Updating your Address Book for the New 2014 Year

If your like me, the holidays tend to wipe me out so if you want to start a small project, why don't you start with updating your address book!  Pop in a movie for the kids or have them play with their new Christmas toys in your family room. Get in your comfy chair, grab a nice warm blanket and some delicious hot cocoa. 

 

Now that you're all set up. Let's update our address book!  Still scribbling in an old address book? Perhaps this is the year that you invest in a shiny new planner or build a computerized address book for the first time.  I'm in love with www.Iheartorganizing.blogspot.com 

Jennifer has wonderful tips on getting your home, life and other important things in life organized. She has printable personalized calendars for your crazy life. She has an amazing selection of wonderful designs. You can even create a household notebook, or even a family organizer. They are darling, colorful, whimsical..... PERFECT!!  

You can see all of her designs at www.etsy.com/shop/IHeartOrganizing 

I'm in love with her work!  I actually gave IHeartOrganizing calendars out as beautiful Christmas gifts to my busy family member. So I guess you can say, "I'm everyone's favorite right now! 

Yay me....

Let's begin!  Sit down with a planner or computer, and that big box of holiday greeting cards you just got from family and friends this holiday season. You may read to your heart's content, but you must make note of new addresses.

Star any names whose holiday cards were returned because of an incorrect address. During the year to come, be on the lookout for a new address. 

Friends are too important to lose for want of an address!

Double-check telephone numbers. Make a note of new FAX numbers. 

E-mail addresses make it easy to keep in touch with friends --- so note them in your address book. 

Christmas cards contain lots of valuable information. You'll never again bumble and stumble over the telephone, desperately trying to remember what an old school friend named her newest baby, if you add a line for "Children:" listing names and birth dates of those precious little ones.

Make special note of those who've lost family members in the last year. Erasing the "Mr. and . . ." part of an address is a sad chore, but a misaddressed card from an out-of-touch friend can create a small but intense freshet of grief for the newly bereaved.

This year I'm doing something very new!  I've started a list of "Letters to Send", sparked by those cards or letters that move you to respond as you read. This year one of my New Years Resolution will be writing just one letter a week for the next year, you can treat over 50 of your friends and family to a special gift --- an unexpected letter from you, written at leisure and just because you want to!  

Schedule weekly letter-writing to tighten the ties that bind you to loved ones.  If once a week is to much, what about once a month. That's just twelve letters to friends or loved one for the year. I'm sure you know twelve wonderful people who would be delighted to receive a special letter in the mail. Think about this.... How would you feel to get a letter from a childhood friend or a special family member. I know how I would feel, my heart would melt! 

While you're organizing your address book, think about the last five or ten times you looked up phone numbers in the phone book. Pizza delivery, a child's school, donation center, a volunteer co-worker? 

Add just those five or ten listings to your address book to save time and energy in the coming year.

Remember, we want you to have fun, be relaxed and ready for 2014!!! 

Happy New Year! 

Getting Organized for the New Year 2014

Organizing the Clothes Closet:

The first thing you should do is invest in good hangers. You might not be able to get all of the hangers because of the expense. Thanks okay!  Just do it slowly over time and eventually, you can replace all your white plastic hangers with felt or wooden ones.  I use wooden skirt hangers but for everything else, I use the felt/velvet covered ones.  Your clothes don’t slip off and your clothes are less prone to wrinkle.  I bought mine at HSN.com but you can find them at Walmart, Amazon.com or T.J. Maxx for pretty cheap. 

Distinguish clothing and shoes that you wear and items that you need to get rid of. You can do this by the golden rule of closet organizing: If you haven't worn it in a year, toss it. 

Immediately fold these unwearables and place them in a box for charity.

I go through my closet and my children's closet every year and give many things away that haven't been worn. It really helps to have an organized closet.  You might think about buying a few closet boxes for your closet. A great store is the  containerstore.com 

The next step in organize a closet is by season, cold-weather/summer clothing.  Then I coordinate outfits when everything is grouped by color. Brown and beige slacks are grouped with warmer colors while black slacks are grouped with cooler blues and grays. It actually makes it easier and faster to get ready in the morning. It helps to have purses and shoes divided in the same way. This grouping of color gives the closet a much less cluttered look, even if I haven't removed that much stuff.

Tackling Paper Clutter in the Home Office:

The first step to a tidy up desk space is keeping only those supplies that are used daily on the desk. The rest should be put in a nearby storage cabinet. Paper is an obvious problem in any home office. Take this opportunity to shred any documents that aren't needed for tax purposes.

