photos

The spices



Here are some photos of before and after challenge of the pantry and spice cupboard.  I am still working on the basement, but it is promising.





The pantry



I have to laugh at the pantry before and after pictures.  While cleaning it, I took everything out, I washed down the shelves and rearranged some items to that is was grouped better.  I like how it is organized now.  But when my sweet husband looked at the pictures, he liked how the "before" picture looked better than that "after." Well, at least I tried....

I did complete challenge #1, of cleaning off the kitchen counters, but alas, the pictures are missing. (We have had computer/internet issues the last little bit and it ain't groovy.) Next up is the refrigerator and freezer challenge for the week.  And bring it on! I am ready.

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Of another note, we just finished up the last of our tomatoes from our garden.  Every fall, I pull up some plants and hang them upside down in our barn.  They are able to ripen with some protection from the frost.  YUM!! YUM!! Next year I will take pictures to post so you see how it is done.

An organized kitchen and fresh tomatoes in January, is, my friends,

being organized

Being organized..........well, what can I say?  it's a struggle for me.  HUGE struggle.  It always has been. Probably always will be. 

I have been better in recent years. But it is still a struggle. I am a pile person and really, am more interested in other things-- gardening and flowers in the summer, reading, internet, playing with Miss M, cooking, the list can go on and on--pretty much anything except housework, especially organizing the house!

I think, though, there is hope for me.  I recently came across this blog,  Home Storage Solutions 101. Most of the time, websites like this overwhelm me. And I don't spend more than 3 nano-seconds at them.  But what caught my eye, was the 52 weeks to an organized home challenge.  The idea behind this is that you take a whole year to organize your house.  I could do that.  This challenge started at the first of the year, so I am 2 weeks behind.  But I can catch up.  (Besides, I looked at the whole list and there are a few areas I am quite proficient in and can use that time to catch us.)

I will also try to post some before and after pictures on my blog.  Are you interested?  Do you want to accept the challenge with me???

Because, my friends, having an organized home is:

Holiday yams

Once upon a time, my father, wanted to add to our holiday meals.  He remembered his mother's delicious yams and so he called her for the recipe.  She hadn't cooked the yams in years and could only remember that there was brown sugar on the cut up yams.

This turned into a 30 year quest for the perfect recipe that his mother used to make.

One year his concoction became alive. I am not sure what he combined in the skillet, but the more he cooked it, the bigger the sauce became.  After a few minutes, it would grow, expand and erupt with one big bubble...like a slow boil.  He took it off the stove top, but it still continued to grow.  He took the skillet out to the garage and it, truly, was still growing. Needless to say, we didn't eat candied yams that year. 

Many years and multiple recipes later, it became the family joke. What would he do with the yams at this years' Thanksgiving?

Well, this year, He did it!  His mother's long lost recipe was found and once again returned to the recipe files of the family.   He claims he had vision in a dream...or was it a dream in a vision.... well, either way he woke up with the idea that the yams and brown sugar were joined by some butter for perfection.  And in this moment of revelation, he came to realize that he could search the internet for the perfect recipe!  After hours of searching recipe (and pictures because it had to look right!) of candied yams, he found the holy grail!! 

And we ate many delicious candied yams at Thanksgiving, knowing that this was the beginning of many years of delicious yams! 

And, that, my friends, is 

Food

   Today I placed my order for food through the Community Food Co-op of Utah. 

 

   My first introduction to the Community Food Co-op of Utah was through a newspaper article about a year ago.  Hmmm.... fresh quality food, local vendors, and cheaper prices, it all sounded intriging.  So I cut our the article and put it in my "things to do" pile.  

   I would re-read the article. I would ponder.  The article sat in the pile for a few months. And then I tried it out! Oh!! Why did I wait so long?? The program is perfect for our small family.  Some of the other co-ops I read about seemed to only offer massive amount of food and I worried much would go to waste. I like that we can order a small amount or big on individual items.

   I love the fresh fruit and vegetables.  They are always a delight, especially in the winter.  We have also enjoyed the meat, bread, honey and I have evene ordered natural peanut butter that has become a new favorite of mine.  The selections are constantly inproving and expanding and I am anxious to see what this next year will bring.

     
   I find myself ordering half the time through the traditional way of an order form and check sent through the mail.  The other half, I  order online.  Their website has improved a lot the last few months and now it is a snap to order quickly and securely.  There are several pick up places in the bigger cities of Utah.  It is mostly available along the Wasatch Front, but it is spreading with pick up places in Heber City, Nephi, Tooele and Harrisville. And for you in Salt Lake City, they have several mobile markets during the month. 

   Their website is:  https://foodco-op.net/   They can also be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Crossroads-Community-Food-Co-op-of-Utah/196614825967?sk=info

   For my friends in Northern Utah, I hope you try them out.  The next order needs to be in Friday, January 6th with the delivery of food on January 21st.

Fresh quality food while supporting the locals, THAT my friends, is

I'm Back....

YEAH!! After almost 3 weeks, we have phone, internet and TV service again.  I am so, so, soooooo, happy. We did borrow our neighbor's cell during this time, but it was sometimes a funny sight with how my husband and I used the cell....it took us 2-1/2 weeks to figure out how to answer the phone. We never figured out how to retrieve messages from the cell.  But oh well. Some day we may get a cell of our own...but for now we choose to spend the money else where.

And the internet....you are like a long lost friend.  (Sure, I use the internet at work everyday---many times a day in fact, but almost all of my favorite sites are blocked--like blogs, YouTube and Facebook.)  It is nice to have you back in my life.  But my internet friend, I have realized that I tend to spend too much time with you and I have other things I want to do. 

My dearest cable friend, we got you for the World Cup, and now we remembered and found the old antenna with a digital converter box works fine, thank you very much.  I will miss my money shows on Saturday night, Suzi Orman and 'Til Debt Do Us Part.  That is true.  And reruns at 3am when I can't sleep are a delight.  But we want to spend the money elsewhere.  Please don't fret!  My husband guarantess that, you cable, will be back with the coming of the next World Cup!!

Why were we without service for so long?? Well, Northern Utah, where we live, had a terrible, intense wind storm a few weeks ago. Branches fell, trees were uprooted, fences collapsed and shingles were carried away. Many big branches of our neighbors' pine tree snapped and fell. And as they fell, they took our out our cable line which gave us access to phone, internet and cable. My husband's work and my work were both canceled by 9:30am that day due to power outages.  Our power at our house was out until about 8pm that evening.   I didn't get any pictures of our messes, but here are a website with some great pictures: http://www.standard.net/slideshows/2011/12/01/high-winds-cause-damage-all-over-northern-utah

We ended up switching services for phone and internet.  And without cable, we will be saving over $60 and yet our needs and wants are still fulfilled.

And that, my friends, is: