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Cupcake Or Muffin?
2008-03-10 18:08:00
I'm not sure. There are elements of both. I adapted a quickbread recipe, but then I added a glaze. For now, I'm calling it a muffincake.It reminds me of this quote below that just breaks my heart. Talk about bittersweet! Read this post to find out more."The cupcake shop was really selling muffins but I didn't have the heart to tell them."This post and my Strawberry Muffin cakes are my submission to the Strawberry Seduction event over at Mike 's Table,Strawberries are a delicious and beautiful fruit. I eat them year round. You know what that means. I live in Massachusetts. It's March... They aren't local!I hope you can forgive me, but to keep scurvy at bay, us Bay Stater's have to have our fruit shipped in during these cold winter months. So recently, I bought some strawberries from someplace far away and enjoyed them very much. Strawberry Muffincakes(makes a dozen medium muffincakes)1 cup pureed strawberries1/3 cup butter (softened)1/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt3/4 cup suga...

Clinton's "Creative" Campaign Tactics
2008-03-09 16:32:00
I always thought that people in campaign ads had given their permission for the use of their image and that it was fairly recent footage. I was wrong. Last night I was watching the news and saw a promo for a story that really shocked me. It said that one of the people in the now famous 3:00 am commercial by the Clinton campaign was actually an Obama supporter who was shocked to see herself in the commercial. I left the room for two minutes and of course I missed the story. I had to find out more, so I just did a Google search and found this story on King5.com. I was wrong to think that the people who appeared in a campaign ad were usually at some sort of campaign event for the person. Apparently not. The Clinton campaign used footage owned by Getty Images. The kids sleeping were obviously not at a campaign event, but I at least thought that they were filmed for this ad specifically. I wonder how widespread this practice is for campaign commercials to contain stock footage? It seems ...
More About: Creative , Hillary Clinton , Tactics , Campaign

Baking Suggestions - Part 2
2008-03-08 18:11:00
I've posted the second part of my series on getting your kitchen ready for baking. Check out my latest And Razzleberry Dressing post.*Updated* Blogger and I guess Google have not been working today. My blog was down for hours and I've been trying to upload youtube videos for at least a couple of hours. It just isn't working. I give up.But if you want to see the cutest cupcake old school rap video, click here. And there's another really nice Women For Obama video here.Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Baking , Part

Another Virtual Cookbook + A Cake Explanation
2008-03-07 13:27:00
Why did I have to trust in the cake from yesterday's post? Last weekend I had some friends over for a potluck dinner and was running very behind schedule. The soup that I made turned out to be a disaster that could not be rescued in time. I still have to rescue that soup come to think about it... But most importantly, I had very little time to make a nice dessert. I was looking at my cake recipes and stumbled upon the Swedish Visiting Cake . It's been blogged about like crazy over the past few years and I had only read good things about it. But when I looked closely at the ingredients, there was no leavening - no baking soda or baking powder, so the cake would not rise. That is quite unusual. I thought maybe I read the recipe incorrectly. Luckily my computer was already on, because I was streaming music, so I looked up the recipe again in a few different places. I was wasting time that I didn't have and the recipes were all the same. I decided to just "trust in the cake...
More About: Roundup , Virtual , Cookbook

Trust In The Cake
2008-03-06 16:28:00
I made Dorie Greenspan's Swedish Visiting Cake last weekend and it was amazing. I'll tell you more soon.*Updated* 3/7/07 - Thank you to Asha for reminding me about International Women's Day, which is this Saturday. In honor of this day, Zorra is having an event where we all bake yellow food to celebrate. Why yellow? Here is an excerpt from her post."Yellow because on this day in Southern countries there is the tradition to give sprigs of bright yellow Mimosa flowers to women. The flowers are intended as a sign of respect and also an expression of solidarity with the women in their support for oppressed women worldwide. So this year, instead of the Mimosa sprigs, we will make yellow food!" Since I already posted here with a picture of yellow food, I decided to update the post and submit it to Zorra. I'll post the roundup of all the yellow foods next week!Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Trust

Meal Mixer Winner!
2008-03-03 08:36:00
Before I announce the winner of the free one year Meal Mixer membership, I'd like to thank all of you who participated in this giveaway. It was fun learning about your favorite meals. I got hungry just reading your comments! Also, another thank you to Meal Mixer for generously providing this free membership to one of my readers. To pick the winner, I used a randomizer tool. The winner said this about her favorite meal. "My favorite meal? It's SO hard to pick one but I'd have to say it's from Blind Faith Cafe in Evanston, IL. It's a vegan place and I miss their food so much. When I head back home, I go there at least two or three times, especially since my mother-in-law now lives around the corner. She's not mobile and they unfortunately don't deliver so I always take her some goodies from there.Starter: A plate of steamed kale seasoned with vinaigrette. LOVE IT!Main Dish: Mongolian Stir-Fry which has "seitan, broccoli, red bell pepper and scallions in a spicy mongolian sa...
More About: Winner

