So, yesterday as part of my weekly e-newsletter, I questioned if Curling was a sport.  Here is an excerpt of what I said...:

"My sincere apologies for having nothing to write about today. I really had great intentions of blogging yesterday except I got into a fight.  With the couch.  The couch - it won.  The riveting bouts of curling were just too much!  Not.  Really, is curling a SPORT?  I mean, can you sweat or injure yourself when curling?  If any professional curlers are reading this, I sincerely apologize.  Ah-hem.  What was I saying again?"

THEN, I got this email from one passionate Curler!  She said:

"Kris,

Please enough about poking fun at the Curlers !   Yes it is a sport and I actually curl in the Trempealeau/Centerville area, which is only about 25 minutes from your store.  Yes you really can sweat and it is a fun game--of strategy !!!!  Our club has sent many of our members to compete in many different levels through out the United States as well as our club hosting the Jr. Nationals which was attended by young people from all over the United States.  It appears that this is the year for those of us who do curl to take several hits from the people who really don't understand the game.  Anyone is welcome to watch--we have leagues Monday - Thursday nights starting at about 4 PM going thru 10:00 PM and this weekend there is a Men's Bonspiel which starts on Friday.  A bonspiel is what we call a tournament.
OK now I will stop.  Can you tell that I really love the game and yes it really is a sport !
Have a great day!
Vickie K"

Oh how I love pressing buttons!  Mostly, I love people who are PASSIONATE!  Thanks for the email, Vickie!  U-Rock!

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OK - I probably won't run for office but after attending the Wisconsin Restaurant Association's Lobby Day - I can REALLY see how politics can get in your blood!  It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever taken part in!

Tina, The Big Cheese and I along with about 100 restaurant/small business owners from Wisconsin, met in Madison to participate in Legislative visits at the Capital.  We met with Senater Dan Kapanke, Rep. Mike Huebsch, Rep. Lee Nerison and  Rep. Jennifer Schilling.  It really was liberating and powerful to be able to meet ONE ON ONE in the offices of these fine elected officials and tell them about MY business and how the issues today are affecting small businesses.

A bonus of the day - we got to hear from the top 3 Gubernatorial Candidates! Tom Barrett, Scott Walker and Mark Neumann.

By the way, Jennifer Schilling is pretty much my new BFF now!  She's a regular shopper at U-Bake - a big fan of our soup, breadsticks and cut-out cookies!  Something kinda cool happened with her...During our visit in her office, she told us she was starving and hadn't eaten lunch yet.  Then, about an hour later I checked messages on my cell phone.  It was Jennifer telling me how U-Bake saved the day for her, again! She was in her car driving home when she reached under her seat looking for a glove.  What she found instead, was 2 U-Bake cut-out cookies decorated in a little, plastic bag.  She was thrilled - U-Bake to the rescue.  I just thought it was cute that she called to tell me!  I'm sure she'll be calling me for the all the BIG issues, too!

Kris, The Dough Queen
PS - Check out Tina's blog and her take on our day!

Yeah, I know - I haven't blogged for a while....I think I finally got my feet under me again since the holidays!  Yeah!  Found a great recipe that would taste great on Super Bowl Sunday.  It features our incredible, creamy cole slaw mix. Enjoy!

MINI RUEBENS
20 slices U-Bake rye cocktail bread
1 cup U-Bake Cole slaw
1 teaspoon creamy horseradish
1/2 pound corned beef
1/2 pound grated swiss cheese
1/4 cup 1000 Island dressing

Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place under broiler for 1 minute to toast bread slices. Turn bread slices over and spread 1000 Island dressing over each slice. Mix coleslaw and horseradish together. Top with coleslaw, corned beef and cheese. Broil 1 minute until cheese begins to melt. Drizzle with remaining 1000 Island dressing.

Normally, I hit the Y at 5am with my neighbor, Erin for a healthy workout of walking, rowing, biking and gabbing.  Talking DOES burn calories.  We are getting so svelt.  Not.  But since I close the store today, I got to sleep in and went to workout around 9:30. The place was PACKED!  New Years Resolutions are in full swing, people!

Anyway, I'm about an hour into my routine and I ran into a friend of mine, Bill.  I was on the stationary bike doing my thing as Flo Rida played in my ears, when I felt it socially necessary to remove them.  I looked like death.  No makeup, hair in a bushy pony tail, barely brushed teeth.  Ladies, you know the drill.  These are the times that you don't want to run into anyone.  So, Bill and I gab and catch up on life for a few minutes when he says..."Did you know that Damien is here"  I gasp - "Miller?  SHUT UP!"  Bill looks over the Eliptical Machines of death to see if he can see him.  "Oh, he must of left".  Darn, I think and the convo is over.  I make my move over to the Arm Fat Pull Down machine.  Yes, that is the technical name.  Bill comes over to tell me that Damien was still here and asked if I wanted to meet him.  Ummm, "YEAH", I declared.  I make a loud noise getting out of the machine and Bill escorts me to Damien.  Gees, maybe this isn't a good idea I began thinking.....I start pinching my cheeks to make some resemblance of a rosy glow.  Where oh where is my lipstick?  I'm sweating.  I'm panting.  And NOW I'm going to meet Damien Miller.  We are now in front of the the baseball man himself.  "Damien, I'd like you to meet my friend, Kris."  Damien, smiles and I melt.  "Great to meet you" is all I could muster over the pitter patter of my heart.  Bill continues, "She's your one fan". "Oh, YOUR the one!"  my boyfriend, er... I mean Damien says.  Remembering that I must have been a terrible sight in my Wal-Mart sweats, I said, "Well, I don't want to interupt your workout, but it was great meeting you."  Sigh....what a great way to start the day.  I called the Hubs and told him my dramatic tale to which he replies..."yeah, I knew he worked out there". 

