The Skinny Pants (dot) com

Well a few years ago, I started this website called The Skinny Pants and initially, it was all about me getting back into my skinny pants… a process that is still in the works.  Over time, the site became more about our daily life and less about skinny pants and I started to feel a little loopy for having two websites dedicated to the daily doings of me and my fam so I made a major decision.  I am bringing down theskinnypants.com and am going to migrate everything to our ledford life site which will soon be ledfordlife.com!

I am still learning the ins and outs of the interwebs and I know that the longer you have a domain, the better but I’d rather have one site than two.  And I’d rather have the dedicated site named something that I love and want to share with the world rather than one the suggests that I have skinny pants… which I will, but don’t at the present time.

Enough with all of the skinny pants talk – now that I will be moving everything over from that site, you will notice new posts and all the goodies of theskinnypants.com.  Enjoy and don’t be a stranger!

<3

Tags: interwebs, new website, theskinnypants.com

Strawberry Cupcakes

So today at work we all got together to celebrate our office’s work-study students (students that have a position on-campus that is paid through their financial aid package and the federal government). I TOTALLY forgot to put something together ahead of time so I ran out to the grocery store, grabbed a box of strawberry cake mix and some cream cheese icing and I whipped these bad boys up in about 30 mins.

Strawberry Cupcakes

They look fancypants but they truly aren’t.  Seriously.  You can make these.  I put the batter into the little cupcake-cups, baked and then let cool.  Then I piped the icing and the melted chocolate.  DONE.  So easy a 3rd grader could do it.  Anyways, the students and staff liked them and they look awesome so I thought I’d post it.  These are homemade…. as in…. yes, I made them at home.

<3

Tags: cupcakes, homemade, strawberry cupcakes, work-study

Temper…ature

Chad has always given me grief about being too hot… and not in a “ooo baby you’re so hot” way either.  More like a “ooooomg move over, you’re burning up” way.  I never noticed it before marriage but apparently I am a walking, talking furnace.  I might actually be cold but my skin is burning hot and I just can’t help it which is probably why I despise the summer months here in NC… April through October.  My temper rises with the temperature as well which makes me a BLAST to be around – just ask anyone who knows me. I promise I’m a really nice person but I just can’t handle the heat.

Ironically… Chad and I got married on the hottest day in Chapel Hill in 2007. OUTSIDE. Hey, at least we provided fans and free liquor!

One time, when sweating my cookies off in Barcelona, I completely lashed out on my only very-best friend there simply because we couldn’t find the post office. She was right, I was wrong … and I knew it but it was 9878709817347 DEGREES and there was no air conditioning ANYWHERE. Not to mention the bed bugs, flashers and albino gorillas. Pure crazy-town.

Anyways, after my surgery in February when they removed a massive tumor, Chad and I were hopeful that they removed my “source” of power but we were wrong.  Way wrong. I’m still hot all the time and like clockwork, we have hit 80* a couple times already so I know we are in for a super hot summer. I am so ready to move to the mountains… or anywhere NORTH of Pennsylvania. I would take snow over scorching heat any day. Thanks for listening.

<3

Tags: barcelona, heat, summer, temper, temperature

Ovary Shmovary

So I recently had surgery.  I really didn’t think it was a huge deal until my parents drove down to be with me and vases of get-well flowers appeared on my doorstep.  Here is how it went down:  (it’s a lengthy story so I broke it up into paragraphs.  You’re welcome.)

Wednesday night: We had grilled chicken and broccoli for dinner, then we watched Gothika (Halle Berry works in a hospital were a ghost possesses her to kill her rapist husband).

