Showing posts with label Wednesday Elf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wednesday Elf. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Reviewing National Vanilla Cupcake Day

Collage of cupcakes for Vanilla Cupcake Day

November 10th is known as National Vanilla Cupcake Day ~ an unofficial, but tasty, holiday.

Cupcakes, Fairy Cakes, Patty Cakes


row of vanilla cupcakes
Image Source: Pixabay

Cupcakes are single serving cakes which are thought to have gotten their name from being baked in cup-shaped molds.  In the United Kingdom they are known as fairy cakes and in Australia they are called patty cakes

Vanilla cupcakes are made by adding vanilla extract to the cake batter and sometimes to the icing.


Did You Know…


...that vanilla is the only fruit-bearing and edible orchid in the world?

Vanilla is  extracted from the seed pods of the Vanilla orchid. It is one of the most expensive spices in the world (second only to saffron).  


Plain Vanilla


Even though Vanilla is expensive, it is one of the most popular flavors in the world. Today, it is used in a wide variety of food items and even in products, such as perfumes, soaps, and candles.  Vanilla is considered to be one of the plainest flavors available; thus, the term plain vanilla has come to be used to describe things that are very basic and ordinary.


Vanilla Cupcake Recipes


*For a quick way to bake vanilla cupcakes, one can always use a store-bought mix.

**For those who enjoy creative baking from scratch, I found two fabulous vanilla cupcake recipes for you to try.


Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate swirl frosting
The Most Amazing Vanilla Cupcakes
The first one is called The Most Amazing Vanilla Cupcakes recipe and is from Rachel Farnsworth of The Stay At Home Chef .

It is an easy to make one-bowl recipe. You'll never need another boxed mix again!

Rachel also includes some very helpful cupcake baking tips in her blog post for her Most Amazing Vanilla Cupcakes recipe.










Vanilla cupcakes on a plate
Vanilla Cupcakes from Live Well Bake Often
The second Vanilla Cupcake recipe is from Danielle of Live Well Bake Often

Danielle's secret ingredient to her delicious cupcakes is sour cream! 

*Check out both Rachel's and Danielle's recipes before you begin baking your own vanilla-cupcake-recipe. 






Vanilla versus Chocolate


If you prefer chocolate instead of vanilla, you only have to wait for 11 months to celebrate Chocolate Cupcake Day on October 18.



Happy National Vanilla Cupcake Day
November 10 

Baked vanilla cupcakes

Be sure and share your baked goodies with your family and friends. 


For more Cupcake Reviews & Recipes
Check out ReviewThisReviews: Cupcakes



Written by Wednesday Elf 11/10/2018






Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, September 29, 2018

Review of the Holiday National Name Your Car Day

View of a parked VW  on a street
Source: Pixabay
October 2nd is 'National Name Your Car Day'.  There is no real origin or reason why October 2nd was chosen, but it's the perfect day to give your favorite car a name if it doesn't already have one.  We spend a lot of time in our cars, and caring for them, so they deserve a name.    Just remember, cars have feelings – so don't give your 'ride' an embarrassing name!

Guys with 'muscle cars' or sports cars should go with strong names that reflect the car and the owner.  “Chick” cars need sweet names.  Luxury cars probably need a formal or regal-sounding name. 


Some Famous Movie Car Names



  • Herbie, the Love Bug
  • Lightning McQueen from Cars
  • Kit from Knight Rider
  • General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard
  • Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit




Our Cars 



Two personally owned Volkswagons in a driveway
(c) Personal Photo
We have had a lot of different cars over the years, but our favorite were the Volkswagen Beetles.  We had a succession of Bugs, one after another, ranging from Bugs to Campers to Vans.  The last ones we had included a Super-Beetle (the blue one in the picture) and our son had the Orange one.  The Orange VW was the only car with a real name.  We called it ~ appropriately ~ 'The Pumpkin'.

Do you have a name for your car(s)?  Come tell me what kind of car and what you call it. 


Happy 'National Name-Your-Car Day'





For More Holiday Articles, check out

(c) Wednesday Elf.  Article originally written on 10/01/2013 for another site and updated for Review This!





