Just discovered this video. Amazing!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Good Customer Service
I love hearing good customer service stories. Just discovered this one after trying to find somewhere to complain about another company. Reminds me that I should be letting others know about the good things employees do as well.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Fun Product Reviews
A few years ago someone linked me to the The Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee reviews on Amazon. Had to read them to my family and we died laughing. I almost ordered all the men in my family the shirt for Christmas just because of the reviews.
Now others have share the following links with me. Loved the Ice Cubes one. Hope you like them too.
Ice Cubes recipe
Uranium ore
Tuscan Whole Milk
Wheelmate Laptop Steering Wheel Desk
How To Avoid Huge Ships
Playmobil Security Check Point
Now others have share the following links with me. Loved the Ice Cubes one. Hope you like them too.
Ice Cubes recipe
Uranium ore
Tuscan Whole Milk
Wheelmate Laptop Steering Wheel Desk
How To Avoid Huge Ships
Playmobil Security Check Point
Thursday, August 9, 2012
lemon-Zucchini Loaf
I found the recipe for Lemon-Zucchini Loaf with this pin.
Lately I've had a hug craving for lemon. Maybe not lately, but for at least the last couple of years. When I saw the Lemon Zucchini Loaf I knew it was one I would want to make.
I pulled out my hand dandy lemon zester for this. I love my Williams-Sonoma Microplane Ultimate Citrus Tool. It's not the first tool I've had for zesting lemons. Some just didn't work well. Some fell apart. When I saw this one I thought it was spendy, but just might work so I got it. And it does!
Then I thought I had run into a problem. No buttermilk! Normally I would use a little vinegar and regular milk to make a buttermilk substitution, but I was really trying to stick to the recipe. Then I remembered I had buttermilk powder, similar to powdered milk. So I used that. Just for your info - you can also freeze small amounts of buttermilk if you find you can never use all of it at once.
The first loaf was pretty brown at 40 minutes and the center was no where close to done. I covered the top with tin goil and cooked some more. And some more. I ended up cooking it for about an hour and 5 minutes
The second loaf I turned down the heat to 325 degrees and things worked much better. This time the top browned when it should. Strangely it took the same amount of time to cook. You can blame that on user error I'm sure.
Then came the glaze. I was a little concerned with it. It just seemed to have too little liquid. Nope. It was just right to make a glaze. After the first loaf though I wanted more glaze so with the second loaf I made 1 1/2 recipes of glaze. That was too much. Next time I'll do 1 1/4.
Rex and I both liked it. The kids were ho hum about it. Citrus really isn't a kid's favorite though.
Verdict: Would make this again, but make sure the heat is down and add a little more glaze
Verdict on my own variation: The original recipe was better. Using the applesauce made this a little cloying so I wouldn't use that. I would use the whole wheat - but then I like a heavier bread.
Lately I've had a hug craving for lemon. Maybe not lately, but for at least the last couple of years. When I saw the Lemon Zucchini Loaf I knew it was one I would want to make.
Then I thought I had run into a problem. No buttermilk! Normally I would use a little vinegar and regular milk to make a buttermilk substitution, but I was really trying to stick to the recipe. Then I remembered I had buttermilk powder, similar to powdered milk. So I used that. Just for your info - you can also freeze small amounts of buttermilk if you find you can never use all of it at once.
The first loaf was pretty brown at 40 minutes and the center was no where close to done. I covered the top with tin goil and cooked some more. And some more. I ended up cooking it for about an hour and 5 minutes
Rex and I both liked it. The kids were ho hum about it. Citrus really isn't a kid's favorite though.
Verdict: Would make this again, but make sure the heat is down and add a little more glaze
Verdict on my own variation: The original recipe was better. Using the applesauce made this a little cloying so I wouldn't use that. I would use the whole wheat - but then I like a heavier bread.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Cheesy Zucchini Rice
Today's pin is Cheesy Zucchini Rice from http://bunsinmyoven.com.
I'd been eyeing this recipe for awhile. It just sounded tasty to me. And easy. And well, you know how much I like quick and easy to prepare foods. I liked this as well because it combines some protein with a starch and veggie all in one pan.
Things went alright till I needed to add the zucchini. Have I told you how much I wish recipes would give me the cups or pounds amount and not what size zucchini to use? Well, yes I have, but I'm doing it again. So I used 1 medium zucchini and that was approximately 3 1/2 cups and I'm wondering a little bit if that was too much. I don't think that you should really say that there are too many veggies, but I had a few problems with the amount...I think.