Thursday 6:40AM: I woke up with the worst pelvic pain I have ever had in my entire life.  I have been having random bouts of lower abdominal pain for about a year and a half now and they would last for about 30 mins and would usually go away.  I went to several doctors to get it figured out and they thought I was constipated, lactose intolerant, one doctor even said that lettuce was hard to digest and that I should lay off the salad…idiot.  Anyways!  I was sobbing in the bathroom and started thinking of all of the horrible things that could be wrong with me which brought on the anxiety and I told Chad that we should go to to hospital.  So twenty minutes later, we were at the ER getting my vitals checked and I’m still in ridiculous pain and now in a rediculous hospital gown (ew).  While we were sitting in the ER room waiting for the doctor to see me, the person in the next room was freaking out and screaming / moaning.  All we could think about was Gothika so that’s what we started calling the poor person in the room next to us.  Chad would say “shhhh Gothika!” and made me laugh which was nice.  FINALLY the ER doctor came in and FINALLY hooked me up with an IV and narcotics… then HE (it was a man doctor but he kept hitting on Chad so I think he was gay) he did a pelvic exam which was uncomfortable and sad.  It was really painful and so he ordered an ultrasound and contacted my OBGYN whose office is in the building next door so that was convenient.  So I’m transported via hospital bed to the ultrasound lady who did an ultrasound like you would have if you were pregnant except she didnt see anything so she had to do a pelvic ultra sound.  Now friends.  I pray that none of you have ever had to endure one of these and I hope that you never will.   It was horrible and rediculously invasive.  At least she was nice and I think she felt bad because she couldn’t find my left ovary and she looked around for it for like 20 mins.  So I’m sad about my ovary and a little nervous when I was sent back to the ER room next to Gothika and at this point, it’s 2pm and poor Chad is half asleep, starving and playing angry birds on the ipad.  The Dr. came back and said I needed a cat scan so I had to chug a gallon of nuclear-yellow drink so they will be able to see my goods and here I go back on the travelling hospital bed to the cat scan room.

2:30PM: The cat scan was horrifying.  The nurse told me that I had to have an IV of cat scan liquid which would make me feel warm and like I was peeing my pants but she assured me that I wouldn’t actually pee my pants.  So they hooked me up to the IV and I immediately feel this crazy warm feeling all over my body and I was convinced that I peed all over the hospital bed.  Then I realized that everyone had left the room and it was just me and the cat scan.  So I’m just laying there in my imaginary pee and all of a sudden, I started moving through the cat scan which reminded me of a smaller version of The Machine from Contact.  It suddenly stopped and a loud man’s voice (possibly God at that point) says “STOP BREATHING” It scared me so much that I jumped and stopped breathing.  After a few seconds it told me to “BREATH” again so while I was sufficiently freaked out, I obeyed the commands and after a couple rounds of not breathing, I was brought back to my ER room.  It was a while before the Dr. came back and we started watching Cash Cab on the TV.  Chad was convinced that we were on an episode of House and they were all in a room with a white board trying to figure out where my ovary was.  For some reason, thinking I was on House made me feel a lot better.

4:00PM: The Doc came back and said he had ordered another ultrasound because they found a mass and needed to see if they could get a better picture of it.  Horrified of the word “mass” and the invasive-ultrasound lady, I got a little freaked and the doctor said my OBGYN was on her way to see me after the exam.  So needless to say, I endured another experience with the ultrasound lady except this time, there was an intern and a second ultrasound tech in the room.  They all looked confused and I flat out asked, “have you found my ovary?” and then each of them looked at me with a sad face and one of them said, it’s in there somewhere!  Not funny.

5:00PM: Back in the ER room, my OBGYN had taken a look at the pictures from the exams and decided to do a pelvic exam herself.  Thank god I love her and feel totally comfortable with her.  She said that I needed to be admitted to stay overnight and go in for surgery in the morning so they can take a look at the mass and my missing ovary.  I was sad and Chad was really worried and all we could think about was how this would affect our baby plans.  When she left, I looked at Chad and said “All they do is drug me and check my vagina… what kind of establishment is this?!”  We laughed and then realized that it was time to call loved ones and also that Moe hadn’t been out since that morning so Chad ran home, picked up a bunch of my stuff and took care of Moe.

