Summer Snowballs

This past weekend, Meredith held a garage sale to benefit a lovely cause (stay tuned...she will be blogging about this at a later date!) Her friends and family rallied to her cause, donating items for the sale, volunteering to help out during it, and providing baked goods for the bake sale portion of the event.  

When Meredith asked me to contribute some cookies (or such) at the beginning of the month, I had a hard time deciding what to make. Like most people, I'm in the throes of baking season in the fall and winter.  Once Thanksgiving starts approaching, you can count on my oven being cranked up and raring to go almost without stop until the beginning of January.  You know the drill: there are so many cookies, pies and cakes (not to mention casseroles and side dishes) to prepare for family events and functions.  Plus, there's nothing better than baking up something for yourself and your family on cool, crisp and even downright cold days.

In summer, the opposite is oftentimes true.  Usually the only thing I bake in summer are Rocky Road Brownies.  They remind me of s'mores!  (I was about to say they remind me of camping, but I refuse to set foot in the wilderness, often even with the enticement of being in a cabin with running water and a jacuzzi.  It's still the wilderness.  I am unafraid and unembarrassed to admit that I'm a city girl at heart...the woods and rural areas alike scare me. (I can only tolerate Ohio's beautiful Amish country in small doses before feeling uncomfortable and yearning to return home to traffic.) With the exception of beach vacations, almost all of our trips revolve around going to big cities and checking out all the man-made wonders. You just won't see me sitting around the fire roasting a marshmallow...unless I'm at someone's fire pit in their backyard! :) 

Phew...having gotten that off my chest, I considered making those brownies but decided it would result in a huge headache.  You know how chocolate is in the sun, and these brownies are topped with extra chocolate chips.  Before you know it, they'd be melting everywhere, creating a disaster for all involved.  I then thought about lemon squares, but the same thing is sort of true.  They're a good summer dessert, but you wouldn't want them sitting in the heat at a bake sale.  After much soul-searching, a revelation hit me: I would make Russian Tea Cakes! 

These lovely little cookies go by a variety of names...I've heard Mexican Wedding Cakes, Snowballs, and my mom called them by the infinitely adorable "Butterballs" when I was growing up.  I appropriated the Russian Tea Cakes moniker after re-discovering them last winter.  My mom got on a baking kick and trotted out an adapted version of the recipe she found online that used this name for them.  These cookies are everywhere at Christmas...little balls covered in powdered sugar, they are wintery white and perfect for a Christmas cookie tray.  Sadly, I used to avoid them for most of my life.  They just looked so plain and boring.  Think about it: situated next to iced sugar cookies, fudge of all kinds, thumbprint cookies and all a manner of other seasonal delights, Russian Tea Cakes look plain boring.  After tasting one that my mom made, I was in heaven.  They are delightful.


Like a lot of recipes containing only a few ingredients, they taste amazing because the true stars of the show are able to shine.  This recipe really only consists of butter (of course!) powdered sugar, vanilla, flour and ground nuts.  No eggs. No fancy flavorings or techniques needed.  And what you end up with is a buttery, heavenly-textured cookie that melts in your mouth.  Moreover, they hold up in the heat since they're compact little balls.  I got to work on making some!  Here's the recipe I use:


Russian Tea Cakes (or Butterballs, Snowballs, Mexican Wedding Cakes...take your pick)

1 cup softened butter (Yes...that means 2 sticks.  Where do you think all the flavor and silk texture are coming from? Go for it!!)

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans; or almonds; I've used all 3 and they've turned out fine.  Buy whatever's on sale, or use whatever you have in your pantry. You're the boss!)

In a large bowl combine the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and salt with a mixer on low speed. Blend well. Gradually add flour at low speed until just combined; stir in nuts. Roll dough into 1 inch balls; place about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 8-10 minutes until firm to the touch but not brown. Do not overbake. While warm, roll in powdered sugar. Cool; re-roll in powdered sugar before serving.

It's that simple! You get about 2 dozen from one batch; just on Thursday for Meredith's garage sale, I whipped up a whopping 4 dozen in a half-hour.  No joke. You're not waiting forever for them to bake and the mixing process isn't intensive, so it goes really fast.

I was so pleased to trot these out in the middle of summer instead of the Christmas season.  They taste unbelievable at any time of the year and are so easy....not to mention the kudos you'll get for making something from scratch! Enjoy your Summer Snowballs!

 

Bye Bye Wastefullness

I've decided to be a little more pro-active in my efforts at Living the Green Life. Right now my focus is on using fewer wasteful products, such as paper napkins and paper towels. Once my supplies run out I am going to make a solid effort at not buying any more. I'm already using these two items less and less, I'm hoping that I won't miss them too much once they're gone.

