Two Sneaky Resturaunt Tricks!

Tonight I had company coming over for dinner.

This always excites me because I get a chance to show off a bit in the kitchen!

Tonight I am going to share 2 little tricks to make your barbeque pork ribs and baked potatoes seem like they came from a restaurant.

Let's start with the Barbequed pork ribs.

I cooked mine on my wood burning stove, but a slow cooker will work just as well.

Start by browning the ribs in a skillet over medium heat. At this time, I seasoned them lightly with salt, pepper and cinnamon, which is a closely guarded secret of the top BBQ restaurants.

Then I layered the meat in the bottom of my pan, diced up an onion on top and topped it all off with a whole bottle of BBQ sauce. Then I put the lid on and let it simmer for about 3 hours until the meat started to fall apart. If you use a slow cooker, you can put this on low in the morning and have it ready when you get home from work.

Ribs just seem to go hand in hand with baked potatoes but I always hated  messing with foil.

They are a pain to make, never came out quite right for me and the skins always got thrown out because no one liked them. Then I happened on a trick that turned it all around!

Preheat your oven to 400 F.

Pick your largest potatoes for baking and wash them thoroughly, taking out any eyes or bad spots.

Take each one and poke thoroughly with a fork.

Now for the trick!

Rub each potato with oil. I prefer a nice extra virgin olive oil. Then sprinkle salt LIGHTLY over them. This is what gives the skin it's extra special flavor!

 

Then just place the potatoes directly on the rack. I place a cookie sheet on the rack below them in case any oil drips. Bake for 30 minutes, flip them, and cook for another 30 minutes.

I have yet to have a potato be undercooked or overcooked this way!

The inside is fluffy and the outside is yummy!

Add a bit of butter and sour cream and it's perfect!

Everyone enjoyed the dinner and I hope you did too!

Happy eating!

One Last Fall Project!

Due to technical circumstances I was unable to post over the Thanksgiving holiday week,

but I just HAD to share this one last Fall project before I pack it up and

 start dragging out my Christmas decorations.

This was SO super simple it really did blow my mind!

The possibilities with this are endless!

Materials:

Elmer's Glue

Food coloring

Epson salts

Ribbon

Acrylic Paints

Paper cups (to mix the paint in)

Paper plates 

And in my case, my great friend Michelle, who is a MUCH more talented painter than I am!

 

If you can paint, wonderful! If not, don't be afraid to enlist the help of a friend who can.  It's a great way to spend time together and show them how much you appreciate their talents!

 

 

We started with some clean glass jars I had saved from various things such as spaghetti sauces and pickles.

We then put some glue, about a 1/4 cup and a drop or two of food coloring in a cup and mixed it. There is no real measuring here, you can make it any color you like.

If you make it very light and pastel looking, the finished product will look like sea glass.

However, I am going for a Fall look so I used a burgundy food coloring for my first attempt.

Paint on using thin coats and let dry completely between coats. If it is too thick, you will get runs and drips in the paint like I did here.

On the final coat, if you wish to make a frosty one instead of painting it, roll the wet jar in Epsom salt and let dry.

Michelle decided to make those drips work for her. She put on 3 different colors, starting with yellow as the base color, then orange and finally red and let them drip. Gives it a warm fireplace feeling I think!

Then she used acrylic paint and painted a couple of pine cones and a warm holiday greeting.

Once the ideas started coming, they didn't stop.

 

We found that dabbing on the glue/paint it gave it a bubbly textured look when dry so Michelle dabbed on some yellow, orange and red to look like fall leaves.

When it dried, she used the acrylic paint to add a stunning fall harvest scene. I think this one came out looking incredible!

 

 

Once all the paint is dry,

 tie a ribbon in a bow at the top and tack with a hot glue gun if you like.

 

 

 

Add tea lights and enjoy a warm fall glow!

 

Special Thanks again goes to Michelle for all the incredible art.

I never could have done it without you!

Rub Away Those Aches and Pains!

 With all the weather changes going on here on the East Coast, most people are feeling like weather barometers. Aches, pains, even headaches are affected by the weather.

