Yours 'til Niagara Falls

Springing Forward is OK by Me

It was a beautiful day here.  I woke up with energy and determination to literally sweep away the cobwebs and start Spring cleaning.  I used my usual technique of beginning in a corner of a room and sorting and organizing my way around the room. Things are also thrown away.  The second trip around the room involves scrubbing every surface in sight.  Step three is vacuuming the floor and the ceiling (remember the afore mentioned cobwebs?) and, because it was a desperate post-winter situation, the livingroom rug got a shampoo. I managed to get the entire downstairs cleaned.

To reward myself for a job well done, I took a walk in the sunshine.  I was rewarded with this:

What a happy moment!  This little crocus really made my day. 

My New Old House

So... this is my new house.  I've been living here for about a month.  I'm just mastering which switch goes with which light.  I'm also re-learning how to cook now that I have a gas range.  As I have mentioned to some people, I am opening up boxes that have not been opened since two moves ago.  The newspaper I used to wrap the items has a 2004 date, so it has been a while.  

And so it goes... 

Make it Do or Do Without

I have the week off.  I want to get a few projects completed.  My husband is in the home stretch of re-doing the kitchen.  I thought my old dining set might look a little shabby in the new room.  I spent a nightonline  looking for a new kitchen table.  Prices have really gone up in the twenty years since I bought my set!  I really didn't see anything I loved, either the sets were overly ornate or Shaker-esque.  Anyhoo... I decided in the end just to spruce up the oak set I have.  Here is the before-and-after:

 
I'm pleased with the way the fabric looks.  I am now the master of the staple gun!  While the seats were off I got all Marth-y and used Boston Butcher Wax to shine up the wood.  It doesn't take much wax to do, but it does take elbow grease. 

 1. wipe down wood with barely-wet rag to remove shmutz

 2. apply a thin coat of wax with a cotton rag

 3. let the wax dry - it only takes about five minutes

 4. with yet another rag buff the surface - the job is done when the surface is shiny and no longer has a sticky feel to it 

And so my week begins...

 
  

Seasonal Scrub

I am attempting to do some deep cleaning in my humble abode.  I have spent ninety minutes cleaning the living room which, to the casual observer was already passably clean. 

I could build a new dog with all the hair I vacuumed off the couch.  In addition, there had to be a full measuring cup of dust and dust bunnies.  Let's not discuss the spider webs.

The big issue, I think, is that I do not like my house.  In return, it does not like me.  It smells funny and is generally an uncomfortable place to live.  The last thing I want to do is lavish care on it.  But, I'm in no mood for a cautionary note from the county health department.

And so, I scrub. 

Just Peachy

Western New York produces excellent peaches.  In addition, while not many people were thrilled with this summer's weather, it has done wonderful things for the local orchards.  Yesterday my daughter and her BFF went to the North Tonawanda City Market, which my favorite-little-boy-in-the-world calls the "silly market".  They each bought a bushel of peaches and invited me over this afternoon for a jam session.

Many hands make light work.  The peaches were peeled, sliced and diced.  Then they were made into the loveliest jam.

 

 

 

Nearly eighty jars of the stuff.  The itty-bitty jars will be given as bridal shower favors sometime next summer.  The rest will be divvied up and enjoyed all winter.

Cherries Preserved in Brandy

You will need:  1 1/2 cups cherries, one cup brandy,1/2 cup sugar, pint canning jar (a twist top type would work just as well as this rubber gasket type), scissors

Trim the stems to about a half an inch.  This also gives you a chance to inspect each cherry for blemishes.  Use only perfect fruit.  Put the cherries in the jar.

Glug,glug, glug in goes the brandy.  No need to use the good stuff.  Average stuff will do just fine.

Pour in the granulated sugar. Put the lid on the jar and give it a gentle shake.

Stash this in the fridge.  When you think of it you can pick it up and give it a gentle shake.  In the fullness of time, the sugar will completely dissolve and the liquid will turn an exceedingly beutiful red color.  They will be ready to enjoy by Thanksgiving.

Wheatgrass Experiment

I've always wanted to have a basket full of lush emerald green wheatgrass all planted for Easter.  Unfortunately, I've always thought about it a day or two before Easter Sunday.  This year I was browsing in a nursery for African violets (no luck in that direction) when I saw a packet of wheatgrass seeds.  So I bought the seeds and a bag of potting soil.  After a little research I found that the seeds do better if they are soaked on a wet paper towel overnight:

 

I found a couple of suitable containers.  I put a wad of grocery bags in the bottom of the larger one.  I sprinkled the seeds on the surface of the soil.  Easy peasy.