Toward this effort I pulled out all my cloth napkins that were previously saved for "nice occasions" and "dinner parties." No more! Steve and I have been using out napkins at every meal this past week. No only are my cocktail napkins adorable (Thank you Eileen and Crate&Barrel), but they're far more durable than wimpy/ugly paper napkins. Paper napkins do squat compared to these babies, also let me reiterate the ugly part (also earth killing).

The ones behind are simply standard cloth dinner napkins - I've found that I prefer the white. They look messier when you are done but they are also way easier to clean and not ruin in the process.

I also picked up a few microfiber towels this past weekend for mere dollars at Ollie's (which is a whole other story. I had never been there before Saturday. Wowzers!)! They are living up to the hype so far - again I got them in white.

Lastly, Sondra's lovely sister-in-law makes pretty durable napkins which I am in the process of procuring. I'm certain Sondra or I will let you know when we get ours and how they hold up (Although I'm quite confident they will be amazing! I'm super excited to see what fabric Stacey picked out for me, something I could never do for myself).

Yay for cloth things.

Germany, Germany....I miss your lovely food.

So, it's Sunday morning on June 27th and right now a major event is going on...England is playing Germany in a very important World Cup match! I am pleased to tell you that I've been watching most of these World Cup matches since the tournament began on June 11th.  No, I'm not jumping on any bandwagons.  As a matter of fact, Carl has been a big fan of English Premier League Football for several years.  I am acquainted with most of the teams and the players, as well as the structure of international matches and tournaments.  Additionally, about two years ago Carl and I bought a subscription to Sirius Radio.  We both have long commutes from the west side to the east side, and we deemed it worthwhile.  We couldn't have been more correct...Sirius has changed my life and I am never going back to regular FM radio.  Do you know how nice it is not to have to mess with commercials anymore? Also, when stuck in traffic or in a snowstorm, it's comforting to have the choice of over 150 stations to listen to.  I find myself most frequently listening to the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and Classic Rock channel, but I have increasingly been listening to BBC Radio 1.  They air it on a time delay for people in the states, and I get a huge kick out of listening to songs that are popular across the pond, as well as hearing the day's news and weather in the UK.  Football/soccer is England's sport, so they talk about it relentlessly.  I consider myself fairly well-versed in the drama of football over there, thanks to Sirius BBC Radio 1!

As I'm typing this and watching the match (Germany just scored their 2nd goal over England...yikes!) I am reminded of our trip to Germany two years ago and how truly amazing it was.  My cousin was working in Germany at the time, in a little town called Kiel on the Baltic Sea, very close to Denmark.  Carl and I decided to visit him for 10 days in February of 2008.  After flying from New York to Berlin, we took a train into Hamburg, then a small commuter rail into Kiel.  Before the opportunity arose to travel to Germany, I never imagined myself going there.  I am so happy we went!
 
One of the biggest shockers of all was that the food in Germany was simply astonishing! As a matter of fact, I started taking pictures of food while we were vacationing there! I've been teased on several occasions for taking pictures of food everywhere...places we've traveled, restaurants we've eaten at, or food I or someone I know has made.  It all started because, while in Kiel, I innocently ordered a pizza.  Not being well versed in German at all, to say the least (my moment of triumph came when we were at an art museum in Berlin and I conducted a transaction with the cashier who sold the tickets.  Me, handing over my euros: "Zyei, Bitte." (two, please) The cashier, printing off the tickets and hading them to me: "Danke."(thank you) )  Yes, this was the extent of my German.  So, unknowingly, I missed the part on the menu where my pizza came with an egg on top of it.  Now, I know that in the United States, we primarily confine ourselves to eating eggs for breakfast, whereas in the rest of the world, especially in Europe, they are eaten for dinner, lunch, etc.  But I was still absolutely flabbergasted to see an egg, sunny-side up, on top of my pizza.  Appalled, I took a photo:

This is the photo that started it all! From then on, I took a lot of pictures in food while in Germany, and continued the trend as I came home to the US.  By the way, the egg was absolutely amazing on top of the pizza.  Totally unexpected yet phenomenal!

In the apartment where my cousin lived in Kiel, there was a bakery up the street.  Each morning while in Kiel, we would walk there together.  Carl took German in high school and my cousin was learning it, so they would order from the bakery counter while I would take in the bounty of loveliness that is a bakery.  We would take our food home and eat it on his porch area, then go on to a day of sightseeing.  Here are a couple of the pictures of our baked good breakfasts that I took:

 Good gracious...look at the size of those pastries! And note the china in the background; my cousin's landlord let him borrow it while we were in town and we ate all of our breakfasts off it. I can't remember the brand but I remember it came from Munich and was delicate and lovely, and felt so fancy.

 Ahhh. cheesecake.  Can you believe the size of that baby? I remember this tasted vaguely of oranges...I think they put orange zest into the cheese.

 This last one I love...Berliners.  These are basically German Jelly Donuts, but they caused a stir when JFK visited Berlin and meant to say "I am a Berliner" but mis-translated and actually said "I am a jelly donut." Widespread mirth ensued. What was unique about these is that, instead of using chocolate frosting as we do in the United States, they were topped with a layer of actual dark chocolate.  Need I say more?