6:00PM: So after 10 hours, I was finally transported out of the yucky gothika ER and into my own room in the beautiful women’s center on the top floor of the hospital.  It was so nice and comfortable and beautiful.  I went from the Howard Johnsons to the Four Seasons in one elevator ride.  Zach and Chad met me up there with flowers and goodies including my manly-sweatpants and piglet slippers.  I made some calls to loved ones and after a visit from my doctor another round of IV drugs, I was getting woozy.  There was no place for Chad to sleep and I thought it would be better for him to go home and home back early morning than be miserable and have to leave to walk moe in the morning.  So he and Zach went home and I fell asleep for about 30 mins and the nurses kept coming in to check on my vitals and one even came in at 1:30AM to take my blood.  jerk-face.

Friday 7:30AM: I was so relieved and happy when Chad came back that I had completely forgotten about my missing ovary.  My parents showed up too around 8AM, Cheryl was in tears and my Dad had food poisoning from his dinner the night before so I think he was just trying not to throw up on me.  My OBGYN came in to talk to the family and Cheryl grilled her for a few minutes and Chad asked if she had done this type of surgery before.  The doctor assured him that she had a really great instruction manual and a great assistant…. every one laughed which eased the nervousness of the room and she told me I would be just fine.  After the doctor left, the cleaning lady came in and there isn’t enough room on this blog to write about that experience.  All I remember is that she lost 40 lbs in a month, was dating a younger man that looked older and that she didn’t like men with fat necks.  It’s too hilarious to recount but she was so sweet and made us all hysterical.

11:00AM: They took me into the pre-op area where the manliest nurse worked with a buzz hair cut and a 1920′s nurse cap.  I think she actually was a man.  She wasn’t nice either and she kept yelling at the younger nurses.  Anyways, I’m laying in this horrible place alone and I started melting down.  Why the hell do they put you into a small room by yourself right before you go into a huge surgery?!  Well, right when I start getting teary eyed, the nicest, prettiest, sweetest nurse in the entire world who was probably my age came to the side of the bed and told me it was going to be just fine and I just broke down and could hardly breath.  They gave me some thing in my IV that made me chill out and I fell asleep for a while.  My OBGYN woke me up and they took me into the surgery room she said she wanted to make sure I saw her so that there was someone in the room that I was familiar with and after that, all I remember is waking up in recovery with the oxygen tubes in my nose and the nurses commenting on how much they like my toe nail polish shade.

3:00PM: Once I got my wits about me, I asked if I had a blood transfusion and she said that I hadn’t which was relieving.  I then asked if they took my ovary and when the recovery nurse said yes, I started crying again.  I was a mess.  I totally wanted them to take my ovary if they had to but there is just something about not having one anymore.  I never even think about my ovaries but  deep down, I’m sad that I lost one.  Anyways, they gave me some crushed ice and after a while, brought me back up to the four seasons room where I saw my family and lost whatever composure I had left.  Everyone was sobbing and Chad was holding my wedding rings so he put them on my fingers and ended up proposing again which made us all laugh.  After calming down and processing the past 24 hours, they brought out the photos that the doctors took during the surgery.  Turns out I had a 4.5″ tumor on my left ovary which had caused the ovary to turn and suffocate itself…it was larger than my uterus.  The photos are gross and I’m still contemplating what to do with them exactly but they’re hidden for now.  Chad joked that they took my “source of power” and that I probably wouldn’t run as fast or be as hot all the time (in temperature… not hottiness).  That was pretty funny too.  I’m thankful to be surrounded by such hilarious family.  Seriously – they’re awesome.

Since then: They let me leave Saturday afternoon and I have been stuck on the couch or bed watching TV, reading Ani-Vegi-Miracle and doing crosswords.  Chad has been wonderful, carrying me everywhere, washing my hair and even doing the dishes.  Everyone’s generosity has been overwhelming too – our condo has exploded with flowers, chocolate covered fruit and get-well cards.  I’m supposed to be out of work for three weeks but hopefully the doctor will let me go back after two, my appointment is next Friday.

