Happy (Snowy) Pumpkin Wednesday!

Hello everyone and Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!

I have to admit I was very thrown off by the weather today.  This morning when I left for work it was temperate and sunny. I had planned on writing about tips for storing your winter clothes as you bring out your spring wardrobe.  However, by the time I left work tonight, there was no sun, a bit of wind, and a respectable amount of snow.

Ok not this much snow, but you get the point, snow in late March, no good.

Needless to say, it seems unlikely that I can pack up my sweaters and other winter gear at this point, so I will save that post for another (hopefully sunny) day.

But even thought I am thrown off by the weather, Pumpkin and I cannot leave you without some kind of helpful tips!

Certainly I can help you, right after I play with this feather

Pumpkin's Tips for Today Relate to Cooking and Garbage

First, the cooking

• How to Keep Fresh Ginger Fresh

I have been making lots of stir fry dishes lately because they are versatile and I usually have most of the ingredients handy.  However, I feel like every stir fry is better with fresh peeled ginger root.  The only problem is the ginger gets gross in the refrigerator, and sometimes so gross I can't discern what it is anymore.

To combat the rotting ginger problem, wrap the ginger tightly in plastic wrap or press n seal and place in the freezer.  It will keep for a few weeks and you only have to take it out a few minutes before chopping.  

• As to Garbage

I really hate it when the garbage can smells but I can't stand the artificially scented garbage bags.  A neat trick my mom passed on to me is to take the perfume inserts from magazines, open them up, and place them in the bottom of your trash cans.  It works great in your smaller trash cans in your bathroom and office area.  The perfume smell helps neutralize any trash stink and isn't too terribly overpowering.

No stinky garbage in here.  Just one small Kitty.

Do you have any tips for keeping fresh foods fresh for longer?  And who takes the trash out at your house?

Looking forward to sunshine and warmer temperatures soon!

Miscellaneous Monday: Birthday Fun Time!

Today I officially pass the quarter century mark!  I am 26 as of now (well actually as of 11:30 tonight) and I can't believe how quickly this year has gone by.  I had the luxury of having a Monday birthday, which while it sounds less fun than a weekend birthday, actually allowed me to have fun and party for the entire weekend.  I did a lot of celebrating, which I will now share with you...


On Friday Tim got a cake for me...

Delicious cake from Presti's.  Had a few bites before this pic was taken.

On Saturday my Mom came to visit and brought a cake...

Again, had some cake before I got the picture taken

On Sunday, Pumpkin decided she was ready to celebrate with me...

Pumpkin loves to wear her party hat!

And today, I opened up all my birthday cards.  I got four cards with Cats on them...

Pumpkin look alike

Inappropriate Cat

Cat and String

Is this a gentle hint I am a cat lady?

Of course I am not the only one who celebrates their birthday today, so here are a few famous others who celebrate on March 28th...

Julia Stiles

Reba McEntire

Vince Vaughn, AND

Lady Gaga!

Also, this weekend, my sister, who is in college, shared some of her knowledge of the most hilarious videos on youtube.  She showed me this awesome parody of Lady Gaga's music video Bad Romance and I felt that on Lady Gaga's birthday it is only appropriate that I share it with you all. 

I want to thank everyone who celebrated with me/sent me a note/message/phone call!

What is the most fun birthday you have celebrated?

-Looking forward to a lovely Tuesday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!

Hello All and Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!  The weather here in the Midwest is finally starting to get nice, and I swear the sun was out for almost the entire afternoon!

If you're like most people there are two events tomorrow that everyone (including Pumpkin) is getting ready for:
 1) St. Patrick's Day and
 2) the "true" start to March Madness!

In honor of the St. Patrick's day holiday, Pumpkin won't be drinking any green beer, but she will be wearing her St. Patrick's day scarf and meowing in an Irish accent.

Pumpkin LOVES her seasonal scarves

And, to prepare for March Madness Pumpkin has been sitting in her pretzel box watching basketball with Tim.

She even decided to try her luck and enter her bracket in my office pool.  She heavily favors any team with an animal mascot, especially those with cat-like mascots... i.e. Kentucky WildCATS, Kansas State WildCATS, Mizzou Tigers, Nittany Lions and Pittsburgh Panthers ....but Pumpkin isn't the only one who is picking her bracket by mascot, apparently there might be something to this method, and it might be more effective than picking on the basis of actual basketball knowledge!

How are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day?  Did you enter a bracket in the Office Pool?

Be careful tomorrow, and enjoy all the basketball!

-Best wishes for a wonderful Thursday!

Pumpkin Wednesday Secrets to Savings

Let's face it.  Even though the recession "technically" ended over a year ago, most of us are still feeling the pinch on our wallets.  There are so many things we have to do, places we need to travel and things we have to buy, its nice to get a chance to save a little bit of money ever now and then.

Pumpkin has a lot of time at home during the day to peruse the internet for good deals and clip coupons out of the paper.  She has provided us with a few secrets about what to buy, when to buy it and how you can score a deal or two.

Let's face it I have some time on my paws..

Airline tickets

As promised, the secret to buying a cheap airline ticket according to Rick Seany from farecompare.com is to purchase your tickets at 3 PM on Tuesday.  Most airlines have sales and publish their fares on Tuesday afternoon and pull them by Thursday.  So don't delay, and whatever you do, avoid purchasing your fare on a Saturday.

