Shameless Plug Sunday!

What is more perfect on a hot summer day than a glass of ice tea? I know you're familiar with Crystal Light but do you know they have a lot more flavors than lemonade?

My favorite has always been their Peach Iced Tea but I'm now jumping up and down for Green Tea Natural Peach Mango flavor. You'll love it it's so refreshing! But there are many more new flavors like Red Tea Mandarin, Green Tea Raspberry and White Tea Blueberry plus their old time favorites like Strawberry Kiwi and Fruit Punch.

Each purchase contains 5 tubs of iced tea mix making 2 quarts of thirst quenching tea. The best news is that each 8 ounce serving is only 5 calories! Here's a tip, try mixing it with a little seltzer water or club soda, it really sparkles.

It's a win win all the way around - Cheers!

Here's Linda Evans in an 80s Crystal Light Commercial

Happy 4th of July Everyone

Happy Independence Day!

Hope you have a wonderful day with your friends and family!

Case of the missing kitties

So I promised some friends who are in Hawaii on vacation (yeah, I know) to look after their two kitties. No problem, I've done it a million times.

Keiki Kitty on the left and Estee the one-eyed pirate kitty on the right

So I get there this morning and the first thing that happens is...I can't get in. The lock won't turn. I had visions of having to go home and call my friends. Ater jiggling the key and the handle, the door finally pops opens. Hallelujah! The kitties greet me at the door. I get them sorted out and then plop myself in front of the TV with a soda and watch Food Network. I am so relaxed I am falling in and out of sleep.

Later I decide to take a shower because (a little story I haven't share with you) my shower is busted and for now I am forced to take a tub bath (which I hate) until I can gather funds to re-model the bathroom. The shower was just heavenly and when I was done I went to watch more Food Network and get more nap time.

I am vaguely aware that the cats aren't around but that's no biggie since they always hide out. I start to get ready to leave and all of a sudden can't find hide nor fur of either of them. They are missing. Long story short, after spending about 1/2 hour searching for them I decided I had to call my friends. Funny thing is after I had been madly searching for them, I spot one. I decided the other one must still be under the bed. It is so dark under there even with the light on that I got a broom and began poking it under the bed and - meow - found the other kitty. Thank you God! I called my friends back and told them all's well that ends well even after I nearly gave them a heart attack. Thank goodness they were with their friend who really is a doctor!

I came back home to my kitty who always comes to me when I call him. He is quite the talker and always has something to say to me. He is a love bug.

My kitty, Kitty

Night, night Kitty.

Shameless Plug Sunday

Looks innocent doesn't it? A little 11.5 oz bag of powdered donuts that packs a punch of 230 calories per serving size of 4 donuts. Oh, and calories from fat - 100. I could go on but why bother, we all know this isn't really good for us at least in the whole caloric and let's get healthy sense. But when it comes to memories, I would down a million of them!

These powdery delights take me back to my school days. We used to receive this treat along with a cup of hot cocoa after mass at Star of the Sea. There was daily mass that we were encouraged to go to but there was always a special mass we went to once a month where we were treated to donuts and chocolate afterward.

I can't remember the last time I had one of these but for some reason I couldn't tear my eyes away from them when I was grocery shopping. I finally caved and bought a bag. When I got home I plopped myself in front of the TV and couldn't stop munching. I should have stopped at 4 but they are so teeny I confess to consuming more than that. They are now safely tucked away in a vault - I wish - because now I can't stop thinking about them!

Here's a very vintage commercial!



Ok, who remembered that commercial? Hope you have a great Sunday!

Bonnie's got news

Hi everyone. I've been doing something fun now going on my third week. I'm writing book reviews for the online newspaper Examiner.com.

Please visit me here to take a gander at my reviews so far. Here's a little preview....

If you like your books Southern fried with a dash of romance and served up with a side of revenge (cold of course), then Mary Kay Andrews’s, Savannah Breeze is for you. Spirited Southern belle BeBe Loudermilk may be classy and resourceful but she has lousy taste in men. She finds herself in lust with Reddy Millbanks III who masquerades as an investment banker by day but is really nothing more than a low life con man. When BeBe suddenly finds herself stripped of not only her finances but those of her grandparents, her Southern grit is set in motion.

Once the dust is settled and sorted out, BeBe finds that she is owner of a ramshackle 1950s motel on Tybee Island, definitely not the type of place a former Savannah deb would set foot on. More than likely, this is the work of Vile Reddy for reasons as yet unknown. BeBe heads to Tybee to see what she can make of the place and meets up with its crusty caretaker Harry Sorrentino and a billboard advertising The Sandcastle -14 luxury ocean front villas selling at pre-construction prices of $600,000 right on BeBe’s property. Suddenly, Reddy's intentions become crystal clear.

