Spring Cleaning

My mother was big on spring cleaning.  Turn the mattresses, drag the braided area rugs out to the clothesline and beat them with some kind of ancient wire rug beater contraption, air the feather pillows, wash windows with vinegar, dry with crumpled newspapers, wash the curtains, starch and iron them, to name just a few things.  The woman would get wound up and there was no stopping her.  No wonder I’ve never been a fan.

Hubby has built several homes over the years, so that was always a great solution to spring cleaning, just move to a new house.  But now that we’ve settled into the condo, it’s been seven years now, and it’s pretty easy breezy to take care of, except for the grout in my stone floors.  There’s always “something” to make life a bitch, isn’t there?  And those floors that I just had to have because they were made of tumbled limestone with uneven edges and wide grout that looked so wonderful when they were installed have turned into a nightmare.  Not everywhere, just in the kitchen and the utility room where they get a lot of traffic.  Oh, and under my computer desk in the sunroom.  You can imagine how they look underneath where I live my life most days.

The grout is almond color, so that makes the upkeep harder, and it was sealed a couple of times when it was installed, but over the years those areas have turned darker, and because the edges are uneven, we have much wider grout lines than regular installed tile, and it’s a royal pain in the patootie.  The solution has been for poor LC to get down on his hands and knees with some nasty smelling caustic cleaner and scrub it with a brush.  Not a fun job, trust me.

We’ve been watching infomercials about steam cleaners, my cleaning lady, Krista, bought one to try, but it was flimsy, and didn’t work that well, so she returned it.  So I started Googling, found out a lot about them, people prefer the canister cleaners to the mop ones, and say that the hand held ones don’t work that well, so we bought a highly rated, McCulloch MC-1275 from Amazon last week.  And that’s another story, that Amazon, aren’t they they awesome?  I buy things from them, and have them in two days, free shipping, no schlepping through the stores, and the best prices anywhere! I’m a bonified Amazon groupie, as I imagine many of you are, too.

But back to my story.  The cleaner arrives, hubby fires it up this morning, it has a long handle, no stooping over, a scrub brush on the end, it runs for up to 30 minutes before you have to refill the tank, and let me tell you, this thing will rock your world!  OMG, the dark tile turned immediately back to almond, with practically no effort.  None!!!  All you do is stand there and hold the thing and it does the work.  Wow, the possibilities are endless.  It will blast dirt from the corners of your woodwork that you can’t get to, I’m going to clean my stainless faucet with it, I’m absolutely estatic.  Of course he’s the one using the thing, so that makes me even happier! ;0)

Sad, isn’t it, that at this age all you get worked up about is a steam cleaner…. 

But if you want to part with $100, give it a try, you will be so impressed.  It’s not that expensive, and it’s is a goodie!  Definitely money well spent, pinkie swear.

~ Jan

I’ve got a great recipe for you….

My mother loved anything sweet, and she was always baking a cake, angel food, german chocolate, coconut, banana, there was always a cake in her big white tupperware container.  And in the 60’s when bundt pans came along, she took it to a new level.  Oh, she loved that bundt pan.  It was harvest gold, teflon coated, and she thought that thing was awesome.

And one of the best recipes to come out of her kitchen using that bundt pan was her Lemon Supreme Pound Cake.  It was so good, and the longer it aged, the better it was.  Lindsay loves anything lemon, so I decided to make one for her to see if she liked it, too.  I Googled recipes for it online to compare with the one she always used, found an updated version, using more lemon juice, powdered milk, more eggs, and I gave it a try.  It was even better than mom’s. *GASP*  It really was, the extra lemon juice and the powdered milk gave it great texture and taste, and I grated lemon zest on top of the icing, so it was really puckery with lemon infused flavor.  Linds loved it, of course I loved it, LC thought it was good, but just a bit too much lemon for his taste.

