Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

thole ~ \THOHL\  ~ verb

DEFINITION: endure

EXAMPLES : "There was now temptation to resist, as well as pain to thole." -- From Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novel Kidnapped

"She moved closer to him and he noticed her faint perfume. Her cheeks were rosy red, and a tiny drip hung from the end of her nose. She was cold, but she was tholing it so as not to spoil his fun." -- From Patrick Taylor's 2010 novel An Irish Country Christmas

DID YOU KNOW? "Thole" is one of the English language's oldest words -- it existed in Middle English in its current form and in Old English with the form "tholian" -- but in these modern times it tholes only in the corners of England's northern dialects. It has the same origin as "tolerate": both come from the Greek word "tlēnai," meaning "to bear." Unrelated to this "thole" is the (also very old) noun "thole," which can be used as a synonym of "peg" or "pin" or can refer to either of a pair of pins set in the gunwale of a boat to hold an oar in place. This "thole" comes from Greek "tylos," meaning "knob" or "callus."

Find more great words at Mirraim-Webster.

~THE REBATE~

Get a $20.00 gift card to O'Reilly Auto Parts when you purchase two (2) TRICO Force Wiper Blades, starting at $17.99, from participating stores between February 15, 2012-March 13, 2012.  Just mail in the completed rebate form together with the original receipt with the date of purchase circled and the UPCs from the packages.  All requests must be post marked by April 13, 2012, be sure to keep a copy for your records. 

Hope you are having a good week.

C.Q.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Make a Friend Monday...

Welcome to the Make a Friend Monday blog hop, I hope everyone had a great weekend! Monday is usually a day filled with things that are not much fun, so why not take a short break and get to know a new blogger?

The rules are simple, stop by the featured bloggers site and say hi, the check out as many of the other blogs as you like, let them know you found them here. Just grab the hop button for your blog or post from the bottom of this post or the sidebar. Link up and have fun meeting new folks.

MAKE A FRIEND MONDAY

It’s Just Life
Today I would like to introduce you to Beth Ann Brown Chiles from It's Just Life.  I met her not too long ago through another blogger and I have enjoyed reading her blog very much.  One of the bonuses to reading her is that she does Comments for a Cause, which means she donates money to charity for each real comment left on her posts. What that means for you is you get a great read and if you leave a nice comment you are in part helping a worthwhile cause.  The charities change every month, this month the money raised goes to The Crisis Intervention Services in Mason City, Iowa.  Personally I can tell you that when you read her blog you are getting a glimpse into her life, one that makes you feel like you have known her since childhood, its warm, heartwarming, fun and, well...It's Just Life!
Tell us a little about yourself and your blog or blogsI have one blog called It's Just Life--Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary. I originally started my blog in 2008 when we were contemplating a move to Australia for a job change for the hubby. It was a great way to keep the family and friends back home up to date with what was going on with us and share a little bit of the things that we were seeing. Then I got hooked. I have always loved to write and even if my audience is small I really love to read comments on my posts. My blog is about my life, travels, family, and anything else that happens my way. I do a Teapot Tuesday post weekly where I feature one of my teapots from my massive collection! I also do a Comments for A Cause where for every legitimate (and we all know about those spammy ones!) comment that is made I donate 50 cents to a charity. The charities are all different and it has been a great way to meet people associated with those charities!

What do you consider your greatest personal achievement?  Without a doubt it is raising our two sons! I always wanted to be a Mommy and was blessed to be able to do that twice!!! I was doubly blessed that I was able to be a stay at home mom for most of their years at home. I would not change a thing. They have grown up to be amazing and wonderful young men who have made their parents proud. I could not think of a greater thing than to be able to say that I had a part in that.

Where is your favorite place to hang out on the Internet?  That is a good question!!! I find myself on Pinterest and Etsy an awful lot these days.....

If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would that be?  I think it would have to be Mother Teresa. What a life she led and what I could learn from her!!! I think it would be amazing to be able to sit down with her for just an hour and hold her hands as she told me about her life.

If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be? Maybe a chocolate taster????? Sounds good about now!

Favorite movie or TV show? Hands down favorite television show of all time is Friday Night Lights. It was a real show with real characters . And Tim Riggins wasn't too hard on the eyes after all.

---------------------------

Living on Less with the Coupon Queen

 


Sunday's media madness...

