takin' to the cleaners...

BATHROOM / TUB / TILE CLEANER

Ingredients
1 3/4 cup baking soda (slightly heaped)
1/2 cup unscented liquid castile soap
2 tbsp water 

10-20 drops Tea Tree essential oil

2 tbsp vinegar

2 ziplock quart-size bags

1 paper clamp

Mash until smooth the baking soda & liquid soap.

Stir in, gently, the water & essential oil.

Stir in, gently, the vinegar.  (expect a little bit of fizz)

When paste is complete & creamy, scoop into ziplock bag & seal.

Snip the corner of the bag - as if to use as a frosting piping bag.

Roll up the snipped corner & close with the paper clamp.

Place that inside the second ziplock bag for storage.

Squeeze out onto rag or sponge to use as soft-scrub in bathroom.

adapted from http://www.liverenewed.com/2011/03/non-toxic-bathroom-cleaning-and-homemade-soft-scrub-recipe.html

Spring Flower Photo Shoot by LittleMiss!

The afternoon outdoor adventure turned into an indoor photo shoot by LittleMiss!  While walking Nala-dog, we brought a bag to pick as many dandelions as we possible can (before they turn to seed & get to the neighbor's yards!)  We brought the flowers inside & tried mushing them, pounding them, smearing them, and shredding them.  What a tactile experience.  Then LittleMiss started arranging them on cardstock.  The camera appeared & she went to town snapping away!  Here's the results of her great button pushing abilities, enjoy.

 We start by her arranging the flowers any way she likes & then she takes pictures of them.   Here's what we start with:

Then MissMommy does some magic & we get this:

 

 

 That's all for now foks.  Hope you enjoyed the photo show. 

Sincerely, MissMommy & LittleMiss

Self-portrait photo of AVery Serious Artist at Work:

PROJECT: Office Floors

The new floors have arrived & look great!  Both of our offices now have vinyl flagstone floors & cherry wood chair mats!   Next :  paint those walls & get some curtains!

PROJECT: Knobs

 With over a dozen doors, this home had just as many different door knobs.   Current project is removing the all discombobulated handles & replacing with aged/antiqued bronze knobs, handles, locks, & levels.


Let the restoration begin!

A Reuben (the wrong way good)

Since the grocery stores across the nation are against the idea of me making a proper reuben, I have successfully & continually substituted pastrami & rye (if making it the wrong way good).

The proper way to make a Reuben is to use corned beef & pumpernickel.

 

Tonight, we lucked out with pumpernickel & rye swirl bread!

Freeze the bread (I typically keep my bread in the freezer, just 'cause).
Smear thick layer of butter on each slice of frozen bread.
(8 slices, making 4 sandwiches)
Drain 1 can of Frank's Sauerkraut
Open 1 package of deli sliced corned beef (or pastrami if making it the wrong way good)
Open 1 package of sliced swiss cheese
Open bottle of thousand island dressing

Heat griddle ~350ish

Throw on 'kraut
Throw on corned beef (or pastrami if making it the wrong way good)
Keep on the griddle only long enough to heat.  Do not fry or cook the deli meat, otherwise it'll get all rubbery and nasty crunchy, which is definitely the wrong way and not at all good.

Remove from griddle & place in bowls near by.

Place the slices of bread, thick butter side down, on to the griddle.
Dollop of dressing on each slice.
Slice of swiss on each.
Then hot 'kraut on one side & hot corned beef (or pastrami if making it the wrong way good)

If you have any left over cheese slices, throw them on!
Keep on griddle until bread is golden & the cheese is melted.
Flip the corned beef (or pastrami if making it the wrong way good) covered slice onto a 'kraut covered slice.

Set aside to cool just a bit.

Slice diagonally, because your husband will think that is fancy.

Serve with a side of dressing for dipping & pickles. 

Enjoy!  We did!

Deviled Chix!

My friend Ginny facebook-posted this instagram-picture of foods from a recent potluck she attended.  After Pinteresting this, I learned that Ana made these; Ana rocks!

What an adorable idea!  

Suggestions for eyes: peppercorns, capers, poppy seeds, caraway seeds, bacon-bits etc.

The eyes are dried chives & the beaks are carrot slivers!

