Jerald Stewart, my Grandfather

My grandfather passed away last night. When I heard the news I initially started crying, and then I kind of became happy. Why? Because my Grandmother, his loving wife, passed away about 3 years ago. She was his life and his ALL. They never called each other by their names, they always called each other "love" or "babe." They were SO cute, SO happy, and SO in love. My grandfather is now back with my loving grandmother, and I am happy that they can reunite in heaven.

We love you and will miss you dearly grandpa!

Really? I mean, REALLY?

General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) said on Nov. 7 that it will run out of the cash it needs to operate late this year or early next year. On Tuesday, Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli told the Senate Banking Committee his firm is also at risk of running out of cash. He and the CEOs of GM and Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) are seeking financial assistance from the federal government.

As a result, some experts predict higher car and truck prices, vehicle shortages and difficulty finding replacement parts for owners of American as well as Asian cars if Detroit's Big Three don't get the $25 billion they are asking for from Congress.


MEANWHILE:


Chrysler to give retention bonus
Herald News ServicesPublished: Saturday, November 15, 2008
Even as chrysler llc cuts thousands of jobs and seeks federal aid to survive, the company is in the awkward position of paying about $30 million Us in retention bonuses to keep top executives, the detroit Free Press reported Friday.

Really? I mean, REALLY?

I need to get something off my chest

Greg and I got married almost 1 year ago. Anyone who knows me very well knows that one of my LONG time friends never showed up to our wedding. I have no clue why. No phone call, no email, no text message. I was told she just didn't feel like going. I have been BURNING to know what happened to make her not show up to her own friends wedding. It makes me SOOOO mad knowing that someone can do something like that. It's been almost a year now, and I still have NO clue why she never showed or called. It's hurtful, rude, unthoughtful, and disrespectful. Not only did her and her boyfriend not show, but her mom and her husband did not come either. They all 4 RSVP'd.

From a bride's prospective, and from the mother of the bride's prospective I offer the following insight to why it's rude to RSVP and then never show up. For an example we will use our wedding. Dinner and drinks ended up being about $75pp including tax. This was not a cheap wedding. 75x4=$300 that MY PARENTS AND GREG'S PARENTS spent to include them into our special day.

I find it a very selfish and disrespectful act, on my half and our parents behalf.

Everyone grows up at some point. Some take a bit longer to mature and get themselves on the right path and direction. I hope this person had found that direction, and will some day explain to me their reasoning and offer some type of apology. This was not just a person I kind of new, I considered her one of my best friends.

Please vote for our dog!

Windstream is having a cover dog contest, the winning dog gets to be on the cover of the Windstream Yellow Pages! Please go to this link:

http://www.windstreamcoverdog.com/Dog_Detail.aspx?ID=322

I agree with Obama

WASHINGTON - Democrat Barack Obama derided Republican opponent John McCain's mortgage buyout plan on Thursday as a misdirected effort that rewards bad behavior by lenders and takes billions of dollars from taxpayers, already suffering a heavy burden as the country's financial system teeters on the brink of a meltdown.

Speaking at the start of a two-day bus tour through swing-state Ohio, Obama charged that McCain's plan would force the government to absorb the full cost of renegotiating mortgages to prevent borrowers from losing their homes. He said lenders should share some of the costs of any program that attempts to stem the American financial crisis that grew out of questionable home-mortgage practices.

Fall and Keeneland

I have to say, I LOVE FALL! I get to make chili, soup, and my favorite food ever: Butternut Squash! I could make it with every meal I swear. I'm making a butternut squash lasagna for a Potluck lunch I've organized at work next week, I will post the recipe for sure.

We are going to Keeneland this weekend with our friends Tim, Liz, Erin, Kris and their 2 kids. It's so much fun! We are gonig to tailgate before, I'm making my ribs! I think we are purchasing cornhole as well.
Keeneland is probably the BEST people watching ever. You'll see people with cut off jean shorts and flannels, girls with barely nothing on, and women dressed like it's the Derby. They also have some amazing corned beef sandwiches, I miss those.

