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Happy Caturday!

Just be careful and don't step on any cracks!

Time is Running Out!!

If you are planning to attend "Ginger Grant's 50th Birthday Celebration" and have yet to make your reservation, time is running out on the special deal that Miss Sonna has negotiated for you!!  Go to www.bourbonorleans.com to book, and PLEASE email Sonna so she can add you to the head count!  Even if you have made other hotel reservations,  please let Sonna know so we can ensure you are properly liquored up accommodated! The deadline for Sonna's special rate is December 1st.... after that,  you're on your own!!  PLEASE come!! if you want to come and need "financial assistance" let Miss Sonna know and she may be able to hook you up with a "roommate".  "Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match....!"

Miss Ginger wants you ALL to be there to help her celebrate her next half centennial!!

Here's a Handy Site!

http://www.printablepaper.net

Printablepaper.net is a handy free site that allows one to download and print over 700 useful forms, grids, and templates.  They have everything from attendance forms to shooting targets!!  Miss Ginger has found the graph paper selection to be particularly useful for designing all types of patterns and sketches for sewing, quilting, and, of course, geometry!  Boy G uses the 4-lined indexed graph paper to plan woodworking projects to the 1/4" detail!!  And the perspective graph makes it easy for the two to confer and collaborate on room designs and other spatial layouts.  Best part of all? You don't have to buy a whole pack of some obscure paper when you just need to plot one measly little polar graph!  

There are scorekeeping forms for just about any sport or game one can imagine... teacher forms for all kinds of record keeping... music paper for exercising your inner Mozart...  Really, everyone will find something useful! Check it out and leave a comment to let us know your favorite!! 

Thanksgiving Etiquette!

Proper etiquette is a must at any civilized meal, even when said meal is of the "bring-a-pot" variety.  If you are asked to bring something for you holiday meal this year, one can only hope that your hostess has been kind enough to give you specific instructions on how your offering can best compliment it cohorts on the Thanksgiving buffet.  Keep this in mind, gracious hostesses: Marney has a lot to teach us all!

From: Marney

As you all know a fabulousThanksgiving Dinner does not make itself. I need to ask each of you to help by bringing something to complete the meal. I truly appreciate your offers to assist with the meal preparation.

Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time, I COULD NOT BE MORE SERIOUS when I am providing you with your Thanksgiving instructions and orders. I am very particular, so please perform your task EXACTLY as I have requested and read your portion very carefully. If I ask you to bring your offering in a container that has a lid, bring your offering in a container WITH A LID, NOT ALUMINUM FOIL! If I ask you to bring a serving spoon for yourdish, BRING A SERVING SPOON, NOT A SOUP SPOON! And please do not forget anything.

All food that is to be cooked should already be prepared, bring it hot and ready to serve, warm or room temp. These are your ONLY THREE options. Anything meant to be served cold should, of course, already be cold.

HJB—Dinner wine

The Mike Byron Family
1. Turnips in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. Please do not fill the casserole all the way up to the top, it gets too messy. I know this may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but most of us hate turnips so don't feel like you a have to feed an army.
2. Two half gallons of ice cream, one must be VANILLA, I don't care what the other one is. No store brands please. I did see an ad this morning for Hagan Daz Peppermint Bark Ice Cream, yum!! (no pressure here, though).
3. Toppings for the ice cream.
4. A case of bottled water, NOT gallons, any brand is ok.

The Bob Byron Family
1. Green beans or asparagus (not both) in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. If you are making the green beans, please prepare FOUR pounds, if you are making asparagus please prepare FIVE pounds. It is up to you how you wish to prepare them, no soupy sauces, no cheese (you know how Mike is), a light sprinkling of toasted nuts, or pancetta, or some EVOO would be a nice way to jazz them up.
2. A case of beer of your choice (I have Coors Light and Corona) or a bottle of clos du bois chardonnay (you will have to let me know which you will bring prior to 11/22).