Well our weather has finally turned to Winter, we  have high winds and snow.  What better time than today to start planning what to plant this spring?  One of the things I enjoy about this time of year is the garden catalogs that start to come in the mail, it really helps with the Winter dull drums.  If you want to start planning your garden you can request quite a few catalogs free to get some ideas and see what will grow in your area, its also a great way to comparison shop, there can be quite a difference in price between suppliers.  Also, if you don't mind a slight difference in plants you may be able to find a great deal as well, for example, if you don't have your heart set on pink roses you may be able to find a sale on red ones at another place.  There is a great spot over at Ask.com that that their contributor Stacy Fisher has a compiled, it's a list of 48 free seed catalogs that I was thrilled to find all in one spot! 

If you are looking for more information Burpee has a great area in their site that is all how-to videos, everything from their  2012 catalog preview to how to plant fall flower bulbs.  If you are curious as to how your garden will look in the Summer you can check out Better Homes and Gardens free Interactive Garden Design Tool for an easy way to plant, grow and move your ideas around.  Finally, if you check out the Clean Air Gardening blog there is a great list of 10 Cool Gardening Apps for the iPhone, this was put together in March of 2011 and is a good list, I am sure you can get many of the apps for iPad and the Android now as well.

I hope you all have had a great weekend, don;t forget to stop by tomorrow for the Make a Friend Monday blog hop.

C.Q.
The Blog Entourage

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday's Freebie...

I have a couple of freebies today that you may have a harder time getting but are so worth it if you qualify.  The first one is a Kindle copy of the book Super Duper Totally Authorized Top Secret Recipes by Todd Willber if you are an Amazon Prime member this book is totally free to borrow and download to your Kindle or Kindle app. The thing to remember is that you can borrow the book free of charge, but you must return it before you download another or you will be charged the $9.99 for the book. This is a great way to find recipes I enjoy and write them down.  I love having Prime, the free shipping more than pays for the membership for me, but in addition to that you get a free Kindle loaner ebook each month and unlimited free streaming video.

The next offer is for a free Blockbuster Express DVD Rental Code, just text one of these keywords to 39777:  BASEBALL, BILLY, CATHERINE, CHEF, CLOONEY,  DENIRO, DEPP, EDGAR, EMILIO, FARIS, GANG, GERE, GOSLING, HOLMES, HUGH, ITALY, JUSTIN, KERIA, KUMAR, LAW, MAMA, OLSEN, PERLMAN, POLICE, RACHEL, SCARY, SCOTT, SETH, SHAW, STEVE, TATUM, TAYLOR, TERROR, VIRUS, WEDDING, ZANE.

Hope you are all looking forward to a great weekend!

C.Q.
Chubby Cheeks Thinks

The Blog Entourage

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Thursday's picture perfect deal...

The picture...

We have had large flocks of Pine Siskins and Red Poles at our feeders lately and I have been trying like crazy to get a good picture of them, the problem is that they are super fast.  I have been getting a lot of pictures of snow or blurred wings at the edge of the frame.  When I was scrolling through yet another 50 pictures taken out back you can imagine my laughter when I came across this picture near the end of on of the little Red Poles doing a face plant to get a seed stuck in the snow.

The deal...

Romans has a really great deal going on until 2/26/12.  Buy one summer Tunic for the regular price and get a second one for only .99 cents, up to 10!  These are great for hot weather and traveling.  To get the deal just pick out the ones you like and add them to your cart, then when you are checking out use coupon code RDTUNIC in the promotion box.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

C.Q.
Obviously MARvelousBassgiraffe's Thoughts Thursday Blog Hop

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

graupel  \GROU-pul ("OU" is as in "cloud")\ ~ noun

DEFINITION: granular snow

EXAMPLES: As we sat inside, enjoying the cozy warmth of the fire, the storm deposited an inch of graupel on the deck.

"In counties adjacent to the Illinois-Wisconsin border, graupel (snow enveloped by super-cooled water droplets) or small hail was reported in Kenosha, Racine, Lake Geneva, Wauconda, and Huntley." -- From a weather report by Tom Skilling in the Chicago Tribune, October 28, 2011

DID YOU KNOW? The word "graupel" is Germanic in origin; it is the diminutive of "Graupe," meaning "pearl barley." According to etymologists, there does seem to be a grain of truth in the assumption that the word grew from the Slavic word "krupa," which has the same meaning. "Graupel" was first seen in an 1889 weather report and has been whirling around in the meteorology field ever since to describe "pellets of snow" or "soft hail" (the latter phrase is an actual synonym of "graupel").