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, September 15, 2018

Review of a Beach Dish Towel by Primitives by Kathy


Beach Dish Towel by Primitives by Kathy
Beach Dish Towel by Primitives by Kathy Review

I have lived on the Georgia coast for nearly 20 years and during that time my 'kids' and grandkids have frequently been to visit. My daughter, especially, loves the beach and the ocean and often wishes she could see it every day.  Since that is not possible for someone living in the Midwest, I thought this beach towel would make the perfect gift for her as a little reminder of her favorite 'beach days'. 

As soon as I saw this dish towel, I knew it was perfect for Kimberly.  The saying reflects words I have heard her wistfully say on days when she wishes the most for another beach day. 



Saying on a beach themed dish towel I cannot adult today. If anyone needs me I'll be at the beach building Sand Castles.
I cannot adult today. If anyone needs me
I'll be at the beach building Sand Castles

Primitives by Kathy offers a number of different dish towels with beach themes, but this one is  my favorite.  It shows a sandcastle on a blue background with wavy lines top and bottom and the words are SO Kimberly! 



Primitives by Kathy


Kathy, and her  mother, had a paint studio and retail store in Lancaster, PA for over 10 years.  They always searched for unique and creative items for their shop. Then one day in 1997 Kathy decided to create a handmade “primitive candle box”.  That one product began what was to become a very successful business. 

In the next 20 years, Primitives by Kathy grew from 1 product to over 8,000 and today the company has a team of over 150 talented industry experts and is ranked in the top 25 of the fastest-growing women owned businesses in the world. 

Primitives by Kathy is now primarily a wholesale company for stores. I found this particular dish towel in the gift department of my local Ace Hardware, which carries a number of unique and creative handmade products such as this one. Being a proponent of handmade items myself, I greatly admire products such as these that Kathy offers.  

Visit her website Primitives by Kathy to learn more about her company and see her wide range of interesting and useful home décor items. 

In addition to selling wholesale, many of Kathy's products are now available on Amazon and range from decorative signs and boxes to coasters and dish towels to a large variety of home and kitchen décor items. Or check your local gift stores, as I did, to find these interesting items. 


Another Favorite Beach Theme Dish Towel


Beach themed dish towel
Available on Amazon

Besides the dishtowel I got my daughter, one of my other favorites is a dish towel with the saying “We're at the Beach ~ Kitchen Closed”.  Here on the Georgia Coast, we have a LOT of 'beach days'. 


Dish Towels as a Decor Item


I love finding the perfect gift for a relative or friend, and I am also thrilled to find a unique item such as this dish towel I purchased for my daughter.  I can just picture how special her memories of the beach will be every time she sees this beach-themed dish towel hanging in her kitchen. 

So leave the ordinary behind when you are searching for an accent item for your home décor or for a creative and clever gift item. 







(c) Wednesday Elf




Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, September 1, 2018

Ed McBain's 87th Precinct Mystery Series – Book & Author Review

A stack of books by Ed McBain
The 87th Precinct Series

This series of police procedurals were featured around a group of detectives in a big city police department. McBain's publisher was looking for a new group of mystery stories with a fresh and original lead character.  McBain decided his character would be a cop dealing with murders, along with the other crimes most cops have to deal with on a daily basis. But then he thought if he were going to do a whole series, then having just one cop as the central character wouldn't be realistic enough if the character was the only person solving the crimes over and over. 

Instead, he decided to base his characters on a squad-room full of cops with different traits and ways of handling situations, all working together. That way he could introduce new characters along the way as one cop got killed or transferred to another department.  Thus his 'lead character' became a conglomerate of characters, different ones being featured in different books in the series, with the others being visible to various degrees throughout each story. 


A picture of New York City
New York City - Source: Pixabay
McBain wanted to place the series in New York City, his hometown with which he was familiar.   As he began his research, he found he was at the NYPD almost daily and soon became a pain-in-the-neck to that police department who were too busy working real crimes to sit and discuss fictitious ones. If he were to base his books in New York City, he'd have to verify every fact.  

Instead, he decided to 'invent' a city that was LIKE New York but not quite New York.  Thus, a mythical city was born.  McBain named his city Isola, which is Italian for 'island' and if you are at all familiar with NYC you will recognize Isola as Manhattan, as well as knowing that 'Calms Point' is Brooklyn. McBain stated that he had a ball 'inventing' historical background and naming places to suit his fancy for each section of his 'city'.  Along the way, the city then also became a character. Quite a unique approach to a mystery series and one that did not seem to have been done previously. 


Who was Ed McBain?


