Ms Not So Perfect...

Rogness Brewing Company

2013-04-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

I love visiting breweries, especially small craft breweries! Each brewery is unique and has a interesting history. Of course my favorite part of the visit, is the sampling of the yummy beer! This month I had the pleasure of taking a tour of Rogness Brewing Company. They are a small craft brewery in Pflugerville, TX.

Acquiring tickets to a tour at Rogness is super simple, just check out their website. When you arrive at Rogness you can buy a cool pint glass for $10. With the purchase of the glass you are able to get six generous samples.

As you sample their beer you are encouraged to explore the brewery, enjoy their picnic tables with friends, or even play a round of ladder ball in their outdoor biergarten. Children and dogs are free to attend.

Six beers were available to sample. Each beer had a very different and unique character. My favorite Rogness brews were the Ost, a delicious coffee porter, and Bella, a Belgian golden ale.

The owners, Forrest and Diane Rogness gave us our tour. They are passionate about their brewery, their beer and boy they sure do know their stuff!

I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon, sampling some amazing beers with the brewers themselves.

So grab your bestie and head on over to Rogness for a tour and tasting. You'll be Hoppy you did!

Longhorn Cavern

2013-03-31T17:40:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a stay-cation this spring break. Each day Trouble and I did something interesting in our neck of the woods. It was fun to visit places we've been meaning to check out but just never got around to. One of my favorite trips was to Longhorn Cavern State Park, in the Texas Hill Country. Mr.Perfect even came along as he couldn't miss a cavern exploring adventure.

The cavern at Longhorn Cavern State Park was created by underground streambeds that carved out the rock. From 1934-1942 the men of the CCC, The Civilian Conservation Corps, excavated much of the cavern and built it's beautiful entrance and a building leading to the cavern.

The cavern has a very interesting history. It has been used since prehistoric times by Indians, Confederate soldiers and outlaws. During prohibition the cavern was used as a speakeasy. Trouble loved hearing the stories our guide told of the caverns' past.

Walking through the cavern we marveled at the beautiful rock formations and imagined what interesting tales the cavern would tell if rocks could talk.

What a fun way to learn a little about geology and Texas history!

Guided tours are scheduled throughout the day. For more information on tours and fees, call (877) 441-CAVE (441-2283) or visit Longhorn Cave Tours.

The Blanton Museum of Art

2013-03-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

I thought Trouble needed a little more culture in his life so this spring break we made a trip down to The Blanton Museum of Art in Austin. Truth be told I'm a huge fan of Claude Monet's Water Lilly series. The Blanton Museum currently has a special exhibition that features art from the private collections of University of Texas Alumni. One of the pieces just happens to be a Water Lilly!

Trouble wasn't as excited at the prospect of going to an art museum as I was. He thought it was going to be boring. But once he saw some of the whimsical pieces featured at Blanton he changed his tune. Here's Trouble under Passage by artist Paul Villinski. Trouble loved the idea of a thousand black butterflies taking over an airplane.

They had an interactive area for further art exploration. Trouble learned about how color looks different in light. I learned about art in architecture.

Trouble brought along his i-touch and snapped a few pictures of some of his favorite pieces.

Like this chocolate syrup version of The Last Supper...

and this mound of green candies shaped like a pickle.

The Blanton Museum of Art has so many unique and interesting pieces to see. Young and old would enjoy exploring the museum. Heck, Trouble was not bored at all. In fact he really enjoyed himself!

Trouble was so inspired he decided to give painting a try. My mom, Nana, gave Trouble a little mini acrylic painting lesson.

Thanks Nana for helping Trouble create his masterpiece,

Papa Fishing!

Stuffed Grape Leaves/ Grape Leaf Rolls/ Dolmas

2013-03-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

When The Bread Lady asked if I was interested in learning how to make Lebanese stuffed grape leaves, I jumped at the chance. Cooking with the Bread Lady is always a fun and tasty treat.

