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December 6th, 2011

Every DIY show from 1999-2008 seemed to encourage the use of a repurposed bedroom dresser for use as a kitchen island or for a bathroom vanity. Usually, they were small for a single sink and distressed or painted white in the spirit of “shabby chic” goodness. The trend was over, or so I thought. The latest look in antique bathroom vanities is “Hey, I stole the base of Grandma’s valuable 19th century china cabinet and ‘upcycled’ it.”

Later, you give the relatives smelling salts, or wave chocolate mousse cake under their nose to revive them. You deftly reveal the receipt proving it only looks like the coveted heirloom. Then everyone is down for the count when they review the itemized bill.

December 3rd, 2011

A friend of mine is relocating to Canada and is having a difficult time wading through the real estate market to find Calgary apartments for rent. She couldn’t just hop over the bridge to Windsor, but she decided that she needs to practically be in  Alaska, or at least just north of Montana, instead. Guess she won’t be getting any chocolate mousse cakes in the mail. They’d be mush by the time they traveled over 2,000 miles. Maybe I’ll rent a motor home and bake it on the way.

She wants to rent first, and then spend about a year before she looks to buy. She actually found more luck with RentCalgary.com over Craigslist and some of the data-feed real estate sites for some reason. It has a mix of private landlords, property managers and real estate agents advertising. The site is not slathered with ads or irrelevant articles, and is pretty much bare bones straight forward listings.

When I relocated across the country years ago, I grabbed an out of state edition of the local paper at Barnes & Noble, but of course not all of the listings are there nowadays. It was frustrated to go through the ads and find half were already rented. On the other hand, it was a little less ADD, because there is no YouTube in the local paper. I wish her luck on sticking to the task.

November 29th, 2011

This post brought to you by GravyMaster. All opinions are 100% mine.

What’s vegetarian, certified Kosher, vegan, preservative-free, makes a mean Bloody Mary, shared an ingredient with rock candy and carmelizes a chicken breast? The “all things to all people” claim is pretty substantial. Could we be talking about WD40 or Duct Tape? Maybe its Mickey D’s soft serve ice cream.

Believe it or not, GravyMaster, which has been around since the Great Depression is all of those things. Its not a drippy barbecue sauce, but rather a combination of dried vegetables, herbs and other spices that makes a base for a sauce, or acts as a dry rub on its own. The only apparent ingredient change since 1935 is the switch from using leftover candy rock salt to pure cane sugar.

The GravyMaster website urges you to “Master the meal” with traditional and unexpected ways to enjoy the product this season. Try this cheese and nut spread instead of cracking open the Swiss Colony or Hickory Farms catalog.

1 cup walnut halves

3 teaspoons vegetable oil
3 teaspoons GravyMaster®
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon dill weed
1 round (8 oz.) Brie or Camembert cheese, chilled

Crisp crackers, baguette slices or sliced tart apples or pears

Directions

  1. Spread walnut halves in a single layer in a glass pie plate. Cook on HIGH 4 minutes, stirring once
  2. Combine oil and GravyMaster®; drizzle on walnuts. Sprinkle with garlic salt and dill weed. Stir well.
  3. Cook on HIGH 1 minute to brown walnuts. Cool.
  4. Place cheese on glass plate. Heat in microwave 20 to 25 seconds, just until soft but not runny. Sprinkle walnuts over and around cheese. Spread on crackers, bread slices or fruit. Makes 4 appetizer servings.

And voila!

What are you going to make with GravyMaster? Some sprinkles in seltzer water to make a spicy gargle? Or an old fashioned barbecue?

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November 26th, 2011

Guest post from: Natalie Walter

Mom and I had always talked about starting a cake shop but to be honest, we were just scared to. There’s nothing like making a huge mistake when it comes to investing thousands of dollars and since we’d both been housewives for so long we were going to have to ask my husband and dad for the money to get us off the ground. But last year we did it and I’m pleased to say that business is better than I imagined it would be!

I love doing all the inside stuff like marketing and dealing with vendors and looking into small business xo and mom’s all about the actual baking. She’s the best cook I know and she’s taught me a thing or two about using fondant and stuff like that so I know that together we make a pretty fierce team. We’re gearing up for the winter wedding season and I’m happy to say that one day business will be where we need it to be to make a profit, I think!

November 24th, 2011

This post brought to you by Zenni Optical. All opinions are 100% mine.

I am the proud owner of a turkey made out of broom bristles and a turkey hat, but turkey eyeglasses….really????  (Yes, depending on the size of your head and monitor, this may be ACTUAL SIZE.)