Ed McBain, Author
Evan Hunter a.k.a. Ed McBain nee  Salvatore Albert Lombino (Source: Wikimedia)

The 87th Precinct police procedural mystery series was written under the pseudonym of Ed McBain. Prior to this series, the author had written and published a variety of short stories under several different pseudonyms.  But unknown to me until I did MY research, Ed McBain's real name was Salvatore Albert Lombino which he legally changed to Evan Hunter in 1952.  

Evan Hunter was the author of the well known book and movie 'Blackboard Jungle' and also the screenplay for the Hitchcock film The Birds. By the time he switched to writing crime fiction, he was best known in the literary field as Ed McBain. 


How Ed McBain Wrote the 87th Precinct Mystery Series



Line drawing of a corpse
Source: Pixabay


"I usually start with a corpse. I then ask myself how the corpse got to be that way and I try to find out—just as the cops would. I plot, loosely, usually a chapter or two ahead, going back to make sure that everything fits—all the clues are in the right places, all the bodies are accounted for.”

*(quoted in the Wikipedia article about the 87th Precinct.)

  

Summary


The Pusher book cover
My favorite part of the background for the 87th Precinct series was the story McBain told in an afterword to the third book, The Pusher.  He had set up this group of characters, detectives working in the 87th Precinct, which he called his 'Conglomerate Hero'.  He introduced them to us individually (see the list of regular characters in the Wikipedia article called 87th Precinct - 
the detectives of the 87th Precinct), let us as readers find our favorites, then proceeded to bump off mine and everyone else's top favorite ~ Detective 2nd Grade Steve Carella ~ in book three.

See, McBain had originally described the series as being about cops going and coming, cops getting killed and replaced by other cops, as a way to keep the readers interested by introducing new characters here and there. Steve Carella gets shot in The Pusher, mistaken for someone else, so McBain ends the book by killing him off. He thought he was pretty hot stuff, doing something no one else had ever done in crime fiction writing, killing off a guy we'd all been rooting for throughout the first two books. McBain figured he was being innovative! 

So he gleefully sends off book three to his agent, who calls the next morning and said “What did you do?  It's Christmas Day, Carella is dead, you've killed the hero.”  McBain tried to tell his agent that no, Carella isn't the hero, he's just one of the characters. It doesn't matter that this is the third book he's been in and that the story ends on Christmas Day!

The agent sends the manuscript on to the publisher and the  next day McBain gets a call from his editor saying “What did you do?” “It's Christmas day, Carella is dead, you've killed the hero.”  McBain kept saying “No, no.” Remember what I told you in the beginning about cops getting killed, other cops replacing them…..remember all that?”  His editor answered with, yes, but nobody said you could kill the hero.  McBain tried again to say “but he isn't the hero.”  His editor replied “He's the hero. Period.”  McBain went back to his typewriter and rewrote the ending.  

Needless to say, Steve Carella survived and remained the hero of the 87th Precinct throughout the series! 


Cop Hater Book Cover

McBain's first 87th Precinct book,
'Cop Hater' was published in 1956. By the time the series ended shortly before the author died in 2005 at age 78 McBain had written 55 books in the series. (And I've read them all more than once). A truly terrific series of mysteries!




For more book and author reviews, check out

ReviewThisBooks.com




Quick Links:

List of Ed McBain books on Amazon
List of Ed McBain books on eBay

(c) Wednesday Elf - 9/1/2018




Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, August 4, 2018

Baseball and the Star-Spangled Banner

Wall hanging with image of the American Flag with a baseball, baseball bat and glove
Baseball Sports Decor Wall Hanging
Reviewing how the Star-Spangled Banner became associated with sports. 

September 14, 2014, marked the 200th anniversary of the “Star-Spangled Banner”.  

It originally was a poem called "Defence of Fort M'Henry" written by Francis Scott Key 0n 9-14-1814 after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the American victory and by seeing the American flag flying over the fort.  The poem was later set to music and published under the name “The Star- Spangled Banner”.

The song gained popularity throughout the 1800s and was played by bands during public events.  On July 27, 1889, Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Tracy made it the official tune to be played at the raising of the flag. 

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played at military and other appropriate occasions. 

And on March 3,1931 President Herbert Hoover signed a law officially adopting “The Star-Spangled Banner” as America's National Anthem.


How Did Our National Anthem Become Associated with Sports?



