Thursday, January 16, 2014
Random Update
Just a quick note to say I haven't dropped off, just behind in my posts. This week has been all about food projects, lucky us! Tomorrow, thankfully is Friday, and I can't wait.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Day Eleven: DIY Vitamin Water
The caption below my pin for today read: "Best drink ever!!! Eat whatever you want with this metabolism quickening DIY vitamin filled water. I drank this for two weeks straight while eating anything I wanted with little to no exercise and I still lost about 5 pounds!!! Recipe: About 10 medium size strawberries (sliced) A half a lemon (or whole depending on your flavor preference) One whole sprig of mint leaves Fill with water and shake! Try to get more water than ice, or drink melted ice. Have fun :)"
I don't know about all that.
But, I do know I've been trying to drink more water on a daily basis, and I also know I like the taste of flavored water a lot more than the plain stuff.
The strawberries and lemon sounded yummy, but I didn't know about the mint.
I also didn't jam the whole bottle full like the pinner - It seemed like a waste of good strawberries. I put a good amount in, about 5-6 strawberries, two thick slices of lemon and a sprig of mint. The result? Yummy! It took a few hours for the flavor to really develop, though, and I honestly only drank half of the water. To get the full effect and not be wasteful, I'll have to assemble it the night before and let the water sit in the fridge overnight. Which, considering how I function in the morning, is probably a good thing anyway.
__________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success!
Cost: The strawberries were $4.50 for 2 pounds, the mint $2.25 for a pack, and the lemons 50 cents each. Of course I didn't use all of that in one water, so there's lots leftover for other things.
Frustration level: None, super easy.
Repeat? Yep, though I want to mix it up with different flavors.
I don't know about all that.
But, I do know I've been trying to drink more water on a daily basis, and I also know I like the taste of flavored water a lot more than the plain stuff.
The strawberries and lemon sounded yummy, but I didn't know about the mint.
I also didn't jam the whole bottle full like the pinner - It seemed like a waste of good strawberries. I put a good amount in, about 5-6 strawberries, two thick slices of lemon and a sprig of mint. The result? Yummy! It took a few hours for the flavor to really develop, though, and I honestly only drank half of the water. To get the full effect and not be wasteful, I'll have to assemble it the night before and let the water sit in the fridge overnight. Which, considering how I function in the morning, is probably a good thing anyway.
__________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success!
Cost: The strawberries were $4.50 for 2 pounds, the mint $2.25 for a pack, and the lemons 50 cents each. Of course I didn't use all of that in one water, so there's lots leftover for other things.
Frustration level: None, super easy.
Repeat? Yep, though I want to mix it up with different flavors.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Day Ten: Pancake Bear!
Today I thought I would take advantage of all that pancake mix in my fridge and whip up a batch of yumminess. And because I love a two-fer, I thought I'd try my hand at this adorable pancake bear while I was at it.
What I learned is: Making perfect pancake circles is tougher than it looks.
These were my failed attempts. Good thing I made a double batch.
The final result was cute though. I used dried cranberries for the eyes and nose, and good ole Hershey's syrup for the mouth.
And met with approval of the Nutter.
__________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success!
Cost: Zip. I had everything on hand.
Frustration level: It was tricky to get those pancakes in nice little circles.
Repeat? Oh, yes. It was a big hit.
What I learned is: Making perfect pancake circles is tougher than it looks.
These were my failed attempts. Good thing I made a double batch.
The final result was cute though. I used dried cranberries for the eyes and nose, and good ole Hershey's syrup for the mouth.
And met with approval of the Nutter.
__________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success!
Cost: Zip. I had everything on hand.
Frustration level: It was tricky to get those pancakes in nice little circles.
Repeat? Oh, yes. It was a big hit.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Day Nine: The Well Stocked Kitchen
Ladies and gentlemen...
My pantry.
I was compelled tonight to choose something a little more time-intense than the projects I've been doing lately. And I almost wussed out because of it. But I digress. The pin I chose was this one from the fabulous blog Iowa Girl Eats. I'd never been to this blog before but oh what a find. I see many days of procrastinating in my future. Me? Digressing again.
