Pizza!

Today I would like to discuss a controversial subject.....Pizza Toppings.  Now I know that some people will strongly disagree with this but I'm just going to say it.  I love Pineapple on my pizza.  I know many people hate this...Beezus5, everyone in my family, most other people I know.  But I love it.  I also like pineapple and pepperoni together on one pizza.  I also like pineapple, prosciutto, and blue cheese on a pizza.  My husband is ok with it.  Usually he doesn't care about the pineapple as long as there is some sort of meat on it.  I think he's growing to like it more and more.

I will eat a pineapple-less pizza though.  I also like just pepperoni.  Then there is sausage, pepper, and onions or the Elizabeth's Pizza Special aka pepperoni, sausage, green pepper, mushroom, and cheese.  I have enjoyed a nice BBQ chicken pizza in my time as well and I also like a nice Pizza Margherita. One time I had a pizza with potatoes on it.  It was pretty good.  Essentially the only thing I don't like on pizza is my least favorite food ever...the olive, and then probably also anchovies.  One time I met this girl in college who would only eat mushroom pizza.  She refused to eat a plain cheese pizza or anything with more than mushrooms.  She was weird.

So here are my pizzas I made the other night.

Pizza....
Fresh (whole wheat) Pizza dough from the pizza place in the grocery store
Pizza Sauce (I got canned)
Pepperoni
Canned Pineapple
Mozzarella Cheese

I split the dough in to three pieces to make 3 smaller pizzas.  I put a little flour on it so it's easier to work with and doesn't stick to everything.  I spread out the dough and baked it a few minutes until it was brown before adding the toppings.  Usually I do a layer of cheese, then a layer of toppings then another layer of cheese.  Sometimes I don't.  Then I baked them until the cheese melted.  Pretty good stuff.

Who likes pineapple on their pizza?

What's your favorite topping or combo?

What's the weirdest pizza you've ever had?

Do you ever make your own pizza at home?

My Favorite Chicken Casserole

As a kid I would always say that my favorite food was broccoli. Weird right? Anywho I still like broccoli and I love this Chicken Broccoli Casserole that my mom makes. I don't know if my mom invented it or what but she taught me how to make it and I've been making it for years. It's probably the first meal I made for other people when I was in college. And people always seem to like it. So here is my go-to Chicken Broccoli Casserole with photo instructions. Ok and I don't really usually measure out the ingredients but I tried to this time. But really it depends on the size pan you are using. You can see the size of my pan below. It made about 5 servings or maybe B and I just eat large servings.

Ingredients-
Cooked Chicken Breast (about 2.5 to 3 breasts)
Broccoli (I used one crown from the Grocery store. You can also use maybe 1-2 cups of frozen broccoli depending on how much you like broccoli)

Cream of Chicken Soup (I used 1 and a half cans this time of the healthier kind)

Mayonnaise (I used 3/4 cup this time and I used the light kind)

Lemon

Peppridge Farm Stuffing

Butter or Butter Spray

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook your chicken and shred or chop it up in to small pieces. You can add salt and pepper to this for flavor. You could also use a cooked rotisserie chicken for this and my mom has even used leftover turkey I think. Lay this on the bottom of a pan.

Next cook your broccoli. I just cooked mine in boiling water for about 3 minutes because I don't like it really soft. If you are using frozen broccoli just follow the instructions to cook it. Lay that on top of the chicken.

Squeeze some lemon juice on this but save most of the lemon. Now mix the chicken soup and mayo together and add more lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Then layer this on top of the broccoli and chicken.

Now mix some of the Stuffing with a tablespoon or so of melted butter in a bowl. Then layer that on top of the soup mixture. You can either dot some butter on the top of the casserole or spray it with butter spray which is what I did.

Now cook this for about 30 minutes or until the center is hot and the top is brown. Enjoy!

My mom adds curry powder to the soup/mayo mixture but I usually never have curry powder so I skip that. Sometimes I eat it with cranberry sauce on the side. That might seem weird but I like it.

