Potatoe soup day

Monday house cleaning went well as always. Laundry, dusting, vacuuming, and just overall picking up. I felt bad that the guy that comes and sprays the house for spiders came early enough that he saw the house a mess. Well a mess by my standards. Justin reassured me that he has seen the house a whole lot worse. I know this but its still my home and I like it to be nice. Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty uneventful. Yesterday I made biscotti. They turned out OK. It will take time to perfect a good recipe. They are a little crumbly. The hardest part is cutting them in thin strips without breaking the full log. I am not sure if the nuts caused them to be crumbly or if it was just the recipe. They were good for breakfast this morning.

I went ahead a vacuumed the floors again today. There was a bit more fur rolling around than normal so it seemed a good idea. I had a ton of dishes to do today since I didn't mess with dinner dishes from last night. So I got all those done in enough time to start soup today.

Take Your Time Potato soup

Quantity depends on how much you want to make. This recipe is one of those that you just have to make it to how many people you are feeding.

Potatoes
Onions
Bacon
Milk
Butter
Water
chicken Broth

Spices
bay leaves, salt, white pepper, garlic, dill,

Turn stove on low, this soup cooks all day. In pot put chicken broth, butter, bay leaves, garlic, chopped onion, let this heat up. Once it is heated up chop up bacon add it with milk. Let it heat up add other spices. Just let it sit for an hour or so. Peel and chop potatoes add to soup. Leave on low all day. The soup is done when potatoes are soft keep on low for as long as needed.

I am paring it with home made biscuits. Overall its just an easy, hearty meal that tastes good but isn't going to keep me in the kitchen all day. It just looks and tastes that way

Happy New Year

It's the last day of 2009. It has been a crazy year for me. The beginning of the year was spent being nomadic. Traveling to amazing places. Then towards the middle of the year I was dumped at my dad's and began making my life over again. I got to know my dad and step mom so well in those few months. Then I met the man of my dreams. He didn't start off that way. My heart was to broken to really see clearly. But as time moved on he showed me how truly amazing he was. This is the man that will be my husband. The man I hope to father children with and spend the rest of my life with. So I start 2010 planning my wedding and my future.

Yesterday I was feeling good enough to clean the house and get laundry done. Weekly we have about 3-4 loads of laundry to do. As I was folding towels I realized how fulfilling I find house work to be. Its interesting how deep that feeling goes. I realize that most of the things I do are never seen or appreciated in the direct sense. Still it creates this deep sense of contentment to know that the house is in perfect working order. I don't find house work to be drudgery. I have been called Betty Crocker and June Cleaver. People have tried using these terms as derogatory towards me. Since when did wanting to be a woman who takes care of her family and her home become a bad thing. I love cooking great meals, I love making cookies and cakes. I find great satisfaction in making my home beautiful and hospitable. Those woman of the past should be honored. They lived for hearth and home. They couldn't wait to find a man to love, who would provide a good home and babies. These women are our past. They are our grand mothers and great grand mothers. They may be your mother. I don't have a problem with the women who chose careers and wanted it all. I also know that a woman who chooses to take care of home and family should never be regarded as anything less. I truly feel happy knowing that when Justin comes home from work he comes back to a waiting home. A place that he feels welcome, loved, and comfortable. There is something to be said about creating Home. Not just a house, a place to live, a place where all your stuff is at but home. The place, the idea, the feeling, all the things that when you walk in you know you belong.

My next baking project is biscotti. I am really looking forward to making some. It sounds easy enough just figuring out what kind I want. If I want more than one flavor. How to wrap it up and who to give it to. I am short on friends up here so people to hang out with and enjoy baked goods with is a little slim. The other big project coming up is an engagement party. I am going to throw an engagement party for friends to come and celebrate Justin's and I's upcoming nuptials. I am so excited about it. There is so much planning to do. I have the basic wedding plans down but no details. More on that upcoming later.

Christmas is finally over

So the kitchen is complete. Grouting stinks, its hard work. But the floor looks amazing now its done. I was so happy to have it done. I can't imagine the floor looking any different.