My pantry was a total disaster, stuff shoved in any old way, bags without clips, expired and stale foodstuff. I hate throwing away food. HATE IT. You might as well take a ten dollar bill out and burn it. But I always seem to let my pantry and fridge get to the state of being so cluttered I don't know what's there, leading to me tossing money aka wasted food in the trash.
I need to put together a meal plan and go grocery shopping this weekend, so I figured, what better way to prepare than to "shop" my own pantry first and take stock of what I already found. Those potatoes you see? They were hiding on the shelf below. An insane assortment of grains was shoved in willy nilly. And two jars of pickled beets. Because, you know, a girl needs pickled beets.
I made a nice orderly list of what I have and what I need using the awesome pin for ideas, and then went to put my son down for the night, as his attempts to do it on his own were failing miserably. As it turned out, my attempts failed miserably too. An hour later, I was cranky, he was goofy as ever, and hubby took over with the boy so I could return to my project.
Except I didn't feel like it. It was 10 to 10, I'm running on sleep fumes from the week as it is, and I opened my freezer to this:
I wanted to run back to bed and say F it. But then I realized I was only on day nine. I'm continually amazed at my ability to justify anything. It's a little scary, really. In the end I buckled down and was done with fridge and freezer by 10:10.
And I discovered I have A LOT of condiments.
I also discovered that these projects aren't nearly as difficult, costly or time consuming as I'd imagined. Quite the opposite. It's just the committing to doing things - a bit at a time - that I've struggled with. But it's oh-so-satisfying to complete these little jobs. More so even than doing massive weekend long cleaning binges. Those just leave me exhausted and crabby. These little projects are much more manageable, but feel just as good to complete as the big stuff. Ah, life.
Up next? My spice cabinet, lol:
My pantry.
I was compelled tonight to choose something a little more time-intense than the projects I've been doing lately. And I almost wussed out because of it. But I digress. The pin I chose was this one from the fabulous blog Iowa Girl Eats. I'd never been to this blog before but oh what a find. I see many days of procrastinating in my future. Me? Digressing again.
My pantry was a total disaster, stuff shoved in any old way, bags without clips, expired and stale foodstuff. I hate throwing away food. HATE IT. You might as well take a ten dollar bill out and burn it. But I always seem to let my pantry and fridge get to the state of being so cluttered I don't know what's there, leading to me tossing money aka wasted food in the trash.
I need to put together a meal plan and go grocery shopping this weekend, so I figured, what better way to prepare than to "shop" my own pantry first and take stock of what I already found. Those potatoes you see? They were hiding on the shelf below. An insane assortment of grains was shoved in willy nilly. And two jars of pickled beets. Because, you know, a girl needs pickled beets.
I made a nice orderly list of what I have and what I need using the awesome pin for ideas, and then went to put my son down for the night, as his attempts to do it on his own were failing miserably. As it turned out, my attempts failed miserably too. An hour later, I was cranky, he was goofy as ever, and hubby took over with the boy so I could return to my project.
Except I didn't feel like it. It was 10 to 10, I'm running on sleep fumes from the week as it is, and I opened my freezer to this:
I wanted to run back to bed and say F it. But then I realized I was only on day nine. I'm continually amazed at my ability to justify anything. It's a little scary, really. In the end I buckled down and was done with fridge and freezer by 10:10.
And I discovered I have A LOT of condiments.
I also discovered that these projects aren't nearly as difficult, costly or time consuming as I'd imagined. Quite the opposite. It's just the committing to doing things - a bit at a time - that I've struggled with. But it's oh-so-satisfying to complete these little jobs. More so even than doing massive weekend long cleaning binges. Those just leave me exhausted and crabby. These little projects are much more manageable, but feel just as good to complete as the big stuff. Ah, life.
Up next? My spice cabinet, lol:
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Day Eight: Copy Cat Big Mac
Tonight was a tasty project. I took advantage of my hubby's decision to make us burgers for dinner to try out this pin: A copycat recipe for McDonald's Big Mac sauce.
It was insanely easy, and most of the ingredients I had on hand. Just mix, let sit a few minutes and add to burger. I even added the shredded lettuce for effect.
Also, McDonald's doesn't have wine.
For the complete effect, I fashioned a pseudo Big Mac, complete with extra piece of bread in the middle. It was messy and yummy and dripping with sauce - WIN!
