You may remember our Salted Caramel Sauce from Monday.
Alternatively you can make your own.
This is a quick one. Pop a spoonful of the Salted Caramel sauce into the microwave for 30 seconds or so –
I always put in some water in to microwave as well to prevent the sauce getting too hot. You could always nuke it for less time..
Drizzle some ice magic – if you have it and like it – as well as the salted caramel sauce – onto icecream. Super simple but extra tasty. :)
Happy, the little kitty has taken to sleeping on the “lap” of Carter just lately. For those of you new to the blog, Carter is our Costco skeleton friend. Want to know more about Carter? – Meet Carter – Carter Gets Dressed – Carter Got Cold.
Happy truly is the most hilarious kitteh we have ever known. Plus she is amazingly sweet tempered, she has never once bitten or scratched us. She is the only cat I have known who allows us to scratch her belly and actually really enjoys a tummy rub, she turns to jelly.
She is not the brightest cat, if we were to put it into kitty terms, she is a few kibble short of a full bowl. She does not seem to have enormous faith in her own abilities either. It has taken her ages to learn to jump onto the kitchen counter.
Apparently, Carters lap is The Place To Be at the moment. Interestingly the kitties do not find him to be too bony to sit on. Carter moved chairs recently to a spiffy recliner, and his lap has become that place the kitties share regularly. Here is Grumpy hanging out with Carter.
The Feet Of Snoskred
Magic Island – Oahu, HI
I once worked with a girl who was named Taryn, in a call centre.
The last thing you want in a call centre is to have a unique name. You would think having a unique name would be awesome but believe me, it costs you time on the phone. Here is how the average wrap up for a Taryn call would go.. the side fellow call centre operators would hear, anyway.
“You’ve been speaking with Taryn today”
“No, not Karen, Taryn, with a T”
“T.. A.. R.. Y.. N”
“Yes, with a T”
Yes, T.. A.. R.. Y.. N, that is right”
“I’m not sure where the name came from. Now before I let you go, is there anything else I can do for you today?”
(A long, long gap, during which the caller usually tells Taryn an unusual name story for no apparent reason)
“Thank you for sharing that with me. I really have to go now, there are calls in the queue that I need to answer. Thanks for your time today.”
The trouble with this was, every single time the call centre would review her calls, the ending wrap up as described above would be at least 2 minutes long. Sometimes a lot longer when the story the caller told her would be 5-10 minutes long. Plus, that last line did not fit in with the smiley happy warm and fuzzy vibe that operators were meant to portray.
Several times, Taryn was told she should use a pseudonym on the phones. Each and every time, Taryn refused to do this. Her call times were always much longer than everyone elses and a major reason was the above conversation which she was having over and over again, on every single call she took. Even when they moved her to making outgoing calls in the hope of shortening her call times, this exact same conversation would happen.
Eventually, the general manager of the company approached her about it and told her changing her phone name was a requirement for continuing employment with the company. Taryn went back to her desk, wrote her resignation, printed it out, signed it, and went back to give it to the general manager. She was then escorted from the building.
Taryn was an incredible call centre operator. One of the best I have ever worked with. She was also incredibly stubborn about her name and at the time I was totally on board with that, but as time has gone by I have seen how little it really matters.
Callers do not care what your name is. They are unlikely to call back looking for you to speak to, and if they do, 99% of the time they will get your name completely wrong. I got called Shannon all the time, and that is nowhere near my actual real name. My name has 3 syllables, Shannon only has two, plus the letter my name starts with is at the total opposite end of the alphabet.
I’ve had people call me Veronica, Alexandra, Cassandra, Katherine, Karen, Mary, Elizabeth, princess, darling, darl, sweety, dear.. the list of names I have been called is long and there are many names on it, and my actual real name is rarely to be seen on that list.
Taryn was right to quit, though. I only lasted 9 months in that same call centre and that place was awful, caring more about call times and stats than actual people.
————————-
I was tagged by Fish of Gold for this name game blog hop.
I’ll tag Kenton Musings as I have not seen them tagged anywhere yet, and their about page says “I am always on the lookout for the next writing topic.” The rules can be found over here.
Markbialczak
Silver Threading
The Chatter Blog
MeWhoAmI
Lindaghill
Lucy at the Excessive Gardener
DebraB at Debra Books
Mindful Digressions
Fish of Gold
Snoskred
In 1997, Governor-General Sir William Deane issued a proclamation formally declaring 11 November to be Remembrance Day, urging all Australians to observe one minute’s silence at 11 am on 11 November each year to remember those who died or suffered for Australia’s cause in all wars and armed conflicts.
We will remember them
This is what you need to start your week. If you want salted caramel in a convenient form that you can keep in the fridge, Run, don’t walk, to your nearest Woolworths, and grab this –
Woolworths Gold Salted Caramel Dessert Sauce. Or make your own. Yum!
The Woolworths version is not really in a sauce form, not sauce as we know it, however you can spoon some into a plastic container, whack it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so – best to put in a small container of water as well, and keep an eye on it because it can get very hot very fast – then it will assume sauce form.