Before










 After

Christmas turned out to be an amazing experience. We opened our some of our presents on Christmas eve to make things on Christmas day manageable. I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas I am still a believer in the spirit of Christmas. I am not religious but I do think Christmas is a time to love and reflect on the people in your life. Even the gifts are a reflection of the love you share with people. I believe gifts should be purchased with love and knowing the person you are buying for. This is the stuff that makes Christmas great. Everyone was happy, enjoyed each others company, and they especially liked their gifts. Me most of all I think. Justin asked me to marry him. I accepted. He also got me some of the most amazing gifts. He replaced my fish tank. He also filled my need for a clean coffee table by getting me the most amazing remote control. It does everything getting rid of all the other remotes. We are down to two remotes for the moment we need an adapter for the PS3 then just the one. Justin's sister got me the cookie bible so I have lots of new recipes to try. Especially biscotti. I am really looking forward to making and sharing. The only downside to Christmas was the kids didn't even think about getting me anything. Kandy's daughter made Justin and I a card. I guess it just kinda hurt my feelings that the kids didn't put any thought into it. They are the one aspect of life that I really worry about. We will figure it out.

Christmas dinner went amazingly well. Everything turned out like it should. The brine turkey turned out amazing. The ham delicious and all the fixings were just perfect. It also snowed so it was a hard Christmas to beat. But now the tree is down and I am trying to get the house back in order. This is a slower process since I have had a nasty cold. Overall the world is right and well.

Shopping is Done

I am finally done with all the Christmas shopping. Yesterday I got all the food shopping done and the last bit of Christmas presents. I also picked up a few things for the house to help make it look nice for company. I got new curtains for the living room and spray paint for the hardware in the kitchen. I went ahead and painted the hardware and got it on. I decided that I would use the leftover and paint the back splash in the kitchen. The pink is slowly going away. Its a hammered finish brown color. So far it looks good. Just a few more coats. I was supposed to be picking the house up today not making a mess. I have to work tonight so projects are always cut short. Next week I plan on grouting the kitchen tiles.

Weekly Cleaning and Christmas Dinner

Yesterday was a busy day. I usually reserve Monday for house cleaning but I was busying helping move airplanes so house work got pushed back to yesterday. My house cleaning schedule is pretty straightforward. I start with collecting laundry from all the baskets and surrounding areas. I like to get it all separated out Usually 3 piles. Whites – 1 cup of bleach and hot water. Light colors - ½ cup bleach and warm water. Darks – no bleach cold water. Then I like to wash them in the order of darks, lights, then whites. This way the darks don't come into contact with any bleach. I the next step in house cleaning is pulling out the two vacuums. One is for carpets the other for the bare floors. The bedrooms and bathrooms have carpet. I pick up all the trash cans and anything else on the floors. Vacuum the carpets, make a note of anything that needs to be dusted. Then I move on the bare floors. We have wood floors and tile so I have a floor vac. I don't like pet hair or dirt floating around so everything gets vacuumed instead of swept. I mop about once or twice a month depending on if the floors are really bad or not. Washing sheets and mopping usually go together. Once everything is vacuumed I go ahead and start dusting everything off. I like the Swiffer dusters. They work well and are easy to use. An added bonus for me is the extended reach. I dust off the light fixtures and photo frames down to the floor. I also make sure to clean off the cleaning fan blades. These usually get so neglected. By now most of the house feels clean. I always have the daily things like cleaning the kitchen and putting things back in their places but the deeper cleaning stuff is really only once a week. This keeps the house clean and doesn't have me over worked in daily house work.

Christmas is all planned out. I have found all the chairs and tables that I need. I still need to do some shopping and have a busy week next week with projects to finish up the house. Food is all planned out and timed out so I know when everything needs to go in the oven so it will all be done and ready for lunch. It takes a lot of practice to get things perfect when it comes to big meals with lots of different food. I am so excited for this Christmas. Here is the plan for food. All ovens are on 350

Turkey 13lbs -start thawing on the 22^nd

                    Start brine early on the 24^th (a true brine would start on the 23^rd)

                    Put in oven 9:25 on the 25^th

Ham             Start thawing on the 24^th

                    Put in oven 10:30 on the 25^th

Green Bean  Start @ 10:45

                    Put in oven 11:00

Cream Corn Start @ 10:45

                    Put in oven 11:00

Potatoes      Start peeling @ 10:30

Gravy          Start @ 11:15 (I make gravy from scratch and will pull turkey drippings and chicken broth)

Deviled eggs Make on 24^th

Pumpkin Pies Make on 24^th

Stuffing, Jello, and Baked Mac & Cheese provided by other family members.

Projects that have to be done before the 24^th.

Grout the kitchen floor

Fix the downstairs shower

I am afraid that the shower is really going to be a problem to fix. It was put in using some funky parts and hopefully I can figure something out.

