Interesting article regarding a new book coming (a whole book?!?) out about the beanie baby craze. Pretty interesting. Basically the book is saying the beanie craze was manufactured by some crazy women it seems….I wonder if the book has pics of them. I know how I mentally picture them. But I would add that it really helped propel eBay as well.
http://nypost.com/2015/02/22/how-the-beanie-baby-craze-was-concocted-then-crashed/
And yes…I have some. Big surprise. I can remember hitting up Hallmark stores or small gift shops in search of new cute ones or rare ones. And constantly searching eBay. This is also when I first learned, from an Australian friend who saw TONS of fake beanies being sold on the streets in China, how they were made at a factory (in China) and some of the “rejects” that did not pass QC were then “thrown out” which actually meant employees took them and sold them on eBay as variants and rare for big $$$$. I learned how to look for the errors in the TY tags (the Chinese always seem to mess up the English in everything they steal/copy.)
This is what instilled in me *Caveat Emptor* of ANYTHING bought on eBay (or from China.) But there are people who pay $25 for a Prada purse from a street vendor who actually think they just got a good deal on a designer bag. I am assuming these are also the people who respond to the Nigerian Prince…
I can remember going to McDonald’s to get happy meals for the teenie beanies. I’d go to the one at Stanford Shipping Center in Palo Alto – do NOT get in the way of wealthy soccer moms attempting to get toys for their screaming kids!! And do recall people ordering the Happy Meals and telling the cashiers to keep the food (ummm…give me those fries!) It was definitely nutz.
My beanies are currently all (EXCEPT the 2 husky beanies which are on my bedroom dresser) stored away in 2 containers in my garage. But I can honestly say I never paid more than $50 and that was just for 1 on eBay – the Princess Diana bear. When I moved a couple years back, I considered donating them but I just couldn’t make myself give them up. They are too cute.
So when I start to worry I collect too much Star Wars stuff, or Funko POPs, or anything else…I can re-read this :) I might actually get this book. Cannot argue the guy was a genius. And he owns the Four Season in NYC?!?!? From crazed women (mostly I am sure) buying stuffed toys. That is fantabulous.
Just watched tonight’s episode of Big Bang Theory. Wow. You caught me off guard guys. I’m still sniffling.
I hate to admit that I had kind of forgotten that the actress died. And when Howard mentioned his Mom, I thought to myself right then “oh, that’s how they will deal with it. Have her away, etc. She didn’t appear on the show so maybe even find another voice.” Yes. I thought it during tonight’s episode. It’s Hollywood. They do that.
Then Mrs. Wolowitz died. And I got instantly sad. The actors did a great job of being very sad and remaining in character.
When Sheldon said “When I lost my own father, I didn’t have any friends to help me through it. You do.”, it made me cry and smile at the same time. When my brother died, my friends are the ones who got me through it.
Them. And Big Bang Theory. I watched repeats every single night for several months. It was the only thing I could watch without getting sad. The only thing besides my huskies that could make me smile at all.
That was a great episode tonight.
Now I need to go get all this dust out of my eyes.
RIP Carol Ann Susi AKA Mrs. Wolowitz #fuckcancer
I found this recipe in a Williams Sonoma catalog (catalogs ARE good for something!) and it’s actually what made me want to buy the Paderno Spiralizer. I changed the recipe a bit from the original for my taste:
Ingredients:
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (plus extra for topping)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup packed basil leaves
1/2 cup packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/2 cup packed mint leaves
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 lb. medium shrimp, shelled and deveined
4 zucchini – spiralized!
1/4 cup pine nuts
Directions:
To make the pesto, combine the garlic, almonds, Parmesan, 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper in a food processor and pulse until the almonds are finely ground. Add the basil, parsley, mint, 3/4 cup olive oil and the lemon juice; process until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in small pan and brown the pine nuts. Remove from heat after browned so they don’t burn. Then add to pesto when stirring in with the noodles.
Preheat a pan over medium-high heat until smoking. In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the pan and sauté until just cooked through, about 5 mins. Transfer to a plate.
Toss the zucchini noodles with the pesto (not all at the same time) until evenly coated. Divide the zucchini among 4 bowls and arrange the shrimp on top. Drizzle more pesto on the shrimp and sprinkle with parmesan. Serve immediately.
This was SO delicious. Actually better than I expected. Will definitely make again! And honestly, it didn’t take that long which I like :)
It was supposed to be cold, rainy and (hopefully) snowy over the weekend so I thought a good time to make some meat sauce and try over zucchini noodles using my new toy!
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef – I used organic, grass fed 85/15%
1 shallot, finely diced (I used my food processor)
1/4 cup minced garlic
4 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 (14 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions:
1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and stir in ground beef, shallot, and garlic. Cook and stir until the meat is crumbly, evenly browned, and no longer pink, about 15 minutes.
2. Transfer the meat to the slow cooker. Stir in diced tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, chicken broth, red wine, Italian seasoning, basil, salt, and black pepper.
3. cook on low for 8 hours.
Noodles:
Obviously you can use real pasta (mmmmmm) but I wanted to try zucchini noodles! SUPER EASY! First step – bought the Paderno Spiralizer 3-Blade from Williams Sonoma. Sure, sure…you can slice them manually but I know that I won’t do that and like kitchen tools :)
Once you have spiralized the zucchinis (2) heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet and cook/stir in the noodles so they are all coated in the oil. Then add in about 1/4 cup of water and cook until the zucchini is softened, about 8-10 mins or so. Season with a bit of salt and pepper as you stir occasionally. You want the water soaked up by the noodles.
Then pour some sauce over your noodles and sprinkle some parmesan over it and YUM!
I haven’t made homemade mac and cheese in a very long time so I decided it was time! I found this recipe a few years ago in the Macaroni & Cheese cookbook put together by Joan Schwartz (easily obtained on Amazon!) I like this one because it has some spice!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups salsa – I used Frontera (Rick Bayless) Chipotle salsa
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Salt
- 1 lb dried pasta (I used elbow macaroni but can also try cork-screw cavatappi or the spiral rotini or fusilli)
Pour 4 quarts of water into a large pot, cover and set over high heat.
In a medium-size saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then stir in the flour and whisk until the mixture turns a deep golden, about 2 minutes.
In a small saucepan over medium heat (or in a glass measuring cup or bowl in the microwave), warm milk for about 1 minute.
Add the warm milk and continue to whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and comes to a full boil, 4 or 5 minutes. (Whisk diligently and there will be no lumps.) Stir in the salsa, remove from the heat, then stir in cheese. Continue stirring until all the cheese has melted. Taste and season generously with salt, usually 1 1/2 teaspoons. Cover to keep warm until the pasta is done.
When the water has come to a boil, add the dried pasta. Stir well to keep the pasta from sticking together and boil until the pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly and add the pasta to the sauce. Stir until all the pasta is covered in the salsa cheese sauce.
You can eat it this way. But I decided to put the mac and cheese in a baking dish and top with some fried onions (or buttery bread crumbs could work as well) and bake in a preheated 375 oven for 10-15 minutes, until browned and crisp on top.
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I love Buffalo Chicken Wings (prefer boneless though.) I love Buffalo chicken pretty much anything. I hate when people call anything spicy “Buffalo” but whatever. Use Frank’s and you are pretty good :)
2 (10 ounce) cans chicken breast
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot original cayenne pepper sauce
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (Fage)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank’s Red Hot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. I serve with pita chips and sliced cucumbers (also carrots and celery but yuck.) :)
Mmmmmmm
