i ♥ pears

hello Saturday...i like you
ok...i really, really love pears...they're my all-time favorite fruit...it's gotta be that gritty sweet goodness that's got me hooked...so for the past few years i've been making pear-cinnamon jam around this time of year right when the taylor gold pears (in my opinion the best pears in the universe & for canning) are in abundance at wegs...and for whatever reason i can't find my jam recipe and to make matters worse a few people have been waiting on me to relay this delicious info to them and now i can't...so i checked a couple of my go-to sites for a new recipe and i'm so excited 'cause the one i found is almost identical to mine (as far as i remember) except better! and for those who don't possess canning equipment try the inversion method i discovered when i first started making jam...follow all the steps except for the water bath and instead flip jars over on their lids, the heat & pressure from the jam will seal the wax ring on the inside of the lid...leave them inverted for 5 min then flip 'em back over...you'll know it's sealed when the poppy button thingy on top of the jar doesn't move anymore (it takes a couple hours for the seal to suction so don't panic when you flip them back over and the poppy button thingy still pops)...it really works!...so now i'm itchin' to make me some jam

♥ enjoy...

ps. click on the pic to make cute jam jar labels from Martha...it's nice & simple, perfect for gift giving

The Difference Between Girls and Boys...

Get ready...I will now reveal to you the difference between girls and boys...don't worry, there are no pictures! It all came to light on the day my son received his "teacher letter". Our school has the seriously crazy policy of mailing each child a secret envelope around the first week in August. Disguised as a plain manila envelope it really contains the intricate plans for the next year of your young student's life. The information is vital, it is your destiny...who will your teacher be! Will it be the one you hoped for? And more importantly, who else is in your class? The latter information can only be obtained by persistent investigative means...calling everyone you know and some you don't.
Lulu and I have this down to a science, after 7 years of elementary school, we are professionals. You receive your letter and the rest of the day is dedicated to "working the phones". By fourth grade she was even calling boys (some, just to make sure that they were NOT in her class!). Trust me when I say that next to July 4th, this was our favorite day of the summer! And it didn't even involve food! By the end of the day we had compiled the names of at least half of her class and could tell any one of her friends who else was in their class! We rocked at this!
So, this year, because Lulu is now a resident of the fateful Middle School, there was no "teacher letter" for her...but she has a younger brother.
Lulu and I took turns racing to the mailbox for most of August 1-10, and finally there it was...the anticipation was killing us. Lulu's brother calmly opened his letter while we both breathed down his neck. Then he calmly read the name of his master and commander for the next 10 months...okay, okay so it wasn't the name we most hoped to see but it wasn't a dreaded one either, kinda in the middle. Then he went off to play. Lulu and I tagged behind, between us we had the house phone and two cell phones, we could crack this case in no time...let's call Eli and Weston, let's call Brendan, let's call Noah and John...let's call everyone you know and even some girls. "No, that's okay" he says. Our mouths drop open. Yes, it's true, the confident, almost ten year old boy has very little interest in knowing with whom he will spend the days of his life. And that my friends encompasses the difference between girls and boys. Lulu and I remain baffled.

Nel's smile for the week: The kids went back to school!☺

Nel's frown for the week: The kids went back to school. =(

Lulu's smile for the week: Starting middle school!☺

Lulu's frown for the week: Starting middle school.=(

Spare a bedroom?

Hello again! Over the long weekend I decided to fix up the 2nd bedroom in our new house. Here are some before pictures. I took these when we previewed the house so all of the things in the bedroom now belonged to the previous owner. It was painted a neon green color which doesn't show up well in the pictures. Regardless, it wasn't a very attractive color and I wanted to fix that as soon as possible.

The room has some built in shelves that have great potential. The background was painted white while the rest of the room was green. After painting everything all one color, I understand why the previous owner didn't paint the background green as well, it was a lot of hard work!

I picked out a nice earthy red color to paint the room. When I started applying the paint I was really apprehensive because the color didn't look as good as I thought it did. Once I got the whole room painted with 2 coats, I really liked the result. I guess just looking at the room half painted as red / neon green just wasn't appealing =)

Now the build in shelves looks like part of the wall and almost hidden! Special thanks to my mother-in-law for the bed and dressers, and another special thanks to my mom for all of the childrens toys to fill up the shelves!


There is a second mini-closet in the room that has lots of space. That is one thing I love about my house, it's full of surprises!
Great spot for hide n seek, although my little niece found me rather quickly.

yow to wow: a dresser's journey

I have been on the hunt for a dresser to makeover for our master bedroom, and last weekend finally picked one up...from where of all places? J's house!

I think we both can admit it was lookin' pretty shabby when I got it home, but I had plans for this dresser. It was already white, but needed a quick fresh coat, and the handles were plastic and ugly. It also sat directly on the floor (as you can see, it has no bottom), but I'm a legs kinda gal, and decided to add some for this facelift ;)
I skipped on down to Home Depot (my home away from home) and picked up 4 black handles, 4 curvy legs, and some white glossy spray paint.The first thing I did was remove the old handles. Then I added the legs. I did this by drilling a small pilot hole and then screwing the leg into the base with a little wood glue to keep things steady. After the legs were on, I set up a little spray paint area outside and went to town giving it a light glossy coat.

Spray paint dries fairly quickly, so by the time that evening rolled around I was able to add the new handles and get it set up in our room. Because painting a dresser can often cause the drawers to stick, I used a little butter on the lip of each drawer and that solved any sticky problems.

And when it was all said and done.... ta da!
a new-to-us dresser for the hubs.

(p.s., no, our bedroom isn't black, it's a very dark navy blue)

Garden Mistake = Yummy Stew

Is that a butternut squash plant growing in my garden? I didn't plant any butternut squash! Did I?! After thinking about this I realized that perhaps after I sent my husband to the store for a yellow summer squash plant he actually came home with a butternut squash plant and we planted it without knowing. What a pleasant surprise! Except believe it or not I have never made anything with butternut squash, I don't even know how to cook it! YIKES! So after looking through all my cookbooks I found a recipe that I could use my surprise vegetable in. Of course it's a Giada recipe from her cookbook "Giada's Kitchen". It's called beef and butternut squash stew. It was delicious and the herbs from my garden gave it the perfect touch!

My beautiful butternut squash is ready for the pot!

All the ingredients ready to cook!! mmmm....

YUMMY!!!

I love Acorn Squash

I just love acorn squash. It is so easy to prepare and so deliciously yummy to eat. Here is what you do. Cut the squash in halves and scoop out the inside. You want to make sure there is no seeds or stringy bits left.


Once you have everything scooped out, they should look like this.



Put them face down in about 2 inches of water and microwave them for about 10 minutes or until they are soft. Be careful when flipping them over because they will suck up all of the water in the bowl!


Once out of the microwave, bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes. I like to add a little butter in mine so it doesn't dry out. My husband loves to eat his with a little brown sugar. (The pie is S's zucchini pie which was delicious)!


Once out of the oven, eat and enjoy! My squash is looking so cute like a little heart =)


Mmm, Delicious!

Congratulations September!

You successfully snuck up on us all!


Fall is my favorite season. It's not so hot that I can't go outside for fear of sunstroke, and not too cold to walk to the grocery store. I love bright colors, and fall brings its fill! Apple cider signs are up and bright orange pumpkins will appear on stoops.


My wonderful hubbie just cleared out a jumble of rocks that were part of the "landscaping" against the garage by the previous owners, and I'm thinking it may be the perfect place for a miniature pumpkin patch. :)

Can't wait for this tree in our backyard to turn a glorious yellow color!

What's your favorite part of fall?

And for those of you who follow the marshmallow....