It was insanely easy, and most of the ingredients I had on hand. Just mix, let sit a few minutes and add to burger. I even added the shredded lettuce for effect.
Also, McDonald's doesn't have wine.
For the complete effect, I fashioned a pseudo Big Mac, complete with extra piece of bread in the middle. It was messy and yummy and dripping with sauce - WIN!
Day Seven: All Natural Sink Scrub
This project was so quick and easy, I finished it in the intermission of a movie we were watching. Hubby decided he needed to run to the store for something sweet, and I thought, "Ooh, I'll do my project quick!" I'd picked out this one earlier in the day. My sink, while not nasty looking, had developed that strange brownish color that sinks tend to get, especially if like me you try to stay away from harsh chemicals.
Here's a shot of the before. I wish I could capture the true essence of that brown film in my sink, but my camera has it's limitations. You can see all that brown crud that builds up in the seam around the drain, and a couple of odd don't-know-where-they-came-from brownish lines.
The pin's idea is simple: Scrub your sink with baking soda and salt. Like the pinner, I've tried baking soda in the past with less than stellar results. Apparently the salt aids the scrubbing and eliminates that weird baking soda film you get post wipe-down. I didn't have any sponges on hand, so I just used a cleaning rag and had at it.
And here's what happened. EW! This is just from one side of the sink, too. So even my not-so-dirty sink was WAY dirtier than I thought.
I was so happy with the results of my super shiny sink! This idea is a win-win-win - it's quick and easy, uses products that should already be on hand, and yields amazing results!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Day Six: Natural Remedies for Heartburn
Today was a self-imposed snow day. I debated till late last night, but my son's coughing fits waking me every hour on the hour helped support my decision not to take him out in -50 wind chills. I thought it would be a great day for projects, but no. We took down the Christmas tree and decorations, and I attempted to clean my living room.
Here's what it looked like mere minutes after vacuuming:
I attempted to entice the boy into a Sniper sandwich a la this pin, but he declined in favor of regular old PB & J. Then, my over-tired boy and me took a much needed nap. Until 5:00. Which I awoke from with the most irritating case of heartburn I've had since pregnancy. The kind the burns straight up your throat until you want to vomit. Eh. And no Tums in the house. And still -50 wind chills. So, I sidestepped my usual friend, Google, in favor of the Pinterest search. At first I felt guilty - using Pinterest to find both a solution to my pesky problem AND a potential blog post project. But then it hit me - this is one of the questions I hope to answer - can using Pinterest help improve your life? In this case, rid me of the retched taste in the back of my mouth and the feeling I had a hole being burnt through my stomach.
What I settled on was this pin, with an array of choices, some of which I actually had on hand.
First, my arsenal:
And no, not all at once. My first attempt was the celery, because according to the section on apples, "Celery sticks and cabbage will also minimize stomach acid." It did seem to help a bit at first, but after the allotted half hour, the burning returned with a vengeance.
So, next came half a banana, which honestly didn't seem to help at all. But still I waited the half hour. I was hoping against hope that it would work, because third on my list was something I'd heard of prior to this experiment - the apple cider vinegar trick.
This concoction looks appealing, but oh boy, is it not. A mixture of 1/2 cup apple juice and 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, which you are supposed to guzzle down to find Instant! relief. I managed to drink about half. And it did help. But nothing is worth the taste of that drink. NOTHING. And half an hour later, the heartburn was back. I didn't know what to do. Next on my list was the baking soda cure, which I was preparing myself for, when, as luck would have it, I remembered a stash of licorice tea given to me by my mom because she didn't like it. I had no idea if this licorice had the "form of licorice called DGL also provides heartburn-soothing effects," but it also had cinnamon (#7 on the list) and sounded wayyyy more palatable than a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water.
I drank my giant cup of licorice tea in a nice relaxing bubble bath, and tried to just chill out. And you know? It worked. I still have the vaguely unsettling feeling the heartburn is just itching to creep back up my throat, but so far it's held at bay. Now, this being about as far from a scientific experiment as one can get, I have to admit I have no idea what it was that actually helped. It could have just been the passing of time for all I know. But I've learned something. The next time I have heartburn, I'll give the tea a shot before reaching for the antacids. Maybe it will help, maybe not, but it's pleasant and relaxing and worth a try.
