Tuesday Tunes-Cradle of Filth

Cradle of Filth is I guess what you would call an extreme goth metal band. They're from England and  formed in 1991. Side note...why are all the insanely awesome metal bands not from the US? I mean cool for them but sucky for us Americans who want to see them play.

When I first heard of Cradle of Filth I couldn't tell you but I do remember the very first song I heard by them...Hallowed be thy name which incidentally is a cover of another awesome band, Iron Maidens. How apropos of them to cover one of their songs seeing as they were a big influence on the members of Cradle of Filth and I do love me some Iron Maiden.

WARNING!!!  

Before watching these videos make sure there are no children around, secondly if you are easily offended by the crude and naughty and slightly disturbing behavior just skip this whole post. If you are slightly interested in hearing what they sound like but don't want to watch then by all means, press play but don't look. If you don't care then enjoy my friends.

There is no official video and the others were all animated (blah) so enjoy watching some (silent) Underworld while listening.

 
The second Cradle of Filth song I heard was From the Cradle to Enslave. 

I was sharing a few of their songs on Facebook earlier this morning as I was listening to them and of all people to comment my Mom did. And I totally laughed at her comments. "I was good with this until he started singing" naturally I had to share more and push the envelope so I shared Lilith Immaculate. Her response "What the hell was that??? You can't possibly call Lilith Immaculate a song!" ROFL. Yeah I know they may not be everyone's cup o tea but the "nice" side of me loves to play Cradle of Filth during Halloween night just to scare the bejeebus out of people haha, hush don't judge me, I have a twisted sense of humor. 

So if you listened to either of the videos, what did you think?

PieOgraphy's Banana Cream Pie with Chocolate & Caramel

Oh yes, I did just say Banana Cream pie with Chocolate Ganache.

Let me introduce you to Jo Packham. the creator and Editor-in-Chief of Where Women Cook. I'll wait while you go peek at her site....and you must peek because it's gorgeous and FULL of amazing recipes and soooo much more. Back to Jo now, in addition to her amazing website she also owns a publishing company where she creates the bestselling magazines Where Women Cook and Where Women Create, Where Women Create Business vand she is also an author! I don't know about you but I think Jo is amazing and I bow down to Jo and her awesomeness. On February 1st she released the Where Women Cook PieOgraphy cookbook, where pie meets biography.

You always hear how a recipe has a story behind it but what happens when you don't get to hear the story? You're left wondering what it was, was it a good story, I wonder who actually created this recipe because damn is it good, man I wish I knew what it was! At least that's how it runs through in my head. So when I was approached about reviewing Jo's new cookbook the first thing that stuck out at me was the fact that you actually get the story. You may get the story behind the person who created the recipe, the story behind the recipe heck you get both. I really love that about this book, I may even love it more then the actually recipes....wait who am I kidding, I love food how could I say that. All joking aside I really enjoy both parts of this book, getting to know the person behind the food and knowing the story of the recipe as well as the drool worthy pictures. Have I mentioned the pictures yet? Forgive me for not sharing them....they are drool worthy.

I couldn't review this book without making a recipe from it, it just wouldn't be right. One of my all time favorite pie's is the Banana Cream Pie so when I saw there was a recipe in PieOgraphy for it but with a special twist I knew this would be the pie I would make. Confession....I've never made a pie before from scratch so I was a little scared. Yeah I've made one that involved pudding and whipped cream but I don't count that because the ingredients for the filling were already made, nothing done from scratch. So with a deep breath I gathered my baking confidence and got to work.

I didn't follow the exact recipe since I wanted to make sure it would be something my whole family would eat (kids, they're picky you know) so I left out the salted butter caramel sauce but I kept the chocolate ganache because dude, it's chocolate!

And because this was my first time making a pie I finally got to pull out my Grandmothers old pie dish that she passed down to me ages ago that has sat in the hutch collecting dust.

I even pulled out her beautiful pie server.

Not too shabby for my first attempt at making a pie huh? I have to thank the amazing instructions from the recipes creator, Nancy Soriano. And the drool worthy photos which caught my eye and conviced me to make this pie.

Really quick, another thing I enjoyed about this book is that it's not just dessert pie's in it. You also have delectable, savory pies included in there such as spinach quiche, heirloom tomato pizzas, chicken pot pie and more. So the reference of pie encompasses all types of pie's. If you would like to take a peek at the book for yourself click HERE. And since I know you will fall in love with it instantly here is the link to where you can buy it.

