Thurday DT

almost weekend woohoo!
nada much, haven't had coffe since I don't have my hazelnut coffeemate!

someone bought my cheongsam dress on ebay yippee!!

waiting for son to wake up so that I can zip over to Starbucks for my caramelmacchiato!

got my book by Naomi Wolf, "misconceptions about motherhood.." looks like a good read, Oprah had her along with other frantic stressed moms recommending this book

Do you live at Starbucks???

Went to the gym, picked up the dog, came home and had an espresso. I am so tired! Ohhh I just remembered to take my antibiotic. Oops!

And I feel like drinking another coffee Might wake me up!

Mele is sleeping now, thankfully, shes so active!

Feeling crappy (yuk-yuk). Woke up with the stomach flu yesterday.

Managed to catch one of the feral kittens this morning and brought him to the vet to get neutered. Taking Koko in this afternoon to get her stitches out from her spaying last week.

Compiling the TCS cookbook when I feel up to it (54 pages and counting).

It is a quiet day here. Absolutely beautiful weather - 78 degrees and sunny! I wish I had the day off!!!!

Went to the Dr. this morning. Good news and bad news. The RA (Rhumatoid Arthritis) levels are down, which is good news. I have a urinary track infection, obviously the bad news. I knew something was wrong - I am so tired. I'm now on an antibiotic for ten days, along with the slew of drugs I'm already on.

The work on my house is progressing and Max seems to be getting used to the noise. He even looked out the window at my brother-in-law a few times yesterday. He is doing a beautiful job - my house is beginning to look to sweet. We are going for that English country look. It is such hard work and slow going. I feel sorry for my b-i-l, but it was so nice of him to offer. The contractors prices were way out of my price range. Thank God for family.

Been to work, had dinner, had a beer, caught up with about a hundred flying related emails. Am on no 13 of 48 cd;s that am copying of classical music. Our son is in bed, Wife is X stitching and I am about to start and sit and read the paper before bed. Its 19.46 here - have a very early breakfast meeting tomorrow - so wont be late.
Kinda boring really.

Kev

Originally posted by Nora
We are going for that English country look.

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Given that I live in the English country - how do you define " that English country look"!!!

Kev

You spelled Thursday wrong!

English country look for me is not meant to look just like an English country house, but more of a feeling. The siding is a pale buttery yellow (the siding is vinyl, made to look like wood) with white trim. Window boxes will be under the kitchen and the living room windows. I plan on planting flowers and vines in the window boxes next summer. I already have a climbing rose that goes up the front of the house on a trellis, which I had to cut back - due to the new siding.

I hope that explains it.

I KNOW Sicy!!!! LOL!!!! Too late though!!! I blame it on lack of coffee!!! Still haven't had it, about to eat some tortellini with alfredo sauce and then go get some coffee. I wish there was a Starbucks right across the street, that way I could walk, but I have to drive which is about a mile or so away. Still the prospect of yummy caramel is nice! Can't wait!!!

Originally posted by Nora
English country look for me is not meant to look just like an English country house, but more of a feeling. The siding is a pale buttery yellow (the siding is vinyl, made to look like wood) with white trim. Window boxes will be under the kitchen and the living room windows. I plan on planting flowers and vines in the window boxes next summer. I already have a climbing rose that goes up the front of the house on a trellis, which I had to cut back - due to the new siding.

I hope that explains it.

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Sounds great - how about a good wisteria growing up with the rose - the purple of the flowers hanging like grapes are truly stunning. Can you get wisteria in the US and Canada?

Kev
Your house looks better than mine and more English !!

Yeah my landlord has wisteria all around the house - it is beautiful - it is a good suggestion of Kev's Nora - you should try it.

I love Wisteria, but I don't know if it will grow here. Winters are quite harsh with lots of snow and temps below 0.

Well I just woke up opened my curtains, went to the bathroom and jumped on the net, I'm going to school late because we are going to go and have a tour of the inside of the house we might be renting, Kellye another one we are looking at is in belive it Kahu Road! ( I thought it would be safe to say that because we probably wont go there ) and then I will be going to school.. and get this!!!!

NO MORE SCHOOL FOR TWO WEEKS!!!! woohooo it's the holidays!!!! yay!

Kahu Road? Cool!

Nora - there is some info on wistera : Wisteria

Originally posted by Jellybelly
.....waiting for son to wake up so that I can zip over to Starbucks for my caramel macchiato!

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If anyone's interested, I found some info and a recipe for it!