Truly, Germany had great food, which they are certainly never credited for.  But, having been to Italy, I can tell you that, on the whole, I had more good meals in Germany than I did in Italy.  Go ahead, tell me I'm blaspheming.  But it's the truth.  Don't get me wrong, I ate wonderfully in Italy, but I ate like a full-on Queen in Germany.  

Germany is also where I discovered that the chocolate in our country is, for the most part, embarrassing. It tastes waxy and thin, but German chocolate is of an entirely different species.  In each city we visited, and there were many:  Lubeck, Eckernforde,  Schleswig, Kiel, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin...we bought the local chocolate.  I remember the four of us eating whole bars of chocolate as we drove on the autobahn to our next destination.  This is probably why, even though we walked for miles a day, I didn't lose any weight. :)  

I guess what this whole post serves to show is that, very often, the memories you take away from a trip are memories of food, family and friends.  You can see the greatest sights in the world (and we did...the Brandenburg Gate, The Baltic Sea, little villages that the Brothers Grimm based their fairy tales on, works of art in galleries in Berlin, cathedrals that have stood for hundreds of years...) but what I most remember when I think of Germany is my cousin, his friend, Carl and I eating bars of German chocolate like fiends...like absolute maniacs... as we sped down the autobahn together.  Or, of my shock and delight when I spotted an egg on top of my pizza.  Still yet, the memories of us walking to and from the local bakery in the morning, passing people on bicycles with baguettes in their front baskets, not being able to wait to get back and eat what we purchased. 

Who Ordered the Shiny Wallpaper?

So how about that shiny wallpaper... This absolutely amazing wallpaper covered the landing, stairs, and upstairs hallway in our new house. Whoa. It's ridiculous...well it was ridiculous. I mean, who thought that was a good idea? Certainly not me, which is why it came down...oh, the second day we owned our house. Except for one bit, the bit that covered the laundry chute door on the second floor. That's right, we saved some, for posterity's sake...and so that we can show it off to everyone during our cookout next month.

PS: Our Realtor told us that her family had metallic wallpaper much like ours when she was growing up. Apparently the stuff can spark during certain lightening/thunder storms. Whoa (again)

Also, All you lovers (and haters) out there, check out the Twilight Saga shirt. It's coming up, what can  I say!?!

In Praise of Mary Poppins

I know a lot of girls around my age who are quite enamored of Mary Poppins.  Back in the late '80s and early '90s when we were in the prime of our childhoods, the movie used to air on Saturday nights at least once or twice during the year. It was a big event involving trying to stay awake for the entire movie...I never made it that far.  Have you watched it recently? It's a long movie!!  I have, however, seen the beginning sequences roughly 97,000 times.  

Besides the movie reminding me of my childhood, I love Mary Poppins because it reminds me of one of my favorite people in the world, our own HHH blogger, Meredith.  She and I went to see the musical version of Mary Poppins when it came to Cleveland last summer.  The musical itself was mind-blowing and fantastic, as the theater usually is, but it's what transpired before the curtain even rose that gave me one of my most cherished moments with a friend.  You see, as we pulled into the parking garage at the theater (having driven about 25 minutes across the city to get there) we suddenly realized that the tickets to Mary Poppins were back in Meredith's car....at the restaurant where I picked her up!  So instead of relaxing on a hot summer's night at a nearby Starbucks waiting for the show to start, we blazed across Cleveland again, racing toward the outer suburbs to retrieve our tickets from her car, then charged all the way back to the parking garage.  We arrived, minutes before showtime, running, sweating and panting all the way to our seats (this was a humid August day!) To this day, I'm not sure how we made it to our seats before the show started! I do know, though, that it's one of my favorite stories in the world, and I wouldn't have traded that anxiety-ridden adventure with Mere for anything!

Lastly...I love Mary Poppins because I, too, always carry a bag loaded with all sorts of crazy and uncommon things.  Okay, maybe I can't pull a lamp or a mirror out of my purse, but I can produce all sorts of random items and things.  Over the counter medication of any kind? I've got it. (in its own zippered pouch, no less!) Make-up? Yes. Lip balm? Sure...I have straight-up soothing chap stick, plum-colored lip gloss, and salve in a tin. Pens, mints, paper? Got them!  I always make sure that my purse is large enough to carry around all the essentials (and non-essentials) that I've somehow realized I need.  Just last month, after coming home from a trip, I carried around my big purse for a week...yes, a week...before realizing that I had unknowingly been hauling around my digital camera (in its bag) a pack of D batteries, and, most alarmingly, a packet of beef jerky! (story on that another time...)  My general rule of thumb is, my purse always has to be large enough to throw a book inside.  Pretty much anything can find its way inside my purse.  And the best part is....I have family members who hand-make my own Mary Poppins bags!!


