New Year Noisemakers

I know what you're thinking... Noisemakers... Must be about the grandchildren, right?  Haha, probably not what you were thinking, but they are a noisy group!  I guess it was what I was thinking. 

The granddarlings, at least 2 of them were involved in this project though. We made homemaker New Year noisemakers, and they turned out super cute, if I don't say so myself. Looks like I said so!  

      My prototype. Kinda looks like a purse, doesn't it?

So, here's the list of what you will need to make your own. Feel free to substitute as needed. There's no science involved in this one. We used...

-toilet paper tubes

-patterned duct tape

-jingle bells

-mini marbles

-pony beads

-curling ribbon (left over from a Christmas gift)

    (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)

          The supplies, pointed out to you by Lily. 

So, the process is really quite simple... Pinch top and bottom of the tube on each end.  You will then concentrate on one end... fold in on both edges so it overlaps slightly.  Here's some pics to help...

Now it's time to start using some fancy duct or 'Duck' tape. You can do this any way it works for you, but I went over the middle and then used 1/2 strips to cover the little 'ears' at the sides. This makes it easier to add a handle on one end. 

Now it's time to add the noise (before sealing the other end using the same process)...In each one we used 1 jingle bell, 4 mini marbles, and about 7 pony beads.  After sealing the last end it's time to cover with tape. It's your chance to get creative here, so go for it. We didn't get too crazy with ours, but the sky's the limit for you!!  

To add the handle, tear a strip of tape as long as you need (we used about 3.5"), fold it upon itself in thirds to form a strip.  Now just attach it to one side at the 'ears'. Add a ribbon, and shake 'em like crazy to herald in the new year! Like these crazies are gonna do...

Happy New Year to you all! 

 Love and hugs, Pat

Dinner time

We have all struggled with deciding what's for dinner, right?  Every Thursday in our family is girls night/guys night.  What this means is that whomever is available (family and close friends) on any given Thursday gets together for dinner and to hang out. Usually this means the guys go somewhere and the girls go somewhere else, or maybe eat at home.  This summer we have combined girls and guys most weeks, staying here, grilling and hanging out on the deck.  As you might expect, it sometimes is a challenge to decide what to cook. 

Last week, the guys were going to go out for bar food, but Jim had this grand idea to make fried bologna sandwiches on the grill.  Ok, I thought, I better get some turkey slices for girls!  We made a trip to the vege/deli store and had them slice the meat nice and thick. Picked out onion rolls, cause that sounded fancy! I needed to try out a recipe I was perfecting for a friend's daughter's graduation party so I picked up ingredients for a cilantro-lime slaw.  Corn was on sale, so that worked for another side dish!  Sounds simple and summery doesn't it. 

Of course, I couldn't stop there... I needed to make this lovely plain summer meal even more fancy! So, I decided to make a garlic aioli to go on the sandwiches. I never did that before so I researched some recipes and then, like I do, I made up my own concoction:

Garlic Aioli

3/4 c (real) mayonnaise 

1 T spicy brown mustard

I clove garlic (minced) I use a garlic press... If you don't have one, get one- best invention ever! 

2 t fresh squeezed lemon juice

Pepper to taste

...Oh my, so delish!!

It was seriously the perfect topping to both the 'fried' bologna and I'm told the turkey.  Lettuce and tomato were used...then everything was layered onto grilled onion buns!  Also, the guys added horseradish sauce to theirs and said it was fabulous!  You know, it wouldn't be bad to add some cheese too! Jim did. 

On to the corn... Here are my tips for perfect corn on the cob!

In the water I add some salt (of course), a little sugar ( couple teaspoons), and a couple teaspoons of apple cider vinegar.  Don't add the corn until the water is boiling.  Be sure not to boil too long, no more than 10 minutes and it should be great!  Plain old corn wasn't good enough for my kitchen. Lol, so I had an idea!  Herb butter, yep that's right. I melted a stick of butter and grabbed some fresh herbs from my deck.  I used the following...

Thyme

Rosemary

Basil

Sage

Oregano

Just a small amount of each all chopped up. Toss it in, mix it up and brush it on the cooked corn! You guessed it, yummy!

Finally here's the recipe for my Cilantro-lime Slaw

I just use a (about 12 -16 oz, I think) packaged slaw mix, but I thinly sliced some onion to add to it. I also often add thinly sliced green pepper as well. It just seems to make the slaw taste fresher. 

