Happy Pumpkin Wednesday: Holiday Preparation Time!

Hello friends and Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!

Pumpkin and I are waiting until after Thanksgiving to put up our Christmas decorations, but Pumpkin has already started prepping for holiday gift giving!

Bah! Not the holidays again!

Believe it or not, Pumpkin likes to stay organized while she is shopping and she also likes to stay on budget.

What? Do I look like I'm made of money?

So this year she has invested in an App to help keep her on track throughout the holiday season.

Pumpkin is a real fan of the App called "The Christmas List."

It will run you a cool 99 cents at the I-Tunes Store, but offers more features than many of the free apps available.

You can sort your gift recipients into groups, take pictures of your gifts, list the stores your gifts are at, and even track your gifts and plans by budget.  It's a great way to keep track of your gift ideas and your budget simultaneously so you don't overspend.

And don't worry, The Christmas List App also offers a password protection feature to keep prying eyes away from your lists!

Oh you can trust me, I won't sneak a look at your gift list....

Oh and speaking of holiday shopping, mark your calendar for next week's Pumpkin Wednesday when we will fill you in on the details for this year's Small Business Saturday!

Looking forward to a lovely Thursday!

Happy Miscellaneous Monday!

Hello friends! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  We attended our fifth and final wedding of the 2012 season, and it really couldn't have been a nicer November day celebrating the marriage of two lovely friends....

So it's a true Miscellaneous Monday, where I have a few random notes, thoughts and a recipe suggestion.

First Up, a Visit from My Sibling.

We had the pleasure of having my baby sister, a junior at college, stop by to stay with us for a night.  It's been a while since I was living on campus, but I was reminded of the joys of dorm life when my sister asked whether she could bring her dirty laundry along too...

Besides utilizing our appliances and couch, my sister found time to fill me in on her college classes and told me about her upcoming class project; to abstain from using technology for two whole days.  They were allowed to use electricity, but were not to watch tv, use a computer, use their cell phone, use a credit card and/or an ATM, or even drive their own car.  She sent around an email last night to our family letting us know that she would be off the grid and unreachable until Wednesday. 

How to Survive Without Siri....

As I sat down to think about her project, I realized I couldn't even handle a day without technology.  I certainly couldn't work and my boyfriend would be upset he couldn't watch any sports.  I couldn't blog, couldn't drive anywhere and since I'm terrible about carrying cash would like be unable to make any purchases (seriously, no one wants to take a personal check anymore!)

How long could you survive without technology?

Second Point, Potatoes.

I can't lie.  I am a fan of the potato.  If you know me, you are acutely aware that potato chips are my personal kryptonite.  But during the winter I find myself going to the potato for a delicious starch that fits well with most meals.

To keep the potato respectably healthy, I like to roast them with herbs and spices.  The methodology is simple:

Heat your oven to 425 degrees.  Take a sheet pan and cover with parchment paper.

Cut up some potatoes.  I like to use red potatoes or yukon gold potatoes and leave the skin on.  That said, if you're leaving the skin on, make sure you wash all the dirt off.

Potatoes and Parchment Paper. 

After you cut up the potatoes, place them in a bowl, and add olive oil one tablespoon at time until they are coated, but not too oily.

The necessary seasonings are salt and pepper, but as to what else, the possibilities are endless.  Fresh rosemary is savory and delicious, cumin gives a southwest flavor and red pepper flakes can help turn up the heat.

Place your seasoned potatoes on the parchment paper and place the sheet pan into the oven.  The cooking time varies depending on type of the potato and the size of your chop, but start checking at 30 minutes and every 10 minutes after that.  The potatoes should get nice and golden brown.

Do you have any favorite winter side dishes?

Third: Thanksgiving Preparation

As you are getting ready to plan your Thanksgiving meal (can you believe the holiday is next week, where did 2012 go?), keep in mind that you may be shelling out more dough for the bird.

Turkey Turkey! Courtesy of Alan L.

That's right, because of the droughts this summer, the price of turkey will go up.  While the price differential isn't going to break the bank, you may want to reallocate a few extra dollars out of your Black Friday budget.


With all that said, I'm headed out!  Looking forward to a lovely Tuesday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday: I'll Make Room for You In My Schedule

Hello all and Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!

I know she has been gone for a long time, but I promise Pumpkin wasn't avoiding you on purpose, it's just that she was busy...

Packing for our big move;

I'm in your boxes, cushioning your valuables

Napping in preparation for the big move; 

Can you please turn off the flash

Unpacking

I helped carry in this chair, seriously

and napping to recover from the big move.