I always carry purses that my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law make.  First of all, I love the cute designs and fabrics they use.  Second, I carry a unique purse that doesn't require me shelling out $75 to display lots of corporate logos or crazy designs.  Third, since the bags are made out of light-weight fabrics, they never become back-breaking or ultra heavy, even with the random assortment of things I carry (which is why I didn't realize I was carrying around a camera, batteries, and jerky!)  Think about it...if you're toting around a heavy leather (or fabric) bag, then add all of your stuff to it, soon enough your shoulders start getting strained and the whole enterprise becomes painful.  With these bags being lightweight to begin with, you don't have the added weight of a bulky purse to carry when hauling around your life.  Fourth, they're handmade and the work of my family...how could I carry anything else?? 

Over the years, I've had the fortune of being able to walk into my mother-in-law's sewing room and go purse shopping.  How fun is that?? I plan to eventually blog about all the different purses I have that are handmade, but for now I want to focus on the two new ones I have...which are possibly my favorite designs of all.  My sister-in-law Stacy made them a few weeks ago, and they are simply lovely! Made from a jelly roll of coordinating fabrics, each stripe is different but contributes to an overall lovely dynamic.  The handles are great...and the size of the purse is perfect! I can throw everything into the purses and have room to spare.  Without further ado...let me share!

                           The first bag! Note the amazing fabrics in blues and pinks...lovely!

                           The second bag Stacy made for me this summer...in orange!

                         The inside of the blue and pink purse...note the cute stripes and the large interior!

                                   The inside of the orange purse...check out those awesome interior pockets!!

                      Up-close detailing of the handles...each handle is different.  Love it!

 

                     And an up-close detail of the handles on the blue purse...note the knot!

I guess there's simply no denying the fact that Mary Poppins rocks.  The movie takes me back to being a little girl, the musical reminds me of my lovely Meredith, and the no-nonsense yet loving British nanny simply had the right idea when she carried around her amazing purse!

Pecan Tarts

It's taking a lot for me to share this recipe with you.  These are my absolute favorite cookies in all the world.  And here's the thing - I kinda hate sharing my favorite recipes.  I like being known as the person who makes amazing (fill in the blank).  But here's the other thing, I'm making these this week for Mere's Garage Sale, so I thought it would be only right to give these blessed cookies to the rest of the world.  Besides, it's really my mother's recipe, so she's the one who makes amazing Pecan Tarts.

And really, these tarts are Ridiculously Amazing.  Seriously.  And they bring out the absolute worst in me.  Put a plate of these cookies in front of me and I will immediately embody at least four deadly sins.

First, as my loving husband knows, if you try to touch just one of my Pecan Tarts without express permission you will incur an amazing amount of wrath.  They're mine, so back off.

Second, Greed.  As I said, they're all mine and I don't share them very well, so just back off and go find your own.  My Mom always makes us huge batches of Christmas Cookies, and inevitably Pecan Tarts make up a large portion of the cookies we get.  I (begrudgingly) set aside a few for Steve.  The rest are mine.  (The cookies pictured above were in my freezer, I took them out for their photo shoot.  I think I'll probably eat them before Steve gets home from work.  I'm banking on him not reading this, he'll never know.  Don't you dare tell him either, see Deadly Sin One for what will become of you if he finds out.)

Third, Pride.  I have learned how to make these from my Mother, and they are amazing.  I love compliments on them - although I rarely get any because I don't share.

And lastly, Gluttony.  If it were permissible I would sit down and eat an entire batch.  Pecan Tarts are not only a fabulous desert, but they make a lovely breakfast.  :-)  Especially with a good book and a cup of coffee.  I can't say it enough, but these are the best cookies in the entire world.  I seriously hope that all the Pecan Tarts I make for Mere find their way from South Euclid to Elyria.  It will be a giant test of my self control and of our friendship.  Mere, you might want to call me a few times on my way to deliver them.

Okay, here we go...

The World's Best Pecan Tarts

Consider Yourselves Extremely Lucky

It's a Two Step Process.  First make the Tart Shells.  

1/2 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Sugar

Stir In

2 Egg Yolks

1 tsp. Almond Extract

2 Cups Flour

Press Evenly into Tiny Tartshells.

Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes.

Next Comes the Pecan Filling.

Bring to Boil

1/2 Cup Butter

1/3 Cup Karo Dark Corn Syrup

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

Stir In

1 Cup Chopped Pecans.

Spoon into Shells and top with Pecan Halves.

Bake at 350 for 5 minutes.

Ridiculously Amazing.  I need to go,  Steve will be home any minute and  I have to eat those tarts.

Wonderful Window Washing

So, back in April, 3 of us got together to make cleaners.  I already blogged about what a delight my new all-purpose surface spray is.  Now, I thought I'd talk about my window cleaner.

Again, like most homemade cleaners, it is extremely inexpensive to make.  Also, it is all-natural and doesn't contain anything you can't pronounce or any chemicals you need to lock yourself inside a lab to concoct.  Big incentives, in my book!

