A day at home

I made scrambled eggs with spinach and cheddar for... brunch :) And then I sauteed 3 little zucchini and a tomato and mixed with rigatoni for dinner, making enough to have it as a cold pasta salad tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm having a little get together. I just got here but I met my neighbors and a friend's girlfriend and invited them all over for a little potluck! Not sure what I'm making yet, but I want to make something using things I already have (of which there is a list on the fridge, to remind me NOT to go grocery shopping again, because I love shopping for groceries!)

(the little asterisk means it's in the freezer)

One of the things I did today was watch the rest of project runway season 5, disc 3 (still have some catching up to do, and I don't have cable... or a TV, so I'm always a season behind!). So I started draping with fabrics I already have. I'm so not allowed to buy anything except for notions I need to finish a garment! So I played with some draping, not sewing anything yet- I have a few patterns I want to make and I'm still a little intimidated by draping and making patterns from draping because I'm all self/book taught and in the past it hasn't gotten me too far with draping... hopefully that will change!

Pretty elementary, but mostly fun to work on! (Though I really should have been reading, grad school is a lot of work!)

To Make or to Buy?

Slate beat me to it, I will still explore this topic as I planned, but it's an interesting read.

I'm so bad with leftovers. and produce. and things that get moved in the fridge

I just found out about this neat website StillTasty which tells you how long foods really last in the fridge or freezer. Opened or unopened, dependent upon the packaging. This is excellent news because I have a tendency to forget about things. Probably the most helpful thing you can do, armed with this website, is to write what date you opened packages of things like cheese with longer freshness periods.

Everybody should at least peruse this site to get an understanding of expiration dates and how long to keep that one food that doesn't look bad but has been open for a couple weeks...

Great relief for dry hands

My hands are dry most of the time during winter. It's been happening since I moved out East- itchy to the point of being red with dry crevices cracks running along all the small lines on my hands. I have tried every over-the-counter lotion I can find. For a while Eucerin did the trick but it just doesn't cut it. It doesn't help that when I cook I wash my hands about 10 times. What makes hands dry is lack of oils and so far the best relief I have found is rubbing olive oil on the dry skin. It replaces the oil that is lost through regular washing and brings back the softness. It doesn't itch either. To keep my fingertips clear of oil I pour a little bit of oil at the base of my thumb on the back of my hand and proceed to rub together the backs of my hands. Then I light rise for my fingertips and my hands feel good as new! It's great because it's natural and it's replacing oil. Nothing foreign about that concept!

Spring Cleaning!

After KE told me that he killed a cockroach with a Seventh Generation cleaning product I started thinking more about my household cleaners. I buy and use "earth friendly" products but I feel like it would be even more earth friendly to use more natural things- vinegar and baking soda are supposed to clean stuff.

We got a new stove not too long ago and my landlord said "Now you be sure to keep that clean, that's part of the security deposit." (Which my roommate later said, "is that in writing?" I hope she plans to help keep it clean :P ) I was looking at the stove that hadn't been cleaned or even wiped off since the last time I did it and decided to scrub the heck out of it.
I started by removing all the burners (this is a gas stove- I used to be afraid of them having grown up with electric and now I wonder what I'll do if we don't have gas anymore :( Maybe a fire pit) and placing them in the sink to soak for a bit just with water- to soften what gunk could be softened. Then I used my sponge to wipe off the big chunks. (like sweeping before you mop. You know that's what you're supposed to do, right!?)

I did a bit of online research and read about a baking soda and water paste 1:1. That failed miserably. The baking soda sat at the bottom of the measuring cup and when I tried to pour some out all the water on the top came out. I think it's more accurate to say a splash of water with some baking soda. So while I used a bit of this baking soda mixture poured onto the stains and then the soft yellow side of the sponge and a lot o scrubbing and fingernail scratching, i got the stove top to be pretty clean.

When I was in London staying with my friend N, he and his girlfriend had foil (shiny side up) under the burners on their stove and I was so excited by it's brilliance! Now, a mere 3 months later and I finally did it to my stove. After it was all clean and shiny, I ripped of foil sheets the length to cover each pair of burners. Pressing down I was able to mark where the burner elements are and then used my exact-o knife to cut open the tightest hole I could in the foil. (I'm an architect... precision is pretty.) Then I ripped off the foil edges that spilled out of the burner depressions for a nice tidy foil liner- which also doubles as a reflector making the stovetop even more efficient!

It's already been used since I put down the foil but now the part that gets the hottest and is most likely to having spills and mistakes get burned in is covered up and ought to be easy to clean up!

I did have to use some of my Seventh Generation all-purpose cleaning spray to get the gunk off the burners. My method is to put a paper towel over the affected area, spray cleaner fluid on it until it's soaked, let it sit for a bit, then wipe it off. The soaking really helps get out deep stains. Hopefully you were enticed rather than bored by my stovetop cleaning saga and find a way to keep yours clean (saide from washing it every time you cook... which would probably work even better!)