Happy Brain-boosting Wednesday!!!

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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"Did you know???..."

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What OMG really stands for???

Weeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllll since it's horrid to use The Lord's name in vain, TSK, tsk, tsk to any of you girls that are saying it...BE ASHAMED of yo'self, buuuuuuuuuut I decided to RENAME what OMG should stand for...

It hit me the other day, OMG should really stand for...

 Oh Mary Ginty!!!

Seriously, that's like GOTTA be what it stands for...You don't know how many times I've done something totally Maryish and people are just like, OH MARYYYY!!! Soooooooo there you have it, OMG stands for OH MARY GINTY!!! Hee, hee!!! 

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-Boosting Wednesday!!! #Italian Facts

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!
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Soooooooooo growing up a family favorite dish of ours was my mom's Shepherd's pie!!! It's just sooooooooooooooo good!!! It doesn't sound like anything amazing, but to me it just sounds like HOME!!! So it's basically a casserole, on the bottom is a mixture of ground beef, seasoned with onion soup mix and corn, then on top is mashed potatoes and on top of that is melted cheddar cheese. Then you make it in the oven at 350 til everything is warmed and the cheese is slightly browned... then you... and this is strictly a GINTY THING buuuuuut I highly recommend for everyone...THEN you drizzle Catalina/French dressing on top of your piece...Mmmmmmm....I''m literally drooling just thinking about it....don't let that mess get on you...;) Ahahahaahaa!!!

So there's all kinds of crazy variations of this dish and some of them are just really NASTY! I'll never forget eating it at these people from England's house....NO CHEESE on top and gravy in the meat and weird veggies and they would put like a mint jelly on it....I was soooooooo appalled but did manage to eat mine.

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Well my mom explained to us that the reason why Shepherd's Pie is called what it is, is because the shepherd's were always so poor, and they would just make do with whatever they had and would use scraps of whatever leftover meat there was to make their pie!!! I assumed that the shepherd's were Irish and that the potatoes were of high abundance, so this was something they could do with them in Ireland!!!! Not to sure HOW ACCURATE this is, buuuuuuuuuuut, according to my mom, IT WAS!!!!

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With all that being said...

 lets talk about LASAGNA!!!

I know, I know, abrupt, random

 subject change right?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

WRONG!!!

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Soooooooooo my mom, who was very Italian, thought lasagna was to be made a certain way. Red sauce, beef, mozzarella, parm, and of course RICOTTA CHEESE...NOT COTTAGE CHEESE...EVERRRR!!!!
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Annnnnnnnd she would get into it with this "white" lady that thought she was such a good cook and thought her lasagna was better than my mom's. Her lasagna involved a white gravy type sauce, NOT alfredo though and chicken and veggies and I think maybe even BEANS...let me tell you...MY MOM WAS APPALLED!!! .

She knows how to make a lota food, and she can make it look good, BUUUUUUT she can't make it taste good!!!

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 Anyways, I was researching about IF all Italians use ricotta cheese in their lasagna and I found a whole article about how in Italy, there are many variations of lasagna depending the location due to what is available most to the people there. Which makes sense, think about how even here in the US, what is popular in one state of our country is not known of in other parts depending what is cultivated and grown there. And every Italian thinks THERE WAY is THE BEST WAY!!! That's just the way Italians are, every Italian cook thinks THEY ARE THE BEST!!!! And to be honest, THEY ARE!!! ;)

(Buuuuuuuut by the way, NONE of the variations involved white gravy, corn, beans!!!)

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The article went on to ALSO SAY that basically, as far as what meat Italians chose to put in their lasagna, depended on what was leftover from that weeks cooking...meatballs, sausage, chicken, etc...

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When I read that I was like, OMW

"Did you know???..."

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Lasagna is the ITALIAN'S
SHEPHERD'S PIE!!!!

Because, Italians are just COOL like that! Most people, ugh, I'm sick of this food, just throw it out, buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut Italians???? Nah!!!!

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I imagine the first time lasagna was being created went something like this...

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Uh Joe-a, whata we-a gonna do with all these-a leftover meatballs from Little Joe's birthday party-a? Eh I don't-a know-a Maria, why don't we do-a something amazing with a them that will change the world Maria? Like what-a Joe? Donate-a them to the homeless shelter down-a the street??? DONATE THEM???? Yells Joe in horror!!! You-a gotta be-a kidding me babe!!!! I said do something AMAZING WITH THEM-A that willa chang-a the world-a!!!!

