SCUZZA ME THAT ‘S AMORE: MOONSTRUCK IN LEWES, DE

WOW! Where does the time go? I can’t believe it’s May 7th and in two days my baby boy is going to be 18….yikes…pictures to follow!! Today, though i’m finally getting back on the bloggin trail having been quite remiss due to an incredibly busy/whirlwindy kind of month…So let’s see, where doth this accidental one’s month retrospective start….

In Lewes, Deleware where on a unusually warm April Day my loving matey and I set sail on the Cape May/Lewes ferry with bubbly in hand to help calm the somewhat choppy Delaware Bay seas Arrrrrr  We were on our way there for a few reasons:  1) we love Lewes.  2) we love Lewes 3) we love Lewes  It’s a quaint town that unless you take the ferry from Cape May might never stumble upon as it seems to be the forgotten sister to better known ReHoboth Beach, DE.  Lewe’s main street, Second Street,  is about 1/2 mile long but on it you’ll find just about everything one needs/wants…A great Mexican restaurant -Agave, a continental one- The Buttery; a fab jewelry store: Chatelaine’s and Doug and my fave place TOUCH OF ITALY http://www.touchofitaly.com/ which is owned by Joe and Bob the Builder (not to be confused with Bob of Nickolodeon fame!).  It’s a spot where we have spent much wine (and no that is NOT a typo!) and time.

We discovered it a couple of months ago as we were walking along Second Street and spotted what looked like those good ole fashion Italian delis you saw in The Sopranos, Moonstruck (one of my top ten movie faves)

or imagine in Italy.

So we went inside and if our eyes could eat we would have devoured everything in sight …Italian cheeses hanging from the ceiling, fresh mozz in the case, an array of heart don’t fail me after eating those fatty, yummy italian meats and sausages, marinated artichoke hearts on stems, seafood salad complete with squid that had their tentacles in tact (love them!), authentic Italian desserts and on and on..

Mama Mia…That’s Amore! Yum!!!

But our delight and surprise didn’t stop there when out of the corner of my eye I saw folks sitting at tables eating these incredible italian sandwiches and brick oven pizzas that i would soon forget watching my girlish figure for! And, it got even better:  set in the far back corner of this cozy epicurean oasis I saw a bar… now that’s amore!

Doug and I immediately planted ourselves on two stools and per Henry’s suggestion (Henry runs the place and I am thinking of kidnapping him to take care of us) we ordered what he considered to be the best white wine in the world; a true antipast,  meatballs, then a bottle of red wine and 3 hours, 3 pounds, one major buzz and one pair of early anniversary diamond and sapphire earrings later  from my amore D we exito-d.  Now you know why we love, love, love Lewes. Spread the glove!

CELEBRATING ST. PADDY’S DAY ‘N YOUR FAVE BREWS MANY USES

Top of the morn ‘n Happy St. Paddy’s Day!  

Lucky's St. Paddy's Tip!

Another stellar day here in New Jersey for a parade, bike ride, finding a four leaf clover, and indulging in some corned beef ‘n cabbage, shepard’s pie, and/or beer of any shade! So in the spirit of the day, I wanted to share some unusual ‘n money-saving uses for that ole pint of brewsky should you not trade it as “Lucky’ has or have any left over tomorrow!

1. Brass Pot Cleaner- Use an old soft cloth and rub some onto the pot.  Let sit ‘no have a brewsky if you like then return, rinse and buff with another soft clean cloth.

2. Wood Furniture Polisher-Actually this is perfect for any flat beer you have left from celebrating. Dampen a microfiber cloth and gently rub some on your wood furnture to bring back the luster.

3. Gold Cleaner-If you were lucky enough to find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow or have some dull looking gold jewelry just put it in a bowl with enough beer to cover it.  Let sit for a bit, rinse then polish with a dry micro-fiber cloth. 

4. Red Wine Stain Remover: If red wine is your drink of choice and ye miss your mouth, first sop up as much as you can with some paper towels then dab with a light colored beer.  Steam clean when finito and then switch to white

5. Skin Softener: Rub a dub dub not as in have someone pour it over your head but in chilling and taking a real bath in your tub.  The yeast and other ingredients in beer are terrific for softening, exfoliating and cleansing your skin.

6. Hair Lightener  & Conditioner – Simply soak your hair in beer and lay in the sun to both lighten and condition…think of the money you’ll save vs going to your hairstylist!

7. Stuff the Bugs Us Trap-With springtime upon us and for those who love to garden just put some in an empty jar and ‘plant’ the jar leaving the open rims at ground level.  Slugs ‘n snails love the smell so they’ll ‘drop in’ for a cocktail  BTW also works to get trap mice who will simply get drunk and then you can set them free outside.  Roaches too, but you’ll have to put a thin coat of Vaseline around the rim so they so they can’t escape.

Spread the glove!

RACHAEL RAY, KHLOE KARDASHIAN, ‘N LIL OLE ME!

Happy Mardi Gras Day!  Did you know that Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday–certainly sounds lots better in French! It’s celebrated as the final day of feasting before Lent which is tomorrow Ash Wednesday. So time to paaaaar-teee!!