Read more at Merriam-Webster Online

~THE REBATE~

This is a great one from Proctor and Gamble: Get $15.00 back by mail when you buy $50 worth of their products: Venus, Olay, Secret, CoverGirl, Clairol, Herbal Essences, Aussie, Head and Shoulders, Pantene, Safeguard, Ivory, Crest 3D White, Always and/or Tampax products between 02/15/12 and 04/28/12.  All you need to do is go to their Facebook page and download the rebate form and fill it out (you will need the UPCs from the packages to fill in on the form) then mail it along with the original dated recipes.  Allow 6 to 8 weeks for your rebate to arrive.

I hope you are all having a great week so far!

C.Q.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tastefully Tuesday...

Happy Fat Tuesday!!  Did you know that this was the day medieval Christians used up their eggs, butter, and milk because they were forbidden during their Lenten abstinence.  Traditionally they used them all to make pancakes and pastries, thus was born the tradition of pancakes on Fat Tuesday.  In Britain "Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday to use its correct title, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent - the 40 days leading up to Easter - was traditionally a time of fasting and on Shrove Tuesday Christians went to confession and were "shriven" (absolved from their sins). Pancake Day became a great way to use the foods that were given up for Lent – milk, butter, and eggs. The humble pancake has featured in recipe books as far back as 1439." Quote from About.com 

With that in mind I though I would find a couple of great Pancake ideas for today.  The first one is from Paula Dean's show, the second is from the Food Networks Magazine.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Cinnamon Cream

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, separated
3 tablespoons butter, melted plus 4 tablespoons, divided
1/2 cup miniature semi-sweet chocolate morsels
Cinnamon Cream, recipe follows
Maple syrup, for serving

Cinnamon Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat griddle to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg yolks, and 3 tablespoons melted butter; add to flour mixture, whisking until smooth.

In a small bowl, beat egg whites at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until stiff. Gently fold into batter. Gently fold in chocolate morsels.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter on hot griddle. Ladle about 1/4-cup batter for each pancake onto hot griddle. Cook pancakes for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tops are covered with bubbles and edges look cooked. Turn and cook the other side. Repeat procedure with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and remaining batter.

For the Cinnamon Cream:

In a medium bowl, beat cream at medium-high speed with an electric mixer until thickened. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and cinnamon, beating until stuff peaks form. Cover and chill.

Serve pancakes with Cinnamon Cream and maple syrup.

Prep time 15 minutes, cook time 20 minutes, yields 10 servings.

Almost-Famous Cheesecake Pancakes
1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 tablespoons seedless strawberry jam
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 large egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2 cups chopped frozen cheesecake
Cooking spray
Butter, confectioners' sugar or whipped cream, for topping (optional)
Mix the strawberries, jam and 2 tablespoons warm water in a bowl; set aside. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

Pulse the flour, buttermilk, egg, vegetable oil, granulated sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the cheesecake pieces, keeping them whole.

Coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Working in batches, pour about 1/4 cup batter into the skillet for each pancake. Cook until bubbly on top, about 4 minutes, then flip and cook until the other side is golden brown, about 2 more minutes. Transfer the finished pancakes to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. Serve the pancakes topped with the strawberry sauce; top with butter, confectioners' sugar or whipped cream, if desired.

Prep time 15 minutes, cook time 15 minutes, yields 8 cakes.

Coupons:
$0.50 off Imperial Sugar® Extra Fine Granulated Pure Cane Sugar Bags
$0.35 off Diamond Crystal Salt Sense
$0.55 off Horizon Organic Milk Plus
$0.75 off Davidson's Safest Choice All Natural Eggs
$0.50 off Land O Lakes Spreadable Butter
$0.50 off two Nestle Toll House Morsels
$1.00 off Spice Islands Spices or Extracts
$0.55 off any Welch's Jam, Jelly or Spread
$0.50 off  LouAna® Vegetable Oil
$1.00 off 2  Arm & Hammer Baking Soda Products

Today's no cook options are from Restaurant.com, for today only when you check out use coupon code BEADS to get a $25.00 certificate as low as $3.00!!  I love this one because you are less limited on your choice of where to go eat.

Have a great Fat Tuesday everyone.

C.Q.
Photobucket Magical Mouse Schoolhouse

Monday, February 20, 2012

Make a Friend Monday

I apologise for the lateness of getting the blog hop up, Blogger didn't play nice and post when it should have then both my computers ~ yes plural ~ BOTH decided to give me problems.

Heather Von St. James - Mesothelioma Survivor        Blog

Today I wanted to introduce you to a blogger from the Mesothelioma  Cancer Alliance. She emailed me awhile back and asked if she could put a button up on my site, at first I was skeptical, but when I went to read her story I was blown away! She is an amazing woman with tremendous strength and I was immediately taken with her. It is with pleasure I would like to introduce you to Heather Von St. James.