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 Let me think, ah yes-a, I know what-a we'll-a do-a with-a them-a, we'll make a whole new entrée. It will be like a layered pie with noodles and-a, we'll throw on some-a marinara between, parm on top of the marinara, mozzarella on the very top and THEN +we'll-a cutta up the-a leftover meatballs from-a Little Joe's birthday and putta them in between-a the layers of cheese and noodles!!! What do-a you-a think-a about-a that Maria???

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 Oh yes-a Joe, that seems like a great idea, Oh and-a JOE, I know, we'll put RICOTTA cheese in between-a all the layers as wella!! Ah yes, MARIA, ricotta cheese, oh my sweet shmoocums, YES-A, RICOTTA CHEESE!!! The perfect finishing touch!!! See Maria, THAT IS WHY I MARRIED YOU...because, I am-a good-a already...buuuuuuuuut-a TOGETHER, together YOU MAKE ME AMAZING-A!!! *SMOOCH♥ Oh-a Joe, I love you too and DONATE THEM-A???? FUGGETTABOUTIT!!!! *Smooch♥smooch♥SMOOOOOOCH!!!!♥

 EH LITTLE JOE, go-a getta the big pot, it's-a COOKING TIME!!!!

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Annnnnnnnnnd there you have it folks, LASAGNA,

the ITALIAN'S VERSION OF SHEPHERD'S PIE!!!

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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)
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"WHEN LIFE THROWS YOU LEFTOVER MEATBALLS...

MAKE LASAGNA!!! ;)"
(Mary Ginty quote)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-boosting-Wednesday!!!

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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♪Rudolf the red-nosed reindeer♫ Had a very shiny nose♪♪ annnnnnnnd if  you everrrr saw it, YOU WOULD even say it GLOWED...♪

LIKE A LIGHT BULB!!!♫

"Did you know???..."

 Rudolph’s red nose is probably the result of a parasitic infection of his respiratory system. According to Roger Highfield, the author of the book “The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey” the world’s most famous reindeer has a red nose due to a parasite. However, Rudolf’s relationship with his parasite is symbiotic: after all, the red nose illuminates the path through the winter night for the whole reindeer team.

Seems rather fitting in these times that the world's story of Christmas is all about a reindeer with a VIRUS!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAAA!!

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 Merry Christmas! 

Let your light still shine bright through that mask!!! Hee, hee!!!

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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)


♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-boosting-Wednesday!!!

HERE IS YOUR MIDDLE OF THE WEEK BRAIN BOOSTER!!!

Sooooooooo for my birthday this past summer, I told my sister that I wanted this Bible study series through the Pentecostal Publishing house. Basically, theres like 20-something workbooks that go over all different subjects. I believe they are for homeschoolers, buuuuuuut, I really wanted them just for more knowledge on basic things. The first one is all about God's Word, then repentance, then water baptism, the Holy Ghost, etc...

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Weeeeeeeeeeellllll I showed them to Denae and she was really interested and we actually start doing them together in our Monday night Bible studies. Over the past 6 months, we've learned some really interesting things that expounded on basic things that we already have been learning about all our lives annnnnnnnnnnnd I thought I would share some of them with you on BRAIN-BOOSTING WEDNESDAYS!!!

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Soooooooooooo I have a question for you all...

WHICH COMMANDMENT FROM JESUS COMES  FIRST: BELIEF OR REPENTANCE???

This is a little like what came first the chicken or the egg??? Buuuuuut answer this to yourself, which do YOU think Jesus commands first, BELIEF OR REPENTANCE???  Think about it...

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Did you answer it in your head???

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I would have picked BELIEF!!!

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BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT...

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"Did you know???..."

That THE CORRECT ANSWER IS...

REPENTANCE!!!!

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It almost seems impossible...HOW CAN YOU REPENT without FIRST believing???

YET JESUS SAID IT!!!

You can't truly believe UNTIL you have turned AWAY from everything you have previously known, you have to repent of all your former beliefs, to believe the truth!!! 

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-boosting Wednesday(WHY Eve ate the apple AND who invented shopping???)

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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Ok, ok, okaaaaaaaaaaaay I know all you hoity-toity Bible scholars out there that just read my title and your liiiiike, ACTUALLY the Bible doesn't say it was an apple, we really don't KNOW what kind of fruit it was...YEAH, I know that, so NOW that we got that out of the way, lets move ourselves right along...

"Did you know???..."

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WHY DID EVE EAT THAT APPLE???

OR

WHO INVENTED SHOPPING???

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I was at a Bible study my pastor was teaching a while ago and he was talking about how when Eve ate the fruit, her and Adam immediately knew they were naked and so they went and made themselves clothes out of fig leaves and suddenly, I knew WHY Eve must have eaten that apple... as we were sitting there it hit me...

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WHAT IF EVE JUST WANTED

 TO GO SHOPPING???????