Add to that the stress of day to day life and it's a recipe for being just plain miserable!

No one likes feeling like that, so here is one of my easiest recipes guaranteed to relive stress, aches, pains and just generally make you feel good. 

Missi's Massage Oil

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Essential oil

You will also need a second person. Spouses or significant others work best for this.

Take about one cup of olive oil and add a few drops of essential oil. I used a vanilla rose scent I bought from Ebay that I also use for making soaps. Six or seven drops should be enough. (It's really about how much scent you like so it's up to you if you wish to add more or less.)Lightly warm the oil. You can do this in the microwave or on the stove over VERY low heat. Test the oil on your wrist to make sure it's not going to burn you.

Now the super fun part....

Get your partner to rub your muscles down using the warmed oil!

Not only does it make you feel good and relieve those aches and pains, but olive oil has been passed on from generation to generation as an incredible skin care product.

It was a commonly used skin care product by Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks.

Olive oil has vitamin E and oleic acid. Oleic acid helps to soften the skin, and the vitamin E improves the elasticity of the skin.

Warmed oil provides even more elasticity and works wonders on the skin as a healing agent and, in addition to stretch marks, it can be used on scars, scar tissue, cuts, scrapes, and acne scarring.

Now go pamper yourself or someone you love!

P.S

This also is a great romantic gift.

 Bottle it up in a decorative bottle, add some lace and a hand written tag with warming instructions and give to that special someone!

Pizza! Pizza!

Hurricane Sandy has brought a cold rainy day to northwestern PA.

The good news is, days like this are a good way for families to spend time together.

When I was younger, my mother used to make this pizza on days like this. It was always a big deal for me because I always got to put on the toppings. A few minutes in the oven and MMMMMMM...The house smelled like a pizzeria!

Mom would use 2 different doughs depending on what her mood was to make.

Sometimes she bought frozen bread dough and used it, but what I want to share today is her bisquick recipe.

Since I go through a lot of it at my house, I have found a recipe that makes your own bisquick mix and used that as my dough for this pizza.

Bisquick Mix

Ingredients:

4 cups of flour

3 Tablespoons of baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 cup of shortening ( you can also use 3/4 cup of oil)

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Cut in shortening until mixture looks like fine crumbs

Now, you can store this in an airtight container or ziplock bag in a cool, dry place until you use it but we are making pizza 

so now we are going preheat our over to 450 degrees and grease a pizza pan. I used a 24 inch square one, but you can use 2- 12" pans.

 Add to the bowl of mix

3/4 cup of very hot water

and mix about 20 strokes to make a soft dough.

Then stretch it out on your pizza pan.

I made a small lip on the edge of mine because I like to load my pizzas up!

Cover dough with sauce and a light layer of shredded cheese. You can use any flavor you like, but I use a pizza mixture of mozzarella, provolone and parmesan.

Now comes the fun part!

Imagination is the limit here. You can add any toppings you want!

This is where the whole family can get involved.

 Let everyone pick a topping and let them load it up!

I had sauteed some fresh onions, peppers and mushrooms for mine.

Finally, I added some pepperoni and bacon I had fried and crumbled, then topped it all off with a final generous layer of cheese.

Pop it in the preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is hot and bubbly. 

Let sit and cool for 5 minutes, cut, serve and enjoy!

On a final note, for all of my readers who will be impacted by Hurricane Sandy, my prayers and thoughts are with you! Please stay safe!

Trick or Treat!

Tonight is Trick or Treat night around here.

Every year for the past 20 years, I have taken them out to run house to house, sharing in their spoils and quite honestly, got so caught up myself in the "Spirit" of the holiday that I would even dress up with the most years and re-visit my inner child.

 These are the rewards of being a mom and I love it!

One of my favorite sites for costume and decoration ideas is 

http://www.instructables.com/halloween/ 

I have spent DAYS in this site just in awe of the stuff some people come up with.

However, this year is different for me.

This year, I was informed my chauffeur services are not required.

They are going with friends.

I will admit it.

 I felt a small twinge of "they don't need me anymore" for a minute.

But letting a child grow up to be their own person is something to celebrate, not mourn!

