Since Thanksgiving is coming up, I thought I’d take a moment to repost a recipe for your holiday get-together (sorry Canadians; try it for Christmas).

Hot Taco Dip

* 12 oz jar salsa
* 15 oz can/jar chili
* 8 oz cream cheese
* 16 oz sour cream
* 1-2 bags cheddar & /or jack cheeses

Dump in a Crockpot & heat until melted, stirring occasionally. You can also layer it and put it in a 13×9″cake pan and heat at 350 degrees until melted but the dumping is way easier & tastier.

Serve w/ tortilla chips, the thicker & “scoopier” the better.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, Gay Pride Potatoes recipe is here and I may be making it Thursday as it will be the first time we’ve had Hawk’s family over since I was told, when we all believed Hawk was dying, that they (not I and his children) are his family. Am I still bitter? Me? Ya think?

To add some sweet to my bitter, here’s a Christmastime recipe:

This is a recipe for a St Lucia wreath. It’s not easy to halve b/c it calls for three eggs but I have halved it (I mixed the three eggs and used half that mixture; you could also use egg substitute). You can also make it as a loaf, loaves, braids, etc. Since the wreath is so large, it’s more of an oval if you fit it onto a cookie sheet. Try a big pizza pan.

Bread/wreath:

* 6 1/2-7 c all purpose flour
* 1/2 c sugar
* 2 tsp salt
* 3/4 tsp cardamom
* 2 pkg active dry yeast
* 3/4 c milk
* 1/2 c water
* 1/2 c butter
* 3 eggs
* 1 tbsp milk
* 1 egg

Glaze:

* 3/4 c powdered sugar
* 1/4 tsp vanilla
* 1 1/2-2 1/2 tsp milk

1. Grease cookie sheet or 14″ pizza pan. Combine 2 c of the flour, sugar, salt, cardamom and yeast. Blend well.
2. In small saucepan, heat 3/4 c milk, water and butter until very warm (steaming but not boiling).
3. Add warm liquid and eggs to flour mixture. Blend well on low speed until moistened. Beat about 3 more minutes on medium.
4. Stir in additional flour (4 1/4 c – 4 1/2 c) until dough starts to pull away cleanly from the side of the bowl.
5. On a floured surface, knead in 1/4 to 1/2 c flour until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 min (the cooler the surface, the better).
6. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and a cloth towel. Let it rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until light and about double in size, about 60-75 minutes.
7. Punch bubbles out of dough. Divide in half or thirds, depending on your preference. Form balls of dough and roll into ropes. Don’t overwork dough; as soon as rope is formed, stop playing w/ the dough.
8. Twist (or braid, if you have three ropes) the ropes together somewhat loosely and join ends to make a ring [you could instead make a pair of loaves side-by-side, if you don’t want to make the wreath. I don’t know the cooking time for that so you’ll have to experiment w/ that.]. Cover your wreath. Let rise in a warm place until doubled again, about 30-45 min.
9. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine 1 T milk and egg for baking glaze. Brush over wreath. Bake for 25-35 min until golden brown. If it begins to get too brown, cover with foil for last 10 min. Cool on wire rack. When bread (all bread) is finished baking, a tap on the bottom makes a hollow sound.
10. Drizzle with sugar glaze. For best results, drip along top of wreath slowly. The glaze will settle nicely over the wreath.
11. To make a St Lucia wreath, decorate with ribbons & candles (about 6 candles).

Note: this is a sweet bread, like a dessert, but is not overly sweet. IE: You’re not going to make sandwiches with this but it’s nice with coffee. It also freezes fairly well.

Side benefit: Your house will smell fantastic when you make this b/c of the cardamom.

If you requested the password and haven’t gotten it yet, comment or e-mail or drop me a line on Facebook. I think everyone who requested one so far has gotten it. There are previous posts where you can check it.

I am 100% done with defending my opinions in my own blog.

I am 100% done with having to prove every experience I write about.

I had pretty much stopped blogging b/c I was sick of people coming here to attack me or attack something I said simply for the sake of being an Internet (or IRL)  bully. Then I reminded myself that I was absolutely allowed to express myself in my space. Getting over the feeling that I’m not has been a difficult process and is obviously not complete.

If there’s something that absolutely needs to be said against me, I suggest the person who wants to say it take it to his own blog rather than coming to mine. Don’t have a blog? Make one.

I’ve had enough of not feeling free to express myself in this life and I’ll be fucked if I’m going to feel that way here.

I’m going password-only on this blog. I’ve always hated doing protected posts but I’m not going to let a bunch of assholes make me feel like I can’t say what’s on my mind. If you want the password, you’re more than welcome to comment or e-mail or contact me on Facebook.

If you don’t want the password, that’s cool. You can keep up with me somewhat on my writing blog.

Cheers.

So we took a little trip up to State College yesterday so Zoe could show Daddy this “Lulu Kitty” she wants Santa to bring her (our Target doesn’t carry it, even though they did until October b/c Zoe first saw it there). As we were driving from campus to Tarzhay, we passed a low rider. I read aloud what the owner had painted in the window:

“No fat chicks. Car will scrape.”