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Has anyone everrrrrrr DARED TO WONDER THAT BEFORE??? 

Yes, yes you guys, in the middle of Pastor's teaching, I had a SHOPPING REVELATION!!! 

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Think about it ladies, IF IT WERE NOT FOR EVE, 

SHOPPING WOULD HAVE NEVERRRR BEGAN!!!! 

Literally you guys, 

EVE INVENTED SHOPPING!!! 

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)
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Annnnnnnnd from the bottom of my big fluffy heart,

 I just wanna say...

THANK GOD FOR SHOPPING!!!

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Now, to all you SHOPPING HATERRRRS out there, your all reading this and the only thing your getting from all this is, SEE, shopping IS EVIL!!! I have one friend particularly that is reading this right now, and thinking see, I TOLD YOU, yeah, I KNOW WHAT YOUR THINKING BRO, buuuuuuuuuuuuuut before you get to far with your shopping bashing, just know this, GOD ENFORCES SHOPPING!!! Uh, huh, that's right, HE DOES!!! 

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GOD PROMOES SHOPPING:

Are you guys ready for this??? Cuz you see, Adam and Eve clothed themselves with fig leaves and when God saw them he was like, (Mary translation of Genesis 3:21) "NAW GIRRRRRL" you need MORE CLOTHES!!!" Yes, yes you guys, once shopping STARTED, 

GOD PROMOTED AND ENFORCED IT!!!

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Annnnnnnnnnnd once again, God takes the bad and turns it for good!!!

Ain't that JUST LIKE THE LORD!?!?!? 

Can I get an amen from all you sisters out there???

Pardon me a moment while I have a lil dance!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-Boosting Wednesday!!! (RSVP)

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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Have you ever wonder what RSVP stands for?

I mean, we say it all the time when we send out invites for something, buuuut what does it mean??? Randomly, I was asking everyone around church and no one really knew...NOT EVEN STULTZ...no one agreed with MY interpretation of it being Respond Soon Very Please...OKAAAAAAAAY WHY NOT??? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!
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WEEEEEELLLL, I decided that when I got home I would do a little research and be the one to INFORM all my unenlightened fellow church members of WHAT RSVP stands for. (This is pretty much the norm for me at my church...I'm always up to SOMETHING!!! LOL) 
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Soooooooooooo I went home and researched it and when I looked it up, I INSTANTLY KNEW WHY know one knows what RSVP STANDS for....I was soooooo pleased with myself...First person I would impress with my new-found knowledge would be Mr-almost-has-his-masters-degree-himself...YES, you guessed it, STULTZ!!!
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I was like, JONATHON!!! I know WHY we don't know what RSVP STANDS FOR...before I could EVEN INFORM HIM...because it's NOT in English...I was like, UGH! You juuuuuust had TO LOOK IT UP TOO???? You just COULD'T LET ME, Little-Miss-No-Degree, BE THE ONE TO INFORM YOU??? UGH!!!
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Anyways, let me inform YOU ALL...now don't go running to your dictionary encyclopedia GOOGLE for this before I tell you, JUST LET ME BE THE ONE TO TELL YOU ALL OKAAAAAAAAAAAAYYY??? OK!!! 

"Did you know???..."

That RSVP MEANS

Répondez s'il vous plaît

RSVP is a process for a response from the invited person or people. It is an initialism derived from the French phrase Répondez s'il vous plaît, meaning "Please respond" to require confirmation of an invitation. Actually, somewhere else it says that Literally, « s'il vous plaît » means "if it pleases you".   Sooooooo RSVP translates into RESPOND IF IT PLEASES YOU...I'm not cool with that...I think it should mean, PLEASE RESPOND OR ELSE YOUR ANNOYING THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME AND IF YOU DO COME WITHOUT RESPONDING THERE WON"T BE ANY FOOD FOR YOU!!

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

Thank you all for letting ME be THE ONE to inform you all of that...hee, hee!!!

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-boosting Wednesday!!!

WHAT IS THANKSGIVING???

Sooooooo before Thanksgiving, buuuuuut after Halloween, my little nephew O was talking to me and he started on his own accord saying that Halloween was YUCKY!!! My sister said she never said anything to him but when they would go to the store and he would see the Halloween stuff he would say, ewwwwww! I don't like it,  HALLOWEEN IS YUCKY!!! Which, in case you didn't know, it IS indeed YUCKY!!!

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Well one day when I was getting him ready for school in the morning, I asked him, Odin, do we celebrate Halloween?! He said, NOOOO!!! He shakes his little head, we don't celebrate Halloween! Halloween is YUCKY!!! Then he points to our fall pumpkins on the kitchen table says, 

WE CELEBRATE JESUSGIVING!!!