New couch, new nap zone

Oh, and don't worry, even with the power outage, she was able to dress up for Halloween...

Pumpkin wearing a pumpkin shirt...hilarious

So Pumpkin is back, and ready to share with you all her household tips, tricks!  Please send her any questions/comments/suggestions for future posts!

Looking forward to a great Thursday!

Vote Early, Vote Cat

Vote Dog,

Vote Cat,

Doesn't matter, just get out and vote!

Happy Election Day!

Miscellaneous Monday, Back in Business

Hello friends!  Welcome back to the wonderful world of Everyday Domestic Diversions!  Instead of making promises or telling you why I haven't been blogging (I really have no good reason besides general life things like work and weddings and family and such)....but instead, I'll do what I am supposed to do...write.

Unless you were under a rock last week (and you might have been in terms of your access to news media/internet/power in general) Hurricane Sandy caused havoc throughout the United States.  We knew things would be bad on the east coast, but I couldn't believe that the tail end of the storm caused so much damage here in Cleveland.  We along with over 200,000 of our closest friends and neighbors in Cuyahoga County lost power for anywhere from one day to over a week.

Cuyahoga County was in the red, which means bad. 

We were without power from Monday night to Thursday afternoon.  Although we were mildly inconvenienced, our house was in one piece, we were safe and had enough blankets to stay warm at night.  There are many people still hurting in New York and New Jersey, and I encourage anyone who is looking to help out but can't make a trip out east, to make your donations to the Red Cross, here.

In the aftermath of the storm, we lost a downspout and a few pieces of our fence, but the major loser was the refrigerator.  Because we lost power for nearly two days most of the food was not safe.  According to the USDA, a refrigerator can maintain its temperature for about 4 hours if it is not opened.  Because we were without power for over 48 hours, I ended up pitching most everything.

As you might know, I hate wasting food.  I try to be creative to use all the produce and other items in the fridge/pantry before they go bad, but I am by no means perfect.  Tonight I made some red beans and rice (recipe to follow) but for Miscellaneous Monday wanted to highlight a product that helps reduce the amount of "stuff" you throw away and that gets left as a refrigerator orphan.

One of my major pet peeves is tomato paste.  It sounds silly, but it's called for in lots of recipes, especially winter soups, stews and crock pot creations, and you never have to use more than 2 or 3 tablespoons.  Even if you buy the smallest can you use about half and then end up throwing the rest away, or attempting to store in in the fridge where it inevitably becomes a petri dish.

Insert tomato paste in a tube!  

Find it at your local grocery store in the dry goods aisle by the other tomato products.

No seriously, its tomato paste in a tube that can be stored in your fridge after opening.  It allows you to use only as much as you need and store the rest in an appropriate airtight container for future uses.  I found it at my local supermarket  It's great to have on hand for adding to recipes and for cutting down on the amount of waste.

As for the red beans and rice, this is by no means an authentic New Orleans dish, but it's great for an easy Monday night meal that's guaranteed for Tuesday leftovers.

What you'll need:

• 1 cup dry rice (white, brown doesn't matter)
• 1 14.5 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• one or two bell peppers chopped
• 3/4 onion chopped
• 3 cloves garclic, minced
• 2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste 
• chicken stock
• tabasco sauce to taste
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• *optional* chicken sausage or other sausage

Make the rice according to the directions.  While the rice is cooking get started chopping the onion, bell pepper and garlic.  Put some oil in a skillet and when it's hot, throw in the onion and cook it down, about 5-6 minutes.  Then add the bell peppers and cook down about 3-4 minutes.  Then add garlic and saute until fragrant, 30 seconds or so.   Next add in the tomato paste and chicken stock (use just enough chicken stock to cover the veggies and to combine with the tomato paste.  Add in your spices, adjusting to your taste.  Stir and incorporate then add in the beans.  Add more chicken stock to help cook the beans and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes.

While the bean mixture is simmering, cook your sausage if you would like.  When everything is complete, add the bean and veggie mixture to the rice and then add your sausage and enjoy!  An easy Monday night meal!

What are your tips to reduce waste?

Looking forward to an exciting Election Tuesday! 

Miscellaneous Muffin Monday

Hello friends!  I hope your summer is off to a splendid start.  Although it may be hard to believe, it has actually been hot in Cleveland during the month of June.  Today we got some rain and I got to turn off the air conditioner.  Feeling like I needed an indoor activity during this less than perfect weather, I decided to turn on the oven and bake something.


