Sweet Melissa Sunday: Should be called Moist Almond Bread Drizzled in Brandy

Golden Almond Fruitcake picked by Karin of Sugar and Spice & Everything Nice shocked the stuffings out of me! I have only tried fruitcake once in my life and this beautiful, moist bread was not anything like the small boulder of hard, dry cake with candied whatever in it. I wanted to support Karin, albeit I am late once again, and what a treat! Karin picked this recipe because of the memories associated, which always brings a tear to my eye and warms my heart during this holiday season. My grandpa was my best friend in life and I miss him so much right now, which makes me think who doesn't have loved ones to whom warm, loving feelings sneak up on during the holidays (even from our childhood)?The ingredients took a little bit of time to assemble before starting. I love the idea of using marzipan in the recipe and freezing until time to mix the ingredient in batter.

My choice of dried fruit: Apples and Cherries.
Brandy: Yes; I used apple brandy.

Sifting onto a small piece of wax paper makes easy work out of adding the dry ingredients slowly and one less dish to clean. I am a huge fan of dirtying as few dishes as possible.

The batter came together nicely, loaded with delicious chunks of dried, moist fruit, frozen marzipan and chopped almonds.
Golden loaf of bread dotted throughout with wonderful, homey flavors. I ground fresh nutmeg and using cardamon is always a great choice.
Melissa was so right about calling this recipe something, anything other then fruitcake. So many people, including myself, are pre-set as to what all fruitcake tastes like . . . something we wouldn't wish on anyone (especially friends and family). I would happily share this recipe with anyone willing to be pleasantly surprised.

Karin, thank you for choosing this recipe. I absolutely LOVE the almond cake/bread/fruitcake. Delicious! For the recipe, please go to Karin's blog or, better yet, buy Sweet Melissa's baking book and enjoy pleasant surprises throughout all her recipes.

Snowshoeing

Last year, Matt got showshoes for me for Christmas and we finally got to go out yesterday. It was so lovely outside in the middle of the forest and surrounded by snow. Indy had such a wonderful time too. I think she felt right at home and we let her run around on her own for a little while. She is of course, much faster than we are in the snow. We were only holding her back:

Indy was very distracted and only wanted to go play.

Indy hears something...

"Must bury my face!"

"Must bury my face, again!"

"I see something!"

"I'm a happy dog!"

Whew! Tiring but so much fun... until next weekend!

Thanksgiving 2009

Just a few photos from Thanksgiving...

My sis got a gingerbread house kit and this is what is was supposed to look like.

Ours looked like this because we were impatient and didn't wait for the frosting to dry.

So sad...

Making faces...

Until next year!

Eliza Dushku Updo Hairstyle

Checkout this sexy yet ultra casual updo hairstyle worn by Hollywood celebrity actress, Eliza Dushku.

This type of hairstyle is perfectly suitable for both casual and elegant events.

VARIOUS: Lookout! Records, 20 Year Collection

Larry Livermore and David Hayes formed the label in 1987. Hayes left in 1989 to start Very Small Records, leaving Lookout to Livermore, who sold the label in 1997 to Chris Appelgren, who started working at the label in 1988, while still in high school. From the start, Lookout released punk rock records, but over time expanded its scope to include various types of pop punk, hardcore punk, and indie rock. Former Lookout bands that have since achieved major label success include Green Day, Rancid and The Donnas.
Lookout became famous for releasing albums that featured a very distinctive pop punk sound including bands such as Screeching Weasel, The Mr T Experience, The Queers, Green Day, Sweet Baby, Squirtgun and others.
In recent years, a number of Lookout recording artists have ended their dealings with the label, rescinding their master rights from the label and re-issuing albums on other labels.
These bands have cited various reasons including non-renewal of licensing agreements, distribution and breach of contract over unpaid royalties. Among the bands that have taken their masters from Lookout and reissued them on other labels are Screeching Weasel (on Asian Man), Avail (on Jade Tree), Pansy Division (on Alternative Tentacles), Blatz and Filth (on Alternative Tentacles), The Dollyrots (on Blackheart Records), The Riverdales (on Asian Man), The Queers (on Asian Man), The Lillingtons (on Red Scare Industries), Enemy You (also on Red Scare), Twenty-Nineteen (on CREC Records), and The Groovie Ghoulies (on Springman Records). On August 1, 2005, Green Day became the biggest former Lookout act to rescind their masters from the label, forcing Lookout to lay off its staff and halt new releases for the remainder of the year. Operation Ivy rescinded their masters on May 4, 2006 and their album was reissued on Hellcat Records in November 2007.
On September 13, 2009 Larry Livermore commented on the name of the label on his blog, noting that the name is often erroneously spelled with an exclamation point. While the proper spelling does not include an exclamation point, an exclamation point has become a common spelling in popular usage.
Lookout Records turned 20 years old in 2008 and continues to offer a large catalog of underground punk, pop-punk and indie rock music on CD, vinyl and via digital download from virtually all music services.