Then I added, “He doesn’t know what he’s missing. Fat girls give great head.*”

Without missing a beat, Hawk said, “They sure do.” *half a pause* “Oh shit.”

Laughter ensued.

Happy sexiversary, dear!

* link to Google search, probably NSFW; most search results are NSFW. Frankly I’m NSFW so…

see more Lol Celebs

The Erie Bayfront. Also known as the Sheraton, the same way the Bel-Air is known as a Comfort Inn. If you’re visiting Erie or have a friend who’s going to visit you in the Erie area, The Bayfront is probably high on the consider list b/c of the view. If you have a bay-side room (as opposed to a marina-side room), this is a sample of your view:

If you don’t have time to go out, don’t know your way around or you get worn out doing all the other stuff there is to do in Erie County, you should consider room service. The service is good, the food is good and the prices aren’t completely outrageous (for room service that is) b/c the portions are ginormous. The kid menu is limited to three items for lunch/dinner (more options for breakfast b/c there’s a wide cereal selection); this is not a family/kid hotel. This hotel is geared toward the business traveler. Kinda. More on that later.

So let’s see… I mentioned the view. I mentioned the food. Okay. Well there end the reasons I recommend the Bayfront. So once the sun goes down, all you have is food.

In-room movies are $15 a pop. Has it been that long since I’ve ordered an in-room movie that it would be cheaper to go buy the DVD? Forget about popping popcorn in your room. There’s no microwave. Nor is there a refrigerator. Hawk & I were trying to remember the last time we stayed in a hotel that didn’t provide a fridge. We think it may have been a Motel 6 on our move from Colorado back to Pennsylvania. If those had a fridge, then it might be a Red Roof Inn in Tallahassee 10 years ago, which was a mistake (ugh). Other than that, who doesn’t provide a fridge anymore? Especially a fucking Sheraton with rooms @ over $200/night?

Probably the same kind of Sheraton that doesn’t provide drawers. I’ve stayed in some dives in my life but I’ve never had a hotel room w/o a dresser. There are no dressers at the Bayfront. This also means there’s nothing to put your suitcase on top of except a bench under the wall-mounted flatscreen (a fairly small flatscreen I might add; I think the one in our bedroom is the same size) or on the desk. Oh and if you do the business traveler’s “coffeepot cooking” you can’t do that either. The coffeemaker makes your coffee in your cup. No hot water for you! The coffeemaker is on the desk, which is actually huge so I’m sure they intend you to use it to put your suitcase on.

If you’re in the lobby, you get WiFi. In your room, you have to pay $9.95 for 24 hours of high-speed wired-only Internet access. They can’t include that with your room cost. That would be wrong. But if you’re a lobby visitor, you think , “Hey! WiFi! Awesome! I’ll have to tell everyone I know to stay here!”

Speaking of the nickel & diming, according to the Bayfront, Erie cable does not include the Disney Channel. You know, something to keep kids quiet & entertained so they’re not jumping on the beds while the business travelers are trying to sleep. But you can get Disney Channel programming. Imagine my delight when I discovered a “kids” option on my in-room TV menu. Look! All Disney stuff! All I have to do is click a button and my kids will stop ripping the comforters off the beds.

$3.16 for a single 20-minute episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

So for the cost of an hour’s worth of Disney entertainment, I could rent a movie. Or buy a DVD. Or get a day and a half of Internet access and stream movies from Netflix. Or all of us go to the zoo and have money left over for a Coke.

Be careful if you use the whirlpool. The U-shaped steps have sharp edges and sharp corners. While Zoe and I were swimming, I couldn’t figure why the guys in the hot tub kept going, “Ow! What is that?” Well I had an idea but it turned out to be the steps poking them in the back. Those sharp concrete corners get you in the ribs when you sit around the edge and when the bubbles are going, you can’t see them.

Also there are very hard, very painful raised grates as covers on the drains at the bottom of the pool. Step on the corners of one of those, you’ll scrape your foot. It’s bad enough accidentally stepping on the grates. And they’re pretty big, considering the pool is somewhat small, and therefore hard to miss. The pool is one meter deep (nice for lap swimming) and not as warm as you’d think. Warmer than the bay in November though.

Speaking of outside, this is what happens when you try to leave the parking garage. There are two places to put a parking card/ticket. One is a slot and the other is a swipe. Over the swipe it says “employee card access only” on a P-Touch tape. The first time I went to leave the garage, I read that & thought, “Okay, it goes in the slot then.” I got “Invalid card” or “Insert correct card.” So I swiped instead. It did nothing. I had to re-park, get the kids out, go back in the hotel and get, “No you have to swipe it.” I say, “Where it says “employee card only?” The blonde at the desk says, “No not there. *pause* *gesture* You slide it.” Well I know there’s only one place to “slide it* and it’s exactly where she told me not to. So I get the kids back in the car & head back to the exit. I turn it the opposite of how the picture says to swipe the card & voila, the gate goes up.