The Lisa Byron Chesterford Family
1. Lisa as a married woman you are now required to contribute at the adult level. You can bring an hors d’ouvres. A few helpful hints/suggestions. Keep it very light, and non-filling, NO COCKTAIL SAUCE, no beans of any kind. I think your best bet would be a platter of fresh veggies and dip. Not a huge platter mind you (i.e., not the plastic platter from the supermarket).

The Michelle Bobble Family
1. Stuffing in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please make the stuffing sans meat.
2. 2.5-3 qts. of mashed squash in a casserole with a lid and serving spoon
3. Proscuitto pin wheel - please stick to the recipe, no need to bring a plate.
4. A pie knife

The June Davis Family
1. 15 LBS of mashed potatoes in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please do not use the over-size blue serving dish you used last year. Because you are making such a large batch you can do one of two things: put half the mash in a regulation size casserole with lid and put the other half in a plasticcontainer and we can just replenish with that or use two regulation size casserole disheswith lids. Only one serving spoon is needed.
2. A bottle of clos du bois chardonnay

The Amy Misto Family (why do I even bother she will never read this)
1. A pumpkin pie in a pie dish(please use my silver palate recipe) no knife needed.
2. An apple pie in a pie dish, you can use your own recipe, no knife needed.

Looking forward to the 28th!!

Marney

Happy Thanksgiving, dear Ginger Snaps, and for gawd's sake, remember:  a SOUP spoon is NOT to be used for SERVING!  Learn it!

Another Organizing QuickTip!

Did you ever notice how plastic containers are like socks... you can never seem to find the mate?  With so many sizes, shapes and brands of storage containers on the market, Miss Ginger constantly found herself with mismatched tops and bottoms. Quelle domage!

Now, she buys "to go" containers at her local restaurant supply store- the same kind  in which  your egg drop soup is delivered from your local Takee Outee!



They are available in tubes of 25 for about the same price that you'd pay for a 4-pack of brand name containers at your local grocery, and they come in a multitude of sizes that all take the same lid, sold separately!  They nest in a drawer or cabinet and take up very little room! The containers are freezer and microwave safe (don't microwave the lids!), and you can run them through the dishwasher and reuse them.  But, they are so cheap that if you put something yucky like spaghetti sauce in them (does that ever REALLY come out of plastic?) you can toss it without breaking the bank!!

Craft Room!

Miss Ginger has been a busy bee putting together the first phase of her craft room, and here it is!!  Now she's REALLY ready to bang out some crafts for you, but first, she's going to let you in on how you can put together a space like this without a lot of carpentry skills or tools! All you need is a wall!

It all starts with these great rolling tool cabinets that form the base.  Miss Ginger got these at Sam's Club, but you may find them cheaper at your local home center, or at Harbor Freight Tools or Northern Tools. You could also use a couple of old dressers or nightstands, matching or not, as long as they are the same height. (A couple of 2-drawer file cabinets would work, also, although the deep drawers are not as useful!)  Since these were on wheels,  Boy G built little "garages" around the 2 cabinets so they can be pulled out to create additional work surface, but if your carpentry skills are limited, you can set your work surface right down on the cabinets.  You can buy a preformed formica counter of varying lengths at Lowes or Home Depot, or you can even use a door, as long as it is flat. Don't worry about the precut doorknob hole- it's a great way to run a power strip to your work surface.

Another option is to buy wooden butcher block counters from Ikea, or if you're really handy, lay-up your  own surface out of lumber, like Boy G did with these poplar boards.  This requires a little more time and a few more tools, but it's allows you to make a low-cost countertop that is durable and beautiful. 

There's an easy shortcut to the overhead cabinets, as well.  If you don't have the time and talent to build  cabinets like these (paneled doors are not easy!), you can buy prefab unfinished cabinets at Lowes.  They are really easy to hang with a cordless screwdriver and a level.  Screw a ledger board onto the wall to make sure they are nice and level, then rest the bottom of the cabinet on the ledge, swing it into place, and screw it into the studs.  The cabinets are not real heavy, but they are a bit awkward, so you may need a helper.

