezer for a few minutes more (on parchment paper, on a baking sheet is easiest) just to make certain they hold their shape when they're dipped in the chocolate:

Next, I melt the chocolate mixture using the double boiler method. I use a toothpick and pick up the frozen rounds, dip them in the melted chocolate, and put them on a seperate baking sheet with parchment paper. Once these are all done, I pop them in the freezer until they're all set up (just a few minutes) and they're ready to enjoy.