Awww, I know the feeling!

.

The Grinch Martini

It's the Grinch Martini, Christmas Bitches!!!

So good, so good, so good!

2 oz Midori

2 oz Pinnacle Gummy (tastes like Swedish Fish!)

candy cane and red sugar for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice.

Shake well.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass decorated with red sugar. 

Garnish w candy cane. Chill the hell out and enjoy Christmas!
***note - I've been hearing that people can't find Pinnacle Gummy Vodka - you can always use Pinnacle Cake or Whipped vodka as a sub - I think it would taste just as fabulous!

Shellie Ross - Owns Half a Million Dollar Home - Yet Owes 50,000 in Child Support

Shellie Ross- Half Million Dollar Home

You know I like to keep this focused on happy things - however, just like life, life is not all Bacon and Booze and Christmas Chex Mix.

I think this has the possibility of ENDING happily though, and that's what I hope to accomplish in the end. 

Anyone who has been following me know about the Shellie Ross (aka Shellie Schnell) Saga. Well, ever since she was arrested, I've heard from previous friends of hers, her family (one guy says he's her brother (Lance Lewsader, but then someone told me Lance is actually the father of one of Shellie's sons...I don't know about that, I have no verification). But I do have verification - records - to back up the stories that I've been told - by Shellie's son that she abandoned when he was 6, and the single father that has struggled to make ends meet while Shellie paid cash for a 515,000, 00 dollar home (that she proudly displays on the her blogs and on Twitter!). 

You can find the whole story on  my other blog 

Shellie seems to believe she is above the law - and it baffles me that this woman continues to Twitter and say things like they are buying a new farm - yet she still owes over 50,000 dollars to her son. 

Shellie Ross Court Document (click 2 enlarge)

It seems the internet is the only thing she cares about - so I'm hoping that enough people tweet her or send her email to shame her into PAYING THE MONEY SHE OWES her son. 

You know, it's one thing to abandon your kid and not pay support because you can't make ends meet - it's a totally different story when you abandon your kids - go on to have MORE children (and one drowns while you're tweeting!) and pay CASH for a half million dollar home! That goes beyond the word deadbeat. 

Also, I can't believe that mommy bloggers still defend this woman - Amy Lupold Bair, Daisy Sutherland, Molly Gold - at least Jessica Gottlieb realized that Shellie is the sort of role model for mommies that Kim Kardashian is for marriage - and apologized (even offered to send me bacon). 

Shellie Ross's 515,000.00 Mortgage

Bottom line is - we can't take back all the years that Zach Teegardin wondered why his mom left and why she pretended he didn't exist (actually Zach, from all the people that have sent me letters, you are probably far better off being away from her) - BUT, we can hope to pressure Shellie to pay the back support she owes - money doesn't buy love - but it can buy a college education - 

So please help me make this right for Zach - please send a tweet to @military_mom and ask her to pay her back support. 

Shellie Ross Arrest Photo

And send a tweet to Zach @sharksRfriends and let him know that he is VALUABLE and that life can turn out okay even if his mom is sort of a major shithead. 

Kindle Fire Review - This Is Happiness!

Bourbon and Bacon Chex Mix - The Ultimate Party Pleaser!

Bacon and Bourbon Chex Mix

1 bag (15 oz) Chex Mix® traditional snack mix

1 cup pecan halves

½ lb bacon (6 to 8 slices), crisply cooked and crumbled

½ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup butter

¼ cup light corn syrup

2 tablespoons bourbon

1 tsp. Chinese Five Spice

Heat oven to 300°F. Line two 15x10x1-inch pans with foil. Spray foil with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix snack mix, pecans and bacon. Set aside.

In 2-quart saucepan, heat brown sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until bubbly around edges. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Cool 2 minutes. Carefully stir in bourbon and Chinese 5 Spice. Pour over snack mixture; toss until evenly coated.

Spread snack mixture on pans. Bake 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, to caramelize mixture. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Break into pieces. Store covered in refrigerator.

Christmas Chex Mix - White Chocolate and Peppermint Crunch

Super Easy - and you can always add red/green M&M's too...

6 cups Rice Chex® cereal

1 bag (12 oz) white vanilla baking chips (2 cups)

1/3 cup coarsely crushed peppermint candy canes (14 miniature, unwrapped)

Line cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper. Place cereal in large bowl.

