New Year, New Blogging Style

It's a fresh new year and I am ready for it! I went totally dark on this blog over the summer months. I completely intended on returning, but to say I lost my mojo was an understatement. A few years ago my blog had evolved from a relaxed place where I would touch base with my friends and let them know what was going on in my life to a blog that was more and more about crafting tutorials. The process of having to photograph each step of the crafting process along with loading and editing the photos became daunting and it made writing posts less fun for me. I almost dreaded the idea of posting because I didn't feel like I could write if I didn't have a craft to share and I didn't feel like crafting just so that I would have something to write about.
Instead, I focused my energy on my garden ( that's a whole other blog post) and was drawn completely away from this blog. My apologies, friends. Let's start fresh. I just cracked open a new planner kit and began plotting and scheming. I haven't gotten as far as digging out my stickers or washi tape but it's a start. I have the tendency to make a huge mental list in my head and overwhelm myself feeling as though I have to complete everything all at once. Today, I decided to make it a goal to stop doing that. My husband is always telling me not to overdo it, to rest, to stop exhausting myself. Since I will be turning 40 soon, I want to start the next forty years of my life being more relaxed. I worked as far as I wanted with the planner for the day and when I was fulfilled, I set it aside to resume more work on it tomorrow.
I began my day ( and my new year) by cleaning dog poo off of my kitchen floor before I could even brew a pot of coffee. Once the animals were fed and the dogs let back inside, I got myself dressed and shoveled my driveway as we were struck once again by the snow fairy. I didn't want my husband to attempt to shovel since he'd been poorly most of the weekend and he needed to get to the airport by 10:30 in the morning. I wanted him to rest as much as possible. After he woke up and got himself some coffee he found me outside and insisted on helping but I refused. Once I was done I was able to enjoy a coffee and spend at least an hour with him before he headed out to the airport. the rest of the day I enjoyed (truly, I did) some light cleaning and more shoveling. Tomorrow, the temperature is going to drop back to the single digits and I don't plan on doing any outdoor work then.
It's a grey and gloomy afternoon; I am sipping my latte and listening to the wind whip about my yard. The windchimes are quite noisy at the moment. For now, all is calm after the hectic holiday season. I still have my tree up, as well as all my other decor. I have no plans to remove it until Sunday. On Saturday I will be hosting one final holiday celebration and then I can put away the decorations for another year. I will keep some decorations up for a while yet, as some things are just nice to have a while longer and winter isn't going anywhere any time soon. So, my mini wreaths and snowflakes shall remain on my kitchen cupboards and my snowflake cushions will stay on the couch. I will even keep my outdoor snowman wreath on my backdoor. However, any decorations that are red and green or depict Christmas shall be tucked into bins and put back into storage.
I don't mind the ritual of holiday decor removal because it makes room for new holiday decor. I like to decorate for all seasons and many holidays. As such, I am never sad to see the decorations go for the year. I will keep you updated more this year than last now that I am letting myself off the hook and will have more fun with this blog. Expect to read very random thoughts throughout the year and enjoy the occasional craft or baking story. Here's to a new year and a new blog!
Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Ending My Hiatus

If you've been reading my blog for a time you might have observed that I will take sporadic breaks from writing. This really isn't unusual for those who blog as a hobby. I really needed to take the rest of the winter off. This past winter was dreadfully long and a bit dull. The snowstorms seemed to be ceaseless and just as it seemed as winter was coming to a screeching halt another snowstorm would creep in. It was a constant battle with the shovel and I was exhausted. So now it is May, Labor Day weekend and I feel ready to catch you all up. I think I will be having an evening writing session, where I will write several posts and schedule them to publish throughout the week. I have a cup of tea and my British boy band song list playing and I am in the zone....brace yourself.
In March my husband decided that he wanted to get a puppy. The kids had been campaigning for a while, approaching us the various adorable photos of random canines that they found on online shelter pages. The dogs varied from purebred to mutt, compact and giant and it was getting ridiculous. At one point I had one teenager messaging me about a dog, while the other teenager was messaging their father about said dog. I was on to them and I was not going to cave. However, my husband thought that it would be a good idea to get a puppy who could learn under the tutelage of Flynn and become a great companion. He was on the lookout for a good candidate when he found a litter of beagle pups that were up for sale. He immediately contacted the breeder and an appointment was made. Fortunately, he wasn't asking for much money for the pups and the tiny splurge was well within our budget- we lucked out. We were excited and eager to meet our new family member but had to wait. We had a specific puppy in mind, based on the photos that were sent to us. The week of our appointment we were counting down the days towards meeting our pal. Then the clouds grew dark and we were hit with a massive snowstorm, a blizzard to be exact, the day before our appointment. The next morning the sun was shining brightly and the snowploughs cleared the fluff away from the roads. The town was over an hours drive away and the breeder lived on a mountain...seriously...a mountain. Undaunted, we armed ourselves with coffee and decided to enjoy the road trip.
When we made our way to the breeders home, we were greeted by older beagles from previous litters as well as the beagle parents. Then the breeder opened the door to his home and let out the pups. Most of the puppies ran past us towards their parents, while two ran to us. One of the pups who came to greet us was the same puppy that we saw in photos and had hoped that we would bond with him. It was an immediate connection and the decision was made. If you follow me on Instagram or Tumblr you would have seen many posts of our Rory. He is a very smart beagle, full of love and energy. He is very obedient and follows Flynn around everywhere Flynn goes. He also loves to cuddle on my lap and be by my side whenever he can. Keegan could take or leave Rory, he tolerates him. Murr washes his paws of him and Millie wishes that Rory was a little less curious about her, but ever the lady, she remains patient and poised.