I also know I will not be indulging in any kind of vinegar cure for a very long time.
__________________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Moderate success.
Cost: Nothing. I had everything on hand. In fact I saved money by not having to run to the store for antacids
Frustration level: Pretty frustrating, especially when I know two Tums would have knocked that heartburn right down.
Repeat? Probably.
___________________________________________________________________________
Now for the irony add-on. Just as I was finishing this post, my husband announced he was running to the store for antacids, as he had heartburn.
Here's what it looked like mere minutes after vacuuming:
I attempted to entice the boy into a Sniper sandwich a la this pin, but he declined in favor of regular old PB & J. Then, my over-tired boy and me took a much needed nap. Until 5:00. Which I awoke from with the most irritating case of heartburn I've had since pregnancy. The kind the burns straight up your throat until you want to vomit. Eh. And no Tums in the house. And still -50 wind chills. So, I sidestepped my usual friend, Google, in favor of the Pinterest search. At first I felt guilty - using Pinterest to find both a solution to my pesky problem AND a potential blog post project. But then it hit me - this is one of the questions I hope to answer - can using Pinterest help improve your life? In this case, rid me of the retched taste in the back of my mouth and the feeling I had a hole being burnt through my stomach.
What I settled on was this pin, with an array of choices, some of which I actually had on hand.
First, my arsenal:
And no, not all at once. My first attempt was the celery, because according to the section on apples, "Celery sticks and cabbage will also minimize stomach acid." It did seem to help a bit at first, but after the allotted half hour, the burning returned with a vengeance.
So, next came half a banana, which honestly didn't seem to help at all. But still I waited the half hour. I was hoping against hope that it would work, because third on my list was something I'd heard of prior to this experiment - the apple cider vinegar trick.
This concoction looks appealing, but oh boy, is it not. A mixture of 1/2 cup apple juice and 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar, which you are supposed to guzzle down to find Instant! relief. I managed to drink about half. And it did help. But nothing is worth the taste of that drink. NOTHING. And half an hour later, the heartburn was back. I didn't know what to do. Next on my list was the baking soda cure, which I was preparing myself for, when, as luck would have it, I remembered a stash of licorice tea given to me by my mom because she didn't like it. I had no idea if this licorice had the "form of licorice called DGL also provides heartburn-soothing effects," but it also had cinnamon (#7 on the list) and sounded wayyyy more palatable than a teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water.
I drank my giant cup of licorice tea in a nice relaxing bubble bath, and tried to just chill out. And you know? It worked. I still have the vaguely unsettling feeling the heartburn is just itching to creep back up my throat, but so far it's held at bay. Now, this being about as far from a scientific experiment as one can get, I have to admit I have no idea what it was that actually helped. It could have just been the passing of time for all I know. But I've learned something. The next time I have heartburn, I'll give the tea a shot before reaching for the antacids. Maybe it will help, maybe not, but it's pleasant and relaxing and worth a try.
I also know I will not be indulging in any kind of vinegar cure for a very long time.
__________________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Moderate success.
Cost: Nothing. I had everything on hand. In fact I saved money by not having to run to the store for antacids
Frustration level: Pretty frustrating, especially when I know two Tums would have knocked that heartburn right down.
Repeat? Probably.
___________________________________________________________________________
Now for the irony add-on. Just as I was finishing this post, my husband announced he was running to the store for antacids, as he had heartburn.
Sunday, January 5, 2014
Day Five: Homemade Pancake Mix
Ah, Sunday. Beautiful, wonderful Sunday.
On Sundays we try to keep it pretty relaxed around my house. Jammies, light-hearted TV, nothing too stressful or pressing to deal with if we can help it. And brunch. We love brunch. Most days, breakfast is quick and easy - bagels, cold cereal, fruit. But on Sundays we do it up, usually with bacon. Today, I felt like pancakes, and since I was going to make them anyway, I thought I'd try one of my Homemade Pancake Mix pins. This one was the winner, mostly because I never keep buttermilk on hand.
Here's the beauty of this project. It took no more time to make six batches of pancake mix than it would have to make one.