You can also keep up on the Where Women Cook community on their Facebook page, Twitter and their Pinterest page.

I received an advanced copy of Where Women Cook: PieOgraphy to facilitate my review, the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Get your kids outside more with the EzyRoller

Having three kids ranging from ages four to nine who all love to play outside is such a wonderful blessing. Having them grow so fast they they get to big for their bikes within a year...not so fun. But now I have found this awesome new thing that all three kids can ride on. Yes all three and even better is it's something that they can play on for years to come. It's not quite a bike, not even a scooter, it's the EzyRoller.

I know you're wondering what the heck is that? Those were my first thoughts when I saw it and even after reading about it I was still a little....confused. I've seen these new fangled trikes/bikes but this isn't quite that. My next thought was maybe it's a type of scooter. While it has the wheels similar to a scooter the fact that you are sitting and the handle bars are not like that of a scooter I was even more confused yet intrigued.

I am not the most handy person out there, I like to think I am and I love to take on projects but they usually end up a little....eh a little sad looking. I assumed something this awesome would have tons of pieces for me to mess up so when I opened the box and pulled out everything I was pleasantly surprised that there was only four pieces in all and set up was really easy. 

Even my little man got in and helped set it up.

 In less then ten minutes we were ready to roll!

 

Whala, I give you the EzyRoller

I'm not sure what I love more about the EzyRoller, the fact that it has already provided my children hours upon hours of entertainment or that all three of my kids can use it. My four year old can reach the "pedals" with it set up with the medium height bar but it's easier for him if I don't put a bar in at all but then the other two are a little big so I keep the medium bar in and they all do just fine. I also love that it came with the two size bars so when they get older they will still be able to use it because we can just make it bigger with the larger bar. 

So lets see the EzyRoller provides hours of entertainment for all three of my children, it will grow with them as they grow and at $99 it's reasonably priced. I think...no I know I love the EzyRoller and I may need to buy one or two more so the kids can each have their own and we can go on walks/rides together.

I received an EzyRoller to facilitate my review, the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

Nominate your sitter for Sittercity's America's Top Sitter

 

Remember back when you were in your early teen years and spending most week day evenings and weekends babysitting your parents friends kids. No? This is how I spent most of my preteen and teenage years. I had one steady family that I babysit on a weekly basis for a few years and then other families on an as needed basis. Looking back on those days is always a great memory. I had fun watching these children grow and I felt blessed that I was not only being trusted to care for these kids but I was also being welcomed into these children's hearts. I wasn't just a babysitter and it wasn't just a job for me, I was like extended family. I often wonder where are those "little" kids now. I even remember my babysitter from when I was around five years old. Nay-nay was what we called her, Renee was her actual name but you know us cute five year olds and not being able to pronounce words all the way. We (my sister and I) always had so much fun going over to her house and spending the day or even just a few hours. I remember one summer day all of us kids and Nay-Nay got into a water fight which somehow turned into a shaving cream fight. Such fun memories. Nay-Nay for me was like an Aunt or the older sister I always dreamed about. She lived in the same apartment complex as us and when it came time for us to move my sister and I were heart broken because she wouldn't be our babysitter anymore. That's how close we all had become. Just like family.

Do you have a sitter who has become a part of your family? One who is amazing with your children? One who goes above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to the care of your children? If you do right now Sittercity is having a contest and they are looking for the absolute best of the best for their 2013 America's Top Sitter Contest! You can nominate your babysitter for the 2013 America's Top Sitter Contest in a matter of minutes. 

• You can tell them why your sitter is the best of the best in 200 words or less and upload a photo of your awesome sitter, but don't delay the period to nominate your sitter is only open until February 25, 2013.
• Next a panel of judges will pick ten finalists from all of the entries
• Then those ten finalist will be put to a voting round from March 5th through March 15th. The one finalist with the most votes will be names America's Top Sitter and win the grand prize of $5,000!

So hurry up, if you have an AMAZING babysitter who you think deserves this go nominate them here.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

 

Wordless Wednesday-A treasure to keep forever

My youngest who will be five in May isn't much of a drawer. It just doesn't interest him. So when I picked him up from school the other day and his teacher told me that he drew me something special. At the mention of him drawing something, drawing me something I was very excited and I couldn't hide my smile. She told me it was a keeper, something for me to keep in a frame and treasure forever. Not being able to hold out anymore I dug in his backpack and pulled it out. I all but cried when I saw it. My little mans very first picture and it was a picture of both of us. He drew himself as a baby, inside my tummy. Yes, yes I cried. What can I say I am an emotional sap. But this sap loves her babies very first drawing and will treasure it forever.