It's also a good idea to sort incoming mail daily. Any junk mail can be thrown out immediately, and other mail should be read and addressed immediately. Don't put it in a pile for later or it will grow uncontrollably until it takes over any available horizontal space.

Getting the Garage In Order:

Finally, it's on to the garage. My husband spend a lot of time in our garage working on all kinds of outdoor projects, fixing honey-do items, yard work etc. He does a great job keeping it pretty tidy and organized. Listed below are great things he has done to make our garage a great place to work in!

To free up floor space, invest in a number of wall panels that use a variety of hooks and baskets. With such a system it's easy to hang bicycles, sports equipment, garden tools and ladders. This isn't cheep but it's well worth it in the end. It's a breath of fresh air for to come home to organized garage instead of chaos. It gets your evening started on the right foot: organization, less stress and relaxation.  Beside your neighbor will thank you for it! They don't like looking in your garage and seeing a mess up to your ceiling. Trust me......

Buckets are a great organizational tool in the garage. One bucket can hold rags, sponges and car care products. Another can be home for gardening paraphernalia: gloves, trowel and clippers.

One storage area that is frequently overlooked in a garage is the 3 or 4 feet just below the ceiling. Easily create storage for seasonal decorations or other items that are infrequently used by installing shelving at this level around the perimeter of the garage.

I hope this helps and gets your 2014 off in the right direction!

Happy New Year! 

Decorating Pumpkins

For a elegant look purchase a few pumpkins, garland, berries and fall ribbon. Stack pumpkins on top of each other. In between the pumpkins layer with garland, berries and ribbon. Very simply yet elegant. 

Bailey's Shake

Bailey's Shake

1 cup vanilla ice cream

1/4 cup hot fudge syrup or chocolate syrup

3/4 cup milk

Bailey's Cream

Directions:

Pour all ingredients (Bailey's to taste) into a blender and purée for several seconds or smooth. Pour in a glass and top with whipping cream. Serve immediately. 

Pumpkin Pie Dip

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 
• Garnishes: ground cinnamon, cinnamon sticks 
• Directions:
• Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add pie filling, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and ginger, beating well. Cover and chill 8 hours. Serve with graham crackers, gingersnaps and apple or pear slices. Garnish, if desired.

Chipotle & Rosemary Spiced Nuts

Chipotle & Rosemary Spiced Nuts
Serves 8 to 10

I love roasted nuts in the fall. I'll whip up a batch of these really delicious nuts. They're sweet, salty, and spicy--with lots of brown sugar, maple syrup, chipotle powder, and fresh rosemary. Roasting is the process that brings out the most flavor in nuts, and serving them warm is a particularly nice touch.

Vegetable oil
3 cups whole roasted unsalted cashews (14 ounces)
2 cups whole walnut halves (7 ounces)
2 cups whole pecan halves (7 ounces)
1/2 cup whole almonds (3 ounces)
1⁄3 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons ground chipotle powder
4 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves, divided
Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Brush a sheet pan generously with vegetable oil. Combine the cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, the maple syrup, brown sugar, orange juice, and chipotle powder on the sheet pan. Toss to coat the nuts evenly. Add 2 tablespoons of the rosemary and 2 teaspoons of salt and toss again.

Spread the nuts in one layer. Roast the nuts for 25 minutes, stirring twice with a large metal spatula, until the nuts are glazed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with 2 more teaspoons of salt and the remaining 2 tablespoons of rosemary.

Toss well and set aside at room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking as they cool. Taste for seasoning. Serve warm or cool completely and store in airtight containers at room temperature.

Cinnamon Cinnabon Cake

Cinnamon Cinnabon Cake

For the Cakes:

3 cup flour plus 2 Tbsp, divided

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp cinnamon

For the Icing:

2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

   

Instructions:

For the cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 8inch cake pans, lining the bottom with parchment paper.

In mixer, blend 3 cup flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, milk, eggs, vanilla and 1/4 cup melted butter. Divide batter evenly between cake pans.

In another mixing bowl, beat 1 cup butter with brown sugar, 2 Tbsp flour, and cinnamon. Continue to beat until fully blended and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Using two tablespoons, drop butter mixture onto cake batter. Use a knife to swirl.

Bake cakes for about 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pans 10 minutes. Flip cakes out onto serving plates.

For icing, whisk the powdered sugar with 1/4 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Drizzle over warmed cakes. Enjoy!

Garlic-Parmesan Cheese Pull Apart Bread [Using Rhodes Frozen Yeast Rolls]

Garlic-Parmesan Cheese Pull Apart Bread [Using Rhodes Frozen Yeast Rolls]

16 frozen white dinner rolls [I used Rhodes]

1/2 cup [1 stick] butter, melted
2/3 plus 1/4 cup grated Parmesan-Romano cheese [divided]
1 tsp dry parsley flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried basil/Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp onion powder

Directions:
Remove the frozen dinner rolls from the freezer and place onto a plate.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to sit on the counter for 30-45 minutes or so, until the rolls have thawed enough to cut.

