The Real Housewife of Santa Monica

I’m behind on my salad postings. I’ve been on the phone/instant chat with Sears’ customer service. I think I’ve spent around 5 hours at this. My new hobby!

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Please wait for a Sears Customer Service Representative to respond. This chat may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance purposes. Thank you for holding.
Hi, my name is Bourne, and it is my pleasure to assist you today. May I have your name please?
Christina: Christina
Bourne: Good Evening Christina!
Bourne: I appreciate the opportunity to help you! How are you doing today, Christina?
Christina: Fine. Thanks.
Bourne: You are welcome.
Bourne: Good to hear!
Christina: I have a few questions about an order (you have the order number.)
Bourne: Let me know how may I help you today, Christina?
Bourne: I will be glad to answer the questions that you have in your mind regarding the order.
Bourne: Do you have an order number, Christina?
Christina: 1. There were several mistakes made on my order (you might be able to see. Sears ended up canceling the hood (that was for store pickup.) That is fine but it hasn’t shown up (You already have my order number – that’s the first thing they asked me on the chat.)
Bourne: Thank you for confirming the order number.
Christina: Anyway, it’s been at least 8 days since the hood was cancelled (2/29/12) and the refund hasn’t appeared on my credit card.
Christina: That’s question NO. 1.
Bourne: I am sorry to hear that the order which you placed for the hood for store pickup has been canceled.
Bourne: I’m sorry for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you.
Christina: I’ll wait for the answer to NO. 1 before I go any further.
Bourne: I will surely check on the status of the order and will help you regarding the refund of the order.
Bourne: Before we continue, please verify your full name, complete billing address and the email that was used to place the order?
Christina: It’s 100% fine that the hood was cancelled. However, I was told the amount would be refunded to my credit card within 3-5 days. It’s now been over 8 days.
Christina: ——————
Christina: ——————
Christina: ——————-
Christina: ——————
Bourne: Thank you.
Bourne: I am sorry to hear that you haven’t received the refund on this order as it is been canceled.
Bourne: Just a moment while I check on the refund status and help you in getting the refund.
Christina: Ok
Bourne: Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience.
Christina: Well, I want the refund.
Christina: And I have a few other questions after that.
Bourne: Christina, I have reviewed the order and understand that the order for the item “30 34 Convertible Range Hood 5205″ is canceled.
Bourne: I am forwarding the request for the refund on this order.
Bourne: Please allow 3-5 business days for the refund to reflect on your card.
Christina: The refund needs to be expedited IMMEDIATELY though. Not in another 3-5 days.
Christina: Please talk to your supervisor if you need to.
Christina: B/c otherwise, Sears is holding my money for longer than the terms imply.
Christina: Do you think it’s right that I have to wait 3-5 days? That means I will have waited 11-14 days for the refund when Sears’ policy explicitly states that my refund will appear within 3-5 days.
Bourne: Let me check with my supervisor regarding this matter.
Christina: Thank you.
Bourne: You are welcome.
Bourne: Thank you for staying online. I appreciate your patience.
Christina: Ok
Bourne: I have checked with my supervisor and we are sorry that the refund processing is taking slight delay.
Bourne: I’m sorry for any inconvenience this matter may have caused you.
Christina: Ok. Let’s not use the word “sorry” anymore.
Bourne: Please need not worry.
Christina: I just want my refund immediately.
Bourne: I understand that the sorry word is not worth for this inconvenience.
Bourne: I understand your frustration with the way you feel. I don’t blame you for feeling disappointed.
Christina: Question: can I get the refund immediately?
Bourne: To be honest I would feel the same way if I was in your situation.
Christina: I am not “disappointed” I am considering getting legal counsel.
Bourne: We have forwarded the request to our refund processing team to process the refund.
Christina: I would like your supervisor to get the refund expedited ASAP. LIke today.
Bourne: I absolutely understand how you are feeling right now and to be honest, I would have felt the same.
Christina: Please tell your supervisor that I am going to get legal counsel regarding this matter if my refund is not made TODAY.
Bourne: I wish that we could have processed the refund right now to you but since it takes 3-5 business days to reflect the refund on the card we apologize for the slight delay.
Christina: No, it doesn’t take 3-5 business day. It takes 11-14 business days.
Christina: Please pass this chat to the supervisor right now.
Bourne: I completely agree to you and it is completely an inconvenience regarding the refund and hence I certainly agree to you that waiting for these many days for a refund is not acceptable.
Bourne: I am taking the chat under the supervision of my supervisor.
Christina: Then please make it right.
Christina: Thank you.
Christina: Thank you.
Bourne: You are welcome.
