Monday, January 30, 2012
Kiwi Strawberry Jam
We got a great price on kiwi the other day so I bought some thinking I could make jam. I found a recipe that called for chopped kiwi and strawberries - 2 cups total fruit. The recipe sounded good and I had strawberries in the freezer cleaned and frozen in 1 cup packages. That and sugar were the major ingredients so I was good to go. I made the jam Sunday and it was really very good! It made 3 one cup jars and 3 4 oz jars. I find the smaller jars great for my use as I'm the only one who eats jam (most of the time) and I can finish a jar and them try another type. I will really enjoy eating this - the strawberries give it an interesting sweetness.
There really was more jars - I just shot this close up. YUM!!
Saturday, January 21, 2012
A Snowy Day
We expected snow and we got it! Several inches this morning and more through the day. The snow was very fine and I swept the steps in the morning and they were clear. B got the snow blower out mid morning after I cleaned the cars off. Honey supervised us both. She just LOVES the snow. It's 23 degrees out. We did some more cleaning off this afternoon and instead of taking Honey for a ride, B just put her in the SUV while he cleaned the cars off a second time.
That blur by B is the dog who was chasing back and forth this early this morning
And I cleaned off the cars with this neat snow "rake" that is soft enough to pull the snow off and not scratch the car. Much better than the broom I had been using.
Dumped the broom and used the "rake" You can see the depth on the porch railing
No ride for Honey today!! But B put her in the car and she supervised him.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Thursday rain
It was a gloomy day. Rain in the morning heavy at times. Honey had a vet appointment. Off we went with her barking incessantly. The visit went fine her normal yearly check up. Back home she was pooped and so were we!
Dinner is easy so I'm relaxing. Steak cauliflower with cheese and frozen Lima beans. Did I mention it's raining? We are expecting very cold temperatures over the next few days as is NJ and Philly area. No snow in the forecast We will stay warm!
Dinner is easy so I'm relaxing. Steak cauliflower with cheese and frozen Lima beans. Did I mention it's raining? We are expecting very cold temperatures over the next few days as is NJ and Philly area. No snow in the forecast We will stay warm!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
January is for Organizing
When you look at the magazine covers for January - the "woman's" magazines like Family Circle, Better Homes and Gardens - you see they are all focusing on getting "things" in order. I suppose it's tied in to New Years Resolutions - something that neither of us do any more. After all, it's only a matter of how long before you break them. But I have been attempting to be more organized in my approach to tasks.
I have a running To Do list that I often add to. Now this list is somewhat specific and deals with the day to day stuff rather than lofty goals and unrealistic expectations. Over the past week I have crossed off tasks such as descale Kurig (something that the coffee maker recommends to do every three months and so it's also in my phone calendar and I get a reminder) put Christmas tree away, return iPhone case (I ordered 2 in error and Amazon makes returns easy), polish kitchen counter, freeze the leftover pizza, find lost library book (I'm still looking) do laundry (and when I cross that off I then have to put it on the list again), pay bills, do labels for file folders, clean out files in filing cabinet. I have some things I've carried over several pages - still have to order vitamins and download ebooks to the iPad from the library. But I'm making headway!
Today I worked in the loft on the file cabinet. I'm rather good at keeping papers and had folders with general headings - but I broke that out to better track and locate things I refer back to. So now I have folders for Home Improvements broken out by year and purchases and invoices from contractors go in those folders. Time passes by and we lose track of just how long ago we redid the kitchen floor or fixed the deck. And I also shredded stuff that really wasn't needed. Of course to do that I had to hook up a printer and then figure out how to print out labels for the file folders. So I feel I accomplished something today and the list is helping.
While the day was cool, it wasn't cold. I'm not complaining as no snow makes things so much easier. Yesterday, when we went out to breakfast, the windshield was clear of frost so that was really easy. Walking Honey is not a chore as we don't freeze and she doesn't slide. Well, off to start dinner - and get a glass of wine.
I have a running To Do list that I often add to. Now this list is somewhat specific and deals with the day to day stuff rather than lofty goals and unrealistic expectations. Over the past week I have crossed off tasks such as descale Kurig (something that the coffee maker recommends to do every three months and so it's also in my phone calendar and I get a reminder) put Christmas tree away, return iPhone case (I ordered 2 in error and Amazon makes returns easy), polish kitchen counter, freeze the leftover pizza, find lost library book (I'm still looking) do laundry (and when I cross that off I then have to put it on the list again), pay bills, do labels for file folders, clean out files in filing cabinet. I have some things I've carried over several pages - still have to order vitamins and download ebooks to the iPad from the library. But I'm making headway!