tRaCkS
1.timorous me [TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS]
2.cover [ENGINE DOWN]
3.i'm with the band [BRATMOBILE]
4.do you wanna hit it [THE DONNAS]
5.ba ba ba ba ba [THE MR. T EXPERIENCE]
6.together forever in love [GO SAILOR]
7.it's up to you [THE HI-FIVES]
8.for guys' eyes only [HOCKEY NIGHT]
9.baby baby baby baby [SWEET BABY]
10.carry on [COMMON RIDER]
11.kansas city [THE WASHDOWN]
12.not you [AUNTIE CHRIST]
13.friend to j.c. [MARY TIMONY]
14.OK apartment [THE ORANGES BAND]
15.crying jag [TILT]
16.to be alive and alone [TROUBLED HUBBLE]
17.the angel's share [TED LEO & THE PHARMACISTS]
18.speakers push the air [PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES]
19.skintight [THE DONNAS]
20.perfect weapon [COMMUNIQUE]
21.selling submarines [THE PATTERN]
22.dead wrestlers [BIS]
23.we ain't even married [THE PIONEERS]
24.face it [THE REPUTATION]
25.more than toast [THE MR. T EXPERIENCE]
26.sprang [WYNONA RIDERS]
27.she turned out to be crazy [DR. FRANK]
28.turn it out [AMERICAN STEEL]
29.sanitized [MONSULA]

..buy: www.lookoutrecords.com
..home-page: www.lookoutrecords.com
..password: hha
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..link 2: http://72b3151f.linkbucks.com
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THE ALARM: Eponymous ((1981-1983)) Remastered

With idealistic spirit, a powerhouse live show, and bigger than big hair, the Alarm were part of an early-'80s wave of bands (the Call, Big Country, and the Waterboys among them) who dealt in soaring anthems inspired by the righteous idealism of punk. Clearly influenced by the impassioned political fervor of the Clash, the Alarm also worked in a mostly acoustic, folk-punk vein that provided a counterpoint to their hard-driving guitar rockers. Their stage look was unquestionably a product of the '80s, with enormous spiked-up hair accompanying a cowboy/old-time cavalry wardrobe. Yet the numerous comparisons to U2 in the press were not unfounded; despite a more conservative sonic palette, the Alarm had much the same earnest intensity, the same messianic ambitions, even the same vague spirituality. Likewise, the Alarm seemed to covet a mainstream breakthrough in the vein of The Joshua Tree's conquest of the pop charts, and polished up their sound accordingly, with mixed creative results. The British music press habitually savaged their records as derivative and pretentious, but this meant little to their zealous following who supported the band to the tune of over 5 million sales worldwide and 16 Top 50 UK singles.
-- by Steve Huey, Allmusic.com

tRaCkS
.unsafe building
.up for mother
.lie of the land [demo]
.reason 41 [demo]
.the deceiver [demo]
.what kind of hell [demo]
.sixty eight guns [demo]
.marching on
.lie of the land
.across the border
.the stand [single]
.blaze of glory [single]
.thoughts of a young man [part one]
.for freedom [live]
.reason 41 [live]
.the deceiver [live]
.third light [live]
.lie of the land [live]
.legal matter [live]
.marching on [live]
.the stand [long version]
.sixty eight guns [single]

..buy: https://www269.safesecureweb.com/21stcentury/ec/store.asp?func=viewcat&cat=cds
..home-page: http://www.thealarm.com/alarmdefault.aspx
..password: hha
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..link 2: http://24c6ea6f.linkbucks.com
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SPLODGENESSABOUNDS: [2000] I Don't Know [Captain Oi! Recs.]

Splodgenessabounds is an English punk rock band formed in Keston, Bromley, Kent. The band is associated with the Oi! and Punk Pathetique genres. Their frontman is Max Splodge. The band was originally fronted by Max Splodge and his girlfriend of the time, who was known as Baby Greensleeves. The band won a recording contract with Deram Records after finishing runner-up in the 1979 Battle Of The Bands contest, even though Deram was planning to cease all activities in the music markets outside of classical music. The band's first release for Deram in 1980 was "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Please", which later inspired the title of the BBC situation comedy, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. The song was released as a triple A side vinyl single, along with "Simon Templar" (a pastiche of the theme tune of the TV series, Return of the Saint) and "Michael Booth's Talking Bum".