I posted the recipe on Jan CAN Cook.  Check it out, and if you want a great spring cake, this is the recipe for you.  Make it a day ahead, it’s better when it ages.  And that Tupperware cake container, well I used a covered glass cake stand for mine, after all, it isn’t just mom’s cake anymore, and that cake stand was so much prettier than the Tupperware….

Doesn’t this make you smile???

Yeah, I bought her the hat.  No, she would never actually wear it, but it sure is cute for a picture…. Nothing like playing dress-up with your sweet little grandchild…

Abby is five months old now, isn’t she just precious…

Grandpa and Grammie are enjoying her so much, and oh, how she's changed in a month. She's curious about everything, watches the M&M's, sits really still and watches you intently when you read her a book, and wants to stand on those little legs all the time. We were watching cartoons on YouTube earlier today, oh she liked that a lot, too!  I know, all of you grandmother's are nodding and understanding.

I'm new at this, and I try not to gush, but she's just SO adorable!

Guess who's coming to dinner?

Just another night in paradise in Heavensville…

Me:  “I’ seem to be doing a lot better with my hot flashes.”

Hubby:  “Really?”

Me:  ‘Yeah, I don’t rip off my nightgown and throw it across the room anymore in the middle of the night, haven’t you noticed?”

Hubby: (after a lengthy pause) “Congratulations, you’re officially an old woman, now.”

I then whacked the old fart over the head with a pillow as hard as I could. 

Men Schmen!!!

Spring is coming…

The winter wheat is greening in the fields, the birds are singing, I’ve got my spring flowers in the living room, the Easter decorations are out, the M&M’s are sporting pink and purple bows in their ponies, and my cold is slowly getting better.

If you don’t frequent my Jan CAN Cook blog, I’ve posted quite a few new recipes to that site.  You might want to check it out, see if there is something that interests you. I just bet there is.

Think green. ladies!!!
~ jan

The good, the bad and a rant about Food Network

I’ve got a head cold.  LC came home from work sick, and I didn’t dodge the bullet this time.  I’ve been pretty miserable, but there is something positive that’s come from it all, so I’ve got to share it with you.

Earlier in the week I started having sinus headaches, really bad ones, nonstop and the further into the week I got, the more they intensified.  I was taking all kinds of OTC meds, trying to make it better, and all it was accomplishing was giving me a cotton mouth and making my skin crawl. 

By Wednesday I was getting desperate, and decided to put on my big girl panties and use the sinus irrigation that I’ve been talking about.  Hubby was using it, yeah, he bellyached about it at first, sputtered and coughed, but if he could do it, surely I could.

So I sucked it up, literally, and took the plunge.  And you know what, hubby must be a real wuss, because I didn’t think it was bad at all.  If you hold your head over the sink, open your mouth, and exhale when you squirt the solution in your nose, it’s not a biggie at all.  I used it Wednesday morning, it helped a little bit, but not much, but I tried it again Wednesday night.

I woke up Thursday morning, feeling gawdawful and thinking “well this is obviously a bunch of hooey, this isn’t working at all.”  So I dragged myself out of bed, went online and started reading about sinus irrigation.  I read several posts that told me that you had to use it repeatedly for it to work, if you were having severe symptoms, use it 4-6 times a day.  It’s not addictive, it doesn’t irritate your membranes, people have done this for a thousand years, and people swear by it.

Okay, I could do this, I decided to do it every two hours.  I started using it at 9am, and my headache at that point was a solid 10, it hurt that bad, but by 3pm, using that NeilMad bottle of saline solution every two hours, the headache was down to a 6, and I was starting to drain.  I know, it’s a lot of info, but necessary.

By the time I went to bed Thursday night, I had no headache, and was able to sleep.  The only medicine I had taken was two Excedrin early in the morning, too.  I continue to use it, probably about 4 times a day now, and even though I feel horrible, I have no headache and my head isn’t congested, it’s sore, but I can breathe and I’m pain free.  So bottom line is this – if you’re sick, this isn’t going to cure you, but it sure does make your symptoms much better, and you don’t have to fill your body full of synthetic medicine in an attempt to breathe normally and decongest.

