I Will Be Back Posting On Tuesday

Just a quick update. Michelle is on the mend and should hopefully get back to normal this week. So I will be traveling tomorrow back home. DH has been really busy while I was gone. He has been painting, took delivery of the new snowblower, done laundry, handled all the trick or treaters, etc.

He told me that he found a terrific recipe online for spaghetti sauce so he has made it with homemade meatballs for our dinner tomorrow night. That way I can relax when I get home and catch up with all that has happened while I gone for a week. I will miss Alexa! We had such a wonderful time although I have to admit that she tired me out.  But they will all be coming out for Thanksgiving. 

So I should be back posting on Tuesday; hopefully I will be able to get the pictures up of my second pantry. Till then.....

Quick Update

My DIL, Michelle is still quite sick. I am starting to wonder if the pneumonia is viral instead of bacterial. Hopefully, she will show some signs of improvement over the next day or so from the meds.  My grandaughter still has a cough from her cold but the doctor seemed to think hers is just a lingering cough.  

I arrived after a 6 hour trip on Tuesday.  I was so glad that I chose not to drive. I am doing my best to let my DIL get some rest, cook meals and entertain a very active 3 year old. Fortunately she goes to preschool for 4 hours in the mornings. She wears me out by bedtime but I am enjoying every moment with her.  

Of course, I made a pot of my homemade chicken soup for dinner last night. My son loved it so much he took some leftovers for lunch.

I am off in an hour to my grandaughter's school to see their Halloween parade and party. I can't wait to see her in her costume. She is going to be the cutest pumpkin. Her mom and aunt made her the nicest costume.

I have not booked a ticket home yet. Just playing it by ear depending on my DIL's recovery. Talk to you soon.    

I Have An Emergency Out of Town

My DIL is very ill with pneumonia. So I am leaving very soon to go take care of her and my grandaughter. I have only bought a one way ticket because I don't know when I will be returning.
DH and kitty cat will hold the fort here.

Off to pack! 

Pantry # 1 is all Organized

Finally I have the first pantry done. Since all of my label materials arrived today, I was able to finish it. I will finish pantry # 2 tomorrow.

The top shelf above holds my pancake mixes, dry milk and hot and cold cereals. The second shelf below holds all of  my canned goods:

The third shelf that you see above holds all of my canned tomatoes, salsas, ketchup, an ice cream topping and the few packaged items that we use.

And the last shelf below holds most of my baking staples and my rice:

And lastly I do use the floor for the cat's food storage and treats and my paper napkins:

I am so happy with the way it turned out. The reason I have put certain things in glass jars and containers is to keep them dry and free from bugs. When we lived in New York before, ants would come into the house in the spring. We had no problem with ants this past spring but I want to be prepared in case. The thoughts of ants getting in my food gives me the creeps.   

Here is a picture of  the entire pantry:

I will be back tomorrow after I make all  of the labels for the second pantry which I will  then post. 

Deals at Tops

Did you think I was never going to  do  any more shopping? Since I have been so busy working in the house, I have barely been out except for R & R.  But today I had to go for a few things we needed. I also had to run to the  Post Office to mail some clothing back that I ordered online.  It was so big that you could have put 2 of me in it. While I was there,  I picked up 200 forever stamps. I know the Postal Service didn't get their rates increased, but the Post Service is appealing it. If they  go up next year, I have saved money. Either way, I am set for a while. 

This is what I purchased this morning:

2 Lbs. of Butterball Turkey Bacon - $ 1.50 each - Used $ .75/1 IP  Cpn Dbled = Free

1 Gallon of Fresh Apple Cider - $ 2.88

1  International Delight Creamer - $ 1.79 - Used  $ .55/1 IP Cpn Dbled  = $  .69

1 Bailey's Creamer - $ 2.00 - Used $ 1./1 Hangtag = $ 1.00

1 Hatfield Ham Steak - $ 3.29 - Used $ 1./1 Mfrs. Cpn = $ 2.29 ( treating DH who loves ham salad)

3 Bags of Mars Candy -  $ 2.50 each - Used $ 1.50/3 Mfrs. Cpn = $6.00 ( Halloween Stash)

1 Huge Bag of Fresh Mushrooms - $ 1.99  ( These were quite a buy and I will saute them up for the freezer for our steaks)

1 Large Container of Earth Bounds Farms Organic Baby Romaine - $ 4.99 - Used $ .75/1 Mfrs. Cpn Dbled = $ 3.49  ( You can't see it because the bacon is hiding it)

Total OOP was $ 18.82.

