Family Room Purge

My family room has a wall of shelves, the bottom of which are full of toys which desperately need a good sorting through, which I will do this weekend. They aren't getting purged, just put away for the next little one. Everything else I sorted through. Here is the how-to declutter post for the living room.

More candles, I seriously have too many candles since I never burn them anymore with a toddler around.
A few decorations that I'll relocate or purge
A bunch of magazines, I used to keep a lot of magazines, now I get rid of them pretty much right away, since I get most of my inspiration online
A few extra vases that have come with supermarket flowers

I recently went through all my craft stuff and gave away all the crafting things that I knew I'd realistically never use. I had acquired a bit of scrapbooking items, but realistically, I do digital scrapbooking and don't take the time to do anything with the paper and supporting bits, so I passed them all off to a friend of mine, so I didn't have much there to purge.

What did you purge or declutter?

Love this room, well with about half the pillows and throws and candles.

via

Dining Room Purge

Thankfully, my dining room and dinette haven't gotten too bad. Here is the how-to declutter post for the dining room.

I had a few old birthday banners that I decided to purge
I set aside a few candles to give away that I really don't care for the scent
The buffet drawer had a few odds and ends that I've been hanging on to for quite a while, which I purged (if I haven't figured out what they belong to by now, I likely never will)
And two placemat and napkin sets that were given to me, but aren't my style and have never been used

Did you manage to find anything to purge or declutter?

I repinned this dining room twice several months apart, I guess I really like it!

via

Bathroom Purge

Since I've done the how-to on purge and declutter steps before I thought I'd just link them up. I started with my bathrooms since I knew they'd be pretty easy, I threw away a few things past their prime and made note of a few things I'd like to "containerize" in week 3.

My guest bathroom has 3 tall built-in cabinets, similar to medicine cabinets, but rather tall. That is the only storage in that room and one of those cabinets is our toilet paper storage (they are exactly 1 roll deep), so I only had 2 cabinets to sort through. I relocated a few things that had collected in there, but there wasn't much purging to be done.

The master bathroom has four under sink cabinets and 1 tall linen closet, so I found a bunch of things to clear out:
A bunch of hair product from the days when I used to flatiron my hair and two flatirons to give one of my nieces
A bunch of perfume samplers that I'll never use, which my nieces can have or pitch
A few towels were relocated to the dog towel bin, for bedding, dirty paws, baths, etc
A few items past their prime were pitched from the medicine basket
The far 2 cabinets hold puppy items and kid bath items, I need to get a couple plastic bin to corral the things in those cabinets better and to keep them from getting lost to the back recesses of the cabinets


I'll keep a running list of things I need to either relocate from other areas of the house or purchase for my organizing week, as I go through the rooms purging I'll make note of anything that can be relocated.

Week 3 scavenger/shopping list:
3 rectangle plastic vented bins : 1 for the puppy stuff, 1 for bath toys, 1 for kid bath products
1 new bath mat for the master bathroom

How did your bathroom purge go?

Just a little eye candy, my inspiration photograph for my master bath.

via

Spring Cleaning

I'm so over winter and ready for spring. It's still quite cold here, and we're still bundling up in wool and snow suits with plenty of snow on the ground. Yet, we're opening the windows a bit during the day to air out the house. I'm tired of the stuffiness of a house shut up for winter. I'm ready to do a declutter, purge, and thorough spring cleaning! Care to join me?

I usually spend a week purging, a week deep cleaning, a week organizing and a week on the miscellaneous repairs or special projects. I divide the house up into zones to tackle on each day, and always give myself a day off each week to take a break and enjoy. This month I am also planning a birthday party for my daughter on the 13th, so I need to leave myself enough time to get that done.

I'll be deep cleaning the entire house, however these are the areas that I plan on concentrating on this year that I know need a little extra help.