What you need:

16 oz. jar of grape leaves
1 pound chili ground beef (course ground sirloin)
1 cup uncooked long grain rice, rinsed several times
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teaspoon cinnamon, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon allspice, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
salt, to taste
juice of 4 lemons
4 tablespoons butter, cut up
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes (any kind will do)

What you do:
Wash grape leaves several times by rinsing in water. Let leaves sit in fresh water and set aside.

Combine ground beef (we ground our own), rice, butter, cinnamon, allspice, pepper and salt.

Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture on the underside of a grape leaf (the stem should be pointing at you). Roll up egg-roll style. Place stuffed leaves in the pan seam side down. How to roll grape leaves.

Place the stuffed leaves in a large pot in rows. Once the bottom of the pot is covered make another layer of stuffed leaves. We ended up making 3 layers of stuffed leaves.

Pour the lemon juice, cut up butter and can of tomatoes over the stuffed leaves. Add enough water to cover the leaves.

Place an inverted ovenproof plate over the stuffed leaves to keep them from floating.

Bring to a simmer, cover and cook on low for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

As the stuffed leaves are cooking taste the liquid to see if salt or pepper is needed.

All Done! While making these little guys my mom commented on how similar they are to the Polish stuffed cabbage rolls our family makes. They really are similar.

Just look at all those delicious little stuffed grape leaves. I could gobble them all up! Oh yeah, I did.

Thank you, Bread Lady, for your generosity, friendship and amazing recipes! It's such a joy to cook with you!

Pringles Can Solar Hot Dog Cooker

2013-02-26T19:58:00.000-08:00

Trouble was recently tasked with making something having to do with solar energy. After some ~~indepth research~~ googling around he decided to create a solar hot dog cooker made from a Pringles can. Honestly, I think he was drawn to the idea of eating an entire can of chips and a hot dog for homework. We found some super simple directions here and got to work.

I helped cut an opening in the can making two flaps for Trouble to fold back. Trouble taped some clear plastic over the window. Next he poked a hole in both ends of the can to hold a skewer. The hot dog gets loaded on the wooden skewer and inserted into the Pringles oven.

Trouble found a sunny spot to cook the dog and let the sun do its thing.

After about 30 minutes Trouble noticed that the inside of the can had steamed up.

He checked the hot dog to make sure it was heated to his liking.

Apparently it was the perfect temperature, that or he was hungry. He was so very proud to have used the sun to cook his lunch!

Roasted Beets

2013-02-17T19:49:00.000-08:00

A wonderful friend brought back fresh veggies from the Texas Valley. Lucky for me, she shared! I got some beautiful beets. I love beets and I really love them roasted! They're good hot or cold, in a salad or all alone.

What you need:

beets, I used 3 beets for 2 people
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt, to taste
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
pepper, to taste

What to do:

Peel and cut beets into wedges.

Toss beets in olive oil and lightly salt.

Place beets on a cookie sheet or roasting pan. (You can see here that I decided to roast onion and sweet potatoes as well.)

Place beets in a 450 degree preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Stir beets around a bit after 15 minutes of cooking. Cooking time may vary a bit depending on the size of your beet wedges.

Immediately after taking beets out of the oven, toss them in balsamic vinegar.

Salt and pepper to taste.

I love leftover roasted beets in salads with feta! Try it. Also, don't throw those beet greens out. The greens and stems can be sauteed or roasted and are completely delicious. I made beet leaf chips by tossing the leaves in a little olive oil and salt and roasting them in the oven until they were crispy.

Jalapeno Pimento Cheese

2013-02-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

I recently went to a sweet little tea room with a bunch of girlfriends. I ordered a sandwich sampler plate and fell in love with their jalapeno pimento cheese. I've always loved pimento cheese and adding jalapenos made it even better. I knew I had to tackle making my own version of spicy pimento cheesiness.

What you need:

8 oz. shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon garlic flakes or powder
1 teaspoon cut chives
1 jalapeno, minced
4 oz. jar diced pimentos, drained
salt and pepper, to taste

What you do:

Place all ingredients in a stand mixing bowl.