Will I use it again?  You betcha I will, I’ll use it daily.  Especially with spring coming, this will flush all the pollen out of my nose.  So, if you have problems with sinus, run, don’t walk to your nearest drugstore and buy this!  It’s awesome, pinky swear… ~ jan

Okay, enough of that, now I’m gonna bitch about the Food Network.  Ryan and I discuss this all the time, how good it used to be, and how bad it is now.  I was watching Paula Deen just now, O-M-G, they’ve tried to turn her into a sex siren, and it just doesn’t work.  She’s got on the big wigs, she’s throwing all kinds of sexual innuendoes to her younger male guests, and she looks absolutely silly.  And then they trot out her long suffering hubby, Michael, who looks like he would rather be having a tooth pulled than be on that show, and she’s coming on to him, and he’s so uncomfortable he can barely talk.  Sheesh!!!!  I saw a rerun this week of one of her earlier shows, she was still annoying as hell, but she was at least acting her age…

And then there is Rachel Ray, who is also annoying beyond belief, and ever since the tabloids were full of her husband’s infidelities, they’re doing major damage contorl and have  had her talk about him nonstop, like he was the greatest thing since sliced bread, trying to convince all of us what a great husband he is.  She used to talk about her pitbull, Izzy, too, but ever since he bit off another dog’s ear in the dog park, she hasn’t mentioned him.

And The Neelys.  Oh, baby, baby, baby, they make me just want to barf!  That man is no more of a cook than any other ordinary guy, he’s just trotting around in that kitchen, kissing up to her and thinking about all the money they’re raking in.  Well, they better save what they make, because I just don’t see them going on to greater things.

Oh, I can’t leave out Giada De Laurentis out of this either.  The way she rolls her tongue around all the italian phrases just annoys the beejusus out of me.  That girl is such a pain, and I’ve seen her talk down to her mother and her aunt on that show, too.  She is so full of herself, I can’t stand to watch her.

Sandra Lee, meh, she’s cute, she’s entertaining, colorful, I can handle her. Not my favorite, but she’s done a lot with what she has to work with.

But I saved the best to last, and it’s not even a rant.  I love the Barefoot Contessa, I adore this woman, she’s the only one on that is a true cook, in my opinion.  Sure, she talks about her husband, too, but they’ve been married for forty years, so I think she’s entitled.  Ina Garten, you’re a rock star, keep up the good work…

And that’s it from here today. I’m going to take my blankie and go back to bed now.  Later ‘gators…

Spring???

I told hubby yesterday that I might get some radish seeds and plant on the patio in my stone planters.  His reply was, “Isn’t it too early?”

And I told him that Mother used to throw radish seeds in the garden on top of the snow.  Well, guess what, it snowed last night!

So do I, or don’t I plant those seeds?  Somehow I’m just not quite in the mood was much today as I was yesterday.    I think  I’m just rushing the season.  Will it really be warm in just a few weeks?  It seems so unlikely this morning, with snow on the ground, but it is almost March.  So here’s to hopin’…

Now let’s see, what kind of radishes do I want to plant?  French?  Icicle?  So many decisions on such a winter’s day…

It’s Deanna’s birthday…

She’s a ruffles girl, loves everything girly, so I got her this funky apron.  She loved it, took a picture right away and sent it to me.  She had a great day, John made her Perfectly Perfect Chocolate Cake from Jan Can Cook archives.  Ohhhh, lucky girl, that cake is killer!!!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl.  You’re positively adorable!!!

Some medical info this morning…

I watched Dr. Rosenthal this morning on FOX.  A couple of interesting things he said that I want to share.

Chamomile tea, a great mood enhancer, and muscle relaxer.  Drink 3 cups a day instead of taking anxiety drugs.

Breast cancer – if you have had breast cancer, take an aspirin a day, it will greatly diminish your chance of getting it again.  If you’ve never had breast cancer, take an aspirin every day, it will reduce your chances of getting it by 50%.