   

Now I wait.  I'm hoping to use this experiment to find out the timing I would need to have a basket ready for April 12. The magazine Living Crafts gives a set of directions on how to accomplish this same thing without using soil.  Find the directions here.  Here is my early spring nature table, a work in progress:

Another bit of housekeeping...  I love my dog but her fur drives me nuts.  I picked up this Scotch Fur Fighter and I'm happy with the way it works.  Loads better than the sticky lint roller.

Ma Made Marmalade

  I took a trip across the river to Canada earlier this week.  I picked up a can of this product which I believe is a pantry staple in British households.  Couldn't be easier to make - add water and sugar and boil.  I love canning things because of the surgical cleanliness of the whole process.   It's a little sour/bitter.  Two things can happen;  it can mellow a bit in the jar or the marmalade can be used as an ingredient in recipes. 

     

I'm the type of person that, if you name a food, I will have a memory or association with it.  Marmalade evokes my Uncle Dan who loved the stuff.  It als makes me think of a trip to Ireland because I brought jars of the thick cut Irish-style to give as gifts.  I also think about Paddington bear.

This weekend, as do most, flew by.  I did get a little pre-holiday cleaning done.  I went to the season opener of the Niagara University basketball game.  (We won!) Another triump of the day was sitting down for forty-five minutes with the grocery store flier and this week's coupon pages.  I ended up saving $53.00 on my order.

Cooking Secrets of the Refined Slob

 

(Disclaimers: First of all, the phrase "the refined slob" is a direct quote from one of my favorite authors Laurie Colwin who died too young.  Her novels are great reads, but her slender volume on her adventures in the kitchen -  Home Cooking; A Writer in the Kitchen - is one of the books I read again and again.  Second, I swiped the above image from Brocante Home)

Anyhoo... I could probably make Rice Krispie treats in my sleep.  I know it's nothing to brag about, but there you have it.  I have developed the easiest, most streamlined way in which to assemble them.  (I fully acknowledge that it isn't cooking)  I thought my little knacks for turning out these confections might be  helpful to some poor soul.

Use the recipe on the side of the Rice Krispies as your guide for ingredients and method.  I present this information only as tips.  Melt the amount of butter  specified in the recipe plus about a teaspoon more in a large bowl in the microwave.  Remove the bowl from the microwave and swirl the butter around in the bowl.  This greases the bowl so the soon-to-be-melted marshmallows won't stick to the bowl.  Pour that extra teaspoon of melted butter into the pan. Now pour the marshmallows into the bowl.  Save the marshmallow bag!  Turn it inside out and put it on your hand and use it to grease the pan.  Don't throw the bag out yet!  You will need it in a minute!

      

Melt the marshmallows in the microwave.  Remove from microwave, stir to combine the melted butter and the marshmallows and stir in the rice krispies.  After the cereal is coated with the mixture, pour it into the greased pan.  Again, don the plastic bag.  It has some butter on it from greasing the pan.  Now use it to press the mixture into the pan.  Ha, I told you!  No fuss, no muss!  Enjoy!

 

Dazzling White Linen

 At more than half of the estate sales hereabouts, you will happen upon linen tablecloths.  Many of them have never been used.  Generally they are unbelievably cheap - always less than five dollars.  They remain unsold, I think, because they are tragically yellowed.  This situation is remedied by an old recipe I remember from the Hints from Heloise newspaper column.  The only drawback is that it is a chemical cocktail - less than gentle to the earth.  Everything is a trade-off, I guess.

White-and-bright concoction: In a non-reactive vessel (I used my plastic bathroom garbage can)  pour in a large kettle of boiling water.  Add the amount of powdered dishwashing detergent you would use for a load of dishes.  Currently I'm using the tablet-type detergent, so I used one of the tablets.  Add a half cup of chlorine bleach (did I mention you should do this in a well-ventilated area?)  Add the hottest tap water you have to fill the container half full.  Put your yellowed items in the water.  If the cloth isn't covered by the water, add more hot water.  I let this sit over night.  I pour all of this into the washing machine and send it through a regular cycle with an extra rinse.  I've had good luck using this recipe with baby clothes (rinse very thoroughly), men's undershirts with icky pit stains and white curtains.  As I recall from the original article, nurses used this concoction to whiten their uniforms.  Remember when nurses wore uniforms?