THE GREAT SUGAR COOKIE CHALLENGE!

I already know who makes the best home made sugar cookies...

Now I am on a quest to find the best bakery SUGAR COOKIES in the valley... and beyond! I am looking for cookies that fall into categories of both frosted and plain (sprinkles are ok!). Send me your suggestions. Seriously, diet aside, I will try them all and report. When I think about the 'things and stuff' that I really love in life, sugar cookies are one of my biggest weakness! I have had some really great sugar cookies, but I still think it is good to keep expanding your horizons and exploring new taste sensations!

I can't wait to hear your suggestions. I am salivating just thinking about the possibilities..... If you can't leave a comment here, go to my face book page (Michael Draper) and leave a message there!


By the way, I am still looking for the secret to 'what makes wedding cake wedding cake'...

MY FAVORITE "THINGS" (& stuff) #1

Have you ever noticed that you never have a piece of paper or a pen when you need one? You run in to an old friend you haven't seen for ages and you want to write down their phone number. Or you find a table or other piece of furniture that you love but need to write down the size to make sure it will fit. Or you see a really great idea for a centerpiece or an arts and crafts project and you want to do a little sketch so you will remember what it looks like......


Well, this is my new favorite "thing" (for this week at least). It is called the 'PICOPAD' and it is a credit card sized notebook and pen that fits in your wallet. The cover is card-stock and the pen slips through the loop in the fold so it doesn't fall out. I thought it was too good to be true but it really does fit in my wallet and it really is no bigger than a credit card.

The pen has a little tab on the barrel so you have something to hold on to while you are writing. You wouldn't want to make long lists because it is not easy to write with, but it works great for quick notes. The notepads are sticky so you don't lose your information once you write it down.

The picopad is available from several sources, but I found mine at everydayinnovations.com. They are only $2.99 each or $11.99 for a set of three with refills.

"LAUGHTER: MY DRUG OF CHOICE"

Every once in a while you meet someone who entertains, makes you laugh, but most of all, really makes you think. When I was in Santa Fe a few weeks ago I attended a lecture by Sally Baskey and she really threw out some provocative ideas that tied in to my research on happiness. Unfortunately, I did not take notes while she was speaking but I remember three of her points were "this too will pass", "laugh" and "exaggerate". Hopefully I will have a chance to hear her again so I can take really good notes! I talked to her for a few minutes after she finished speaking and she agreed to send me her book so I could do some additional research. She told me that her book does not really follow her lectures, but it is more "the story of her". Anyway, when her book arrived I read it in a couple of hours. She made some really interesting points and she said it would be ok if I share.

Who we are today is the result of our past. Our upbringing, our experiences, our education, our friends all have an impact on who we are. If we are not where we want to be we can often waste a lot of time analyzing the past looking for something or someone to blame for our situation. In reality, we are capable of accomplishing anything we really set our minds to if we don't let situations from the past influence the direction we want to go. "There are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned". Life is too short to waste time and energy finding blame. Just pick yourself up and go for it. As my missionary son Scott said in his last letter, "don't just get up and go... get up and BE!".


Sally said she would never forget a comment her mother made when she was young about her nose and that if they ever had money they would have her nose fixed. Sally said she has had a nose inferiority complex ever since. I can relate. In Junior High everything is about perception. We are so insecure and trying to figure out who we are and where we are going. Desperate to find a niche for ourselves. One day in the school paper was a article, or a list really, of students who had a variety of the "biggest and best" attributes-- best looking, biggest biceps, best hair. Anyway, near the bottom of the list was "biggest nose" and next to that was my name! Trauma! Like Sally said, I had a nose inferiority complex from then on. This was 1972 but It is amazing how something so insignificant, and really meant to funny and not mean, can affect us for life. It followed me for years. Luckily, my wife worked for a great plastic surgeon when we were first married. Dr. Jim Clayton gave me a rhino-plasty (nose job) as a gift for my college graduation. I have never regretted the nose job but I do regret the fact that I let that little comment bother me for all those years.

It is amazing how 'things and stuff' can affect so many things in life. If we can just tell ourselves that "this to will pass" and learn to laugh at life's challenges we will be able to accomplish any thing, or at least SURVIVE most situations. Life is hard but it passes... but consider if things did not pass. What if things and stuff came to stay? Think about it.

CENTER PIECES 101

Entertaining? Lots of people coming over? Forgot to think about a centerpiece? What to do...

We needed some quick center pieces for a brunch last week, so it was called improvisation! I had some geraniums that were waiting to be planted in the yard that just happened to be the right color, but what to put them in....

I needed something large enough to make an impact but not so large that it would block the view across the table. I also wanted something that looked like I had put a lot of thought into it. I needed things and stuff to make this work so I went to the storage room to see what might I might find...

The secret to putting together a great arrangement is easy. It is simply repetition in odd numbers! You want to find a unifying theme-- in this situation it was white ceramic. I always look for interesting containers in the clearance section when I am shopping, or at tag and garage sales and at thrift stores. There is no need to spend a lot, just look for things you like. After a while you will have accumulated enough to make an impact. Different sizes, heights and shapes create visual interest but the color ties it all together. For a more formal feel you could use several matching containers, just remember to keep the numbers odd. I happened to have the geraniums, but the garden centers are full of beautiful, inexpensive options for plants. You could use begonias, petunias, salvia, gerber daisies. You could even use combination's of green on green like hosta or fern or small grasses. Just choose a theme and a color scheme and go for it.

