Won't You Join Me For Coffee?

Please join me for coffee and fresh Cherry Chocolate Cake on this rainy afternoon here in California.

Cherry Chocolate Cake

1 box of Chocolate Cake Mix

Oil

Eggs

1 can Cherry Pie Filling

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix cake mix according to package instructions -

omitting the water and adding one extra

extra egg. Then add one can cherry pie filling

and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Bake

according to back of box.

When cool, frost with Betty Crocker Milk

Chocolate Frosting or do like I did and

make your own from the back of the

Unsweetened Cocoa container (Yum!).

BAD, BAD WEATHER

Oh my goodness ... look what the horrible rain and wind did to our backyard ...

This happened at 7:50 a.m. on Wednesday morning ... just as I was getting ready to go to work. I won't even go into the long story of what I did when this happened, but let's just say it ended with me having a huge bruise on my leg and hand and my coat was muddy and wet! LOL!! We had already talked to our neighbors the day before and knew the fence was falling, but I had hoped it would fall into their yard because when it fell over into mine, it crushed all of the bamboo plants I have been lovingly tending to for the last two years! But here it is that evening after hubby got some new posts and started to fix it ...

My bamboo made it through safely!! YEAH!!! We have been having horrible winds and rain here for the last week. I know the weather could be much worse but for us, this is as bad as it gets and it's bad ... mudslides, flooding, etc. Thankfully all we had was the fence. One bright spot ... maybe after all this rain, they will take us off water rationing!!! Stay tuned for a giveaway soon ... woohoo!!!!

YUMMY COMFORT FOOD!

There's been some cooking going on around here. Our weather has called for some comfort food and here's what I made:

Chicken Enchiladas

Here's what you need: Flour tortillas, shredded cheese (I used cheddar and Monterey Jack), Refried Beans, Sour Cream, Cream of Chicken soup (I used Cream of Mushroom this time because I didn't have the other), Enchilada Sauce (I love Trader Joe's bottled sauce), and diced, cooked chicken. First of all, mix the can of soup with about a cup of sour cream. I don't have a recipe for this so here goes: Use a 9x13" pan, put a little sauce in the bottom. Take each tortilla, put a dab of sauce on, put a spoonful of refried beans on the tortilla, then put a big spoonful of the soup mixture on top (spread around), then add some diced chicken and top with some cheese.

Roll it up and put it in the pan, seam side down. I could fit about 6 1/2 tortillas in a 9x13 pan. Once you have all the tortillas in the pan, pour the rest of the sauce over them, covering all. Then top with more cheese and cook uncovered in a 350 oven for about 35-40 minute ... just until hot and bubbly. YUM!!!! You could also put black olives on top but my family doesn't like them. I serve this with tortilla chips and sour cream!

I also made a Poppy Seed Cake -

This looks a bit funny on the platter but I guarentee you will LOVE. THIS. CAKE!!!! It is so moist and has a great flavor. Here is what you need:

Everything goes into a huge bowl ...

Mix it all together for five minutes (now is when I really love my Kitchen Aid!) ...

Pour it into a bundt pan that has been greased and coated with cinnamon & sugar ...

Bake for about 35-45 minutes in a 350 oven. Here is what it looks like right out of the oven ...

I let it cool a bit, then I turn it out onto a platter. My platter has a cover. Once covered, this stays moist for about 5 days just sitting on the counter. I did not have poppy seeds this time around, so I omitted them and it still tastes great! Actually I don't like the seeds as much because they get stuck in your teeth. Plus you better not eat too much of this cake with poppy seeds if you are having a drug test soon!! LOL

Poppy Seed Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix

4 eggs

1 small package of instant vanilla pudding

3/4 C. oil

1 C. cream sherry

2 Tblsp. of poppy seeds

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Mix all of the above together on medium speed for five minutes. Grease a bundt pan and mix 1 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and use like flour on inside of greased bundt pan. Pour out excess. Pour cake batter into pan and bake in 350 oven for 35-45 minutes, until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

I bet it's cold in your neck of the woods ... know why I know that? Because I think it's cold EVERYWHERE in the US right now. It's 45 degrees here right now, which is summer compared to what some of you are going through and really isn't too bad for us but in the mornings, it gets into the 30s and that's cold for us!

Well, looking back on my last post and my "goals" ... I haven't yet lost those 20 pounds (just two), I haven't started walking yet (too cold), I don't know how in the world my new Ipod works ... BUT I have listed some stuff on ETSY!! Hooray!!!! One for six is not too, too bad!!!!! LOL! If you get a chance, please check out my ETSY site ... my name on there is beachdog7 ... they won't let me change it to Yellow Beach Dog. Boohoo!!! Here is a link that you will need to copy and paste (by the way ... can anyone tell me how to make a link?): http://www.etsy.com/shop/beachdog7

Last Saturday, my Mom, son (Ty) and I took the train up to Old Sacramento. We met my brother, his wife and her son & his family up there. It takes just about an hour to get up there by train. It was a bit chilly but we had fun walking around. Here's a picture of our train station (Ty took this one) ... make sure you click on it because it's really a neat picture.

I haven't been doing a whole lot lately. My work is going to be getting busier from now until March so I will most likely be working a few more hours each week. I did get to my local quilt shop and bought a couple patterns. I found out they have a drop-in embroidery class on the third Monday of the month so I think I will go to that next Monday. I have been wanting to brush up on my embroidery skills so that I can make dishtowels for the ladies in my family for Christmas. I also just found out that my church is hosting a quilting & knitting class on Monday afternoons. I know how to quilt and knit, but I need to brush up on my knitting skills. So these classes will be perfect for me!