Since bringing Rory home he has grown quite a bit and he's not finished. He's learned a few tricks and has worked up the courage to ride in the car, so long as Flynn is with him. Overall, he is a wonderful companion and very loved by everyone in the family. He even likes to go with me to visit my parents and socialize with their dog. I am grateful for the opportunity to have him as a member of the family and will likely share more about him in other posts. That about sums up what was happening at the end of winter, I will update you on other topics in later posts to come. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

What Is Happening in February

This month has been a grab bag of emotions. I am very certain that I am just done with winter. I really enjoy February, because it is a birthday month, we have Valentine's Day, and the month is rather short. When we start off the month with the tradition of waking a sluggish rodent to predict our future, we're setting ourselves up for disappointment. Winter will always last as long as it is scheduled and we would be fooling ourselves if we thought that we could cheat our way out of it. At least we have bits of things to look forward to, such as vacation and holidays. I made a tiara cake for Valentine's Day. I used a Devil's Food cake mix, then I made a chocolate ganache, I added almond extract to Cool Whip to spread on top of the ganache layer and I finished the layers with a berry topping. The cake was sublime. I still have the tiara cake pan that my mother purchased in the mid-1980s. I think it was a Dunkin Hines kit and it had always been a favorite. When I unearthed the pan from a pile of random objects in my parent's attic, I snatched the pan to take to my home. This cake is delightful.

I had watched numerous Dollar Tree Haul videos on Youtube (a guilty pleasure of mine) that showed a variety of adorable Valentine decorations. By the time I finally got around to shopping at the store, most of the Valentine decor had been picked through. I was able to find some cute glittery hearts that I hung from my kitchen cupboards. The bubblegum pink glitter makes me smile. I had a girl day with my bestie and another day out with my husband, both times I managed to gather some St. Patricks Day and some Easter decor. I am hoping to get some more of both, but I wanted to get what I could from St. Patricks while it was available and the things that I spotted for Easter I grabbed before they were gone. I am hoping to gather some more supplies tomorrow, that way I can work on some crafts this week.

The beginning stage of decorating my planner.

This is the finished look for my March spread.

My bestie and I had a fabulous girls day out the day after Valentine's Day. I was able to take advantage of the post-holiday clearance. I found a lot of adorable washi tape from the Target Dollar spot that was half price, so I was able to purchase several rolls for only $3.00! I do love a good clearance sale.

I made a quick sketch to plan out where to place my flowers, herbs, and strawberries.

Now that February is winding down, I've been planning a few projects for the month of March. I am focusing my energy on redecorating the inside of my house so that I am all set for Spring cleaning. Once Spring rolls in I will be doing a lot of work outside. There is plenty of yard work to be down, a few fixes to the outside of the house and a garden to start working on. I began my seed purchases the other day. My husband and I work on the vegetable garden together, but the flower garden is my thing. There's a lot that I want to do with my wildflowers this year. Last year was our first Spring and Summer in our home, so we were just establishing our gardens. Now that I am more settled in, there is so much that I want to do. I got a really good start last year, so I hope to achieve even more this year. I think that it will be a lot of fun and it will be nice to be outside and be productive. This next month might be bit busy and I am so excited about that! Hopefully, I will be able to share my various projects as they are completed. I will keep you updated. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Rediscovering My Cookbooks

Can I just tell how happy I am that it is the final day of January? This month seems to have dragged along on purpose, just to spite me. At least today was a sunny day but most of the week was cold and gray. Don't get me wrong, it's still freezing outside. When you have to bundle up just to get the mail and then actually getting the mail requires strategic acrobatic moves, and to make the challenge more interesting you happen to have impaired gait it isn't at all fun. Yes, I am looking forward to Springtime, yes it is months away, but at least January is nearly done.

Before I let the first month of the year come to a close, I wanted to write about one of my goals for this year. I had decided to become less reliant on using the internet for everyday things like cooking. I love social media, but not everything in my life requires a Google search. I have an amazing collection of cookbooks. I have some classics, some new gems, baking cookbooks, and ethnic cuisine cookbooks. I have practically everything I need to help me create fantastic dishes. I even have two binders filled with recipes that I've printed out over the years- some of them I printed out in 1998. So, I decided to start using my cookbook library again.

Once I started searching for specific recipes for making dinner or baking cakes, I began noticing some fantastic recipes for other things that I never once considered making, mostly because I had no idea that I had the recipe on hand. It is actually a lot of fun skimming through my books and finding endless possibilities.

This afternoon, I found myself getting sucked into re-watching season one of Pretty Little Liars on Netflix and I decided to bake some soda bread. I used a recipe from my "Irish Food & Cooking" cookbook. After looking through that book, I found a bunch of recipes that I had completely forgotten about. I know that a lot of those dishes my husband would love. I think I will be experimenting with those recipes over the next month. If and when I make something from that book, I will let you know. Until next time~Toodahloo!

2018 Planner DIY

For the past couple of years, I have relied on a planner to help me to stay motivated and organized. I have always been a list maker and I was obsessed with my Trapper Keeper when I was a kid. I decided to try to make my own planner this year, one that was more suited to my needs. The first planner that I used for 2016 was a nice planner, but it was wrong for me. The planner was organized by each month. Then, each month had pages for each week. So, if you opened the book, the pages that were side-by-side were for each week. The week pages included each day of the week broken down by the hour. It was way too much for me. I think that kind of planner is great for someone who is super busy and juggling many tasks and schedules. For me, I felt like I had to schedule each hour like I had to fill in the time with chores, tasks, and goals. Then, if I fell behind schedule or didn't complete each task, I felt like a failure. Not to mention, the planner was uninspiring. 