So what do you do when all of a sudden, a 20 years schedule changes?

You use it as an opportunity to allow yourself to do something you always wanted to do!

Plan a Halloween party at home with your friends. If you are like us, then most of your friends have kids the same age as yours and are looking for something to do as well!

Go all out decorating your house and stay home and give out candy for a change. You get to see all the kids and it's better than buying that bag of candy and sitting on the couch eating it all to yourself out of depression!

Try find a new tradition to make. 

Go out to eat with your spouse or friends then visit a haunted house with them.

 

Or stay home and make it scary movie night, complete with popcorn and lights out!

In my case, I am having some friends over and doing the latter. I'm popping in a good Halloween thriller and enjoying a beautiful fall evening with good company.

I encourage everyone who reads this to share how they spent their Trick or Treat night!

Did you dress the kids up? Did you have a nice evening alone?

I want to hear from you!

The Trouble with Tribbles.....Wait, I meant Zucchini!

Every year I plant a garden.

And every year I have more zucchini than I know what to do with.

Even when you bring it in the house, it still manages to multiply on your counter top!

Three years ago, I found something that would change things forever.

Suddenly, I was the crazy lady who begged everyone she knew with a garden for their excess of zucchini!

What made this drastic change?

One simple little recipe and 2 local fairs.

I was like everyone else, racking my brain for different ways to use up all the zucchini.

I scoured the internet for recipes.

I dug through cook books hundreds of years old.

I found all kinds of cakes, casseroles and other recipes using the zucchini as a substitution.

Finally, I found something that really intrigued me

Zucchini Jelly

Now here was something novel I had never seen.

It used zucchini and you could make it any flavor you could imagine.

So I gathered up all my zucchini, juggled them into the house and got to work!

I finished my first batch, fixed up a piece of home made bread and jelly for everyone, handed them out, and waiting for the reviews.

Everyone said the same thing. You couldn't tell there was any zucchini in it!

I was so pleased with it I entered it in both the local county fair and the local small town fair.

It ended up taking first in both fairs for both taste and appearance!

 

So here it is. My blue ribbon zucchini jelly recipe!

Zucchini Jelly

Ingredients:

6 cups of zucchini, peeled, seeded and shredded

6 cups of white sugar

1 can of crushed pineapple, drained ( 15 oz)

1/2 cup of lemon juice

1 package of strawberry jello ( 6 oz)

Combine the zucchini, sugar, pineapple, and lemon juice in a large pot over medium heat. Boil mixture until the zucchini is clear; remove from heat. Add jello and stir until completely dissolved.

You can use any flavor of jello you want, this is what gives the jelly it's flavor. I like strawberry the best because it tastes just like strawberry freezer jam!

 
Ladle into hot, sterilized pint jars to within about 1/4 inch of the top. Seal, and process in a boiling water canner for 5 minutes.

That's it!

It's an extremely simple recipe that tastes incredible!

It's also great for people who are a little nervous about learning to can and don't know where to start.

It's almost impossible to fail making this and it's guaranteed to be a huge hit!

Now go freak your neighbors out and ask them if they have any extra zucchini.

What flavor did you make?

Getting Ready for Halloween!

There is only a week left until Halloween.

 Hopefully, you're not running late like I am getting your  decorations up, but better late than never!

Yesterday was spent running errands, making sure the house was clean, and getting out the decorations.

First I worked on my table centerpiece.

The skull in the center is a bowling ball a good friend gave to me as a gift.

 How could I resist leaving it out of Halloween?

 I used it as a central piece and built around it.

What I ended up with was this candlelight dinner with Death.

My first  challenge was to figure out how to keep the ball from rolling around on the table. I ended up discovering the top part of a CD spool worked great as a base.

Then I tossed a black gauze cloth over it and arranged the skull candelabra and goblets around it.

All that is left is to spread some fake cobwebs across it.

Then I set up my candle holders. These pictures show just how dramatic a difference something simple as a few silk leaves can make any arrangement.

To help put a bit of smell of Fall in the air, I put coffee beans around the tea lights in the candle holders. As the burning candle warms the beans, it releases a nice warm scent into the room

 

The last thing I put up is something that means a lot to me.