So do you like broccoli?

Do you have a go to dish that people usually enjoy?

Did my pictures really help you understand exactly how to make this casserole?

Office Monday-Go Ahead and Give Me My Emmy

How do I know I'm a dork?

Because I forced (coerced with snacks) my husband to make this Office video with me this weekend for a contest.  Well it's sort of a contest.  Really it is just a bunch of fans reenacting different scenes from the Office episode, Murder.  Then you vote on the best one and someone edits them all together into a full fan-created episode.  Because I'm pretty sure The Office won't last forever, I feel the need to take part in such things.

The very extensive process of making this video started with me figuring out once again how to use my digital camera as a video camera.  Then I did wardrobe and hair.  The hair was the hardest part as it took me a good while to find my curling iron. I think I did well though.  For 'Jim's' hair I just rubbed my finger through the top of his hair. B was not giving me a lot to work with. He did his own wardrobe.  Then I stacked my camera up on various things I found around the house until it was perfectly aimed at the wall where we would shoot.  Again this was all very high tech and professional.  I realized the scene was going to look really dark so I pointed a lamp to shine right into B's face to make it brighter.

In order to really get the best performance from myself I had to have about 2 glasses of wine.  I get shy randomly even though it was just my husband and Hobie there.  We also just kept watching the original clip over and over again trying to copy their voices and movements.  I frequently forgot my lines and how to shout out "Line" to no one in particular.  Hobie was no help by the way.  We did about 6 takes and I edited (aka shortened) the best one and submitted it. 

Since I pretty much directed this, did wardrobe and hair, lighting, and acting I'm assuming I will take between 4 and 5 emmy awards.  Ok well I hope you enjoy it and "like" me so that I can be a part of Office History.

My Office Video-Watch it.  You know you want to know what my voice sounds like.

You should probably watch the original too to see if I really deserve an Emmy.   Watch some of the other ones too.  Some people got really creative with this.

Do you like my video?
Should I curl my hair every day and wear blazers to work?
Do you think drinking wine before shooting is what all the best actors do?
Do I look like Pam?

Fun Fact Friday-Lysol, Tennis Stars and 3 Things.

I'm fairly confident I have some sort of Lysol poisoning from yesterday when I accidentally knocked over a bottle of Lysol in the work bathroom and in the process shot myself with it in the face and then couldn't get it to stop spraying for like 2 minutes. Good times.

I found another cool celebrity from my hometown. He totally played the longest tennis match ever yesterday.
 
I was tagged by Leah at The Lovely Life of Leah.  So check out her blog and then read 3 things about me.  Enjoy.

3 names I go by:

* JM

* Jelly Donut

* JuanaMa

3 places I have been:

* Amsterdam-Twice in college

* Maui, Hawaii-On my honeymoon

* Scranton, Pa-For the Office Convention

3 favorite drinks:

* Coffee

* Diet Dr. Pepper

* Arnold Palmer Lite -seriously, it's good

3 jobs I have had:

* Ice Cream Scooper at Baskin Robbins

* Smoothie Maker at Creative Juices

* Ice Cream Maker at Marble Slap Creamery.....

See a trend-Now all my jobs involve accounting instead of frozen treats.

3 tv shows I watch:

* The Office

* How I Met Your Mother

* Parks and Recreation

I'm currently catching up on Fringe to fill the void in my life from Lost ending and I also really like Glee.

3 places I would like to visit:

* Italy

* Harry Potter Land at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL

* Los Angeles

3 favorite retro tv shows: I'm just saying shows I watch reruns of....

* Gilmore Girls....Jess>Logan>Dean

* Frasier

* Friends

3 places I have lived:

* Club Shannon (w/ Mrs. Acorn)

* Raleigh, NC

* Columbia, MD

3 favorite dishes: Um yeah there's no way I can do this but some of my favorite foods are....