Here's the recipe:

1 cup water
1 cup vinegar
1/2 tsp. Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap

Like Megan and Nicole, I purchase vinegar in what is probably the largest size available to consumers...a giant bottle from Costco that retails at $2.99.  A cup of it barely makes a dent in the overall supply. I already had Dr. Bronner's liquid castile soap on hand in those fabulously small travel bottles from Target.  We're talking teeny tiny quantities of the stuff, so it's fantastic that you don't have to buy it in the typical 32-oz bottle, which usually sets you back $7-$10.  The travel sized bottle is $1.99 at Target.  And of course, water is readily available at your own tap.  Super cheap! Simply re-purpose an old spray bottle (I actually saved my old Windex bottle as it dwindled, knowing that I would make a new batch and never revert to buying it again...and that way it came with a great spray-er. You know how sometimes the nozzles on spray bottles can be frankly nightmarish.  I think Megan and I could tell you some stories about abominable spray nozzles on our bleach bottles at the CDC.  Suffice it to say, you would never realize how upset a lousy or malfunctioning spray bottle could make you, until you go to spray an enormous surface that small children have eaten pasta with red sauce all over and all you get are a few measly dribbles of bleach water.  It's a tension headache waiting to happen.)  So, please, save yourself the annoyance and re-purpose an old spray bottle with a reliable nozzle. (yes, I know I am fairly nuts.)

Combine all ingredients, and get to work spraying! I love my homemade window and glass cleaner...I actually think it works BETTER than Windex.  With this caveat: you will need to wipe it down a few more times than you would an ordinary window cleaner that you buy at the store.  Those are extremely thin and chemically designed not to streak.  This one doesn't streak either, but be aware that you will wipe the area you sprayed a couple more times than you're used to in order to remove all traces of the cleaner.  I tell you this only because I thought I made some horrible error in concocting it when I first sprayed it on our glass kitchen table.  After effectively wiping it away, though, I was thrilled with the results.  I never have any streaks, and I'm using all-natural ingredients.  How can you go wrong?

I remember reading "Girl with a Pearl Earring," a fictional book about a young cleaning girl in the Dutch home of the painter Vermeer.  She would clean the windows of Vermeer's house with vinegar and newspaper.  I distinctly remember being shocked by that, because, if it's so simple to clean a window using vinegar, why have we made it so enormously complicated and insisted on buying bottles with a trillion other ingredients in them? Why not try kicking it old school (like say hundreds of years ago in Holland) and revert back to a vinegar-based window cleaner? You won't be sorry!

And the Answer Is

And the Answer is:

My Recycling Trash Can!

Can you tell I'm super excited about Recycling?!?

When we were living the Apartment Life one of my deepest chagrins was my inability to easily Recycle. Since making the switch to Homeowner I've been a Recycling Fool.

This Trash can sits outside on our porch and I Simply walk out with anything plastic, glass, or aluminum. Once full it gets set out on the curb on trash day and voila! I'm living the Green Life!

Now I just need to figure out to best Recycle my paper...I'll let you know when I get that all squared away. In the meantime....I just finished up the salad dressing so I'm off to Recycle the bottle and cap. Woo Woo!

Cloth Diapers, Part 2

The second part in our 3 part cloth diaper series (oh, I didn't tell you it was three posts long - ooops) is about proper cloth diaper care.

And yet again, one of the magical components is vinegar! Again, I would like to reiterate that I am not a cloth diaper expert (hardly!) and only know what works for me!

But first... all dirty cloth diapers need a place to go! And after trying a diaper pail for a few weeks and not liking having to clean it out, I switched to wet bags. I invested in the Planet Wise bags, and despite one of them ripping at the handle, I couldn't be happier with their quality. I should probably buy a new one! But anyways, back to the bags: they wash up very nicely and contain the smell of a dirty diaper perfectly. And smell containment is essential in cloth diapering.

So once Gabe needs a diaper change I either throw it directly in the wet bag if it's just a wet diaper or take it upstairs, flush out the poop, and then rinse out the diaper and throw said diaper in the wet bag. My family and I live in a really old house; I swear our toilet is about 50 years old so I was unable to invest in a diaper sprayer but I've heard they are the way to go for rinsing out your diapers.

Once our diaper stash is low, I begin the washing process. Now, my diaper stash is fairly small so I wash diapers usually every other day. If you have a bigger allotment you can go longer between washes, although it's not recommended to let the diapers sit for more than 3 days. Ugh, I can't even imagine how gross that would be!

I've perfected the washing process for Gabe's diapers through a lot of trial and error. And erring in diaper washing is not a good thing because you're diapers either retain a horrid smell or begin to repel and not absorb.