Bourne: Please stay assured on it, Christina.
Christina: What does that mean: “I am taking the chat under the supervision of my supervisor”
Christina: Does that mean you are passing the chat over to your supervisor?
Bourne: We have forwarded the request to our concerned department and you will receive the refund for this order.
Christina: When will I receive the refund?
Bourne: Yes, I understand and we will certainly take care regarding the refund.
Christina: When will I receive the refund?
Bourne: All I suggest you to wait for 3-5 business days.
Christina: No.
Christina: That is unacceptable.
Christina: What if 3-5 days pass and it still hasn’t posted? Should I then just wait another 3-5 days?
Christina: Please get your SUPERVISOR.
Christina: I am not kidding around.
Christina: My brother is an attorney. Do you want me to get him involved?
Bourne: Just a moment while I ask my supervisor to assist you regarding this.
Bourne: Just a moment while I transfer this chat to my supervisor.
Christina: Ok
Bourne: Please allow me 2-3 minutes while I transfer this chat to our supervisor.
Christina: As long as it’s not 3-5 days
Please wait while I transfer the chat to ‘Bryan’.
Hi, my name is Bryan, and it is my pleasure to assist you today. May I have your name please?
Christina: Christina
Bryan: Thank you for staying online. Christina
Christina: Hopefully you have all the information from “Bourne”
Bryan: Yes, I am reviewing the chat for you.
Christina: Hi Bryan,
Bryan: Good Evening. Christina
Christina: The hood I ordered was cancelled by my local Sears store on 2/29/12. The refund was supposed to be posted to my account within 3-5 business days. That would be today.
Christina: The refund has still not posted. Please advise.
Bryan: Sure, I will check and get the information for you.
Christina: Thanks
Bryan: You are welcome.
Bryan: I checked the information for you, the refund should have been processed. However, there seem to be an issue.
Bryan: I have forwarded the concern to the concerned department so that refund is done at the earliest.
Bryan: We will get back to you within 2-3 business days.
Christina: What seems to be the issue?
Bryan: I am sorry, we do not have the required information. Hence, we have the forwarded the issue to the concerned department.
Christina: Do you realize Sears cancelled the hood by mistake on Friday the 24th? And STILL didn’t post the refund?
Bryan: I am sorry to hear that the hood was cancelled.
Bryan: Yes, I understand your concern.
Christina: I contacted Sears cust. service last week who assured me the refund would post w/in 3-5 days. It’s now been 9 days since they cancelled the hood on my order.
Bryan: Yea, I am sorry for the delay. I will make sure you get the refund at the earliest.
Christina: What is the required information you don’t have? Why don’t you call the concerned department right now.
Christina: Can I ask you the other two questions?
Bryan: I am sorry, we do not have the option to call the department. We have forwarded it to the concerned department.
Bryan: Sure, please go ahead.
Christina: Question 2: Can you refund the installation fee since the Sears delivery guys were unable to install it?
Christina: (the range)
Bryan: I will check the information for you.
Bryan: May I have the information to which appliance you are referring to?
Christina: Don’t you have my order number?
Christina: ————-
Bryan: Thank you.
Bryan: Yes, I will check the information for you.
Christina: Model# ——
Christina: Thanks.
Bryan: You are welcome.
Bryan: I checked the information for you, I am sorry, we have not charged installation fee on this order.
Christina: Oh Ok.
Christina: Thanks.
Christina: Question 3 (the last question):
Christina: We DID pay for “haul away” but since it couldn’t be installed, they couldn’t haul away the old range. They said they could come back when it was ready to be picked up. It’s now ready to be picked up. Can we arrange for the haul away now?
Bryan: Yes, you can do that. You just need to call the delivery team at 1800-732-7747.
Christina: Ok. Thanks.
Bryan: You are welcome. Christina
Christina: You said I will hear from Sears within 2-3 business days. How will I hear from Sears? Via email or phone?
Christina: B/c last time I was told I’d hear from Sears, I didn’t.
Christina: They didn’t even call the day before or day of delivery!
Bryan: We will reach you through email.
Christina: Who?
Bryan: You will get email from the billing team.
Christina: Ok. Thanks.
Bryan: You are welcome.
Bryan: May I help you in any other way today?
Christina: No. You really haven’t helped that much. No offense! I have nothing but mistakes from Sears since the beginning.
Christina: I hope you can find a new job when Sears goes bankrupt.
Bryan: I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. We will make sure that you do not experience the same situation again.
Christina: I doubt it.
Bryan: Thanks for chatting with me regarding order issue! Thank you for choosing us today; we appreciate your business. Good bye and have a great day!
Christina: We are going somewhere else for our appliances next time. I have wasted about 5+ hours just trying to sort this out.
Thank you for chatting with us. Please click the “Close” button on the top right of the chat window to tell us how we did today.