The National Anthem and other songs
The National Anthem
So, how did the song become associated with baseball?  It happened during the 1918 World Series between the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox.  A band had been hired by the Red Sox owner for each game in the World Series and, as a tribute to enlisted players and other soldiers in Europe during WWI, they played “The Star-Spangled Banner” during the seventh inning stretch.  The song was many years away from becoming our national anthem, but players still stood at attention and saluted the flag during the performance.  Servicemen in the crowd found themselves cheering and everyone burst into applause at the end of the song.  

Near the end of that World Series, the tune was played before the first pitch at Fenway Park and it was the beginning of a tradition that became a baseball game standard during World War II.  Eventually the playing of the American National Anthem became a custom adopted by other American sports and continues to this day.

This reminds me of that oldest of baseball jokes: "What are the last two words of the national anthem? Play ball!" 



Baseball Dad Flag T-Shirt
Baseball Dad Flag T-Shirt on Etsy 





(c) Wednesday Elf, the Review This! Baseball Contributor





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, July 21, 2018

How to Conquer Clutter by Stephanie Culp – Book Review

Pictures of the clutter in my living room
The 'clutter' shown in these photos is my house at the present time. My house does not normally look like this ~ this is the result of weeks of sorting and packing to make a major move.  But if your house frequently assume a look such as this, you might be ready for this book by Stephanie Culp titled “How to Conquer Clutter”


Clut`ter To fill with scattered or disordered things that restrict movement or efficiency.  A collection of things lying about in an untidy mass.

Or, as the author says, “all that stuff you've got all over the place that everybody keeps telling you to get rid of." 


Normal Clutter Invasions



Sorting and packing to move - dining room
(c) Wednesday Elf Sorting & Packing to Move

We all deal with some form of clutter from time to time, no where near as bad as my current chaotic "moving mess". 


  • The children scatter their toys throughout the living room because they want to play where their special adults are instead of in the playroom or their bedrooms. 
  • We get out a project and the dining room table stays cluttered while we are working on it.
  • You get interrupted in the middle of a long-term desk or computer project and would lose your place if you put it away before you were finished with it. 
  • You have a sewing or crafting project that will take several days to complete and putting it away before you are done would be wasted effort. 


The clutter referred to in this, and similar, books refers to the stuff that starts as a small problem and, over time, becomes a very large and overwhelming situation. By that time, we make excuses for not dealing with it. Now the 'clutterbug' handles it by saying “I'll just put it over here 'for now'. But soon 'for now' becomes forever and here  comes that clutter crisis.


Author Stephanie Culp


Stephanie Culp is an organization and time management consultant who has written several books on getting organized. Her organization firm has helped people and small businesses get – and stay – organized since 1982. 


How to Conquer Clutter


Desk cluttered with a mountain of paper
Source: Pixabay

In How to Conquer Clutter, Stephanie helps you get yourself organized and reduce or eliminate the clutter that has taken over your life. This book is informative and humorous and will give you simple ways to take back control of your stuff. 


Pack Rat – A large, busy-tailed rodent from the Rocky Mountains that collects and stores food and miscellaneous objects. Just like you!

How to Conquer Clutter Book Cover
Available on Amazon
Stephanie includes a “Pack Rat's Excuse Almanac to help you deal with the mess in your life, a 'clutter quiz' to help identify problem areas and 19 'Clutter Checklists” to provide practical ideas for storing everything you cannot live without. She deals with each area of clutter from A to Z, from addresses to ziplock bags and everything in between.  Included are areas inside the house, outside the house and under the house! Culp even tells you how to use this book by defining the worst area of clutter in your life and identifying specific problem areas so you will know where to begin. 

How to Conquer Clutter is a helpful guide to get control of and 'conquer' your clutter!  Having read this book myself (which helped me especially with my admittedly biggest clutter problem area ~ dealing with paper - filing, purging, processing, etc), I am now passing my copy of the book on to my daughter, who is an admitted  'pack rat' just like her dad. 

(c) 2018 by Wednesday Elf











Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, July 7, 2018

Sock Daddy Sock Review

Collage of Sock Daddy Socks and Boston Terrier puppy
My sister-in-law has a rescue Boston Terrier pup ~ Abbi.  Abbi is the light of her life (after my brother, of course) and she loves to collect Boston Terrier related items to show her proud preference for this sweet dog.