A good cloth diaper detergent is essential and there are quite a few out there. Charlie's Soap, Rocking Green and cd brand detergent like Thirsties and BumGenius are highly recommended but after doing lots of research and reading many ingredient lists I've found that Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent is a perfect substitute. It's about $7.00 for a box and I've only used almost 2 boxes in 10 months. The extra nice thing about Trader Joe's Laundry Detergent is that it contains no phosphates and is biodegradable.

So my washing process is this: cold rinse, a long, hot wash followed by a short cold wash and then a final rinse. I know it seems like a lot, and a lot of water use, but really you don't want your diapers to not get clean and smell or not get all the detergent out, and once again smell.

The cold rinse removes any residual bowel movements, so if you have a diaper sprayer or wash them out really well you could skip this step and occasionally I do. The hot wash cleans and disinfects thoroughly while the cold wash is a little less thorough and more of a safe guard. The final rinse is essential to ensure all of the detergent is out of the diaper so the diaper stays absorbent and doesn't irritate baby's soft skin.

And then dry them; I dry in the dryer in the cooler months but plan on line drying in the summer. Did you know that the sun is a natural odor remover? And it's free!

Speaking of odor removers, this is where the vinegar comes in. Vinegar is a spectacular odor remover and I use it to deodorize Gabe's diapers. Usually every other week I put about 1/3 cup of Vinegar (2 splashes) into the last rinse cycle. Don't use it too often or the diapers start to think... I learned that the hard way and started to get worried that something was wrong with Gabe's urine before I realized it could be residuals in the diaper and stripped them.

Stripping diapers is sometimes essential if you're diapers are stinky (which was my problem), become repellent or even look dingy. Stripping the diapers is just washing them in hot water without detergent and then drying them. You only repeat this process 3 - 5 times, but trust me, afterwards the diapers are like new!

It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get into a routine cleaning your diapers, it just becomes second nature.

And believe me, in my opinion, the benefits of cloth diapering far out way any of the negatives. But that is the topic of the last post in our cloth diapering series.

Stay tuned :)

Disney's World of Good!

I am not ashamed to admit that my husband and I have developed an obsession with the Happiest Place on Earth – Walt Disney World! We went there for our honeymoon in 2008, our anniversary in 2009 and have a trip planned for our anniversary this September. Obviously, we love it.

For my birthday this year, I received a few Disney gift cards – which immediately began to burn a hole in my pocket. My husband, of course, wanted me to put them towards the price of the trip, but what fun is that! I decided I wanted something fun, perhaps cute pj’s or a bag. I started searching on Disney's site and found my new favorite bag. Disney has partnered with eBay’s World of Good store and had some items made by artisans in India just for Disney. My new bag is one of those items!

My Bag!
It is a cross body bag. The front of it has 2 fabric panels, one is dot pattern, the other is Mickey Mouse heads. I love it because it isn’t “in your face” Disney. It is subtle enough that unless you know to look for it, you might not even see them. The inside of the bag is all Mickey Mouse – I just adore it.

What is World Of Good?

WorldofGood.com by eBay is the world’s first online marketplace to convene thousands of People Positive and Eco Positive sellers and products all in one place, empowering you to shop in ways that align with your personal values. Respected, independent organizations verify the positive impact every product has on people and the planet. Our goal is to ensure that every choice you make here is a good one.

The Loveliness of Vanilla

I have been meaning to post about this for awhile, because this post concerns something handmade/homemade that I've been doing for the past two years. What's that, you ask? Making my own vanilla extract!

I came across this genius idea from, who else, the Barefoot Contessa! (also known as Ina Garten.) I faithfully watch "The Barefoot Contessa" on The Food Network and also check out all of her cookbooks from the library. The recipe for the vanilla extract was in one of her cookbooks. Get this...after you buy the initial ingredients (which are only vodka, vanilla beans, and a glass jar to hold everything) you can keep adding to the same bottle for an indefinite amount of time. Ina says she's had the same bottle of vanilla extract on a shelf in her pantry for TWENTY years!!!

Reflect for a moment on when you buy vanilla extract from the grocery store...it comes in a super tiny little bottle, and if it's pure vanilla extract (and who would buy anything but, I ask you?) it usually costs roughly an arm and a leg. Back when I'd be on a baking kick, I remember shuddering each time I had to shell out $6-$9 when I needed more extract. Heaven help me if I discovered my teeny tiny bottle was empty around the holidays, when I was thigh-deep in cooking season and the last thing...indeed the very last thing....I wanted to do was bundle up, trot out to an already-mobbed grocery store full of holiday cookers and bakers and shell out an extra $8 for another bottle of extract. My friends, the horrors of this situation are no longer!

Behold...my own vanilla extract.





Pardon the crooked nature of the photo. I don't really know what was going on. Anyway, I have been using this same bottle for 2 years, and that includes me distilling around 10 smaller bottles for friends and family, which I handed out as stocking stuffers for Christmas of 2008. Working off this larger bottle, I distill a small amount into another, more manageable bottle for everyday use. My smaller bottle is a long, thin vial with a cork top. I simply pour the vanilla from this large bottle into a funnel that goes to the smaller bottle. I bake probably more than the average person, and I only refill my smaller bottle once or twice a year. The rest of the time, the large bottle sits on a shelf in my pantry.