In the midst of fighting with and falling for the constantly cranky Harry, BeBe is suddenly alerted to a “Reddy Sighting” in Florida. Quickly a plot to con the con man is hatched and BeBe’s motley crew hits the road with Harry driving, BeBe riding shotgun, best friend Weezie in the back, and her grandfather, who wants in on the action, asleep and snoring in the backseat. With a little luck, BeBe might be able to turn events around, Reddy will end up in prison stripes, and Harry...well, Harry…hmmm.

Savannah Breeze (BeBe’s story) is the very enjoyable sequel to Savannah Blues (Weezie’s story) with both characters doing cross over visits to each other’s novels. Mary Kay Andrews knows a thing or two about Southern belles as she is one herself and is a former journalist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. In each of her books you soak up the charm of the South and find all the emotions needed for a great read, a little pathos, lots of zany, hysterical, aha moments and most of all characters that leap at you with a lot of heart.

Savannah Breeze makes for a great beach read and does come with a recipe for a spirited cocktail to enjoy with the book.

Blue Breeze Cocktail:

Pour into cocktail shaker:

4 ounces lemonade, 2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce blue curacao

Shake, pour over tall glass of cracked ice, top with seltzer, and stir. Garnish with lime slice and 3-4 blueberries threaded on a cocktail pick.

Enjoy.

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peak of Savanah Breeze. Besides reviews, I also plan future articles on the book scene in San Diego and just about anything relating to the world of books. If you have any suggestions for books to review or article ideas, just let me know and I'll do my best to cover it for you.

Feel free to visit me as often as you like, I do get recognition with each page view I get. You can also sign up for email alerts letting you know I've got something new for you to consider reading.

PS - be sure to share the love with other book fanatics. The more the merrier!

Find of the day

Today while running some errands, I stopped at the library and found the cutest little cookbook.It was for sale at the Friends of the Library and it's called The ABC of Canapes. It was published in 1953 by the Peter Pauper Press. I googled PPP and they have been around since 1928 and are still around specializing in teeny books, journals, stationery.

The book goes through the alphabet wth little canape tidbits like these...

A snip and a snack arranged on a tray and labeled in French make a smart canape.

Beautiful trays and well garnished dishes make even the simplest food seem delicious.

Cost is no object when you serve caviar; but sardines and ketchup are tastier by far.

Vary your menu, serve a surprise; even an egg will look good in disguise!

Here's an amusing recipe, I don't think it's meant to be funny, I just find it funny!

Emergency Canapes

Prepare your favorite pie crust recipe; roll out thin, cut into 1 1/2 inch squares and fill with left over meat of seafood, (moistened with gravy or catsup). Fold over, dot with butter, and bake.

Here's another old time favorite...

Chicken Liver Pate

3 chicken livers, 3 hard boiled eggs, 1 minced onion, salt and pepper

Cook chicken livers until tender. Fry onions until golden brown and add to hard boiled eggs and cooked livers. Season with salt and pepper and chop fine. Serve on crackers.

I can't believe I found this little gem of a book for only 50cents! The find of a lifetime. The recipes are old school when entertaining was an art.

Last Night on TV

Did anyone watch The Graham Norton Show last night on BBC America? One of his guests was Kurt Russell. As a kid I adored Kurt Russell on TV and all those Walt Disney movies (where he first met Goldie Hawn on The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band – what a mouthful!).

Kurt’s career in films began with the Elvis movie It Happened at the World’s Fair. Kurt recalls Elvis was 27 at the time to his 10, and was a very nice man. The conversation then got around to choices in film work. A lot of Kurt’s movies may not have raked in money at the time and indeed may have tanked on release but over time have developed a cult following like Big Trouble in Little China or The Thing or even Overboard. But Kurt has also received great reviews for his portrayal as Elvis (in which he met his future wife Season Hubley), Miracle (about the 1980 Olympic hockey team), and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work in Silkwood.

While on Graham's show, Kurt revealed that Walt Disney had taken him under his wing and that when Disney passed away in 1966 he had just written Kurt’s name on a piece of paper. No one is able to say why so it remains a mystery to this day.

With Kurt on the Graham Norton Show was British comedienne Jenny Éclair who was most amusing but for me it was all about the boy, and I’m not talking about Graham Norton!

Here's Kurt talking about Elvis.



Kurt singing at Disneyland in the 60s