For purging: closets, linens, my drawers, and the kitchen.
For cleaning: electronics, the stove, doors & windows, soft furnishings & textiles, registers & grates
For organizing: miscellaneous drawer, pantry, bathroom closets, front hall closet, garage (tall order)
Special project: create a guest room/craft room out the bedroom in the basement and finish the bathroom in the basement

My zones this spring (I'm going from least amount of work to be done to most):
Monday: Bathrooms
Tuesday: Dining Room(s) (formal/casual/kitchen dining rooms)
Wednesday: Living Room(s) (living/family/game/rec rooms)
Thursday: Bedrooms
Friday: Other Room(s) (hall closets, foyers, mud room, laundry room)
Saturday: Kitchen
Sunday: Family Fun Day!

If you'd like to jump around and do your own thing, but are looking for some sort of guide, check out the September ShapeUp Guide from a few years ago. I do a bit of a mini "spring cleaning" in the fall as well to get ready for the holidays and get all the summer bits put away and pull out all the cozier things we need for fall and winter here. Otherwise, join along here and on Facebook.

Monday Musings - Rilke

Cheese Cream Crackers - Recipe

This weekend I gave my daughter the last of our crackers from the cupboard, it's her default snack choice these days... crackers and apple. I found myself needing to make crackers, but all I had left in the fridge was some mozzarella and some feta cheese. Since mozzarella wouldn't add a whole lot of flavor to a cheese cracker I went with the feta.

I'll be honest, I didn't really have high hopes for they way these would turn out due to the moisture content of feta, but figured they'd be fine until I could get to the grocery store for some sharp cheddar. I was so wrong! They didn't quite crisp up quite as much as I'd have liked, but the flavor was delicious, especially with tomato soup for lunch. They also would have benefited from some whole wheat flour, but I was out. Did I mention I needed to get to the grocery store?

Generally I do a combination of cheddar for cheese and pepper for seasoning, or Parmesan and Italian seasoning, but the feta and pepper I made this weekend was quite good and I highly recommend giving it a try at least once. I don't add additional salt, if you would like your crackers saltier add up to 1/2 tsp salt. If you have it, I like to use the Pampered Chef Pastry Cutter with the crimper wheel to cut these, it gives it a little bit of a "Saltine" style edge to it. Also, I cut cheese crackers into diamonds and regular crackers into squares, easier for my family to tell at a glance what kind of crackers they are without asking me.

Cheese Cream Crackers

Ingredients

1 cup flour (substitute up to 1/2 cup with whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup cheese
4 tablespoons cold butter
seasoning to taste, about a 1/4 tsp
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/3 cup cream

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
   
2. Add the flour, cheese, butter, seasoning and salt to a food processor, and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Turn on the food processor and drizzle in the cream until it just comes together into a dough (it takes exactly 1/3 cup for me, might need a tiny bit more in drier climates or high altitudes).
4. Turn the dough out and divide into 2 sections.
5. Roll the dough out to 1/16 - 1/8 inch thickness. Cut with a sharp knife, pizza wheel or dough wheel, or for fun use cookie cutters.
6. Bake on ungreased stoneware or cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes.
7. Start watching them at 10 minutes, you may need to pull them out in small groups. Once they are golden brown on the edges and top, pull them off the stone and continue to cook the ones that need more time. Cook time is going to be dependent on cracker size and thickness, so the more uniform they are, the easier to gauge the cooking time.
8. When removed from the oven, place the crackers on a wire rack with no overlapping to cool, you want the steam to escape. Do not store until completely cooled or you'll end up with soft crackers. If you need to "fix" soft crackers, place in a 200F oven for about 10-15 minutes to dry out.
9. Roll out remaining dough and bake, or wrap tightly and stick in the refrigerator to make later (up to 1 week, if wrapped well)

Monday Musings - Baum

I've been out of town for a week, and while I skyped with my family as often as possible, it's not the same. My daughter hugging the computer wanting me to hug her back just broke my heart.

print by Ashley Goldberg

Strawberry & Lemon Marshmallows - Recipe

For my daughter's first birthday I had a pink lemonade theme, and made some homemade lemon and strawberry marshmallows.  I dipped the bottoms in a light coating of white chocolate and put them on sticks to make it easier for the kids to handle. I'll be making some new flavors for her 3rd birthday this year.