A year ago, I helped take care of a terminally ill woman. She had a curtain decoration I just fell in love with. They were spider broaches. When she passed, the family passed them on to me. They have been on my living room curtain ever since, but for Halloween, they get something special.

 I bought the cobweb at the local Dollar General for a dollar.

I removed the plastic spider and used the broaches to pin it all back to the curtain.

So there are a few ideas for some cheap decorating on the fly with items you have on hand.

Now I want to know what you do for Halloween decor.

Do you use all store-bought decorations or do you step outside that comfort zone and embrace your own style to create your own?

   

Washing a Dog Is Like Washing Your Hair, Isn't it?

A friend asked me the other day how I do it. 

How do I manage to juggle 2 kids at home,

 a self employed husband who owns and operates two businesses of his own, 

a household,

have a fairly active social life,

 and STILL find time to do projects and write this blog?

While most times everything runs rather smooth,

All my scheduling was thrown completely out the window.

Kaput!

My mother, who runs her own dog grooming shop, was called to a last minute appointment.

Having helped her many times over the past few years, she asked if I could take over for a short bit.

What was I going to do? Help my mother of course!

Needless to say, I spent the better part of my day washing and drying a poodle and a chocolate lab. 

I did not get any decorating done today, so plan on that for Monday!

Fear not though, I do still have some hints and tricks for the dog-lovers out there!

The first time I helped her out in the shop washing a dog, I got a real eye-opener!

I, like most people do, thought that washing a dog consisted of getting them wet, washing with dog shampoo, then scrubbing them down with a towel.

NO, IT'S NOT!

To properly wash a dog, you start by getting them wet with warm water starting with right BEHIND their ears down the rest of the body. 

DO NOT GET WATER IN THEIR EARS! 

Getting water in a dog's ear can lead to a smelly fungus infection!

Lather the dog's body up with a shampoo made for dogs. Don't worry about washing the dog's face just yet. Rinse them off and use a conditioner on their coat and rinse a final time. 

This is especially important for long hair dogs. It helps take out any knots in the hair when you brush them. Also, do yourself a favor, don't buy a 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioner. They just don't work as well. 

To wash a dog's face, the proper way is with a wet washcloth. This way water is not dripped into the ear canal and the dog does not feel like you are trying to drown it. A no-tear shampoo for dogs should be used if needed. Carefully wipe the ears and around the muzzle.

Now, using a towel,

RESIST THE URGE TO RUB THEM DRY!

The cuticle of a dog's hair is not like ours. Rubbing them with a towel like we do our own hair sets a dog's hair instantly into knots.

Instead, you want to carefully blot them dry. It will probably take more than one towel. Make sure the dog stays in a warm environment with no cool drafts until it is COMPLETELY dry! They can still catch cold if they are even slightly damp to the touch. Again, this is much more imperative for dogs with long hair. I have seen dogs come into the shop so matted up from simple home bathing that it was impossible to comb them out. It simply would have caused the dog too much pain.

If you have a long haired dog, please COMB it every day. Most brushes on the market only brush on the surface. This makes it appear smooth, but in actuality it is hiding the real matts that are forming underneath the coat. These are particularly painful for a dog because they restrict skin movement.

If you have a dog that requires a hair cut, most should be done about every 6-8 weeks.

 If at all possible, please stay with a cut that is breed appropriate. Trust me, shit-zu's are not as cute as you may think when cut like a poodle! The only exception I would suggest is this: If you have a long haired dog and you just can't keep up with combing but don't want to get rid of the dog, consider what a lot of people call a puppy cut. It's somewhat short all over, but easier upkeep for you and so much more comfortable for the dog.

Last but not least, 

give that best friend a treat

 just because they love you as completely as they do!

See you all Monday!

I hope every one of you have a wonderful weekend!

Batten Down the Hatches Then Treat Yourself!

I'm a little late getting my holiday on this year. It happens, I'm not beating myself up over it.

There just isn't any sense and you shouldn't worry either if you're running late as well.

