April 17 = Snow?

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope your last week has been a good one.

I had an excellent one! I made a trip to Ithaca and saw my son and his band play with my oldest daughter. She and I don’t get to do a lot together since life is so busy but we had some quality time on our road trip! I also found a real steal on a gathering set for my dining room (at the Christmas Tree Shop, can you believe it?!).  It was delivered last Friday and it is in use now. My house is clean with shiny floors and empty laundry hampers. Darn! I feel accomplished. In truth, if we weren’t having snowy weather I may not have been so ambitious in my house. There, who would have known that Winter in April could be a good thing!

Recipe

My daughter Sara made an ice cream cake to celebrate her fiance’s birthday. It turned out awesome! Her creations always do. She never follows a recipe. Sara has enough knowledge of food and flavor that she just creates! This example is just a small sample of her work.

Ice Cream Layer Cake

Ingredients

butter flavor cooking spray

10-12 ice cream sandwiches

1 quart of ice cream – softened (Sara used Eddy’s Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie)

Chips Ahoy cookies (or a store brand)

1 jar of hot fudge topping

Approximately 2 cups of Peter Pan honey roast peanut butter

1 – 8oz. container of whipped topping

Mini-chocolate chips/morsels

Spray a rectangular container with the cooking spray. Line the bottom completely with the ice cream sandwiches. You may have to cut some to do this. Next, spread the softened ice cream on top of the sandwiches. Now it is time for the cookie layer. Warm the hot fudge topping in the microwave for long enough to make it pour-able but be careful and don’t warm it too much. Drizzle it on top of the cookies and using a rubber spatula spread it out gently. Then do the same warming, drizzling and spreading with the peanut butter. Finally top with a layer of whipped topping and sprinkle mini-chocolate chips on the top.

Pretty and delicious! Thank you Sara!

                

Project 

A few nights ago I went to the Dollar Tree store and picked up some items for a Spring wreath for my porch (ok, among some other things). All of the items only cost $5 plus tax. I used my hot glue gun to put it all together. See what you think.

  

Handy Tips

• When I paint a room or a small project one of the challenges I face is to keep the paint container reasonably clean so that closing it is easier. I can’t tell you how many times when closing up the paint can I splattered myself with paint from the little well around the rim of the can. I would wipe it but still there might be a mess. There is also the way that paint will run down the side of the can when you are pulling the paintbrush from the can and clearing off the one side. Maybe I am the only one this is happened to but I doubt it.

Today when I was painting a small folding table with chalk paint for a little display I tried a new trick. I put a rubber-band around the container stretching from top to bottom. You can use this on a larger gallon can as well. You will just need a longer rubber-band. Then you use the rubber-band to run your brush across as you pull it out of the container to paint. It works like a charm!

  

• Tennis balls are relatively cheap and can be used for a few different jobs. You might want to invest in a few when you read these tips.

1. You can cut a slit in as many tennis balls as you need and put the balls on the furniture legs to prevent scratching and provide for quiet easy sliding when moving furniture/
2. Tennis balls also remove scuff marks on wood floors by rubbing the scuffs with a clean tennis ball.
3. If you use a padlock outdoors and would like to prevent it from getting rusty and corroded you can cut a slit in a tennis ball and put it over the lock.
4. If you have to park a bicycle on grass it is sometimes not very stable. Cut a slit in a tennis ball and put it on the bottom of the kickstand. Problem solved!

Please let me know if you try any of the tips! Have a fantastic week and see you next week!!