For 2017, I needed something a lot more simple. My husband got me a planner that I really liked. It was a pale blue moleskin cover and it was a day planner. It was organized by the month, with a calendar for each section and then each day had a section to write down anything that you wanted to remember to do, almost like a journal. It was what I needed then. I never felt like a failure for not getting stuff done. 

For 2018, I wanted a planner that had a little bit of everything in one spot. I wanted a section for keeping dates and a schedule, I wanted a section for organizing the budget, I wanted a section for meal planning, and I wanted a section for blog planning. That way, everything would be kept in one spot and it would be so much easier for me to function, it is my household binder of sorts and I love it.

You can buy all kinds of planers out there, but since my needs were so specific, it made more sense for me to make my own. I bought my supplies at Walmart and The Dollar Tree. The actual three-ring 2-inch binder came from Walmart. I found it in the stationery/office supply section. Sold right next to the binder was a bunch of dividers that were the same size s my binder, so I grabbed those too. Then, I bought a bunch of fun paper clips with flags on them, also at Walmart, I think I spent less than $10.00 on all the supplies that I bought from Walmart. 

The rest of the supplies I got at The Dollar Tree. This includes stickers, washi tape, notepads, notebooks, an elasticated headband, gluesticks, a desk calendar, pens, and hot glue. I adhered velcro to the back of the notebook (above) and to the inside of the cover of the binder. That way I could remove the notebook if I wanted to write things down. On the inside of the back cover, I hot glued a cute sticky notepad that I found at The Dollar Tree.

On the back of each month, I glued these sections of the desk calendar. That way, I'd have a place to write down more notes and I wouldn't be wasting part of the calendar. I had already had cardstock on hand. I  cut the desk calendar to size and glued it to the cardstock in order to make it sturdier and then I marked where the rings were and used a hole punch to make the holes to poke the rings through. 

Then, I began the fun part, the decorating of the calendar. I was inspired by the planner videos of  CheapCraftyGirl on Youtube. I intend to get more stickers for each month as the month approaches and jazz up the pages more, but this is just the starting point. I think that approaching each month at a time and sitting down to decorate the monthly pages will be fun and a nice way to relax, it will also be a great creative outlet. I think that starting each month with decorating the pages will keep me motivated to stay on track.

For the meal planning section, I designed my own weekly chart on Windows and I laminated it. That way, I could write down a meal plan for the week with a dry erase marker and be able to edit the plan as needed. Then, when the week was done I could erase it all and start fresh. I also printed out a meal idealist that I made on my computer a long time ago. I just wrote down meals that were cheap and easy to make and that my family enjoys. This list has helped me come up with many meal plans; it's great to have when I can't think straight or when we have a tight budget. Having all of the ingredients listed in the meals makes it super easy to make a grocery list!

For the budget section, I printed out monthly budget charts that I found for free on Pinterest, so I printed twelve of those. I also printed out a bill tracker chart that was for the entire year. That chart was also free to print and found on Pinterest. I also found a nice weekly blog planner free to print on Pinterest. Lastly, I went on Pinterest and found a bunch of inspirational quotes and I printed them out to stick throughout my planner. Sometimes, it's nice to read kind words when you're being hard on yourself. Lastly, once my planner was assembled, it needed something to keep it tight. With all of those pages and additional notebooks, the binder wanted to splay open a bit. So, I bought a bunch of headbands from The Dollar Tree. The packet came with an assortment of colors and I chose one that I thought would complement the teal. I simply used hot glue to glue the headband to the back cover of the binder and positioned it where I felt it could keep the binder closed. I like the way it came out. I really didn't spend a whole lot on this planner/household binder. I will continue to buy more stickers and washi tape for each month, but I will be buying them at Walmart and The Dollar Tree since I am able to find adorable supplies at those stores and they are very inexpensive. I can't wait to go find some Valentine's themed stickers! This is going to be a lot of fun! With any luck, this planner will help me feel more confident in my managing of the household and I will feel less scatterbrained. Soon, I will be decorating the house for Valentine's Day and before I know it, it will Be March and I will be decorating for St. Patrick's Day! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Enduring Blizzards, Fighting Colds and Navigating My Way To The New Year

