Busy Sunday

First of all my public service announcement. DO NOT buy an eMachines computer. I researched and a lot of people loved theirs. I was reluctant and had a bad feeling about it but I bought it anyway. It did fine I guess but it's 2 yrs old, still under warranty, and it is a piece of junk. It works. But it's slow, it's loud, and half the time the dvd drive doesn't recognize a dvd or cd. When it does recognize a disk it takes twice as long (at least) as the other computers do for it to start up. So it went to the Geek Squad today and hopefully they will fix it. If not (if it's a software issue I am not having them fix it since the warranty apparently doesn't cover that) I will just reformat and hope it lasts another two years.

While we were in the town where Best Buy is (about an hour away from home) we went to Petco. Someone at 2peas had posted about how much their dog loved his Kong Wubba toy. Daisy is somewhat of an aficionado of dog toys and really wants to try as many as possible so we bought her her very own Kong Wubba. You can see that she approves:





Then tonight after supper I made Peach Cobbler. Yummy. Here's the recipe-it is super easy and not as fattening as some I've seen:

about 6 peaches, peeled and sliced (if you like lots of peaches in your cobbler feel free to use more)
2 tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/3 cup flour
3 tbs sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup butter
2/3 cup buttermilk
2 tbs sugar mixed with 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Even though it is August and it's peach season, I used frozen peaches from last year. So I skipped the peach baking step and since they were sweetened, I also didn't add the sugar to the peaches. Also, to peel peaches easily dip them in boiling water for about 1 minute, then put them in a bowl of ice water. The skins will peel right off. Then slice them into the baking dish.

Heat oven to 400°. Place peaches in a 2 qt baking dish. Add lemon juice and 1/4 cup sugar and stir to coat. Cover with foil and put in the oven for about 15 minutes. If you use canned or frozen (thawed) peaches you can skip this step. But drain the peaches first.

Mix flour, 3 tbs sugar, baking powder. and baking soda in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir just until moistened.

Drop the topping by large spoonfuls onto the peaches (hot ones if you used fresh peaches). Sprinkle top with the sugar/nutmeg/cinnamon mixture.

Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes or until topping is browned.

Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Back from vacation

We just got back from our little vacation a few days ago. Here's a picture-can you guess where we went?


Here's another that might make it easier:


Yep, we went to Niagara Falls. Yes, it's touristy but it's amazing. It's gorgeous and has a lot of interesting history (which we learned while on a tour). We went on the Cave of the Winds and the Maid of the Mist and despite having the garbage bag-like raincoats, we still got wet (mostly from the knees down and the neck up). We also went to a few lookout points and parks on the tour. We also drove into Canada and despite what I have read, the Canadian side is not better. It may be if you like ultra touristy things like cheesy museums (sorry to the cheesy museum lovers) and a million shops-there's a whole strip-like street of that. And a giant crowd. But on the US side there are no big casinos, no hotels, just the parks, the trees. It's beautiful. Canada was ok though-we went to a Zeller's and bought some safe nut free candy (making the whole trip into Canada worth it) and ate at a very expensive Subway (which we can't do in the US).

On the way home, we stopped at Splash Lagoon in Erie, PA. The kids had an absolute blast and for them, it was the highlight of the whole trip.

All in all, it was a nice quick vacation and we were glad to get home. Now I am going to work on finishing up my room if it kills me.

Busy busy busy!

I have been busy working on my craft room, making a dance bag for Sammy, watching the Olympics (ok so that may not count), and doing some other things. In the meantime the new Stampin' Up catalog has come out!! I put a link to download it in the sidebar. If you're on dialup and want a hard copy of the catalog, email me to see about buying one.