Before I go to much further, I must confess that baking is not my specialty.  My mom is most certainly the best baker in our family, and if you have ever visited my parents' house, and eaten a cookie/brownie/cupcake etc. you know what I'm talking about.

Nonetheless, my mom has managed to teach me enough about baking to get by and to turn flour into something edible.  Baking is a science and requires that you actually read and digest the entire recipe before you get started.  Also, there are really no substitutions in baking, so make sure you have all of your ingredients before you get started.

Tonight I share with you two muffin recipes for you:  a healthy recipe and a not so healthy recipe.  I'm sure it will be obvious once you read through the ingredient list which is the "healthy" recipe, but I encourage you to try both and enjoy the distinctively different subtle chocolate flavor.

Chocolate Chip-Coffee Muffins

2/3 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons butter, melted
3 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine ingredients first five ingredients; milk through egg.
3. Spoon the flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife.  Combine flour and next 4 ingredients; sugar through salt in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk.  Make a well in center of flour mixture.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stir just until moist.  Be very careful not to overmix!
4. Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes or until done.  Begin checking the muffins at 14 minutes, it is imperative you do not overcook the muffins or they will be tough.
5. Remove muffins from pan immediate and place on a wire rack.  Then enjoy, and don't forget to warm up the muffins before you eat them the next day. 

Chocolate Nut Muffins

1 cup walnuts

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, either in chips or if in a block, broken into pieces

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

generous 1/4 cup soft packed brown sugar

1 cup milk

1/4 cup oil

a few drops of vanilla extract

1 egg

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Grease a 12 hole muffin pan.
3. Coarsely chop walnuts.  Set aside
4. In a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, melt chocolate, stir constantly until smooth, remove from heat.
5. Stir flour, baking powder, and cinnamon into chocolate.  Add brown sugar and nuts into chocolate mixture.
6. In a separate bowl combine the milk, oil, vanilla extract and egg, and mix together.
7. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients together and mix until blended.
8. Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes until well risen and firm. 
9. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Place muffins on wire rack to cool completely.

Today's toss-up survey question: baking or cooking?

Looking forward to a lovely Tuesday!

Happy Pumpkin Water Wednesday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday friends!  

While I have been away because of my internet problems, Pumpkin has been keeping herself out of trouble by spending the day at her office.

I can't promise that she has been doing as much work as she likes to claim, but she has been keeping notes about her blog ideas.  As you might know, Pumpkin hasn't always had the best track record with water (see tips for extending the life of your laptop #5 for the inside scoop), but she does know that water is an essential element in her diet and life.

The amount of water cats drink every day obviously varies, but a cat eating wet food may drink less water than those eating dry nuggets.  Wet food may contain up to 80% water, while dry food only provides 7-12% water.  Particularly if your pet is eating dry food, make sure they have access to enough water to keep them hydrated.

Step 1: Find Water Bowl

Step 2 and 3: Dip paw into bowl and drink water off paw

The amount that humans need to consume depends on lifestyle, body type, and daily activities.  You might be familiar with the old adage of eight, eight ounce glasses a day rule.  However, more recent research suggests that women need to drink about 9 glasses a day, and men closer to 12 or 13 glasses.

I think humans sometimes count beer as their water consumption

If you're hesitant to drink the water that comes out of your faucet, consider that most bottled water is missing fluoride.  Fluoride was added to drinking water en masse in the 1940's.  Studies in the last fifty years have shown that drinking fluorinated water reduces the risk of cavities.  Most bottled water does not have fluoride, so if you're trying to prevent cavities and keep those teeth razor sharp, try to get some tap water into your life.

Yikes! Sharp teeth!

Stay hydrated and stay well this week!

Looking forward to a wonderful Thursday!

Back to Blogging on Miscellaneous Monday

Hello friends, and welcome back to Everyday Domestic Diversions.  I certainly have been diverted in recent months and not spending as much time as I should sharing recipes, helpful house tips, and of course, pictures of Pumpkin.

While I know don't want to hear my excuses, I feel my some of the reasons for my absence are worth sharing on this Miscellaneous Monday.

Excuse/Reason #1 for Blog Hiatus: No Internet!

You know that you are too dependent on technology when a month of internet outage causes you serious distress.  Case in point: when the internet in my apartment stopped in early February.  At first I thought the menacing red light on my modem might go away on its own if I restarted the modem and my computer enough times.  However, after a week of reading and typing emails on my smartphone, it was obvious I would have to prepare myself for the dreaded customer service call in center.