Mix until well combined.

My favorite way to eat pimento cheese...in a grilled cheese!

Sloppy Joes

2013-01-17T19:14:00.000-08:00

Trouble LOVES sloppy joes! I guess I do too. What I don't like is the instant stuff in the can. Yuck! So instead of using that yuck stuff, I make my own. It's easy and I usually have all of the ingredients.

What you need:

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained of grease
½ cup onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
1 cup salsa
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon mustard (I use Dijon)
¼ teaspoon liquid smoke
sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
6 buns

What you do:

Saute ground beef with onion, celery and garlic, until onion is soft. (5-8 minutes)

Stir in ketchup, salsa, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard and liquid smoke.

Bring mixture to a simmer and cook at low heat for 25 minutes.

Serve on toasted buns topped with cheese.

Confession: Whenever I say sloppy joe, in my head I'm singing the Chris Farley/Adam Sandler 'Lunch Lady Land' song. Enjoy the Sloppy Joe, Sloppy, Sloppy Joe!

Drunk Dunked Cherries

2013-01-02T20:08:00.000-08:00

I'm always a sucker for fruit soaked in alcohol. It's fun, it's festive, it's delicious! When I saw a picture on Pinterest of soaked cherries dipped in chocolate, I knew I had to give it a try.

What you need:

fresh cherries
amaretto liqueur
almond bark, melted

What you do:
Cover cherries in amaretto. Allow them to soak for a few days. I soaked mine for 2 days.

Dry off the drunk cherries.

Dunk each cherry in melted almond bark.

Allow cherries to harden on wax paper.

Done! Yep, it's quite easy.

Pssst- Do yourself a favor and make a drink with any leftover amaretto that the cherries didn't 'drink'. It's really good in hot chocolate.

Baklava

2012-12-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

The wonderful Bread Lady is at it again, teaching me how to make more delicious Lebanese food. Today I'm learning how to make Lebanese baklava. Yes, there are different variations of baklava. Some have honey, some have cinnamon, some have a rose water. We'll be making baklava with an orange flower water.

What you need:

3 cups finely chopped pecans
3/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons orange blossom water
2 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups rendered butter
1 pound filo/phyllo dough (1 box)
1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
juice of 1 lemon
3 tablespoons orange blossom water

What you do:

Combine chopped pecans, 3/4 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons orange blossom water and 2 tablespoons melted butter. Set mixture aside.

Brush a layer of rendered butter in rectangular baking dish.

Lay one sheet of filo in the baking dish.

Brush rendered butter over filo sheet. Continue layering filo and brushing with butter until half of the filo dough box has been used.

Sprinkle the pecan/sugar mixture over the layers of buttered filo. Gently pat the nut mixture in the pan.

Lay one sheet of filo on top of the nut layer. Carefully brush rendered butter over the filo sheet. Continue layering filo and brushing with butter until all of the filo dough has been used.

Carefully cut the baklava into diamonds with a sharp thin knife. That's right, cut it before it goes into the oven.

Bake baklava in a 275 degree oven for about 1 hour or until lightly browned. (Bread Lady usually bakes it about 15-20 minutes longer depending on what her oven is doing. She also turns the oven down to 250 if she thinks it's browning too fast.)

While the baklava is baking, combine water and 3 cups sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil.

Add lemon juice and boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add 3 tablespoons orange blossom water. Allow syrup to cool. Pour syrup over freshly baked, pipping hot baklava.

Allow baklava to cool.

Isn't it just beautiful?!

Thank you again, Bread Lady, for sharing your kitchen, recipes and delicious food with me!

PS- Here's a picture of the orange blossom water, if you were wondering what it looked like.

Roasted Broccoli

2012-12-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

As I've said, Mr. Perfect has a green thumb... and I don't. He's always growing something delicious in the garden. Our winter garden is in full swing. We have lettuce, swiss chard, arugula, peppers and lots of broccoli. As soon as I saw Mr.Perfect's beautiful broccoli I knew it was destined to be roasted.

