T & T staff’s favorite Christmas recipe
December 12, 2012 § Leave a comment
Anna our graphic artist recently found this blog and shared it with us today. It is called “Cooking Classy” . Here are two of her favorite recipes that she found from the blog for the Holidays. I think that one of them is even easy enough for me to do. Happy Cooking!
Pretzel M&M Hugs
Yields 70
Yields about 25Ingredients:
18 Oreos finely crushed to about 1 3/4 cups*
2 1/2 Tbsp butter, melted and divided
2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups white chocolate chips
1/2 cup + 1/3 cup heavy cream, divided
25 fairly small, fresh strawberries (or more if cutting more squares)
2 Tbsp powdered sugarDirections:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8 by 8-inch baking dish with two large sheets of tinfoil (one going horizontally and one over the top of the other vertically. Make sure your sheets are long enough that you’ll have an overhang of foil over the edges of the pan. Also, be sure to mold it well to the pan). Brush foil with 1/2 tbsp melted butter. In a mixing bowl, using a fork blend together crushed Oreos and 2 Tbsp melted butter until mixture is well combined and evenly moistened. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish (the bottom of a flat measuring cup or glass works well for pressing crust), set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on medium-low speed, blend together cream cheese and granulated sugar until mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Add in eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well blended. In a separate microwave safe bowl, heat white chocolate chips with 1/3 cup heavy cream on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until melted and smooth. Pour melted white chocolate mixture into cream cheese mixture and blend on low speed until combined. Tap bowl against counter top about 30 times to release some of the air bubbles then pour mixture over prepared crust in baking dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes then turn oven off and without opening oven door allow cheesecake to rest in warm oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 3 hours or refrigerate for 6 hours.
Once cheesecake is fully chilled and set, remove from freezer or refrigerator and lift cheesecake out of pan using the foil overhang. Cut cheesecake into squares (I’d recommend cutting them just a bit larger the width of your strawberries. Also it’s nice to keep some clean paper towels close by to clean your knife while cutting squares).
In a mixing bowl, using an electric hand mixer set on high-speed, whip remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream until soft peaks form, then add powdered sugar and mix until stiff peaks form.
To assemble: cut a flat top off of each strawberry and lay flat side down over top of cheesecake. Fill a pastry bag (or Ziploc bag and cut a small tip of corner) with sweetened whipped cream and pipe around strawberry then finish with a small amount over the top of the “hat”. Serve immediately (for do ahead you can make cheesecake the day before then assemble within an hour of serving the following day). Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.*Don’t use Doublestuff Oreos. I processed the Oreos in a food processor but if you don’t have one you can place them in a large Ziploc bag, seal bag and finely crush with a rolling-pin .
A Great NCAA Football Season This Year
December 5, 2012 § Leave a comment
As the Collegiate football season winds down, I will write about different upcoming bowl games, and begin to follow the Collegiate Basketball season, and of course I will continue to discuss our UConn Huskies.
This past weekend I did watch our UConn Huskies lose to the Bearcats by a score of 34 -17, but I feel they were competitive in the 1st half and played well defensively and offensively. All season I have been saying they need to compete for a full game, which they really have not done all year, maybe next year!!!
It has been a great NCAA football season this year, and we have seen some new faces that are in this years BCS Bowl picture. All the bowl games have been decided and now we watch how the games unfold, and how your team plays in their game. All the bowl games will lead to the final BCS Championship game, to be played at the Sun Life Stadium on January 7, 2013 pitting the #2 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1) against the # 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (12-0). This will be a defensive battle because we are looking at the Fighting Irish defense, avg.10.33 points per game, ranked #1 in the nation against the Crimson Tide defense avg. 10.69 points per game and are ranked #2 nationally. WOW!!! What a matchup.
Another game of particular interest to me will be the Orange Bowl being played on January 1. 2013, this game has the #15 ranked Northern Illinois Huskies (12-1, 8-0 MAC) playing against the #12 Florida State Seminoles (11-2, 7-1 ACC). The Huskies are the 1st MAC school to reach a BCS bowl game and it will be the first time that a MAC school will be playing an ACC team, many people feel like the Huskies don’t deserve to be in a major bowl because they really have not played a great deal of strong competition
I look forward to watching this game for two reasons, my 1st is to see a how the MAC competes against the ACC, and to see if the Huskies belong with the elite teams, I think that the bowl games belong to teams that belong and their record indicate they belong, GO HUSKIES!!
Just a quick note on the UConn Huskies collegiate basketball season as it gets into full swing, last evening I saw a very competitive team fall to #25 North Carolina 69 – 65. This was a very good game for a team that is barred from playing in any tournaments in 2013 due to sanctions for academic performance. Kudos to our 1 year coach Kevin Ollie, he is making them work hard, and deserves an extended contract. I think we will see them play very well this year.
Our Woman Huskies will be excellent this year, the upcoming game with Baylor will be the game to watch, as well as they are playing I do not see to many teams that will be able to play with them.
This Holiday season we’ve been busy with our new retail website, selling licensed jewelry for 39 colleges & universities. We have such a great variety of styles, we have something to please any college sports fan on your list – we even have tokens that a guy like me can carry in his pocket for good luck for his team. These make great stocking stuffers!
Wally’s Thanksgiving College Blog…
November 21, 2012 § 2 Comments
A day early for my blog, but with Thanksgiving I figured I should post it today. On the national scene, my Game of the Week this weekend will pit the #4 Ohio State Buckeyes (11-0) against the #20 Michigan Wolverines (8-3). We all know Ohio State is banned by the NCAA from post season play, but they have a lot to prove. Coach Urban Meyer kept all his seniors together for the 2012 season even after they knew that they would be banned from post season play, and as you can see they are one of two undefeated teams going into the last week of the season.
Last season this Michigan team beat Ohio State ending their season at 6-6, but this year QB Braxton Miller is out to prove he is one of the elite Quarterback’s in the NCAA and will lead his team to a victory in this very big game. On the other side of the coin we have QB Denard Robinson of Michigan who is excellent and when he was hurt Junior QB Devin Gardner came in and led this team to 3 victories in 4 games. Now they have a dual threat which they will use to keep the Buckeyes off balance. This will be an excellent game to watch; I will go out on a limb and predict that Michigan will win 24-20.
On the local scene, we have our 4-6 (1-4 Big East) UConn Huskies going up against the #19 (9-1) Louisville Cardinals. The Cardinals are led by QB Teddy Bridgewater who is an excellent running and passing QB. With him at the helm they have a very strong offense, but have a tendency to sag on defense especially in the running game. This could give UConn and RB Lyle McCoombs a chance to have a very big game, UConn needs to score early to keep Louisville off balance and the defense MUST come up big and stop Louisville. If UConn cannot stop the Louisville offense it will be a long day, and our hopes for an outside chance for a bowl bid will be lost.
The UConn Basketball season is off and running for both the Men and Woman Huskies, our Men’s team is coming back to form a successful Paradise Jam at 4-1, led by Boatright and Napier, they played well, but need to increase their rebounding ability and they need to score effectively. Our Women’s Huskies are 2-0 and just arrived to start their Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands and look very strong. This could be a very good year from both of our Husky basketball teams.
Our staff will be sporting their UConn Huskies Jewelry from our T & T Designs College Jewelry line, we will be watching all of the College games over Thanksgiving and cheering on our favorite teams!
Happy Thanksgiving, Wally
The Crimson Tide plays the Aggies in NCAA football
November 8, 2012 § Leave a comment
Wally’s Collegiate Corner
Hello Fellow Collegiate Fans,
I am sorry I missed posting a blog this past week, but I was in need of some quiet time and went away with my best friend for our wedding anniversary. OK, here goes, first I will be writing on the National Football scene and about the (9-0) #1 Alabama Crimson Tide who will be playing the (7-2) #15 Texas A&M Aggies.
What can we say about the Crimson Tide, they have been unstoppable, they have the #1 ranked defense in the nation, only allowing an avg. of 9 points per game, and only 10 touchdowns all season. They also have a very good offense, led by QB A.J. McCarron they have scored, and scored often against everyone they play, they limit mistakes and pass the ball very well. I will say the LSU game was the closest game that was played, and LSU had opportunities to take away a victory, as they only lost by 1 touchdown and had a chance to win in the last few minutes of the game. The Aggies will be coming into this game with a sensational QB in Johnny Manzel, this guy can run, pass and is the best QB that Alabama will face because of his ability to do everything very well, the offense is on pace to break the single season total offense per game avg., they already have a per game avg. of over 534.4 yards per game. They might have a good opportunity to upset the Crimson Tide if they can limit turnovers, and follow a strict game plan, they like to blitz and use 4 man rushes to get to the QB, if they are successful with that and the defense can control the Crimson Tide WR’ers we might see an upset.
On the local sense, I am saddened to be writing about the UConn Husky Football team who again lost this past weekend to Florida 13-6, another game where the stats indicated they should have won, but they could not get ball into the end zone!!!
This week the (3-6) (0-4 Big East) UConn Huskies will be facing the (4-5) (1-3 Big East) Pitt Panthers, Pitt comes in with a great RB in Ray Graham, he is very explosive and it showed when they played nationally ranked Notre Dame and he ran for over 172 yards. QB Tino Sunseri has been doing a great job the past 7 games only throwing 1 interception and 12 TD passes, with his favorite target in WR Devin Street, who is the #1 receiver in the Big East, averaging 81+ yards per game, and over 5+ receptions per game.. The Panthers will be facing the #1 defense in the Big East, 9th nationally, only allowing an avg. of 290 yards per game, so we know the UConn defense will do their job, but the Husky offense needs to run the ball which will open up the passing game and take pressure off QB Chad Whitmer to pass.
In the 1st 3 games the running game avg. 144+ per game, but in the last 6 games they only have been able to muster up less than 100 yards per game, and no victories!!! All the teams that have played UConn have stopped worrying about the run and our focusing on the pass by blitzing and getting to the QB often, causing rushed passes,
I have been saying all season, this team must play with UNITY, and that means the whole team offense and defense, I still see an offensive line that is not working together, yes they are working hard, but not together> Offensive line opens holes for the running game and protects the QB, that is not happening, We have 4 games left and they MUST win this game and the rest of the season to maybe be bowl eligible. Come on Huskies!
I want to also start writing about the UConn Huskies Basketball programs, this week I will write little about the Men’s program, who will be playing in Ramstein Germany this Friday evening against the #14 pre-season ranked Michigan State Spartans. This Izzo lead team will be ready to play our Huskies, but I know that our team will be ready to prove themselves. Our Huskies will be beginning a new era with its 1st new coach in 26 years in Kevin Ollie; I expect a hard played game and expect us to be victorious.
I guess I was a bit long winded this week, but I had a lot to say, see you all next week! I guess I need to rub my lucky UCONN pocket token and hope for better luck with Basketball season!
Wally’s Away so heres the shortened version…
November 2, 2012 § Leave a comment
Since Wally is on vacation this week and not able to do his weekly college sports blog, I am stepping in. So here is my Short & Sweet – simple version. T & T Designs wishes all our college teams, that we are licensed for, GOOD LUCK at their games this week-end. Play hard and play well! We will be watching! Win, Win, Win!!!!!
Our local team the UCONN Huskies travel to Tampa to take on the University of Southern Florida Bulls. We are pulling for you UCONN – take the BULL by the horns and WIN this GAME! We will be carrying our Lucky UConn pocket tokens,wearing our College Jewelry and Cheering you on – GO HUSKIES!
From T & T – Wally’s Weekly College Football Blog
October 18, 2012 § Leave a comment
It is with heavy heart that I begin my blog writing about our UConn Husky Football Team. I watched last week’s game and it is very clear that a team that has all the tools to make a true presence in the Big East is not playing with true focus, and as far as I am concerned they lack the conviction, and the discipline for winning. All of the losses are due to lack of focus, and inconsistent play of the offense. I will say that QB Chad Whitmer had his best game passing against Rutgers, passing for 293 yards, and 2 touchdowns, and he is getting better and better, this team has a defense that is ranked 6th in the nation, that is correct 6th in the nation!!!!! This is the shame, because our offense is ranked 107th out of 120 teams, what a waste with those defense stats!!!!
This week the 3-4 (0-2 Big East) UConn Huskies play the 2-4 (1-1) Syracuse Orangemen at the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen bring a very prolific passer in QB Ryan Narsik who averages over 300+ yards a game and is an excellent drop back passer. He has two good RB in Jerome Smith, and Prince-Tyson Gulley, and if the UConn defense plays up to their ability, Syracuse will have to build some kind of running game to compete. On the other hand, we will need to see Lyle McCombs back in the lineup to help open up the passing game for Chad. I understand that the wrist of Lyle is better, and was being fitted with a cast that will allow him to hold the ball and run with it.
Syracuse comes into this game having lost last year at the Ret, 28-21 to the UConn Huskies, so they will be up to this game, my outlook on this game is that it will come down which team has the least turnovers, as all of their losses have been self-inflicted, and execution, execution, execution
On the national scene this week I am writing about the 7-0 (3-0) Ohio State Buckeyes who will be playing the 3-3 (0-2) Purdue Boilermakers, the Buckeyes are off to their best start since 2007. The Buckeyes have a very strong QB in Braxton Miller, and two running backs in Carlos Hyde and Zach Boren who average over 100+ yds. in the last 4 games, this team is clicking on all cylinders, and could make a run at the BCS title this year. The Boilermakers and Coach Danny Hope bring in a team that has lost back to back games, but have All-American DT Kawann Short who is an excellent pass rusher and a good QB in Caleb Terbush. I really think that OhioState will take this game without too much difficulty; they are playing with a lot of determination and focus.
Note from the rest of the staff at T & T Designs: While Wally is working on his blog the rest of us at TandT are busy with trying to keep up with all of the orders for our Officially Licensed College Jewelry. Not only do we sell UConn jewelry but we have 38 other schools that we are licensed to sell. With football season in full swing our collegiate jewelry is flying out the door!
Cotton Bowl = Big Rivalry Game
October 11, 2012 § Leave a comment
Wally’s Collegiate Corner
UCONN! Well what can I say, this team still has not defined itself and after six games they sometimes look like they are playing their first game. I cannot understand why they make so many mental mistakes and allow themselves to be controlled, manhandled by teams they are fully capable of beating. All season I have been saying that the Huskies have the tools to win, but they must have the total effort on both sided of the line. They need the desire to win!!!! This week could define their season as their 3-3 overall and 0-1 Big East UConn Huskies will be playing the 2-2 overall, 1-0 Big East Temple Owls.
QB Chad Whitner has had 10 interceptions already this season, with 4 in the last game against Rutgers. Granted the Scarlet Knights did a great deal of blitzing forcing Chad to hurry his throws, but smart play and maturity would tell him to throw it out of bounds instead of into the hands of the other team!! Both Offense and Defense looked very bad. Even with poor play they still could have pulled off an upset, but even when they could score they did not fully execute the plays. I will not discuss the Lyle McCoombs situation except to simply say, you need to FOCUS, FOCUS.
The Temple Owls come into the game after beating a good South Florida team; they have a very good running game with Matt Brown, and Montel Harris, which opens up the passing game for QB Chris Coyer. He has been very consistent and in his last game paaed for 167 yds on 16-20 attempts to 7 different receivers. Coach Pasqualoni had his work cut out to get them ready for this very critical game, I know he can get them ready, but will they come out ready to play UConn Football on both sides of the ball .
On the national 
collegiate front, I really think one of the best games this week will be played in the Cotton Bowl, pitting #15 Texas Longhorns against #13 Oklahoma Sooners, this is a big rivalry game for both teams (Golden Hat Trophy Game), which goes back 107 years.. Longhorn Coach Mack Brown has two very good QB in Case McCoy and David Ash, with the latter 3rd in passing effenciey in the Big 12., passing for 11 touchdowns and only 1 interception so far this season.