Hello, Customer Service...Help!

What happened over the next three weeks can only be described as insanely frustrating.  One to three nights per week I would ring the customer service/technical support service for help.  I found kind people at the other end of the phone, but they lacked something very important, the ability to solve my problem.

I'm a solutions girl, and I knew that there was no sense getting angry with the person at technical support. I waited patiently through the phone tree, and would sit while they tested my modem and asked me if I had tried restarting my computer...

A new modem and one failed service appointment later I was still without internet.  As a last resort I called in to the customer service center right when I got home for work and unknowingly uttered the magic words: "I just need this internet to be fixed or I will have to cancel my service."

Bam! I had a customer service appointment scheduled and a wonderfully knowledgeable technician came out to my house.  He fixed the telephone jack (I have DSL), fixed the box on the outside of the house, and even fixed the connection at the end of the street.  Customer service at it's finest!

My takeaways from this experience are:

1) Try to call the customer service center between 9 AM and 6PM.  Although many companies have dedicated call centers for after hours problems, they are typically in a different part of the country or world.  You have a better chance at getting a more regional representative by calling during the day.

2) Be nice to the people on the other end of the phone line!  I really tried to relay that I just needed a solution and was not angry at them.  Even if it didn't help me in a tangible way, I feel better knowing that I never yelled, and last,

3) When in doubt, tell the appropriate customer service agent that you are thinking about canceling their service.  Particularly if you are a long time customer, they might be willing to speed things up to help make it right.

How did my internet break in the first place?  I'm not completely sure, but I have my suspicions...

No, I did not sabotage your internet, I just chewed on this cord!

Now that we're back I wanted to share with you a new recipe I tried this evening.  I've been experimenting with plant proteins and new grains and decided to use the chickpeas I had stashed in my cupboard.

Below is my step by step picture guide (thanks Timmy!) for Curried Coconut Soup with Chickpeas (from Epicurious!):

First grab your ingredients, you will need:

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 cups low sodium broth (I used chicken, you can use Veggie Broth too)

1 15 ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 tablespoon curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 14 ounce can light coconut milk

1 cup cooked white or brown rice

Prepare your mise en place, i.e. chop up all your veggies:

I had a leftover half an onion and used another 3/4 of the new onion.

Clockwise from the onion, garlic, red bell pepper and jalapeno

I went outside the confines of the recipe and roasted the chickpeas before I put them in the soup.  I added a teaspoon of oil, salt, pepper and paprika and placed in the toaster oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.  (If you're looking for another recipe for roasted chickpeas as a snack, check out the Lean Green Bean)

Chickpeas plus oil plus spices

Roasted Chickpeas

Now that you have all your ingredients prepared, get out a pot and put in the canola oil.  Add the onions, peppers and jalapeno and cook until the onion is sweated down, about 5 minutes.

Then, add the garlic, and stirring often, cook until fragrant, about one minute.  Then add in your liquids, the chicken stock, tomatoes,  and chickpeas.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes.

Next add the coconut milk and rice and incorporate until warm.  Then serve with garnish, like cilantro. I diced some scallions very fine because that's the only real green garnish I had.

Has your latest meal been inspired by an item in your pantry?

So good to be back!  Looking forward to a lovely Tuesday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday! Celebrate Sleeping!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday friends!  You are officially half way through the week and closer to the weekend.

But are you finding yourself longing to get to the weekend only so you can take a nap/get more sleep?  Tonight, Pumpkin, who is one of the foremost experts at sleeping shares a few tips with us so that you can spend more time awake this weekend, especially on Caturday...

Yes, that's right, I am an expert.

• Revert to your childhood and set a bed time.  Keeping yourself on a schedule will help your body get into a routine to get some shut eye.

I like to nap on the hour, every hour. 

• Drink less caffeine!  Especially at night.  The effects of caffeine can take hours to wear off, so even having a cup of coffee at 6:00 PM may cause you problems when you go to get in bed at 10 P.M. 

I had too much cat nip (which equals kitty caffeine!)

• If you want your bed to be more cozy, you can always add a mattress topper to your bed.  There are a variety of different types mattress toppers ranging in price and benefits.  I would recommend the feather topper as an inexpensive alternative for making your mattress feel more luxurious.

Sleeping on the human's blankets is also an option.