If you hadn't noticed. I took a much-needed break from blogging. I usually love to write during the Fall months and the many holidays that I celebrate from October to January. This year was far too exhausting for me to do any of that. I was trying my best to stay healthy so that I could enter the New Year refreshed and ready for new adventures. I made it through Christmas, which was a challenge, and just a few days later I started to feel sick. I am still recovering.
I got my white Christmas, it was beautiful but stressful. I was very worried that family wouldn't be able to make it to celebrate the holiday. My husband spent most of the morning snow throwing the driveway, while I arranged presents and helped him with the dinner preparations. Fortunately, the kids and my in-laws made it safely and it was a good day.
When it came time to celebrate Christmas with my parents and my sister families, I was feeling pretty rubbish, but I still had fun. I was hoping to post about my goals for the new year. I am not one to make resolutions, but I do like to try new things each year. So, here are some things that I wish to strive for in the year 2018, in no particular order... I want to enjoy more of what I have. I am a youtube junkie. I have been for years. I prefer to watch beauty bloggers, tutorials, etc. I also like a few lifestyle channels and I really like Dollar Tree videos. I know, it's weird. I recently cut back on my subscription feed and I only follow a few beauty bloggers and a couple ladies who do crafts with Dollar Tree supplies. The problem with being a Youtube junkie is the fact that you have so much product exposure. You see a woman using a new eyeshadow palette of a foundation and you suddenly need to get it. Even though you already have half a dozen eyeshadow palettes. The videos are fun to watch, but they are so seductive. Therefore, I've decided to watch less of those videos and only watch specific vloggers and I also decided to focus on the makeup I already have and work with that.
I have also decided to use my cookbooks more. I have so many cookbooks and binders with printed recipes. So, instead of hopping on one of my Pinterest boards in search or recipes, I am going to use my cookbooks. I also want to find new recipes to try in my cookbook library.
I have also begun using a new binder/planner and I think that it will be much more helpful to keep my life organized. I will post more about that later.
That about sums up everything that I wanted to touch base on with my 2018 goals. In other news, we had another blizzard plow through yesterday. All day long I was worried that the power would go out. The thought was terrifying as there has been a wave of below freezing temperatures lately. I made certain to have extra water in the refrigerator, plenty of candles and make-shift space heaters, flashlights, matches, extra blankets, and a clean kitchen. Fortunately, the power never did go out, but I didn't get much sleep last night because I spent the majority of the night checking to see if the power was still on. With any luck, I will sleep better tonight.
I am excited about all the new things I want to try out and all of the old hobbies that I want to get back into again. I will write more in-depth about various gols for this year over the next few weeks and more as they come. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Resting and Preparing

 I had high hopes that I would blog each day of December, leading up to Christmas. I managed to do this, quite successfully, a few years ago. However, this year has proven to be very busy and I am exhausted. I have been working around extreme temperatures and trying to insulate the "mud room" which is going to be converted into our dining room. I was hoping to get the room ready for the holiday so that we could eat our Christmas dinner in there. I had no hope of getting it painted, but I at least wanted to get it warm enough in there. Over the weekend, we had a substantial amount of snow come down and we had artic temperatures, reaching beyond -30 degrees. 

I was happy to get some more shopping done on Sunday. I still have some last minute shopping to do, plus getting all the groceries needed for the weekend. I still have a few packages coming my way, too. I do have a very decorated home and that makes me happy. We got our tree at the beginning of the month. I do love the lights and garland. I made homemade stockings for the family, using recycled clothing from the thrift store. I can't wait to fill those on Christmas morning. Last night, I made my first ever attempt at making marshmallows. I have yet to see how it worked out I did have a minor hiccup during the process, so I would be very surprised if they worked out.

Today, I am going to pace myself, as I have all week, I decided to get tasks accomplished but not go overboard. Since I've been so tired lately, I didn't want to risk getting sick around the holidays. I have been binge watching episodes of Victorian Farm Christmas and now I am watching Wartime Farm Christmas. I think I will watch Avonlea Christmas and Edwardian Farm Christmas, if that exists ( I think it does). I know that on Friday, I will be very busy baking and making homemade candies.

That is my December wrap up! I hope to share more on Friday! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Soft And Chewy Molasses Cookies

So, hello there! I'm sitting at my kitchen island, watching the train go by. I'm cuddled up with a fluffy blanket and a hot cocoa is at my side, as I've been cold all day. For some reason, I've been very cold lately which is odd, considering we've been experiencing warmer weather. This week, I've been baking a lot. I'm trying to improve my gluten free goodies. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you would have seen the gluten free cheesy crackers that I baked today. Earlier in the week, I baked amazing oatmeal bread for the gluten eaters of the household (I'm a glutenvore) and last night, I made homemade gluten free granola bars. I used to make granola bars all the time, never considering that they were gluten free. These granola bars are a breeze to make and are more economical than buying gluten free granola bars. I will share the recipe the next time I make them! (I'm not yelling, I'm just really excited.)

Last week, I baked molasses cookies. I love homemade cookies; my favorites being chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, and molasses cookies. In a post that I wrote a few years ago, I mentioned an old recipe book that I had, where old hand written recipes from the 1940's - 1950's had been collected. This book contains a handful of molasses cookie recipes. So, I combined all of my favorite elements from a few recipes and made my own recipe.

The Recipe:

Molasses Cookies

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar

1 cup molasses

1 stick of butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs (1 egg if you want less chewy cookies)

1 tbsp. baking soda

1/2 cup strong black coffee

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp. cream of tartar (or Bakewell Creme)

3 cups flour

- In a mug, combine the hot coffee and the baking soda and set aside.
- Cream the sugars, the shortening and the butter until fluffy. Then, add the molasses and egg(s) and mix until combined.
- Slowly add the flour, alternately with the coffee mixture, until a dough is formed.
- Refrigerate for one hour.

Initially, I tried rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies, but they were too soft. So, I used the drop method, instead!

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Spoon small mounds of dough, six at a time, on a lined cookie sheet. The cookies spread, so it's best to give them adequate space.
- Flatten each mound slightly and sprinkle with white sugar.
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!

I stored these in a cake safe, they were too chewy to place in a cookies jar. These didn't not last very long in my house, we all love cookies! I've recently decided to incorporate more baking in my week. Homemade bread and cookies are so much tastier! Not the mention, they are better for you and cost a fraction of the price of store bought baked goods. The kitchen always smells fantastic! I always post photos of what I'm baking on Instagram and I share them on Twitter and Tumblr. I will happily recipes on this blog as well! If you're on  any of the social sites that I mentioned keep and eye out for my pics. You can find me by clicking on the link on the side of my wall. If you try making these cookies, share your photos and tag me, I"d love to see them! Until then~ Toodahloo!