Today I worked in the loft on the file cabinet. I'm rather good at keeping papers and had folders with general headings - but I broke that out to better track and locate things I refer back to. So now I have folders for Home Improvements broken out by year and purchases and invoices from contractors go in those folders. Time passes by and we lose track of just how long ago we redid the kitchen floor or fixed the deck. And I also shredded stuff that really wasn't needed. Of course to do that I had to hook up a printer and then figure out how to print out labels for the file folders. So I feel I accomplished something today and the list is helping.
While the day was cool, it wasn't cold. I'm not complaining as no snow makes things so much easier. Yesterday, when we went out to breakfast, the windshield was clear of frost so that was really easy. Walking Honey is not a chore as we don't freeze and she doesn't slide. Well, off to start dinner - and get a glass of wine.
Sunday, January 01, 2012
Happy New Year
Here it is, a brand new year! And, New Years Day means the local diner is closed which means B doesn't get to purchase their Eggs Benedict, better known to us as a bennie. Lynn to the rescue.
I figured, how hard is it to make a bennie? Eggs, sauce, muffin and Canadian bacon. Of course, I've never poached an egg before but that makes this a good learning experience. I had all the ingredients having decided last week to do this. I don't normally have Canadian bacon so that was the only purchase needed. I did go on the Internet to find a recipe because I was not sure of the timing. I also tweaked it a bit. I have found that preparation of any recipe old or new is easier if you have ALL the needed ingredients ready to go. So, first I got the pans out and decided to use the induction hot plate for the cheese sauce as it immediately drops the temperature so much better than my electric stove. Muffins defrosted and in the toaster, bacon laid out in the pan, water with vinegar on for a simmer and eggs, milk, cheese, flour and mustard out with butter in the pan. Cracked the 4 eggs into 4 small saucers since from what I remember seeing on cooking demonstrations, you slide the eggs into the simmering water. All set to go....wait, the water doesn't look deep enough! So, I added some water and then, of course, had to wait for it to boil to be turned down to a simmer. As I waited, I made the cheese sauce and after tasting, added more cheese. That was turned to low as the water simmered I heated the bacon and slipped the eggs into the water. Now I expected this to look kinda icky and had seen chefs swirl the water to keep all the egg together. That didn't work. So I was seeing 4 globs of egg with all this white stuff floating around and was concerned most of the egg white was floating not staying with the yolk. Well, moved on to toasting the muffins, making sure the sauce was hot enough, and also the bacon. At 3 1/2 minutes I turned the eggs off and started dishing up. Using a strainer spoon, I scooped up the egg and YES, there was quite a bit of white. Plopped it on the muffin with ham and added the cheese sauce. Quite pretty and when the second plate was done, we ate. Naturally no pictures first time around. But it did look really nice. One egg was a bit runny the others were soft cooked. I'd cook them 3 minutes next time and try to take them out in the order I put them in - first in first out. I told B this didn't mean we would stop eating at the diner on Sundays! But, it was a fun learning experience and one I will repeat.
Hope your New Years is happy and healthy!
I figured, how hard is it to make a bennie? Eggs, sauce, muffin and Canadian bacon. Of course, I've never poached an egg before but that makes this a good learning experience. I had all the ingredients having decided last week to do this. I don't normally have Canadian bacon so that was the only purchase needed. I did go on the Internet to find a recipe because I was not sure of the timing. I also tweaked it a bit. I have found that preparation of any recipe old or new is easier if you have ALL the needed ingredients ready to go. So, first I got the pans out and decided to use the induction hot plate for the cheese sauce as it immediately drops the temperature so much better than my electric stove. Muffins defrosted and in the toaster, bacon laid out in the pan, water with vinegar on for a simmer and eggs, milk, cheese, flour and mustard out with butter in the pan. Cracked the 4 eggs into 4 small saucers since from what I remember seeing on cooking demonstrations, you slide the eggs into the simmering water. All set to go....wait, the water doesn't look deep enough! So, I added some water and then, of course, had to wait for it to boil to be turned down to a simmer. As I waited, I made the cheese sauce and after tasting, added more cheese. That was turned to low as the water simmered I heated the bacon and slipped the eggs into the water. Now I expected this to look kinda icky and had seen chefs swirl the water to keep all the egg together. That didn't work. So I was seeing 4 globs of egg with all this white stuff floating around and was concerned most of the egg white was floating not staying with the yolk. Well, moved on to toasting the muffins, making sure the sauce was hot enough, and also the bacon. At 3 1/2 minutes I turned the eggs off and started dishing up. Using a strainer spoon, I scooped up the egg and YES, there was quite a bit of white. Plopped it on the muffin with ham and added the cheese sauce. Quite pretty and when the second plate was done, we ate. Naturally no pictures first time around. But it did look really nice. One egg was a bit runny the others were soft cooked. I'd cook them 3 minutes next time and try to take them out in the order I put them in - first in first out. I told B this didn't mean we would stop eating at the diner on Sundays! But, it was a fun learning experience and one I will repeat.
Hope your New Years is happy and healthy!
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