tRaCkS
1.scrapyard
2.my socks gone down my shoe
3.poochie
4.i wouldn't lie
5.having a beer
6.lullaby of mongolia
7.truncheon meat squad
8.poochie (slight return)
9.i don't know
10.mongols on the streets of london
11.i'm angry
12.singing out of tune
13.ghenghis khan
14.the things that make mongols so great
15.patrick moore (he talks to me)

..buy:AMAZON.co.uk
..home-page: www.myspace.com/splodgenessabounds
..password: hha
..link: http://074ae9e8.linkbucks.com
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THE INFAS: Sound and Fury ]]New Link!![[

First of all, yes this is Infa Riot and they just simply changed their name to The Infas (Why?), but anyways, this album has an interesting story. Infa Riot was a short lived band and their debut, Still Out of Order, was a huge sucess. However Secret Records (the orignial issue of that album was first issued from them) eventually vanished away (went out of business) and so the band had went on to the record label Panache Records and recorded Sound and Fury (under the name The Infas), but also recorded the ''Sound And Fury'' / ''Triffic Spiff Ya OK'' single but neither one of the records got promotions and distributions so this album was scarce (meaning it was rare and wasn't out for very long) and then the band broke up after this. Then a decade later, they reissued this album in it's original form (with no bonus tracks and including the LP Cover on front and back). The band during this time were a little slower but managed to stay the same, unlike a majority of punk bands that went from punk to being 80s rock and roll mixes punk bands. The vocalist sounds the same from their last album and the songs are really good. If you haven't listened to their first album, Still Out of Order (which when you look for it on this site, type in the name Infa-Riot), check that album out first before you make a decision on this album.
-- by Steve SBN

tRaCkS
1.rock all ye faithfull
2.these dangerous days
3.sound and fury
4.punch the air with glory
5.there's gotta be a better way
6.birds and bees
7.a spirit wild
8.manthing
9.don't want to be (in the crowd)
10.pushers on the rampage
11.triffic spiff ya ok
12.captain england

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..home-page: n/a
..password: hha
..link: http://cbcb6f3d.linkbucks.com
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THE VIBRATORS: Live at CBGB's

The Vibrators were founded by Ian 'Knox' Carnochan, bassist Pat Collier, guitarist John Ellis, and drummer John 'Eddie' Edwards. They first came to public notice at the 100 Club when they backed Chris Spedding in 1976. On Spedding's recommendation, Mickie Most signed them to his label RAK Records. Most produced their first single, "We Vibrate". The band also backed Spedding on his single, "Pogo Dancing".
The Vibrators recorded sessions at for John Peel at BBC Radio 1 in October 1976, June 1977, and February 1978. They were one of the pioneering punk bands that played at London's Roxy Club. They headlined in January 1977, supported by The Drones, and in February they played twice at the venue. In March 1977 the band supported Iggy Pop on his British tour. Later that year they backed ex-Mott the Hoople frontman Ian Hunter.
The band signed to Epic Records in early 1977. Their debut album, Pure Mania which was co-produced with Robin Mayhew the sound engineer for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust live shows, reached the Top 50 of the UK Albums Chart. The album is well regarded by some music critics, and 17 years after its release, The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music named Pure Mania one of the 50 best punk albums of all-time.
Their follow-up album, V2, narrowly missed the UK Top 30. The only single to be taken from that album, "Automatic Lover", was the only Vibrators’ single to reach the UK Top 40. It earned the band a TV appearance on the prime-time TV show Top of the Pops. The Vibrators’ final single on Epic, "Judy Says (Knock You In The Head)", was released in June 1978. Years later it was included in mojo magazine’s list of the best punk rock singles of all time.
A lack of further chart activity, and with only one UK Top 40 single to their credit, sees the Vibrators join the list of one-hit wonders; a list that includes other UK punk and new wave acts such as The Banned, John Cooper Clarke, The Flying Lizards, Jilted John, 999, the Radio Stars, and the Rich Kids.
During the 1980s, John Ellis recorded and toured frequently with Peter Hammill, and subsequently The Stranglers, eventually joining the latter full-time in the 1990s. Pat Collier went on to work closely with The Soft Boys, producing their seminal album, Underwater Moonlight, and Robyn Hitchcock, producing and mixing some of his solo albums (to which Knox also sometimes contributed). Despite numerous line-up changes, The Vibrators are still touring to this date as a three-piece, Carnochan and "Eddie" being the only original members. Live Near The Seedy Mill Golf Course was released in the UK by Invisible Hands Music in 2003.

tRaCkS
1.pure mania
2.wrecked on you
3.the kid's a mess
4.don'tcha lean on me
5.tired of living with you
6.politically correct
7.troops of tomorrow
8.hot for you
9.no heart
10.u238
11.juice on
12.girl's screwed up
13.baby baby
14.sex kick
15.disco in moscow
16.can't get enough
17.automatic lover
18.whips and furs
19.judy says
20.destroy
21.yeah yeah yeah

..buy: Amazon.com
..home-page: www.thevibrators.com/
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Thanksgiving

More to come but yesterday, Matt and I spent time with my side of the family and today we'll be heading up to Hood River to spend time with Matt's side.
Jenga... fun...

