Ironing

I hate to iron, but I love the look of ironed clothes. So, that means I force myself to iron. I know this is something of an old school thing. My daughter does not iron. She "dryer irons". You know, toss the item you want to wear in the dryer for a few minutes to get out the wrinkles and then put it on. Her children have never seen her iron. I will never forget watching a TV program with Maddy and the woman was ironing and she asked, "Grammie, what's that lady doing??"
Women of my generation have spent countless hours ironing for their family; hours we will never get back. Did it make our kids look better? Did anyone notice? Was it worth it? Have many of us have given it up or do we continue to do it out of habit? I am going to give this some deep thought as I iron my jeans to wear tonight!

Ummm...Donuts!

The kids (with the help of mommy's wallet), bought me a Babycakes Donut maker for my birthday this week. I have already written about the Babycakes mini cupcake maker. It has been used more times than I can count! "Mini" anything is the trend these days. You see it at parties, weddings, etc. Bites or tastings are all the rage. It actually makes sense because it is fun and easy to try several things that only take a bite or two to eat. It's finger food at it's best.

How cute are these donuts? The machine makes six every five minutes. I found that after the first batch, I set the timer for four minutes instead. Like my cookies, I like to under cook them a little to keep them on the soft side.
For the first batch, we made simple white cake donuts and covered them in cinnamon and sugar. Here is my official "shaker upper" with the bag of donuts, cinnamon & sugar.
The kit even provides a small cooling rack. Check out how tasty they look once they are coated.
Maddy's official review was, "Grammie, these are SO GOOD! Can I have another?" The batch made 22 mini donuts and they were all eaten within three hours! Pa only got one!
Next up, I am going to made homemade glaze for glazed donuts and I am going to frost them in colors to match the theme of a party and serve them on a three-tiered tray.
Funny thing is, I love to make them and am not even tempted to eat them. Now, if it were salty and savory, that's another story!!

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday Girl

Kind of hard to believe I had self esteem issues growing up, huh? What with the foxy blue winged glasses, incredibly fashion forward shorts set, my Pebbles doll & a band aid on my knee, who wouldn't feel great about themselves?!?!?!
Another year older and hopefully wiser. If not wiser, than just a little more forgiving to myself and all my shortcomings. I am thankful for my life, band aids, bumps and all!

Monday Munchies

Summer is the season for longer days, vacations (even stay-cations) and easy, fun food. Lately, we have been replacing our traditional hamburgers with sliders. They are just a smaller version of the burger. We use turkey, seasoned well for flavor, and those addicting Hawaiian sweet rolls for the buns. The beauty of the small size is that you can limit yourself to just one (yeah, right!!) or have two or three. You can easily mix it up by adding an ingredient or two: feta cheese & fresh dill, mozzarella & pasta sauce, pepper jack & an avocado slice (see below). The possibilities are endless.
Fruit is a mainstay of summer and we love it all. Yes, you can cut it up (or pay a little extra and buy it pre-cut) and throw it in a bowl, but we think the little extra effort of putting it on skewers adds so much. These fruit skewers are pressed into the top of a watermelon. The watermelon was cut in half and hollowed out. Turn it over and place it on a plate or platter and place the skewers however you would like. Now you have a nice display of fruit. These can be used for all different occasions. Parties, showers, graduations or just to eat for fun!
A word or two about avocados. It's always upsetting to watch a luscious (and expensive) Haas avocado turn from vibrant green to icky brown after you cut into it. I often slice avocados just before serving, adding yet another time-sensitive step to getting dinner on the table. Leaving it to last, I often forgot to serve it all together. Then, I read about this tip: Rinsing or submerging the cut avocado in cold water prevents the sliced and exposed fruit from browning for hours. So simple ~ who knew? Try it. It works.

Indoor Camping

“Children will not remember you for the material things you provided
but for the feeling that you cherished them.”

Many things are said about loving children, but this quote touched me because it uses the verb cherish instead of love. Cherish holds such a higher value than even love. I mean, I love Starbucks coffee, but I certainly don't cherish it. I love a clean, organized house, but I don't cherish it. Now, these three little noisy, messy creatures in this pictures, these I cherish. We had a sleepover x 3 and it was not without it's bumps and tears, but, all in all, it was so much fun to cuddle down beside them and watch the movie together while rubbing their sweet little heads. Sleepy kisses flowed freely along with, "I love you, Grammie." In the not too distant future, their sleepovers will not include me, but their friends. Their wings sprout faster than we can ever imagine and that is why I cherish these moments and the memories they give me.

Bad Dog!

You can tell the kids again and again, don't leave your toys outside where the dog can get them! This has been going on for generations and each side knows their role ~ parents yell and kids don't listen. Dogs continue to chew up everything they can get their paws on. It is in the handbook. Only when you find the baby, dirty from being drug through the mud, his stomach half chewed for an afternoon snack, piercing blue eyes staring back at you as you drop him in the kitchen trash, do you realize that you are laughing even in your anger! Then, in this modern world we live in, you take a picture and share it with everyone on Facebook. Maybe it will make their day. Maybe they will be glad they don't have a dog. Maybe you should just go have a cocktail and call it a day!