Author: Melissa

Yesterday I was sitting and chatting my my neighbor – minding my own business – and I heard "MAMA MAMA!"

Colin was stuck.
Colin was stuck in her car.
Colin was stuck in her car's exhaust pipe.
Colin was stuck in her car's exhaust pipe up to his shoulder.

SIGH.

No, I didn't get a picture. I wish I had because it was pretty hilarious. He looked like a chimney sweep or something. But I was too concerned with him not touching anything at all in the house and, you know, the TOXINS that were now ALL OVER HIS BODY to snap a picture.
I know, I don't deserve to be a blogger.

Thanks so much for all of your votes this week on my Father's Day gift!! You voted overwhelmingly for an eReader and I agree – I think that was the best choice and I was leaning towards that. I've spent the last week or two researching eReaders and today I finally made a decision and went to Best Buy and bought the Nook.

There were several reasons I chose the Nook over the other eReaders on the market:

• Besides having the biggest bookstore by far (from which you can download
  wirelessly for free), the Nook has the best access to all kinds of content.
• It
  can display the EPUB format (so you can read FREE titles from your public
  library and from Google)
  as well as PDFs, photos, and MP3 audio files.
• I loved the LCD touchscreen along
  the bottom because, frankly, I'm a sucker for a touchscreen.
• Not only can you borrow books from the library, but on the Nook you can loan books to friends – legally – which you can't do on the Kindle.
• The Nook has games as well, like chess and Sudoku.
• The Sony Reader is nice, but in order to get the wireless feature you  have to buy the top-of-the-line model.
• The Nook also lets you read the entire eBook library for free, as well as sending you special coupons and discounts, when you're in a Barnes and Noble store. Bonus! We love Barnes and Noble!

I gave it to my husband and he was really surprised! (REALLY surprised!!) I was so excited that I started telling him how awesome the Nook was and why I picked it and he told me that maybe I should go work at Best Buy 😉 We're still loading it up with books and playing with it, but so far its awesome!!! Husband is loving his new gadget (now I just have to sneak it away from him so I can give it a try!)

disclosure: i received a gift card from best buy to buy a fathers day gift for my husband. i was not compensated financially for this post.

I confess I usually don't like talking to sales people very often. I tend to just say "Just looking!" and move on… even if I do have a question. I'd just rather pick out my own clothes thankyouverymuch. For big purchases, I tend to do a lot of my research online beforehand, reading reviews or polling my readers or something.

But I recently found myself at an event with the folks at Best Buy
and, when encouraged to ask them questions, I found myself chatting with them about eReaders and computers. I was surprised at how helpful I found it. Even for products that I had done research on already, I was finding out really useful info I hadn't heard – one Best Buy employee was answering questions about Macs that the people in the Apple Store couldn't answer. (And they totally were able to follow my garbled tech-jargon "You know, that one computer with the thing? That does that really cool thing?")

Today I was in Best Buy in King of Prussia spending my gift card and I stopped by the computer section to drool over the pretty machines, I mean do research. (I'm on borrowed time with my computer, big time!) I ended up speaking with a very nice employee named
Jack, who told me about the new desktop touchscreen computers I've been coveting. He ended up convincing me that the one I was originally thinking about buying was
overpriced for what it offered and this other one – a cheaper one that I'd never considered – would be a much better match for what I would use it for. Seeing all the brands
side-by-side with someone who knows about all of them was really helpful. And imagine someone telling you that the cheaper option was all you needed.

We'll still do lots of research online when we're making a big purchase, but I'm now convinced that actually going into a store and talking to someone who knows about the different options is totally worth it. 

disclosure: i received a gift card from Best Buy at the event i mentioned, which is what i was there to spend (hee hee!), but i was not compensated financially for this post.

I'm dreaming of a date night. I would take my husband out to Seasons 52 and then go see a movie. One that's for grown ups and has characters which have ever been Happy Meal toys. Sigh. So this week we're picking out outfits for my imaginary date night.

1.For a sweet and romantic look, I'm thinking this Petal Vine Shell:

I saw this top in J Crew when I was returning a bridesmaid dress that did not go as planned. Because you're not allowed to just return something without browsing, right? And wouldn't this cuff bracelet from Anthropologie's  blush collection go perfectly? Paired with jeans or a pencil skirt and cute shoes. Sweetness.

2. For a sleek and sophistacated look, I'm liking this Drapey Dolman Sleeve Shirt:

Would be great with really dark skinny jeans and a killer pair of heels. With bangles and some big ol' dramatic earrings.

3. For a dressy date, how about this cotton cady Serena dress?

This is the dress I'm wearing in my sister's wedding (except in black) and it is ADORABLE! The fit is divine and in this pink color, its not only summer and fun, but on sale!

Where would YOU love to take your husband for a date night?

