What kind of pie are you?

You Are Apple Pie

You're the perfect combo of comforting and traditional. You prefer things the way you've always known them. You'll admit that you're old fashioned, and you don't see anything wrong with that. Your tastes and preferences are classic. And classic never goes out of style. Those who like you crave security. People can rely on you to be true to yourself - and true to them. You're loyal, trustworthy, and comfortable in your own skin. And because of these qualities, you've definitely earned a lot of respect.

What Kind of Pie Are You?

I did this quiz over and over again about seven times, altering two or three of the questions to my second choices and all the variations thereof, but no matter what I did, I always came up Apple Pie. I was trying to make it come up with Pumpkin Pie which I love and so imagined was more 'me', but it didn't work. Not that Apple Pie isn't great. Those qualities of Apple Pie are very admirable. I should be happy. But... but ... why am I not Pumpkin Pie? : /

I had hoped to post a book review today--it's one that has been in the works for almost a week already, but I keep getting distracted by other things and still haven't finished it. I don't know about you, but even after blogging for nearly three years, balancing the whole reading-blogging-bloghopping cycle is challenging for me, especially when I get pulled into a book or series that I just cannot put down, which happened to me last week. I re-read Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning and got so caught up in it that I promptly picked up and read the second book in the Fever series, Bloodfever. Now I've decided to read her Highlander series before I continue with the next Fever book and am currently finishing up Beyond the Highland Mist. I figure now is as good a time as any to finally read the Highlander series, especially since I understand there is a bit of a cross over in the mythology between the two series and even couple of characters. So that's where I spent my time in the reading-blogging-bloghopping cycle last week, which kept me from the blogging-bloghopping parts. Maybe this week will be more balanced between the three. In between baking pies and raking leaves, that is.

For the benefit of my non-American visitors, and in case you didn't know, this Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. This morning I went to the grocery store at 8:30 am for a few basic things plus the turkey, and could not believe what a ZOO it was! I'm so glad I don't have to go back there until Saturday or Sunday.

Our Thanksgiving celebration is just going to be our little family of five this year, but I'm still preparing a fairly elaborate meal, just in smaller portions. As much as I love this meal-- it's truly one of my absolute favorite meals of the whole year, I don't love eating it for days on end. Just one fabulous meal and one day of leftovers, that's it. Except the desserts. Those I could eat for days on end, no problem. This year, I'm baking a pumpkin pie, coconut cream pie and a cinnamon apple cake.

Black Friday is the name given for the day after Thanksgiving Day that marks the official start to the Holiday shopping season. Retail stores open insanely early on Black Friday with special sales and big discounts to draw in shoppers. I personally avoid shopping this day altogether. For one, I barely have my Christmas list started at this point and two, the aggravation of dealing with rude crowds and aggressive drivers just isn't worth saving a few bucks. Instead, I'll workout early in the morning as penance for eating too much pie, then spend the rest of the day home and sip coffee, eat more pie, watch a movie, play some Rock Band, plan my Christmas cookie list and maybe even do some online window shopping.

What are your Thanksgiving plans this year?

Do you shop on Black Friday? Have you started your holiday shopping?

What kind of blogger are you?

I saw this blog analyzer called The Typealyzer over at Jace's blog called Jace Scribbles. [Jace also has a second blog titled Jace Makes where she blogs about things she crafts such as beautiful book thongs, book marks, and other items made from paper, beads, and embroidery floss. She even opened an Etsy shop! Very cool.]

Jace's results indicated that she one of The Doers type bloggers: the active and playful type. She thought the description was a really accurate assessment, so I thought I'd give it a go. The easiest part is that it isn't even a poll. You just need to enter the url of your blog and the program analyzes your blog content.

This is what came up for me, and I have to say, I believe it is quite accurate for me, as well.




The Artists

The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living.

What kind of blogger are you? Do you think your results are an accurate indicator of your blogging type? Visit The Typealyzer and find out! 