Black Blog Rankings - March 2008
2008-03-01 18:23:00
Black History Month may be over, but that doesn't mean that we don't keep making history. Have you wondered who are the most influential black bloggers? Or maybe you just wondered who is in the black blogosphere. Well, wonder no more. There is a list! At the beginning of each month, Electronic Village issues a new list. The current list has 871 blogs and it continues to grow each month. In case you're wondering, I'm number 134. Check out Electronic Villager's post announcing this month's list. And just stop by the blog for some very interesting and informative reading.Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008 . All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Blog , Black , March , March 2008

Happy Leap Day!
2008-02-29 07:01:00
Today is the last day for you to enter the Meal Mixer Leap Day Giveaway. You have until midnight tonight EST to enter. Just click here for the details.And since it's Leap Day, I decided to leap into a new blog adventure. Check out my new blog called Leap 183!Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Happy

Some Restaurant News
2008-02-28 06:56:00
As far as I know, there is no newspaper called Tasty Times. I created my own newspaper clipping on this nifty website.While the newspaper article here may be fake, the actual news is real. You can find out more about the TAP Project here. And click here for participating restaurants.In the Boston area, some of my favorite restaurants are taking part - Ivy Restaurant , Les Zygomates, Lala Rokh, and Café Fleuri at The Langham. I've had some great meals at all of these places. Here is a more complete list for the Boston area. I learned about the TAP Project from a FACE Africa press release that I received today. Here is an excerpt. ?The Tap Project brings to Boston an incredibly simple concept to encourage restaurant patrons to help bring clean and safe water to the children of the world,? said Ms. Kaba Jones, Founder and Director of FACE Africa International. ?As a Tap Project volunteer, I am glad that so many restaurants agree it is our duty to use tap water?our single most bou...
More About: News

More Starbucks Growing Pains
2008-02-26 19:30:00
In case you didn't know, all U.S. Starbucks will be shutting down early this evening. I found this memo from yesterday on their website. Here is an excerpt."Tomorrow evening, we will come together in an unprecedented event in our company?s storied history. We will close all of our U.S. company-operated stores to teach, educate and share our love of coffee, and the art of espresso. And in doing so, we will begin to elevate the Starbucks Experience for our customers. We are passionate about our coffee. And we will revisit our standards of quality that are the foundation for the trust that our customers have in our coffee and in all of us.But, as I think about it, there is another perhaps equally important reason why we have scheduled this training. It?s to celebrate who we are." So if you want something from Starbucks this evening, you'd better get it soon!Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Growing , Growing Pains

Comfort Food + A Leap Day Giveaway!
2008-02-24 18:18:00
Winter persists here in Massachusetts, so comfort food is essential. I made Mango Scones last week and enjoyed them with lots of hot drinks. I haven't forgotten about my Homemade Bread Pledge.The Roasted Vegetable Soup made a nice dinner a few nights ago and will hopefully keep me going this week. And something else keeping me going this week is a Free Giveaway! I'm so excited! Read more about it after the recipes.For the scones, I used my Raisin Scone Recipe, but used freshly chopped mango instead of raisins. The baking time was much longer though, closer to an hour.Since I took a shortcut with the vegetables in this recipe, I decided to roast several winter vegetables for a nice soup. I made up the recipe as I went along and based on what I had handy. I tried to write everything down as I was making it, so I can make it again. The measurements are approximations and will vary based on the size of the vegetables and how spicy you like your soup. I never knew that parsnips were su...
More About: Food , Comfort food , Comfort , Leap

An Apology + A Recipe
2008-02-22 17:30:00
Remember here when I said that I would have a second part to my Biscuit Baking Bonanza? At the time, I had every intention of doing so. Well, I baked the other recipe and I'm here to tell you that part deux will not be happening.I apologize profusely. The recipe just didn't do it for me at all. I even took pictures. I just can't do it. Unless I'm truly excited about the food, I can't blog about it. I mean what's the point?But there is a recipe that I'm really excited about. I so love this recipe! Picture me smiling and clapping my hands. You can read about it here on my other food blog, And Razzleberry Dressing.*Updated* Hmmm... I must have not made this sound enticing enough. The recipe is for Orange Rosemary Shortbread. Please check it out! It's truly one of the best recipes I've ever made.Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Recipe , Apology