Dressing:

Fresh squeezed lime juice (from 2 small limes)

Zest from 1 of the limes

1/4 c orange juice

1/8 c olive oil

1/4 c sour cream (or plain greek yogurt)

1 T sugar

1 clove garlic (minced)

1/4 t ground cumin

1/2 c fresh chopped cilantro

Whisk together all except the cilantro, add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the cilantro to either the slaw mix or the dressing and then mix it all together.  

As my son commented during dinner, this slaw would also be great on fish tacos, or really any tacos! It was a perfect side dish for this meal eaten al fresco! 

Here it is, well, was. Haha

So, let me know what you think. Will you try it? Have you done something similar? If you try, did it turn out well?  Talk to ya soon, I need to make some dinner...

Our Renovation Reality - part 1

Have you heard of the show 'Renovation Realities'?  Well, over the years we have certainly had our share of those!  Like when during our kitchen redo, my husband, Jim, had a heart attack. Seriously, that was way too real for me.  Thankfully he is well now and our kitchen is perfect!

Our home was built in 1918 and we are forever redoing something. And it is inevitable that there is a twist along the way.  Nothing is even or square or... You get the picture.  We are currently in the process of renovating a main floor bedroom.  

We had planned it for a long time, but it's even more necessary now because our daughter and her 3 girls (you can see these beauties in the family picture on this page) will be living with us for at least a year while she works on a masters degree.  

This redo is for us, but we will also be transforming the dormer for them.  This will begin my attempt to share our (hopefully) positive renovation reality!

So...Here's the beginning of the redo of what will be our 'new' bedroom...

 

This is a design I knocked into the plaster when beginning to tear it all out.  Takes great talent, don't you think?  Well, I do, so I'm going to get a copy of this pic and frame it for the room! 

Here you can see some of the mess we have created during the process.  It is a very dirty job tearing out almost 100 year old plaster and lath boards. So far I've only stepped on one nail that went through my shoe! Ouch

  

   

Even more dirty is when the ceiling is coming down along with the nasty bits of insulation from the old days.  Masks and safety glasses are in use, don't worry! 

But, It is a MESS...

Now the walls are open and we are waiting to have a sliding glass door installed.  Today when cleaning up Jim found these old bread wrappers in the wall...  

   

So cool! I love those kinds of finds, although cash would have been much better.  Well, after some internet searching (I'm a lover of finding answers), I found that the bakery that made both was established in 1911.  Proof enough for me that someone stuffed them there when the house was being finished.  He also found a dried up piece of banana peel. Ewwww, at least no critters were with it!!

That's all I've got to share right now, but I'll be sure to keep you updated on our progress.  Check back soon y'all :) 

Here goes...

Soooo, here goes...
I have decided to share some of my creativity.  Now, I am my first worst critic, but I am also pretty good at talking myself up when I'm proud of what I've done. I'm hoping that this positive part of me can become stronger through the writing of this blog, but of course, without letting it go to my head.

I had the idea of starting this type of blog after a particularly impressive use of leftovers!  We had a cookout and ending up with an abundance of barbecue chicken ( made with Sweet Baby Ray's sauce-yummmm).
Here's what I did...
I love anything Mexican or Italian by the way, so expect to hear it again. I shredded the chicken and added more BBQ sauce and some taco seasoning, making a very tasty chicken BBQ taco meat!  And to top it off I created a cilantro lime slaw, which I have perfected a recipe for (more about that in a future post).  Hungry yet??  It was a fantastic fresh combination in a crunchy corn shell.  Delish! Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures, but don't worry future posts WILL include photos!!

The creativity didn't stop there, folks.  No, I had more yum up my sleeves.  The next day I found a flatbread on the markdown shelf at my local Kroger store.  I'm a bargain hunter too, FYI.  I still had leftover chicken BBQ taco meat so I made the tastiest flatbread pizza ever!  If you'd like to try, follow these steps...
Brush flatbread with olive oil
Spread the shredded meat out over the bread (heavy, light, to your desire)
Add sliced  or diced onions
I added pieces of grilled pineapple too
Sprinkle with a little cumin
Bake at 400* for about 7-8 minutes
Remove from oven and sprinkle on shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Return to 400* oven until cheese is melty
Then cut into slices and enjoy just like my husband and I did. It was a great 'by the pool' Saturday lunch!

I hope these ideas inspire you in some way.  Really, anything I do is easy enough for you to try too!
Until next post (with pictures of course)...