*I’m rounding out week 4 and I am doing just fine.  Thanks for all of the flowers, cards, chocolate covered candy and dvd box-sets.  You all know who you are and truly made this experience a little bit brighter.  I came back to work this week and have been doing well except for the fact that I am incredibly tired all of the time.  Like exhausted.  I haven’t been this tired since the all-nighters I pulled a couple of times in college… and I didn’t have a 8:30-5pm job back then.  I have found this to be an excellent excuse as well, for example if I find myself lacking in any activity, I just chalk it up to “but they took my source of power… throw me a bone.”  Anywho – I’m totally fine.  I finished a scrapbook, a Kingsolver book and made a website with Chad (www.flightsnorthhills.com).  Baby making may begin soon.  Don’t mark your calendars but after these shenanigans we are ready to make it happen so keep your fingers and toes crossed (and say a little prayer or two.)

BTW – Presbyterian Women’s Center is the bomb dot com.  Dr. Arronte is even better.  She actually rocks my socks and I love her.  She is super fabulous and if anyone is going to take your ovary…or deliver your baby… or do any medical-womanly things… make sure it’s her because she is the best.

<3

Tags: Dr. Arronte, no-neck men, ovarian cyst, ovary, presbyterian hospital, shenanigans, sources of power, Wendel's Rock

Dorm to Condo 2010

2010 was a huge year for us in one major way… with my new position at the university we were able to move into a home OFF CAMPUS.  One major theme in our lives for the past 9 years has been living in university housing since my job was in residential life so the ability to move into a home that is actually ours… is huge.  We wanted to stay in the general vicinity of our offices and ideally, we wanted to stay within walking distance (we’ve never had to commute to work and we weren’t about to start now).  We toured some places that were lived-in and expensive and ones that were new and super cheap but too big or too small.  We had some small “wants”… two bedrooms, a bath and a dishwasher.  Nothing too crazy.  We met some really interesting people too, on our hunt for the nest.  One lady told us how much money she paid for the “amenities” in the condo she was renting out… down to the bamboo floors.  She was truly obnoxious.  Finally, we took a look at a very cozy yet modern condo and we were sold.  Complete with gas fireplace and second bedroom / office space – it was perfect.  It even had a pretty large patio!  We were sold and within a month we had the keys and started moving.  So moving sucks.  Moving sucks so badly… even if you are only moving one block which was our case.  We couldn’t rationalize hiring a moving company because we were only moving one block away AND we owned no furniture sooooo we did it all ourselves.  I was forced to slowly throw away things I was keeping “just in case” we needed them and once I finally boxed everything up, Chad and his big strong friends moved everything to our new home… up the street (while I was out of town).  Unpacking is not so bad.  It gives you the chance to rearrange and re-prioritize your belongings.  I threw out more stuff during the unpacking process than I did during the packing process.  Anyways – very little had to be done in terms of modifications to the condo… we just wanted to paint the bedroom and add some shelves to the kitchen, bedroom and currently, the office.  Thank the sweet sweet Lord Ikea is down here and is only 15 minutes up the road.  We kept that place in business over those few months.   There were a few adventures along the way including mounting the television… and painting the bedroom…

even putting together Ikea furniture…

and breaking down Ikea boxes…

And lastly… our first dinner:

It has been a couple months since we’ve moved in and we have certainly made it a home.  Complete with photos and a tiny window garden!  We even get mail on Saturday… a luxury we have been missing out on for years!  We just love it here and are so happy.  Thanks to all the friends who helped along the way!

<3

Tags: condo life, ikea, moving, painting

Year in Review: 2010

Well this is becoming a bad habit. This will be the second time I write a year-in-review post and it’s embarrassing. I have no idea why I don’t update our blog more often and for that, I apologize. I do the same thing with my scrapbooks… of which I’m 4 years behind. OMG. Well, just like I said in 2009, I’ll work on it… but this time I’m not going to swear on my eyes.