Kitchen (Mis)Adventures

This is what my kitchen island looks like on a regular basis. This is my reality- a slightly controlled mess. Last Friday, I had decided to delight in the anniversary of my sorority's founding by baking a big batch of pink cupcakes; a tradition that I began long ago. Everything was in place, I had my eggs, my strawberry cake mix, freshly brewed coffee and a marathon of Chasing Life on Netflix. First, I made a batch of gluten free chocolate cupcakes, then I baked the strawberry cupcakes. Before I began adding water, eggs and oil to my mix, I double checked the "best by" date. The mix was "Best" by November 2015. Unsure of the safety of the mix, I did one inquiry after another, reading a ridiculous amount of literature on Google. After inspecting, sniffing and eye balling, I surmised that the mix was "safe" and I began the baking process. The sun was shining, the house was clean and it smelled amazing, it was a unicorn eating jellybeans kind of afternoon. That all changed after I frosted the cupcakes....

I don't know if it was the frosting (chocolate fudge from a can), the cupcake, or the combination of the two, but something was just off about the cupcakes. I ate one and it "seemed" okay, but something told me to try another. After smelling a cupcake, breaking it open and smelling more, something seemed sour. I just felt uneasy about these cupcakes, One part of me, the part that loves cupcakes, told myself not to worry, that the mix was properly stored and couldn't possibly be off. However, another part of me, the part that knows I'll wake up at 3 am in a panic, told me to toss the batch. I decided to feed the bin. I didn't like the idea of the kids getting sick off of cupcakes. The gluten free cupcakes were fine, Sadly, I had to go without my pink cupcakes on Founders' Day, this year. As Celine Dion says (err, sings) "my heart will go on......"

To make up for my kitchen mishap, I was determined to be a culinary crusader for the rest of the week. A few days ago, I baked a delicious batch of soft molasses cookies, using my very own recipe! They are a hit. Last night, I made Toll House Pie....swoon!

Monday, I needed fried food in a way that almost seemed obscene. I searched Pinterest for the perfect onion ring recipe. After pinning a few copycat recipes, I'd decided that those recipes were more complicated than they had any business being. Instead, I relied on my trusty Betty Crocker; she never fails me. Sure enough, I found a simple recipe that lent itself to be improved upon with the addition of spices and cornmeal.

The end result was nothing short of amazing. I enjoyed these with fried chicken nuggets. Again, it was that kind of day. Now, I have big plans to make some deep fried pickle chips, with onion rings. I know that it sounds terrible. However, this is something that I delight in once in a blue moon. Normally, I eat more healthy meals and I exercise, the key is moderation. When you use moderation, you can indulge in a few naughty meals.

So, that has been my week in the kitchen. We've been enjoying warmer weather, the days are getting longer and Maine Maple Sunday is just around the corner! Soon, we'll celebrate St. Patrick's Day, then Easter and then....Spring will be here! I am really..really looking forward to Spring. I'll keep you updated on any new kitchen adventures and any other adventures that come my way. Hopefully, no more pastries will be sacrificed. Until next time~ Tooddahloo!

Finally Feeling Better

The weather is back to clear, sunny skies. If you look out the window, you can actually convince yourself that it's Spring, already. Then, you step outdoors and you're welcomed with the harsh reality that winter is still, very much, in full swing. Last week, I really wanted to post, but it was one of those weeks. I was really looking forward to Thursday, because I had a girl day scheduled with my dear friend. We both look forward to those days and will often go for long stretches, in the school year, without one. When the day finally arrives it is long overdue, badly needed and at the end of the day we feel refreshed. So, Wednesday night there was a dark cloud, the car got a booboo. This was rather stressful, but the Mister hatched a plan; we found a temporary solution and got through it. However, when Thursday morning arrived, I'd barely slept a wink. I spent my girl day consuming more than my regular dose of coffee. All the while, worrying about the car, and the Mister, and the car. I had a fantastic day with my friend and she was even able to make me laugh and my mind was away from worries, if only temporarily.
When I got back home that afternoon, I prepared coffee, got supper started and resolved myself to not let it get me down. We borrowed my parents car so that we could go grocery shopping and then I was a bit less stressed. Sadly, when Friday morning came, I was exhausted. It isn't unusual for me to get tired after a girl day. I tend to push myself more than I should on those days, but I get so excited, I can't help myself. Having slept rather poorly Wednesday night, I was that much more exhausted.

On Saturday morning, as tired as I was, I decided to perk myself up with chocolate chip/ peanut butter pancakes. They were light, fluffy and very tasty- exactly what I needed. It seemed as though I'd never catch up on my sleep. Yesterday, I finally relaxed and after making certain that all my work was done, curled up for a nap. Today, I am back on track and I no longer feel like I'm dragging my heels. I am currently curled up on my love seat with one dog at my side, while another dog is dreaming away in the recliner, five feet away. I'm watching Agatha Christie on Hulu.com and I am fighting a nap. I shouldn't, but I want to get some writing done before I crash. I'm still recovering from last week, but I'm feeling tremendously better.

These little hiccups in life are hardly problems. Rather, they are mere inconveniences, but sometimes those inconveniences lead to other inconveniences and it develops into a very ugly snowball. Fortunately, we are surrounded by good friends and family -that makes all the difference.