*Salad

*Pizza

*Tacos

3 things I am looking forward to:

* My blog becoming super popular

* My beach vacay this summer

* Figuring out how to make some sort of craft that I can sell on the Internet for tons of money

Person I'm tagging

* Jenni at Less is More

So, does anyone else watch Frasier or Gilmore Girls?  I honestly think they are two of the best shows ever. 

Want to go to Harry Potter Land with me?

Have you ever accidentally shot yourself in the face with Lysol?

Alright well have a great weekend and next week I will get back to Making Stuff.

The Acorns Get Married-My Favorite Wedding Details

One of my best friends and former post-college roomie got married this past weekend (which you probably already know if you have been reading this blog).  Mrs. Acorn and I lived together after we graduated from college and both ended up moving back to our home town.  I moved back home (with my parents) because I made no life plan for myself while in college and therefore had no job.  Mrs. Acorn would call me every day and force me to update her on what I had done that day to secure myself employment.  After all, I would need a job before we could move out of our parent's homes and live together.  A loooooong 6 months later (no offense Mom and Dad) we found a cute little rental house and Mrs. Acorn, her giant dog Barkley, and I moved in.  It was a time of ups and downs.  I think after college we both had expectations of getting married, making tons of money and being super happy.  Instead we were both working at unexciting low paying jobs and were not having huge successes in the relationship department.  We also got robbed and discovered that killer bees (ok maybe not killer, but giant) had infested one of our walls.  We did have some awesome times though, especially after Beezus5 and Curly J also moved back to the Boro.  Eventually we both decided to move away.  Mrs. Acorn moved to Chapel Hill for grad school and I moved to Maryland to be with my now husband.  After her first year in grad school, Mrs. Acorn started dating Mr. Acorn.  Her whole outlook on life seemed to change for the better and I was super excited when they got engaged last December.

Now, my favorite wedding details.......

The wedding was held at The Hayloft in NC.  This place is really cool.  Mrs. Acorn's Sister-In-Law's family owns the place and restored it a few years back when Sister-In-Law got married to Mrs. Acorn's brother.

Some beautiful bridesmaids (and bride) in their beautiful bridesmaid jewelry standing in front of some hay after drinking some champagne (the bridesmaid jewelry did not ruin the wedding btw)...

Sister-In-Law/Wedding Coordinator made our bouquets and all the other flowers...

The cutest cake topper ever (featuring my old roomie Barkley and his new sister/wife Dixie).  This was custom made by Etsy seller Lynn's Little Creations...

The homemade hot sauce favors made by Sister-In-Laws family.  I took like 6 of these and am excited to try them out....

My favorite/exciting moments included.........

-Right after we hung up the wedding dress it fell off the hook and all the bridesmaids screamed and slammed the door shut so Mrs. Acorn would not know.  (All's well that ends well, right?)

-My shoe fell off right after I walked down the aisle and I had to struggle for about a minute to get it back on.  I could see my husband laughing at me.

-A bee jumped on my head during the scripture reading and I kept myself from screaming.

-The Minister's speech about the bride and groom being best friends.

-Mini Ham Biscuits!

-Mo Young gave my bouquet toss a shout out in her Maid of Honor Speech.

-Curly J, Beezus5, Mo Young, and myself somehow convinced Mr. Acorn to lay across our laps for some whimsical photos.  I really need a copy of this $hanzie!

-The Cake! It was strawberries and cream and quite tasty.  My husband had two pieces after getting approval from the bride

-This photo that I made my Dad take of me and B.  It started as a joke but then my dad seemed game to take the photo so I went with it.  Check out the cool corn fields in the background.

All in all a beautiful, hot, fun day of love!

Pre-Wedding Activities-Nails, Rehearsal, Brunch and the Tale of How Beezus5 and I Saved the Day.

When I found out that Mo Young was coming in to town on Thursday night for Mrs. Acorn's wedding and that Curly J was taking Friday off work to get her nails done and such, I knew that I too would have to take Friday off as I did not want to suffer from the dreaded disorder known as FOMS.  Fear of missing something (or stuff).  Beezus5 taught me that word.  It pretty much involves all of your friends hanging out together while you are somewhere else like work or at a family function.