Let’s recap 2010… a very exciting year for the Ledfords.

Last December (2009), we went to Boston and had a BLAST – check the post for more details. We also spent some more time in Chapel Hill and then went back to Charlotte where we started a new year and enjoyed some Charlotte snow! In February, my amazing friend Mallory (check her out on etsy.com) and her sweet dog Maddie had Moe, Chad and I up to visit her winter bungalow in Foscoe where we went on a ski trip at Beech Mountain. It was a blaaaast. I not only got a chance to brush up on my skiing but also got to catch up with my Malro.

This winter, Zach moved right across the street from us and started working at the Doubletree hotel in the area. Naturally, he is really good at what he does and has been very successful. He has had some interesting living experiences but is currently doing really well and just celebrated his first year at the Doubletree!

The spring pretty much flew by with busy work schedules and social lives.  One weekend in particular was an amazing weekend where friends from all over the continent came together in the Queen City to celebrate our friend Stephanie’s wedding!  We all had so much fun celebrating Steph’s “Easterette” weekend… definitely a weekend to remember.  We started hiking again once the weather warmed up a bit and decided to go on a smaller camping trip up to South Mountain with Zach.

The weather was great and the campsite was perfect… minus the scary clown that rocked Zach in his hammock that night, but that’s a different story.  

Well, May rolled up on us and before we knew it – summer had begun… and what a summer it would end up being.

At the end of May a position opened up at JWU for an Academic Counselor and I knew I had to apply. Not only would this get us out of campus housing but it would also give us so much more freedom to start a family, make a home and live life without worrying about the duty phone. As if that wasn’t cause enough, I figured that this would be a good opportunity to learn more about our academic side of things… something all future Deans of Students should know. Anyways, I applied and spent the summer in an anxiety-ridden state regarding the interview process and the uncertain future. During this time, we spent lazy days at the pool at Zach’s apartment complex and did everything we possibly could to get out of the ridiculous heat. It was horrible. We celebrated the 4th of July with a barbecue on the roof of Courtside where Drew lives

and then took the party to 3tailer where Zach…aka Uncle Kickass…brought the most intense firework collection to life. Zach’s fireworks last year rivaled the city of Charlotte’s and we all had a crazy amount of fun.

We also road-tripped it up to Maine with Zach and his then-girlfriend Emmy. We met up with our family and long lost cousins once we got to the cottages and the fun lasted all week. We grilled some…

and we ate some lobsters…

and we celebrated Chad’s birthday…

and took some naps…

And we hung out at Two Lights…

Overall, it was an amazing trip with our amazing family and we’re already planning our next trip up to the beach this coming summer.

We also went home to go to Steph and Pat’s Celebrity Dairy wedding.  What a beautiful wedding … it was so much fun and it was the best way to kick off an amazing marriage.  

Well, I was mid-interview process in Maine and finished the process out early August. GUESS WHAT!?!? You guessed it… I GOT THE JOB!!! My new coworkers are amazing, the job is SO great, and WE GOT TO MOVE OFF CAMPUS! I finished out my residence life experience in September after move-in and then began my sweet sweet sweet 8:30-4:30 affair with academic services.  This new position meant a lot to Chad and I in a couple of different ways.  Primarily, it gave us the chance to make a home with our own furniture, decorations, dishwasher and a cozy fireplace.  A home where we could start thinking about starting a family.  We went from our one-kitchen-drawer apartment: To a cuddly multi-drawer condo in less than 4 weeks:

Moving over a block is a story that deserves its own post so I’ll have to write some more about that later.  Our place has been fabulouso … hanging photos, arranging furniture that we own… planting a window box, drinking coffee on our patio in the morning and taking bubble baths. Everything has just been so great, I can’t believe we were missing out on having our own place for so long.