One thing that I'm really looking forward to is my garden. I found that the Dollar Tree was selling seed packets 4/$1.00. I snagged several vegetable packets while they still had them, some things sell out quickly there. I think I'll get more at a later time, as long as they're available. Just having seeds is exciting enough for now, It won't be long before we're starting our seedlings! The month is nearly done and it seems like it went by quickly. One more week until March; I hope that Spring does come early, I can't wait for flowers! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Remembering To Rely On Trusted Cookbooks

I like to cook and I love to bake. Baking is where I find my happy, relaxing place in the kitchen. When I was a little girl, I learned to bake chocolate chip cookies, using my mother's Betty Crocker cookbook. When the internet became a cultural thing, I was in college; I remember my first online recipe came within a viral e-mail that one of my high school friends had sent. It was the notorious fake cookie recipe from a mall bakery. After that, I thought that it would be tremendously useful to find recipes on the internet. I've had good luck with recipes from brand sites, sites of famous cooks and allrecipes.com. What is great about allrecipes is that people with rate the recipe and write in the comments what worked and what didn't work in the recipe. Often, when people share how they improved upon the recipe, I'll use their addition(s) to make a better treat/meal. This method has never really failed me, as far as I can remember.
Then, there's Pinterest, my favorite site. However, it's also the worst site when it comes to recipes. There are so many recipes that look amazing and people claim them to be amazing, but it's such a guessing game. I've found some good recipes and some horrid recipes. Today, for instance, I was in the mood to make some cinnamon rolls, because it was rainy today. I thought that it would be great to warm up the kitchen and make the house smell like baked goods. I went to online and found what was supposed to be an amazing recipe. The recipe (initially) claimed to take 20 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake, with a total of 40 minutes. I thought that it would be wonderful to throw together some pastry just in time for the Mister to come home for his lunch break and enjoy some freshly baked cinnamon rolls. Once I got 3/4 of the way through the recipe, with dough half-way mixed, the directions said to let the dough rise for an HOUR! Then further down, the recipe requires the rolls to rise for an additional 30 minutes. It would have been great if this little note was included at the top of the page, where it claimed to be a 40 minute project. I was thoroughly annoyed, to say the least.
The rolls, two hours later, came out great and were very much appreciated when the gentleman came home for the day; it was a welcome treat after being out in the rain. However, the experience has left me a bit jaded.
 Lately, I've decided to stop the game and just rely on my cookbooks. I have a wonderful cookbook collection and those recipes have never failed me. I even have a spiral bound version of the same Betty Crocker cookbook like my Mum has. I rely on that book, still, to bake excellent treats. I've gotten into the habit of grabbing a small stack of books from my cookbook library and finding good recipes to meal plan for the week. The most surprising thing is, I'm now discovering recipes from cookbooks that I overlooked for years. One year, I received the "Desperate Housewives Cookbook" for Christmas. It was a gift, because I was so addicted to the show. I never took the book too seriously. After a recent meal planning session, I discovered that the cookbook is actually pretty great! It has a nice variety of recipes and they are all very easy to throw together. So, for now on, I'm going to take a more old fashioned approach to cooking and baking, and hopefully I'll have more success and less frustration.
Until next time~ Toodahloo!

A Snowy Week

This week has been filled with snow storms, and apparently there's more on the way! Last Thursday, I took a photo of the sun setting and you can see the yard had very little, to mostly no, snow cover.

 However, the next day, the snow began early in the morning. By noon time the roads were terrible and the kids were released early from school. The snowfall was great and the snow fluffy. It didn't take long for the yard to look like a winter wonderland. As soon as the snow came, it began to melt away again. Just when I was seeing more of the ground exposed, it snowed...again!

This isn't at all unusual for February. Ever since high school I can remember that the week before my birthday, it gets very warm and then, right before or even on my birthday, we get hit with a snowstorm.

It's very pretty, but it's also a mess. We were quite lucky with the snow and the cold this winter, as compared to last winter, which was horrid. I am not complaining too much; especially when Spring is a month away. We had it pretty good this year. We rarely dipped below freezing (this morning it was -6) and we didn't have too much snow to cause trouble. I really am looking forward to Spring, though. It will be fun to be outside, in the garden again.

Today, I am relaxing with the pooches and making chocolate truffles for a Valentine's treat. It might be terribly cold outside, but at least the sun is shining and I'm warm and snug inside. I know that another storm is coming next week, but that is just part of winter in New England. I will find a way to make it fun. I'll keep you posted...Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Getting My Baking Mojo Back

Fresh baked blueberry muffins, right out of the oven!