Have you ever had store bought pancake mix? I have. We usually make from scratch in this house, but once in a while, in preparation for those oh-so-busy weeks, or after being seduced by a big in-store sale, I will find myself with a box of pancake mix to use up. It takes a while, because the pancakes it yields tend to have the flavor of dense, chewy paper pulp.
These, my friend, do not. I don't know what I do, or don't do. Many people out there, my husband and mom included, can make tasty, fluffy pancakes from a mix. I am not so talented.
But these, oh! These were light and fluffy, and oh-so tasty, even without butter or syrup, and seriously fool-proof.
Though I did eventually add blueberry syrup.
And two out of two hungry boys agree - YUM!
Best of all, for the same amount of time invested, I have five more batches on hand!
__________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Roaring SUCCESS!
Cost: I had everything on hand - all basic pantry and fridge staples.
Frustration level: None.
Repeat? I'm sure I'll repeat this one more than I'd like to admit.
On Sundays we try to keep it pretty relaxed around my house. Jammies, light-hearted TV, nothing too stressful or pressing to deal with if we can help it. And brunch. We love brunch. Most days, breakfast is quick and easy - bagels, cold cereal, fruit. But on Sundays we do it up, usually with bacon. Today, I felt like pancakes, and since I was going to make them anyway, I thought I'd try one of my Homemade Pancake Mix pins. This one was the winner, mostly because I never keep buttermilk on hand.
Here's the beauty of this project. It took no more time to make six batches of pancake mix than it would have to make one.
Have you ever had store bought pancake mix? I have. We usually make from scratch in this house, but once in a while, in preparation for those oh-so-busy weeks, or after being seduced by a big in-store sale, I will find myself with a box of pancake mix to use up. It takes a while, because the pancakes it yields tend to have the flavor of dense, chewy paper pulp.
These, my friend, do not. I don't know what I do, or don't do. Many people out there, my husband and mom included, can make tasty, fluffy pancakes from a mix. I am not so talented.
But these, oh! These were light and fluffy, and oh-so tasty, even without butter or syrup, and seriously fool-proof.
Though I did eventually add blueberry syrup.
And two out of two hungry boys agree - YUM!
Best of all, for the same amount of time invested, I have five more batches on hand!
__________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Roaring SUCCESS!
Cost: I had everything on hand - all basic pantry and fridge staples.
Frustration level: None.
Repeat? I'm sure I'll repeat this one more than I'd like to admit.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
January 4: Super Cute Hair Day
Let me tell you about two things that don't get along: 1) My hair and 2) Winter. Winter in the Midwest is dry-dry-dry and my long hair turns into an unmanageable heap on top of my head. So, I usually fall back to the old ponytail standby, which gets boring. So today being the day Hubby and the wee one and I had plans to see old friends, I thought Ooooh! I'll try that cute hairstyle on Pinterest for my daily project!
This is what my teeny tiny bathroom vanity usually looks like.
Yay, cleaning. Now, here's another secret.
My silly selfie, with no makeup and no product in my sad, frizzy hair.
I added some curl manager, and some Frizz Ease (love that stuff!) and somehow wrangled the whole mess into the up-do. I fail completely at the smooth front pouf, but the rest of it turned out pretty cute, I think.
Now, a third secret.
I ended up wearing my hair how I always do - in a pony. I added a headband, though! The up-do was just too much for a casual get together at a friends house. It is one I'll do again, for a wedding or special night out, or a need-to-wear-a-suit-to-work day.
______________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success, though not for this occasion.
Cost: Nada.
Frustration level: Just the usual winter hair frustrations.
Repeat? Definitely will try for a dressy occasion.
This one, to be exact.
And very soon into the project realized it is a two-person (maybe three!) job. So I scrapped it for this one, a cute, allegedly easy bun-like up-do.
First of all, I'm going to let you in on a dirty little secret.
This is what my teeny tiny bathroom vanity usually looks like.
Yay, cleaning. Now, here's another secret.
My silly selfie, with no makeup and no product in my sad, frizzy hair.
I added some curl manager, and some Frizz Ease (love that stuff!) and somehow wrangled the whole mess into the up-do. I fail completely at the smooth front pouf, but the rest of it turned out pretty cute, I think.
Now, a third secret.