In celebration of the Fourth of July, we the Rice Krispies Brand Ambassadors were asked to create Rice Krispies treats recipes that have a cold or frozen ingredient. Frankly, I was stumped. I've never made anything that combined Rice Krispies with cold ingredients. Heck, Rice Krispies Treats rarely even survive long enough to get cool in our house!
After much thought and a rip-roaring discussion on Facebook, I went with two of the most popular suggestions and basically ended up creating a "Kids" Recipe and an "Adult" Recipe. My little chef, Gracie, was a HUGE help in creating new recipes and was excited to see what real chefs do!!

Now I need your help! I can chose only one recipe to submit to Rice Krispies as my Cool Rice Krispies Treat.

Candy Bar Ice Cream Pie
Make a ice cream pie using your favorite candy bar. If you happen to love peanut butter cups, or another peanut butter candy, use peanut butter in the crust. For other types of candy, do a straight chocolate crust.

Crust:
6 oz chocolate chips
1/3 cup smooth peanut butter OR 2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Filling:
4 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
1 cup for your favorite candy bar or candy, chopped

1. Make crust: In large saucepan, melt chocolate morsels and peanut butter (or butter) over low heat; stirring constantly. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in Rice Krispies cereal, mixing thoroughly. Press into a pie plate(that has been sprayed with cooking spray), making a thin crust on the bottom and the sides. You may not use all of the mixture, depending on the size of your pan. Let cool.

2. Make filling: Reserve 1/4 cup candy bar. In a medium bowl, mix softened ice cream and candy bar with a spatula. Pour into cooled crust, smoothing top. Sprinkle reserved candy bar on top of pie, then place in freezer until firm, at least 3 hours.

Consensus: Yum.

Krispie Coconut Creme Tart

Crust:
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups mini marshmallows
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 cups Rice Krispies cereal

Filling:
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

Creme:
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp powdered sugar

1. Make crust: Melt butter over medium-low heat in a saucepan. Add marshmallows and coconut and stir until melted. Remove from heat and add cereal, mixing thoroughly. Press into a tart pan (that has been sprayed with cooking spray), making a thin crust on the bottom and the sides. You may
not use all of the mixture, depending on the size of your pan. Let cool. Scrape every last bit of Rice Krispie Treat out of the pot before washing.

2. Place 3/4 cup coconut in a dry skillet over medium heat. Toast – tossing occasionally – until golden, 3-4 minutes. WATCH carefully, as it can burn quickly.

3. Make filling:  In a saucepan, heat 2 cups of milk and 3/4 cups of coconut until it is simmering. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Strain, then return to saucepan, discarding coconut.

4. In a bowl, whisk sugar, cornstarch, salt, egg yolks and the remaining milk together well. Whisk into saucepan with coconut milk and bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to thicken, about 7-9 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing wrap onto top of custard and refrigerate until cool, 1 hour.

5. Make topping: In a cold bowl with an electric mixture beat cream until medium peaks form. (In a hurry, just use Cool Whip!)

 6. Assemble: Sprinkle about half of the toasted coconut on the crust. Spread the custard in the crust, then top with creme. Sprinkle remaining toasted coconut on the top, then chill for at least 30 minutes. Lick any and all spoons immediately.

In honor of this challenge, Rice Krispies and The Motherhood are giving one lucky Girlymama reader a copy of The Rice Krispie Treats Cookbook. Here's how to enter:

1. Contest ends Friday, June 25th.
2. Entry #1: Leave a comment telling me you voted
3. Entry #2: Leave a SEPARATE comment telling me you subscribed to Girlymama by email or in a reader
4. Entry #3:  Leave another comment telling me in what way you promoted this contest (i.e., posting about it on your blog or Facebook, Tweeting about it, or emailing friends.
5. Winners will be selected by Random.org, announced back here on this post, and notified via email with further instructions. See official rules here. 

Good luck!!

**the giveaway portion is now closed!**

We made this over the weekend and I forgot how much we love it! It makes a TON, so I've cut the original recipe in half  for our family.

Linguine with Shrimp Scampi

Vegetable oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt plus 1 1/2 teaspoons
3/4 pound linguine
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 pound large shrimp (about 16 shrimp), peeled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon, zest grated (I do not use this.)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half-rounds (For presentation purposes, don’t bother for family.)
1/8 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes

Cook linguine with 1 tablespoon of salt according to package directions. Meanwhile,
in a large saute pan or skillet, melt the butter and olive oil over
medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for just 1 minute. Then add the
shrimp, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and the pepper. Saute until the shrimp
have just turned pink, about 5 minutes. Stir often.

Remove from the heat. Add the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice,
lemon slices, and red pepper flakes. Toss to combine. (I don’t bother
with the lemon slices unless it’s for company. And I eliminate the
lemon zest. I feel it’s plenty lemony without the zest.)

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it
back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce. Toss well and
serve.

recipe origin: Barefoot Contessa Family Style