Shooting Into The Sun
2008-02-21 15:37:00
I watched the lunar eclipse last night. What a miraculous sight! It made me feel connected to all the people who've watched these since humans first started noticing all the mysteries in the sky. Strangely enough the Navy shot down a wayward satellite at about the same time. The sky was busy last night. Well this morning, I gave myself permission to break some old photography rules and again I was looking to the sky. I've been taking pictures since I can remember. My first camera was a Mickey Mouse. I used to love that camera! If I remember correctly, I pulled Mickey's right ear down to take the picture. I've never taken a photography course, but shooting pictures has always brought me great joy and relaxation. One of the first things I remember being told was to never shoot into the sun. Always make sure the sun is behind you. I've usually tried to follow that rule, but I think I've been freed from it. If I like the picture then I'll go for it! Why be limited wh...
More About: Shooting

Butternut Squash + Onion Lasagna
2008-02-20 16:00:00
It's funny how sometimes I'll do a bunch of food posts, so it looks like I'm cooking and baking all the time, but I'm really not and the posts are just spread out very well. Recently it's been kind of the opposite. By the look of this blog, you would think I haven't been doing much of either. I've made some good soups, done some baking and made this lasagna. I just didn't have time to make them, blog about all of them and do some other things as well. I remembered seeing Nupur's recipe here for Roasted Squash Onion Lasagna . Well, I took a few shortcuts with mine, because sometimes I just have to. I used frozen squash and it was not roasted. I only used one onion, a red onion specifically, because they are my favorite. I also used feta cheese in addition to the parmesan.When I made the Bechamel Sauce, I kind of faked the process, but it still worked. I used a combination of Half and Half, water, and vanilla rice milk. I think I was supposed to melt the butter and ...

Shameless Self-Promotion
2008-02-19 01:37:00
Yes, I'm at it again! At the end of last year, I mentioned here that I set up a Zazzle Shop and was selling a calendar with some of my photographs.Now I've added note cards to my Zazzle Shop collection. Some of the note cards include photos of the Wollaston Theatre, Marina Bay, a flower shop, muffins, the gas tank, these antique cars, this beautiful tree, and many more.If you're ever looking to buy some different note cards, I hope you check them out and maybe spread the word. These are all blank, so you can write your own greeting for any occasion. There's nothing like receiving a nice card in the mail. So spread the love!Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Promotion , Massachusetts

CVS Coupon Confusion
2008-02-17 08:01:00
I'm wondering what is the "real deal" with CVS coupons that I often find here. There are more than 200 comments on this blog and many of them from people discussing whether using the CVS coupons found on this blog are "legal" or not. Some of the comments going back and forth are really heated. There are people from all different states, so I'm not sure if rules vary by region.Here are excerpts from some of the comments. "Yes, CVS is cracking down on these "internet" coupons, at this moment it is up to the store managers descretion on accepting such coupons. As changes come about, duplicating such "internet" coupons as this will be challenged and all CVS stores will refuse duplicated coupons. ... Continue and enjoy, injuring our system, government and economy with your "duplication of coupons" and "unpaid" credit cards.""your wrong... talked with multiple managers at cvs and was told that printing and using them are fine. check your facts better. the managers are very happy that...
More About: Confusion , Coupon

A Virtual Legume Cookbook
2008-02-17 06:36:00
If you're looking for some healthy recipes filled with legumes, check out all 116 recipes here. Remember the post that I submitted here? Susan at The Well-Seasoned Cook did an amazing job putting all these recipes together. Please stop by her blog and get a recipe or two ... or twenty.Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: Roundup , Virtual , Cookbook

More Than Just Black & White
2008-02-15 19:06:00
I find it really annoying when news stories only discuss the issue of race in terms of black and white, when we are far more than that. I've been trying to find websites specifically where I can see what Asians and Latinos are saying about Barack Obama. From what we see in your average news story, you would think that Asians are not really involved and that Latinos refuse to vote for him. Neither of these are true. For the past few weeks, I've been finding a lot of great information from the blog Asian Americans for Obama. And below I found a video showing that yes, there are Latinos who will vote for Obama. Check out the blogs Amigos de Obama and Latinos For Obama. Also see this very interesting article called Young Latinos for Obama or Nada.Anali's First Amendment © 2006-2008. All rights reserved.This Post's Link
More About: White , Black