A Slow Day and Christmas Plans

 Today is a slow day in the domestic world. The house just needed a bit of picking up and putting things back in their place. Dishes always need to go in the dishwasher but otherwise things are running smoothly. Its getting close to the time of the month for shopping. So its time to start going through the house and finding stuff we are running out of that didn't get put on the list. I decided to spend today looking up a bit of information on step parenting help. Ways to help make make life better for everyone. Justin has two kids and have come into the relationship not having any of my own. Its hard to know where to draw lines and where to back off. Its hard to step back and not mother, to just be a role model. I want to have a good relationship with the kids so I am spending time learning all I can about how best to blend into a family.

Yesterday after looking at the photos of the peanut clusters I noticed the plug plates were dirty and that there was some leftover pumpkin on the dishwasher. I cleaned all of that up and decided on spaghetti for dinner. Spaghetti is one of those great go to meals when you just don't know what else to cook. Here is my easy night off meal.

Spaghetti

1 box Whole Wheat Organic Rotini Pasta (I love rotini pasta for spaghetti because it holds the sauce in every bite)

1 Jar Prego Original Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb lean hamburger (turkey burger works well)

Spices-Fine chopped onions, diced tomatoes (fresh or canned), dried Italian seasoning

Start pasta water boiling. Brown hamburger with onions and tomatoes. Add some Italian seasoning to help flavor the meat. Cook pasta and drain well once its done. Once hamburger is done turn heat to very low and add sauce and more Italian seasoning. Put some pasta water in the jar and shake add to sauce mixture. Do not let sauce boil. It comes already cooked and to let it boil will scorch the flavor. Adding the little bit of pasta water adds some starch to the sauce. I like to add my sauce to my noodles and mix it all together but its up to you if you want to combine or keep separate. One side note to keeping pasta separate is you will probably need to add some kind of oil to keep the noodles from sticking, this oil will also prevent the sauce from really sticking to the noodles.

So there is one of my easy go to meals.

For my shopping list I am also needing to start planning for Christmas dinner. I am hosting Christmas lunch for around 15 people. I am looking forward to it but there is much planning to do. I am wanting a traditional dinner since this will be the first time my Mom and Justin's family will meet. I am one of those perfectionists and want everything to go well. I have a few dilemma to work though. At this point in time my kitchen is poorly stocked. I have maximum place settings for 6 people. So I need to decide if now is the time to buy new flatware or just go with paper plates. This is the first holiday meal I am making for Justin's family so my need to have things be really nice is at odds with money and clean up. I also know the flatware set that I really want. Its about $120 for 68 piece set. This has settings for 16. The other major problem is tables and chairs. I haven't found enough of either just yet. So that's the bit of crazy in the planning stage. I love Christmas and will be so happy to welcome everyone into our home. We have done quite a bit of work on the house since I have moved in and I am slowly making it into a beautiful place to be.

Meaning of Domestic Arts

What are the Domestic Arts?

Main Entry:	housework
Part of Speech:	noun
Definition:	cleaning, maintaining a home
Synonyms:	administration, bed-making, cooking, domestic art, domestic science, dusting, home economics, homemaking, housecraft, housekeeping, ironing, laundering, management, mopping, sewing, stewardship, sweeping, washing

Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition
Copyright © 2009 by the Philip Lief Group.

Something so simply defined but as any person who is a master of the domestic arts will tell you, its not so simple. There are degrees of work required and a huge amount of knowledge held within the simple words of Domestic Arts. I will be posting what all is held within this simple definition.

Today's To Do List

Make peanut clusters

Dust the bedroom

Give the dog a bath

Plan Dinner

Create Blog

To Make Peanut Clusters

1 pkg of Chocolate Almond Bark

1 lb of Dry roasted salted peanuts

Wax paper

Lay out wax paper on counter. Melt chocolate in a double boiler. (Since I don't have one I just set one pan inside another. Not stable but it works.) When chocolate is smooth dump in all the peanuts. Stir until peanuts are fully covered. Drop by teaspoon onto the wax paper. I do some big clusters and some little ones. Let cool completely then put into a baggie or container.

*please ignore the pink. Changing this is a future project.

Giving the dog a bath is always an exercise in the element of surprise. Coal, our giant schnauzer mix, is not really fond of the bath. So getting him as close to the bathroom as possible without letting on that he is getting a bath is key. Once he is within range I have to pick him up and put him in the tub. I weigh about 130 pounds (hopefully less someday soon, lol.) He weighs about 70 pounds. So the weight ratio is a bit off but doable. Once in the tub its smooth sailing. Wash him twice with dog shampoo, wash his face really well with the kids no tears shampoo and then he is done. Dry off and let him run around like an idiot The whole process takes about 45 minutes to an hour.

As far as the dusting goes that's just a Swiffer away. The blog is up as you are reading, and dinner is to be posted tomorrow.