And, I owe my buddy V’s husband, Rich a big favor for this one.  Hubby has a cold, he’s really congested, can’t sleep, taking all kinds of OTC meds, trying to get “unplugged” and nothing was working.  I remembered Veronica telling me that Rich’s doctor told him to use nasal irrigation, that it works really well to flush out your nasal cavity and reduce congestion.  I remembered the term “neti pot” so I went to Walgreen’s yesterday and picked one up.  I had just pulled in the drive when V called, and I told her what I bought.  Rich was in the background, saying, “no, you bought the wrong thing.”  “A neti pot just flushes it out, but if you buy a NeliMed bottle, it forcefully pushes the saline solution through your nostrils and blasts everything out.”  So I trek back to the drugstore, pick up the NeilMed, hubby comes home at 9pm from work, totally congested and miserable.  He used the NeiMed, all 8 ounces of it, blew his nose a badzillion times, and by the time he went to bed, he was totally clear, slept all night, wasn’t congested this morning either.  He used it again and went off to work. 

I know this is a lot of detailed information, but the point is, this thing is pretty awesome and you might not know about it either.  I always share the good stuff with you, and this is really great!  Oh, one other thing, don’t tip your head backwards, the solution will go down your throat, you just hold your head straight, and the solution goes in one nostril and comes out the other.  Weird, huh…  Quit wrinkling your nose and going, ewwwww, just suck it up, (no pun intended) and do it twice a day!  Hey, if you’re congested, you’re miserable, and this will really help, pinkie swear it will…

  Buy it, totally inexpensive, just $12, put it in your medicine cabinet, and you’ll have it the next time you get a cold.  It comes with a box of the saline solution packets, and you can buy refills of these.  And they tell you to use distilled water with it, pick up a jug of it to store, also.

~ jan

NeilMed

Tiger Woods speech, I just have to comment on this…

Before I listen to all of the opinions about his speech this morning, I’m going to jump on the soapbox and give you my take on it. 

Like everybody, I have strong feelings about what he did, but I don’t think that it’s anybody’s business.  We shouldn’t be privy to his personal life, we shouldn’t watch him grovel, explaining his transgressions.  It’s a personal issue, that was made into a business issue by him giving this speech.

Was he remorseful? Sure he was, wouldn’t you be if you got your hand caught in the nookie jar(s)?  Can you imagine how humiliating that had to be for him to get up and read that carefully scripted speech this morning.  That wasn’t him talking, that was a team of professionals writing what would give him sympathy, and hopefully start the process of reinstating him into his sponsor’s graces.

This man is a paid golf pro, not an elected official.  I’m sure his highly paid damage control team deemed this necessary for future sponsorship, but I thought the whole speech was just highly uncomfortable and totally not appropriate. He’s a private citizen who works for a living, period.

I DO applaud his wife for not being like all of the women who “stand by their man” on the podium, while they weepily confess their transgressions.  Mama was there, that’s her boy she should have been, but kudos to Elin for staying away!  This was all about money, and it’s a sad reality that even the most arrogant bow to greed.  He has enough money to last him ten lifetimes, he can still play golf, why didn’t he just lie low, wait for the next big scandal to take the heat off him, and go on with his life?  It might take awhile, but eventually the furor will die down, as we peer into yet somebody else’s sordid personal life.

It’s just none of our business, folks, in my opinion.  ‘Nuff said!

Can you hear me scream??????

Heavensville’s Weather Forecast

Thursday Night
Partly cloudy. Lows in the lower 20s. West winds 5 to 10 mph.
cloudy    
Friday
Mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid 30s. West winds 5 mph in the morning shifting to the south in the afternoon.
Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain and snow. Lows in the upper 20s.
snow    
Saturday
Mostly cloudy with a 40 percent chance of rain and snow. Highs in the upper 30s. 
Saturday Night
Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain and snow. Lows in the mid 20s.
Sunday and Sunday Night
Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of rain or snow. Highs in the upper 30s. Lows in the mid 20s

How many weeks 'til spring????

