A tasty treat

2 scoops vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

Reminds me of Mexican Fried Ice Cream from Paradiso...yum

Have a drink on me

oooooh, refreshing

A few months back when Michael and I were on one of our many trips to Phoenix (okay, we went twice), we had dinner at P.F. Changs.

I love the place, its so fresh and tasty, and its loud and busy and alive. Love it.

I don't usually drink when I'm out with Michael...he doesn't drink, and its no fun to drink alone, but I really wanted something that night, and the Asian Pear Mojito sounded fabulous.
And let me tell you, it was. I decided right then and there that the
Asian Pear Mojito would be my new signature drink.

Here's how you make it:

1 tbsp Superfine Sugar
3 Lime Sections
5 mint leaves
1 oz. Sour Apple Pucker
1.5 oz. Bicardi Limon Rum
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
Club Soda
Ice

Muddle (mash) the lime, sugar and mint leaves together. Add the Sour Apple Pucker, Limon Rum, & Pineapple Juice and shake with ice. Pour into a tall glass and top off with the club soda. Makes 1 delicious cocktail.

I need to figure out how to make a pitcher, I was serving these a few weekends ago and I was missing out on all the good conversation because I couldn't hear over the cocktail shaker!

Tackle it Tuesday

We renovated our master bathroom about 4 years ago...replaced the white melamine cabinets with dark espresso. I loved the cabinets but after just a few months, we had water spots on the tops of the drawers :(

Very disappointing, considering how much money we spent. I contacted Home Depot, where we purchased them, and they directed us to the manufacturer, but they didn't seem to care.

A few days ago I was surfing the blogosphere and came across an interesting post on House Obsession. It looked really similar to my white spots, so I thought I would give it a try.

It was so easy...all you need is a white cotton towel, a dry iron and a minute of your time.

They are back in shape! I'm so thrilled (doesn't take much, does it?) and I don't have to replace my doors and drawers (which I was looking into). I'm still not thrilled with how the doors have cracked around the edges, but a chocolate brown sharpie took care of that, appearance-wise anyways.

Since I had a few more mintues to spare, I did the shelf too

I think I spent a total of 10 minutes fixing up 4 drawer and door tops and a shelf. Those spots frustrated and annoyed me every time I saw them.

I still have an issue with that bathroom that Home Depot did,

but more on that later. One small project at a time.

My summer to-do list

Today is the first official day of summer. Alex has been off school for 2 weeks already, Brendan since last Monday and Connor had his last day on Friday (although I think there was school today but I didn't send him - Bad Mother of the Year Award please!).

I have lots I want to accomplish around the house this summer. Lots has already been done...the deck, the new retaining wall, the cushions for the bench...but I still have so many little jobs to get done...the kind I don't want to do because they are tedious (read: painting) and the prep time is so long.

I'll probably be adding to my list as I go along but also scratching off what I have done...that always inspires me. And some jobs will only take a few minutes...once I get the supplies (like hooks!). Here's to hoping that come September 1st, there is nothing but strikethroughs on the list!

• paint trim in powder room
• sand and paint railing to upstairs
• paint trim in my bedroom
• paint trim in Alex's room
• paint trim in Brendan's room
• paint trim in Connor's room
• paint trim in family room
• paint trim in kitchen
• paint trim in foyer and side hallway
• paint trim in living and dining room
• hang lack shelf in Brendan's room
• clean out and organize basement closet
• re-configure shelving in side hallway closet
• paint inside of garden shed
• hang shelves in garden shed
• install indoor-outdoor carpeting in garden shed
• hang hooks in garden shed for tools
• hang hooks in garage for snow shovels
• make small stone patio in front of garden shed
• stepping stone walkway from side walk to deck
• stepping stone walkway from deck to garden shed
• new shelves in linen closet
• paint linen closet
• help Alex hang all his artwork in his room
• replace baseboards in master bathroom
• fix trim around medicine cabinet in master bathroom
  

MPM June 29

Its official, summer has begun. School is out, sleeping in is, um, in, and all I want to cook is easy peasy meals on the barbie!

This one,



not this one

Hits from last week? Definitely the sliders...I was always making individual little burgers, but this cooking in a sheet in the oven was definitely easy and tasty. And the meat sauce for my pasta, Connor said it was the best ever! It was the wine, I swear...

SO onto this week! Trying a new recipe on Monday, and ending the week with my fave chicken again.

Monday - potato chip fish, snow peas and peppers, rice
Tuesday - steak, shrimp, green beans, birthday cake (its my hubby's birthday)
Wednesday - chicken quesadillas, haven't had those in forever
Thursday - rigatoni with meat sauce, salad
Friday - grilled chicken legs, aloo gobi, naan, rice
Saturday - tacos, corn bread, raw veggies
Sunday - going out
For more links to yummy recipes click on the happy guy at the top!

We're all clones

I have so many projects on the go, I need 7 of me to get them all done.

I need 1 to do the cleaning
Another just for laundry
1 for the yard work
(my weeds are doing beautifully, wish I could say the same for the rest of the garden)
1 to drive the kids around
and maybe another to clean up the dog poop, I'm tired of that
1 to do the projects that are no fun - like painting the trim
and the last one to do my actual job, because I'm not doing any of that lately!

Wordless Wednesday