The next day when we go out (the first time; I’ll come back to that), there is a clusterfuck at the exit. One person tries to make his card work & it doesn’t. So he backs out to park & go in. Next car, same thing. The third car eventually figures it out. The car in front of me has no trouble and since I know the trick, I don’t either. When we come back, two women at the exit flag me down and ask for help. They have a paper card. The only option for the paper card us to pay before you go to the exit. It only says that on the machine where you pay… which is by the exit gate. So until you’re sitting in your car waiting for the gate, you’ have no idea. I take their money over to the machine, pay, get the optional receipt and give them their card. They try swiping and inserting in slot, both in every direction, and nothing works. I said to take their receipt up to the hotel desk and raise a stink. I said it happened to me yesterday & to several people earlier. These were women from Erie & Corry, I said, “Tell everyone you know about this mess.”

It happened again every other time we left the garage & there was another vehicle attempting to exit. “Clusterfuck” is the only word for it.

Luckily Erie has tons to do b/c while Hawk was at his conference, I kept taking the kids out so our room would be vacant for housekeeping.

We checked in late Thursday and left noon Sunday and housekeeping never once came to our room.

On Friday, I took the kids to the zoo when I heard housekeeping in the hall (oh and forget getting a stroller, luggage cart, wheelchair, etc. through the halls with a housekeeping cart around). We then went out again to meet up with Emma, around 4:30, and we were out until after 9. Still no housekeeping. There was a card in the door saying “sorry we missed you” but there was no reason housekeeping couldn’t have come in. We didn’t have the sign on the door specifically b/c we wanted housekeeping to come. I had even left a healthy tip out for them.

On Saturday, I left a less healthy tip out for housekeeping. The kids and I waited for the mall opening time to go out, so we were out from 10-ish to 1:30. No housekeeping. We had lunch via room service and around the time we finished, I heard them out there. So I rushed the kids into shoes & coats and we walked down to Dobbins Landing. We walked around, went up the tower, etc. We were out a nice long time, judging by the sun/shadows when we returned. Housekeeping had been on one side of the hall when we left and now the cart was at the far end of the hall. Yay! Open the door to our room… like a punch in the face. Room service stuff still in there, dirty towels, poopy diapers. So I picked up the tip, closed the door & we left again and went to Romolo’s. That was at 3:30-ish.

We shopped, had ice cream, etc. until close to 5. I filled the car (with gas, not chocolate) & waited for Hawk to say he was on his way to the room. When he did, we met at the room. Still no housekeeping. By then, it was going on six and there was no sign of housekeeping anywhere. So we put the lunchtime cart in the hall (when Zoe and I left to go swimming soon after, it was gone) and decided that they weren’t coming and we would just live in squalor with our now-dark bay view and order some more room service after swimming time was over. Hawk & Holden stayed in the room w/o the do not disturb sign on the door & they never came nor did they leave one of their “sorry we missed you” cards. So whomever had to get our room ready between 12 & 3 on Sunday had his/her work cut out. And no tip.

So as I sat there & steamed, I read online reviews of the hotel praising the view and the “proximity to Presque Isle.” Yes, it is across the bay from Presque Isle and you can take a water taxi over there. But there are better hotels that actually are closer to Presque Isle (the aforementioned Bel-Air is about as close as you can get) and Erie has an abundance of much better hotels with more amenities (The Bayfront didn’t even have an amenities book in the room; probably b/c they don’t have any). We’ve stayed at several Erie hotels and our favorite is the Homewood Suites near the Millcreek Mall. Hawk says he’ll do the conference again but next time, we’re going back to the Homewood.

On positive notes, I got to talk to Kimberly, Emma and Brandy — Erie Bloggers all — and wished I could have visited more. Actually, Emma and I shouldn’t be allowed out in public together. I’m sure there’s an ordinance against it. And everywhere we went, people asked, “Hey how’s it going?” or “How’re you today?” Not just people working in stores or restaurants but just people walking around. Altoona is a friendly place but I’d forgotten exactly how warm Erie is. I was thinking I knew these people, they were so friendly. Well not so much in the hotel (where I asked room service, “How’s your medium well?” and got “Uh, medium… well?” Ass.) or at the mall Starbucks, where I actually had to snap at a particuarly nasty employee, who decided to impart her Napoleonic powers. See if I spend money there any time soon

I also loaded up on Romolo’s and Heritage goods but we didn’t get our Smith’s hot dogs. I think we have to make another trip. We also got Timbits, which (as you may remember) cure shingles.

Kimberly’s cupcakes (get some):

We love Erie & hate to leave (Zoe even cried a little when we said “Goodbye Erie! See you next time!”). Next time, we’ll just stay at a better place. And I’ll keep telling people that the Erie Bayfront Sheraton really needs competition b/c once someone else can offer that view, they’re screwed.

ETA: Kind of close, but not quite