Isn't that the cutest thing everrrr!!! 

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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"Did you know???..."

Thanksgiving: Remembering to GIVE THANKS, 

                      for all that JESUS HAS GIVEN!!! (Mary's definition)

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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

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"Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:11)

♥Mary Frances :)

Happy Brain-boosing Wednesday!!!

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

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"Did you know???..."

What scatology means???? YEEEES, that is a REAL WORD!!! 

Soooooooooo we were playing games at the church a few Sunday nights ago, and the word was SCATOLOGY! If you you've never played  BALDERDASH, it is an incredibly FUNNNNN game where you make up definitions for extremely rare words, then they all get read and  you have to guess which one is the actual definition. The thing is, is that SOMETIMES, the definition is really crazy, sooooo you NEVERRRR know which one could possibly be right!!! 

Btw: I would like to add in that I WON the game, 

EVEN THO Stultz said it was UNJUSTLY...Psh✋

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Weeeeeellllll THE WORD WAS SCATOLOGY and Denae came up with THE AWESOMEST definition everrrrr!!! 

Every time we play this game, there is usually ONE definition that wins the BEST DEFINITION EVERRR AWARD from me annnnnnnnd DENAE ONE THIS TIME!!!! She said: Scatology: The Study of getting rid of boyfriends!!!! Get it??? Like, SCAT, get out of here? SCAT??? AHAHAHAAAAAAA!!! 

Good one Denae, 

GOOD ONE!!! 

"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)
♥Mary Frances :)
P.S. If you want THE ACTUAL definition of scatology go HERE, but it's not nearly as exciting as Denae's!!!

Brain-boosting-Wednesday!!! (The Italian defense edition)

Here's your middle-of-the-week brain booster!!!

Okaaaaaaaaaaaay soooooo, 

As you guys may or may not remember, the end of May I did a post called, "When Your Best Friends With An Ethiopian" (Go ahead and refresh your memory if you can't remember;) In that post informed you all that I have a lovely lil bestie that likes to remind me from time to time, that us Italians invaded their country and TRIED to colonize the Ethiopians and that is WHY many Ethiopians know how to cook Italian food. Since that time, I made and AMAZING DISCOVERY....dunt, dunt, DA...

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Sooooooo I'm talking to Hanna on the phone one evening and she tells me that her mom made Lasagna for dinner...I'm like, OH YOUR WELCOME...we taught your people well!!! Hee, hee!!! ;) I'm like, SOOOOOOOOOOO I have to ask you a question, when your mom makes her lasagna, does she use cottage cheese OR RICOTTA CHEESE??? Because you have to understand that putting COTTAGE cheese in  your lasagna instead of RICOTTA cheese is like literally THE BIGGEST NOOOOOO!!! I mean, my mom could have gone on for hours on how DISCUSTING and DISGRACFUL that was to the dish!!! LOL
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If you don't know the difference between ricotta cheese and cottage cheese, I only have TWO things to say to you: 1. you are obviously NOT Italian and 2. go HERE to find out!!! hee, hee!!! (Pronounced RIGUTTA...Trust me, I spent my whole life with a mother correcting ME annnnnnnd EVERYONE ELSE, that said it wrong:) So she asks her mom and says, Oh my mom said, neither, she just did the layers with meat and sauce!
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I was like, OMW HANNA, do you know what this means??? It means it wasn't MY ITALIANS!!! She's like, what? I'm like, HANNNNNNAAAA...it wasn't us, it wasn't MY ITALIANS that tried to colonize you guys!!! I went on to explain, YOU JUST SAID, your mom doesn't use ricotta cheese in her lasagna, annnnnnnnnnd I was just reading the other day that there are certain parts of Italy that... 

"Did you know???..."

ACTUALLY don't really use ricotta cheese...
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"...Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelllll NOW YOU DO, annnnnnnnnd don't you FORGET IT!!!" (AIO BTV quote;)

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For realz people, the Southern Italians are not as fond of ricotta cheese as the rest of us Italians!Therefore, it must have been the SOUTHERN Italians to invade Ethiopia and try to overtake them!!! 

It wasnt MY ITALIANS...it couldn't have been...We LOOOOOOVE RICOTTA CHEESE!!! Seriously, my mom and I would just eat it by the spoonful..It wasnt MY ITALIANS...

MY ITALIANS LOOOOOOOOOOVE RICOTTA CHEESE...

ANNNNNNNNNNNND 

WE LOVE CHOCOLATE TOO!!! ;)))

 OUR HONOR IS RESTORED!!! 

♥Mary Frances :)