Halloween

We had a good Halloween. My kids told me some time ago that they wanted to be a witch , a black cat and a broom, the witch and the black cat were easy, generic costume for the witch, ears and tail kit with black sweats and a little bit of face paint for the cat, but a broom.. now that was kind of tricky. I thought about it some… I could have gone to the home improvement store and gotten  the round tubing that is used for pouring cement pylons, but that was expensive, and for what I had in mind, heavy.

In my garage, I still had the box for the hot water heater that we replaced when we moved in (we switched from gas to electric) so I went out and cut out two sides from it.. brought it in and worked the long sides so that it would curl. Wrapped it around the child who would be wearing it ,and cut it so there was only about 3 inches of overlap, not 12. Once I got that cut, I wrapped it around her again, and measured so that if the edge of the cardboard were to sit at her hips, so that she can still walk, where her face would be,  and cut a hole out for her face. after that I cut hole on either side for her arms to stick out, this also means that the weight of the cardboard rests on her shoulders.

Once all the holes were cut, I wrapped it around her again, and taped it, using clear packing tape, into the tube that would be the broom handle. and then we pulled it off over her head. Just before we went trick or treating last night I helped her put the handle back on, over her head and then I took a generic faux grass hula skirt and wrapped around the cardboard at about her waist, making sure that it didn’t quite drag the ground, so she could still walk. taping it in several places around her body. on top of the grass skirt I wrapped two circles of silver ribbon, so that it looked like the wires that generally bind that style of broom. After much discussion the kids had decided that they wanted her to be a Firebolt, like one of Harry Potter’s brooms so I took a magic marker and wrote Firebolt near the top. I think it turned out cute. It won’t win any design or construction contests but it lasted the evening and all the neighbors loved it.

They were adorable, if I do say so myself.

Steel-cut Oatmeal cookies, take two

ok, this time, it is a win.. and oh so simple…

I did a bit more research into cookies made with steel cut oats. this time, not just searching for the names steel cut oats, but also irish oatmeal, scottish oatmeal and pinhead oats. I found one message board entry, somewhere, I don’t remember where, in which the author said they had simply substituted steel-cut oats for rolled oats in their favorite oatmeal cookie recipe and the results were really good, but slightly crunchier than their usually chewy cookie. So, bolstered by this discovery, I ventured forth and attempted my oatmeal cookies yet again

This time I changed little. I used entirely brown sugar instead of my usual 2/1 brown to white ratio, I did this because I just like the flavor of brown sugar better. The only other change I made in my recipe was instead of the usual 4 C. of rolled oats that I usually use, I used 3 C. of pinhead oats. I decreased the amount for two reasons…

1. the original recipe that I adapted years ago called for 3 cups, but I added a cup  because I liked the tooth of it, better, with the harder oats, I thought that the smaller amount might be better.
2. I only had 3 C of steel-cut oats left. (note to self, time for another trip to the health food store)

I will admit that I did use mini M&M’s in place of chocolate chips, but I don’t think of this as a change, this is something I do regularly, depending on which is cheaper when I am buying chocolate.

I baked them as usual, they did take a little longer to bake, and were still very soft when they came out of the oven but quickly firmed up when they cooled, to make a nice, chewy cookie. I let them cool for a few minutes on the pan, then moved them to the counter top to finish cooling, before sealing them in a zip top bag.

After the first batch cooled, I let the kids each sample one. The ones old enough to do more than just demand more cookies swear that these are better than my usual oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. And I will admit, that *gasp* yes, I even ate one of the baked cookies, they were good. I may have another some day, not today, but someday (*disclaimer, my someday comment is not because the cookies are not good, they are, but personally, I prefer to eat my cookies before they are baked) I think I may continue to make them this way.  We shall see what the Hubster has to say about them, but I don’t foresee any negative comments.

I think my mixer

is dying *sob* It has started making strange sounds, kind of a grinding/bogging down/cyclical noise… I think the motor is about to bite the dust. I have considered having it worked on, but having a Kitchenaid mixer repaired is not cheap, and if the motor needs replacing, I might as well just buy a new one to begin with.

My mixer is 12 yrs old. It was a wedding present. My grandmother-in-law asked me, when we first got married, what I needed for my kitchen. Since my great-grandmother, who had passed away when I was 16, had had two of everything in her kitchen (Yes, two sets of dishes, two sets of cookware, etc.)  and my sister and I were the only members of her descendants who had not yet set up our own households, we each ended up with a fully stocked kitchen. I thought about it a little bit and, being the basically honest soul I am, I told my grandmother-in-law that the only thing I could think of that I needed for my kitchen was a mixer. She handed me her JCPenney catalog and told me to pick one out.