Blustery Day Roasted Garlic & Acorn Squash Soup

A blustery cold day, calls for roasted garlic & acorn squash soup. Roast garlic in the cavity of the acorn squash. 3 squash, 2 garlic heads a little olive oil: roast 350F for 45min 'til garlic & squash edges are golden. Let cool. Boil 2 cups water, 1 peeled potato, 3 celery stalks & 1/2 red onion finely diced all to boil 'til mushy. Stir in 2 cups beef broth, roasted squash innards, and roasted garlic. Let simmer 30min. Dash smoke paprika, dash nutmeg, 1tsp montreal steak seasoning, 2tsp dried thyme. Served w/ dollop sour cream. Wine pairing: Apothic White.

Tucking the garlic cloves inside the squash while roasting.

 Kept it rustic by mashing with potato masher instead of blending.

 

Updated:  Re-runs got fancied up by mixing in chopped fresh spinach, topped with shredded colby, dollop sour cream, & handful of roasted pistachios!  SOUPER Yummy!!!!

 

Packing / Unpacking - Reuse Reuse Reuse Reuse

Yep! Petra's Projects is back online & have we got ourselves some projects!!!

Before we dive into the many restore/upgrade/renovate projects, we must unpack.  That's right, we've moved again.  This time we've moved back to a house that we have lived in before & still have dreams of bringing this poor thing back to life again with a lot of love, (& paint, & hardware, & electrical, & windows, & doors, & stained glass, & flooring, &, &, &, &, ...)   Yet, again I am distracted!

Must unpack!
Packing materials can be expensive & I learned during my previous move, that sometimes the packing materials are not accepted in local recycling programs.  (bummer).  So, this time I used paper towels & paper bags to wrap & pack all my breakables.  Very inexpensive compared to packing papers.   AND everything I used is reusable, recyclable (in my area), & compost-able!

Reusable, Recyclable, and Compost-able!

I picked up a couple packages of paper lunch bags at the dollar store & now have lunch bags for lunch, puppets, gift wrapping, etc.

I picked up a bulk package of paper towels at Costco & now have towels, napkins, water-colorable butterfly wings, etc.

I stopped by my local grocery & purchased a 50cnt bundle of grocery bags for $2 & now have recycling containers, thick crafting paper, postal wrap, gift wrap, etc.

We will have plenty of crafting supplies by the time packing is complete!

Welcome home

We
are
excited
to
announce
a
new
little
Italian
to our family

Length 55.7 inches (1415 mm)

Volume 2.35 gal (8.9 L)

Single Cylinder, 4-stoke.

Continuously Variable (CVT)

Aprilia Scarabeo 250

Welcome home,
SCAR!

Ole Kuken

Ole Kuken !

2 1/2 cups warm milk
3 tsp yeast
1/2 cup sugar
(mix and let bloom)

2 eggs
2 tbsp melted butter
(whisk in)

5 cups flour
2 cups dried cranberries
(stir together until blended & sticky)

Let sit covered for a hour or so until doubled and fluffy.
Drop by spoonful into 350F deep hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Spin in the oil to get browned on all sides. Pull from oil and strain briefly. Roll in sugar. (this is the most important part) Then eat them!

baby praying mantis ... about 1 inch long.

baby praying mantis ... about 1 inch long.

Hot Cocoa --- room for improvement!

Just made the best Hot Cocoa ever!  But still has room for improvement.

1/2 cup splenda
1/4 cup cocoa
1/3 cup water
dash of cinnamon
dash of salt
 - whisk together in saucepan over medium heat
 - stirring constantly to prevent burning

2 cups heavy whipping cream
 - heat 2 cups of heavy whipping cream in microwave for a minute to warm up
 - whisk warm cream into chocolate sauce
 - cook until just starting to boil

2 cups of milk
1 tsp vanilla
 - heat of 2 cups of milk in the microwave for a minute to warm up
 - whisk warm milk into creamy chocolate sauce
 - whisk in vanilla

Drink! 

-----

There are two point that I would like to improve:
1) the after-texture leaves a powdery mouthfeel -> want a creamy afterfeel.
2) it tastes like it was made with artificial sweetener (maybe because it was?!?) -> want the sweetness to balance the bitter of the cocoa, but not the chemical bitterness from the sweetener, but still can not use sugar.

Ideas?