KONY 2012!!!

Hey everyone!!!  I have something that I want to share with all of you, and it has an importance on a global scale.

A few years ago I had the privilege to read the memoir of Ischmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldiers, and later hear him speak as a part of the Distinguished Lecture Series at UW-Madison.  His work greatly impacted my like, and I could honestly say that there was not a dry eye in the auditorium the night he spoke.  If any of you are unfamiliar with the usage of child soldiers in Africa I suggest you become familiar.  This heinous practice influences 10's and 10's of thousands of people.  And this year there is a new campaign, started by an American Documentist, to bring this subject to the light, and to more specifically arrest one of the biggest warlords in Africa that utilizes children for soldiers and sex slaves.  All that you have to do is watch the video, KONY 2012, and share it with others. Congress only looks at an issue if it is a repeated concern of the majority.  So please help spread the word, and don't let the steps already taken to apprehend the criminal that is KONY go unnoticed and fall by the wayside.

I know that each of you will be touched by this film, and I hope you're compelled to further share the video and the information with others!

KONY 2012: www.KONY2012.com
Watch the film HERE: www.invisiblechildren.com

Here's a link the Ischmael Beah's website:
http://www.alongwaygone.com/

THANKS SO MUCH MY FELLOW BLOGGERS!!! 
More posts of my shenanigans to follow this weekend! :)

RagazzaC
Carpe Diem

Making Banana Pudding, Pretend Like it's the Weekend Now, We Could Pretend it all the Time!

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful.  Since there's no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let is snow.  (I'm in a sing-songy mood, as shown by my need to Christmas carol and revamp some Jack Johnson lyrics in the title.)

And snow it is!!!  Southern WI is in the middle of a big snow storm and I LOVE it!!!  If you've never been in a WI blizzard you are sincerely missing out!  While most people are complaining about the snow and driving conditions, I'm loving the time being forced to stay inside.  Everything is white and the snow covered trees are like something out of a dream.  Something about the chaos outside makes my life magically get organized.  I am so productive during this time being cooped up!  Bills get paid, schoolwork gets done, chores are completed, and I get through the mountainous stack of Cosmo magazines taking over my coffee table.

As for the rest of a WI winter...I could go into a state of hibernation, and I end up eating enough to get me through the winter on fat-stores...Everything is grey, overcast, and frigidly cold.  Edgar Allan Poe, most definitely, had to have lived in WI, in the dead of winter, while writing pretty much any of his dark and dreary literary works.  (I think he's actually from Boston...wikipedia that ish!)

So the last few days I haven't blogged due to the "funk" the weather put me in, but what I did do was make some AHHHH-mazing banana pudding.  Sitting on the couch, watching Sex and The City, I ate that banana pudding, adding to the winter-induced tire that has formed around my mid-section.  Early Spring, my ass, Jimmy!  (Jimmy's the local groundhog.  I'm actually pretty jealous of the big fuzzball.  I mean, he rides around town in a limo...a groundhog...in a limo...driving around a town that's smaller than a NYC basement studio...again, in a limo.)

I feel it is my duty, even if it means contributing to America's obesity problem, to share the recipe for my banana pudding!  (There will be no actual pic of the dessert due to the fact that I dove into it before I thought to take a pic for ya'll.)  :)

Ingredients!

BANANA PUDDING

Ingredients:

1-8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temp)

1-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk (I only used 3/4 of a can)

1 small box of instant French Vanilla pudding

1 small box of instant Banana pudding

1 1/2 cups cold milk

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1-8 oz. container Extra Creamy Cool-Whip, or other whipped topping

4 bananas, sliced

Nilla wafers (I use the bite size so that you get a cookie with each bite. Didn't say this was for you, calorie counters!)

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Beat in condensed milk, pudding mixes, cold milk and heavy cream, and vanilla until smooth.  Fold in half of the whipped topping.

2.  Line the bottom of a 9x13" serving dish with Nilla wafers.  Arrange bananas evenly over the wafers.  Spread the pudding mixture over this "crust."  Top with remaining whipped topping.  Place in the refrigerator to chill.

*I recommend only making this if it will be eaten up in the following 2-3 days.  You can also drizzle the bananas with diluted lemon juice to prevent them from browning.

ENJOY!!!

Until next time!

RagazzaC

Carpe Diem