I've been wanting to re-arrange the books and things in my bookcases for a while. So I've kind of started working on that.

See those cute red, striped baskets? I got those at Target a couple days ago. Along with these cute glasses. And the red ceramic utensil holder.

The glasses come four to a pack and were on sale for just $8.99. I also got four very cool goldish wood frames for just $3 to $4 each ... they were on clearance.

Here is a close up picture of the top of the bookcases.

I have red berry garland, with some ivy garland intertwined, and then I have a garland of white plastic dove lights. I got these dove lights on clearance at a Christmas store in our mall about 10 years ago. I still have one box left that I have never put out. I just love them! And I've never seen anything like them before.

See ya soon!

A NEW YEAR ON THE HORIZON

Another new year is on the horizon and at this point, my new calendar is blank. A. big. blank. slate!

I am amazed at how fast each year goes. I was talking to my boss the other day and I asked him if he made New Year's Resolutions. He does not ... and neither do I. It's funny how the majority of us see the new year as the time to make changes, when we can make those same changes when the sun comes up on each new day (I'm sort of one of those people) Each new day brings new possibilities ... get organized, start losing that last 20 pounds (me!!!), etc.

Although I do not make resolutions, I do make lists/goals. I am such a list person ... I write lists at home, at work, everywhere! I love having a long list and at the end of each day, most everything is crossed off. Satisfaction! On my list so far for the year is:

• To blog at least every other day and to figure out how to make my blog look better with a cute header and background.
• To organize that recipe cabinet (remember those pictures from an earlier post?).
• To regularly sell on ETSY
• I also want to become better at technical stuff .... like figuring out how to use the IPOD Shuffle my hubby got me for Christmas.
• I want to be walking five miles a day by April.
• And to just become a better person all around (this is definitely a daily process)!

Now see how I just made a list?? And just so we're all clear ... these are not resolutions ... they are goals!! LOL

I have been checking most of your blogs regularly and I sounds like everyone had a really nice Christmas. Mine was nice, too!! Big Christmas Eve dinner with whole family at my Mom's and then quieter/relaxing Christmas Day at home with hubby and son. I got a lot of gift cards and money ... love that!!!! I also got a nice bonus at work! Yippee!!!!

I have to show you what I got with some birthday money that I still had from October. Isn't this too cute? And unusual ... I've never seen another one ...

It is a wood cookbook holder with two birds on either side. The birds look like big, fat quail (or partridges) to me. It's a fun item for my kitchen counter. Everyone have a safe New Year's tonight!!! See you in 2010! :-)

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE AT YELLOW BEACH DOG

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! Hope all of your shopping is done ... mine is ... finally! Whew! Just finished up yesterday. My Christmas Brunch was very fun but alot of work. On the menu was: Holiday Chicken Salad on Croissants, Egg Salad on white bread, Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, Yummy Breakfast Pastry, Chile Cheese Pinwheels (got this recipe off of My Romantic Home last week. Cindy made them for a party ... they are a winner!), and a very new recipe ... Artichoke Quiche. Everything was yummy! And I made chocolate dipped pretzel sticks tied with a ribbon and cookie cutter for all the ladies to take home as their memento of the day. I have also been doing so much baking ... sugar cookies, thumbprint cookies, peanut butter balls, Chocolate Christmas Bark, etc. Now all I have to do is make the lasagna for dinner tonight at my Mom's and for dessert ... The Pioneer Woman's Bread Pudding with Whiskey sauce. This is the BEST bread pudding I have ever had. I will leave you with some pictures of my Christmas Brunch (click on picture for full view).

THE WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS!!!

Boy ... I have been so busy ... between work and getting ready for my brunch

on Saturday ... but I did take time to take some pics of my house all spruced

up for the holidays! And I wanted to stop in and say hi to all of you!! Thank you

to all of you that faithfully read my very insignificant blog! I feel as though we

are all friends! Here are the pics (don't forget ... if any is cut off, click on them

for a full view):

I love old Shiny Brite ornaments!! I have a ton of boxes of them!

I save vintage bottle brush trees ... here are a

few:

Here is one of my brothers and myself (I was

about 15 months old) on Santa's lap in 1961:

Here are all three of my brothers

(before I was born) on Santa's lap in the 50's:

This one you will definitely need to click

on for a full view -- I didn't want to take

too much of the right side of it because

that where our paper shredder is.

I mentioned in my last post that I had a

funny story about one of the brunch gifts

I gave to the girls. About 10 years ago,

I did a garden brunch and for the favor

for them to take home, I purchased herbs

and little terra cotta plants. I was going

to replant them into the little pots. Well,

my Dad was a master gardener and he

sweetly volunteered to replant them all

for me. Once he got them done,

he brought them by my house. I set

them on the entry table the morning

of the tea. Well, once the tea was over

and I start to let everyone take

their herb, we notice there are ants

everywhere ... in the plants, on the table,

everywhere! I found out my Dad had

used soil that he had outside that

had ants in it and he never even noticed.

My Dad has now been gone for 7 years

so this is just another one of those fond

memories that I have of him! :-)

Next post I will be sharing my brunch

photos and menu!!!