After you cook the rice you are supposed to remove it from heat and then add the zucchini and cheese etc. Then you cover it and let sit. Now I didn't expect to have very soft zucchini after this point, but it just didn't seemed cooked enough and I wonder if it is because my zucchini was too big of a medium and that made it so it didn't cook well enough. So I put the pot on the heat for a bit longer and cooked till the zucchini was more tender.
After trying it, I also felt there wasn't enough cheese compared to the zucchini and rice so I added about a cup more. Everyone agreed with the addition, well everyone who doesn't claim to dislike cheese even though he likes cheese sandwiches, pizza, quesadillas...
I generally don't put salt in dishes like this. I prefer everyone to salt it like they want. I notice we useless salt this way in general. We all salted ours and then Rex remembered that we had just bought some specialty salt - smoked salt. When we were done eating our first serving we each got a small serving more and added the smoked salt. Yowsa! This upped the flavor by a long shot and we instantly thought of bacon. We all liked the rice (3 thumbs up and 2 OKs) , but with the addition of this salt we really liked it.
Verdict: the recipe really needs a more specific zucchini amount. If I did have the right amount of zucchini it needed to be cooked softer - for this recipe. It would be a good side dish to grilled chicken.
I'd been eyeing this recipe for awhile. It just sounded tasty to me. And easy. And well, you know how much I like quick and easy to prepare foods. I liked this as well because it combines some protein with a starch and veggie all in one pan.
Things went alright till I needed to add the zucchini. Have I told you how much I wish recipes would give me the cups or pounds amount and not what size zucchini to use? Well, yes I have, but I'm doing it again. So I used 1 medium zucchini and that was approximately 3 1/2 cups and I'm wondering a little bit if that was too much. I don't think that you should really say that there are too many veggies, but I had a few problems with the amount...I think.
After you cook the rice you are supposed to remove it from heat and then add the zucchini and cheese etc. Then you cover it and let sit. Now I didn't expect to have very soft zucchini after this point, but it just didn't seemed cooked enough and I wonder if it is because my zucchini was too big of a medium and that made it so it didn't cook well enough. So I put the pot on the heat for a bit longer and cooked till the zucchini was more tender.
After trying it, I also felt there wasn't enough cheese compared to the zucchini and rice so I added about a cup more. Everyone agreed with the addition, well everyone who doesn't claim to dislike cheese even though he likes cheese sandwiches, pizza, quesadillas...
I generally don't put salt in dishes like this. I prefer everyone to salt it like they want. I notice we useless salt this way in general. We all salted ours and then Rex remembered that we had just bought some specialty salt - smoked salt. When we were done eating our first serving we each got a small serving more and added the smoked salt. Yowsa! This upped the flavor by a long shot and we instantly thought of bacon. We all liked the rice (3 thumbs up and 2 OKs) , but with the addition of this salt we really liked it.
Verdict: the recipe really needs a more specific zucchini amount. If I did have the right amount of zucchini it needed to be cooked softer - for this recipe. It would be a good side dish to grilled chicken.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Zucchini Brownies
Zucchini Brownies from http://mommyimhungry.blogspot.com was the pin for this post.
Tonight was Family Home Evening. We gather every Monday night (or another night as needed) as a family and have prayers, songs, lessons, and calendar planning. We each take turns giving the lesson, leading the music etc. It gives everyone the opportunity to grow in each area. It is important to us so we don't let a lot of things take priority over it.
For the kids one of the best parts is the treats served afterwards. As you can imagine the treat job is coveted. I'm not especially fond of chocolate, but the other 4 members of my family are so 4 out of 5 weeks we usually have something chocolate.
It was Gavin's turn this week. When he said he wanted brownies I knew just what zucchini recipe I would be doing today. Zucchini brownies. Gavin, of course didn't like the idea at all. So I told him if the brownies didn't measure up then he could make cookies afterwards.
If you are doing the treat that means you also get to make it. He greased and floured the pan on his own.
Then in a large bowl you are supposed to add the oil, sugar etc. When I turned around he had added the oil to the pan. I really didn't want to clean out the pan and start over so we carefully poured it into the mixing bowl. It was a pretty good oil slick in that pan, but we got out as much as we could and this time didn't bother to re-flour it.
I was grateful for the added warning that the "batter" will be "dry and crumbly". As we mixed it I could see that it wasn't going to get much like batter at all.
