Monday Movie Blog

Welcome back to a new week at Chief 187 Chatter. Since 2011 started we have been compiling an alphabetical list of our favorite movies each Monday. I am delighted with the resource that is being constructed by all of us and am always excited for Monday to come so the list can be extended by yet another letter! As this is the start of our fifth week we are brought to letter "E".

Please take a moment to write about your favorite movies that begin with the letter "E". It is always appreciated if you could also give a reason why you enjoyed the movie and who starred in the movie. The more information provided the easier it is for people to decide. I truly await your selections with rapt anticipation!

In the northeast of the United States where I am located we are gearing up for another round of snowstorms this week. Since Christmas we have experienced one storm per week at least. That is a lot of snow! My children have been home from school at least one and in many cases more than one day per week due to the inclement weather since the winter holidays. My husband has cleared our driveway and walkways countless times (he does it more than once per storm to stay on top of it) and I have made mountains of "snow day" foods to keep up his strength! And as endless as this winter has been, and it's only 1/3 of the way over, I am still enjoying it immensely! The snow is majestically beautiful, having the children squeal with glee over another (fingers crossed) snow day, and having my husband work from home on treacherous days so I need not worry about him on his commute, as well as having this blog to write and interact with you all, has made this winter tolerable and downright fun! So I say "Bring it!" Mother Nature and as long as my family is safe, my power on, my Internet connection working, and you all here to keep my company, I can certainly hold out until spring. I've just got to run to the store this morning for eggs before Old Man Winter strikes again!

I hope wherever you are spending your winter you are warm, safe, and dry. Together we can entertain ourselves at Chief 187 Chatter between creating a movie and music list, sharing of recipes, and discussing whatever is on my mind and your opinions. So, thank you for joining me today and I hope to see you back here tomorrow!

Friday Music Blog

We've made it to the close of another week! This is the end of my twentieth week blogging at my very own site. Yesterday I posted my 100th blog, a happy milestone. With all I've got floating around the Internet I am quite sure my grand total is nearing 600 blogs! Now with my new gig at a fledgling site aimed at sports and music lovers, that total should reach 1000 blogs/articles in no time! If you haven't checked out my work there, please do. It is http://WhooBazoo.com. If you enjoy my writings, I would recommend you take a gander at what is happening there as well. The topics are different, but the writing is definitely me!

Not only did we make it to the end of the week, but we are also closing January 2011 down, adding it to the books as finished in a few short days. It has been long, snowy, cold, and, for me, filled with enlightenment, new friendships, a renewed commitment to myself. Typically a month where I flounder, suffer from SAD, and retreat into myself, the daily blogging has kept me an active and willing participant in my life. Without you here, I'm not so sure that would be the case! So thank you for showing up. I can assure you, I treasure you and do not take you for granted!

Now, on to the main event. Today's Friday Music Blog focus is songs that make you soar. I'm trying to describe songs that instantly pick you up, give you hope, elevate your mood, and offer solace. When you are down, discouraged, sad, or listless and want to change that, what songs can you reach for that make you smile, make your heart beat faster, quickens your pulse, releases endorphins, and makes you sing aloud? Everyone enjoys music in different ways, but music, from my perspective, is sometimes used to mirror a mood. If you are heartbroken and depressed over a failed love affair, you may reach for the most heart-wrenching or angry songs (think "You Oughta Know" Alanis Morrisette or "Losing My Religion" REM ). But music can be powerful enough to change a mood and lift you up. What songs do that for you?

Thank you for the prayers and thoughts for my dear friend, Bill. He is still in need of them. Bill is also a music-lover, so a long list of music to spark his interest and keep his mind occupied would be a great gift. So, please, leave your selections below and send Bill a good thought.

I hope you check back here throughout the weekend to see how the FMB is doing. Perhaps over the weekend you can check out the work I'm doing at WhooBazoo. I look forward to seeing you all back here Monday for the Monday Movie Blog and a week full of new topics to explore.

Tantalizing Thursday

All month long I have been featuring recipes that were hearty and delicious but still healthier fare. I'm changing it up a bit to showcase one of my favorite cookie recipes because, as I've mentioned recently, Valentine's Day is on the horizon. I honestly believe homemade delights are often and usually much tastier than their store-bought equivalents, and are certainly more reasonable. I also believe anything made from the home kitchen with love is unparalleled. This recipe is simple, easy to roll out and use cookie cutters (heart-shapes, please), and tastes divine. Trust me, I'm usually a "chocolate only" girl when it comes to desserts, but these cookies are a favorite, especially at this time of year. Besides, who needs chocolate cookies when your special someone is definitely going to remember to buy you a huge heart-shaped box of your favorite confections?!
This recipe is from the book holiday Hearts by Pamela Sheldon Johns & Jennifer Barry  Ten Speed Press
c. 2002

Dried Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

These cookies are beautiful and rustic when cut into hearts with a variety of cookie cutters. Sprinkle with confectioners' (powdered) sugar when cooled, if desired.