I have spent a total of $ 35.61 of my normal $ 200. monthly grocery budget this month. I will be rolling the balance into November's budget so that I can stock on goodies that only go on sale this time of the year.

I am still working on my kitchen pantries. If my label material arrives today, maybe I will post pictures later or first thing in the morning. We also had a landscape company here today putting in another mounded mulch area for another garden in the spring. I am still here just very, very busy! Talk to you all later.

The Perfect Kitchen For Me ( Part 3)

This is the other wall of the kitchen between the two pantries and the morning room and the kitchen. These next cupboards are dishes and glassware which is close to the morning room for setting the table:

Next is the cat's spare dishes and toys on the top two shelves. Second shelf is my fondue pot and the bottom shelf is my waffle maker:

Next top two shelves are items I rarely use except for  entertaining:

The bottom two shelves are our travel water containers, West's sippy cup and my food storage containers:

This is the drawer next to the refrigerator that houses odd utensils that we only use occasionally:

This little drawer is where I keep all the small  and large appliance booklets along with my Deal A Meal things and the  flashlight:

This is my wrap drawer which houses wraps and all of my foodsavers bags and rolls:

Under the above drawer I keep my Tilia Foodsaver along with the jars for it on the pullout shelves( all of my bottom  cupboards have pull out shelves). I also keep my scale so that I can weigh proper portions when I am freezing meat and other items. This is so handy when I come in from the market with lot of meat or veggies to freeze:

Below them I keep my pressure cooker, popcorn popper and yogurt maker:

The next cupboard houses my crockpots:

The next cupboard houses my food dicer and slicer and some pitchers on the pull  outs. I  use filtered water from the refrigerator door when I am making crystal light, so that is why the pitchers are here:

And lastly underneath  is my electric frypan, some extra pitchers in the back and my blender:

I have many other appliances like my breadmaker, Kitchen Aid mixer, rice cooker, deep fryer, etc. that are not in my cupboards. Either they are too bulky or are not  used enough to warrant space there. So they are in my pantries or on shelf storage in the basement.

I also have two cupboards above the refrigerator but I leave them empty because they are too hard to get into.

I am also working on my two pantries but they are not finished yet. When they are, I will post those. Then next will be my refrigerator............

The Perfect Kitchen For Me ( Part 2)

You also have to have the baking area near the stove. So here is mine which is in the corner upper cupboard near the stove and sink:

The canisters of brown sugar,  flour, powdered sugar, etc. will most likely end up in the pantry closest to my stove.  I am awaiting materials that I ordered to make permanent labels for them.

This is the small drawer above the cookie sheets which is next to the sink:

It houses the few things that I  use near the prep sink all the time: the vegetable peeler, the garlic  press and the melon baller.

Below this drawer are all of my cutting boards which I use near the sink:

On the other side of  the sinks is a drawer where I keep  all the dish  towels:

Under that drawer is a large drawer where I keep strainers and colander so that they are handy to the sink:

The bottom drawer under that houses my microfiber towels and  the kitchen garbage bags:

Lastly on that same side of the  kitchen, I had a dilemma. Where do  I house the silverware? It would be more functional near the morning room where we eat most of our meals. But we also eat meals at our breakfast bar. Plus when I am cooking, I often need a knife, fork, or spoon, so the drawer next to the oven over the pots and pans  won. It not only houses the silverware but also the meat thermometer, steak knives, iced tea spoons and a couple of pairs of scissors:

I am off to keep  working..........more later!

The Perfect Kitchen For Me

Yes, I  have been  pretty much missing in action this week. That is because I am creating the perfect kitchen for me. I quickly unpacked when we moved here and where things went didn't work. Then I rearranged it a little and it still didn't work for me. I decided that after 40+ years of  cooking, I  needed the kitchen to work so that I can get in and out as fast as possible. If I was filthy rich, I would have  a  fulltime chef to deal with all of our special diets. But since I am not, I had to do something to get this under control. It is still  a work in progress but I can share with you what is pretty well finished so far.