To add the shelves between the cabinets, use nail on strips that hold shelf brackets.  You can buy pre made shelving at Lowes, or buy plain boards in the lumber area and finish them to match.  

Add some plug-in lights underneath the bottom shelf and countertop height stool, and your craft space is ready for your imagination to run wild!  Best of all: even with the shortcuts, you can build the whole thing for less than $800!! 

Hillary 2016

Miss Ginger is starting the campaign early!

Vote!!!

Tuesday is election day: don't forget to participate in your most precious right as an American!  We may not be able to marry (yet), but we can certainly vote for people who will move us toward that landmark of equality!  I'm not telling you how to vote, but I WILL tell you how I voted, and why I voted that way!

It's SO Easy!

It s SO Easy to help the victims of Sandy... just text "Red Cross" to 909-99 to donate $10 to the Sandy relief fund! Miss Ginger just did it... won't you?

Birthday Link!

If you are interested in hotel reservations for the birthday bash, you can follow this link; the event code is already filled-in!

https://gc.synxis.com/rez.aspx?Hotel=20340&Chain=5150&group=1302GEORGE

Remember to do it before December 21st to get the best rate!

Celebrate 5-0 With Miss Ginger!!!

As loyal readers already know, and new readers will soon find out, Miss Ginger LOVES a party!  As she revealed earlier this year, she has never, in all her years, had a surprise party, so she's throwing herself one!  Obviously, she's has known her 50th birthday was inevitable for quite so me time, so that's not a surprise. And she knows she wants to celebrate it in New Orleans, so there's no surprise there, either.  Now she's signed the contract for the hotel arrangements, so that won't be a surprise.  But the one thing that can surprise her is YOU!  YOU can show up to the party and make it the best surprise ever!! (Just don't tell her you're coming!)

So here's the gig. We've blocked a group of rooms at the luxurious Bourbon Orleans Hotel right in the middle of Bourbon Street.  Miss Ginger has stayed there many times, and she has to say it's one of the best locations in the French Quarter!  The party will be on Friday, February 22, 2013 with continued festivities through the weekend.  If you'd like to join in the fun, call the hotel at 866.513-9744 and request the George Burch Group rate of $209 per night, a steal for a French Quarter property!  Call soon to be sure you can get this rate!

Miss Ginger has booked herself a balcony suite overlooking Bourbon Street, and that's where the Friday night party will begin! It's over the top glamour like you never seen, so pack your sparkliest sequins and your poofiest boas, because anyone who shows up without over-the-type finery will be thusly adorned!  We'll have drinks and nibbles, see who arrives, and celebrate half a century of untold sophistication! 

Saturday night, after a day of rest and recuperation, we'll have a room reserved at Emeril's NOLA, one of Miss G's favorite eateries, for those who wish to join us.  Sunday, there will be brunch at the hotel, either ala carte or catered, depending on how large our party turns out to be.  So, if you're in for a birthday blowout bash like no other, here's what you need to do:


1. Call the hotel to book your room: 866.513-9744.  Rooms will be released on a first come, first served basis, and will be held at the rate of $209 through Friday, December 21st.  After that date, rooms will be booked at the rack rate.  You're welcome to other hotel arrangements if you wish, but the rate of $209 is a great deal, and the hotel is in the middle of everything.
2. Please email our Cruise Director, Sonna, at salton77@yahoo.com, to let her know you're coming.  She's keeping the guest list TOP SECRET, especially to Miss G, but she needs a head count to be able to plan the activities, etc. Let her know if you wish to be included in the head count for NOLA and the brunch on Sunday morning.
3. Make your travel plans! United, Delta, Jet Blue, and Southwest all fly into Louis Armstrong International Airport.  The hotel offers valet parking if you choose to drive.  And if you plan your trip carefully, you can even take Megabus from spots long the east coast!
4. Pack your bags with glitz, glamour, and comfortable shoes, and DON'T TELL GINGER you are coming!!  She hopes to see all of you there, but hopes there will be a least SOME element of surprise!