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary at Morton’s where we met the one… the only… PAULA DEEN. Ok so we were eating at Morton’s in one of those booths that forces us to be same-side-sitters and we notice Paula Deen walk up to the booth next to us and she started talking to them.  Chad and I start staring like total weirdos and when she walks by our table, we smile and Chad says “I LOVE YOU!”  Paula says “what?” Chad says “I love you…akdfaskdjf;lakjd” So before Chad goes any further, I said, “We think you’re great it’s so nice to see you…” Chad says, “It’s our anniversary” Paula: “Happy Anniversary Ya’ll!”  and that was that.  We met Paula Deen at Morton’s on our 3rd Anniversary.

ASU Homecoming was a blast as usual.  I got a chance to meet the Wolly Worm:And this year, we were invited to sit in the Chancellor’s Box which was really neat (thank you 3tailer).  Chancellor Peacock was there along with the Provost, various Vice Chancellors and faculty.  They even had custom made Krispy Kreme donuts.  The weather was gorgeous and we were able to take some time to get to the parkway to visit our favorite place, Moses Cone Manor.

Halloween was quickly around the corner and yet again, the guys dressed up as the same exact thing.  Chickens.  I was skeptical at first but actually… it was the best group costume they’ve done yet. I ended up being a chicken farmer… lame, I know, but it fit sort of.  No photos but Moses was Batman and was the cutest Batman EVER!

Thanksgiving went as it usually does, it amazing food and family time in Cherryville.  Maw Maw’s broccoli casserole was so delicious and Chad and I had to be rolled out of the house after eating so much.

Christmas was, as usual, the best holiday season ever.  We decided to not take any trips but to spend some quality time enjoying our still-new home and visiting the family.  We got the biggest Christmas tree ever:

I made a ton of sugar cookies:

We also had a great 3tailer holiday party where Chad and I dressed up like Buddy the Elf (and Jovie) to bring in the holiday season.  We rounded out our 2010 Christmas season in Chapel Hill with the family.  All of our Christmas dreams came true and it even snowed causing us to lose power for an entire day!

We ended up bringing in the new year in an interesting and less-desirable way.  We threw a new years party with our friends on our rooftop terrace and friends of friends showed up who said some not-so-friendly things and it ended poorly.  Needless to say, we will not be throwing any type of party, short of a tea party, any time soon.  Regardless, 2010 was a great year filled with exciting times and amazing people.  2011 has been great so far too and I will really work on updating the posts more often.  Seriously.

<3

Maw Maw Ruby’s Southern Peach Pie Recipe

My husband’s grandmother (Maw Maw) Ruby is quite possibly the best home cook this side of the Blue Ridge.  She is absolutely amazing in the kitchen.  For years, whenever we go to visit, we always leave with a tummy full of some sort of pie and it is fabulous.  One of Chad’s favorite pies of hers is the peach pie and so I have been trying to replicate it for years now.  The first time I tried it was too runny… the second time it was too stiff so this time I actually called her and took note vigorously as she told me the recipe again.  Third time is definitely a charm.  Check out this recipe – it’s mouth watering. 

Ingredients:

(Filling)

1. 1 tbsp Tapioca
2. 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
3. 2 tsp Cinnamon
4. 1 1/2 cup Sugar
5. ½ cup Brown Sugar plus some for sprinkling
6. ¼ cup Butter (diced into small square pieces)
7. Peaches… DUH (check out your local farmer’s market for some good picks)

(Crust)

1. You are always welcome to buy a pre-made crust at the store.  I won’t judge.
2. Here is a good recipe for a nice basic pie crust that I used for this recipe.
3. Note:  You can do whatever you want for the top – you can do a traditional pie top (Thank You Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook) or break out your cookie cutters like I did and make some magic.  I used Martha Stewart’s recipe for Pate Brisee noted below:
   1. 2 1/2 cups all- purpose flower
   2. 1 tsp salt
   3. 2 sticks butter cold, cut into pieces
   4. 1/4 cup ice water

