My Apologies! I fell behind in schoolwork! New post coming out later :)

SURPRISE DAD!

Dad, I know you want me writing my blog today, so I will..... but it's gonna be more than you expected! I am writing at 3:00 pm, HOWEVER, this post is not going to go live until 5:30- and for good reason. Here is the plan:

Since my Aunt Michelle couldn't be there for Mom's wake/funeral, she is making a surprise trip up! Well, surprise to Dad.... me and Grandma know about it. She is arriving sometime in between 5 and 6, so that is why I am putting out my post at 5:30- wouldn't want to ruin her surprise!

I cannot believe we are ACTUALLY pulling one over on Dad! Since no one has been acting weird, he does not suspect a thing! Usually, whenever us girls in the family plan something to surprise Dad, either something goes wrong or we start acting weird and he figures us out.

Well, my Grandma is yelling at me to come eat a VERY belated lunch, so I am going to go eat and I will end this post here! I know the posts have been kind of short, but they WILL return to long lengths next week. I will post tomorrow how the surprise went!

Maddie (WISH US LUCK :D )

Re-Post From Absolute Animals

Hello, since it is late I am putting up an old Absolute Animal post I wrote on the Green Moray eel. I saw it in an aquarium once and it inspired me to blog about it. If you haven't checked out my animal blog yet, please check it out now at www.absoluteanimals.blogspot.com.



Doesn't that thing look creepy? And doesn't it remind you of a plasticky hand puppet? But this thing is real. And the "thing" is called a green moray eel. They are found in the Western Atlantic along New Jersey shores. (This explains why the aquarium in NJ I went to had one. When I first saw the thing, I almost laughed because I thought it was fake. That is how bright green the eel was.)

The smallest moray eel is only 4.5 inches long. Don't mistake this eel for tiny, though. Some of the bigger ones can grow to be 13 feet in length and weigh 66 pounds. Even when they are this big, though, morays will hunt in large groups. The invitation to hunt with an eel is a shake of a head. The bad thing about being in a group of morays is lack of ability to drive small critters out of crevices.

Most people think of morays as vicious, annoying creatures. But in reality, morays are actually shy creatures that would rather hide in a crevice than come up and fight. The only times a moray would attack a human would be mistaken identity or self defense. These creatures are gentle giants.

Please check out my blog by clicking the link above! That's all for today.... I will blog more tomorrow.

Maddie

Back to Blogging

Now that the family crisis is passing over, I am getting back to my usual blogging schedule! I hope that my readers understand what happened. If not, please read back through my posts.

Anyway, the funeral and wake went by... many people came to pay their respects to my mom, it was amazing. I would like to thank anyone who came to the wake and funeral, it meant so much. Also I would like to thank my close friend Kyle who was a pallbearer. Thank you.

Now, it has just been a relaxing week. Not a lot of work, relaxing, baking, gardening, and just chilling. Me and Dad have been sleeping in and playing games a lot, mainly World of Warcraft and Wizard101 (if you want to check into either of these games, links are in the next paragraph).

Well, it is late so I will end this post here. Check out my friend Kyle's blog here: www.kylesfreespace.blogspot.com

World of Warcraft: www.worldofwarcraft.com

Wizard101: www.wizard101.com

Maddie

Mom Passed

My readers, I apologize for not blogging in a while. My family has been going through a horrible time. Last week I posted that my mom was in the hospital. Things had started to look up, but 1 week ago, Mom passed. It has been extremely hard for my family to cope this past week, as we have been arranging the funeral and wake. It is a crushing loss.

Mom is getting cremated and her wake is tomorrow. Her mass will be the following day. Mom died in my Dad's arms, so she did not die alone. She was a wonderful person, and will be missed. She is forever in our hearts. Mom loved poetry, drawing, cooking, shopping, and  most of all, being with her family. It was crushing for me because things had started to look up a lot.... she even had a chance at full recovery..... and then she died.

