As seen on tv...

Hubs will be traveling to China in the spring and is interested in getting the Rosetta Stone software to learn Mandarin. Anyone have any experience with Rosetta Stone? It's pricey, but is it worth it? Any other language-learning recommendations? He's thinking of going in with a couple of his classmates and sharing the software and cost between them.

Funny shirt...

A friend of mine is selling this shirt on zazzle:

You should see this!

It's Friday, and I'm in the mood for movies. If you haven't seen these, I highly recommend the following favorites:

Little Golden Books

I'm a big fan of Little Golden Books, in part because I remember loving them so much as a child. And now I love to get them for my kids! Unfortunately, sometimes they don't seem to be as well-made as the ones I remember, so that, combined with my kids' rough treatment of some books, can be problematic. But If you get the books that combine several stories in a single volume, the construction tends to be better, in my experience. With that in mind, I recommend:

• 65 Years of Little Golden Books, which includes The Poky Little Puppy, Tootle, The Saggy Baggy Elephant, Tawny Scrawny Lion, Scuffy the Tugboat, and The Shy Little Kitten.
  
  
• Little Golden Book Boxed Set Classic Collection (no repeats from the one above!)
  
  
• Sleepytime Tales, including The Poky Little Puppy, Baby Dear, The Color Kittens, Good Night Little Bear, The Wonderful House, The Friendly Book, The Three Bears, The Sailor Dog, The Boy and the Tigers, I Can Fly, The Sleepy Book, and How The Turtle Got Its Shell
  
  
• Little Golden Book Collection: Farm Tales
  
  
• Little Golden Book Collection: Animal Tales
  
  
• Little Golden Book Collection: Inspirational Tales, which includes Prayers for Children, with lovely old-fashioned illustrations
  
  
• A Family Treasury of Little Golden Books: 46 Best-Loved Stories
  
  
• Butterfly Kisses, a sweet story about a father and daughter that Big Girl just loves.

Yeah, yeah. It's Friday, but I think I was sufficiently vague about posting book recs on or around Thursday...

My mother-in-law's award winning pie

Last weekend, my mother-in-law entered this recipe in a pie contest. She got rave reviews and won a prize. The woman knows pie, and I can't wait to try her recipe:

Karen's Best Upside Down Apple-Pecan Pie

Crust
l/4 Cup Butter Softened
1/2 Cup Texas Pecan Halves
1/2 Cup Light Brown Sugar

Spread butter evenly on bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate. Press pecan halves, rounded side down, into butter. Sprinkle brown sugar evenly over pecans. Place first pie crust carefully over brown sugar.

Filling
1 cup Apple Cider
2/3 Cup Sugar
6 Cups Peeled sliced apples
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
2 Tablespoons Water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 Tablespoon butter

Combine Cider, Sugar and Butter in large saucepan and bring to a boil. Add apples and cook until tender. Drain saving the liquid. Add enough cider to liquid to make one cup and return to sauce pan with apples. Combine corn starch and 2 Tablespoons of water stir and add to apple mixture. Stir in cinnamon and cook till thick. Stir in butter. Spoon mix into pie plate on top of first crust and cover with second crust. Seal edges, cut slits in top, and bake for 45 minutes.

Cool and invert onto a large serving platter and serve with Whipped cream or Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream.

New show looks promising

I watched the first episode of Raising the Bar this evening, and I think it looks promising, if it can avoid being too formulaic. I was a little surprised at the ease with which I accepted Mark-Paul Gosselaar in a serious role, but, indeed, he did a good job at selling his character. His hair is somewhat distracting. I'm also interested to see what Jane Kaczmarek, who plays a strong-willed, somewhat biased judge, and Gloria Reuben, who plays the boss of Gosselaar's public defender character Jerry Kellerman, do with their characters. I think both have potential, and I hope that the writing and plot will allow Gloria Reuben to do some really good acting. Kaczmarek's judge seems a little flat so far, but hopefully subsequent shows will give her greater depth and dimension. If you're interested, you can read more about the show at CNN.

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Big Girl and Two are both super-keen to be helpers whenever I start doing housework. Considering how much I hate to clean house, this is a tremendous delight, because I can't complain quite so much when someone small is helping me carry laundry to the washing machine. Big Girl is getting very good at sorting lights and darks for me, too. And if his sister is doing it, well, that means Two must participate.

So this afternoon they've been helping me with laundry, standing nearby and discussing things while I do dishes (because I'm not quite ready for help with that task), and generally following me around the house. Except for Big Girl's brief lesson with her dad: I came upon him teaching Big Girl to say the first words of the Gettysburg Address. Not sure what inspired it, but she's pretty good! I think this is his way of getting her to work on pronouncing words correctly. ;)