What you need:

1 pound broccoli
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 cup ritz cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan

What you do:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Cut the broccoli florets into bite size pieces. (Don't waste the stalk! Peel and slice it.)
Put the broccoli in a mixing bowl and combine with olive oil, salt, pepper and cracker crumbs.
Spread the mixture on a foil lined cookie sheet and put in the oven. Roast until the broccoli is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven. Add cheese and serve immediately.

So good, even Trouble likes it!

Pralines

2012-11-21T17:40:00.000-08:00

There's a fantastic little Cajun restaurant in my town. Every once in a while a friend and I have one of their delectable pralines after a po' boy lunch. Every time I have one I think... I bet I can make these. So recently I found a few recipes that looked good and gave praline making a try. I must admit there's kind of an art to it.

What you need:

1 ½ cups pecans (I used pecans and almonds)
1 ½ cups sugar
¾ cup brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
salt, pinch

What you do:
In large saucepan over medium heat, lightly toast pecans. Watch carefully, you don't want them to burn.

Add sugar, butter, brown sugar and milk to the pecans.

Slowly bring the mixture to a boil. Don't stir the mixture once it starts to boil! Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees. I use a thermometer to get the temperature just right.

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and salt. Stir well and allow to cool (a minute or two) just enough to thicken a bit. Continue to stir while it's cooling. It should start to lose its sheen.

Drop by spoonfuls onto wax paper. Let cool completely.

Confection Perfection!

This batch of pralines was made for my special friend's Birthday. Happy Birthday Friend!!!

Live Oak Brewing Company

2012-11-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

I recently had the most delicious pint of Live Oak HefeWeizen at a beer garden. As crazy as it sounds a glass of beer swept me off my feet. It inspired me to look into taking a tour of Live Oak Brewing Company, a home-grown East Austin brewery. Turns out they give tours twice a month and take reservations a few days before the tour date.

The brewery is located in a little hole in the wall of a place that lacks air-conditioning or heat, in other words it's not fancy. But what they lack in fancy they make up in special beer and brewers who are truly passionate about their craft. My favorite part of our visit was the very generous samplings of their Live Oak brews. We sampled the Pilz, Big Bark, Liberation Ale, Primus, and my favorite the HefeWeizen. Oh and did I mention that the tour and all of the tasty beer is completely free. Yes you heard me, Free Beer!

If you happen to spot Live Oak brew on tap at a watering hole in Texas give it a try. Or better yet if you're in the Austin area I recommend you stop by Live Oak Brewing Company for a tour.

Cheers!!

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

2012-10-30T19:17:00.000-07:00

You know what jack-o-lantern carving time means... roasted pumpkin seeds! Mr.Perfect is a big pumpkin seed fan. He's also quite particular about them. Every October he reminds me that he likes them crispy not chewy. And every year my eye twitch gets a little worse.

What you need:

1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, clean and dry
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
salt, to taste

What to do:
Toss seeds in a baking pan with butter and salt, coating seeds completely.

Bake in a oven preheated to 300 degrees for about 40 minutes or until golden brown. Stir and check seeds occasionally.

Crispy, just like Mr.Perfect requested.

Happy Halloween!

Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

2012-10-24T18:59:00.000-07:00

I'm not crazy about french fries. I could totally live without them and never give it another thought. That being said I absolutely adore sweet potato fries. They're sweet, salty and so good they don't need ketchup to be eaten.

What you need:

sweet potato (1 large potato per 2 people)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil per potato
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons chopped rosemary, fresh or dried

What you do:
Peel sweet potato and cut into your favorite fry shape.

Put cut potatoes into a zip-lock bag. Pour in a few tablespoons of olive oil in bag and toss around to completely cover potatoes in oil.

Add salt, pepper and rosemary to the bag and toss again, distributing the spices evenly.

Dump the potatoes on a baking sheet.