(other stuff)

1. Tin foil to cover pie in oven
2. 1 cup egg wash for crust

How-To:

1. Preheat oven to 425*F
2. Peel peaches gently… clearly I still need some practice with this
3. Cut peaches into smaller  pieces
4. Mix peaches with sugar , cinnamon, vanilla and tapioca.  Let sit at room temperature.
5. Make pie crust (found on page 224 of Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)
   1. Combine flour and salt – pulse to combine.
   2. Add butter and mix until it resembles large crumbs.
   3. Add ice water slowly and mix until the dough holds together without being sticky
   4. Put dough on clean surface and divide in half.
   5. Wrap each halve in plastic wrap and form into a disk shape.
   6. Refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight.
   7. Roll out each disk and form the first one into the desired shape in the baking dish.
6. Apply egg wash to pie crust
7. Pour peach mix into crust
8. Add diced butter into peach mix
9. Top peach mix with a sprinkling of brown sugar
10. Add top crust
11. Egg wash top crust
12. Cover pie with tin foil and bake at 425*F for 15 minutes
13. Lower oven temperature to 350*F for 30 minutes (check the pie periodically … may take a few minutes more or less to finish)
14. Once finished, let cool and serve when ready! (excuse the photos… they were from my husbands cell phone)

This pie is best served with some home made whip cream or cool whip.  Chad posted this photo on facebook and tagged it saying, “marriage is tough”… note the sarcasm.

Enjoy!
<3

Tags: creative crusts, love pie, peach pie recipe, peach recipe, pie crust, southern peach pie

Keurig = Love

You have probably heard of it by now.  The coffee machine that you put a little cup into and press a button and presto! You have yourself a perfectly brewed cup of coffee with no mess and no stress.  That machine would be the Keurig and it is one of the best inventions since the catapult.  Yes.  Catapult.

Keurig is a subsidiary of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and not only do they manufacture the machines but they also provide an assortment of the fantastic K-Cups… we’ll get in to that in a minute.

This sleek and sexy machine will brew piping hot, perfectly portioned beverages all day with the press of a button.  All you have to do is make sure there is enough water in the reservoir, put a K-Cup into the top area, press the handle down, push a button and SHAZAM!  You have yourself an amazing cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate, iced coffee or just a cup of hot water.  Scrumtrulescent.

Here is how it works.  When you press the handle of the Keurig down, it pierces a small hole in the K-Cup and dispenses hot (about 192*F) water through the K-Cup which brews the beverage and dispenses it into the mug.  It’s easy to clean too – just wipe the machine down when needed!

The only regular thing you have to do is something called “de-scale.”  The Keurig will prompt you to de-scale after about 6 months.  It’s nothing to freak out about and the process is generally easy.  The most economic way to de-scale your Keurig is to run a few cups of vinegar through the machine followed by water to clean out the vinegar.  This could potentially leave a vinegary taste so you could also opt to use the Dezcal de-scaling cleaner.  It’s up to you but it’s best to use the Dezcal Cleaner to clean out the Keurig and promote a longer Keurig life!

One of my favorite parts about this glorious machine is the variety of beverages you can make with it.  I recently put in an order through GreatCoffee.com and received my package within 2 days.I ordered some bold coffee, mild coffee, tea and hot chocolate.  I highly recommend this website too – you get free shipping when you order 6+ boxes of K-Cups and they will even schedule to ship your order as often as you want.  I only order about once every 6 months so it works great for me and the prices are cheaper than they are in the stores, not to mention the convenience.

In conclusion, it’s a great machine and makes a great gift.  They have all sorts of models and sizes ranging from desktop models to Keurigs that mount into your counter and attach to your sink!  We have a pretty old model but it works just the same and I’m absolutely in love so I just had to share.  Enjoy!