Mom's wake is going to be held at Cournoyer Funeral Home in Jaffrey, NH on Thursday the 8th of August from 6-8. A mass is going to be held the next day at 10 am at St. Patrick's Church, also in Jaffrey NH. To see Mom's obituary, please click this link: http://www.cournoyerfh.com/obituaries/obituary-listings?obId=24392

Please give it a read, and if you want, light a candle for her on her wall. It would mean a lot. I am going to finish this post here.

Maddie

Grandma's Eyeball Chicken Pot Pies

Here it is- the recipe you've all been waiting for! Here is my Grandma's basic recipe for chicken pot pie.

You Will Need:
1 small rotisserie chicken, de-boned and cubed
1 small can of cream of mushroom or chicken soup (do not dilute)
1 or 2 cans of chicken broth
1 medium size onion, chopped fine
2 stalks of celery, chopped fine
2 medium sized potatoes, cooked and cubed (if not available, bake)
1 1/2 cup of fresh mushrooms, sliced and pan fried
1/2 - 1 tsp of thyme or sage for flavor


Prep:
Place all ingredients into a fairly large pot, and gently heat. Thicken if needed with cornstarch mixed with cold water, about a 1/4 cup. Bring everything to a boil and add slowly the corn starch. For crust, I recommend Pilsbury. They are already pre-made, rolled out, and are really delicious. If you can't find them in your local grocery store, pick them up online from Buy-Buy Mama.

P.S. Crust may be brushed with an egg wash for a more golden look.
Bake at 350 for a half hour and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

So there you go- there is the recipe. Let me know in the comments how your pot pie turned out, if you decide to try the recipe. I apologize for the wait.

Maddie

A Sneak Preview of My Baking Site

I have not forgotten about my baking site that I promised would be put up a while ago... It is just that with everything that is going on, it has been hard for me to make progress with it. However, I am going to be working on it a bit more soon, and wanted to give you a sneak peek at one of the articles I did. Here you go!

"Today, I'd like to talk about CAKE MIXES. The base of all that is fluffy and good, the type of cake mix you use is very important for good results. So today I am going to go through the list of cake mixes that I know of, and rate them, on a scale of one to ten- ten being AWESOME! and one being HORRIBLE.


PILLSBURY- Pillsbury is my personal favorite when it comes to cake mix. They put pudding in their mix, and it makes the cakes I bake come out very fluffy and light. I have never had a bad cake come out when I use Pillsbury. I also prefer to use Pillsbury frosting- I sometimes feel awkward buying one type of product and then not buying the other type of product, because it might not taste right. SCORE: 10


DUNCAN HINES- My LEAST favorite brand. YUCK. Duncan Hines cakes always come out dry and tasteless, except for their butter cake. The butter cake really surprised me- most cakes from this brand, even if you mix for EXACTLY the right amount of time, come out dry and disgusting. BLEH. Their frosting doesn't taste very good either. Now, you probably think I tried JUST the cake mix from Duncan Hines. But if so, you thought wrong- I also tested their brownie mix. It was worse than the cake mix. The brownies I made using the mix were rock solid and almost chipped my tooth when I bit into one. NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE THIS BRAND. SCORE: -1


BETTY CROCKER- Betty Crocker- I have never used this brand for my cakes. I don't really like the flavor of the mix- no matter what type you get, the flavor is always off. However, Betty Crocker has the BEST brownie mix. I always use Betty Crocker Brownie Mix for my brownies. But, as this post is about cake mix and not about brownies, I am only going to give Betty a score of 4.


That's all for today's tips!
Maddie"

So there is my post from the baking blog! When it opens, there will also be a baking store along with it where you can pick up all kinds of bakeware and food so that you can make the recipes with me. The money I make from it will be going into a college fund, so I hope that when it opens you will buy your cookware from me.

Well, I have a ton of work still left to do, so I am going to say so long.

Maddie