And, today is also the day before my appearance with Rachael Ray which i am over the top excited about!  I love Rach–she’s one of those truly genuine peeps and as you’ll see we had a blast as I answered some questions from the audience about spring cleaning ‘forget me nots!…I know can you believe it’s already spring cleaning time!

Be sure to tune in http://mee.bo/AaCRMu 

AND Khloe Kardashian Odom’s on too talking about Kim‘s divorce, baby rumors and gonna ‘pop the question’ too  Repandre le gant!  That’s French for ‘Spread the Glove”

ALL I WANNA DO IS NJOY SHERYL CROW, SURI, VUE ‘N BREWS

As moms, wives, working women or just over-scheduled and over-worked peeps in general, we rarely have the luxury or feeling that someone is there taking care of us.  I guess that’s why folks at Apple now feature Suri–our very own personal assistant on their new Apple 4S.  And, god knows we could all use someone to remind us of our kid’s dental appointment: call, email or text our significant other when we’re running late or maybe if I can find time sched a hair coloring appointment before those greys over populate! 

This is where and why technology is truly a good thing making me life easier, and not something that confuses the heck outta me since in addition to being known as The Accidental Housewife, I am also known as The Queen of Technological Darkness!  Nope Suri has made me feel special.  And, a few weeks back I shared another techy ‘good thing’: my new LG Hom-Bot which stays in its little charging station on call to vacuum my house without me lifting a finger.  Plus, it can bring me a martini or cup of coffee…Life is good!  

And, now I found my latest ‘make my life easier and tastier’ techy must have… 

Enjoying a cup of fresh VUE-brewed cappuccino with Michelle Stacy, Pres of Keurig!Mmmm Mmmm Yum!

See last eve I attended a launch party for the new Keurig VUE single cup coffee maker.  Now, i don’t know about you but my day just doesn’t quite start off right without that first cup of coffee which i generally have to reheat 2-3 times since i’m too busy focusing on getting my son up and fed for school.  Needless to say over-reheated coffee with the milk forming a thin waxy-like top isn’t exactly that yummy, ‘get my day going’ cup of java!  And, then if i’m running late which is just about every day, I  try to take a cup with me as I shuttle myself or my son in days gone by before he got his license (yeah chaufeur duties relieved!) and it be cold.  Yuk! 

But last nite I met Suri and Bot’s ‘new take care of Julie’ mate Vue…Now, please note i have tried several single cup coffee makers and generally have been disappointed since the coffee tastes weak, cools off too fast when i add my 1/2 and 1/2 and though I’m no Sheryl Crow  when it comes to being green (whom i love by the way as an artist and performer)–she had suggested we portion  toilet paper which for those of us with kids might save the forest but not the amount of laundry we’d be doing and thus not water nor energy conservation…The point here is I try to do what I can and if it fits into my everyday lifestyle all the better and the VUE pods  are recyclable so it’s mindless mother earth friendly! Love that!

So my fellow overworked, overscheduled housewives, check it out,  coffee, tea, hot, cold Keurig’s new VUE has a brew for you so as Sheryl sings “all i wanna do’ is enjoy a yummy cup of brew along with Suri and Bot! Happy weekend all…Spread the glove…

TWO THUMBS UP TO THE FONZ, MRS. C AND CAESAR SALAD

Happy Monday all!  Just a short blog this morn since I’m prepping for a segment I’m doing with Rachael Ray later this week! As you can imagine i’m totally psyched since it’s been a while since I spread the glove with her…will share details and air date as soon as I know more!

I also wanted to share a yummy salad topping that my son and I had this weekend…Mrs. Cubbison’s Croutons…See my son loves to make caesar salad and I love the fact that he does since it’s one less thing i have to prep!  That  saves me some time which is something i’ll take whenever i can get it!  Anyway, when it comes to croutons he’s VERY fussy since he believes they make or break his culinary specialty so finding the right crouton has been no easy task!

Now, as you may be beginning to notice my mind often goes off in strange directions as I blog and today’s no different since Mrs. Cubbison’s tasty croutons got me thinking about the Fonz from the 70′s hit TV show HAPPY DAYS.  Here’s a clip for your viewing pleasure:

Yes, another TV Land fave of mine! The show was about a middle class family called the Cunninghams who lived in Milwaukee during the late 1950′s and early 1960′s. It starred Ron Howard as a typical teenage boy named Richie (whom we all know today as an incredibly talented and succesful movie director of The DaVinci Code, Splash, and Apollo 13 among mucho other hits); Marion Ross as his traditional mom/housewife, Tom Bosley as his dad and Henry Winkler.  Winkler played the Fonz-a neighborhood greasor whom lived in the garage above the Cunningham’s house and became both a cultural icon and was Richie’s unlikely but intuitive older brother-like advisor on just about everything in his life. 

Ok so why the link for me…Well Fonzie would call Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. C and his signature pose was ‘two thumbs up’.  And, my son and i are giving two thumbs up too to our fave Mrs. C…as in Mrs. Cubbison’s….What can i say my mind works in strange and mysterious ways …try ‘em and let me know what you think…Spread the glove! 

PS. Next time you’re in Milwaukee you might wanna visit the Bronze Fonz which has all the cast members inscribed on it! AYYY!