Strawberry Marshmallows

INGREDIENTS

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1/8 cup dried strawberries, finely chopped
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp strawberry extract or flavoring
red food color
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

Lemon Marshmallows

INGREDIENTS

3 packages unflavored gelatin
1 cup ice cold water, divided
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
grated lemon peel from 1 lemon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp lemon extract
yellow food color
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

Sift together confectioners' sugar and cornstarch.  Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 13" by 9" baking pan. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper, not necessary but helpful. Then sift about 1/8 cup of the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture onto the bottom of the pan.  Add 1/2 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle gelatin over the water and let stand until softened (about 15 minutes)

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, add the sugar, corn syrup, salt, lemon peel or dried strawberries and 1/2 cup cold water. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Use a wet pastry brush and wipe sugar crystals from the sides of the pot, boil for about two minute. Boil on high, until the syrup reaches 240F, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.

Using a whisk attachment, turn your mixer on low and slowly pour the hot syrup into the gelatin. Slowly increase the speed to high and beat until it comes together and looks like thick marshmallow fluff, about 10 minutes. Add extract and 2-5 drops of food coloring (until color desired is reached, I wanted it pale so only used 3) beat to combine, about 30 -60 seconds.

If you use butter to lightly butter the rubber spatula first it makes it easier to spread out.  Pour marshmallow mixture into the prepared pan and spread with a rubber spatula, scraping out the bowl.  Sift about 1/8 cup of the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture onto the marshmallows and let stand, uncovered on the counter until set, about 3-6 hours (depends on humidity).

Run a knife around the perimeter of the pan, and invert onto a cutting board which has been dusted with about 1 TBSP of the powdered sugar and cornstarch mixture.  Put remaining sugar and cornstarch mixture in a bowl.  Peel off the parchment paper, if you used it and cut the marshmallows into small squares.  I do about 1"x1" squares.  Toss in sugar and cornstarch mixture in the bowl, shake off and store in an airtight container, separating layers with parchment paper.

Just a Minute...

Jen formerly of August Street, now Crafty Type, used to have a Just A Minute feature, which I enjoyed.

Reading... The Science of Parenting by Margot Sunderland

Making... goodies for Kirsten's Easter basket and decorations for her birthday party

Watching... Firefly, I've seen it before, just rewatching

Listening... to Kirsten goofing around, making up silly stories about a dragon and her baby

Loving... getting ready for Spring

Dreaming... of the day we get a call about our next little bundle of joy

Planning... Kirsten's Hello Kitty birthday party and the garden layout for this year

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Alicia's gorgeous garden, you really should go take a peek at Posie Gets Cozy. I love her blog, it was one of the first I started reading. Mine will be a big tilled up patch of soil at my in-law's farmstead, so not very pretty, but quite functional nonetheless.

via

Baking... test runs for Kirsten's birthday cake

Lamenting... the demise of Google Reader and finding a new RSS feed reader... so I'm trying out Bloglovin this week. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Monday Musings - Swift

unknown source, found on pinterest with a bogus link back

Cocktails - Recipes

Just a small sample of my favorite cocktails that are consistent favorites at our yearly cocktail party.

Appletini

1 oz Shakka Apple Liqueur
2 oz Apple Juice
1 oz Smirnoff Apple

Shake with ice, strain into martini glass
optional: Garnish with apple cubes or slices

Ocean Breeze

1.25 oz Malibu rum
.75 oz Curacao
.5 oz Orange juice
.5 oz Pineapple juice

Shake with ice, strain into martini glass
optional: Garnish with an orange slice or pineapple spear

Mojito

3 oz Light rum
Juice of 1 Lime (1 oz)
2 tsp Sugar
2 Mint sprigs, crushed in glass to release flavor
Soda water
Muddle mint and sugar together into shaker with a splash of soda water
Add remain ingredients, shake with ice
Strain into highball glass
optional: Rim glass (dip in lime juice, then sugar) and garnish with a mint sprig