I flipped through the catalog, and I searched and the only mixer in the catalog was a Kitchenaid, I really didn’t want to pick a Kitchenaid, not because I didn’t want one, I did, I had been wanting a  Kitchenaid mixer since I was about 14. (yes, I was that oh so rare teenager lusting after premium kitchen appliances.) But because I knew how expensive they were (reference previously mentioned lust) and I knew that my in-laws were on a fixed income I really didn’t want to choose something expensive. I asked if she had any other catalogs, because I really didn’t need anything that expensive, and she told me to order it anyway, gave me her credit card to make the call (even then her eyesight was failing and she had a hard time reading things like credit cards and catalogs.) So I ordered it.. I have loved that mixer for the last 12 years. It has not seen light use. I use it at least once a week, but more often daily. Made Breads, pie crusts, pies, cakes, muffins, potatoes, frostings, all kinds of things. There is no way I could do all the cooking I do without a mixer.

I have started doing research into replacing it. I am well aware that it won’t be cheap, Kitchenaid never is. But I am considering the options. I can get a 4.5 qt mixer, similar to the one I have, but with a slightly less powerful motor, for around $200. Or I can spend just a little bit more, and get a 5 qt professional model, with a much larger motor, for around $270.  We are still debating which exactly to get, but we have a little bit, I hope, as we won’t actually replace this one until it actually dies. Hopefully by then I can prepare myself to let this one go.

I haz Stove!!!!

The stove is fixed, the stove is fixed, the stove is fixed!!!! After only 3 weeks with no cook top, I can again use my stove. Parts got delivered Monday, I and I called and scheduled the repair man to come out, he got here about 4:40pm yesterday and by 5:20 he was done.

I immediately set water on to boil for spaghetti, because the spoiled munchkins which have invaded my household had been begging for spaghetti for a week, and the sauce had been in the crockpot since morning.

This morning, I had scrambled eggs for breakfast…. you never realize how much you rely on those 4 burners, until you can’t use them.

Steel Cut oats… cookies…

ok, I decided I wanted to make oatmeal cookies out of steel cut oats.. Here was my thought process… steel cut oats are much harder,and take much longer to cook.. so I thought, lets soften them some first by soaking them in water… that will work right? um.. no.. first.. the dough turned out gummy… add more flour, now no flavor… add more spices… more flour…some rolled oats for texture… Dough is now the perfect consistency to lay bricks. Because I can’t just throw it out without trying to bake the cookies, I spooned out 12 cookies on to a cookie sheet, topped with chocolate pieces (because I wasn’t wasting the chocolate for an entire batch by mixing it in like I usually do)  and baked…

The kids say they are good… I think they are being way nicer than usual… They each ate two, begged me to make more, so I am baking up the rest of the batch… We will see what Hubster thinks of them.. and no, I won’t be telling him about the brick laying bit… What he doesn’t know, won’t stop him from trying them… me not eating them won’t be abnormal, I am rarely interested in a cookie once it is cooked.

Zout

far better than Shout…

Over the years since I have been married and had kids, I have dealt with a myriad of stains on clothing. I have learned a lot of tricks for getting things out…

For small amounts of ink, hairspray works well.

for grease stains.. cola,

but by far and wide the best stain remover I have ever found is Zout, I first found it about 5 years ago, in Walgreens. I picked it up on a whim, and tried it…

We had this little dress for the girls, it was a really cute white dress with blue flowers… but one of the girls had spilled spaghetti sauce on it, long before, and it had become a set in stain, many times washed and dried, I had given it up as play clothes.  As a trial, I just *knew* it would never come clean, but the bottle claimed it would get out set in stains… I applied the Zout to this dress, let it sit about 30 minutes, and ran it through the washer. The stains came out, I was shocked. They came out so well, that my sister used the dress for her little girl, and my sister didn’t dress her in anything that showed the tiniest amount of wear or hint of stain, ever.

Over the years I have used it for many things, nothing as amazing as that first tomato sauce stain, but with 3 kids, I have plenty of opportunity to get stains out. And then this morning… Hubster was getting ready for work, when he discovered that he had left a highlighter uncapped in his uniform shirt yesterday, and now there was a huge yellow highlighter stain on his tan uniform shirt. So I tackled it… Of course, it being ink, I applied hairspray first… and it got a lot of it out.. but not all. So , I dug out my Zout… sprayed the area liberally, front and back, and set it on the washer… 30 minutes later I tossed the shirt in a washer full of cold water and let it run… the water in the washer turned yellow… But by the end of the wash cycle, the stain came out…

Zout saves the day again….

An end in sight….

