better living through reese’s peanut butter cups

We’ve all heard of Pinterest by now, haven’t we? That virtual scrapbook where we can pin all our favorite recipes, fashions, hairstyles, cute animals, funny sayings, art, and pictures of television characters with sarcastic captions.  Then, if it wasn’t enough to collect all these fantastic things, we get to share them with complete strangers. Cause that’s what the internet is for: learning more about people you’ve never met than you know about your own family.

One popular subject on Pinterest is food.  Sweet food being a major sub-set.  And, as you probably deduced from the title of this post (cause you’re a clever one, you are), I’m going to concentrate my focus on one item in particular.

The ubiquitous Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Thanks to Pinterest, I have found all sorts of new ways to use this popular candy. (click on the pic to go to the pin on Pinterest)

Like disguising a sloppy frosting job.

I swear there is a cake under there somewhere.

Or making favors for kid’s parties.

No, Cindy, don't eat the paper. Oh gosh. Let mommy get the ipecac.

You can turn this drugstore staple into a treat fit for a fancy soiree.

No, Mr. Campbell, don't eat the paper. Oh dear. Does anyone know the heimlich?

Also, it seems that people will never run out of new and fascinating ways to satisfy their sweet tooth. Like sandwiching a Reese’s cup between two Double-Stuff Oreos, dipping the whole mess in chocolate, and topping with Reese’s Pieces.

Diabeetus Sandwich, anyone?

Now, not all ideas involving Reese’s cups are completely whack-a-doodle.

Reese's martini - shaken, stirred, I don't care. Just hand it over and no one gets hurt.

And some ideas are completely inspired.

Reese's infused vodka. Disgusting or genius? Only time and a few mason jars will answer this question.

***TODAY’S SPECIAL***

On this historic day, otherwise known as Wednesday, 19 of your favorite humor bloggers are staging a WordPress coup. We have banded together to address the important topic, Better Living Through Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

Yes, you read that right. Your eyes are fine. Well, they may not be fine – I really don’t know. But it does say “19 of your favorite humor bloggers” (or who SHOULD be your favorite bloggers). We are all presenting the same topic, each from his or her particularly unique perspective.

Why this topic? Why now?

Why not?

Click on the Reese’s Pieces link to gobble up the entire, yummy bag of 19 posts.

Bon Appetite!

The Big Sheep Blog

Childhood Relived

Go Guilty Pleasures

Fifty Four and A Half

Fix It Or Deal

Play 101

k8edid

Lenore’s Thoughts Exactly

Life In The Boomer Lane

Peg-o-Leg’s Ramblings

Refrigerator Magnate

Running From Hell With El

She’s A Maineiac

The Byronic Man

The Good Greatsby

The Monster In Your Closet

The Ramblings

Thoughts Appear’s Blog

Unlikely Explanations

wine on wednesdays

Yesterday was my sister’s birthday, however we celebrated it on Saturday cause I can’t drink three bottles of wine on a Tuesday and be a productive member of society the next day.  Lucky for us, our favorite place on earth, Frogtown Winery, was having their Harvest Dinner.

We arrived in Dahlonega, GA around 3:00 and checked into our room at the Park Place Hotel.  After a brief, but intense, monsoon which conveniently waited to fall just as we were getting our bags out of my car, we unpacked and enjoyed the complementary bottle of Oak Leaf Cabernet the hotel graciously offered.  This fine wine can be procured from your local Wal-Mart for around $4.00 a bottle.  Never ones to turn our noses up at free wine, we drank every drop.

After the cheap bottle, we were ready for the good stuff, so we made our way to Frogtown.

That's us in the mirror. I'm the one in the yellow cause having a loud voice just isn't enough, I suppose.

We found a table and were soon joined by Ron and Deborah.  You couldn’t ask for two nicer, funner people to share a good dinner with.  They were awesome and made the whole experience even more enjoyable.  Really, if I didn’t already have parents I would ask them to adopt me (I gave them my web address and told them to tune in today, if you couldn’t tell.  Hi, Deborah and Ron!  You rock!).

Anyway, we were served a four course dinner with wine to complement each course.  Here’s the menu:

House Smoked Salmon with Spicy Creme Fraiche and Crostini paired with Frogtown Rose 2008.  The Rose was dry and not too sweet and was excellent with the spicy creme fraiche.  

Baby Arugula Salad with Scallops and Grain Mustard served with Frogtown Vineaux Blanc 2008.  Those scallops were perfection and even though I’m not big on white wine, I enjoyed this pairing.