Once you’ve done that put some sugar – I used coconut sugar but you use what kind you like – into a cup. If you have a coffee machine that will do an espresso shot, put an espresso shot over the sugar, add the caramel sauce, and stir well to combine. If you do not have a coffee machine but would still like coffee in this shake, use instant coffee and add hot water.
But ohhh wait, this is a milkshake, why use hot water or a hot espresso shot? You want the ingredients to dissolve, so you need to use hot. But to cool it down fast once the ingredients have dissolved, use a couple of ice cubes.
This will not take very long. This photo was taken maybe 30 seconds after the first one. The cup you saw with normal sugar and the brown stuff is Milo, which the other half wanted instead of salted caramel. So you can tweak this shake to fit everyone. ;)
Now you want to ice cream it up. Vanilla is fine but you could use chocolate or even a salted caramel ice cream if you have it. Add ice cream to the cups you are planning to put your shake into, as well as into the blender with your mixture you have created. If you like it super cold, add more icecubes as well.
Now you are ready to blend. I have a knock off magic bullet which I got from Homeart for cheap which is super handy for making drinks like this, it came with 4 different drink cups, but you can use any blender you have access to.
And serve.
Now, if you made too much of the liquid mix? You can pop some alfoil on the top and put it into the freezer to add to your next shake. Even if I froze some, I always use some of the “hot” then iced liquid when making this shake because I find the flavour distributes through the shake more evenly that way.
So, how did I nearly set the microwave on fire heating this sauce up? Well, our microwave is an LG Solardom which is a microwave, grill, and convection oven. Somehow, one of the little plastic feet on the metal tray had worn away, and so when I was heating my sauce using the microwave function, it was metal on metal, and sparks flew all over the place.
I was watching it – I usually do if it is just a quick thing and I had put this on for 30 seconds. So I stopped the microwave right away and we worked out what happened. But even if you do not have this kind of issue, you want to be careful with caramel in the microwave, it can get super hot very fast. :)
Later this week – another way you can use this sauce.
These shoes cost me $15, back when I bought them many years ago. At the time I purchased them, they were my only pair of flats with some sparkle..
As a consequence, they saw a lot of wear. Because they were only $15, they did not handle that wear especially well. From a distance, with my feet inside them, you can’t see the wear. Up close, you begin to note patches where the sparkly things once lived.
They are forever gone, never to be seen again. Who knows where they went?
Now that you know those missing spots are there, you can see them even from a distance, right? That is one reason why these shoes see less wear nowadays. They’re lucky to get out to dinner once a month. But somehow I still cannot bring myself to part with them. I know one day I will have to let them go.
Until the day we say goodbye, I will continue to celebrate the awesome life they have had with me. They’ve been interstate, they went on my trip to Adelaide a few years ago, they went to Queensland when we travelled there a while back. They’ve been out to dinner a *lot*. They were in my shoe closet when there were only 10 pairs, and they have watched the new shoes arrive and be worn and loved. They are forever a part of my history.
Thank you for being awesome and comfortable, cheap Kmart flats.
Years ago I scored this gorgeous mosaic mother of pearl pendant via the TVSN jewellery clearance area for less than $15. I wrote about it on the blog, here – Mosaic Kingdom.
They sometimes have amazing bargains in the clearance areas on TVSN. I check them every so often for new stuff. I’ve scored some bargain outfits that way, as well as other stuff. The bargains can be especially good at change of seasons time..
I also keep an eye on the Ezibuy clearance area. Some of their stuff you can find in David Jones for 2-3 times the price, especially the Sara brand which I like. They often have gorgeous tunics on there for $15 and they keep sending me free delivery codes, so I’ll keep shopping there.
Any places you find to be awesome? ;)
So yesterday we were talking about one of my favourite things – Bling. Let us take a closer look..
Watches, brooches, bracelets, oh my!
It occurs to me I have quite a few reptile brooches – here you see one lizard, and two turtles. Obviously the turtles originated in Hawaii, turtles are a bit of a Thing over there.
You also see my favourite Peacock Crystal Flower Pin which you can read more about on my Headless Fashion post, and there is a dragonfly brooch, and the Heaviest Brooch Of All Time. I never met a brooch I did not love, they are my kryptonite.
My ring collection.
My blingy watches.
If yes, what kind?
Over the past few months, we have been working on de-cluttering, tidying, and making our house more of a home.
When I was working, I created this blinged up box – which I would use to take all my “stuff” to and from work. I am a high maintenance girl. I need stuff, during the day. So the box is pretty large – it is 15 litres and measures 40cm x 28cm x 19cm.
What kind of stuff do I need when I work? This box – without the lid – used to carry the following to and from work –
– A box of tissues
– A roll of paper towel.
– A bottle of Soda Water.
– My plastic cup for the day.
– An apple, a plastic Ikea plate to cut it up on, and a decent knife.
– A 2 minute noodle snack with a container to “cook” it in, and a fork.
– Hand sanitiser
– Lip balm
– Hand cream
– My handbag would sit on top of the “stuff”.
Now, it has become a home to my bling. The lid keeps the dust off and the bling shiny!
Please to note, none of my Bling is expensive – the most costly item here is likely my Michael Kors watch at just under $200. The other two watches were less than $100. Everything else is below $30. They are doing some amazing things with crystals these days.
More on my BLING tomorrow.
If yes, where does it live?