The air came out of my head and I hit the shower.

I have found something that is more awesome than I ever imagined possible.

Our couch is covered in a fabric that likes to absorb pet hair into the weave in a way that makes vacuuming the couch little more than aerobic exercise. Over the years I’ve tried sticky tape rollers, more than one of those maddeningly ineffective electro-static brushes, and more recently resorted to brushing the entire couch with a Furminator, which is tiresome and not so good for the upholstery. At times I’ve felt that the dang couch was hoarding dog hair in an attempt to actually morph into a dog.

So last weekend I saw a commercial for Pledge’s new Fabric Sweeper for Pet Hair and decided that since I’d purchased every other pet hair remover on the planet and been woefully disappointed, I might as well try this one. What’s another $3 in the grand scheme of things, right?

The freaking thing works, people. IT WORKS. It took very little time to do the whole couch and picked up every tiny little bit of the hair without making me sweat and curse. Try it. I promise you’ll be impressed.

U-Bake can really speed up all your Christmas cookie baking but if you want to make delicious cookies from scratch, here are some great tips!

Assemble Ingredients

Make a list of cookies that you’d like to bake. Then, make a list of ingredients that you’ll need. Then, shop at U-Bake to purchase every basic cookie-making ingredient you could every need in bulk, for less!

Use Real Butter

Many a cookie has been ruined by margarine. Cookies were meant to be made with real, sweat cream butter. Butter adds a texture and a flavor to cookies that margarine can’t imitate. Choose either salted or unsalted butter. If you use salted butter, you can skip adding salt to most cookie recipes.

Avoid Non-Stick Cookie Sheets

Dark-coated cookie sheets heat faster and will lead to dark-bottomed cookies. Some cookies even get burned on the bottom when a dark sheet is used. Because cookies have a high butter content, they don’t stick to the cookie sheet. A non-stick cookie sheet is not necessary. Your safest bet is to always use parchment paper U-Bake sells top quality parchment paper - 25 sheets for $2.75.

Sift Baking Soda

Sometimes a box of baking soda that's been opened for more than a few weeks gets clumps. Always sift baking soda before adding it to any recipe. The clumps generally don't break up and stir into the mixture easily. There is nothing worse than taking a bite of a fresh baked cookie with a clump of unmixed baking soda. It is bitter and unpleasant.

Use Real Vanilla Flavorings or Extracts

Baked goods tastes better when real vanilla flavoring is used. Imitation flavoring is less expensive, but it doesn’t add the same depth of taste as real vanilla flavoring.

Use Good Quality Chocolate

When a cookie recipe calls for chocolate chips or chocolate that will be melted, use the best quality that you can afford. Ambrosia chocolate from U-Bake is a good quality chocolate, is not filled with extra additives and is readily available for most baking needs. Poor quality chocolate will often taste waxy.

Keep Cookies Small

Small, consistently-sized cookies are just the right size for those that just want a taste. Guests and other cookie-eaters will feel compelled to sample more than one type of cookie when they are small enough to be eaten in one or two bites. Keep them a consistent size by using a small kitchen scoop, such as a melon baller. A teaspoon will also work to scoop the same amount of dough onto the cookie sheet for each cookie. A regular batch of cookies will produce twice as many small cookies as large-sized cookies.

 

I have been enthrawled with Sweet Potatoes ever since trying Sweet Potato Fries at a happy hour a couple weeks ago.  WOW!  Incredible and even better dipped in Ranch mixed with Thousand Island Dressings!!  Fabulous.  I was craving the fries this afternoon but I settled for this:

Sweet Potato Casserole

• 5 sweet potatoes
• 1/4 teaspoon U-Bake salt
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon U-Bake vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon U-Bake ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup U-Bake white sugar
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3 tablespoons U-Bake all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed U-Bake light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped U-Bake pecans

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Bake sweet potatoes 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until they begin to soften. Cool slightly, peel, and mash.
3. In a large bowl, mix the mashed sweet potatoes, salt, 1/4 cup butter, eggs, vanilla extract, cinnamon, sugar, and heavy cream. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
4. In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup butter, flour, brown sugar, and chopped pecans. Mix with a pastry blender or your fingers to the consistency of course meal. Sprinkle over the sweet potato mixture.
5. Bake 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until topping is crisp and lightly browned.

What's in a name?  I'll admit I'm not all that good at remembering names.  I try really hard - I do.  But after getting this piece of mail earlier this week, hey, I'm a name rock star! 

First off - my name is Kris Nandory.  Not too hard is it?  I'll admit Nandory is not a real common last name.  And, amusingly so we've seen mail by the bagful delivered to us at home with the most creative of name butcherings.    There's been butchering from the very basic - Nandorn.  To Nandori. Nandry.  Nanodory.  But the best laugh up until this week was a credit card application addressed to Scott and Kris Nandorkus.  Nandorkus! 

But then, this.  I was sitting in my office opening mail when this piece from a current vendor of ours grabbed my attention.  I went running out into the store laughing hysterically!  It was addressed to:  Keis Nundorg.  Keis.  Nundorg!  THIS is from a company that I do business with!  Weekly!  Keis!  Seriously.  Keis? 

Ahhhh, the power of a name.

Enjoy the day,
Keis
Hey, maybe it's fitting....after all I'm 1/4 Swede...