Stupid people cost us money

So John McCain proposes to spend another $300 BILLION dollars to buy up the subprime loans that stupid people got themselves into. What ever happened to actions and consequences? Why do the smart people who actually READ what they are getting into have to bail out the DUMB people who don't read what they are signing???

There is a page on your mortgage papers called a Truth in Lending. This pages tells you, if you have an ARM loan that is adjustable, WHEN and HOW MUCH your loan will be when the rate adjusts. I don't think it can get much clearer than that.

I do, however, agree that there should have been, and still needs to be more regulation for loans. If someone makes $100,000 a year, and on their credit report they only have a $300/month car payment, their debt-to-income ratio only includes their house payment, taxes, and car payment. Debt-to-income ratio is simply the ratio of your monthly obligations to your monthly income. Most lenders require it to be less than 50%. However, this does not include any of your normal spending like FOOD! I think that a law should be passed that says you must include a certain amount of dollars per person (maybe according to age?) that will be added to your debt-to-income ratio to give a more REALISTIC view on what your monthly bills will be.

Also, the whole stated loan thing gets me mad. Yes, it was a dumb loan program. If you don't know what a stated loan is, it means that the customer just tells the mortgage officer what they make, without having to prove that is actually what they make. Usually you have to provide pay stubs and W2's. The rate is usually higher on these loans, but it's so easy for people to lie to get a house that they wouldn't normally afford. There are stipulations, the amount they state has to be reasonable for their profession, but there are certainly not enough stipulations by far.

I do not agree with McCain wanting to buy out the bad loans. Yes, I do agree that some people did get screwed, but THE PEOPLE SIGNED MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS WITHOUT ACTUALLY READING THE MORTGAGE DOCUMENT. I wouldn't even get a tanning membership without reading the fine print, let alone a mortgage for $150,000.

Alyssa

This is my neice, Alyssa. I made her a special Strawberry Shortcake ice cream cake, she absolutely loved it. I'm going home for Halloween and making her a mermaid cake for her birthday, I can't wait!

My First Blog!!!

Hello World! Welcome to my first blog. I will be posting recipes, ideas, and other fun stuff from my random, sugar-filled life.

The picture above is obviously of one of the most important parts of that day, the CAKE! We had several different layers on our fondant covered masterpiece including red velvet, cherry, and vanilla. We had a Christmas wedding, so it was only fitting that we had our cake look like stacked presents. I think the BEST part of the cake was the tag on the top, it says "TO: Erin & Greg FROM: Mom & Dad"

For anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Erin Schillo. I grew up in Brecksville, Ohio and have lived in several different places including Miami Beach, and currently reside in Lexington, Ky. My husband is Greg Schillo, he grew up in Broadview Hts about 2 miles from my childhood home. We knew each other, and actually his older sister, Natalie, gave me a ride to school with him in the car every once in a while. We met back up about 8 years later, fell in love, and the rest is history!

I have a strong passion for cooking and baking, always have. I'm obsessed with the Food Network. I don't own any cookbooks, I rarely make any recipe more than once because I ALWAYS try new things. Except of course for my famous ribs, those I make the same every time. You will find that my baking recipes are always exact amounts, my cooking recipes are here and there. 95% of the the time I never measure, I look at it, smell it, and taste it. That is how I know I've made it right. Here is my recipe for ribs:

Pork Ribs

Dry Rub:

1/4 cup Paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon mesquite seasoning

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Place ribs in a glass or metal baking dish. Baste the ribs in the apple cider vinegar. Pour the dry rub on top an press into ribs. Cover and let sit for at least 3 hours, up to overnight if you can!

To cook them, I pour about 1 cup dark beer OR apple juice in the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly in foil and bake at 250 for about 4-5 hours, depending on the amount of ribs. (You can rinse the dry rub off if you like, we usually keep it on for more flavor) Once they are almost falling off the bone, baste them in your favorite BBQ Sauce. Greg and I LOVE Sweet Baby Rays, we should order it in bulk we use it so much. ALWAYS finish ribs on the grill if you can, makes a huge difference. Just set them on your grill for about 10-15 minutes to get that nice and crispy outside.

Enjoy!