So the Acorn Wedding Weekend of Fun began for me on Thursday evening when I picked up Mo from the airport.  As I had expected her suitcase was quite large and quite heavy.......

Remember how Mo's husband, J (aka Triangle Head) got us a bunch of free stuff in Vegas?  Sure you do.  Well I wanted to be a good host to him and Mo.  I don't really have access to free hotel rooms and comped dinners and mini bars and such so I decided to just make them a mini bar at my house.....

On Friday, Morgan and I had the most important task of the wedding.  Delivering the wedding dress from the bridal shop to the wedding venue.  Well they kept calling us and saying that it wasn't ready yet.  It was still being steamed so we went ahead and went to Chick-Fil-A to have the new Spicy Chicken Sandwich.  Mo misses Chick-Fil-A since Las Vegas is too sinful of a city for Chick-Fil-A to be associated with.  The spicy chicken sandwich was "quite a treat" just like the dude who rung up our order told us it would be.  We then headed out to meet Mrs. Acorn and Curly J to get our nails done.  Beezus5 had to suffer through FOMS as she was working......

We finally delivered the dress.  The bridal store made us wrap it in a sheet instead of the garment bag.  Not sure why.  It was super wrinkled still.  We were scared.  So we took it to the barn (an old renovated barn where the wedding and rehearsal were held) and hung it up and went back home to get ready for the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner.  The rehearsal went well and the dinner was great.  It was BBQ from the bride and groom's favorite BBQ joint in Durham.  My favorite was the beef brisket.  The groom baked a cake for dessert.  How cute is that?

We also got our sweet bridesmaid gifts...Monogrammed Vases...

  

After the RD, Mrs. Acorn decided that her wedding dress was important and that it should not be wrinkled on her wedding day.  We all agreed with her and offered to take it to my alteration lady in the morning to have it professionally ironed.  During this time things were getting tense but I knew one day we'd all laugh about it so I took this photo...... 

I then had Beezus5, Mo, and Curly J put my hair up in the bumpit.  I mean Mo Young did spend what I assume is tons of money to buy it for me.  I also assumed it would provide some laughs at the Rehearsal Dinner after-party.  I stayed strong and had only 1 drink.  The boys did not so much.  My favorite part was when they (pretty much B and Mr. J Young) plotted a very specific plan on how to steal the bride's (giant) dog from her mom's house, dress him in a tux and bring him to the wedding because that "would be her dream come true." 

The next morning we had a Bridesmaid Brunch hosted by the Aunts of the bride.  Beezus5 and I decided to take the dress in so Maid Of Honor Mo Young could be with the Bride at the Brunch.  Beezus5 and I got to the alteration place and sat on the curb and waited for it to open.  We pretty much jumped on the lady and told her we had an extreme emergency and asked if she can help us.  She said yes...maybe!  This is the nicest alteration lady I have ever met.  She sort of kicked other people out (in a nice way and without them really knowing they were being kicked out) so she could work on our dress.  Forty-five minutes later we arrived at the brunch with the dress to a heroes welcome.  Mrs. Acorn thought it looked great.  We saved the day.  Plus they waited for us to get there to eat.  The food was awesome and featured cheese grits, shrimp, danishes, quiche, breakfast casserole, fruit.....pretty much every breakfast food you can imagine.  Plus we each got a mini parfait and some mimosas.  A lovely time was had by all....

So we dropped off the dress one last time and Beezus5, Wunka and I headed back to my house to get ready.  I took a power nap and then worked on my hair.  It did not go as well as I hoped but B got us all coffee so that was a bonus....

Then it was off to the wedding.......

Have you ever heard of FOMS?
So is Mo's bag big or do I just pack light?
Do you want to come stay at my house so you can get your own personally tailored mini fridge bucket?
Do you think B5 and I saved the day?
Did you have/witness any wedding dress mishaps?