<3

Tags: green mountain coffee, k-cup coffee machine, k-cups, keurig, keurig coffee machine

Recipe Scrapbook: Perfect Gift

At the bridal showers and engagement parties proceeding our wedding in 2007, some of the best gifts we received were recipe books from family and friends.  I regularly use the shared recipes and tweak them so they suit our taste buds and I can make them my own.  Well now that one of my best friends is getting married in a month, I put some of my scrapbooking skills to use and made a recipe scrapbook for her!  It was actually quite simple and it makes an amazing gift whether the recipient is a cook or not.  The best part of this project is that it is highly customizable – you can add photos, stickers, ribbon, family pictures and whatever else you want.

Here is how I did it…

• Find a cover for your book – I chose this scrapbook cover because it is bound by two rings which will make it easier to use the recipes.  Also, the recipes can be easily taken out of the book if need be AND there is a space in the middle of the cover for the title of the recipe book.
• In the photo above, you have probably noticed the 8×8 page protectors – these are essential.  I purchased a good amount so that recipes can be added easily and my friend can customize this further if she wants.  Page protectors are also good for recipe books so the recipes stay protected while the cooking is going on!
• I have an 8×8 book so I needed 8×8 paper for the foundation of the pages!  I have a crush on pretty scrapbook paper (yes, I would marry it) so I have a ton and oddly enough, I never have exactly what I am looking for.  I also needed plain but colorful card-stock for the Cricut to cut out my decorations and the craft store was having a sale!
• You will also need a paper cutter – this Creative Memories one works great, just make sure you have a sharp blade.
• A tape runner and photo corners are good things to have around for projects like these.
• Here is the fun part – decorations!  Now if you have a Cricut, you can use that to make page decorations, letter and decals which is what I did.  If you don’t have a Cricut thats ok!  Check out the page decorations and stickers that your local craft store has in stock but check the prices, stickers add up fast.
• With the Cricut, I made a bunch of decals with the “From My Kitchen” cartridge that I am going to use to decorate the recipe pages.[I put the cut paper against a window so you could see the different shapes that the Cricut cut out from this cartridge - they are so cute and perfect for this recipe book!
• You have to cut out multiple layers for each image (usually in different colors) and then paste them together for the finished product.  Here is a finished cake for example, I used 3 different colors and pasted the layers together for the end product – perfect for a fancy cake recipe page!
• I took the recipe cards that I found here and placed them randomly on each 8×8 page using photo corners – I didn’t want to paste them on in case my friend wants to write on them or take them out.  The photo corners will keep them in place just fine.

Here is an example of a finished page… cute, original and easy to make.  Of course I had to add the “Recipe for a Happy Marriage”  If I am given an opportunity to be cheesy, I will almost always take advantage of it.For the finishing touches, I made a little something for the cover to personalize the album (thanks Alton Brown for the “good eats”).

All in all, this was a very successful wedding project and gift.  My best bud loved it and hopefully she will love the recipes inside!  I had a blast making this and although it ended up being the same price as a recipe book in the store, it was made with love.

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Tags: cookbooking, recipe book, recipe for a happy marriage, recipe scrapbook, scrap cookbook, scrapbook

Container Garden: Update

So far so good!  I ended up removing the trellis netting and putting tomato supports in for each plant and I also re-potted them into larger pots so they could continue growing.  The trellis netting is a great support for plants but I don’t think it is made for containers – I think it would be best in an actual garden… in the ground… with more than 10″ of surface area.  I plan on holding on to the rest of the netting to use when I grow up someday but for now, the plants seem to be working well with the tomato supports.  I have been watering them once a day – twice if it is over 100* (which has been pretty often) and making sure that they are fertilized once every few weeks.

I have a tomato and a cucumber which is TOTALLY awesome!  The plants are still blooming too which leads me to believe that there is potential for even more produce.  I am really excited about all of this and I plan on making the best cucumber & tomato salad the world has ever seen with my first official home-grown vegetables.

I’ll keep ya posted!

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