I scream for Ice Cream! Do you?

I love ice cream. Just had to get that out there. 

Although not the official end of summer, Labor Day still symbolizes the end of summer vacation around here as the pools and beaches close for the season and the school year begins in just a few days. To celebrate summer and the beginning of a new school year, I made an extra special dessert for my family tonight. . . homemade peach ice cream. Earlier in the day, I made homemade peach jam with a lot of the peaches the girls and I picked last week and when I asked my husband and girls what peach dessert they preferred: ice cream or pie, they chose the ice cream. Which was fine by me because it is so incredibly easy to make. I even created my own recipe! 

Homemade Peach Ice Cream

2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped and mashed fresh peaches

1 tsp. lemon juice 

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 pint half and half

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Pour into freezer bowl of your ice cream maker, and process according to the directions of your machine. 

In twenty or so minutes, we had perfect soft serve peach ice cream. It was so delicious. My recipe yielded an ice cream that was not super sweet, which my husband and I really enjoyed. The girls said they would like it sweeter, so next time I may add another 1/4 cup or so of sugar.

I have the Cuisinart 1 1/2 Quart Automatic Ice Cream Maker (shown at left) and love it. My friend has the next model up (shown at right) that makes 2 Quarts and it works like a dream. If I hadn't received mine as a gift, I'd probably have splurged for the 2 Quart model so I could make enough ice cream for company. 

For more fun, an Ice Cream Personality Quiz.  Answer five basic questions on your ice cream preferences and the results reveal some insights to your personality. Most of these are amazingly accurate for me. ;p

Your Ice Cream Personality:

You like to think of yourself as a fairly modest person. And it's true that you don't talk yourself up... but you're also pretty happy with who you are. You are incredibly cautious. You rather miss out on something than make a mistake. No one would ever call you wild... but they would call you responsible. You are a fairly open minded person with a wide range of tastes. You are quite accepting of unusual ideas and people. You tend to have a one track mind. You prefer not to multitask. You can be a big dramatic and over the top sometimes. You are bold in every way

The Ice Cream Personality Test

What's Your reading personality?

I found this quiz at The Book Binge.  

I am the Eclectic Reader:

You read for entertainment but also to expand your mind. You're open to new ideas and new writers, and are not wedded to a particular genre or limited range of authors.

Start quiz.

I suppose there is some truth to that. I honestly expected to get the Serial Reader because I am a self proclaimed series junkie.  If I start a series, I feel strongly compelled to read ALL the books and IN ORDER.  There are a few series that I'm going to try to break from. Emphasize try.  Feehan's Carpathian Series is one--I love the books, but they are getting a bit repetitiv. I'm waiting for Dimitri and Skyler's story...  Then there is Kenyon's Dark Hunters.  I might try to make the break after Acheron.  Or maybe Stryker's book.  Oh wait! I really want to read Nick's story.  I hope he doesn't get killed off before he's redeemed and gets to live happily ever after... And we won't even discuss the crack that is the Black Dagger Brotherhood. See?  I'm just too easily addicted.  

Oh! And remember the review I did of Lisa Renee Jones' first novel in her Harlequin Nocturne White Knights series? The one I gave a C+ to barely six weeks ago? The one in which I said I probably wasn't going to pick up the rest of the series?  Wellllll... I took advantage of eharlequin's 30% Spice novels to buy Megan Hart's Dirty and Broken, but needed to buy a few more books to make the free shipping. (I'm not the only one who does this, I'm sure). So the second and third books in Lisa's White Knights series were discounted a few bucks, so I caved and bought them.  I was still like two bucks shy of the free shipping mark, so I also bought Sex, Straight Up and Nightcap by Kathleen O'Reilly. I would have completed that 'series' with Shaken and Stirred, but it was sold out. I'll have to find that somewhere else. See? Total series junkie.  

So what kind of reader personality are you?