St. Patty's Feast

Thursday is St. Patty's, and I have such a love for holidays, I am going all out.  While searching for dessert recipes, I found a yummy looking chocolate irish whiskey bundt cake on the following site.... http://www.chow.com/print/recipe/10892

What is going into our St. Patty's this year?  Corned Beef and Cabbage, scalloped potatoes, the above cake, and many fun games for the kiddos, and plenty o' Irish humor.  The corned beef is so easy.  You just throw it in the crock pot with onions, cabbage and beer, and turn it on.  It is ready at dinner time.  There are so many resources for St. Patty's games for the kiddos.  Here are a few... http://familyfun.go.com/st-patricks-day/st-patricks-day-games/, http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/holiday_themes/stpat_games.html

A great site for Irish Slang is http://www.irishabroad.com/culture/slang/irishslang.asp.  

A fun site for Irish Jokes is http://irishjokes.com/

Have fun, have a green beer, but be responsible, and celebrate a heritage who saw its share of opression  in the late 1800's.  No group was considered lower than the Irish in the 1850's.  Read about it at the following site....http://www.kinsella.org/history/histira.htm

And you can't celebrate the holiday without some wonderful Irish music.  So lively and delightful.  Go to Pandora.com and ask for St. Patty's mix, or celtic music.  It is so fun to listen to.

Hopefully I wasn't a dry shite in this blog, referrin you to a lot o sites....

Crazy Good Banana Bread

I had a couple bananas going brown on the counter, so I decided to make banana bread.  I looked in my recipe box, and found something different.  It was a recipe from Carole Lanthier from Ontario.  I found it in some cooking magazine.  Here goes:

1-1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 medium mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherries

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a small bowl beat the  eggs, bananas, butter, coconut, and extract.  Stir into dry ingredients until moistened.  Fold in walnuts and cherries.  Transfer to a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes.

I didn't have cherries, and I used chopped pecans instead of walnuts, and it was sooo delicious.  I think the almond extract is to blame for the out of this world flavor.  I was never a huge fan of banana bread, but this has converted me.

March

Welcome to the month o' green(St. Patty's is on the 17th).  March also includes noted dates such as the birthday of Dr. Seuss (2nd), the beginning of daylight savings time (13th) and the first of spring (20th).  It is a month full of tradition and new beginnings.  The green tips of spring bulbs will soon be popping out of the ground.  Birds will soon be in the yard whistling and waiting for worms.  Spring/Summer clothes will be dragged out of storage.  Houses will be spring cleaned and windows opened.  A new beginning awaits...

St. Patty's Pancake Rainbow

Today, I thought I would indulge my children in a rainbow of pancakes for breakfast.  Is there a pot o gold at the end?  There is in the form of perfect childhood smiles.  If you would like to make a pancake rainbow, do the following:  Set out five bowls.  In each bowl, put 1/4 cup water, and a couple drops of the desired color food coloring.  Then add a little more than 1/4 cup mix to each bowl and stir vigorously with a fork.  Meanwhile, heat your skillet.  Then take a tablespoon and use it to make the pancakes the right size.  Cook them thoroughly on one side, and after you flip them, hurry and take them off so one side doesn't brown as much (so you can see the color).  Arrange them any way you like on a pan, and enjoy! -Linda

Happy birthday Barbie!

3-9-11  Happy birthday to Barbie today.  Did you know her full name is Barbie Millicent Rogers?  Also, she is two years older than Ken.  I just wanted to say happy birthday to Barbie, who gave me hours of playtime enjoyment as a child, and now gives my daughter great enjoyment as well.

Spring Cleaning Green

3-2-11  The green cleaning method isn't new.  The vintage housewives always made their own.  Here is my favorite Spring Cleaning Glass recipe below...
2 cups water
1/2 cup white or cider vinegar
1/2 cup rubbing alcohol

If you want, add 2 drops blue or green food coloring for beauty.
If you don't want to make your own, Mrs. Meyers makes great green cleaners in cute vintage looking packaging that can be purchased at www.mrsmeyers.com

Recycled Valentine's Bouquet

2-20-11  The Valentine's day bouquet of pink and red roses was recycled today.  At some point, the pink ones started looking slightly droopy, and I thought it was time to separate them from the red.  Currently, two of them are upside down in the kitchen drying.  With the remaining four, I decided to take four tiny matching vases and add a drop of food coloring to each and then some water.  Then, I added a pink rose to each.  If you ever wanted to do this for fun in the spring, just get some tiny glass vases (very cheap in the floral section of any big box store), add a drop of food coloring and water, and add wildflowers or some purchased from the store.  If you would prefer a lighter shade of colored water, add a drop to a larger portion of water in a measuring cup, and pour it into the vase for a pastel beauty.  As for drying your beauties, you can air dry or microwave them.  The following site will give you directions for this:


http://www.freeshipping.org/blog/learn-how-to-dry-flowers-and-make-valentines-memories-last/