But after doing the Fall Chandelier project, I realized that time was running out fast to decorate for one of my favorite  holidays,

HALLOWEEN!

Unfortunately, the holidays come fast and furious after that leaving no time for deep cleaning until Spring!

So, I busted out my cleaning supplies and made a plan.

I made my bed, quick cleaned the bathroom and put another load in the laundry.

Then I took my broom and ran it along every crevice along my ceiling and in the corners of my rooms.

Next I like to hit my windows and mirrors.

Since I needed to make a fresh batch of glass cleaner, I thought it was a prefect time to share it with you all.

Materials:

1/2 ammonia

16 oz. bottle of rubbing alchohol

1 tsp dawn dish soap

empty gallon jug ( I repurposed an empty milk jug)

clean spray bottle

Fill the milk jug half way with water. Add the rest of the ingredients, then fill the gallon jug the rest of the way with water. Shake lightly to mix, then fill the spray bottle. That's it!

To show just how well it works, I wrote on my mirror with glass chalk and let it dry.

Let's see how well it works.

Beautiful! Sparkling clean and NO STREAKS!

Tomorrow I will finish my dusting and I can start my decorating, but now, I want to share my one serving snack that is just so easy it is dangerous!

Materials:

1 Angel food cake

1 cake mix, whatever flavor you want

NOTE: One mix MUST be Angel Food cake

I used strawberry flavor this time, though the yellow and chocolate are VERY yummy as well!

Mix both mixes into a gallon bag.

Some boxes of angel food cake have 2 packets inside, empty BOTH in the bag. If it only has one package inside, it works just the same.

Seal the bag and mix thoroughly.

The mix will look like a light color of whatever flavor you chose.

Now for the 3-2-1. This is so simple, it's unreal!

Ready?

Put in a coffee cup:

3 Tablespoons of cake mix

2 Tablespoons of water

1 minute in the microwave

Yep! you read right. 3-2-1

3 Tablespoons of mix

2 Tablespoons of water

Mix with a fork until smooth.

Put in the microwave for 1 - 1 1/2 minutes depending on your microwave power.

 Hubby was the taste tester on this one since he is the one in the house with a wicked sweet tooth.

He mumbled something around the fork-full of cake and gave it a thumbs up.

It's a great snack to have on hand for that company that shows up with no notice or just to have a snack without making a whole cake!

So that's it for today. Tomorrow I will be sharing some of my decorating ideas for Halloween.

Everyone have a Blessed Day and I look forward to more fun tomorrow!

Crazy in the Kitchen!

Today, I decided to get into the kitchen a little and try some quick treats for the family.

The first I made was a super simple cake...And when I say super simple, 

I do mean SUPER SIMPLE!

Yep, you see right. Only 2 ingredients!

Ingredients:

One box of classic yellow cake mix, any brand

One 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the pumpkin and the cake mix with a mixer until smooth.

NOTE: This mix is much thicker than standard cake batter. It does not effect the quality of the cake at all.

Put in a 7" X 11" greased pan and spread it out.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I let mine cool and topped with Cool Whip whipped topping.

Everyone in the family LOVED it!

After that, I decided to experiment a bit.

A friend of mine seen a tip and wondered if it worked or if she was going to end up with a heck of a mess to clean up. Well, this IS what I do right?

 

So this is the premise, you bake eggs in the oven rather than boil them.

Here are my 6 little guinea pigs sitting in their muffin tin in a 325 degree oven.

I baked them for 30 minutes.

After letting them cool, I cracked one open.

 

It cooked perfectly!

The taste, texture, everything was the same and best of all,

NOTHING EXPLODED!

I'll be honest, I fully expected to be blogging tomorrow about the major mess I was going to have to be cleaning up from them tonight.

Sometimes you just have to step out on a limb to find a neat new trick!

I know I promised a super simple one serving cake, but I discovered at the last minute I was missing a key ingredient!

I will be adding it in tomorrow's post when I talk about Fall Cleaning and sharing some of my favorite cleaning tips. 

I will also be sharing a recipe for the ONLY glass cleaner I will EVER use.

I can't wait for the fun tomorrow!