A Place for Everything, Everything in its place

 Organizing

I like to pick a goal, a plan, or a theme on a given month to plan my monthly "to do" or goal sheets around.  I know it is September 7th, and not the 1st, but doesn't it seem like Labor Day is the "start" of September since it is the "end" of summer?  Nothing had really hit me yet for this month but as I started to think about decorating for fall and than Christmas I realized that I had things that need a home.  Not a "for a few minutes until I need that spot" home but a permanent home.  You know what I'm talking about - the books you are always moving, the magazines that sit on the counter, your husbands hats that hang on a door, even dishes that sit on a counter because it is easier to put them there than where they should go.  I believe in the  Living with it concept.  What is that, you ask?  Figure out how you live and than base your organization around that concept.  Why put your husbands hats on the back of your bedroom door when he always leaves them by the entrance?  Instead find a place in the entrance for them that works for both of you; or why put your magazines on a stand in the living room if you only read them in bed before you go to sleep?  Or, I recently assigned the top of our entertainment center as the home base for our camera and video camera because that is where we use them the most - in the living room.  Now, we always know where to find them! The one truth that is stands is - "A Place for Everything, Everything in its place". 

So, for September - now that I have basically decluttered every room in my house, I have started deep cleaning those rooms, it is time to find homes for those last "floater" items.  They need homes or they need to go!  I need to find a home for my devotional books I'll be using with my new accountabilty group (more to come on that later); and for books I'm reading each quarter (info given - see the label "books" to see what I'm reading by December) and for our school related things such as craft supplies, the months story books and nursery rhymes.  Just all those odds and ends.  I just want to know where to put things instead of constantly moving them around!

Along this same idea, I'm giving my projects a place in the week.  I'm thinking that Mon-Fri will be focused on work - cleaning, keep things organized, running errands, working on my 40 x40 goals and such.  Leaving Saturday open for working on my Scrapbooking Projects so that i can lay them out on the dining room table and leaving it out all day long and Sunday will be for Football and Reading my books! 

Brownie Tart

In Darryl's words "This is the best brownie I've ever tasted" So I thought I would share :-)

Brownie Tart

6 tablespoonse unsalted butter
3 1/4 cups (20 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
3 extra-large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (4 ounces) chopped walnuts
2 to 3 tablespoons heavy cream

Grease and flour a 9-inch tart pan with removable sides.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

Melt the butter in a bowl set over simmering water.  Add 2 cups of the chocolate chips, remove from the heat, and stir until the chocolate melts. Set aside to cool completely. 

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitter iwth the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sguar, coffee, and vanilla on edium-high spped until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the cooled chocoalte.  In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, 1 cup of the chocolate chips, and walnuts.  Fold the flour mixture into the batter until just combined.  Pour into the pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the center is puffed (the top may crack).  The inside will still be very soft.  Cool to room temerature before removing the sides of the tart pan.

Melt the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips with the heavy cream and drizzle on the tart.


Notes: 
* I used a springform pan as I did not have a true tart pan and it worked fine.
* I melted the butter in the microwave and than stirred the chocolate chips until melted.  I did have to throw it all in the microwave for about 15 additional seconds to get the chocolate smooth
* We are drizzling hershey's sryup on the top when we cut a slice for dessert because I ran out of chocolate chips :-)  It might actually work better since we aren't eating it in one sitting; the chocolate doesn't soak into the tart.

31 in 31 - Day 27

Darryl was working today, putting our front screen door back on the house (it was ripped off during a storm earlier this summer) and he had helpers.  So, this is actually two pictures because I didn't get a good one of everyone together.

40 by 40 Update

My first goal is completed!!  I have canned tomatoes, salsa, beets, jam and pickles.  Here's the proof!

Yeah :-) Was it perfect?  No, but that's ok.  My first bunch of jam is actually syrup but it's still good; the beets are a little spongy so I either cooked them too long or not long enough and they are a little spicy; and we haven't tried the salsa yet but we'll see! 
Here is what I learned from canning:
1) Find the recipes you want to use (new or old) and purchase all none "home grown" supplies such as lids, sugar, garlic bulbs, etc.  before the fresh veggies and fruits come to season.  I did the opposite - I would go to the farmers market to see what was in and than it would be 2 or 3 days before I could get the other supplies which impacted the freshness of my produce. 
2) Purchase a good food processor.  I did a lot of hand chopping and "squishing" of fruits and veggies due to the lack of a food processor.  It would have made canning salsa and jam a lot easier. 
3) Plant a garden.  Canning would be an economical way to make food for your family if you grow a lot of the ingredients.  I purchased mine from a farmers market but am planning to plant a small container garden next year to grow things for pickles and salsa at the very least.  Fruit I will always need to buy as I don't have fruit trees but I may try to get some raspberry and strawberry plants and see what happens.
4) Don't schedule the deep cleaning of your kitchen the same week as you are canning  - deep clean the kitchen AFTER you done canning ;-)
5) Don't can tomatoes :-)  I only added it to my list because I knew I would have tomatoes left from doing Salsa - next year, assuming I have a salsa recipe we like, I will can multiple batches of salsa and not do tomatoes.  Why?  Tomatoes take a lot of time for not a lot of results - I only got 4 jars out of a HUGE amount of tomatoes.  Tomatoes are so cheap and so good in the store - for me, it's not worth it.
6) If you do can tomatoes know that there will never be the right about.  You will have one more or one less than you need every single time!
7) I need to get that apron item marked off my list - one of my goals is to sew myself an apron; I could have used that this year :- )
8) You can fit ALOT more cucumbers in a jar than I thought you could!  There is a lot of space in those jars now :-)
9) One last thing - canning really isn't very hard.  I always thought it was - but it's not, its actually pretty easy; you just have to take the time and energy to do it :-) Granted I don't have a huge garden with stuff pouring in but I think that is where the time consuming thing comes in :-) 