Hair Shenanigans, Featuring Special Guest Star....The Bumpit

So as I mentioned here, I decided to do my own hair for my friend Mrs. Acorn's wedding this weekend since I was a bridesmaid.

I guess Mo Young reads this blog because when she arrived at my house for the weekend she presented me with the best present ever....The Bumpit.

On the day of the rehearsal things got a little intense because we realized that there was a problem with the wedding dress and that we would have to take it back to the alterations place the morning of the wedding.  Well I thought I would create some comic relief by wearing the Bumpit to the Rehearsal Dinner after party that was at the hotel where a bunch of the guests and wedding party were staying. 

It only took three people to make this happen but I think the "double bumpit, with headband' turned out amazing.  Well amazingly weird.

I pretty much looked like a Stepford Wife.  The bride thought it was funny though and people kept wanting to touch my head.  Some of the groomsmen referred to me as bumpit girl at the wedding the next day.

Now the wedding day hair was another story.  I kind of freaked out.  I tried to put my hair up about 16 different times and it just was not working.  So I ended up jamming a couple bobby pins in the side and wearing it down.  It was pretty hot (temperature wise)  but I think it looked ok.  I ended up pulling the bottom up after our photos though because of the heat.  Beezus5 did a much better job with her own hair. 

Runner-up for best Rehearsal Dinner hair goes to Mo Young's husband who I now refer to as Triangle Head.

So has anyone else ever used the bumpit?

Do you like our hair styles?

Do you think Triangle Head is cool?

Best Dad in the Hole World....

I guess I have always liked to make stuff.  Because more and more I am remembering things that I made when I was a kid. 

Lets time warp back to approximately 1989 (could have been between 1988 and 1993 really).  Father's Day was just around the corner and I came up with a brilliant idea for a Father's Day gift.  You see my Dad has always been a fan of golfing.  So I decided to make him a t-shirt that said 'Best Dad in the Hole World'.  But the 'o' in 'hole' would be a golf hole on a golf course.  Genius.  I made this t-shirt using fabric markers.  I drew it right on to the shirt.  It was awesome.  I mean, I literally thought I was super brilliant for coming up with that idea. 

My parents claim that they have it at the house somewhere but have yet to produce it for me.  So I decided to go ahead and do a new updated version for my dad.  I mean the old one was a little tight and tight t-shirts are not so 'in' right now.  At least for Dads. 

It's the 2010's so I decided to use puffy paint instead of fabric markers.  Cause puffy paint T's are totally 'in' right now.  Right?  Aren't all the 'cool' Dads wearing puffy paint t-shirts?

So Happy Father's Day, Dad.  I'll make you an even more updated one in 20 years.

Random story about my Dad.....All my friends refer to my Dad as "Sock" (well not to his face). One time when I was in a taxi a few years back after having a couple drinks I felt the need to tell the cab driver that my dad's name was 'Sock' because 'he invented socks'.  Now while my Dad has worked in the sock industry for many years, he did not actually invent socks.  Still, cool nickname though.  Right?  Also he kind of looks like Bill Clinton.

Me and Sock as he prepared to walk me down the aisle.  I was super freaked out at this point and told him to tell me a story so that I didn't pass out.  I did not pass out.  Wedding photo by Robert Ross.

Making Dreams Come True-Bliveaway Winner and Mrs. Acorn is Getting Married...

Making stuff is fun.  But do you know what's even more fun?  Making dreams come true. 

Today I will be making one lucky blog reader's dream come true by announcing her as the winner of my first ever Blog Giveaway.  I did this very scientifically.  I made a spreadsheet listing each person who entered for the # of times they entered.  I assigned each name a number and then I used random.org to select the lucky winner.  Very scientific and I got to use my work skill of making spreadsheets.

Are you ready?

Are you sure you're ready?

Ok

And the winner is.................

Emily from It All Started With Mac and Cheese!  Everyone should definitely check out her blog.  (Don't hate her just because she beat you)  She bakes some high tech stuff on there.