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' (powdered) sugar plus extra for dusting (optional)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I prefer and use pecans)
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
Pinch of salt


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with Parchment paper and set aside.
     In a mixing bowl, cream the butter until softened, then beat in the confectioners' sugar. Stir in the cranberries, walnuts (or pecans), flour, and salt and mix well. Press into a large flattened disk, cover well with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
     With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on a floured work surface to a thickness of 14 inch. Cut into hearts with cookie cutters. Gather dough scraps into a ball and repeat the process until all of the dough is used. Place on the prepared baking sheets and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool completely before dusting with confectioners' sugar.  Makes 2 dozen cookies.


These are scrumptious and so very pretty! Buttery, rich, and sweet cookie with chewy tartness sprinkled throughout is what you'll find in each one. Served with coffee, tea, milk, or Champagne, these cookies will delight you and your Valentine!

Please leave one of your favorite cookie recipes if you are so inclined and please let me know if you actually tried this one, especially if you liked it!

Tomorrow is the week-ending Friday Music Blog. I look forward to seeing you all back here tomorrow for an original topic and the fantastic selections you'll leave!

Today marks the 100th blog I've written since starting this site. I am thrilled to hit this milestone and so very thankful that I have a readership of this caliber! You are interactive, write witty, honest, funny, and poignant responses to my topics, create movie and music resources with me weekly, and check in regularly to see what is going on with the site. Many of you have used my Amazon link which is providing a modest but definite contribution to my family's finances. I am awed, delighted, humbled, honored, floored, overwhelmed, encouraged, and flattered by your support and interest. Hopefully you will stay with me for the next 100 topics... and beyond. Thank you so very much. You all touch my soul.

Lastly, a special shout to a dear friend who is struggling with a personal illness but has unbelievable faith and love surrounding him to beat this setback and live his best life. Bill, I'm here to entertain, encourage, and support you. Thanks for being here, supporting me, and being my friend. If everyone could send a special thought or prayer Bill's way for a speedy and complete recovery I would sincerely appreciate it.

Ideal Vacation

Winter is rearing its blustery head in my neck of the woods again. Although we're only a month in to this season, we've had a major "snow event" every week since Christmas! So, as I wait for the next storm to blow into town, I thought I would ask you all to help me put our collective minds into greater climes and ask you to answer, what is your ideal vacation? Since I used the term "ideal" that means the sky's the limit. Do not use lack of money as an inhibitor. Whatever your dream vacation would be is what we're interested in reading. If it is a tropical vacation, explain where you would go and what you would see there. If it is a perfect mountain top to ski down, describe where you are. If it is a European race circuit, then set the scene. Cruise, desert oasis, or anything in between, so long as you take me and my senses far away from my same old scenery here - falling snow, stir-crazy kids from being cooped up, my husband dressed as Nanook of the North to snow-blow and shovel, and me in my long johns!

I hope to read your responses today, I could certainly use the escape and always enjoy reading your comments! Please join me tomorrow for Tantalizing Thursday (no seafood this week, J.C.) and again on Friday for the ever-popular Friday Music Bog.

If you enjoy my writing and would like to read more of it, please join me at my new gig at http://WhooBazoo.com. It is a fledgling website showcasing music and sports and whatever I bring to the table. I am featuring several articles there and am proud of the work. Rest assured, I am NOT leaving this site. This is my home and you are my dear friends. But, it you are interested, I welcome the company and your feedback at that site as well.

Looking forward to reading about YOUR ideal vacation!

