Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A tasty treat

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2 scoops vanilla ice cream with a sprinkling of cinnamon.

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

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Have a drink on me

oooooh, refreshing

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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 :(

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

Monday, June 29, 2009

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

Sunday, June 28, 2009

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
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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!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

We're all clones

Day 21

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!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Wordless Wednesday

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