Raspberry Creme

1 oz Chambord
1 oz cream
1 oz creme brulee liquer (Just Desserts)

Shake with ice, strain into martini glass
optional: Garnish with White Chocolate shavings, or a raspberry

A personal favorite:

Pomegranate Champagne

2 oz champagne
1 oz pomegranate juice
0.5 oz orange liquer: Grand Marnier or Cointreau
1/2 tsp simple syrup

Shake orange liquer, pomegranate juice and simple syrup with ice, strain into champagne glass
Pour in champagne and stir gently
optional: Garnish with pomegranate arils

20 Little Things in Spring

Several years ago, 2009 to be precise I did a 20 Little Things in Spring post. It was before my daughter was born and I thought it'd be fun to do another, then compare them afterwards.

via

1. Taking nightly walks and watching Kirsten ride her tricycle
2. Blowing bubbles and watching Kirsten catch them before the grass pops them
3. The squeals of delight of Kirsten at the park "Mommy, look at me!"
4. Little skirts and sandals revealing the scraped knees and bruised shins of my princess tomboy 
5. Taking lots of pictures outside
6. Baby bunnies frolicing in the back yard
7. Morning dew on the green peeking out of the ground in the flower beds
8. The house the day after spring cleaning
9. Early morning coffee on the back patio
10. Opening all the windows to air out the house
11. Waking up to birds chirping
12. Trading my heavy winter clothes for lighter colors and fabrics
13. Trading heavy down comforters for lighter quilts and blankets
14. Greeting neighbors as we all begin work on our yard clean up
15. Seeing all the kids in their Easter best at church
16. Hiding eggs for days on end, because Kirsten loves to find them again and again
17. Fire pits on the weekends
18. Browsing the garden centers and starting seedlings
19. Filling my window boxes and urns with flowers
20. The soft tapping of rain on the roof and windows

A quick glance back shows me not too much has changed...

What do you look forward to in Spring?

Monday Musings - Brontë

My favorite quote from Wuthering Heights:

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread - Recipe

Nothing goes better with Chili then a little cornbread. Especially when said cornbread is sweet buttermilk cornbread, hot out of the oven, slathered with butter and drizzled with honey, with a crispy outside from a hot cast iron skillet. Is your mouth watering yet? I'm going to share my cornbread secrets with you, and I've been told many a time that my cornbread is the best!



Secret #1: Buttermilk
Secret #2: Honey
Secret #3: Hot Skillet

Don't have buttermilk? I keep a buttermilk powder on hand for baking when you want the buttermilk flavor, without added liquid. Or quickly make your own: for the 1 1/2 cups this recipe calls for, remove 1 1/2 Tbsps milk from 1 1/2 cups of milk and add in 1 1/2 Tbsps of vinegar or lemon juice, and let it sit for 5 minutes, then add to the recipe.

Now, this week I got to up the secret factor, because I got to use some AMAZING honey, and I don't know if I'd ever be able to live up to it with any old honey again. I got my honey from Haff Apiaries (701.663.1619‎) in Mandan, North Dakota, it's raw unpasteurized honey and the best I've ever tasted. I also used White Lily White Buttermilk Cornmeal Mix, this is hard to find up here in North Dakota, so I order it online. While I do think it makes a better cornbread, you can use whatever corn meal you have.

Buttermilk Skillet Cornbread

INGREDIENTS
2 cups White Lily White Buttermilk Cornmeal Mix
-OR-
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour

1 1/2 cup buttermilk
-OR-
1 1/2 cup milk
2 Tbsp buttermilk powder

1 egg, lightly beaten
4 tsp honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
Generously grease 8-10" cast iron skillet (I use butter flavored shortening for this, butter just doesn't do as good a job)
Preheat skillet in oven to 425
Measure cornmeal (and flour, if needed) into a bowl and stir (with a wooden spoon) it up to break up large clumps
Add remaining ingredients and mix until just moist, it will have some clumps
Pour into skillet and put in oven for 20 - 30 minutes (depends on the skillet size, start checking on it at 20 minutes. You want the top to get to a nice deep golden color.