Jenga... sad...

Elisha Cuthbert Short Pixie Hairstyle

Here we have a some beautiful photos of Hollywood actress Elisha Cuthbert, while sporting a delightfully trendy short pixie hairstyle.

This hairstyle is absolutely perfect for Elisha.

Flirty new top in the Etsy shop

Just in time for holiday gift giving or for yourself, a flirty top in the Etsy shop:

Blooming tank

Several new pieces in the Etsy shop :: Hair pieces, belt, garter

Just in time for winter weddings or for holiday gifts, I've created a handfull of ready to ship pieces in my Etsy shop. Soft, romantic and lovely...

Flower Flurry belt

Flower Flurry hair piece

Feather and Lace

Swan bridal garter

Drew Barrymore Messy Bangs Hairstyle

Checkout theses cute photos of lovely Hollywood actress Drew Barrymore, sporting a free spirited messy hairstyle with bangs.

We've seen just about every different style and color on Drew throughout the years, but this quirky styles seems to fit her personality, very well.

Late Sweet Melissa Sunday - Raised Waffles with Warm Brown Sugar Bananas plus Entertaining Crostini Caponata

Sweet Melissa Sunday was a decadent, sweet, and filling breakfast selection. Sauteed bananas dripping with a golden caramel sauce, served over Belgian waffles with a crispy exterior and light inner perfection. Lauren of Fried Pickles and Ice Cream chose Raised Waffles with Warm Brown Sugar Bananas (found on Lauren's blog or purchase the SMS baking book) and I could not be happier.

Banana pancakes are a favorite personal treat and yet rarely made. The pancake generally lacks in flavor and character. The SMS recipe using a heavy fruit, oily by nature (usually causing a heavy and oily end product) were nothing but perfection for an abundance of banana flavor, texture, and lightness. Making the batter the night before created a morning of ease and the kitchen promptly filled with the aroma of waffles baking and fresh coffee brewing. What a great Sunday breakfast!

Grating nutmeg could not be easier, adding wonderful flavor unmatched with store purchased, grated nutmeg.
I was curious if the yeast dough prepared and set out overnight would taste anything like sourdough. The end flavor did not hold a strong yeast taste nor were the waffles dense. Light and fluffy with a mild flavor (great as a base for any topping) is the best description I can give at this moment.
Caramel sauces are generally a breeze to make but adding rum can give any cook a "start" in the kitchen. Nothing like a lot of action and flames to replace the need of caffeine in the morning.
The caramel sauce clung nicely to banana slices, creating a decadent and mouth-watering topping.
While the sauce cooled, waffle batter was completed. The Belgian waffle baker will bake a waffle golden brown in about 2 minutes.

Thank you Lauren and Melissa ~ a perfect breakfast treat. I felt spoiled sitting down with a warm cup of coffee flavored with a little hazelnut cream and these delicious waffles with the perfect banana topping my taste buds have been looking for.

Added to this recipe is another recipe for entertaining or a light dinner treat: Crostini Caponata. I have been in the process of making 2 Thanksgiving dinners. The first is an all Italian Thanksgiving, prepared and served yesterday. I will list the whole meal in the blog because every aspect of the Italian meal was a first. The dinner consisted of courses served individually before sitting down to a full turkey with side dishes. Wines were selected for each course and the extra preparation added to an excitement of anticipation well worth the effort.

One of the best Thanksgiving dinners I have ever been part of ~ offering an air of competition and comparison for a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner to be served on Thanksgiving.

The recipe is quite simple. You will need:

2 Medium zucchini cut into 1/4" slices.

3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped.

5 Tablespoons Olive Oil

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 Tablespoon dried Oregano (or more to taste)

To taste: Salt and Freshly ground black Pepper

1 Loaf of Italian Bread, 3/4" thick slices

1 1/2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese (I use fresh Mozzi but the cheese is harder to grate)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. or 220 degrees C.

In a skillet, brown zucchini in oil. Add garlic, stir, and cook 15 seconds. Add tomatoes and seasonings. Cook 5 minutes over medium heat, or until juice from tomatoes has evaporated. Cool caponata before using.

Brush bread with a little olive oil on both sides. Place on middle oven rack, turning once to toast both sides.

Spread with caponata and top with grated Mozzarella. Return to oven until cheese is melted and a light golden brown. Serve immediately.