Both of us were a little bit worried looking at it in the pan. Gavin even asked me about it and I let him know that this is what it is supposed to look like and we both hoped that was so.
The good news is I love pecans. Two family members are not so fond of them. It was easy to sprinkle some pecans at one end of the pan and then just kind of spoon them over into the mix.
If I set the timer on my stove for the longest time on a recipe things usually come out just right. This time it wasn't done yet. It took another 7-8 minutes. It was hard to tell if it was done as it looked as crumbly afterward as it did before. I was a little worried, but I didn't not say anything as I didn't want to be making cookies just because my big open mouth gave Gavin the idea these weren't good enough.
We found there wasn't enough powdered sugar in the frosting. It was very runny and wasn't sweet enough to our taste so while mixing it we added another cup of powdered sugar. It still poured very easily over the top of the brownies.
Now, we were ready to see if these were going to be fall apart crumbles or a good brownie that sticks together. We found them to be sort of in between. They did stick together, but weren't the thick brownie you sometimes see. I should have pressed the crumbles down a little more I think. So...they were pretty much perfect for us.
There were no thumbs down or just OKs on this brownie recipe. We had a firm 4 1/2 thumbs up (Gavin's thumb was at a diagonal). He kept reaching into the pan and getting more pieces though so we said it really was a thumbs up for all of us. Until that is, Brady discovered that if Gavin didn't like them we would also make cookies. Then he immediately changed to a thumbs down and tried to get Gavin to do the same. It was too late though. Even I, the confessed not so much for chocolate person, really liked them. We even had several saying the frosting was especially good.
Verdict: Almost perfect recipe. Our only change would be added the powdered sugar to the frosting. I suspect though, my dark chocolate lover husband would have preferred it without the added sugar.
Tonight was Family Home Evening. We gather every Monday night (or another night as needed) as a family and have prayers, songs, lessons, and calendar planning. We each take turns giving the lesson, leading the music etc. It gives everyone the opportunity to grow in each area. It is important to us so we don't let a lot of things take priority over it.
For the kids one of the best parts is the treats served afterwards. As you can imagine the treat job is coveted. I'm not especially fond of chocolate, but the other 4 members of my family are so 4 out of 5 weeks we usually have something chocolate.
It was Gavin's turn this week. When he said he wanted brownies I knew just what zucchini recipe I would be doing today. Zucchini brownies. Gavin, of course didn't like the idea at all. So I told him if the brownies didn't measure up then he could make cookies afterwards.
Then in a large bowl you are supposed to add the oil, sugar etc. When I turned around he had added the oil to the pan. I really didn't want to clean out the pan and start over so we carefully poured it into the mixing bowl. It was a pretty good oil slick in that pan, but we got out as much as we could and this time didn't bother to re-flour it.
I was grateful for the added warning that the "batter" will be "dry and crumbly". As we mixed it I could see that it wasn't going to get much like batter at all.
Both of us were a little bit worried looking at it in the pan. Gavin even asked me about it and I let him know that this is what it is supposed to look like and we both hoped that was so.
The good news is I love pecans. Two family members are not so fond of them. It was easy to sprinkle some pecans at one end of the pan and then just kind of spoon them over into the mix.
If I set the timer on my stove for the longest time on a recipe things usually come out just right. This time it wasn't done yet. It took another 7-8 minutes. It was hard to tell if it was done as it looked as crumbly afterward as it did before. I was a little worried, but I didn't not say anything as I didn't want to be making cookies just because my big open mouth gave Gavin the idea these weren't good enough.
Now, we were ready to see if these were going to be fall apart crumbles or a good brownie that sticks together. We found them to be sort of in between. They did stick together, but weren't the thick brownie you sometimes see. I should have pressed the crumbles down a little more I think. So...they were pretty much perfect for us.
There were no thumbs down or just OKs on this brownie recipe. We had a firm 4 1/2 thumbs up (Gavin's thumb was at a diagonal). He kept reaching into the pan and getting more pieces though so we said it really was a thumbs up for all of us. Until that is, Brady discovered that if Gavin didn't like them we would also make cookies. Then he immediately changed to a thumbs down and tried to get Gavin to do the same. It was too late though. Even I, the confessed not so much for chocolate person, really liked them. We even had several saying the frosting was especially good.
Verdict: Almost perfect recipe. Our only change would be added the powdered sugar to the frosting. I suspect though, my dark chocolate lover husband would have preferred it without the added sugar.
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