In microwavable bowl, microwave white vanilla baking chips uncovered on High about 1 minute 30 seconds, stirring every 30 seconds, until chips can be stirred smooth. Stir in half the crushed peppermint candy.

Pour over cereal; toss to evenly coat. Spread mixture in single layer on cookie sheet. Immediately sprinkle with remaining candy. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes. Gently break up coated cereal. Store in airtight container.

Makes 20 servings (1/2 cup each)

Cream Cheese Filled Snickerdoodles!

Oh yeah. I couldn't wait to make these little treasures.
Guess what? They turned out to be BASTARDS!
I won't post the recipe because, well, it didn't work for me at all.
A) The dough was so sticky, it was impossible to flatten and then roll into a ball as called for in the recipe. Perhaps by chilling the dough first and/or adding more flour might work.
B) Though they came out looking ok and tasted awesome, by the next morning, the cream cheese had dissolved into the cookie. Perhaps refrigeration would stop this from happening.

Bottom Line: They are a great quirky idea but for now, I'm totally happy just staring at the photo!

Further Proof That Anything Is Possible: Chocolate Chip Cookies Stuffed With Oreos

BabyCakes Hot Buttered Rum Tailgate Cupcakes!

Fall weather has me thinking of hot buttered rum...but in cupcake form! I used my Babycakes mini cupcake maker for this recipe - but you can bake these like you would regular cupcakes!

I didn't slather the frosting on, and it looks a bit naked - but I swear they would be a fun food to warm up to a tailgate party!

HOT BUTTERED RUM (BabyCakes) CUPCAKES WITH ORANGE RUM FROSTING

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup butterscotch schnapps 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of Chinese 5 Spice (if you don't have, use nutmeg or double the cinnamon)
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat Babycake Mini Cupcake Maker
2. Mix oil and sugar for one minute - add egg and mix for another minute. 
3. Stir in rum and schnapps. 
4. In medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Whisk to thoroughly combine.
5. Add the flour mixture slowly, beating just until combined.
6. Spoon the batter into BabyCakes maker and Babycake it for 6-7 minutes. 
7. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

***I seriously think this would be REALLY good with some crumbled bacon mixed in. The bacon and rum would really compliment each other - and maybe instead of an orange frosting I might go with a maple frosting....

For the frosting - I made an orange butter cream using subbing rum instead of milk. 

Hose For Happiness Campaign - Which Political Party Do I Represent...

The Melt Down - Grilled Cheese Fabudelish

So, I take my friend Darin out for his birthday and sparing NO EXPENSE I took him to the Melt Down because I was eager to try it. I mean, am I a gre

at friend or what?

Let's start with the good news.

I had

the Signature Sliders - a smaller (but totally filling) version of their most

popular sandwiches: The Baja (LOVED IT), BLT (eh. Fine, but didn't really SING with bacon), and the Cheesy Caprese. The Caprese has balsamic vinegar on it, and I am a freakishly in love with BV, so I really enjoyed that. The dipping sauces were okay - fun but didn't make or break the sandwiches. I also had a cup of bacon corn chowder. YES! It was fabulous! Smokey bacon and sweet corn flavor. I was seriously full HOWEVER, I HAD TO TRY the signature grilled ice cream sandwich. I thought I'd just have a bite since I ate ALL my lunch and didn't want to overdo it, but, um, yeah, I ate the whole fking thing. It was fabulous!

Darin had the ham and cheddar melt, which he said was really good, except that it has rosemary butter and the rosemary was just a bit overpowering.

Oh, the sodas are awesome! They are natural (if there is such a thing) and come from New Hope Premium Fountain. I had the watermelon creme, which was not only delish, but it was pink. Way cool. I also tried the Skinny Root Beer and it, too, was great.

Oh, the girl who waited on us, besides being super cute, she was super sweet.

Now, the thing that kept this from 5 stars.

I just didn't dig the interior vibe. The yellow walls and red furniture made me feel like I was in a junior high cafeteria that had just a massive mustard/ketchup food fight. And it's quite small.

Since Grilled Cheese is a comfort food, Darin made the observation the place should feel cozy, and it lacked warmth.

But, I can't say enough about the creativity and fun aspect of the food - not to mention it was really delish!

Shellie Ross - Deadbeat Mom Living Life of Luxury

A Shellie Ross/Shellie Schnell Update:

Shellie was due in court in Ohio in September 26th but of course, she never showed up. It's come to our attention, that her husband, Steve, was married to a woman named Darlene and she died tragically at a young age due to a mistake made by E.R. doctors. She had an aneurysm which they didn't catch in time though all the signs/symptoms pointed to it. She died a few hours later. Steve sued for malpractice and though it was a long drawn out court case, he was awarded almost 800,000.00.

