Each week the contestants are pushed a little more in the kitchen. The latest episode had them preparing two appetizers for 30 New York foodies. It definitely seems some are better cooks than other and some have learned more during this competition. I would love for each episode to be longer to be able to pick up more tips from the chefs.

Let’s hope this show is picked up for a second season as it’s been a lot of fun watching and learning.

He took some plastic sheeting and wrapped part of the desk. Then he placed on each shelf a blanket for added warmth. The front has strips of plastic sheeting as well as a flap to cover it. It should be very warm and comfortable. Too bad the cat has barely spent any time in it. We may have to tweak the design just a little bit to make it more inviting to her. We may have a few weeks before the next cold snap, so hopefully we can come up with the perfect design by then.

I, of course, think my child is a genius. She is four and already has a strong sense of letters, sounds, and even some spelling. She is definitely ready to learn to read so that’s why when asked if I would like to review a Vtech product I chose the Bugsby Pen and Learning System. We had seen this product in the store and my little girl played with it for at least five minutes before we had to finish our shopping. I knew that the Bugsby would be something that she could handle on her own and would keep her engaged.

The Bugsby learning system comes with everything to get you started - the wireless pen, book, and cartridge. Insert the cartridge into the back of the pen and then turn it on. Open the book and then touch the pen over the words to have Bugbsy read individual words or press the pen to the play button to have Bugsby read the whole page. It’s read in a clear voice and has a volume control.

What I like most about the Bugsy is that it is wireless. The books are about the size of regular children books so it fits nicely into her lap and is easy to store.

One issue I did have with the Bugsby pen is that it accidentally dropped from a chair to the floor with a cartridge in it. The cartridge then didn’t work. At first I thought it was the pen but after buying another book I was able to diagnose that it was the cartridge and not the pen that wasn’t functioning properly. So my advice is to store cartridges inside the book and to not leave them in the pen in case of an accident.

I received the Vtech Bugsby Learning System free of charge for review purposes. The above review is my honest opinion about the product.

Sometimes it pays to run out of an ingredient and have to borrow from your neighbor - in this case my neighbor is my mom. I went to make biscuits when I realized I was out of flour, so I borrowed some of hers. Lo and behold my biscuits tasted better. Could flour really make that much of a difference? Apparently so.

For a lot of ingredients I just put up the no-name brand and flour is one of them. There are some that I’ve come to realize that it’s best to have the quality of that brand instead of saving a few cents. I found out my mom uses White Lily self rising flour. I had been using self-rising flour, too. But my flour was a generic brand. Now I use White Lily since it does make a huge difference in how my biscuits look and bake.

My biscuits still aren’t nearly as good as my mom’s. My mom would tell me it’s from 50 years of cooking that her biscuits taste the way they do. I have a few more years to go but at least now with better ingredients my biscuits are on track to one day be comparable to hers.

This year I’ve decided to scale back on what I plan to resolve in hopes that I can actually keep those throughout the year. My biggest resolution is to be more organized. There is no telling how much time I spent in 2009 looking for scissors, pens, tape, etc. It’s not only the time spent searching but the frustration that builds from not being able to locate said item in less than a minute. We own way too much stuff that we will never use. This is where rummage sales, eBay, and thrift stores come into play. If I can sell it then I just need to donate it. Live a simpler and less cluttered life. Dream the dream and make it happen in 2010.

I also plan to lose weight but refuse to diet. Why? It never fails. When I start a diet, 3 weeks later I am sick. When I get sick I fall off the diet since I have no energy or desire to follow the diet plan. So this year I will be eating less and exercising more but it’s not a diet.

Or I could follow my husband’s lead and make no New Year’s resolutions. Now that is a sure fire method for keeping resolutions. But hopefully by just concentrating on two items I will have some success.

Santa must have approved of the cookies and chocolate milk because he left the little girl exactly what she had wanted. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas!

I have to admit that I hate to wrap Christmas presents. Love buying them but loathe the wrapping part. I wrap gifts usually the day that I give them - which is a habit that I wish I could break. I blame my lack of enthusiam for wrapping presents on not having a proper place to wrap gifts. If only I had a nice, big kitchen table to lay out everything the process would be so much easier. Oh well. At least for now I will just make due with the setup I have - wrapping presents on the bed as it is the largest clean surface in our home.

Last year some friends had a gift wrapping party where everyone brought the gifts they needed to wrap. Then everyone wrapped their gifts together. You still had to wrap but at least there was company.

One trick to keep from wrapping presents is to just use gift bags. If the gift doesn’t fit, then I keep looking for a gift that will. Besides a gift bag is like two gifts in one since it seems everyone keeps gift bags to reuse for their own gifts.

One thing that does get me motivated to wrap presents is the feeling of accomplishment once I’m done. Let’s hope I get done before Christmas Eve.

Finally she saw the commercial and then wanted one - or two. Luckily I ran across them in stock at the store and was able to get her two - an early Christmas present.

You can turn on your Zhu Zhu Pet by pressing the button located on its back, forehead, or nose. Just press a button again to turn it off. The Zhu Zhu Pet will scurry off into one direction and then change directions - all the while making cute, funny sounds. My personal favorite sound is the crowing rooster. You can also buy accessories for your pet that it will zoom through - much like a real hamster.

Overall the Zhu Zhu Pet is a cute little hamster that is quite entertaining and might be the best bargain under $10 this holiday season.

A part of holiday giving is baking but is hard with a very temperamental oven to cook anything. So I’ve been on the lookout for simple holiday treats with either a short cook time or don’t require an oven.

One idea I found was cookie cutter white fudge. Basically you take a cookie cutter and place it on wax paper. Melt white chocolate and a few other ingredients and then pour into cookie cutter. Let it set and then decorate the top. Wrap up in cellophane for a sweet holiday treat perfect for giving. I may try to make a round to practice before giving them. I always like to cook/bake something at least once before I give it to someone.

One way to recycle old t-shirts is to use them as dusting rags. Just cut up the shirt into pieces to use for dusting or other household cleaning.

You could also make rugs or other items from your old t-shirts. I have been wanting to make a rug but need to look up some instructions on just exactly what to do. You can crochet with t-shirt strips to make bags, bowls, and other household items. I have yet to try this but am definitely interested in doing it since baskets are such a versatile storage item.