I'm pretty sure this is a dream come true for you, Emily.  Email me (jellisen at gmail dot com) your info so I can send you your prize pack.

Ok, onward....

Last year at my wedding I also helped to make dreams come true.  Well I would like to think I did.

Here's the scenario.

I'm at my wedding.

I have a bouquet. 

I toss said bouquet.

Ms. Acorn catches the bouquet. (She is the shortest girl there by at least 2 feet)

4 Months later Mrs. Acorn gets engaged.

Coincidence?  I think not.

I make dreams come true.

Sweet Victory

Yay, she caught it.   Anywho.  I will be attending and participating in Mrs. Acorn's wedding this weekend.  I wonder who will catch her bouquet.

What do you think?

Are you pro/con bouquet tosses in general? 

Do I make dreams come true or what?

Are you mad you lost the bliveaway?

***Wedding photos by Robert Ross.  Additional Commentary drawn on wedding photos by me***

Mini Chocolate Chip Pound Cakes for my Lovely House Guest Mo Young...oh and last day to enter the bliveaway...

Mo Young  is coming to stay with me this weekend for the A-CORN Wedding weekend of fun.  I mean she is the Maid of Honor so she'd kind of a big deal.  She was a super nice hostess when we all went to Vegas for the Bachelorette party so I thought I'd bake her a cake to try to look like a good hostess myself. 

So Mo really likes this cake and frequently requests it when we are hanging around each other.  One time for her brithday I even mailed her one to Vegas.  I am assuming she still likes it and is not tired of it yet. 

I got this recipe from my mom.  I don't know where she got it but it is usually a hit and it's fairly easy to make.

Chocolate Chip Pound Cake-

One box of Yellow Cake mix

1 cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup oil

1 box of vanilla instant pudding

German Chocolate Bar

Chocolate Chips (about half a bag or so)

-Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

-Mix this first five ingredients together with a mixer until smooth.
-Now its time for the fun part.  Put the German Chocolate Bar in a bag.  Perhaps double bag it.  Then beat it with a hammer or whatever you have until the bar is broken up into small pieces.

-Then add this and the chocolate chips to the batter.  Mix.
***-Spray the bundt pans with cooking spary so you are able to get the cakes out.

-Bake in the mini bundt cake pans for about 20-25 minutes.  If you just use a regular Bundt pan then bake it for 50 minutes.

OK and today is the last day to enter my 100th post Giveaway (I'm so over the word Bliveaway).  So go for it.  All your dreams could come true if you are the lucky winner.

Bridesmaid Jewelry

So I finally got my big break as a jewelry designer when my friend Ms. Acorn asked me to make bridesmaid jewelry for her wedding this weekend.  I sent her several photos via email and she decided she wanted something pretty simple. 

So I present to you....photos of me modeling the bridesmaid jewelry...

What?  He wanted to be in the picture.

I am also practicing my breathing.  The dress in my size came with normal sized stomach area and giant size boobage area.  So I had to get this taken in.  The alteration lady told me if I was not going to wear straps then she would have to make it tight.  Apparently that meant tight in the area where oxygen flows to my lungs cause I'm having a bit of trouble breathing normally.  I'll work on in though.  I'm also practicing walking around in my new silver heels.

Ok so here's some close ups of the jewelry.  I used some crystal beads, silver beads, and sterling silver ear wires and chains to make these.

So I hope the other Bridesmaids like them or at least pretend to. 

Also in Hair news, I have purchased a new gadget and am practicing with it this week to see if I can make a low loose bun for the wedding.  My backup plan is a hot ponytail.  Has anyone ever used the Goody Simply Style Spin Pin?  I kept seeing commercials on TV so I decided to go ahead and pick one up.

I'm super exciting about the wedding this weekend!  Go Team A-Corn.

Do you think my bridesmaid jewelry is acceptable?

Or do you think the jewelry will ruin the wedding?

Should I take Hobie as my date because we look so good together or should I let B come with me?

Do you like weddings?