31 in 31 - Day 26

My garage: -)  Why is this the picture of the day?  Because it's done!  Well, almost :-)  We have just a few things left to do but Darryl finished painting the visiable side and hung up the wind catchers and the stuff on the wall plus my flag (which you can't see!).   We started this project in April 2010 by putting on a new roof.  The only things left are to put up gutters, paint the back (which  no one can see so we will wait until spring when all of the "natural" flowers AKA weeds are dead!) and some day replace the broken garage door opener.  BUT the pretty parts are all done!! 

31 in 31 - Day 25

My picture of the day - my canning :-)  Salsa, Pickles, Jam and Beets! Aren't they pretty?? As we hit the last official weekend of summer, this seemed to be like the perfect thing to see - all the evidence of another great summer!!

Things That I am Loving

I was thinking today about things that I am loving and I thought I would share. 

1) Cool weather!  If you look close you will see the cloudy sky and damp ground.  After being in the 90's and humid just a few days ago the 60 degree, cold, windy day was VERY enjoyable. 

2. Mocha Frappes!!  I love these every day LOL  I got hooked on McDonald's Frappe's by accident.  I was going through the drive through and they had an extra one so they gave it to me.  I figured I wouldn't like it since it is coffee but I took one drink and was hooked.  I have since found a couple of recipes for homemade versions but nothing is quite as good as the real thing.  I splurged tonight and bought one - it is a rare treat.

3) My Spice Rack!  I know this seems odd but there is a story behind this one.  My husband bought this for me several years ago and I loved it.  Recently, in order to declutter my kitchen I decided to get rid of this and just put my spices in the cupboard.  Well, I moved it to the garage with garage sale things . . .but every day I was going out there to get a spice LOL  (I hadn't cleaned it out yet)  So I moved it back inside this past weekend and today I washed the jars, peeled off the old labels and have them drying so I can fill them back up tomorrow.  I'm so glad to have it back :-)

4) September!  Why?  There are many reasons but one of them is that all the TV shows we love start over :-)  Looking forward to some good laughs with a couple new comedy's and a few old ones too.  Not to mention all our reality shows.  I love DVR - we record all our shows and watch them when we have time.

5) The Stripe on my bathroom wall!  This is a preview to the "new and improved" bathroom.  I can't post pictures yet because there are still some small things left but every time I go in there, I smile a little because I just love the stripe.  I got the exact feel I wanted - relaxing and peaceful. 

6. My Candles!  Yep, it is that time of year.  I lit this candle for the first time since spring and it smells SOOOOO good!  I love the smell and how it looks when I have candles lit; it brings such a comforting appearance and makes everything seem so much warmer.  My favorite is in the middle of winter, when there is a good snow happening - the candles just make me feel so good!!

7.  Football!  I L O V E football!  I start watching with the first preseason game and watch all I can all season long.  I cheer for the Lions despite the fact that they seldom win; I play fantasy football and love it; and I plan special snacks for during the games; we celebrate the opening Sunday and Superbowl Sunday.  AND this year, I will get to watch College Ball too!  My husband works on Saturdays so I'll have the games on.  It isn't that he doesn't like it - he gets overloaded on football and really enjoys pro so we quit watching college.  Just one last thing to say . . Are YOU ready for some football???? 

8.  Cookies!!!!  I posted a link recently for a Christmas Cookie Challenge and when I saw this Magazine today I had to get it.  It has a ton of Christmas cookie recipes in it and since they are from Paula Dean I know they will be good and won't be too weird.  She has gotten weird but her recipes are still pretty good LOL  It seemed odd to see this in the checkout today though especially since it says to only keep on shelves until October??  Still, I felt like I had find a little gem today :-)

Do you have things that are making you smile right now?  Take time to enjoy those little things and don't overlook something as simple as a Frappe - we need those little pick-me-ups