Need a centerpiece? Just grab some things and some stuff and 'moosh' it all together! It really is not hard, it just takes some practice. I will keep giving advice and showing examples. Let me know if you have questions. MD

HUEVOS AT THE PLAZA

So, I had every intention of having a Cinco de Mayo party this year complete with paper flowers, a pinata, great food and a mariachi band. Unfortunately, to many 'things and stuff' were happening and before I knew it 'uno de mayo' had arrived and the party was a good intention that was just not to be. Next year? Maybe if I make a note in my calendar about the first week of April to start planning it will actually happen.

Since the party did not happen I will just have to settle for reminiscing about a Mexican breakfast a couple of weeks ago in Santa Fe. (After Dallas...)


The historic Plaza Cafe, 54 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Located right on the Plaza (that must be how they came up with the name!) in Old Santa Fe it has been a favorite of locals and tourists for over a hundred years. I have eaten there several times and when I know I am going to Santa Fe I have dreams about their Huevos Rancheros!


Oh my gosh, I am salivating just looking at the picture! The huevos, frijoles (mexican style pinto beans), hash browns.... SO good! And the sopapillas! I always have to have an extra order because one is not enough. A sopapilla is basically a crisp, puffy, hollow, deep fried pastry served with fresh honey. I know people who like to bite the corner off their sopapilla and then pour the honey inside. I prefer to tear off a piece, pour on the honey and then eat it. That way you get to lick your fingers after every bite! To each his own I guess.

Obviously it was delicious! I wanted to lick the plate clean but I thought that might be a little tacky. I left a few bites on the plate just so I wouldn't be tempted to lick! SO GOOD!!!

After breakfast was a little site seeing. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was built between 1869 and 1887. The French-Romanesque architecture combines amazing stained glass from France and a mix of adobe and stone quarried from Lamy, just south of Santa Fe.


It was FREEZING! You would think by mid-April the weather would be a little warmer. We were glad that we had brought heavy coats. Last year we did not have coats and really froze! The lady that took the picture for us almost cut us out so she could get more of "that church" in the picture.

Great trip, great food, great company. Just me and Suzie on a much needed get-a-way!

ALL THINGS CUPCAKE!

This time it is not just about things and stuff... this time it is all about cupcakes! Our family kind of has a thing for cupcakes. Perhaps it started when Deni's wedding cake was a pyramid of 250 flower topped cupcakes from Mrs. Backers Bakery in Salt Lake. Or it could be that Erin's "Halloween Cupcakes with a Neon Surprise" were featured on "All Things Cupcake.com" on October 29th. Or that Erin and Suzie carried a dozen "Georgetown (chocolate ganache) Cupcakes" home from Washington, D.C. after they stood in line in a blizzard for over an hour to get them. Yes, we have a thing for cupcakes and when I was reading in the "What to do in Dallas" guide I read about a new cupcake place that had just opened in the West Village. Of course we had to check it out, but it was an adventure! We could have just taken a taxi, but we wanted to see a bit more of Dallas so we walked four or five blocks from the hotel to catch the DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit). It is similar to TRAX in Salt Lake but as the DART leaves downtown it goes underground. Cool. It was a quick ride, only a couple of stops from downtown to the West Village. We got off the train and headed for the exit. Wow, we were WAY underground!

Two full flights of escalators like this one and then another three flights of stairs to the surface. I felt like we were taking the journey from the center of the earth. I have been on subways all over the country (D.C., Chicago, New York, San Francisco) but have never been this far underground. It was kind of cool but a little creepy. There were only five or six people besides us down there. Out side the DART stop was an old San Francisco type cable car to take us the final few blocks in to the West Village. The W.V. is kind of a mixed-use development with high end shopping, dining and living, similar to the "Gateway" in Salt Lake. Anyway, after walking around the entire perimeter we finally found that 'DIMPLES CUPCAKES' was just across the street from where we started... we just looked the wrong way. I am a little directionally challenged at times.

Oh. it was so worth the trek!

Lemon, Half and Half, Chocolate and my personal favorite, Wedding Cake. They were so amazingly good! Washed down with a nice cold diet coke, we were in heaven! My question is this... what makes wedding cake wedding cake? I have got to know the secret! If anyone knows or has a recipe or knows where I can find the real thing in Salt Lake, PLEASE let me know. It is denser than regular cake and it kind of has a vanilla-ish flavor and the icing is kind of butter creamy-ish. I have to know!

Suzie loved the Lemon. It was pretty tasty but I still think the Wedding Cake was the best.

It was a most gratifying day. We found the cupcakes we were looking for and did a little shopping at the same time. I bought a new black v-neck sweater at Banana, something I don't have in my wardrobe. (Just kidding... no seriously, I don't have a black v-neck sweater with a tone-on-tone argyle pattern on the front...). And then it was the journey back to the center of the earth...............

Oh, did I mention that this was all on my birthday? Nice day.

I am serious about the wedding cake... if you know the secret, please let me know!