You might have noticed over the previous months a lack in baking posts. There is a very logical, if not sad, and slightly funny story behind the reason why. At least, in the end, there's a happy ending. Back in November, I was looking forward to the holiday season. I couldn't wait to bake Thanksgiving pies and I was anticipating all of the festive treats that I could bake in December. Thanksgiving arrived and I found myself baking pies the night before, then getting up early on Thanksgiving morning to bake homemade cinnamon rolls. It was all very delicious and I felt like I was finally making my kitchen my own. Then, the Friday after Thanksgiving, in the wee hours of the morning, something very strange happened. Around 1 o'clock in the morning, I woke to hear a faint beeping sound coming from downstairs. This is odd, because I am hearing impaired, however I can still hear high pitched sounds very clearly. I woke the Mister and asked him if he could hear it too. He got out of bed, went downstairs and discovered that the noise was coming from the oven.
I quickly shot downstairs to investigate. The oven display was showing an error code and the oven was very hot. (No, the oven had not been left on earlier in the evening.) The Mister tried to hit cancel, but the oven would not shut off. Strangely this very thing happened to my parents the year before. A few days after Thanksgiving, while my Mum was roasting a turkey, the oven shot up to 500 degrees F. The only solution that my Dad could find was to unplug the oven. I decided that we needed to immediately unplug the oven in order to prevent any sort of major problem. So, the oven was unplugged and it began to cool down. After the Mister returned to bed, I couldn't rest until I researched online any possible cause and/or solution to our problem.  I narrowed it down to either a problem with the temperature sensor or the control panel. Once I saw that there was at least a solution, I was able to go back to bed and get some rest.
The next morning, we plugged the oven back in, hoping that the problem went away, but the problem was still there. So, the Mister discovered that it was most likely (hopefully) a problem with the temperature sensor. So, he was able to make it so that the oven was no longer in use, but the stove could still function.
Christmas came and went, and we were able to improvise and had a lovely holiday meal with the family. However, January arrived and that month is full of birthdays, not to mention that February has my birthday and Valentine's Day. I really, really wanted my oven back. I went online and did some research, I found the type of sensor that I needed for my oven and ordered a replacement on ebay. When the Mister replaced the old with the new and oven was working again. I was beyond happy. Since then, I've been baking up a storm. I made homemade bread, cookies, birthday cakes, and the other day, I made blueberry muffins. Not to mention, that I can cook more versatile meals for supper again. Life is back to normal. I know that it seems like such a small thing, and compared to other much bigger problems out there, this is rather silly. I never saw this situation as a problem, I understood that it was nothing more than an inconvenience; nevertheless, I am very grateful to have my oven back. Now, You'll find more baking stories coming your way! Until then~ Toodahloo!

How I Made My Own Weeping Angel Tree Topper

It's taken me a while to finally sit down and write a new post. I knew what I wanted to write about, but it seemed like such a daunting task. I'm not certain why, perhaps it was the thought of uploading photos that has turned me off from this, but I decided that enough was enough and it was time to post again. So, I'm at my desk, the window above is displaying a grey morning, snow is lurking high above; a Spotify playlist is echoing throughout the room. I'm contemplating on making a latte, but I know that is just a ploy to distract myself from completing my writing. I refuse to be distracted. My reward for finishing this is cuddle time with the dogs, whilst watching the latest episode of "Younger." I know that I have a busy weekend ahead of me and I need to get a lot of things done before the weekend begins.
I DIGRESS!

Back in December, I was in full on festive mode. I spent a great deal of time decorating the house and making tree ornaments. The Mister and I decided early on that this year's Christmas tree was going to have a "Doctor Who" theme. We already had white lights, so we bought blue lights, blue and silver balls, blue ribbon, silver garland,etc. I also made Dalek inspired balls, as well as Cybermen balls. What really pulled it all together was the Weeping Angel Christmas tree topper that I made. Here is how I did this....

I started with a Barbie that I acquired at the local thrift store. I braided her hair and fashioned the tail end of the braid into a bun. I fastened it together with clear tape at the bottom and tucked it under. Then, I removed her legs (sorry, but it was for a worthy cause.)

Next, I took a large plastic drinking cup that I found in the clearance section at Wal*Mart and I cut an "X" into the bottom of the cup. I used a marker to mark the X for carving. I VERY, VERY carefully used and x-acto knife to accomplish this part. After the X was in place, I squeezed the bottom of the doll into the X. Using and X, instead of making a hole helps to keep the doll firmly in place. This was to create a skirt and to have an opening to use to place her on top of the tree. I positioned her at the point of her waist and then I hot glued her in place, for extra security. 

Once the doll was in place, and still had my hot glue gun plugged in, I glued her arm over her eyes, so that she appeared to be shielding her eyes. Then, I took scrap fabric from a previous project and glued it on to look like a loose dress.

I made angel wings by cutting out the shape from a plastic gallon milk jug. Then, I layered "feathers" cut from a paper grocery bag and glued them onto the plastic wings. I made certain to include tabs so that I had a way to glue the wings onto the back of the doll.

 Once the wings were glued in place, I began the painting process. I wanted the angel to look as though she were made of stone and had been exposed to the elements for years. I used acrylic craft paint to accomplish this. I layered grey that I made with black and white paint. I also added a little bit of mossy green paint. I covered the hair with the paint, as well as the wings and the dress. I applied many layers to get the right look. I also took the white paint, and watered it down and then dripped it over the doll to make her look very weathered. Once the paint dried, the dress was nice a stiff. It held the shape, perfectly.

Once she was placed on top of the tree, she really looked spectacular! Considering it only cost less than $2.00 to make and most of the materials used, I already had on hand. The tree was really pretty and a whole lot of nerdy! That is the beauty of being an adult and having the ability to declare that you will have a Doctor Who Christmas tree. Now, she is safely packed away in her own box, until next year.