The trick to getting these fry guys crispy is to make sure they don't touch each other. So line them up neatly with out letting them touch.

Place potatoes in an oven preheated to 450 degrees. Bake for about 15 minutes then flip fries making sure they still are NOT TOUCHING each other. Bake for another 15 minutes or until they are crispy and have some caramelized edges.

Sweet Potato Perfection!

Crock-Pot Baked Potatoes

2012-10-16T14:28:00.000-07:00

Have I ever mentioned how much I adore crock-pot meals? I do! I live in Texas where it's HOT and any device that keeps me from using the stove or oven is a big winner. When I learned that baked potatoes could be made in the crock-pot I had to give it a try. Sure enough it's a super easy and convenient way to make baked potatoes.

What you need:

baking potatoes
olive oil
salt
aluminum foil

What you do:
Rub olive oil all over the potatoes.

Sprinkle salt all over the potatoes.

Prick the potatoes several times with a fork.

Wrap each potato in foil.

Place the potatoes in your crock-pot, cover and cook on high for 4 1/2 to 5 hours or low for 7 1/2 to 8 hours.

Done!!

Ready for toppings galore!

Perfect Pancakes

2012-10-10T19:50:00.000-07:00

I posted this recipe for pancakes around the time I began blogging. They are the most requested breakfast food in our house. Trouble sometimes asks for them for lunch and dinner. After making them about a million times I no longer even look at the recipe, they are etched into my brain. Trouble asked to have them in the morning before school so I'm making them tonight and they'll be easy to re-heat and serve in the morning.

I started off our marriage making pancakes with Bisquick. Those Bisquick pancakes didn't satisfy Mr.Perfect's desire for big puffy, restaurant quality pancakes. I tried various recipes making the batter from scratch and some of them were quite good. But... not very long ago I came across this recipe that called for vinegar. I'm a big fan of secret/weird ingredients! So, when I made these and tested them on Mr.Perfect and Trouble I said not a word about the vinegar. My family loved these pancakes. I think Trouble's exact words were, "Mom these are the bestest pancakes ever!"

What you need:

3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking bowder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Also let me give you a little tip. I got this pan from my mom, Nana, for Christmas last year. She got it on Amazon, she's a big Amazon fan. Anyway, I think this pan was designed just to make wonderful pancakes and I love it! I NEVER have to use cooking spray or grease it. It's a perfect pancake pan!
What you do:

Combine milk with vinegar and set aside for about 5 minutes. Yep, that's right! The milk is getting all nice and sour. Yummy!
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.
Whisk egg, melted butter and vanilla into soured milk.
Pour the flour mixture into the soured milk mixture. Do not over mix this, mix until everything is just wet.
Feel free to add stuff to these pancakes. Mr.Perfect and I like mashed banana and pecans. Trouble likes chocolate chips. Blueberries are great too!
Heat the pan at a medium low temp. I don't grease my pan because I've got an awesome pan but, if you need it this would be the time to grease your pan. Pour 1/4 cupfulls of batter on the skillet. Cook until you see little bubbles on the pancake. Flip pancake and cook until browned.

Banana Nut Pancakes

Chilled Oatmeal

2012-10-01T19:07:00.001-07:00

I love Greek yogurt! Yes, I would marry it if I could. I especially love Greek Gods Greek yogurt with honey. I also love oatmeal, maybe not wedding worthy but it's pretty darn good. The thing about oatmeal is that I live in Texas where it's really really really HOT. Eating hot oatmeal in the morning isn't appetizing at all. So after seeing a few recipes for cold oatmeal made with yogurt and milk I decided I'd experiment with my favorite Greek yogurt. I found that equal portions of milk, Greek yogurt and oatmeal are the perfect base for my new favorite breakfast.

The night before I combine 1/3 cup of oats, milk and Greek yogurt in a jar.