How do you go about making your own extract? It's simple. Buy a large bottle to contain the whole concoction. (or better yet, re-purpose an old bottle! Just make sure it seals/closes very well) Get your hands on a bottle of vodka (please go for the cheap stuff since vodka is a simple recipe and there's no variance between brands...oh yeah, I most definitely watched the 20/20 special on this!) Then, get about 12 vanilla beans. Truthfully speaking, the vanilla beans are what will set you back the most. I ended up ordering them from Amazon, of all places, because they were the cheapest there. Anyway, put all of the beans into the bottle. Pour the whole bottle of vodka (or as much as will fit in your bottle) into the bottle. Sit it on a shelf in your pantry (or somewhere that is cool and dark) for 4-6 weeks. During this time, take the bottle down once every couple of weeks and give it a gentle shake to move everything around.

Yay! Now everything has turned into vanilla extract! Pour some into a smaller jar for yourself, and get baking! On a side note, as the extract starts to dwindle, just add more vodka. The photo of my vanilla extract is right at the stage where I needed to add more vodka, as some of the beans were poking through the top of the extract. If you keep adding vodka as your supply gets low, you will be able to continuously make your own vanilla for 20 some years, just like the Barefoot Contessa! And, in all honesty, who doesn't want to be like her??

Any Guesses?

Any Guesses?

It's pretty easy, I know, but check back for answers.

Summer Time Salsa

For me, this salsa is not just for summertime but good quality fruit is a must! Fruit salsa is the perfect compliment to any picnic or cook out, for a light appetizer or just for a snack. You can use many different combinations of fruit, for this batch I used 2 Kiwi, a peach, about 6 - 8 large strawberries and half a pint of blackberries. I had a mango ready, but it smelled a little off, so rather than spoiling the whole dish, I opted to leave it out.
First, just peel and dice the fruit:

kiwi

peaches

strawberries

blackberries

Diced up!

Then I add a few squeezes of a lemon:

A tablespoon of Raspberry Jam:

And last, a tablespoon of Agave Sweetener:

Stir and enjoy with Whole Grain Cinnamon Chips

On a side note, it is perfectly acceptable to eat by the spoonful and I'm now thinking that it would probably taste delightful over some vanilla bean ice cream :)

Shampoo Bar, What?

For my Birthday, waaaaaaaay back at the end of March, my wonderful Mother took me shopping. While out and about I mentioned this store to her. Lush is A-Mazing! I've made several great purchases from there (which I'll blog about later) and we went in this time just to check it out. I mentioned this Shampoo Bar, and the fact that I wanted to try it out. The store was a mite bit too busy for my slightly crazy self that day, so my purchase (and delight) were put off for a few days. At the beginning of April Sondra and I made a joint venture to Lush during our break at the CDC. This time I was victorious! I have to tell you that I absolutely adore and love my Seanik Shampoo Bar!

For one, it smells great. (I got the Seanik bar because several of the other scents they had at the time were quite....pungent) It's eco-friendly (it doesn't need a giant plastic bottle for dispensing). It lathers a ton and is so easy to use (Just wet your hair and rub the bar back and forth over your head a few times - take care not to submerse the bar as I've been cautioned it will basically turn to mush and dissolve). And the Shampoo Bar lasts F-O-R-E-V-E-R, Seriously. The bars cost $10.00, which I'll admit is a bit pricey for me, they simply last for months. I'm still using the same bar I purchased at the beginning of April and don't estimate needing to buy another until August (most likely not until the end of the month). That's five whole, whopping months! My bar isn't even at half its original size yet! And while I might not need to buy another one, looking at the website just now makes me want several more. Go check 'em out!

Not your mother's old CD's

And I'm not talking compact discs, I'm talking about cloth diapers! Yes, you heard me right, cloth diapers are back and they're better than ever!

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm certainly not a cloth diaper (cd) expert, but I've tried a few different styles and brands and know what I like.

When I first started I was completely overwhelmed by the enormous amount of types, styles and brands of cds, so I read review after review on a few of what ended up being my favorite cd sites. And I decided to give a few different kinds a try.

Now, when anyone over 35 thinks of cloth diapers they think of something they have to fold, tuck, fold some more and then pin... and I just knew that I was not up for that or coordinated enough to not poke baby a million times. So I chose contour diapers, fitted diapers and pocket diapers to try out. Prefolds (old fashioned diaper squares) are the cheapest and All-In-Ones are the most expensive so I stayed away from those.

Contour diapers are one of the least expensive options:

All that you have to do is lay baby in them and wrap them up. I chose Kissaluvs contours and they were fabulous! Super absorbent, which was the most important factor for me and come in two different sizes, small and large. These were my favorite diaper when Gabe first came home and I was so disappointed when he grew out of the smaller size and wasn't big enough for the large one.

