Kitchen Sponge Tip

Do you have a "good" sponge and a "grunge" sponge in your kitchen?

When you downgrade a sponge to grunge status simply cut off one corner so you can tell the difference and prevent misuse.

Brook in my basement

Sorry for the absence of new posts, but I have been dealing with the aftermath of historic March rains.  The water table rose so high that we continue to have a new brook forcing its way through our basement.  Thanks to an inventive plumber we have drilled a canal system in our basement floor to catch the water as it comes in and channel it to the DRY sump pump hole.   

Organizing Recipes - Creating a Personal Cookbook

Spring weather always inspires me to change-up what I'm cooking.  Forget the new, incredible pot roast recipe I just made ...with the clock's sprung ahead it's time to grill!  I created a personal cookbook so, I can find that great grilled asparagus with Gorgonzola-lemon butter recipe from "Cooking Light" 5 years ago!

Recipes come from so many sources these days:  friends, allrecipes.com, magazines, cookbooks, etc.  I've centralized all my "keepers" and organized them in an easy & useful way -- with a 3-ring binder.  It's not as pretty as the real cookbooks, but much easier to work with. 

How To Create Your Own Cookbook

Supplies:

• 3-ring Binder
• Clear Sheet Protectors (3-hole punched)
• Dividers (preferably with pockets) labeled into your own categories
• Add your favorite recipes:  Copy pages out of your cookbooks, magazines pages and internet printouts

Benefits:

• All your tested and favorite recipes are in one place.
• You no longer have to remember from which cookbook or cooking magazine a recipe came.
• Plastic sheet protector keeps it from getting grungy
• When making the recipe, simply remove the page from the binder so it takes up less counter space. 
  I sometimes tape it to an upper cabinet.
• When using several recipes you have them all at your fingertips without all the bulk.
• As you find new recipes to try, put them in the divider pocket. 
  After they get tried out & designated as a "keeper", put it in the sheet protector.
• Easy too add all your personal modifications and recipe notes

Happy cooking,
Practical Jenn

FYI - My latest favorite cooking magazine is Cooks Country from America's Test Kitchen. 

• Share your favorite website, magazine or cookbook with a comment below!

House cleaning - We're all in this together

Yep, I got laid off and the one luxury I had was a house cleaner. Sorry Cida, but you just got laid off too. The good news... I've got two capable daughters ages 7 & 12 and a husband. I tried the following approach and it works really well. Of course I had to hold some training sessions first. (Bathroom 101 was a big hit with the 7-yr-old.)

Frequency: Every other week
Time Commitment: 1 hour - Set the timer and when it rings you are done!
Who gets what job?
Job Cards that we draw out of a hat: Dust, Vacuum, Bathrooms, Odd Jobs (see Foreman - aka Mom), & Music Picker/Draw Again*

* Important element of success is an upbeat tempo. Isabel recommends Kiss108.
* * * * * * * * * *
Pros:
- Limited gripes & the whole house got clean.
Cons:
- Kids use WAY TOO MUCH spray stuff ...further training needed
- Assumes the house is picked up.
- When the timer buzzes Mom or Dad might need to finish vacuuming the rug.