Place the rolls onto a cutting board, and using a sharp knife, cut each roll into quarters. 

Melt one stick of butter in the microwave, stir the melted butter and seasonings together until blended.

Add the quartered rolls to the butter, and toss gently to coat.  Bread dough is sticky, so, you may need to use your hands to gently pull the pieces apart if necessary.  You don't want the dough to form clumps, or it will effect how it bakes.  This is really the only way to mess-up this recipe....very important!  Next, add 2/3 cup of grated Parmesan-Romano cheese reserving the rest for the top.  Toss until each piece is coated.

You can bake this bread in any shape you like. 

Layer the dough quarters evenly in a standard 9x3x2 inch loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray.  The dough pieces naturally stick together due to the butter and cheese, but, gently pull apart any clumps of dough.  We want to be certain the bread bakes evenly.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese on top and a sprinkle of parsley for color.  Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  This will keep the bread from sticking to the plastic wrap as it rises.  

Allow to rise in a draft free, warm place for 2-2 1/2 hours. Then, remove the plastic wrap, and place into a 350°F preheated oven.

Bake at 350°F for 18 minutes, then check the top.  If baking in a loaf, you may need to lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the bread to prevent the cheese and butter on top from over browning while the inside of the loaf fully bakes.  Continue to bake the bread for another 5-7 minutes,  until the center is completely done. Approximately, 23-25 minutes total, depending on your oven.  Test the center of the rolls using a cake tester, or toothpick to be certain the bread is cooked all the way through before removing it from the oven.  

Yield: one loaf  or 16 servings [4 pieces]

If you're someone who loves for all of the rolls to have that crispy golden top,  bake the bread in a round 9 inch spring form or pie pan.  Follow the same preparation method and bake for around 22-24 minutes until golden and cooked through.  
   
Additional baking options:
Bundt pan
Divide the dough between 2 loaf pans
Individual size in standard muffin cups [4 pieces in each]
8x8 baking dish
9 inch round spring form or pie pan
8 inch tart pan

 

Fun Fall Activities

While I love the warmth of the summer sun, I also love when the leaves all start to turn into beautiful orange tones. It is this season in particular that makes me think of my family. I think that is because we had a lot of fun on the weekends doing traditional fall activities.

So, to kick off the season, below are some of my favorite things to do in the fall:

Apple Picking – It’s always fun to spend the afternoon with your kids at local apple farm. Apple picking is a great all-weekend activity.  When I was younger, my family would spend Saturdays picking apples and then we would get together on Sunday to make apple pies and candied apples, while we enjoyed some warm apple cider.

Visit a pumpkin patch - As Halloween approaches, it is always fun to get together to pick the perfect  pumpkin(s) to decorate your home or front step.  And, while you are there, make sure to take a hay ride throughout the field.

Have a pumpkin carving party - Once you have your pumpkins, get together with friends and family and have a pumpkin carving party.  You can even make it a formal event with cute Halloween invitations. 

Watch Football - If you are not a fan of the cooler weather or just feel like a relaxing afternoon at home, why not enjoy a game a football with your friends and family?  Hold a potluck or make healthy yummy tailgating snacks for your guests while you cheer on your favorite team.

Ghosts, Gobblins.... OH MY....

I love this time of year.  What does fall mean to you?  To me, it's the start of cooler weather... leaves turning in to the beauiful colors of red, yellow and orange... it's a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice latte... the first fire in the fireplace...wearing my favorite boots and sweaters... watching football with my love... baking some of our favorite family recipes... It's watching the kids run and play with the crunch of the beautiful leaves... decorating our house with all of the wondrful fall decorations I've collected over the years... Fall is "EVERYTHING TO ME"...... It just "GETS IN TO MY SOUL"....

One of my favorite things to bake during this time of year is my grandmother's Banana bread.  When I was little I would help her make it every year.  I loved helping her in the kitchen, listening to stories when she was a little girl.  Enjoy!

Grandmother's Banana Bread

3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 3-4)
1 3/4 cups unsifted flour
1 t. vanilla
1 t. soda
1 t. salt
1/2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven 325 degrees.  Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.  In a mixing bowl,combine butter, sugar and eggs.  Beat until smooth and creamy.
Add all remaining ingredients, stirring with a wooden spoon, until well blended.
Pour mixture in to  prepared loaf pan. 
Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Do not over bake.

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