For more inspiring photos be sure to check out:

The Bonafide Life, Better in Bulk, From Dates to Diapers, Not Your Momblog, The Divine Miss Mommy, Colorado Moms, Rajean Blomquist, High Impact Mom, BrainFoggles, The Centsible Life, Rachel Ferrucci, Lil Kid Things, Resourceful Mommy and Zensible Mama and don't forget to link your own photo stories.

 

 

 

 

Kids Corner on the Windows 8x phone

We live in the digital age and our kids are growing up smack in the middle of it. What does this mean for us adults? That our kids constantly want to use play on our phones. This can be all fine and dandy until things get changed around and inevitably apps get deleted. The Windows phone has this nifty feature called Kid's Corner. What exactly is Kid's Corner? It's pure awesome that's what it is.  

"Create a child–friendly space within your phone using Kid’s Corner. They can access only the apps, music and videos you permit."-Verizon Wireless

Think of it like a computer within a computer, or a better example might be if you have more then one user account on your computer. It's a separate screen within your phone that you can pick and choose which apps you want your child to be able to access.

You ask what is so special about that? Don't other phone's offer something like that?  Well that is a yes and no answer. The iPhone allows you to set restrictions on the phone but in my experience it's more of a hassle to deal with then anything and not worth doing because by setting the restrictions I am then limited by the restrictions unless I go back in and change all of the settings again. Back to the Windows phone. Setup on kids corner is really easy and again, you get to pick and choose what you want on Kid's Corner that your kid's can have access too. Here are step by step instructions on how to set up kids corner on you phone.

• From your home screen scroll all the way down to the bottom and click the little arrow

•  Select settings

• Scroll down until you see Kid's Corner, select it

•  Simply turn it from Off to On

•  From there your settings screen will pop up.

• Click any of the options Games, Music, Videos or Apps and it will bring up a new window with all available items on your phone from that genre for you to pick and choose which you would like on Kid's Corner.

The great thing about Kid's Corner mode is that the kids cannot enter the regular side of the phone. The only way to get back to the regular home screen is to press the power button on the top of the phone. It then goes into standby mode and when you go to use your phone the next time it will bring up the home screen. To access kids corner from standby mode press the power button and then swipe your fingers from the right of the screen to the left.

I do want to point out one possible downside to Kid's Corner is having a password on your phone. I always assign passwords out of habit and not wanting certain little one's deleting items on my phone. By having a password enabled on your phone you cannot access Kid's Corner without entering it. At times that may be a downside but on the other side of that it ensures no one will be getting into your phone, either your side or the kids side.

* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own* 

 

How to take a screen shot on a HTC Windows 8x phone

Today I want to talk about how to take screen shot on the HTC Windows 8x phone. It's one of the first things I learn how to do when I get a new phone and I usually figure it out pretty easily, but it took me up until ohhh five minutes ago to finally do it. I assumed it was like most phones and that you had to press the power button and the start/home screen button. I kept pressing those buttons but I would get one of two results.
1. The phone would go into standby mode
2. It would go into voice recognition mode
Neither of which was what I wanted to do...insert frustration here. I was about to give up on the whole thing but decided to send out a tweet asking if anyone knew how. I figured if the twitter-verse doesn't know then it's probably not meant to be. Verizon Wireless support got back to me almost immediately.

You know the saying that sometimes it just takes another set of eyes for you to see things? Well in this case it rang true. As soon as I tried it after reading Verizons tweet the strangest thing happened...it worked! Don't you love how that happens? Despite my frustration I am just happy I finally was able to get a screenshot.

So here's what you do.

• Press the power button. That's the push button on the top right of the phone. 

• At the same time, literally the same exact second,  press the start touch button. The start touch button is the middle button on the bottom of the phone. The one that with the windows icon.

Until you get the hang of it it may be a trial and error/frustrating experience. Or you may be lucky and not have the struggles that I had attempting to do this. But once you get the hang of it it will be a lot easier.

* I am part of the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program. A device was provided to me with three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the device. All thought and opinions expressed therein are my own*