Eleven Months and Counting

Today is a special edition blog that's focus is Christmas. Today and each twenty-fifth of the month (or weekday closest to it) I'm going to switch gears just for the day to keep Christmas as a topic. For some of you this may be tortuous, but others may delight in the once a month reminder "to keep Christmas in your heart and honor it the whole year through". From organizing and planning, shopping to cataloguing, and finding ways to do for others, these blogs will keep Christmas a positive and enriching season, one that you are well prepared and eager to embrace.
With Christmas behind us, but still close enough in memory, it is a good idea to jot down a few notes about what worked and what did not for your family. Traditions are important to family, but sometimes traditions need to be revisited, tweaked, and decided which are truly valued and which simply are done out of misplaced and unnecessary duty. A Jell-O mold that gets begrudgingly made and winds up in the trash year after year because "Grandma used to make it", is a nice gesture, but needs to be released. Honor Grandma a different way by reading a story she loved, hanging her favorite ornaments, or telling stories about her. By keeping the information of last year's Christmas in one place, like a Gift Journal, or a Christmas Journal, you have a one-stop resource when Christmas draws near. If you, like me, have several time-honored and well-loved Christmas recipes that are scattered throughout the house, take the time to put them all in one area and label them so next year they are all in one handy place:  a folder, a recipe box just for Christmas, a cookbook, etc. This little bit of time now will save you far more time come November/December when you would normally frantically search for each and every recipe.
If you took advantage of post-Christmas sales and have bags of loot that you haven't looked at since you brought them home, this is a perfect time to get out or start a Gift Journal. Catalogue each and every purchase, even if its intent was to stay at home with you, so you can see what you bought. If the items were wrapping paper, tape, bows, and name tags for your own home, jot down where you are storing them and if you needed anything else before you start wrapping next year (i.e. new scissors, pens). If it was a gift, remember to write down the intended recipient's name and the occasion you want to give the gift. Taking the time to do this saves a lot of money in the end because you know what you have, can spot it easily, and you no longer need to sprint to the store in a panic to buy last-minute gifts! I picked up several gifts after Christmas that I'll be using for Anniversary gifts (check), Valentine's Day gifts, birthday gifts, and, yes, Christmas gifts for next year. As I inventory them in my Gift Journal, I write who they are for and for what occasion I am gifting. Truly I am saving money and have reduced my stress immensely! Not sure where to store the gifts? Storage boxes should still be on sale so pick up a few and label them so you know it's for your eyes only! Find a closet, attic space, basement area, or corner of a room to store your gifts.
Remember that post-Christmas sales may be ending or over, but throughout the year stores routinely have major markdowns at the end of every season. Scour sale racks, clearance shelves, and other sale places with an eye out for something someone you buy gifts for would appreciate and love. Of course buying crap is not what I'm talking about, but end-of-season sales usually result in excellent merchandise the stores simply have to move out to make room for the next season's items. This is your opportunity to bargain-hunt and stow for next year or later this year. Remember, too, if you are going on vacation or traveling for work, to pick up unique finds for friends and family you gift. They need not be expensive items as long as they are unique to the area you are visiting, they are cool gifts!
If all of the Christmas shopping, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, and materialistic slant has left you feeling disgusted with the Christmas season, even now, there is a way to combat it. By doing things for others who are needier than you, you can find peace and a sense of purpose. Many people volunteer or donate their money or time in November and December to Soup Kitchens, Shelters, and different charitable organizations, but winter is long and the donations of time and money usually stop in January. So, connect with your community and help out! Whether you do some hands-on volunteer work or simply clean out a closet to donate to the local Salvation Army, doing something for others brings the "Season of Giving" back into perspective and keeps it alive all the year long.
My goal, and it's a lofty one, is to keep Christmas a pleasant, happy, stress-free, and meaningful season that doesn't just exist for four weeks a year. I love Christmas the whole year every year and want to share that enthusiasm with YOU.

So, until next month, Merry Christmas!

Monday Movie Blog

Week Four of the Monday Movie Blog puts the topic at movies that begin with the letter "D". When posting, kindly leave the title of the movie and anything you can report about why you liked it and who was in it. Any movie from any era fits the bill as long as the title begins with "D".

Thank you to all of the contributers from the first three weeks who have created a terrific resource of movies to watch, re-watch, rent, or add to one's queue (Netflix). From terrific classics, blockbusters, Indies, and everything in between the list is filling out nicely. Of course, the more people who contribute the longer and more well-rounded the list becomes, so please feel free to leave your movie selections even if you have never left a comment before or haven't in a long while. Winter is a fantastic time to catch up on movie watching so this will be an excellent place to find the titles you never remember!

Please join me tomorrow for a special edition blog for the 25th! Until then, leave your "D" movie titles below! Thank you!!

Friday Music Blog

Welcome back in to the Friday Music Blog. Another week under our belts into 2011. In the Northeast (USA) we are being pelted by yet another snow event followed by 'Icelandically' cold weather. School is canceled where I live (again) and the hottest thing happening here is the soup I'll be making in my Crock Pot! I desperately need relief and I find that in music. Today's focus is songs about, mentioning, and/or having anything to do with cars. Cars represent escapism to me, harken to relaxing journeys, fun vacations, and simply cruising. Cars can be sexy, well-worn tools, or the embodiment of freedom. What they aren't is boring. So, construct a list of the best songs that have anything to do with cars to break me out of winter's stranglehold and transport me to a warmer, happier place.

If you are a car fanatic, check out my dear friend, Art Tidesco's, blog here:  http://psychoontyres.blogspot.com. He writes and showcases photos of cars/autos/trucks/etc. in a vastly interesting, accessible, and fascinating way. It's worth adding him to your daily fun list. He features "Ferrari Fridays" while I offer the Friday Music Blog! Two great ways to jump into your weekend!!

Thanks to all of my loyal readers and commenters who make the blogging so richly rewarding for me. Typically January beats me down with the lack of sun, frigid temperatures, and post-holiday doldrums, but the daily blogging and interaction has helped immeasurably in bolstering my mood.

Looking forward to starting a new week with you all on Monday and, God willing, finishing next Friday with what should be my 100th blog at this site!

Now, off to posting on the Friday Music Blog. I'll be check in all weekend, won't you?!