Grey's Anatomy, MP4, and Dasani

I can't wait for the start of Grey's Anatomy! Since it's been off for the summer, I'm into Army Wives now. I started with Starter Wife, which I liked. I thought the movie was much better than the book though. I also started watching Brothers and Sisters, too. I was getting kind of bored with Ugly Betty, though.

I've downloaded older episodes of other series, too, which I have to convert to MP4 so I can watch it on my iPOD. Otherwise I don't have time to watch. I've downloaded the first couple of seasons of Monk, Entourage, Bones, Criminal Minds (SHEMAR!!!), Medium, and CSI NY. Early Edition, and Heroes. I paid for a subscription to RapidShare and MegaUpload just so I can grab these. I don't trust LimeWire since my last virus, and I don't understand Torrents.

Converting to MP4 takes so much time, though. For Alan's birthday, I made him and Joan about 20 CDs of must-have movies, I think there's something like 200 movies in that collection. Some were bootleg version of the just-released in theaters, but by the time he got them, the real DVDs were out already.

So with all my scrapbook stuff and movies and music, blank DVDs go through my home like Dasani water! I have 2 external hard drives, both 250 gigs. Every other day, they become full. Any ideas on how to organize my DVDs though? I can't keep them in the spindle, and I would have too many CD books. Maybe I should just keep getting external hard drives. I think now I can get double the size for the same price I paid for my 250 gig ones.

Quiz - Which Grey’s Anatomy Woman Are You?

http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=327498&first=yes

My results:

You are Izzie Stevens!

Izzie Stevens		65%
Meredith Grey		50%
Addison Montgomery		50%
Callie Torres		45%
Miranda Bailey		45%
Cristina Yang		30%

Neat organization! For Sarah (my little organizing freak!)

Now, I've always thought of myself as a relatively organized sort of person, but this blogger puts me to shame! Scroll down to her Feb 2, 2007 entry and marvel with me at the way she stores her photos and cds/dvds ... I'm still in shock! And that leads me into today's little project, which will probably take me a couple of weeks to finish.

I have a folder ... and in the folder is a contact sheet of the layouts I created for the month, and in a dvd sleeve is a dvd, with the month's psd files, 8x8 inch jpegs to print, and jpegs saved at web quality, AND that month's photos. So how ORGANIZED am I? I've done 2007 ... and tomorrow I will grind back through my digi years of 2006 back to 2003! Like I said, it's going to take weeks!!!

I read an article this weekend in NetGuide on how best to back up files on dvd. Summarized, the article said ... the most expensive discs are not necessarily the best. Verbatim has been the most consistant performer, producing the least number of errors over a significant number of burnings. Don't burn your discs at the drive's maximum speed. The faster you burn, the more errors you will end up with. The recommended speed is half what your drive will do. Check to see that the data has copied after you have finished burning the dvd. Store your backup discs in a cool, dark, dry location. Make multiple backup discs on multiple types of discs. Transfer these backups to new discs every five years. Ok ... now you know. Oh yes, why the sudden interest in backing up? Lanne? How's the recovery going? :(

GUCCI GUCCI COO

I read this book and thought it was cute. Teaneck, NJ was mentioned in it, so I loved it. When we moved to STL from NJ, I gave away hundreds of books. Somehow I was able to gain those hundreds back this move again. The library has become the lucky recipient this time. I think I'll be more of a frequent visitor there from now on.

I admit, I was a library snob. I had to have the new book that nobody has yet opened. But now, I love that I can walk away with an armload of books and don't have to move with them!

HP AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

Okay, I read through this one pretty fast. I was on total lockdown. No phone, no TV, no Internet. I finished it in 2 days, but I felt that I missed a lot, so I'm going to read it again. However, I didn't even reread the other ones, and now that there are no more, maybe I should revisit them again. I was particularly disturbed by AD's death (as Sarah can attest to). What else did anyone think about the last book?

SPINACH SALAD

I got this recipe from Gi, who got it from her sister. We had this during a get-together at Abe's house. It was so great, I had to call Gi the next day and get the recipe. That night we also had the salmon with mayo and tomato. I won't post that recipe because there's no measurements at all. But now, I've added chopped scallions and capers to it. Sometimes, I'll separate a boiled egg and chop the whites and then the yellow, and garnish it that way. This is the best Spinach Salad I've tasted!

SPINACH SALAD
2 bags of baby spinach

Topping
3 hard boiled eggs (2 chopped, 1 sliced)
1 package bacon (crumbled)

Dressing
¼ c honey
¼ c ketchup
¼ c white vinegar
1 c oil
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 small red onion chopped

24 hours before serving, combine in the ingredients for the dressing. Whist until blended. Cover and refrigerate.

Wash and dry spinach. Right before serving, empty one package of spinach in bowl. Spoon in dressing, toss in ½ portion of bacon and ½ portion of chopped hard boiled egg. When evenly mixed, garnish with ½ portion of sliced hard boiled egg.

DOUBLETREE HOTEL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

We checked into the Doubletree Hotel near Sesame Place when Terrence was 3 years old and were given these cookies. It was great, but then never thought about them again. I heard about them again when I was booking the great Dr. Bruce Thiers, dermatologist extraordinaire from South Carolina, for a series of meetings for the speaker's program that I was working on at MedLearning back in the day. He told me that he loves the cookies at Doubletree.

We went to Sesame Place for Tylers 5th birthday, and again stayed at the Doubletree. This time, we were hooked!