Organic Produce

Whether you believe the hype or not, there are certainly a few products that seem to taste fresher/better when you buy them organic.  Food writer and dietician Ellie Krieger says buying organic is not mandatory but if you are buying organic, save some cash by strategically selecting organic produce.  Anything where you don't eat the peel or, you don't need really need in the organic variety.  You're just throwing the skin out anyway, so put down that organic orange, banana, watermelon or coconut.

Vacuum Cleaner

Even though Pumpkin hates the vacuum cleaner she knows it is necessary to clean up her fur. Apparently new models of vacuum cleaners are released in June, so if you are in the market for a new "sweeper" hold out until April or May when the older models will be offered at reduced prices. 

Wedding Dresses

In honor of my friend who got engaged today (congrats Meg!) the best time to buy a wedding dress is between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Everyone is so focused on the holidays not much dress shopping is going on!  And now they are selling wedding dresses at select Costco warehouses...who knew!

What great deals have you stumbled onto lately?  And who still clips coupons?

Looking forward to Thursday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!

Pumpkin wants to know what are you still doing at home?

I don't mean to be rude but, oh wait, actually I do...Go to work!

Get to work so you can come back tonight and find out why the best time to buy airline tickets is at 3PM on Tuesday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!

Impressive Food, Easy Recipe

Hello All!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to Pumpkin Wednesday as much as I am!  Today I wanted to share a new recipe from a cookbook I found while cleaning out the kitchen two weekends ago.

If you don't know this about me, I spent a semester in college studying abroad in Japan.  I lived with an amazing host family and learned a lot of Japanese very quickly.

Hanging out at a Japanese Castle in Kimonos

I also was totally obsessed with Japanese food (we ate out a lot and my host mom was a great cook)

The host family ordered sushi in one night

and bought an Asian cookbook titled East and Southeast: great recipes from China, Japan and southeast Asia, as soon as I got back.  Unfortunately I didn't do a lot of cooking in college, and the book went to the bottom of a pile of stuff as I moved to law school and then to my real life apartment...

Quite the detour to tell you about a great recipe called "Chopstick Chicken Wontons."  I promise you can make these wontons without taking too long and they are a satisfying and pretty healthy meal.

Here's what you will need to cook a full meal of wontons for two people:

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock *Quick note, buy no sodium added because it allows you to control the level of salt in the recipe.*
4 scallions
1 package wonton wrappers *These can be found in the produce/tofu/herb/bean sprouts area of your grocery store.  I bought the Nasoya brand.*
6 ounces uncooked ground chiekn brast
1 inch fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 fresh red chili, seeded and chopped
1/2 egg beaten
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt


Add the chicken stock to a large and wide pan.  Cut the scallions into long strips and add to the chicken stock.  Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid.

I would recommend using a wider pan than this

Make the wonton filling by adding the chicken, egg, chili, ginger, sesame oil, and salt and pepper.  Mix the ingredients well, but don't mix up the chicken too vigorously.

Remove the wonton wrappers from the packaging and place on a clean dry surface.  Fill a small bowl of water to dip your fingers into to use to seal the edges of the wonton wrapper.

Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper.  Be careful not to use too much water or everything starts sticking.  Add one teaspoon of the filling to the middle of the wonton wrapper.  

Fold the wonton on the diagonal into a triangle.

Then fold up the sides making a small purse shape out of the wonton.  Set aside, and repeat until all the filling is gone.

All of these excellent wonton folding photos courtesy of Tim

Turn up the heat on the chicken stock so it returns to a rolling boil.  Add the wontons you have just folded all at once and cook for approximately 4 minutes, and when they rise to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon.

The cookbook recommends adding toasted sesame seeds which is a great suggestion for some textural contrast.  You can dip the wontons in soy, sweet chili sauce or whatever you have in your refrigerator.

Finished product! Delicious!

This recipe is pretty easy albeit a bit time consuming, but produces a nice looking dish.  What recipe do you stand by when you want to impress your guests/family/friends?

Looking forward to Pumpkin Wednesday!

Pumpkin Wednesday, Stockings and Footies

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday Everyone!  You're halfway through the work week!

I have been working hard at being cute all week.

This week Pumpkin wanted to pass along some tips for keeping your footwear (socks, pantyhose and tights) clean and in good repair.

Pumpkin is a lucky cat in that she has both a stocking:

and a footie:

Stocking on the left, footie on the right

Pumpkin's method for cleaning both her stocking and footie are simple: stick directly in water bowl while drinking....  But for those of us who have to do laundry there are ways to prolong the life of the items in your sock drawer.

For your white athletic socks, try putting a cup of baking soda (can be purchased in bulk at your local warehouse store like Costco or Sam's Club) in with your whites and regular detergent as a way to whiten your whites WITHOUT bleach.

As for anyone who has to wear pantyhose or tights to work, the best way to clean them is in a sink filled with warm water and bit of your regular detergent.  Swish them around, rinse with cold water and air dry. You can also wash your delicates in a lingerie bag in the washing machine, but you will get more use out of your pantyhose if you treat them with a bit of care and hand washing.

One blog also suggests a way to "strengthen" your pantyhose before you wear them.  Quick disclaimer I have not tried this method, but I am need of some new stockings so I will try it out this weekend and report back.  According to The Daily Green, wash your pantyhose and allow them to air dry.  Then mix two cups of salt with one gallon of water and soak the pantyhose for three hours.  Rinse them in cold water and air dry again until they are completely free of moisture.

How do you keep your favorite clothing items in good shape?

The weekend is within reach!