This isn’t a salad. It’s a vegetarian version of Shepherd’s Pie. And it is AWESOME. It reminds me of a really good pot pie.

Because I want to watch “Eastbound & Down” tonight, this’ll be a short one. I know you understand!

You know how I tend to describe my recipes as “really easy” and “simple?” Well, this one IS easy but it’s definitely a little more labor intensive as anyone who has ever made mashed potatoes knows. A friend of mine, who only had limited time after work, decided to use boxed mashed potatoes, so you can do that if you’re short on time!

Here’s what you need for the mashed potatoes:

and

POTATOES INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 pounds russet or yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup milk
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1/3 c sour cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg yolk (I used replacer)

1. Place the diced potatoes in a medium sized pot of water. Cover with salted, cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender but not mushy. Drain the potatoes and return them to the pot.

2. Mash the potatoes. Add the milk, butter, and sour cream and continue mashing until smooth.

Stir in egg replacer. Add salt & pepper to taste. Set aside!

Now for the filling!

VEGGIE FILLING INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onion
5 small carrots, finely chopped (or 3 large carrots)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 cups vegetable broth (although I have a carton of Veggie Broth in the photo, at the last minute, I used my Vegetarian Chicken flavored Bullion & water. It tends to be a lot tastier than the Veggie Broth.)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 (14-ounce) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup fresh or frozen shelled green peas

1. Heat oil on medium-high heat in a large pot. Sautee onion & carrots for 4-5 minutes.

2. Add garlic, salt & pepper. Stir in flour, and keep cooking for another minute if you can!

3. Stir in tomato paste, broth, rosemary & thyme.

4. Bring mixture to a boil. Add kidney beans & reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, until sauce thickens.

5. Stir in corn & peas.

6. Pour veggie mixture into an 11×7″ baking dish (or something close to that.)

7. Top with mashed potatoes, smoothing the edges with a spatula to prevent it bubbling up and over in the oven.
This looks soooooo good. It has butter & sour cream but do you know what it’s missing?

Cheese. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top if you have some. All it needs now is hot fudge to be the perfect meal!

8. Put baking dish on a cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Holy cow! When George got home I told him, “I just made the best dinner of my life.” to which he raised one eyebrow quizzically. Little did I know he was sick that night so I need to make it again for him. No problem!

The girls loved it.

“Here, YOU try it.”
Apparently, Bea is the Royal taster for her older sister.

She likes it!

And she’s still alive…

Adapted from Ezra Pound Cake

Sunday dreads sneaking up on me…you’d think after all these years I’d have come up with a strategy to deal with Sunday night?

Part of what makes me so blue on Sunday night is the imaginary (and real) To DO list in my head that I don’t seem to chip away at. Which is why I challenged myself to a salad a day in March. Knowing I’ve done one healthy thing for myself every day is a pick-me-up in itself. Anyway, make this salad & take it to lunch tomorrow. (Keep the dressing & croutons separate. Hell, skip the croutons or use store bought if you have no time to make them! But try to make them next time!)

If you are a Caesar salad purist (or snob), keep walking. Nothing to see here! This is a Caesar salad for people without much time, without any anchovies and who don’t want to eat raw eggs. (Though I have eaten and REALLY, REALLY enjoyed that kind of salad myself!) This is a Monday morning salad. Brighten up your lunch salad. Do something nice for yourself salad. Even when you’re in a rush salad.

INGREDIENTS:

3 hearts of Romaine

For the dressing:
1 clove garlic, minced
5 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP mayonaise
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper to taste
1/4 c parmesan cheese

For croutons:
2 c of firmly packed bread cut into 1/2″ cubes (a crusty loaf is ideal)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c olive oil
large pinch of salt

1. Cut the ends off the romaine and separate leaves into a large bowl. I used my salad spinner as even my wooden salad bowl is too small for these leaves.

2. In a small bowl, add half the minced garlic.

Add lemon juice, mayonnaise (sorry G!), olive oil & Worcestershire sauce to garlic and whisk together.

Isn’t this lemon gorge?? I picked it up at the Farmer’s Market yesterday after running like hell from the Cat in the Hat visit at the library. Kill me now.

While we’re on the topic of lemons, that reminds me, I picked up some limes at Trader Joe’s to make margaritas with last weekend. Trying to get juice from them was like trying to squeeze blood from a stone. Holy schmoley! I think we ended up drinking tequila & cointreau with a hint of lime.

3. Meanwhile, in another small bowl pour 1/4 c olive oil alone with the other half of the minced garlic. Let the garlic infuse the oil. Just push it aside and don’t give it another thought. That will be for your croutons.

4. Drizzle lettuce with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste and toss lightly. Use your hands if you have to and don’t have too many rings on which could be gnarly.

5. Drizzle some of the dressing (depending how much you like) over the lettuce and toss lightly again.

You can probably tell I added black pepper to the dressing but that’s b/c I like a lot of black pepper. Feel free to do that or not!