Monday Musings - Moore

Biscuits - Recipe

Biscuits are so easy, unless I'm camping I doubt I'll ever buy canned biscuits again. Just 3 ingredients on a Sunday morning and you can have homemade fluffy biscuits to slather with butter and homemade jam.

Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

2 cups self-rising flour (I use White Lily)
1/4 cup butter, cubed
3/4 cup buttermilk

2 Tbsp butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 500F.

Measure flour into a large bowl.
Add shortening/butter and cut in with a pastry blender (or knives or a quick pulse or two on a food processor.)
Pour in milk/buttermilk and stir with a fork until the dough just pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Gather the dough with your hands, then turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead 2-3 times, until it just comes together. Pat out to 1/2 inch thick and cut with a 2" biscuit cutter dipped in flour (or a glass or cookie cutter or canning jar lid, whatever you have on hand.) You will have 9 plus scraps, I usually lightly twirl the scraps together and use them for sampling when the biscuits are done.

Grease and flour or spray a baking sheet 8"x8" or larger.

Place biscuits in sheet, for softer biscuits place them right next to each other, for crispier edges place them farther apart.

Bake 8-10 minutes.

Brush tops with melted butter fresh out of the oven.

Monday Musings

I have a bit of a two-part Monday Musings today, I thought this would go quite well with Paperman, a short from Disney. I'm a little behind and saw it for the first time this weekend. It is a sweet little story about love at first sight? Attraction at first site? Anyway, a man, a woman, a windy day and a bit of paper make quite a stunning short.  Enjoy!

via

via

Swedish Almond Cake - Recipe

This is very easy to make and tastes delicious. It's a bit dense, and typically served with a light dusting of powdered sugar, but I rarely bother with that. I've made these in mini loaf pans, but without being able to twist the pan there is no way to get them out cleanly. A springform pan would probably work because you can run a knife between the cake and pan to pop it out. I'd highly recommend the almond cake pan though, this is my go to dessert for company. It's easy to make, stays moist and lends itself well to other flavors by just changing the extract. I've made it with rum, lemon, orange and, of course, almond.

Swedish Almond Cake

INGREDIENTS

1 1/4 cups sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 tsps pure almond extract
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease and flour the swedish almond cake pan, or use non stick spray.
In a medium bowl, beat together the sugar, milk, egg and almond extract.
Add dry ingredients to liquid mixture and stir until just combined.
Pour melted butter into the bowl and stir until incorporated.
Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 40-50 minutes at 350F.
The cake is done when a cake tester or knife inserted comes out clean.
Allow to cool completely before popping it out of the pan, or it will stick terribly.
Twist the pan back and forth to loosen, then it should come out.

Fresh out of the oven, golden brown on top, but the rest is very pale in color.

Valentine's Snapshot

This year Valentine's Day is going to be all about my little girl. Since my husband and I are going out to dinner and a play on Friday night, I'm going to make Thursday into a fun day for her. I'd like to make it special this year for her, last year she didn't really care, but this year she is really excited for it. She helped make valentines for her classmates and has been talking about the party all week when she'll get to pass them out.

Gotta love her "cheese" grin.

Her morning will start with a heart attack on her door.
via

For breakfast we'll have pink milk and muffins with strawberry jam hearts.
via

Then she'll head off to school, for a day of fun and a party at the end of the day.

Her teachers are getting hand hearts wrapped around lotion.
via

And her classmates are getting little packs of mini-M&M's with a little Bee Mine Love Kirsten valentine that she put together, which I'll show you tomorrow.  They are very simple, since I wanted her to be able to help glue and punch them out.

We'll have dinner (Kirsten's choice, likely spaghetti!) and strawberry fudge for dessert
via

Then we'll finish off the evening with snuggle time: A Charlie Brown Valentine and popcorn
via

I hope she loves it, I think she will. What are your plans for Valentine's Day?

Monday Musings

via