• 
  Allergy sufferers should take the time to wash your bed linens at the least once every two weeks.  Wash your linens in hot hot water to minimize the amount of dust and other particles that disrupt your breathing.  

Wash with water...don't wash the cat though.

How do you ensure you get some solid shut eye?

Looking forward to a lovely Thursday, and wishing yo all a good night's sleep!

Miscellaneous Monday: Superbowl Hangover

Hello friends!  I hope you are well settled into 2012, I can hardly believe that it is February!  If you were like the other 111.3 million people in America, you spent the first Sunday in February watching the Super Bowl.  If you were too busy staring at Tom Brady, or Madonna, you might have missed some of these highlights:

• Kelly Clarkson's rendition of the national anthem was rather speedy.  She clocked her performance in at 1 minute and 34 seconds.

Photo: Timothy A. Clary/Getty Images

• Another classic "prop bet" is to guess what color the gatorade is that will be dumped on the winning coach... the answer... Purple!

Photo via Flickr

• You might not have been too busy, however, to eat a chicken wing or two.  Apparently, Americans consumed nearly 1.25 billion chicken wings yesterday, meaning, it is unlikely that most people were feeling very healthy today.  However, once you get over your food hangover and you're in the mood for homemade chicken wings, give the recipe for baked buffalo wings a try. 

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken wings, split at the joints, tips removed

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups fat free low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup Frank's buffalo sauce

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 dash of cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon honey

4 stalks celery

4 carrots, cut in half

Step 1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Get a large baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper (it helps to make for easy clean up).  Place the chicken wings in a deep skillet.  I ended up using two skillets to hold all three pounds of chicken wings.  Add two pieces of celery and two pieces of carrot in the skillet with the wings.

Step 2.  Add your liquids and spices: chicken broth, bay leaves, Frank's Buffalo Sauce, paprika (regular and smoked), honey, butter and cayenne pepper.

Step 3.  Bring the ingredients to a simmer over medium heat and continue to cook for about 18 minutes.  Transfer the wings to your prepared parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer.

Step 4.  Place the cooking sheet with the wings in the oven and leave the sauce in the skillet.  Bake the wings for 30 to 35 minutes, turning once.  

Step 5.  Discard the celery, carrots and bay leaves.  In the meantime, simmer the reserved sauce over medium-low heat until slightly thickened, for about 10-15 minutes.   Toss the wings in the skillet with the sauce to coat.

Step 6: Dip in blue cheese, or ranch, serve with carrot and celery sticks and enjoy!

How was your Super Bowl Sunday?  Did you have a favorite commercial?

Looking forward to a lovely Tuesday!

Happy Pumpkin Wednesday! Tips to Prolong Your Laptop's Life

Hello all and Happy Pumpkin Wednesday!  You are halfway through the work week, and only two days until the weekend!

While we are working during the day, Pumpkin spends some time resting and lounging,

I like to start the day by realxing

Eating,

Then Noms, so essential

Exercising/Jumping in and Out of Cardboard Boxes,

Jump in, Jump Out, Repeat.

and exploring the interwebs for things to blog about on her weekly post

What, no Wikipedia?

Pumpkin spends so much time on the laptop researching for the blog that she is very aware of how to best keep my laptop in tip top shape.

To make sure that she can use my computer without causing too many problems, she adheres to a few rules:

1. To maximize the battery life of the laptop, Pumpkin always unplugs the power cord once the battery reaches 100% charge.  Your laptop battery becomes weaker the more it charges and discharges, and keeping it plugged into the wall keeps your battery in a state of constant charge/recharge. 
2. Pumpkin keeps her fur out of the keyboard by cleaning it often.  Using a can of compressed air, she can clean between the keys without having to the keys off (paws make tasks like that difficult.) 
3. Pumpkin remembers to use the laptop on a hard surface, not on the couch or on the bed.  When you put the computer on a soft surface, it blocks the ventilation and cooling system for your laptop.
4. Just like with cell phone and smart phone screens as discussed in an earlier post here, you want to use designated computer screen wipes to clean your laptop screen.  Don't grab your household cleaners because they contain additional chemicals that can destroy parts of your screen.
5. Pumpkin knows better (don't make her tell you the story about how she ruined my first laptop) than to have any liquids around the computer.  Many warranties do not cover water damage, and even if you are an awesome liar, it's likely that your computer repair company will know when something has been damaged by water versus dropped or just broken.

How have you extended the life of your computer/laptop?

Looking forward to a lovely Thursday!