We live 5 minutes away from a Doubletree now. We now buy them by the dozen. But I came across this recipe on the Internet, which of course, we tried. It's not the same, but it's still a great cookie!

DOUBLETREE HOTEL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

½ c rolled oats
2 1/3 c all-purpose flour
1 ½ t baking soda
1 t salt
¼ t cinnamon
1 c butter, softened
¾ c brown sugar, packed
¾ c granulated sugar
1 ½ t vanilla
½ t lemon juice
2 eggs
3 c semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 ½ c chopped walnuts

Grind oats in a food processor until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

Spoon rounded ¼ c portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350F oven for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle.

LECHE FLAN

I found this recipe on the Internet and I've used it a few times with great results. Sometimes I'll substitute the almond extract with lemon.

LECHE FLAN
1 ½ c sugar
2 cans condensed milk
Equal amount of fresh milk (pour into empty condensed milk can to measure)
8 eggs
1 t vanilla
1 t almond extract
¼ t salt
1 T amaretto or almond liqueur

Preheat the oven to 325F.

To make the caramel, heat the sugar in a medium sized skillet over medium heat. When the sugar begins to melt, reduce the heat to low and continue cooking until the sugar has melted and browned. Spoon or pour the caramel over the bottom of a 3 qt oval baking dish and tilt the dish so that caramel spreads evenly around the size.

The caramel hardens as it cools, so work quickly. In a bowl, whip the eggs gently until smooth and then add the condensed milk, fresh milk, vanilla, almond extract, salt and Amaretto. Whisk until smooth. Strain the mixture through a strainer.

Set the mold in a larger pan of warm water. The water must reach half the depth of t he mold. Cover the flan loosely with foil to prevent it from overbrowning. Bake for 1 ½ hours until the center feels just firm when pressed. Remove from the water bath and allow to cool. Chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Unmold by placing a large decorative platter over the mold, and using both hands, flip the mold over onto the platter.

Surprises - a cookie recipe

This recipe was given to me by Jodi over at Apex Communications and MedLearning. She made this my last Christmas there in 2003. I thought I had lost this recipe, but then found it when we were packing for the move. Whew - I'm so glad I did. Thanks, Jodi, for all the extra calories. Her note on the bottom is exactly how she had given me the recipe. She forgot to mention that perhaps three batches because you will definitely pop a few in your mouth as you're rolling them!

SURPRISES
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 heaping cup of marshmallows
1 ½ heaping cup of chocolate chips
11 graham crackers (whole crackers, not just half) broken into dime sized pieces
Confectioners sugar

Combine marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham crackers. Pour in condensed milk. Mix well until all pieces are coated. Let it sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, butter a pyrex dish, don’t use aluminum, it sticks too much. Then flour the pan with the confectioners sugar. Pour mixture that has been sitting into dish, make as even as possible (otherwise parts of the mixture will burn).

Bake in 325F oven for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until marshmallows are light golden brown. Remove from oven and cool slightly. Prepare cookie tins or Tupperware by layering with plastic wrap. All of the container should be covered, or Surprises will stick. Container should be airtight.

Pour about a cup of confectioners sugar into a bowl that you will be able to roll Surprises in, not too deep, not too shallow. With teaspoon, lift about a spoonful of warm mixture and roll into confectioners sugar. Form a ball that is coated with sugar. Place touching each other in the container.

After one layer of the container is full, add another layer of plastic wrap. The Surprises will stick together side by side a little bit, but putting another layer on top without the plastic wrap will give you one big Surprise. Refrigerate until Surprises are solid. Best served cold, however, they are fine at room temperature.

Jodi's note: I always make 2 batches at once. In separate bowls and Pyrex dishes. The process is messy, but it's delicious!

Lemon Delite

This recipe was given to me by Tita Betty, my best friend's mom - you know who you are, Sar - or you'd better! Anyway, she is one of the best cooks I know ... Tita Betty, I mean. Definitely not Sarah! I'm going to try to get her recipe for the Vegetable Eggrolls and Baklava.

LEMON DELITE

Crust
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
½ cup walnuts, chopped fine

Bake at 370 for 20 minutes or golden brown.

First Layer
2 bars cream cheese
1 ½ cup confectioner sugar
2 T vanilla
Cool Whip

Second Layer
Lemon pudding
2 bars cream cheese
Small crushed pineapple

Top Layer
Cool Whip and chopped walnuts

MOVED .... again!

I am such a bad blogger. Not only have I been consumed with transcription work, but as many of you know, we had moved again. Our new house is in one of the top 2 schools in Missouri, so it is well worth it. We are also fixing up a property in downtown SL. After we're done with it, I might want to move in it! But the schools are not that great over there, even the private ones.

Anyway, Mom and Alan came right in the middle of the move. We should have been done by the time they got here. We actually closed on the house three weeks before they got here, but we were closing on the downtown property, as well. There was a lot of negotiations going back and forth because I was fighting the price. All in all, everything turned out wonderfully and even more so than we had planned.

So I was not actually able to take pictures when Mom and Alan were here because we couldn't find which box any of the cameras were! So I won't be posting any of those. That's okay, there will be a few more visits and then we'll be back home in NJ! Never thought I'd say it, but I miss NJ!

The weather here is ridiculous! It has consistently stayed well into the 90s since the end of May. But in July and especially in August, it has gone up to the triple teen digits - 113, 118! We had a break some time last week when it was 88. What a relief! But now, it's back to 97 and 104 steady!

I'll be posting some of my recipes on the blog and if I ever do a digital scrap page, I will post it here. Who knows when that'll be! Feel free to leave a comment!