Shabby Chic Will Be The Death Of My Finances

2-17-11  What is it about home decor, that adds butterflies to the stomach?  Why would one use money that could go to a months worth of gourmet meals on bedding?  I will tell you why.  This is your peaceful place.  This is where the most important moments of your life take place.  Your dreams, your recovery from illness, your rebuilding of cells, and your most intimate moments take place here.  So it should be as cozy and aesthetically pleasing as possible to everyone who lives there.  Luckily for me, my husband deals with the flowers in our room.  Perhaps it is because underneath there is a down mattress pad and the coziest pillows I could find.  A great mattress pad and pillows to buy can be found at consumersearch.com.  As for the sheets and bedding.  I can not get over shabby chic by Rachel Ashwell.  She finds the softest, cutest fabrics.  I have had several of her designs, but my current fave is Bella Blue bedding (above).  The light pastels are so soothing an mesmerizing, and the fabric is so soft.  The best is after you wash it in lavender vanilla detergent and use lavender vanilla fabric softener.  Sweet.

Spring Has Sprung

2-16-11  The groundhog didn't see his shadow, meaning an early spring.  There is a major case of spring fever hanging in the air in this household.  I am so excited to plant flowers and veggies.   This year, I am for sure planting roses and baby's breath.  Also, I heard you can plant carnations in this zone (zone 5), but they are small.  There will be an herb garden with lavender and basil (my favorite herbs).  All this will have to occur in the front yard, due to the giant white ball of fluff in my back.  I am talking about my Great Pyrenees, Snowball, who loves to dig in the wet dirt.  Last fall, I planted 100 bulbs, all of which she dug up.  I did read somewhere that dogs love the sweet smell of bulbs.  One idea I am considering is window boxes.  The perfect area is outside the kitchen window.  You can open the window and smell the herbs or the flowers.  Better yet, you could open the screen and cut the herbs to use in cooking.  Of course there will still be some cold windy days ahead, but Spring is on its way.  Here is a site with step by step directions on making your own window box: 

http://www.marigoldlane.com/garden/makewindowbox.html

Love's Babysoft

2-7-11  This morning while getting ready, I pondered what scent to wear.  Behind the other perfumes, it caught my eye.  Love's Babysoft.  From the age of 11, Love's has always been in my perfume collection.  I don't know if it is the memories, or just the clean fresh scent, but it is always lovely to fall back on.  Sometimes, I would even spray it on my children's clothing before dressing them when they were babies.  People would comment on how good they smelled.  One day I let my sister in law in on the secret, hence the two bottles on my shelf(pictured above).  She included a twin pack with my Christmas gift.  Loves has been around since 1974, so I guess it is not quite vintage, but it is quite a bit older than I.  It is so inexpensive, you could buy a bottle to keep in your purse for whenever there is a bad smell in your car or vicinity.  The Victorian ladies used to carry something around to sniff in cases like these.  I'll take a cue from them.
-Linda

2-6-11  My husband just left with the kids for their biannual visit to the dentist.  There probably aren't any worries, as they brush everyday and try to floss often.  Good thing modern dentistry is mostly about prevention.  There is evidence of dentistry being performed as far back as 7000BC.  I can't imagine the implementations they used to take care of tooth rot.  Even the Egyptians and Greco-Romans used prosthetics and oral surgery.  Barbers used to be the ones who performed dentistry, until the first dental school, Baltimore College of Dentistry opened in 1840.  Now a dentist has to go to school at least four years, to check out your oral region.  Thank heavens for that, and the fact the tools have gotten better.  The above photo looks too painful.  My kids actually get excited to go to the dentist these days.  My daughter just told me about the glow in the dark toothbrushes they had last time she went.  We've come a long way.