6. Sprinkle parmesan over lettuce and toss for the final time.

7. Back to the croutons. Are you with me? Drizzle remaining olive oil over bread cubes & toss with a large pinch of salt.

Spread out evenly on a baking sheet.

I baked them in my toaster oven since it was such a small amount. 375 for about 12 minutes. Taste one of the croutons after 12 minutes. If they are chewy, bake another 2 minutes. They should be crunchy.

8. Sprinkle croutons over lettuce. Serve!

Secret: The first time I made this I didn’t read the directions very closely and combined all the dressing ingredients at once: salt & pepper, olive oil, mayo, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. I even threw in 1/4 c grated parmesan. It came out EXCELLENT!! Today I actually read the directions (except I did the croutons a different way that seemed less labor intensive to me) and it also came out excellent. In the printable recipe, I give you the fast way. After making it the second time, I think I prefer the way I made it the first time simply because it’s quicker.

Adapted from The Other Pamela Anderson

Just a break between salads to add this recipe. I know I just did a chocolate chip cookie recipe a week or two ago but this one is:

A. Simpler

and

B. WAYYYYYYY better!!!!

These are very light, fluffy cookies. If a cookie can be fluffy?? They look “undone” coming out of the oven and don’t flatten out or darken. Don’t worry though! That is how they are supposed to be. I made these for the Daleos’ visit last weekend and they were all eaten BEFORE the Daleos arrived so I ended up making a second batch really quickly. They were so good I just made a THIRD batch this weekend!

You probably have all these ingredients!

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 c unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c brown sugar
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 c all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c butterscotch chips

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugars.

Add egg (replacer) and vanilla and beat well.

3. Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda & salt.

Add dry ingredients to wet and mix!

You’ll notice this sandy, grainy texture. This is exactly as it should be!

4. Once it’s thoroughly combined, add chocolate/butterscotch chips and stir until spread throughout the batter evenly.

5. Drop dough onto a prepared baking sheet using a Tablespoon. Since the dough hasn’t really “come together” you may need to make small balls with your hands. I did.

Bake for 8-10 minutes. NOTE: the cookies will NOT darken or flatten. They will not seem to be “done” but they are done! If you truly are worried about them being underdone, just bake them for the full 10 minutes.

By the way, my brother in law got me this Airbake cookie sheet for Christmas. I put two dozen cookies into the oven – one on this sheet and one on a regular one and the regular ones burned on the bottom. I really love this cookie sheet! (I am not being compensated in any way, by anyone really, for saying this…)

The top.

The bottom.

Back to the cookies. Here’s what they look like PRE baking:

I make ‘em on the small side since they have so much butter/sugar.

Here’s what they look like POST baking:

It almost looks the same as the raw dough!

Trust me on this one.

Barely adapted from Kelseys Apple a Day

Everyone in the house is asleep. Even the dog.

The cat is outside fighting though. I just heard him. It’s 8:33PM.

Phew. I don’t know what to do with the PEACE. I guess I’ll just have a beer & unload the dishwasher. Which is like being at the SPA at this point!

Since we just did potato salad, I decided to post this broccoli slaw recipe I made back in December. Today I was out of the house all day and poor G is sick, sick, sick so I wasn’t able to make a new salad. But I’ve been meaning to post this one anyway since it was:

A. Easy

and

B. A success with the young-uns.

This is a great side dish. I served it with fried rice of all things (which was a weird paring but made sense since I wanted to use up my veg before leaving town). Not that you care about that…

This is really pretty, tasty & both my kids ate copious amounts of it which makes me love it.

Pardon the pictures. Not my best work. Taken at night. With my cell phone.

All ingredients are available at Trader Joe’s. Btw: this will go well with cabbage slaw too but Trader Joe’s happened to have the broccoli slaw ready to go.

Here’s all you need:

INGREDIENTS:
2 heads of broccoli OR 1 bag (undressed) broccoli slaw from Trader Joe’s
1/3 small red onion, finely chopped

Buttermilk Dressing
1/2 cup buttermilk, well-shaken (as usual, I had to MAKE buttermilk!)
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallot (or, you could just use a little extra red onion to simplify it)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Chop broccoli into small pieces (or using food processor.) Mine was pre-cut from Trader Joe’s. I prefer cutting it myself if I have time but I don’t always! Toss broccoli with red onion in a large bowl.

2. Whisk together the dressing ingredients with salt & pepper to taste.

Pour over broccoli. (If you used 2 whole heads, the dressing amount should be right. If you use a bag of pre-cut slaw from Trader Joe’s – use a little at a time. You should have some left over.)

3. Toss to coat & season with salt & pepper to taste.

Yummy additions:
1/2 cup thinly sliced almonds, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 stalks chopped celery

Kids liked it and they probably wouldn’t appreciate the “yummy” additions.

These kids eat like wild animals. Or don’t eat at all.

Source: Smitten Kitchen