That would have been my only complaint - there was no size middle size for him.

Getting the contours to stay put is relatively easy when you use a Snappi! While they weren't recommended for Kissaluvs Contours because they could snag them, I used them all the time and never had a snag!

Snappi's:

Diapers connected with Snappi's (note the two different sizes of diapers)

My favorite type of cd are the fitted styles. They're pretty much just like disposables and you just snap or hook and loop (Velcro) them on. I'm a bit OCD so I preferred the hook and loop because I could never get the snaps exactly right on the first try.

I have Kissaluvs fitted, Bumgenius fitteds and my Thirsties fitted just came in the mail today! Thirsites an Bumgenius have hook and loop closures and Kissaluvs use snaps. Now that Gabe is growing out of the first set (which were Kissaluvs and Bumgenius) I decided to save my sanity and stick to hook and loop closures only! I absolutely love both brands though and if Kissaluvs came with velcro I would've had a very difficult time deciding what to reorder (the Bumgenius were discontinued for some reason that I can not fathom as they are terrific).

The main difference between contour and fitted diapers is that on the fitted diapers there's elastic around the legs to keep 'everything' more contained. But we never had a problem with containing anything, even that slimy, soupy newborn bowel movements.

Both contour diapers and cloth diapers need a wrap or cover to use to keep the moisture contained. More about those later.

My least favorite type of diapers: pocket cloth diapers. I bought two brands: Rocky Mountain and Happy Heinies. Rocky Mountain diapers were the least expensive and well, after a few wears I could tell why. They were not absorbent at all! Leaks every time so they were quickly retired. It was a shame too because they were super cute!

Happy Heinies (isn't that cute?) worked really well for a while but then Gabe became thinner and super long and they just didn't seem to fit right. I loved their absorbency though and used some of their inserts as extra absorbency in a fitted diaper for night time!

Pocket diapers have a PUL, water resistant outer layer and a soft, microfiber inner layer.

All that you have to do is stuff an insert into the pocket between the two layers and put the diaper on the cute, squishy baby!

Really simple and requires no diaper cover but quite a bit more expensive. The one type where we went wrong with ordering pocket diapers was that we ordered the one-size style which could have contributed to some of our fitting probles. Regardless, this is one style I'd pass over next time! Although, because they're cloth diapers, there won't be a next time when buying (more on that in a later post)!

The other type of cloth diaper that I'm anxiously awaiting in the mail is the All-in-One diaper which is exactly like a disposable; no cover, nothing to stuff just put it on and go. The flip-side is that they are the most expensive and is the reason why we will only have a few of them.

Now onto diaper covers... my favorite part of cloth diapering!

We ordered three kinds of diaper covers: newborn, one size and Thirsty duo wraps.

The newborn covers are just like the other ones just smaller and with a dip in the front to protect the umbilical cord. Gabe's were white or with little lambs: super cute! And since he was only wearing these for a short time, I went with the least expensive ones.

(note the dip in the front)

Thirsties Duo Wraps came in two-sizes and have fit Gabe from 7lbs to the current 22lbs. He's now in the bigger size and has more than enough room to grow in until he's potty trained.

One-size covers have also worked fabulous for us too. And these are some of his cutest ones! Besides the blue and brown print and cow print, Gabe also sports a multi-colored one and a polka-dot one! They look super cute and in these warm summer months to come go well with a matching t-shirt! Cute and comfortable!

So that's the types and my prefereces in cloth diapering!

Next up in cloth diapering... how to wash! Yes, it deserves an exclamation mark because it is that exciting :) Stay tuned!

C is for Cookie!

Here's the deal...I love cookies. All kinds of cookies, especially if they have chocolate or oatmeal or nuts in them. My mother-in-law was visiting our house this week and she brought with her a bag of cookies. I try and only eat cookies if they're realllllllly good, otherwise I'd be a house. Ann's White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut cookies were amazing, so moist, delicious, nutty, and chocolaty. I begged to know her "secret" and she gladly obliged. And now I'm sharing her recipe with you.

Ann's Kitchen Cabinet Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (12-oz. pkg.)
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 375° F.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

The lovely thing about these cookies is that they are super versatile (Almost anything you have in your Kitchen Cabinets that sounds good to you can be thrown in!). White Chocolate and Macadamia nuts are superb in them. I imagine Carmel Squares and Pecans would be simply divine. If you noticed, Ann just took your basic plain old chocolate chip cookie recipe and gave it lots of added flavor and pizazz. That's what I love about her, she takes super simple recipes and makes them diverse in a quick-and-easy sort of way. So go home, pull out a bag of chocolate chips and follow the recipe on the back...but don't open the bag of chocolate chips...toss them back in the cupboard and add in something different, something unexpected. You won't be sorry.