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I don't know much of the history of the drink, except that the iced version was brought out in 1999 or 2000 when a wave of requests for an iced version of the drink required Starbucks R&D to standardize on the rather dramatic black-and-tan presentation of the official Iced Caramel Macchiato. Whipped cream was not standard at the time; I can't say if that's still the case as I haven't worked for Starbucks for over a year and a half now, but either way it's a stunning drink.

Made properly, you really should use a glass mug or pint glass for the color gradient effect. Starbucks doesn't do that with the hot drinks, though the to go cups are see-through. And now, the recipe everyone really wants to see when they come here...


Caramel Macchiato

The average coffee mug is probably equivalent to a Tall (12-oz/355 mL). I am not following precise Starbucks standards, though if you must know it's properly one shot of espresso, about .75 oz syrup (.25 oz per 4 oz liquid capacity).


milk
espresso
vanilla syrup
your favorite caramel sauce
In a regular-sized coffee mug, add vanilla syrup and steamed milk. Top with milk foam and add freshly brewed espresso through the foam. Drizzle with caramel sauce.


Iced Caramel Macchiato

Same ingredients, plus some small ice cubes and (optional) whipped cream

In a pint glass or iced tea glass (we're assuming 16 oz), add vanilla syrup and fill about 3/5 of the way with cold milk. Add ice almost to the top and pour espresso (2 shots would be typical) over the top. If you've done it right, the espresso will mix in only about halfway down without stirring. If adding whipped cream, add it here. Drizzle the top with caramel and enjoy.
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I researched the nutritional info on these drinks. I know I shouldn't have - hold on to your waistlines ladies!

And a grande caramel macchiato contains 230 calories and 14 fat grams! The drink with the highest fat and calorie content is the chocolate brownie frappuchino, containing 510 calories and 22 fat grams! That's like an extra meal a day!!

Holy sugar, fat, and caffeine overdoses Batman!!!

Better make sure you brush

and jump

after drinking these things!!

I'm not even going to tell you how much calories are in their foods! Too depressing!

Yeah I know how cool is that- we went and had a peek outside at that yesterday and the walls were white and the curtains & carpet were pale pink- not good for lots of pets!

WHITE? Ack! Not good at all for pets!

Thank goodness I don't drink anything from starbucks that has milk products in it! My too-extended waistline doesnt need it!

And everyone wonders why North America has a weight problem. Like duh! If our drinks contain enough fat for a whole meal, I think that would give them a clue!



(quickly hides the early Halloween candy in the drawer before anyone notices)

Originally posted by Jellybelly
Still haven't had it, about to eat some tortellini with alfredo sauce and then go get some coffee. I wish there was a Starbucks right across the street, that way I could walk, but I have to drive which is about a mile or so away. Still the prospect of yummy caramel is nice! Can't wait!!!

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Kimberly, do you ever cook or make your own coffee? Or would doing so put your system into shock!

The only thing going on here is preparing for Hurricane Isabel. Showers for everyone today. Filling bathtubs up with water for toilet use. Went to closest town and did emergency grocery shopping, refueled the propane tanks for the coleman stove, got more candles, cut down 2 trees and chopped them up and now I'm tired!

Up here a 25 mph. wind can cause so much damage you must always be prepared. They are guestamating that the winds are going to be around 50 mph so I'm not taking any chances!

LOL!!! I'm still getting my caramelmacchiato ladies!!! Besides, I do a lot of chasing my son and JellyBelly so I reckon that burns off the calories!!! LOL! Skykitty, I do a lot of cooking but when my hubby is out of town, he gives me extra cash to buy myself something to eat so I splurge on stuff that I don't normally get to eat, he's not too big on pasta or pizza, so I eat those whenever he's gone for a long time. I bought the tortellini and alfredo sauce from the store yesterday, it was actually quite good, I can only eat a little bit though since most of the time my belly is full of water or juice so I'm not a 'big' eater, more like small portions unless I skipped breakfast, then I'll have a big lunch and little dinner.

I think this 'country' is looked at as 'overweight' because of the 'super-size' everything when you can split the meals with another person. And we don't exercise as much, drive ups are the quickest ways to get fatty foods, so we're in the luxury of airconditioned cars sitting on our bums for the food and then sit some more to eat it not much exercising and most of our jobs requires sitting on our bums instead of actively walking around. I can see the scenario of someone jogging and eating LOL, most of the time I'm chasing my son eating since he wants to eat whatever I eat (minus the coffee), and he doesn't like to sit still for eating, he's always moving so I'm right behind him feeding him till he grunts that he's had enough He literally grunts!! LOL!!! So I know that I'm not overfeeding him! That's good!

I don't have expresso machine, so how do I do that with regular coffee machine?