Any kind of fruit, preserves, nuts or whatever can be added to the oatmeal mixture. I'm partial to strawberry preserves and almonds. How much do I add? About a tablespoon of each but more or less is fine. The add-ins possibilities are endless. Berries, nuts, dried fruit, frozen fruit, jelly, jam, spices, maple syrup, Nutella, peanut butter, chia seeds, flax seeds, etc... are all great additions to this chilled oatmeal.

Once everything is mixed I put the oatmeal jar in the refrigerator to set overnight.

In the morning I grab my jar of oatmeal and eat while I'm looking at TMZ. No! I don't really go to TMZ but Mr.Perfect thinks I do. Seriously... I'm just checking my email and maybe looking at a little Facebook.

To my sweet silly enchanting friend who doesn't eat breakfast, This Is For You!

Pinch of Baking Soda Iced Tea

2012-09-26T18:42:00.000-07:00

Baking Soda has been on my mind a lot lately. Weird right?! It's true though, Mr.Perfect has been on me to get a few BIG boxes. He says he can raise the alkalinity in the pool by adding baking soda. I say what the heck is alkalinity? He starts spouting off words like bicarbonate and all I hear is, "Bla bla bla, bla bla bla." Of course I forgot to purchase big boxes of baking soda at the store. It wasn't on 'the list' and if it isn't on 'the list' then it won't get gotten. So that brings me to iced tea. You see, baking soda can be used to neutralize the bitter tannins found in tea. So just a pinch of baking soda in a pitcher of iced tea can be magic.

Everyone seems to have their favorite way to make iced tea. I like to pour hot water over a few tea bags and let steep for about 5 minutes. The tea concentrate cools. Next, I pour the tea concentrate into a pitcher with a pinch of baking soda...and by pinch I mean a little less than 1/8 teaspoon. Then I add ice and cool water filling the pitcher.

Give the pinch of baking soda trick a try the next time you brew up a batch of iced tea.

Baby Back Ribs

2012-09-21T20:32:00.002-07:00

**Update**

I posted this recipe for baby back ribs last year. They are so darn good I'm thinking they need to be revisited. I'm preparing them tonight to cook tomorrow for my mom, Nana, and her bestie. As usual when making ribs, Mr.Perfect requested that they not be falling off the bone but tender. I took a deep breath, rolled my eyes and made an ugly face at that... as usual.

**Update Complete**

I've made ribs dozens of times and therefore Mr.Perfect has become quite particular about them. He likes them to be tender but not falling off the bone. He wants to bite into them and not have the whole thing fall apart. He's a pain... right?! I like them just fine falling off the bone. Anyhow...this is how I make ribs for Mr.Perfect.

What you need:

2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons salt or season salt
2 teaspoons onion powder or garlic powder
2 teaspoons black pepper, I like freshly ground
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper or chili powder (depending on how hot you want them)
4-5 lbs baby back ribs
BBQ sauce

What you do:

The night before you cook these...

Combine the first 5 ingredients to make the rub.

Remove the membrane...yuck! I really hate having to touch raw meat any more than I have to but please remove this slimy weirdness, it's totally worth it. Once you can grasp the membrane, pull it off with a paper towel. The paper towel helps with the sliminess.

Place each slab of ribs on a sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and rub the ribs well with rub.

Wrap up the ribs in the foil (I wrap them in 3 layers of foil) and let them spend the night in the refrigerator.

Please forgive me, I got distracted by the wonderful rib smell and forgot to take pictures. Place the foil wrapped ribs in a 275 degree preheated oven. Put them on a cookie sheet just in case there's any leaking. Cook ribs for 2 ½ - 3 hours. Baste both sides of ribs with barbecue sauce and grill or broil 5 to 7 minutes per side. (This caramelizes the BBQ sauce and makes them really, really good!)

Enjoy & Happy Eating!

Homemade Wrinkle Releaser

2012-09-12T18:37:00.001-07:00

Here's another admission... I hate to iron clothes. I avoid it at all costs. It's painful. It's hot. It's tedious. I don't like it! So back when that wrinkle releasing stuff came out I rejoiced. Then I did some ~~in-depth research~~ googling and found out how to make my own homemade wrinkle releaser.