Things are so boring here, that hubby and I are playing Farmville.  So that’s why I haven’t been around much, I’ve been down on the farm.  Time to build a new header for the dish, though, gotta get out of the country and back to blogging.

Yeehaw ya’all!!!!

Happy Valentines Day……

 

Valentine courtesy of mojackson

Sometimes you just have to let husbands know what you want….

Another Valentines Day is upon us.  Hubby and I have been married thirty-eight years now, and since I’m always on a diet in February, it’s been years since I’ve gotten candy, and the older I get, the more I love chocolate.  So this year, I just told him, “I want a box of chocolates from Libs, our local choclatier, for Valentines Day.”  Oh, Libs has the good stuff, they’ve been around for a gadzillion years, they’re wildly popular with the townies, and they have to die for caramels and turtles.  I’m a nut girl, yep, love those nuts!

And since he works Sunday, there is already a box of assorted chocolates, with nuts, from Libs sitting in the kitchen.  I know, I know, how does that fit into my healthy eating plan?  Well, the way I see it, one chocolate a night, with a cup of tea, is just perfect. We’ll see how that works out, just eating one. 

So, if there is something special you want this year, just ask for it.  That way you will get what you want.

Wow, I’m getting smart in my old(er) age…

~ jan

A little gift for you if you go to Jan Can Cook

I posted a fantastic desktop wallpaper over on Jan Can Cook.  It’s one of my favorites, I even have it as my cellphone wallpaper.  If you’re a lemon lover, this one’s for you.  Check it out here>>>

A snow day project

When we moved to the condo, I bought this rooster upholstery fabric.  It’s been sitting on a spool in the closet for six years now.  Yesterday it was snowing and cold, so we dragged the fabric out of the closet and reupholstered the dining room chairs.

I sat in the floor to cut the fabric, LC grabbed the scissors, and he was going to just whack it.  All of a sudden, everything my mother ever taught me about sewing came roaring to life, and I grabbed those scisssors and said, nooooooooo you can’t do it that way!

I snatched those scissors out of his hands,  centered the rooster, checked the repeat on the pattern, used a straight edge to cut the fabric, it was like ma was right there, guiding me every step of the way.  Mother was a wonderful seamstress, she taught me to sew as a child, but I’ve never enjoyed it.

So that was our morning, snowy weather, classical music playing, the dogs, watching, I cut, he stapled, and now I have a new look in the dining room.  He did a great job, it was a nice way to spend our time, since we were housebound.

The french pig is new, and wonderful. I love french pigs, have several of them, but this is by far the best. Just had to show you how cute he looks up close and personal.  And yeah, the valentines theme is gone  , I was weary of it…

Google Buzz Social Networking, is this the new Facebook???

Google has done it again.  If you have a Gmail account, you will automatically have Buzz.  Hooterville tipped me off about it.  They’re rolling it out now, and it will show up when you open your inbox.  Watch for it….

You won’t believe the recipes I found for you…

You all need to hotfoot it over to Jan Can Cook just as fast as your little mouse will point you there.

I posted two cookie recipes, the first one is Copykat Momofuku’s Compost Cookies.  You won’t believe this one, girlfriends, dried coffee grounds, yes, dried coffee grounds, I know it sounds weird, but people are loving this recipe.  Also Fritos, crushed potato chips, pretzels, peanut butter chips and chocolate chips,  just to name a few of the ingredients.  It’s a wannabe recipe from Momofuku Bakery and Milk Bar, a  trendy New York City bakery,  where these cookies just fly out the door. 

And the second one is Lucy’s Salty Chocolate  Peanut Butter Cookies.  These have a chunk of bittersweet chocolate on top and a dusting of kosher salt.  Somebody please make these and report back.

Both of them sound wildly, fabulously different.

I know you are all thinking, has she totally lost it.  I’m just sayin’….

Here’s the quick click, you know you have to see what I’m talking about>>>