You must try this recipe.  You'll thank me, I promise you.  My friend Arneta brings this salad to potluck at church and everyone loves it so I'm not alone in my adoration of this salad.

(Thanks for the recipe Arneta.  It's going in the "hand down to the girls" recipe file.)

This is what the finished salad should look like…

or maybe this…

Now, these pictures were not taken by me.  The picture I took of the salad looked like this one (only more blurry)…  it is hard to get a good picture of this salad!

Thankfully it tastes better than it looks.

Okay FINALLY here is the recipe…

Ramen Salad

1 head shredded cabbage

1 bunch green onions (about 8 green onions or 1 cup)

1-2 shredded or julienned carrots (about 1 cup) (Arneta's recipe doesn't call for carrots, but I like them in this salad)

2 packages Top Ramen, oriental flavor

8 tbsp slivered almonds, toasted

8 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1/8 cup salad oil (Arneta's recipe calls for 1 cup salad oil… I reduced it and it tasted just as good to me)

6 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar (regular rice vinegar doesn't taste as good in this recipe)

4 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

Instructions…

The first thing I do is put the sesame seeds and slivered almonds in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven at 325 degrees.  I check them every 2 minutes and when they start to get a golden brown and fragrant I take them out and let them cool completely.  (P.S. Both are much cheaper if you buy them in bulk at the grocery store!)

Meanwhile I shred the cabbage (my sister tells me you can buy pre-shredded cabbage, who knew!) and slice the onions and carrots (again, you can buy them already julienned, if you are lazy like me).

Buy the pre-shredded cabbage or it might end up looking like this…  more chopped-ish than shredded.

Crush the two packages of dry ramen noodles.  Save the two seasoning packets for the dressing.

Mix the salad oil, seasoned rice vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and the two oriental flavor ramen seasoning packets. 

Keep the dry crushed ramen noodles, seeds, nuts, veggies and dressing separate until right before serving. Toss everything together and enjoy!

Makes 16 servings.

3 Weight Watcher points per serving (if you use 1/8 cup salad oil instead of 1 cup).

Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for Blueberry Crumb Bars recently. 

(You should go check out her recipe and her photos, they are outstanding.) 

I had some blueberries from the farmer's market. 

So I decided to make some.

Best. Blueberry. Cookie. Ever! 

Then she posted a recipe for blueberry pancakes.  So I had to try that too.

And lo!  It was excellent.

Luckily Jen from Amazing Trips solved the riddle of which griddle to buy (electric? cast iron?  one burner?  two burner?) and also posted an amazing pancake recipe (which I personally tried and it was so good). 

My mom found the Nordicware 2 Burner Reversible Grill Griddle at Costco and it is AWESOME! 

We made pancakes and fried eggs at the same time!   I cooked pancakes so fast that I actually got to eat breakfast with the family.  Usually I'm stuck at the stove.

What goes with blueberry pancakes?  Blueberry banana smoothies!

Yum!

Who likes blueberries?  Me! Me! Me! I do! I do! I do!

Hold me…

We were, um, too lazy busy to make cookies for the neighbors this year at Christmas time. 

Pioneer Woman inspired me to get off my behind and make her yummy cinnamon roll recipe as a New Year's gift for the neighbors instead.  (Check out her recipe!  It has step by step instructions with pictures.)

After making dough from scratch (!) we rolled it out, poured on melted butter, sugar and cinnamon…

then we rolled it up and cut it into cinnamon roll sized pieces.

Next we baked them…

and frosted them with awesome maple frosting.

Dear Neighbors,

Happy New Year!

I hope you enjoy the cinnamon rolls as much as Tessa enjoyed delivering them to you.  Also, please don't expect them every year because I will probably never again go to the work required to make dough from scratch. 

Have a great 2008!

Love,

Laughing Mommy

Start with a pink cake mix.  Actually buy several, just in case.

Mix.

Prepare Barbie…

… by removing her legs. (Gasp!)

Bake cakes in several shapes and sizes including…

Bundt

Round

Pyrex measuring cup (what?)

and cupcakes (which you should frost in case the Barbie cake doesn't work out)

Assemble barbie cake by stacking the bundt cake on top of the round cake.  Jam a cupcake down into the hole, and then cut up the pyrex measuring cup shaped cake into three pieces and see which one seems to fit the best.  Jam legless Barbie into the center of the cake. Begin to frost with copious amounts of frosting.

Keep adding frosting.  Lots and lots of frosting.  Realize that legless Barbie is sinking into the cake like quicksand. 

See if adding Barbie's tutu helps.  Nope.  All the frosting in the world isn't going to hold her steady.

Decide to reattach legs.  Pull Barbie out of cake.

Reattach legs.  Realize Barbie is now too tall for the cake.  Cut Barbie's feet off with snips to make her shorter.

It worked!  Here is the finished Barbie Cake.

You could follow these steps and make your very own Barbie cake. 

~~~OR~~~

You could buy a Wilton Wonder Mold and do it the easy way.  It even comes with a Barbie doll pick… so there is no possibility of having to cut any limbs off Barbie.

*When I was searching the Internet for how to make this cake I found this Barbie doll cake.  That is where we got the name "Princess Lumpy." 

**Tessa was very offended by the name Princess Lumpy.  Since she had a Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses Party she wanted the cake to be called Princess Genevieve.

I made this home made Lemon Yogurt Cake on Saturday night.  Why?  Because Amanda at KickyBoots said it was good.  (Recipe can be found at Barefoot Contessa and at Amen! Let's Eat! )

It is a very, very good cake.  Especially if you like moist, tart but sweet cakes.

In the process of making this cake, I also made this…

It appears to be home made tar.

This is what happens when you forget you've left fresh squeezed lemon juice and sugar on the stove.  For a long time.  While you watch a movie.  Until you smell the smoke.  It was smoking so bad by the time I found it I had to leave it outside overnight to cool off and stop smoking.  Yes, the smoke alarm went off.  *sigh*

But!  The cake was delicious!  (Rogene has already requested that I make another one, so it must have been good, right?)