Tag: tips

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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!!

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Summer Sundays Reign Supreme

Hello there readers! I now have 62 followers and as you know, my short term goal is 100. Help me get there by encouraging one of your friends to check this blog out and if they like what they read, sign up!! I appreciate all the support!!

We have had some really hot and humid days as I referred to last week. You know the kind, where you facially sweat that it’s embarrassing. My dogs were even not appreciating the weather for a couple days there. No bueno! Or more correctly, no esta bien. (I like no bueno better even though it is not correct!) Today is much less humid and pleasant.

It has been a busy week around the homestead. Meetings, breakfasts, work, baking (Yes, I said baking in this weather and I know I have lost it.), errands. You know the drill. I want to share some of the things that I have done this week with you.

HANDY TIP

I saw on the front of one of my magazines I was reading watermelon cut into little fingers. Of course, I needed to try it and the great news is that I don’t think I will ever cut watermelon the traditional way again.

                                                                                 

First, I cut the watermelon lengthwise all the way through. Next, I cut slices off of each half about 1 and 1/2 inch thick. Out of those slices I cut finger food size sticks. Either end of each slice was all rind and I tossed those. They are easy to serve in a bowl as in the first picture and easy to pick up and eat without a lot of mess. Loved it!!!

Continuing with the summer eating theme, I have a handy way to make s’mores that I learned from a friend of mine many years ago. It is cheaper, easier and I think less messy.

What you need to make the “new wave” s’mores are chocolate covered graham cookies and marshmallows. You roast the marshmallow as you usually do. Instead of using a piece of a chocolate bar and graham crackers you use the chocolate covered grahams instead! Brilliant and just as tasty as the original!

      

RECIPE

A friend who has been my friend for 55+ years is having a birthday soon. Since she lives out of town, we celebrated yesterday when she was home for a visit. I was making the cake for her and decided to go “old school” and make an mayonnaise cake.

For anyone who hasn’t ever tasted one they are super moist and rich and have a slightly different taste than a normal chocolate cake. I think this is due to the teaspoon of cinnamon that the recipe calls for.

Immediately, when I think of mayonnaise cake, I think of peanut butter frosting. (Think Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup here!) As my brother, Doug, says, “There’s nothing wrong with chocolate and peanut butter!”

I was looking around for a recipe. I have only ever made one from scratch before and couldn’t remember the proportions. While looking I found a recipe for mayonnaise cake using a chocolate cake mix. Hey, great idea! You know I had to try it.

Mayonnaise Cake

1 chocolate cake mix

1 cup of mayonnaise (don’t use low-fat or the olive oil type)

1 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together until the cake mix is incorporated. Don’t over beat. There will be lumps. Poor batter into a sheet pan or two round layers that have been sprayed with non-stick spray and lined with parchment paper (you could use waxed paper instead if need be). Bake for 30 minutes. I checked mine early around 25 minutes and decided it was done. Each oven is different so watch yours carefully the first time you try this recipe. Place on wire rack for cooling.

Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cup butter

3/4 cup peanut butter

3 cups confectioner’s sugar

3 or 4 Tablespoons of milk

Allow the butter to soften. When it is soft combine peanut butter and butter using a mixer. Slowly add the 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar to the butters. The mixture will be thick. Slowly add the milk 1 Tablespoon at a time until the desired consistency for icing the cake is achieved.

* We used to call confectioner’s sugar powdered sugar or 10X sugar. The 10X refers to the times that the sugar is processed to achieve the fine powdery consistency. The terms used for this sugar seem to be associated with the region where you live. Powdered sugar is used in the Northwest U.S. whereas in the Southern U.S. the term confectioner’s sugar is used. I’m in the Northeast U.S. and I have used all of them. I find it very interesting.

MAKING MONEY AT HOME

(I’m always looking for a way!)

I have been trying several survey sites to make a little side money. One of the ones I have been doing is Harris Poll. They are a legit company and have been around for years. You take surveys and accumulate points that you then exchange for things like Amazon gift cards. It is  a slow process with them since you only get maybe 5 or 6 surveys a month but I am fine with it. I also do other sites and have gotten my first products to test for one of them. I am placing a link to an article about such sites with the top survey sites listed. Check them out.

https://www.surveyssay.com/

WARNING!!!!

If they ask you for money to sign up run away quickly. This is illegal to do and a BIG red flag that somethings is not right. Do some research before you sign up for any site.

Have a wonderful week everyone! I hope you found something that interested you. Please leave a comment and let me know about any life hacks you have.

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