Spring cleanin' and fixin'

...so um, yeah. Been busy these days. The horrible skunk encounter started a cleaning frenzy...(doesn't everything smell better when bleached?)

It took a good week or so to get that smell out of my house (or nostrils). I swear I can still smell skunk when I step out onto the deck. Ugh. Hope that's gone before Jacob's graduation party in June.

Needless to say, I've been in a purging/cleaning/freshening/fixing mood and I started with our sunroom. I should have taken some before pictures. I always forget about doing that for some reason.

I've been shopping inside of my own house. (Taking stuff from other rooms and giving them a new place of importance.)I dunno, it's a cheap way to reinvent my decor. I'm also known as the "huffing queen" since anything can be repurposed with a fresh can of spraypaint. So everything old is new again...at least in my house.

I will start taking pictures to document this disaster area I call home. Hopefully it all comes together and gives me some sense of accomplishment. I really need that right now. Just knowing I can make a change and make a difference is therapeutic for me. Something in my world I can control the outcome of...in the words of Martha Stewart..."it's a good thing."

Random Ramblings

Tonight my dog Duke got sprayed by a skunk again for the second time in his life. Ugh. It's always around midnight or so when he decides he needs to run outside and track down whatever wild thing that just happens to be wandering through our (fenced in?) yard. How on earth we can have bunnies, possums,skunks,racoons, and mallard ducks (in addition to our resident squirrels) when we have a fenced in yard in the middle of the township? Okay, I know they all can climb, fly, or slip in between the narrowest cracks in an old fence...(I did read the tale of Peter Rabbit, ya know)... but I digress.

Needless to say, I was scrubbing my pooch with Dawn dishwashing soap and baking soda at midnight.


Spring where are you? These daffodils from Sheila give me hope for spring...

The panful of paczki I made at 3 am on Fat Tuesday...

Bavarian creme filled...

Raspberry filled...

Ever since we have lived in this house (since February 1995), our next door neighbor Vickie introduced us to the Polish tradition of eating Paczki on Fat Tuesday. (pronounced poonch-key.) That first year, she sent over a plate of the deep fried treats and a tradition was born in our family. Year after year our family looked forward to them...

Until one year Vickie told me she was not going to make them because she was getting too old...You see, she was probably around 96 years old... that day I cleared my calendar and went next door on a mission.

I told Vickie I was her student and she was going to teach me how to make Paczki so I could carry on her tradition. She was so thrilled to have the company and the opportunity to teach a young mother her craft... it was a day I will always cherish. Shortly thereafter she moved into a nursing home and passed away at the age of 98.

Now, every year my kids anticipate the arrival of Lent with the Fat Tuesday tradition of making (and eating) Paczki. I think of that day as I wait for the balls of dough to rise; as I drop them into the hot grease...I remember Vickie in my heart and think how proud she would have been of me.

...the funny thing about traditions is that your kids will hold you to them.

Josh called me and asked me to go with him on his spring break to Chicago. This meant that Tuesday was going to be spent on the train.

"Of course", he said, "you could always make sure you make Paczki on Monday before we leave so I can eat them on the train."

So after I put together all of Jake and Pat's lunches for Tuesday thru Thursday, I dug out my recipe and waited for it to rise...

...and the rest is history.

Oh, and by the way...Chicago was a blast. It was great to spend time with Jen and Patrick and Josh. I came back home with a renewed and rested mind, although it only lasted a day. Pshaw.

Artistic Expression or Do I need to get a life?

It's the month of March...a time for shamrocks and leprechauns...and of course in my little cupcake world, it's time for St. Patty's Day cupcake liners and shamrock sprinkles. It just goes without saying...


But then again...there's an artist inside of me just dying to get out. And since I cannot draw or paint anything other than a wall, I decided to create a crazy cupcake to make Jake and Pat laugh when they open their "cupcake pod" at lunch.


I call it, "Eat your Vegetables"... Don't they look like REAL VEGGIES?


The veggies are actually edible and are made out of fruit tootsie rolls...And this is what you need to do it.

The flavor of cupcake doesn't matter...but just so ya know...this one is a white cupcake with raspberry filling pumped into it. (one of my favorites) Frost the cupcake with a Wilton tip #22. (I just happened to have lime green frosting leftover from a birthday cake I made for a friend this morning.) Anyways...Unwrap a green frootie (toostie roll).With your kitchen scissors, cut halfway down (lengthwise) and then again so you have a green base with four "legs". Gently pull the "legs" apart and separate. With the Wilton tip #22, pipe a round blob of frosting at the tip of each leg. Immediately spoon the dark green sprinkles over the blobs of frosting. Gently place the piece of candy broccoli on the top of the frosted cupcake. Next, unwrap an orange and a yellow frootie. This time cut all the way through lengthwise and once again so you have four pieces. Then cut each piece so they look like carrots and corn pieces. Throw in a few green skittles and voila- you have the sweetest VEGGIES ever...

And before you think, "gosh the girl really needs to get a life...Why on earth would she go through all that bother?"

Don't think I haven't asked myself that very same question on numerous occasions. I've concluded that I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to express my artistic self...thankful that I have people who appreciate the "little things" I do. A husband who has people at work checking out his lunch on a daily basis. (this cracks me up.) Jake's lunch is the topic of conversation at school with his friends and teachers. Daughters who are constantly watching and learning fun things to do with food and using their creative side to make people happy with their many talents. Even though they are all grown men and women...I am still teaching them little life lessons. Thoughtfulness is a gift. Little things matter. Pay it forward.

Peace out.

I just realized I started my day frosting a birthday cake I made for my friend and ended my day baking cupcakes for lunches. hmmm...maybe I DO need to get a life?