I ended up wearing my hair how I always do - in a pony. I added a headband, though! The up-do was just too much for a casual get together at a friends house. It is one I'll do again, for a wedding or special night out, or a need-to-wear-a-suit-to-work day.
______________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success, though not for this occasion.
Cost: Nada.
Frustration level: Just the usual winter hair frustrations.
Repeat? Definitely will try for a dressy occasion.
Friday, January 3, 2014
January 3: Apple Cider Caramel Pound Cake
Those pioneer ladies must have had the forearms of a sailor.
Today's project was this Apple Cider Caramel Pound cake.
I am not a baker. Aside from Tollhouse cookies, my attempts at baking usually fall flat. Or burned. Or doughy. Or...you get the picture. But I'd love to bake; to demystify the whole crazy chemical process and figure out how to whip up tasty little treat in no time flat. And I'm going to visit friends tomorrow, and thought a pound cake would be nice. Now, I should tell you I don't have a stand mixer. Or a bundt pan. Or a tube pan, whatever that is. Those of you who ARE bakers are now slapping a hand on your forehead at my lack of understanding of the laws of baking pound cakes.
For everyone else out there, can you guess what this is? That's right, shortening. Pure fat. A pound of it.
Now, guess what this is. That's right, butter. Pure fat. A pound of that, too.
And this? You've got it. That's the two pounds of fat creamed together with three cups of sugar and 6 (count 'em - 6) whole eggs.
The whole process, ignoring the manly forearm I've developed from wielding my hand mixer for an absurd length of time, was comforting. Mix this, add this, mix, scrape, mix. Soothing, like baking should be. Hubby was out of the house and the wee one was busy with his play-doh and toys, and I was bustling in the kitchen with my mixer and my music. Nice.
The batter, due to my aforementioned lack of knowledge of anything pound cake, yielded two loaf pans and a small round cake's worth of pound cake. More than enough for our family and some to take to others.
Somehow when the cake batter was done, though, wee one magically appeared for his "cake licker."
I was pleased with the end result, though the one we cut into fell apart. It was more moist than other pound cakes I've had, but very, very yummy. Overall, a great treat. The caramel sauce will wait till tomorrow; this girl's going to bed.
Next Day Note: The caramel sauce was yummy, too! Though I had no dark corn syrup so I used brown sugar instead of white and light corn syrup instead of dark.
____________________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success! A yummy dessert and nice hostess gift.
Cost: I had to buy cider ($3) and shortening ($3.50) and a pound of unsalted butter ($3), but everything else is a pretty basic pantry staple. And now I have extra cider to drink, yum!
Frustration level: Eh. Usually baking issues. :)
Repeat? Definitely.
Today's project was this Apple Cider Caramel Pound cake.
I am not a baker. Aside from Tollhouse cookies, my attempts at baking usually fall flat. Or burned. Or doughy. Or...you get the picture. But I'd love to bake; to demystify the whole crazy chemical process and figure out how to whip up tasty little treat in no time flat. And I'm going to visit friends tomorrow, and thought a pound cake would be nice. Now, I should tell you I don't have a stand mixer. Or a bundt pan. Or a tube pan, whatever that is. Those of you who ARE bakers are now slapping a hand on your forehead at my lack of understanding of the laws of baking pound cakes.
For everyone else out there, can you guess what this is? That's right, shortening. Pure fat. A pound of it.
Now, guess what this is. That's right, butter. Pure fat. A pound of that, too.
And this? You've got it. That's the two pounds of fat creamed together with three cups of sugar and 6 (count 'em - 6) whole eggs.
The whole process, ignoring the manly forearm I've developed from wielding my hand mixer for an absurd length of time, was comforting. Mix this, add this, mix, scrape, mix. Soothing, like baking should be. Hubby was out of the house and the wee one was busy with his play-doh and toys, and I was bustling in the kitchen with my mixer and my music. Nice.
The batter, due to my aforementioned lack of knowledge of anything pound cake, yielded two loaf pans and a small round cake's worth of pound cake. More than enough for our family and some to take to others.
Somehow when the cake batter was done, though, wee one magically appeared for his "cake licker."
I was pleased with the end result, though the one we cut into fell apart. It was more moist than other pound cakes I've had, but very, very yummy. Overall, a great treat. The caramel sauce will wait till tomorrow; this girl's going to bed.
Next Day Note: The caramel sauce was yummy, too! Though I had no dark corn syrup so I used brown sugar instead of white and light corn syrup instead of dark.
____________________________________________________________________________
Project Score: Success! A yummy dessert and nice hostess gift.
Cost: I had to buy cider ($3) and shortening ($3.50) and a pound of unsalted butter ($3), but everything else is a pretty basic pantry staple. And now I have extra cider to drink, yum!
Frustration level: Eh. Usually baking issues. :)
Repeat? Definitely.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
January 2nd: Cheerio Bird Feeders
On other blogs, children perch happily on pristine kitchen tables, while dutifully helping with Mommy's projects. They are clean, and smiling, and wearing perfectly pressed button-down shirts, with nary a runny nose to be seen.
In my world, not so much. (He's being a cat here, in case you couldn't tell). The project for Day 2 - Cheerio Bird Feeders. A fun, easy project for me and Hammy here to enjoy together.
(It's a hat!)
The project was actually really easy, and fun, even though I did all the actual work, and Hammy provided the entertainment portion of the event. It was so simple - pipe cleaners, cereal, and ribbon to hang it from the tree.
(HAHA! Pirate Pipe Cleaner, Ahoy!)
As kid-friendly projects go, I would recommend this one with a big two thumbs up. We had a blast, and cleaning up cereal from the floor is much more appealing than say, cleaning up after messy glue and food coloring projects.
Voila! The end result. I ended up doing one of my own after Hammy went to sleep. It was nice and relaxing, threading cereal on the pipe cleaner while watching cooking shows with hubby like a cute old married couple. The bird feeders will get hung Saturday morning so Hammy and I will be here to watch the birdies peck away at them.
________________________________________________________________________________
Project: Success!
Cost: About $5 for a box of Cheerios and a small bag of pipe cleaners. The raffia was leftover from my Christmas ribbon stash.
Frustration level: nil
Repeat? Definitely.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
January 1st: The Good Things Jar
I have had visions of this project since it's inception months ago. How nice it will be. How neat and clean my house will (finally) be once I've gone through all the tips and hints and household chore lists. How my adorable 3 1/2 year old will help in the most perfect way and go to bed on time and everything in my life will finally be just right.
Ahem.
None of these things happened. Magical Pinterest elves did not appear and make my messy house clean, nor did the sleepy-time fairies work their magic so that my toddler would go to sleep on time. He's been averaging about 11:30 pm after all of the holiday travel-party-playtime madness that has been our lives for the past two weeks. Since it's 10:22 now, and I finally broke down an hour ago and put in a video for him to watch, and he's still awake, I'm guessing 11:30 it will be again tonight.
Somehow, my mind sees everything as shiny and perfect - the absolute ideal of itself. People too. You can see where this would lead to problems, I'm sure. But part of my New Year's Resolution is to work on this flaw. So you can imagine how frustrating it was that my first Pinterest project of the year seemed to be blowing up in my face.
I'd chosen two projects, this idea to color a jar with glue and food coloring, combined with this project to create a Good Things of the Year jar. Sounded easy enough, right?
Here's my jar. I didn't feel like plunking down money for a jar that was just going to be used to hold paper, especially when I had one of these babies laying around. You know you have one - a dead candle jar that you don't want to throw away because it would be so perfect for SOMETHING.
With my highly technical system (also known as the really hot water, Dawn, and a butter knife method) I rid the jar of it's waxy contents and stickers, gave it a good scrub, and we were in business.
The first glue I tried was watery with little glue flecks in it. The second had dried out. The third was a charm - trusty old Tacky Glue. I followed the instructions and mixed it with water and blue food coloring and mixed. And mixed. What I got was a blob of glue on my brush swirling in a sea of blue water. I switched to the fork method, like whisking scrambled eggs. This was much more effective, and yielded a smooth, pretty robin's egg blue concoction.
Painting it on, another problem seemed to emerge. The mixture was going on in mad streaks, and my visions of a pretty blue jar were slipping away. Streaks and streaks and more streaks. It was a mess.
Nothing I did seemed to help the problem. I finally devised a drip method that seemed to work a little better. Do you see the giant glass of vodka in the picture to help me deal with the frustration?
Just kidding. Only water.
And somehow, through the frustration and agony, it morphed into this. Not perfect, but pretty, with just a few streaks. I still want to add a ribbon and a "Good Things 2014 label" but overall I'm pretty happy.
In the end, it was a fun project. And I've realized this year is going to have many challenges. Like hubby behind me listening to Ron White's absurdly raunchy stand-up show, and me trying to concentrate on being kind, and understanding, and not flipping out over small things. Because there will be small things aplenty, I know. Ah well, 2014, bring it on!
Jan 2nd update: It turned out! (Well, except for the lid, but being glue-based, it washed off).
Lo and behold, it turned out. I went with a red raffia ribbon because I like turquoise and red. I was going to do a big fancy bow, but went for a simpler look because a) I'm Christmas'd out and b) the cat likes raffia almost as much as I do. He's pretending not to be interested in this picture, but he's dying to slobber all over the stuff, I can tell.
Project #1: Success!
Total cost: Nothing! I had all of the necessary items on hand already.
Frustration level: Tolerable.
Repeat factor? Now that I know the end result, I'd do it again.
Ahem.
None of these things happened. Magical Pinterest elves did not appear and make my messy house clean, nor did the sleepy-time fairies work their magic so that my toddler would go to sleep on time. He's been averaging about 11:30 pm after all of the holiday travel-party-playtime madness that has been our lives for the past two weeks. Since it's 10:22 now, and I finally broke down an hour ago and put in a video for him to watch, and he's still awake, I'm guessing 11:30 it will be again tonight.
Somehow, my mind sees everything as shiny and perfect - the absolute ideal of itself. People too. You can see where this would lead to problems, I'm sure. But part of my New Year's Resolution is to work on this flaw. So you can imagine how frustrating it was that my first Pinterest project of the year seemed to be blowing up in my face.
I'd chosen two projects, this idea to color a jar with glue and food coloring, combined with this project to create a Good Things of the Year jar. Sounded easy enough, right?
Here's my jar. I didn't feel like plunking down money for a jar that was just going to be used to hold paper, especially when I had one of these babies laying around. You know you have one - a dead candle jar that you don't want to throw away because it would be so perfect for SOMETHING.
With my highly technical system (also known as the really hot water, Dawn, and a butter knife method) I rid the jar of it's waxy contents and stickers, gave it a good scrub, and we were in business.
The first glue I tried was watery with little glue flecks in it. The second had dried out. The third was a charm - trusty old Tacky Glue. I followed the instructions and mixed it with water and blue food coloring and mixed. And mixed. What I got was a blob of glue on my brush swirling in a sea of blue water. I switched to the fork method, like whisking scrambled eggs. This was much more effective, and yielded a smooth, pretty robin's egg blue concoction.
Painting it on, another problem seemed to emerge. The mixture was going on in mad streaks, and my visions of a pretty blue jar were slipping away. Streaks and streaks and more streaks. It was a mess.
Nothing I did seemed to help the problem. I finally devised a drip method that seemed to work a little better. Do you see the giant glass of vodka in the picture to help me deal with the frustration?
Just kidding. Only water.
And somehow, through the frustration and agony, it morphed into this. Not perfect, but pretty, with just a few streaks. I still want to add a ribbon and a "Good Things 2014 label" but overall I'm pretty happy.
In the end, it was a fun project. And I've realized this year is going to have many challenges. Like hubby behind me listening to Ron White's absurdly raunchy stand-up show, and me trying to concentrate on being kind, and understanding, and not flipping out over small things. Because there will be small things aplenty, I know. Ah well, 2014, bring it on!
Jan 2nd update: It turned out! (Well, except for the lid, but being glue-based, it washed off).
Lo and behold, it turned out. I went with a red raffia ribbon because I like turquoise and red. I was going to do a big fancy bow, but went for a simpler look because a) I'm Christmas'd out and b) the cat likes raffia almost as much as I do. He's pretending not to be interested in this picture, but he's dying to slobber all over the stuff, I can tell.
Project #1: Success!
Total cost: Nothing! I had all of the necessary items on hand already.
Frustration level: Tolerable.
Repeat factor? Now that I know the end result, I'd do it again.
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