What exactly is all that behind the turkey. I see a pumpkin, some form of native American headdress, perhaps, but what is that blue or black thing at the top? Is it a pilgrim hat, or is it a ghost looking out? Maybe I need to lay off the sugar. And turkeys don’t have hooked beaks, do they? It could be my fault. Pheasants were probably a more likely unwilling participate of the big feast, and I am so accustomed to thinking about a turkey.

For a joke, $9.99 is not too bad for cheap eyeglasses for a gag, but you can get these with actual prescription lenses for that price over at Zenni under their holiday section. I guess you won’t be flipping the bird when you trip into the sunken living room with the platter. Heck, for that price, I bet a lot of folks wouldn’t care if their face was in a constant state of Thanksgiving. Well, maybe not.

If one compares it to optician store prices, one could also snag an everyday pair and a turkey dinner for the whole family. So many are proclaiming things are so hard in this economy, so saving money wherever one can counts big.

Do you have any holiday eyewear or fashion traditions that its not Thanksgiving or Christmas without, or do your traditions revolve around trotting them out one time only?

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November 16th, 2011

This post brought to you by Schar. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was in a bakery recently that had a tray of sugar dusted cookies that were "SUGAR FREE COOKIES FOR DIABETICS!" Really? Sure a life of someone with food sensitivities shouldn't be all beige and boring, but why not encourage folks to discover new, healthy foods that they CAN eat instead of scientifically altering things they can't have? Where's the discipline?

For my food sensitivities, which are not life threatening to me, I bake flourless cakes with tofu frosting for myself, and when I am with others I pull out the stops on the heavy cream and flour. I know that if I indulge once in awhile, its not so bad because I am not eating it every day.

For those with Celiac disease, its not always simple about "being bad today." Unlike diabetics who can avoid sweets, or the lactose intolerant avoiding heavy cream, wheat gluten is hidden in so many products. Bread is the obvious offender, but wraps, cookies and even dog food (!) carries a trace. Escaping it is not about simply skipping the dinner roll.

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Schar has just relaunched a complete line of gluten-free rolls, breads, pastas, cookies and snacks. The secret is that the products rely on other grains such as sunflower seeds, rice flour and flax seeds for a hearty, textured, grainy product. The European brand is available at stores stateside, but you can try a free sample.

  1. Join the Schar club and enter your information.
  2. Once you are registered, look for the "Toolbox" column on the side of the page.
  3. Click on "Giveaways" to request a sample of Ciabatta.

Hurry…only the first 2,000 folks will be sent a sample kit. If you are one of the lucky ones, what will you make with it? Comment or drop me a note!


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October 31st, 2011

psycho_pumpkin.jpgHere’s a recipe from archives, reprinted by popular demand. Halloween is a little more than half a hot potato toss away, but around here, pumpkins have petered out. Some are just stunted and are maturing at a shrunken size. Oh well, there will be more Golden Snitch pumpkins and less Herman Munsters. One thing you can do with leftover pumpkin guts is to make pumpkin muffins.

You will need:

The innards of your pumpkin
4 eggs
1 2/3 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup oil
1 (16 oz) can pumpkin
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda

Combine baking powder, flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Take another mixing bowl and combine and beat egg, canned pumpkin, sugar and oil until fully mixed and when it starts to get a little fluffy. What does fluffy mean? When it is not a big gloppy heavy mess. Then, you combine all together. Put the combination in muffin tins. This is the same recipe for pumpkin bars, but you are making it in muffin tins so people will think it is a whole new recipe.

Now, it comes time for the the pumpkin guts. First, clean your spatula and whisks thorughly. Then, take some pumpkin innards and spread it on the spatula and the beaters. Leave on the counter or return to a dry sink. Put a few little pumpkin innard droplets here and there on a cutting board or a little on the oven. Throw the rest away. Afterall, the pumpkins we carve are not good pumpkins for pies or desserts. It is pretty flavorless. The smaller pumpkin varieties are the most flavorful and are what are used for pies and recipes.

Take the muffins out to cool after you have baked them on 350 degrees. Optionally, you can put frosting on them if you like.

Invite people over and make sure they come through the kitchen. Make a big deal out of forgetting to wash out your spatulas, etc. Make sure they see them and comment on how valiantly you wrestled that Jack-o-Lantern and how proud Martha would have been that you used up all the pumpkin innards. The muffins came out perfect. They weren’t spongey or mushy at all!

October 31st, 2011

This post brought to you by Sunkist S’alternative. All opinions are 100% mine.

Salt will kill you. Okay, now that we've got that out of the way…

I'm serious. Just watch Man vs Wild or ask a pirate. If you are stranded in the middle of the ocean, you must collect rain water or harvest condensation to drink. Drinking salty sea water will rapidly dehydrate you and cause your demise. If even outlaw sea pirates know this, why doesn't it register with us landlubbers? No, the answer is NOT to drink a bottle of rum.

