Chill Tumblers

Is a glass just for sipping?  Of course not!  One of my favorite things to collect is glass, and I've found so many pieces that I really enjoy.  Art deco and depression glass are some of my favorite finds, especially at a bargain price.  That's why I was thrilled to find these beauties at The Goodwill Store for $0.69 each!

Perhaps the photo doesn't do justice to their elegance, but once their true (re-)purpose is shown, their allure is hard to resist...

Having Fun With "Thirty-One"

My fascination with "Thirty-One" started innocently enough, as most soon to become obsessions do. 

My neighbor and good friend puts on a vendor party every year right at the start of the holidays, allowing friends and family to come together and shop in the comfort of her home.  Items sold are either hand-made or catalog quality, and shown by some of the hardest working and stay at home mom's in town.  Last year, I had my tutu table turning profits (more on that later), and this year "Thirty-One" was well represented.  Within minutes, I found myself oohing and ah-hing, and "needing" enough to convince myself that hosting my own party would be the perfect way to get more, more, more...

The Secret Ingredient Is Love

Where do you put all those recipes that you love? 

If you're someone who entertains with emphasis on food, if you love to cook, if you're someone who has to eat, or if you need to feed people daily, at some point in your life you may find that you need to corral all those carefully chosen and cherished collectible recipes.

I started jotting down recipes when I was in college.  I lost my mom when I was 19 and realized then that, although she was an excellent cook, I never got the chance to share any of her experience in the kitchen.  Since my very first  Thanksgiving turkey cleaned (ugh!  no one told me about the neck) and cooked that year, I've been asking for and writing down recipes for practically everything I've ever made in the nearly 20 years since...And I do so love to cook!

Some of my favorite recipes are written on the back of scrap envelopes that I recycled from the mail.  I can  search the print and find the date stamped on the front, and it helps bring back the memories of that time and place.

When I was getting married, my bridesmaids threw a bridal shower with a request to all attending to bring a copy of a treasured recipe for my growing collection.  I still have most of those index cards in my collection today.

Several years later, my friends and I gathered together one night to share our best recipes, and find the best way to organize them for our own use at home.  The result for me, was a 3 ring binder that I recently realized had seen better days.  Well used, and much loved, my book needed a new look:

 

“There are things you do because they feel right, and they make no sense, and they make no money, and it may be the real reason we are here:

To love each other and to eat each other’s cooking and say it was good.”

 www.storypeople.com

Bake Me A Cake As Fast As You Can!!!

If you've ever baked anything with a child, you know that time is valuable.  For in the few moments that it takes you to locate the yellow sprinkles, the entire pan of batter can be on the floor or sneezed into oblivion.  It is for this reason, as well as my own sanity, that I finally have taken hold of the baking cabinet.

This was not a spur of the moment decision.  I had been meaning to fix this confectionery mess and create some ingredient ingenuity for several months before finding that the time had come to take action.  This mixed up cabinet needed to be sifted to serenity.

Quick on the draw for this best buy bag!

Several years ago, my husband and I agreed upon the declaration of one rule: the "10 second decision" rule. If something that really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things is causing us too much grief, we have the right to declare out loud "10 second decision".  This means that we will spend no more than 10 more precious seconds of our lives trying to make the best decision possible, and move on from the trivial matter at hand.

This is a great idea for progressive couples such as ourselves, but only when the situation calls for it's appropriate application.  For instance, if I'm trying to decide between the wine glasses with the rounded stem versus the ones with the more cut glass stem, it is perfectly acceptable for a sideline call of "10 second decision rule", and in minutes we are through the check out and on our way to a more lovely engagement.  This doesn't work so well when discussing mortgage terms.  For that, we let the cat decide.

Hooray for the buffet!

Here is the story of my first witnessed organasm:

It was a late night in August, 2012.  The temperature was high, and my mind was wild with a desire to find a foolproof way of organizing the kitchen in preparation for the new school year.  Weeks before, I had spotted something that caught my eye on a local website's auction: a Thomasville wooden buffet, in perfect condition, circa 1965.  There were 3 drawers.  The top drawer had solid wood dividers, and the other 2 were wide and deep enough to store an entire years worth of business- one per child.  This was getting good, and could only get better when the solid doors opened up to reveal 2 deeply set shelves and lots more storage space.  The measurements couldn't have been better for the space I intended to place it, and the color was a near match to my kitchen cabinets.  I bought the beast for less than $100, borrowed a truck, and got it home just in time for the new school year to begin.  Bring on the paper trail, I was ready!

Closet Junkie

Lately I've found myself to be hopelessly obsessed with closets. In our house, we don't have enough closets, and the ones that we do have are small and not ideally set up for good organization.  I get overwhelmed at the thought of conquering an entire closet project all at once, so instead I've started taking little bites at a time.  For example, at the end of dinner the other night, I threw open the dining room closet door and started sorting through papers, vases, miscellaneous toys  and trinkets to try to gain control over the space, all the while encouraging my little princess to take a few more bites and finish her milk.  I gained nearly 2 complete shelf spaces, and a boost of confidence that the next exploration through that door will get me another step closer to dissolving the dining room closet dilemma that has perplexed me for the past 2 years.  Little victories bring lots of sanity!