Shellie and Steve bought a house in Florida for 515.000.00 in December of 2009. Look, I don't begrudge anyone a home - but if Shellie owed over 50,000 in back child support, perhaps she should have taken care of that first - she certainly has the money.

After her arrest broke, people who know her in Florida wrote to me telling me that she treats her animals poorly and they all feel sorry for Steve as he seems to be a man who has gone through many tragedies in his life: losing the love of his life - his first wife Darlene, and then the drowning of Bryson, his first son.

People from Shellie's past have said her M.O. is to hook up with a guy, have his kid, and have the father of the baby take care of her until something better comes along.

Makes sense when you realize she's had 4 sons from 4 different men - and 2 of those sons she left behind when they were preschoolers.

It also explains why she was in such a rush to have another baby so quickly after Bryson died - Steve had no reason to stay with her - and Steve is now quite wealthy.

So it's not like Shellie has been struggling to make ends meet (God only knows she posted millions of pictures of her half million dollar house and her 5 computers, and her menagerie of farm animals)...and while she's been living the good life, her 17 year old son that she pretends doesn't exist, has been struggling not only with financial issues, but also with the emotional issues of having a mom walk out of his life when he was little - and then pretending he didn't even exist.

It's too bad there isn't a law for inflicting such emotional pain on children, if there was, no doubt Shellie Ross would be convicted and living her life not in a half million dollar home, she'd be living in a 40.00 jail cell.
Please visit http://girlarsonist.blogspot.com/ for a detailed time line and more info on Shellie Ross (@military_mom)

Jacks Dog Farm - Tops The Happy List

We "stopped" by Jack's Dog Farm not planning to purchase a puppy, however, when we laid our eyes on 3 little chocolate labs, I was smitten.

And you can see from my photo of Jack Henry, he is totally adorable!

The kennels that the dogs were kept in were very clean, all had fresh paper and fresh water. There were German Shepherds (adorable!!) and many other breeds (they are known for their Jack Russell terriers I later found out).

Jeremy came out to help us almost immediately. He was very kind and helpful and didn't pressure us in anyway. (Like we needed any extra help - we knew we were doomed as soon as we held the first puppy!).

I did notice a bit of a cough and Jeremy sent us home with meds just in case. Jack Henry came with papers and had already received the vaccinations that were due.

Once we got home, I became concerned about the cough. We'd just lost our dog Diablo unexpectedly, and I had "new mom" syndrome and panicked because of the recent loss of Diablo so I took him to our vet, Ark Animal, which happens to be the same vet Jeremy uses. They put Jack on a round of antibiotics and when I called Jeremy to let him know, he paid for the whole vet bill and was very very professional and kind. We later heard from many friends that new puppies and or rescues they'd gotten from either other breeders or shelters often had the same thing. I met other people who'd bought their dogs there and 2 had dogs that were fabulously healthy, awesome dogs, and one person said her puppy had been sick but that they also took care of the vet bills and now her Boxer is happy healthy and wonderful.

When I talked to Jeremy after Jack went to the vet, he gave me the name and number of a person who had bought a puppy from the same litter a few days before, in case I wanted reassurance. I think, it's not unreasonable to expect that a new puppy from any breeder might not be in tip top health - crap happens! What SHOULD be expected is for the business to work with the customer to remedy the situation - which Jeremy at Jacks Dog Farm absolutely did. Keep in mind too, if you call someone to complain and start off the conversation with a bad attitude, it doesn't help the situation. You should expect to be treated the same way you are treating the other person.

After I got home, I did some research on Jacks Dog Farm and read some horribly written reviews - I know animal people are passionate and sometimes over the top - and I think that Jacks might have been targeted by these crazy over the top people - and from the way they can barely piece a sentence together, I find it hard to believe they can afford to pay for a pure bred dog.

If you are thinking about going to Jack's Dog Farm, please, just stop by and see for yourself!

Also, Jack Henry's temperament is AWESOME! Every time we take him out (to kids soccer games/field hockey/the park) - everyone compliments how laid back and easy going he is!

We're so happy with him and I give Jack's Dog Farm 5 Stars for such a wonderful dog and 5 Stars for the way they handled our situation.