Today the remaining parts for my stove were delivered… the glass top and the recalled panel, I received the moisture seal last week. I called the company that  Frigidaire gave me to have the repair done, they will be here tomorrow, between 1 and 5 to do the repair. I can’t wait… after 3 weeks with no stove top, I am excited…

fall means real food…

You can always tell when the weather has cooled off to a livable level around here.. I actually start cooking real food again, and not just the “what can I make fast so I can get out of the hot kitchen” fare we have during the summer… I enjoy cooking, I like finding meals that my family likes, or loves, and I really don’t mind elaborate meals. In fact, cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners are some of my favorite parts of the winter.

Pumpkins are being cooked and frozen for the winter meals, bread baked, pies and cookies have started making appearances… as well as longer cooking meals in the oven… Lasagna, enchiladas, etc. Things that just don’t turn out as well in the Crockpot.

I think I may have to pull out one of my turkeys soon, that sounds about perfect…

Stove Drama….

*sigh* I have a Frigidaire glass surface stove. Said stove is all of 3 months old, we bought it when we bought the house, as we didn’t have one, and the house didn’t either.  Fast forward to 2 1/2 weeks ago… I was steaming pumpkin, and had a covered pan on the burner, with a quart of water in it, and a lid on, I set the burner on 3.  Less than hour later, the pot had boiled dry, and the pan had melted into the burner.

I looked up Frigidaire stoves online, and found that there was a recall on certain models, for exactly this problem.  I called the recall number, gave them the model number and the serial number of the stove, the told me it was one of the recalled stoves, and they would ship me the recalled part, when that arrived I needed to call them back and schedule the tech to come out and do the replacement. That tech would have to look at the glass top and determine if it had to be replaced. In the mean time, don’t use the stove.

Three days later I got a call from the same people, calling to schedule a tech to come out and do the replacement, they scheduled for today, and told me that if the part wasn’t here yet, to call them back and reschedule.

So last night, when the part hadn’t arrived yet, I called the recall number, to reschedule today’s appointment. The person I spoke to there tells me that there has been a mistake, my stove is not one of the recalled stoves and I will need to call a different number and speak with Frigidaire. Frigidaire’s offices were already closed for the day.

I called Frigidaire today. I explained the entire thing, the burned pan incident, the calling the recall number, the part not arriving and calling back, and being told my stove is not recalled, the entire story.  He took all my information, he looked up the stove, yes it is recalled, yes, because the pan, which should never have melted into the burner on 3, did melt into the glass, the glass has to be replaced. He ordered both parts to be shipped to me, and because the normal recall technician does not install the glass tops, he found me another local tech. Gave me the company, contact and phone number for them, once the parts are here, I call them and they will come repair the stove. In the mean time, I can use the oven, but not the cook top.

Two hours later, the recall center, calls me, the same center that called and scheduled the install in the first place. They tell me that my part will be here on friday, they can schedule a tech to come install it after that… I politely explained the whole thing, that I had been told it wasn’t a recalled item, by them, but Frigidaire themselves were handling it and they were doing a far better job than the recall center (meaning that they were replacing the glass top without a fight.)

I guess the moral of this story is always call the manufacture if you have an issue after a recall, not the recall help line.

I just want my stove back, my family is getting sick of crockpot and grilled food.

Ahh… the scent of cooler weather…

You can always tell when I am not constantly sweltering in my own house… Because when it is not so hot in the house that I can’t move without dripping sweat, I bake all our bread from scratch. It is still warm, don’t get me wrong, still topping 100 as often as not, but at least now the nights are cooling off.  And I can stand to turn the oven on for the 45 minutes it takes to bake a couple loaves of bread.

We really prefer the home made bread to mass market bread for several reasons… It tastes better, we know exactly how old it is, and exactly what went into it. No preservatives, nothing we can’t pronounce. Just yummy goodness.We are able to adjust our recipe, or use different recipes, to meet our needs, whether we want a crusty bread for hubby’s sandwiches or garlic bread, or a soft, slightly sweeter bread for the kids sandwiches, or even a batch of hot rolls instead of loaves. It costs WAY less.

I did the math last winter… If I buy the flour at Walmart, it costs about 50 cents to make a loaf of bread (this is assuming I have bought my yeast at Sam’s or Costco, in bulk, because it is WAY WAY cheaper that way. ) If I buy the flour at Sam’s Club, then it costs us about  25 cents a loaf. Since we do a lot of baking, we opt for getting our flour by the 25lb bag at Sam’s though I am on the look out for a container that seals completely, with no air holes, so that I can get the 50lb bag and have someplace to store it.. Now that I have a walk in pantry, this is much more likely. Yeah, so I am a stock-piler… so what?