Sooner QB Landry Jones brings in 3 very effective WR, in Mike Davis, Jaxon Shipley, and Marquise Goodwin. I feel they will define the game for Oklahoma; if they can get free in the Longhorn backfield watch out. The bad news for the Sooners; they have a very weak front line due to injury, will they be able to protect Landry Jones and give him time to pass???? Or will the passing of Texas QB David Ash give the victory to Texas???
A bit of incentive for Texas; OU beat them last year 55-17; this will be a very good game.
T&T’s Wally picks Bulldogs over the Vols
September 27, 2012 § Leave a comment
Wally’s Collegiate Corner:
It continues to be a slight struggle trying to figure out which UConn Husky team will show up on the field; believe me, I strongly feel they have a good if not a great team this year, but they are having breakdowns on either offense or defense that costs victories.
QB Chandler Whitmer played a very good game against Western Michigan, as he continues to get better and better, but had one costly breakdown that I feel cost them the game. The Huskies were moving the ball towards a score and Chandler was sacked from behind (missed assignment) and fumbled ball which lead to a score by Western Michigan and the turning point to a loss.
This week they go up against our last non-conference game of the season, as they play (Mid-Atlantic Conference) Buffalo Bulls who are 1-2 overall 0-1 MAC. This team is a very good team, led by QB Alex Zordich who is a running threat and has a very good receiver in Alex Neitz. The running game is also picking up steam. The offensive line has 5 returning starters, which are ranked the best in the MAC. Last year Buffalo dominated every aspect of the stats, but was 1-4 in Red Zone offense and lost due to two outstanding grabs by UConn’s Nick Williams, one was a 60+ yard touchdown catch and the other was over 50+ yards.
If you recall Buffalo lost 17-3, so those two catches cost them the game, in my opinion the Huskies must dominate the time of possession and must convert their 3rd down attempts on Saturday in order to win this game, or this could be along day. Buffalo is no slouch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The AP Poll continues to keep Alabama as the number #1 team in the nation, and they are getting stronger and stronger but this week I will look at #5 Georgia Bulldogs playing a very good Tennessee Vols football team. The Bulldogs come in at 4-0, 2-0 in the SEC, and ranked #5, and they will play a Vols team that is 3-1, 0-1 in the SEC. Georgia coach Mike Richt has a very good QB in Arron Murray, and two fine receivers in Travara King and Marlon Brown, they have a great offensive line, have scored over 40+ points in 4 of their games with a very potent offense. On the flip side Tennessee also has a high powered offense, averaging 38+ points on offense, with QB Junior Tyler and two strong running backs in Rajion Neal , and Martin Lane this team can score points, they must get the running game going in order to compete against the Bulldogs. I guess we will see how this turns out, I expect Georgia to win 34- 21!!!!!
Here at T and T, the girls will be wearing our college jewelry to support our teams. We’re all busy stringing beads in production as retailers scramble to stock up for the season.
T&T’s Wally: Offensive Front Line Protection = Offensive Scoring
September 13, 2012 § Leave a comment
Wally’s Collegiate Corner:
Well, last week was a total mess for Wally’s Corner, as I went 0-2 the Nebraska Cornhuskers lost to the UCLA Trojans and my Huskies lost to NC State , so I am saddened by the whole weekend.
This week I will be watching the # 3 LSU Tigers led by QB Zach Mettenberger and his very talented RB’s. Kerry Hilliard, Spenser Ware, and Alfred Blue lead the Tigers against an 0-2 Idaho Vandals team led by a list of 3 QB’s, with Dominique Blackman my top choice. He is very good out of the pocket, as long as he can get some protection against a very strong LSU defense. I am sorry to say this will be a LSU victory, but a good game for the Vandals to see and learn what it will take to play such a well oiled machine in LSU.