Bubble Bath

2-5-11  In these frosty conditions of wintertime, my biggest addiction is probably a bubble bath.  Just about every night, I ask my hubby if it is ok if I partake in a bubble bath.  Luckily, he always says yes.  Then I pour some Avon Soft Pink bubble bath into the tub and draw the water as hot as I can make it.  I light some candles, and grab a crystal cut glass of wine, and sometimes a magazine or book, and retire to the bath for an hour or more.  It is my personal time, and I love it.  All my cares disintegrate into the bubbles, and the smell, I cannot describe the smell.  It is so rich and foamy, like nothing else I have tried.  I have been using Avon Soft Pink since I was a tiny child.  Perhaps it is the smell of memories, but it is intoxicating to me.  I looked online and could find nothing of the history of Avon Soft Pink bubble bath, but I believe it has been around for some time.  Here is what I did find.  Avon was originally California Perfume Company in 1886.  Women didn't have the right to vote.  15% of women worked outside the home.   Avon products Inc. was named in love for David McConnell's father's favorite playwright William Shakespere, who was born in Stratford Upon Avon, England.  However it came about, I love it , and I will use it forever.

Vintage Football

2-4-11  Ok, perhaps it is not girly or pink, but it is vintage.  Football has been around professionally since 1920, as the American Professional Football Association.  In 1922, it was renamed the National Football League NFL.  The Green Bay Packers have been and organization since 1919, and they became a professional franchise in 1921.  The Superbowl isn't quite as vintage, as it has only been played since 1967.  However, it is always enjoyed in this household as a time for family, snacks, fashion, and perhaps a microbrew or two.  I love the shirt above, as fashion for the Superbowl.  It can be purchased at teenormous.com.  As a snack, I love to serve traveling tortilla dip on a carnival plate, with some blue tortilla chips.  Just spread some beans, followed by some guacamole, then some sour cream mixed with taco seasoning to taste, and then sprinkle some cheese, tomatoes, and olives on top.  It is simple, wonderful, and totally Superbowl worthy.  Perhaps you could tune in Sunday around 4:30pm, and we can enjoy it together.

Superbowl Manicures and Homemade Bookmarks

2-2-11  Day 4 of being frozen in...cabin fever is setting in.  However, my daughter and I made some bookmarks together (two are shown below).  We also did Superbowl manicures.  Even  an extra girly girl can take part in the Superbowl with this idea.  Green Bay (green and yellow) or Steelers (black and yellow with red and blue accents) can be painted on to your nails and your can have a little rivalry with your friends, family or special someone.  Our family is divided 50/50.  My son and I are going for Green Bay (as you can see by my nails below), and daddy and daughter are rooting for the Steelers.  Both teams have been around for a long time.  Let the games begin. -Linda

Valentine Romance

 2-1-11  Trapped inside the house during a winter ice storm, there was a lot of time to shop online for a gorgeous Valentine's day dress.  The perfect dress found me (photo above).  It was on modcloth.com on sale!  They suggested you wear it with seamed hose, Mary Jane high heels, black lace wrist length gloves, and maybe a fascinator.  How adorable.  Someone needs to take my credit card away!
  On another note, have you gotten that special someone a Valentine's present yet.  May I suggest the tasteful boudoir pic?  Nothing racy or too steamy, but something fun and sexy that will last well into your golden years.  I did this for my husband on our tenth anniversary.  I had a wonderful professional photographer who is also a nurse, so my bare midriff didn't make her blush.  Check out her website @ http://www.samanthatroudt.com.  Happy early Valentine's Day!!  -Linda

Homemade Valentines

1-31-11  Tomorrow is the first day of February.  My children and I put together their Valentines yesterday.   Why not send out grown up Valentines to our grown up friends and family?  It is a tradition worth starting. 

Sunday Dinner

1-31-11  This morning, while chopping some vegetables for the crock pot in the pink strawberry apron my sister in law had bestowed upon me last Christmas, a marvelous sound echoed across the cold winter sky.  I stopped short...I hadn't ever heard that sound in real life...it was church bells.  Looking at the clock, I noticed it was 10am sharp. How had I lived in this town for six years and never heard it.  The sound was beautiful and melodic.  It was an unbelievable perk to a beautiful Sunday morning.  
  My parents are coming over this evening for Sunday dinner.  What happened to the tradition of Sunday dinner?  Perhaps it has gone by the wayside, but I think it is worth keeping up.  We have so many fun diversions in life these days, but carving a niche for Sunday dinner is well worth it.  Set out the china, put out some flowers, perhaps open a bottle of wine, and invite some friends or family...who knows where the evening will lead.
-Linda

The beginning

1-29-11   Frost nips the soon to be buds of the bare winter trees.  The wind is howling, as I sit cozy in my living room with a freshly brewed coffee in a snowflake painted mug.  I have been feeling this pull towards history lately....family history, old photos, vintage finds.  When I wake in the morning and pad to wherever I am headed, it pulls.  So, I am starting a blog.  I will find wonderful old photos and ads, cute dresses and accessories, and wonderful music and sayings to compile on this blog.  The journey begins today.....