Good morning, muffins!

I woke up earlier than usual this morning--I'm a night owl--and was craving muffins. I remembered a recipe I received at a weight class I had attended and mixed up a quick batch. I'll share my recipe at the end of this post.

Since Ana and I both love to get creative in the kitchen, I thought we'd share some of our favorite cookbooks with you. We love all food, but do try to make healthful choices (it doesn't always work). Write in and share your favorites, too!

The Cake Doctor
Oh my, you will love this. My mom sent me my copy and it's frayed I've used it so often. You can whip up amazing cakes faster than you dreamed possible. I think the secret is the homemade frostings. Yum!
Proven winners: 
* Double Chocolate Rum Cake
* Incredible Melted Ice Cream Cake w/Chocolate
      Marshmallow Frosting
* Pineapple Inside-Out Cake
* Strawberry Cake w/Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting
* Fresh Banana Cake w/Caramel Frosting
* Fiddler on the Roof Cake





Weight Watchers Best One-Dish Dinners 
This magazine-style cookbook is new, but I am excited to try many of the recipes. This is the one for you if you love the ethnic tastes of Greek, Mexican, Asian, and Indian.
My picks to try:
* Pesto Pizza with Red Onions, Mushrooms,
      and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
* Club Salad with Buttermilk Dressing
* Manicotti Florentine
* Mexican Lasagna
* Beef Keema
* Szechuan Shrimp Stir-Fry




  

Hungry Girls 1-2-3
Ana made a hearty bowl of Pumpkin Oatmeal from this recently purchased book. These recipes are designed to keep you satisfied, which is important in our part of the world with the cold weather setting in.
These sound tempting:
* Holy Moly Cannoli
    (click the link and scroll down for the FREE recipe)
* Queen-of-the-Castle Sliders
* Chili Cheese Dog Nachos
*  Shrimp & Grits . . . for Hungry Chicks!







And now for those sweet, yummy (and low-fat woo-who!) muffins...
Good Morning Muffins (makes 24)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line muffin cups with 24 cupcake liners.
3. Add to large mixing bowl:
   1 box of yellow cake mix*
   2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
   1/2 cup water
   1 (15oz) can pumpkin**
4. Mix ingredients with electric mixer on low for 1 minute. Scape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Continue mixing at medium speed for 2 more minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.
5. Spoon batter evenly into liners. Sprinkle lightly with sugar.
6. Bake for 25 minutes, or until done. Serve warm or at room temperature.

* I use a mix without pudding. The bonus is those mixes usually cost less.
** Use 100% pumpkin. I'm not sure if pumpkin pie filling will work.
Other notes: You can vary the flavor of the muffins by using different flavored cake mixes. Chocolate works well, just omit the pie spice. I've also used spice, banana, and caramel mixes. A light sprinkling of turbinado sugar gives the muffins a crunchy topping. Adding raisins, mini-chocolate chips, or nuts will increase the fat and calories. Experiment and let us know what your favorite is!

<3,
Vi & AnaB

SHOES!

Shoes! You love them, don't you? Can you ever have enough? I didn't think so. Look at what Ana has created. These are really fun for Halloween, or for Goth dressing any time of the year. And at this ridiculously low price, why not buy all five freaky colors? A mere 150L and they are yours! Available only at Rehatched.

Grinning and Stumbling

Hello, lovely people!

Most of you know me, Violet Dressler, and my sister, AnastasiaB Moonites, through SecondLife (SL). If you came upon this blog through another source (like luck, hee hee), I will give you a little bit of background.

I entered SL after hearing about it on The Office (weekly television sitcom). At the time, my Mac was too old to use the software. A few months later, a new laptop, and I was on my way to one major SL addiction. I spent the next two years meeting fantastic people, listening to live music, shopping, learning about SL, and generally goofing off. Along the way I was fortunate enough to be introduced to AnastasiaB. We bonded instantly, and have now become very real life friends. I love her to pieces!

AnaB is extremely talented, although she will tell you otherwise. She has a great eye for design and can quickly turn her unique ideas into SL virtual reality. Watching her create inspired me and somehow that brought us to where we are today. We co-own the SL shop named Rehatched. The name of the store seemed appropriate as AnaB and I were both experiencing major changes in our real lives.

While Ana sticks mainly to creating sophisticated shabby chic furniture and shoes (we love shoes!), I am all over the place. I make textures which other builders in SL use in their builds. I also dabble in sculpties, jewelry, and clothing--none of which has been successful. ;-)

There's our story, now on to the good stuff!
With this blog, it is our intention to not limit the topics to anything in particular. Yes, we will show you what is new and on sale at Rehatched, but we will also explore other cute stuff. For instance, I recently discovered the Etsy website. Wow! Tons of really cutie patootie items for sale. And freebies, too. Once in a while we come across handy tips and tricks, so those will be shared as well. And recipes. Maybe some gossip. An opinion or two. Basically, whatever floats our boat at the moment.

This is my first ever website, but I'm too excited to post to wait until it looks gorgeous, so you will be watching me stumble about while I learn. If people seem interested, I might post tips on that, too. Thank you for taking the time to join us. And here's wishing you a wonderful First and SecondLife!

<3,
Vi & AnaB

Welcome!

All right! Finally have a blog. Now we can share all of our secrets. Woot! Stay tuned for product info, tips-n-tricks, and miscellaneous nonsense.