Thursday, January 30, 2014

Try This!!


I'm baaaack! Well, sort of. Blogger has still not resolved their issue with uploading photos, but I found my way around this by blogging via my phone. Yay! ☺

Last Friday, I decided to remove my kitchen wallpaper. After the bathroom wallpaper removal project in July, I said I would just leave the kitchen as is. But...I needed a project and this fit the bill. Our kitchen had two layers of wallpaper to remove, so it took me all of our three day weekend to remove.

When I climbed up on a ladder to remove the paper above the cabinets, I saw this a dusty, greasy mess. I am embarrassed to say I honestly cannot remember the last time I cleaned the tops of my cabinets. Not a good thing.



I started to clean it with ammonia, but the fumes just about did me in. Not only were the fumes bad, but the dust just pilled and made more of a mess. I checked Pinterest for a quick fix and found a paste of baking soda & vinegar would do the trick.

I sprinkled the baking soda on and decided to spread it around before I added the vinegar. Then a miracle happened! I didn't need the vinegar, just the baking soda alone did the trick!! I massaged the soda into the dusty grease and voila! Instant clean!


I was so excited! Baking soda really is a miracle product! I was able to clean the top of the cupboards in no time at all. When I was finished, I just vacuumed the soda up. Then went over what wasn't picked up by the vacuum with a damp sponge.


After I am completely finished with my wallpaper/painting project, I plan to put a sheet of parchment paper down to catch any new dust/grease. Then I can just change the paper every month or so.

When was the last time you cleaned the top of your kitchen cabinets?! If you can't remember, grab the baking soda and get busy!


Monday, January 13, 2014

Blog Problems!

I have been trying to update my blog for an entire week. The problem? Blogger will not let me upload photos. I have several posts on the back burner. Hopefully, Blogger will get the problem figured out soon!
Stay tuned!!

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Make This!!

 
Dutch Baby!
 

I was introduced to the wonderful Dutch baby during a sleepover in 5th grade. I have been in love with these oven pancakes ever since! They are easy, delicious and everyone loves them!  All you need is a large (oven safe) pan or skillet plus four ingredients and Voila! You have a Dutch baby. This pancake is also known as a German pancake or as my sister learned (by living back east one summer) David Eyre pancakes.

Mix up your batter while the butter is melting in the oven...

Pour the batter into the preheated pan, bake for 20 minutes....
Immediately cut into 6 equal quarter (or smaller),

squeeze fresh lemon juice on top & sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Dutch Baby

1/3 cup butter
4 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
lemon slices
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 425*. Melt butter in pan (in oven). Blend the eggs, milk and flour in a blender. Pour into the preheated pan with melted butter and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve immediately with lemon & powdered sugar.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Birthday, Crabbing, & Christmas

This post is all about playing catch up! I am condensing most of the fun things we did in December here.

Happy birthday to me!
On the 11th, I turned (gulp!) 45. Wow! Middle age!! Omid and I celebrated by going to Pine State Biscuits for breakfast. I brought my own candle, lit it & Omid snapped this photo. Do you want to know what is the perfect birthday cake? Biscuits & gravy! We had a delicious breakfast and it was a fun way to spend my birthday morning.☺

The weekend of December 13-15, we went crabbing & razor clamming. My dad drove down from Olympia to meet Ward & Omid on the morning of the 13th to go crabbing. I can't remember the exact number of crab caught, but I know it was over twenty. Lin, Tammie, Jeff & I had to work that Friday (+ the kids had school), so we all met up with Omid and gang later that evening. We ate tons of crab & fresh oysters for dinner. So delicious!

The next day, Tammie, Lin, my dad, Ward, Jeff & Omid went crabbing again. They didn't have as much luck, and only got one crab. I stayed behind with the kids & dogs. Matty and Austin drove Matty's Jeep on the beach and got stuck in soft sand. Uh oh!  A good Samaritan stopped to help dig them out and an hour later, two very relieved boys came back to tell us the story. So glad a $1000 tow was not needed! Matty learned a valuable lesson: stay off the soft sand!!!

We headed out for the razor clam dig at 2:30 p.m.  It was the Stevens' first time ever and we were excited to show them the ropes. We all got our limits in less than 30 minutes. Remy & Jack helped out too. It was a great weekend with lots of love! I can't wait until we do it again.☺
Clamming weekend at Long Beach, WA.

Fast forward to Christmas Eve. We had a small get together with our friends. Omid made several fun appetizers and I made cranberry bliss bars for dessert.
 
Fun fact: Every other December, Omid and I rewatch the entire season of The Sopranos. Here are Nas & Matty posing "Soprano" style for me. So fun!
 Remy wasn't too keen on the idea of being picked up for the second photo.
 
We were so busy chatting, that I neglected to get any photos of the party. Jeff invited us all to attend Christmas Eve mass with him and his family at 10:00 p.m. We took up the entire back pew of the church. It was a very nice service.

We celebrated Christmas day at a party at the Stevens' home. So much delicious food! After dinner, We played poker and I was the big winner! Yay, me!


Jeff's parents, MeMe & Pop flew in from Texas, Christmas evening, just in time for the party.
The parents!

The kids!

This photo made me stop in my tracks. While I love the photo of us all together, I dislike the food/wine baby who showed up to the party. Photos don't lie....I have restarted The Shred!!!
December ended with my good friend & former Special Services coworker, Sharon, visiting from Texas. We had a lovely reunion at Lapellah.
 
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! I am so looking forward to changes and new beginnings for 2014.☺