Welcome to the Make a Friend Monday blog hop, I hope everyone had a great weekend! Monday is usually a day filled with things that are not much fun, so why not take a short break and get to know a new blogger. Please stop by the featured bloggers site and say hi, the check out as many of the other blogs as you like, let them know you found them here. Just grab the hop button for your blog from the bottom of this post or the sidebar. Link up and have fun meeting new folks.



Tell us a little about yourself and your blog or blogs:

I am a 6 year survivor of malignant pleural mesothelioma... a cancer that is almost always caused by asbestos exposure. I started blogging for mesothelioma.com to share my story, to give hope to others who are facing a mesothelioma or ANY cancer diagnosis.. It is my hope that through reading my story, that more awareness to the disease is brought about as well.

What do you consider your greatest personal achievement?  Beating cancer.. 6 years!!!!

Where is your favorite place to hang out on the internet?  Facebook... I spend far too much time on it.

If you could meet one person dead or alive, who would that be? Ellen Degeneres.. she is the embodiment of all I strive to be.. positive, happy, loving. genuine.. and loves helping people.

If you could have any job you wanted, what would it be?  A Travel and Spa writer... travel around to different spas and destination spas and write articles about them.. Heaven!!!!

Favorite movie or TV show?  My all time favorite movie is Auntie Mame.. the one with Rosilind Russel... an oldie but goodie... I don't watch much TV, but when I do, it is usually kids shows.. I have a 6 year old daughter.
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
To join the hop just follow Living on Less in the #2 spot and visit this weeks featured blogger in the #1 position. Be sure to let them know you are stopping by on the hop and leave a nice comment for them if you like the blog be sure to follow them by what ever means works best for you, GFC, Facebook, Twitter, or G+. Remember, we all love to read our comments so please leave a thoughtful comment, not the "following, please follow back" post. Have a great week everyone!
 
C.Q.



Living on Less with the Coupon Queen


Sunday, February 19, 2012

Sunday's media madness...

Today I though I would share a few of the apps that I found recently, one that has saved me quite a bit of money and one that will help me immensely when I travel and one that has wasted quite a bit of my time, in a good way.

The first one is called App Ticker and is a great place to look for apps that are marked down or free.  You can even has a great feature that allows you to search for an app, look at the price and if you want to wait until it is less expensive you can pick the price your willing to pay then click on save and App Ticker will let you know when the price drops to the price you want or less.  You can also search by developer which is nice if you really like fun stuff by Big Fish Games or travel guides by Frommers.  You can check out AppTicker online for more information and to see the current sales.  This app works for iPhone, iPad and even Mac.

The next app is called World Explorer by AudioGuidia and it puts world guide at your fingertips.  This app allows you to quickly see what is near you for points of interest using Wikipedia and Google maps together.  It will find you via GPS then finds the things near you.  When you find something interesting, just click the link and the Wikipedia article will open and the Google map will show you where it's located.  There are two versions to this app, World Explorer is free and is a great way to get to know an area, World Explorer 360 is $0.99 and has more features including weather, local time, augmented reality which allows you to hold your iPod or iPhone as if you were going to take a picture, allowing the app to "see" where you are and give you more detailed information, this guide is also an audio guide, allowing you more freedom to look at your surroundings instead of reading as you go.  Even better, all their audio guides can be used OFFLINE: no roaming data costs abroad.  If you travel this is a must have app.

Finally is an app Called Card Shark, I was hooked the minute I downloaded this app.  I was looking for something to play Canasta and stumbled on this app.  With both the free version and the paid version you can use multiple styles of card fronts, backs and tables as well as change the cards back to your own photos.  The paid version, Card Shark Deluxe, is $2.99 features more games (60 and counting) and some added graphics.  If the price is a little steep, just plug the app name into the App Ticker and watch for a price drop.

I hope you are all having a nice relaxing Sunday!

C.Q.
The Blog EntourageQuick Tattletails

Friday, February 17, 2012

Friday's Freebie...

Today's freebie is from Tide.  You can be one of the first to try the new Pods from Tide, just go to their web site and fill in the online form to request one of the half a million free sample, or you can check them out on their Facebook page.

Friendship Friday question of the week:

Question Of The Week
Blog Awards – Love Them Or Leave Them?

I like them, its always a fun little surprise when you are awarded one.
Have a great Friday!

C.Q.
Chubby Cheeks ThinksThe Blog Entourage