The first thing I did was empty every drawer and cupboard. Then I washed all of the drawers and shelves. Next I took an afternoon and drew diagrams of every drawer and cupboard shelf in my kitchen and placed the stove, microwave, and dishwasher, refrigerator on my diagrams. Then I spent hours thinking about where I could place things so that they were closest to where I would use them. What needed to be next  to the sink? Where should my baking center be? What should be  closest to the oven and microwave. Where should my dishes, silverware, knives, plastic storage, etc. go?

At the moment I have the side of the kitchen where the stove, dishwasher and sink are pretty well  finished. I will be working on the side of the kitchen where my pantries and refrigerator are today. 

Now I will share. If it gets long, I will share more later. These are the cupboards next to stove:

As  you can see these are all things that are used around the stove area. I also have a small drawer next to the stove that houses my pot holders and aprons.

I have a cupboard above the microwave that houses only those things used in that appliance. So just my plate cover, omelet maker and pasta cooker:

I do have more stoneware that I bake and roast in but it is so pretty that I keep it out on a counter. I also have more stainless pots and pans but they are drying in the rack right now. All of my spoons and other utensils that I use at the stove are in a stainless container on the counter next to the stove. I also have a carousel of  spices that  I use almost daily on the counter next to the stove.   I keep my knives  in a rack in this area on a counter along with my toaster since I use these things on a daily basis. That  is why the jams and jellies are in the corner cupboard with the turntable because I use them on toast. 

As you can see below, I keep my coffee center near my coffemaker which is close to the sink:

 Besides coffee, I keep our everyday mugs, sweeteners, cold beverage mixes, hot  cocoa and teas here.

I will post more later since I am  running out of space. I am off to do some more organizing. 

Question For All Of You?

I don't normally  have or attend home parties where people have to purchase items.  It is just not my thing and never has been. That said, a friend has invited me to a Tastefully Simple Party in about 2 weeks and I have agreed to go. But  I need your help! 

I know nothing about the food that can be purchased  at one of these parties. You also know that I don't buy very much prepared food. I am willing to purchase some but don't want to make a mistake by purchasing something that is awful. That is where you  all come in.

Would you please be kind enough to leave a comment if you have attended one of  these parties and let me know what they offer that is delicious? In other words, what have you purchased that you would buy again?  Thanks for your help!  

Another Adventure: The Train Ride

Last week I told you that my son and DIL gave us another experience for my birthday gift.  We enjoyed that experience today. As you can see above we drove to Medina.  Medina is a quaint little place with lots of shops and restaurants on both sides of Main St.  But most importantly it has a railroad depot which is where we boarded a coach for a 2 hour train ride from Medina to Lockport to see the fall foliage:

Here are a few of the coach cars on the train we took. There were 5 coaches in total:

Along the way, I learned that it is not easy to take pictures out through the window traveling at  25 mph. So excuse the blurriness of these. I was trying to show you some of the fall  foliage although it was beyond peak:

 
When we pulled into the station in Lockport, we had to wait for them to move the engine from one end of the train to the other so they could take us back to Lockport.  So lots of people got out to walk around. I took the opportunity to get a picture of the inside of our coach car:

DH and I really enjoyed the ride. On the way back to Medina, we had music. There were two guitarists and a woman with a banjo. So they played and sang to us for part of the trip. They were pretty good! We also spent a lot of time talking with the  conductor who was a wealth of knowledge about trains. We enjoyed his stories immensely. We were able to find out about a great place in Medina for lunch. When you want to know the best places to eat, always ask the locals. 

The railroad depot has  The Medina Railroad Museum.  DH and I spent about an hour looking through the museum and enjoying the huge working model train display only part of which is here:

And these two are for my grandaughter, Alexa:

  After the train ride and museum, DH and I found our way to Main St. and enjoyed lunch at Avanti's. We liked it so much that we are willing to take the ride to go to dinner there some evening. Then we browsed all of the little shops and picked up some goodies at the local bakery.

Thanks to my son and DIL for such a wonderful birthday gift. DH and I had such a nice day! It is so easy to live somewhere forever and never really see the attractions and events around you. DH and I are not going to make that mistake in our new home area.   

I hope everyone has a nice evening. I need to relax so that I can put up with the hammering etc., tomorrow when the builder replaces an entire window in our great room.  The casing was cracked when we purchased the house, so a new one is being installed tomorrow. So after DH and I grill filet mignons outside for dinner, I think we will just watch the NCIS's!