A little sodium is fine. We need our electrolytes, but excessive sodium bloats us and dehydrates us. Eight glasses of water a day? If you drink an excessive amount of sodium, make that nine or ten, kids to offset it. But sodium makes things just taste better.

Don't think you have a salty mouth? Take the Sunkist Sodium Quiz, and see where you stand.

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I rate as a "Mover, Not a Salt Shaker." I can't help you cheat! Is this better than being a "Salt Smarty?" Or is this one rung down? I can't help you cheat. Several years ago, I eliminated salt. Of course, you can't eliminate it all, but limiting packaged and canned foods to items with less than 100 mg of sodium per serving is a daunting challenge, but it can be done. You will adjust! The largest way to eliminate processed foods. Choose grilled or broiled instead of processed lunch meat ham, chicken, and turkey.

Sunkist throws down the gauntlet to all of us. The Sunkist S’alternative is to add lemon to recipes instead of salt. Your tastebuds won't be hurting for flavor, and your kidneys, liver, pancreas and heart will thank you.

Here's a fancy high-falutin' recipe to get you started. If you don't have saffron and refuse to buy it because you are afraid of trying something new, add a bit more garlic to taste.

Sunkist® Lemon Seafood Paella -

Ingredients: (Makes 8 servings)
*1- 32 oz can low sodium vegetable broth
*1 cup dry white wine
*1 teaspoon saffron threads
*1lb. of firm, fresh pieces of whitefish such as tilapia, bass, halibut and swordfish, cut into 16-21 pieces
*1lb. or 16-21 mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
*1lb. or 16-21 medium sized clams, rinsed
*cup chopped fresh parsley
*3 Sunkist® lemons, zest and juice
*3 Tbsp. olive oil
*1 _ cups minced onion
*3 cloves garlic, minced
*teaspoon crushed red pepper
*3 cups uncooked short-grain rice such as Valencian, Arborio, or Calrose
*1 cup frozen green peas
*1- 8oz jar of sliced, roasted red peppers

Instructions:
• To prepare broth, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

• To prepare paella, heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large paella pan or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish pieces to pan and sauté 1 minute. Remove fish from pan, reserve and keep warm. Add onion to pan and sauté 5 minutes. Add the lemon zest, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add rice and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly. Stir in broth, bring to a low boil and cook 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

• Stir in the peas and red pepper slices. Add mussels and clams to pan, nestling them into rice mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until shells open; discard any unopened shells. Stir in the reserved fish and chopped parsley and cook 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in lemon juice and check for seasoning. Cover with a towel and let stand 10 minutes before stirring


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October 28th, 2011

I walked into a model home once and practically lost my cookies. No, no, no – it wasn’t that bad. I mean I literally almost dropped my oatmeal chocolate
chip on the floor from shock. The kitchen was decorated with white wall to wall carpet, and so was the dining room. While it could be argued that it
keeps feet cushioned and toasty warm, the little reality checker inside my brain fainted. Maybe there ARE people in the world who don’t have pets,
don’t eat red pasta sauce or grape juice and use their ovens to store their pots and pans, or perhaps loaves of piping hot bread fresh from the local bakery just for the smell of it.

To, me carpet in the living room is enough to clean. I remember having a “good” carpet cleaning company and a “bad” one before. Little did I know that there
are Soo1-92 regulations, as they are called, which according to thesteamteam.com, the carpet industry and government came up with as the official and
thorough procedure for carpet cleaning companies to follow.

And I quote::

“It was agreed that each of these cleaning processes should include these common steps.

  1. Pre-Vacuum
  2. Pre-treat spots, stains and heavily soiled areas
  3. Hot Water Extraction
  4. A thorough rinse
  5. Furniture Moving
  6. Complete Drying within 24 hours.”

So that’s how I ended up with a two tone carpet: The gentleman that was recommended to me decided he couldn’t handle moving the furniture, so he didn’t. Oh, and he forgot to tell me the carpet would take 48 hours to dry. I stepped on it. In general, companies that I have used had followed that model. When you are performing a carpet clean yourself, its a good idea to think about those standards to resist the temptation to let your antique stained table bleed on the carpet before its dry.

Even if you have your carpet professionally cleaned, it doesn’t mean you have license to just leave stains as they fall. A little club soda, dish soap or just plain water goes a long way depending on the stain. Red and grape juice can be lethal if just left to soak in. Carpet cleaning is really intended to soak up all the day to day grime and dirt the vacuum doesn’t catch.

As far as furniture cleaning tips go, according to the model home sales associate, they don’t allow any food in the “home,” and periodically replace the furniture anyhow. Out of sight, out of mind. Children’s mouths are apparently duct tape and a “crumb catch” is installed underneath their chin. Sometimes adults are worse.

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