While out shopping one day recently, I found the perfect gift for my sister-in-law for her birthday.  On a rack of special socks with images of dogs and cats, there was one with Boston Terrier faces and paw prints all over it.  I definitely had to get it for her. 


Sock Daddy Socks


Sock Daddy Socks with image of Boston Terrier
See on Amazon

The Sock Daddy Socks are made with soft combed cotton – 200 needle count – and are machine washable.  The pair of socks I purchased has 20 to 24 Boston Terrier faces woven on each pair of these socks, interspersed with paw prints. 

These socks are available in a wide variety of colors and a large selection of dog and cat breed designs.

Animal Shelter Support


Sock Daddy Socks Label Help us find a home for the shelter pets!”.

Part of the proceeds of these socks support animal shelters to find new homes for pets in need!  The label states “Help us find a home for the shelter pets!”.  



Three cats and a Boston Terrier
My Fur-baby nieces and nephews. 

This is another reason these socks are the perfect gift, since my sister-in-law has been involved in supporting animal rescue efforts for many years and has taken in a multitude of rescue cats and dogs over the years. At one point she had Abbi, the Boston Terrier and four cats.  Today her rescued group involves Abbi and two cats, but she continues to find homes for other animals in need. 


E&S Pets Company


The Sock Daddy socks are imported by E&S Pets, a wholesale company located in Holbrook, New York.  They specialize in pet-related products in many categories. Amazon carries a large inventory of these socks in a variety of designs of breeds of both cats and dogs. Plus they are available in a number of stores. 


The Perfect Gift for Pet Lovers


Boston Terrier Sock Daddy Socks
Boston Terrier Sock Daddy Socks

I am so excited that I found just the perfect gift for my sister-in-law for her birthday.  I'm sure she will enjoy showing off her love for Abbi with these look-alike Boston Terrier socks! 





(c) Sock Daddy Socks by Wednesday Elf






Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, June 23, 2018

A Review of National Pink Day

Pink cherry blossoms image
Image Created with Stencil

National Pink Day is observed on June 23 to celebrate the color pink.  So before you read this celebration of all things PINK, go put on a pink shirt or pick a pretty pink flower.

Butterfly and Rose of Sharon Postcard
Butterfly and Rose of Sharon Postcard

by Sylvestermouse



Pink is used to represent a variety of causes and awareness factors (breast cancer awareness, diversity issues, etc.) but today we are here to talk about the Color Pink itself.

Pink was first recognized as a color name in the late 17th century.  Combined with white or pale blue, it is associated with babyhood/childhood, often represents femininity, and has become a sweet, romantic color. 

National Pink Day does not appear to have an official origin, but is one of those 'different' days it is fun to have an excuse to celebrate. 

It is interesting to note that June is known as Rose Month and many varieties of roses are Pink.  In fact, this pale red color now called pink originally got its name from a flower of the same name. 


The Color Pink Surprised me Today



Collage of pink plush items




I have a crochet shop on Etsy where I specialize in creating plush animals.  My creations range across the animal kingdom and the color spectrum.  Just because a real animal comes in a particular color in nature doesn't mean I have to stick to just that color.  Plush animals are a fantasy, especially in a child's world, and can be created in any color you desire.  Because of this, my crocheted 'critters' are represented by a wide range of fun & fanciful colors, as you can see by these pink animals in the picture.


On Etsy, we have a forum like most sites do and part of the forum is a promo section where we can show off our latest. Color themes are popular forum threads.  Today I picked one forum thread that called for 'pink' items.  I did a search within my shop in order to pick out a pink item to feature, and was absolutely amazed at how many pink items I had. 


Pink has never been one of my favorite colors stemming from the fact that I was a blond (now gray...LOL) and always thought pink didn't look good on me. It became a habit and I stayed away from anything pink.  Well, obviously that no longer applies to my world today, as my pink search selection came up with more than a dozen items in pink and several more that had pink accents.  I really surprised myself! :)


Ways to Celebrate Pink Day


  • Of course, the easiest way is to wear Pink today.
  • Eat or drink something pink.
  • Donate to a charity that uses the color pink for their symbol.
  • Pick a bouquet of pink flowers.



So, have a lovely PINK day whichever way you choose to celebrate. 



Related Pink Articles:




(c) National Pink Day written by Wednesday Elf





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


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