What you need:

vinegar
water
fabric softener
empty spray bottle

What you do:
Combine equal parts vinegar, water and fabric softener.

Pour mixture into spray bottle.

Spray your wrinkly clothes. You know, the stuff you left in the dryer for a few days.

Tug and smooth all those wrinkles away. Hang to dry.

Done!

After

Before

Stinky Water Shoes

2012-09-05T19:21:00.000-07:00

After our last vacation I knew I had to do something about our water shoes problem. The problem was that they were so foul and stinky that we couldn't even bear to be in the same room as the shoes. It's really not the shoes' fault. We wore our shoes all summer long. Every time there was water to splash around in, they were there to protect our feet. Unfortunately, Water + Feet = Stink

Today I'm using vinegar and the sun to kill the stink.
I put equal parts vinegar and water in a bucket and soaked the stinky shoes for a good long time or an hour, whichever feels best.

The wet shoes got to dry in the sunshine. Which, by the way, is a natural disinfectant.

Ahhh... finally I can stand to be in the same room as our shoes.

PS- Only Trouble's and my shoes had the stink. Apparently because Mr.Perfect is in fact perfect, his shoes were immune to the stink.

Caesar Salad Dressing

2012-08-28T19:55:00.000-07:00

I remembered something while eating a Caesar salad the other day... I HATE anchovies! I really wanted to like the salad but the taste of those stinky little fishes just gives me the willies. Here's my favorite Caesar salad dressing minus those detestable anchovies.

What you need:

1/4 cup parmesean cheese
1/4 cup mayonaise
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
freshly ground black pepper

What you do:
Mix all ingredients together.

Yep, it's that easy!

And guess what?! The original Caesar salad didn't even have anchovies!

Blueberry Coffee Cake

2012-08-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

Every summer, during blueberry season, I visit family in Pennsylvania. We pick and eat blueberries by the bushel. This summer my great aunt Bernice made a blueberry coffee cake that swept me off my feet. It had a crunchy streusel topping and the cake was fluffy and tasted of vanilla and blueberries. This recipe is my attempt at recreating her delicious blueberry cake.

What you need:

3/4 cup milk
3 tablespoons vinegar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups blueberries

Topping

1/3 cup flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter, softened

What you do:
Combine milk and vinegar, set aside.

Sift together 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream together 1/4 cup butter and 1/2 cup sugar until fluffy.

Beat in the egg, then stir in the vanilla.

Stir in the flour mixture alternately with the milk. Do not over mix!

Fold in the blueberries.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8-inch square pan.

In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup flour and 1/3 cup sugar. Using a fork cut in 3 tablespoons butter until the mixture resembles crumbs.

Sprinkle over batter.

Bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Usually I like cinnamon and nutmeg in coffee cakes but I'm leaving them out on this one because that's what aunt Bernice did. Feel free to add a bit to the batter or topping if you feel so inclined.

Trouble thinks it's absolutely perfect.

Leaf Collection

2012-08-09T11:33:00.000-07:00

One summer a long long time ago my dad, the science teacher, assigned me to make a leaf collection. Because both of my parents were school teachers we spent very little time at home over the summer. We traveled all over the US in a camper which meant I was able to collect leaves from all over. I still remember many of the tree names and have favorites like the beautiful ginkgo that grew down the hill at the end of my grandparents street in Philadelphia.

I thought it was about time Trouble start his own leaf collection this summer. I talked up how fun it was for me to collect leaves as a little girl and he was game. My dad, Papa, was nice enough to give Trouble a mini-lesson on the parts of a leaf, arrangement and types.

I found a field guide to tree identification at a second hand book store and got an inexpensive 'cling' album to house the leaves.

When Trouble collects a leaf we look it up in the guide. He writes the tree's common name, scientific name, collection date and location on an index card. The index card and leaf go in the album.

Trouble already has a favorite tree, the Sassafras. He loves the fragrant leaves and the story of his great great grandfather making root beer out of the root.