Below you will see my breakdown of how my UConn Huskies were defeated in a game they should have won. My comment explains it all!!!!!!
Offensive Front Line Protection = Offensive Scoring
This is basic stuff boys, we are not playing midget football here, this is college level football. The NC State game was a very upsetting game to watch from an offensive standpoint As a loyal fan of UConn it was upsetting to watch them sputter on offense, they finally have a QB in Chandler, but they need to give him protection. I agree that he rushed some passes that resulted in interceptions. C’mon guys, if you want to win games and get some more respect in the NCAA you need to play like men, not boys. Our defense led the way, but let’s be real, how many 1st downs were lost because the line could not push forward and create room for the running game. The defense played very well, held a strong team like NC State in check, and only allowed 10 total points, this is a credit to very good coaches and a desire to win, at least from the defense, but they can’t do it alone, this is called a team effort from both sides.
This week some of us here at T&T Designs are going down to Maryland to see The Huskies play The Terps. This is a very big game for UConn again this week, not because they are playing their old coaches’ team, but because they are a good quality team. I hope Coach P makes some changes to the offense line so that our QB can show us what he has and I hope our defense continues to play as well as they have been playing. If the Huskies play as a complete cohesive unit they will win!!!! On a side note I am still waiting to see my dark house TE get in the game, C’mon Coach P. you know how good he is, maybe he can spark the offense and open up the passing game for our QB. The girls will be wearing their Uconn Jewelry to the game, but they’ll bring a few pieces of our Maryland line as well, so if you see them at the game, maybe they’ll give you a piece!
I am sorry for being so critical this week, but this offense needs to play their hearts out to regain their hold on me, because I feel this is and could be a very good year and I hate to see it go down the tubes.
Fall’s Here – Get Your Cooler Ready for Collegiate Football
August 16, 2012 § Leave a comment
Wally’s Collegiate Corner:
Fall is an interesting time of the year for all of us. We all get a bit sad because summer is coming to an end and winter is around the corner, but for me fall is the greatest time of year. We have cooler temperatures, leaves falling everywhere and College Football is starting – to me it is the most refreshing time of year. I really love to watch the athletes play the game and position themselves to showcase their talents in each and every game.
This is a true testament to how raw talent and hard work become game day success. I get very excited about college football and look forward to writing some interesting articles this year for everyone to read and comment on…
This year the 2012 USA College Poll, has LSU #1, followed by Alabama #2 and USC #3, but my first writing will be to talk about the USC Trojans, because this WILL BE the team to be reckoned with when all the dust settles at the end. If we all recall USC was under a post season bowl ban for alleged violation of NCAA rules, but with QB Matt Barkley who turned down a draft pick to return for his senior season, and WR Robert Woods, and Marquise Lee we have the most potent 3some in football. Last year they were an impressive 456.8 yards per game as a team, and let’s not forget their two dynamic TE’s Xavier Grumble, and Randall Telfer, WOW! This team will be a showcase of talent!!!!!
As a very strong follower and fan of UCONN Huskies football, I want to take a minute to talk about this years team, and what I expect to see out of our team. They are projected to finish 6th in the Big East Conference, a conference that might be changing with many new teams coming into the league. I finally feel that the team has a real QB in Chandler Whitner; he has emerged as the #1 QB in the depth chart, which is great!!!!! He has played very, very well and deserves to lead the team. I am also pleased to hear that QB Scott Mc Cummings is back from his leave from the team and I feel he should be #2 on the chart after he gets back up to speed.
I think we all remember last year we had a team with potential, but no real leader on the field, but now with some real Quarterbacks in the picture we could be in for a treat. Watch out Louisville and USF!!! I also feel that we need to watch TE Sean McQuillan this year, because he is my dark horse and might be a game maker in that position, has worked very hard, and knows the system. My opinion they will not finish 6th this year, they will be up their with the big boys, as long as they stay healthily.
Last but not least, Kudos’s on the hiring of Mike Aresco as our new Big East Commissioner, a great hiring for our future, Welcome aboard Mike!
T and T Designs, llc 