There you have it, my post about my nerdy Christmas tree. I don't know why I was so worried about writing this. Yes, it is a month overdue; but at least it will be available for any Whovian who wants some insight on the subject for next year. Now that this is finally out of my system, maybe I'll feel a little less skiddish about my posts and things can get back to "normal."
I hope you enjoyed my nerdiness! Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Getting Back To Posting After Break

Winter is finally here and so is a new year!  During December of 2014, I posted every day leading up to Christmas. It was a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. I really enjoyed the project, but then Christmas arrived, and it was the worst Christmas I'd ever had in my life. This sometimes happens, things don't always work out as planned. I had worked hard to make things cheerful and festive and was working really hard to enjoy myself. It wasn't like an I didn't get all the gifts on my list kind of let down, rather, I had a loss in the family on Christmas morning.
When it came to deciding how I wanted to approach the month of December on the blog for 2015, I decided to take things easy. I did a few craft projects and documented them, but I didn't go nuts this year. Instead, I just wanted to live in the moment and enjoy myself. I didn't want to have to photograph every moment, as if staged, and then sit down to write about it. I only wanted to enjoy the moments as they happened and not appreciate them through my camera screen. Have you ever gone to a concert and watched as a sea of audience members are watching the performance on their camera screen, because they're spending the majority of the concert filming with their phone? They're distracted and missing out on the show. I didn't want to experience December that way, So, I took a blogging break.

This Christmas was a very green Christmas. When I looked outside, the yard looked more like it did in late October than in December. It was very warm for that time of year, too. Not that I was complaining. The winter before had been very harsh, with multiple blizzards. A few days after Christmas, it snowed quite a bit. Then, last Sunday it was warm again and we got two inches of rain. All of the snow was washed away. I could see grass again and all the ice on the driveway was gone. As quickly as it went, the snow came back when we had another snow storm Tuesday. This weather is wacky, but it has me dreaming of gardening in the Spring. I am already thinking of what flowers I want to plant and was vegetables I want to grow. It won't belong before we will be starting our seedlings.
In my next post, I"ll share some of the Christmas crafts that I made during my blogging break. Then, we will resume a new year of fun. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Seeing Green

Yesterday, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day. Even though we are not of Irish ancestry, we love to celebrate the holiday. Traditionally, I bake green velvet cake. However, this year, I decided to try something different. I did miss having green baked goods. I decided to begin the celebrating early, and made fluffy green pancakes. They look like something the Hulk would create, but they are delicious. I always use the recipe from the trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook. It was a fun way to start the day and it put a smile on my face.

In the afternoon, I made Irish soda bread, whilst watching the show Moone Boy on hulu.com. Growing up, my mother never made soda bread. The first time I ever had soda bread was when I was in college. I was at a cast party hosted my the director who also happened to be my adviser. She cooked a delicious dinner for the cast that included scrumptious soup and soda bread. I was hooked from that point. Every time I bake soda bread, I think of that night, it was a great time.

I use Craisins in my soda bread rather than currants or raisins. I also soak my Craisins in Red Rose tea for at least 30 minutes before draining them and adding them to the dough. I found the recipe way back in 2002 on epicurious.com. However, the internet is full of thousands of recipes for soda bread, I'm sure you can find one easily.

I ran out of time to make a dessert, so I waited until today. I wanted to make a dessert using only ingredients that I had already on hand. This morning, I decided to have fun and make up my own recipe. I call my creation- "Last Minute Key Lime Pie."

Last Minute Key Lime Pie

Ingredients:
1 (2.75 oz.) pkg. lime gelatin mix
1 (3 oz.) pkg. vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 c. water
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 oz. cream cheese (softened)
2 tbsp. lime juice
1/2 c. whipped topping
graham crack crust

Directions:
1) Prepare a graham cracker crust for a 10 in. deep dish pan according to directions on the back of the graham cracker box.
2) While the crust is in the oven, blend the gelatin mix and the pudding mix in a medium saucepan. On medium heat, add 1/2 cup of water and mix until the mixture is fully combined, then add the remaining water.
3) Remove crust from oven, and set aside to cool.
4) Continue to stir the gelatin and pudding mixture and bring to a full boil. Once it comes to a boil, let it cook for one minute and continue to stir, then remove from heat.
5) In a large mixing bowl, add the sweetened condensed milk and beat with an electric hand beater for 2 minutes. Add the lime juice and beat another minute.
6) Add the cream cheese to the milk mixture and beat on low speed until smooth. Then, switch the beater to high speed and beat for three minutes.
7) Slowly add the lime gelatin/pudding mixture to the milk mixture a little bit at a time. You don't want to pour it all in at once, because it will still be quite warm and it will make your mixture freak out on you. Beat on the lowest setting, with each addition until blended.
8) Once the all of the gelatin mixture is added, gently fold in the whipped topping and fold until smooth.
9) Pour mixture into graham cracker crust and chill until set.

Now, I know that technically this isn't Key Lime pie, as it doesn't use key lime. It is a sort of mock key lime pie. This took, roughly 30 minutes to through together. If you need to make a dessert quickly, this is great. This is also great to make if you are feeling a bit lazy and don't want to jump through a lot of hoops to get a tasty dessert. Sometimes, you just want a great dessert and you don't feel like you need to impress anyone. To be honest, I'm a bit impressed with myself. I don't often create my own recipes. I think my sister will dig this, because her little boy absolutely LOVES Key Lime Pie and this takes little effort and is practically fool proof. The trickiest part for me was folding in the whipped topping. Full disclosure: I didn't use vanilla pudding, I actually used vanilla tapioca pudding. This happened because I saw what looked like a box of vanilla pudding and I didn't see the word "Tapioca" that was in small lettering. I was initially a bit vexed, but I quickly got over it, and it turned out perfectly fine. These things happen and you just have to roll with it.

So, there you have it. A wonderful emerald green day was had. Tonight I will eat the delicious pie for dessert after I eat hash that will be made with the left overs from last night's boil dinner. I intend to be more creative this week and I can't wait to share it all with you. Until next time~ Toodahloo!