Medallions of Peppered Pork Tenderloin with Wild Mushrooms with Kritzer Family Reserve Merlot 2006.  You can never go wrong with pork and Merlot.  Or just Merlot, for that matter.  Especially this Merlot.

Lamb Chops over Currant Minted Couscous and Grilled Asparagus served with Frogtown Tannat 2006.  The Tannat is big and bold and was excellent with the lamb.

For dessert they had a buffet of half a dozen different pies, tortes and cakes.  I managed to sample three of them, but by then I feared for the button on my pants. 

There is no better way to experience how a wine can complement a dish than attending a dinner such as this.  I know that I don’t ever take the time to pick out just the right wine to go with my spaghetti and meatballs at home and I probably never will.  However, I do appreciate the art of wine and food pairings and really enjoy when I can let the experts make those decisions. 

I mean, would you trust any decisions made by these two?

The one on the left, maybe.  But, definitely not the other one.  

things to make you feel better

I fear that I might have mis-represented myself.  See, I may know how to string together some kick-ass sentences and dazzle you with my mad MS paint skills, but in reality, I’m not that cool.  I got quirks.  Crazy quirks, and I’m willing to share them with you, dear readers, so you may feel a little better about yourself.  I want you to be able to stop and say, “well at least I’m not like that girl with that blog,” when ever you start to feel inadequate in any way.  I can’t help it.  I’m a giver. 

• I do not like my food to touch.  My chicken leg should never make contact with the au gratin potatoes and salad always goes on a separate plate cause if vinaigrette oozes onto my broccoli I get panicky.  During Thanksgiving, I refrain from gravy cause it never stays in the mashed potato crater where it belongs and forget pouring it on the turkey cause that’s just a nightmare.  Up until a few years ago, whenever I ate Chinese food, I would put the rice on one side of my plate and the Mongolian beef on the other.  If I wanted a bite with rice and beef, I would mix it one fork-full at a time.  I will skip dessert rather than place a slice of cake on the same plate that I ate my dinner on.  And, no ice cream on that cake, please.  You can scoop that into a separate bowl. 
• If I see a drawer or cabinet that is open for no reason, I have an over-powering compulsion to shut it.  I used to live in an old house where one of the kitchen cabinet doors was warped and wouldn’t close all the way.  I almost had a nervous breakdown.  
• I hate unloading the dishwasher.  I have no problem loading and running it, but unloading it makes me very cranky.  Just to avoid unloading it, I will use the clean dishes out of the washer instead of in the cabinets until after a couple of days there are only a few cups and some silverware left in the washer and the sink is full.  I’m the same way with suitcases.  I love to pack them, but after I come home, it will lay on my bedroom floor for a week.  I’ll use clothes out of it until all that’s left is my swim suit or beach clothes that I’ll never wear to work, then I’ll finally break down and empty it out. 
• I will not flip over my wall calendar to the next month until it is actually that month.  I don’t care if it is Sunday evening on January 31st, I will not turn the page until Monday morning.  I don’t know why, but I just think it is bad luck to move the calendar forward before the date has passed. 
• At work, I only have one pen, one pencil and one hi-liter in my desk organizer.  When my pen runs out of ink, I will replace it with one from the supply cabinet.  I can’t stand having multiple half-used pens or pencils on my desk.  I believe in staying loyal to one writing implement at a time.   

Okay.  That’s enough, right?  Do you feel significantly better about yourself?  Good, because I just noticed that there is a magazine on the floor and items that belong on a shelf or the coffee table should never be on the floor.  It’s just wrong.

Rehab

I sure hope grief raises your metabolism.  If not, I’m in trouble.  When you’re sad, eating an entire bowl of egg salad for lunch seems like a perfectly logical thing to do.  Not to mention eating another bowl about an hour later as a snack.  Bag of potato chips for dinner.  Cookies for breakfast.  My sweatpants still fit, so why not!  Fifty bucks worth of Chinese take-out, mostly from the appetizer menu.  You know you’ve ordered too much take-out when it’s just two of you, but they give you six fortune cookies.  Our order was enough to feed six people?  Well, very small people, maybe. 

I had a Wendy’s hamburger and fries for lunch (with a Diet Coke, of course).  I think that is where it will end.  I don’t know how to break it to Ripley that momma is going to start walking after work, and she’s going with me.  Chub scout can use the exercise, too.  I know she’s always really wanted to be an only dog, but I don’t think evening walks was the kind of extra attention she had in mind.  Be careful what you wish for, Ripley.  Be careful what you wish for.