Here's something interesting

This idea came to me from a friend through an email and I thought I would give it a try.  I love fun, funky new ways of doing things.  But they have to work.  This works pretty darn well. Someone had their thinking cap on with this one.

I did sand the cut edges of the plastic though as cut plastic can have some sharp edges. At least they do when I cut plastic.

How to seal a plastic bag and make it air-tight.............



Cut off the neck and cap of a plastic water bottle.  Insert the open end of a plastic bag through the neck and fold the plastic back down over the bottle neck and screw on the top to seal. It's a bit fiddly at first, but once you get the 'feel' for it, it actually works pretty well.  Easier to deal with than twist ties for those of us with more mature hands that don't cooperate all the time.  :-)





Good for us and the environment; as long as you recycle the bottom part of that bottle :-)
Have a lovely week.  Oh, and Happy Fourth of July!  Go find yourself a serviceman and give 'em a big hug and kiss for all they do for us! Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.  Hugs, Shawna

Cleaning the fridge

I cleaned my refrigerator the other day.  Ooooo boy, did it need it. As I was cleaning I was thinking to myself why in the world did I wait until it's warm and sunny outside and there's a nice soft breeze blowing? An absolutely gorgeous day, perfect for spending time outside.  And I answered myself.  "Because when it's cold and dark and gloomy you have no energy.  No get-up-and-go. No DESIRE to do those mundane jobs.  But just let the sun come out and it is like flipping a switch.  I am empowered.  Energized.  Gung-ho.  So my refrigerator got a good cleaning along with a few other little projects around the house like the floors, the laundry, the vacuuming.  I was a dynamo.  Then I decided to finish planting the garden.  I even impressed myself.  Here's a shot of  the interior of my nice clean fridge.  I was too embarrassed to show you the before pic!  There's just something wonderful and soothing about a clean refrigerator.  And  nice, crisp, clean sheets.  I am off to make my bed.  Thanks for stopping by!

CDs/DVDs

Did anyone watch idol this past season?  Wow, what talent!  I was rooting for Scotty McCreery and was thrilled when he won.  If you hear him sing and don't know who he is or what he looks like (cute!!!) you would never in a million years think he was only 17 years old.  What a fabulous voice he has.  I hope 'the business' doesn't corrupt him like it has so many others; he is just so wholesome and sweet.  So, wanting a little piece of Idol to keep forever, I spent a bit of time on iTunes this past week and downloaded my favorite Scotty songs, and also a few tunes from some of the others (Stephano Langone, Paul McDonald, Pia Toscano) and then what did I run into?  Sitting in my inbox was some advice from Uniblue on how to burn your best CD and not end up with nothing but a coaster.  Wish this had arrived BEFORE I downloaded and saved to a CD.......... That's my timing.  And ol' Murphy at his best.

So on that note here's their advice about burning CDs/DVDs to get the best copy. 

•Turn off your screensaver, if this starts while you're burning a disc, it will interrupt the data flow to the laser. (hmmmmm, I think that's probably why I got a gap in one of Elvis' songs during the burn)


•Defrag your hard drive before a burn, it not only helps with your PC performance but will also make it easier for your PC to locate the files. (this should be done on a regular basis anyway, so don't forget!!!)

•Slower burning speeds will give the best results, so if you're not in a rush opt for lower speeds. (something else I need to change.  Fast is not always better Missy!)

•Handle your discs with care, hold it by its edges and keep it away from dust.

•Finally, invest in a special labelling pen as normal ink will eventually eat through the CD/DVD causing damage. (really?  a permanent marker won't do?)

Hope this helps you get the very best downloads.  Go for the burn!!!

Yummy, yummy, yummy

Good morning!  Today I am posting a recipe that you will love.  Well, you will love it as long as you like hot stuff.  I love hot stuff. And I love this recipe. If you don't love hot stuff your family or guests might. It is meant to be an appetizer, but heck, I have to confess that sometimes I make these little gems and eat them as dinner.  Beats the not-so-occasional-bowl-of-popcorn-for-dinner, but is almost as easy to make.  And a heck of a lot easier and less trouble than regular deep fried poppers.    The recipe came from allrecipes.com .   As will all the recipes posted here, it is quick, easy, and delicious. 

JALAPENO POPPER CUPS

12 mini phyllo tart shells

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped  (use gloves and wash your hands afterwards)*

1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste

Bacon bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place phyllo cups onto a baking sheet.

Stir together cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and hot sauce.  Spoon mixture into phyllo cups and sprinkle with bacon bits. 

Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

ENJOY!!  Oh these are SO good.

* Whatever you do, do not rub your eyes after chopping the peppers. 

Stone walkway

Hey there ---- spring is in full swing after a brief (I hope) little tail-end-of-winter-I-don't-want-to-give-in storm over the weekend. Not sure what will happen today, but a return to nice weather would be fine by me. I worked last Fall to put in a rock walkway and I am happy I did it then and didn't wait until now. It was quite a project, but very satisfying.  I made a lot of mistakes along the way, not liking the first part of the walk after putting in the majority of it and learning better ways of doing it in the process.  But I think that is why it was so satisfying ---- learning from the mistakes and ending up with something worthy of the time and effort.  And it took a lot of time and a lot of effort! WHEW!!! I intend on taking out the first one quarter of it and redoing it in larger rock, but if I don't get to it this season, it will be OK.  I'll get to it eventually. It's in and the wet winter settled the ground nicely and I only have a few spots that will need to have some more soil added (you can that in the last picture). It hasn't taken but one season to make it look as if it has always been there.  I love it!  I leave you with a few pictures ...........

 Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.  Hugs, Shawna

Let's boil eggs

With Easter just around the corner I thought this was the perfect opportunity to share a little something about boiling eggs. Believe it or not, there is a wrong way to hard-boil eggs. Doing it the wrong way gives you rubbery whites and yolks with that grey ring on the outside. Here's the steps to perfect hard-boiled eggs:

1. Place eggs in saucepan in a single layer.
2. Fill pan with cold water, covering eggs by 1 inch.
3. Place over medium-high heat, cover and bring to a boil. When the water just starts getting tiny bubbles around the edge of the pan, add a spoonful of salt and place lid back on.

4. As soon as the eggs come to a roiling boil, turn off heat and let stand, COVERED for 12 minutes. DON'T PEEK or you will lose all the heat in the pan.
5. Transfer eggs to a bowl of ice water. Let stand for about 5 minutes, then remove. Wall-ah. Perfectly hard boiled eggs.
6. Color those eggs and play Easter Bunny.

If you’re having trouble getting the shells off nicely, know that the freshness of your eggs will affect how they peel. The fresher the egg, the harder it is for the shell to come off.

Off the subject but I wanted to comment on the daffodils in my yard.  They are blooming in all their glorious beauty and despite freezing temperatures in the mornings, they recover every day and keep on giving that "ah, spring!"  feeling.  

Looking pretty sad!

Looking gorgeous!!!

I couldn't decide whether or not to post a recipe or a tip.  So I decided to do neither one and show you one of my favorite kitchen tools, the baker's blade.  I always figured a knife works as well, but boy was I wrong.  I made a batch of brownies the other day ------ hadn't been feeling well and thought perhaps it was because I hadn't had anything sweet and high calorie for a LONG time, so surely my ailments must be from lack of sugar and fat, right?   I whipped up the batter, lined my pan with foil (sprayed with an oil spray, of course) and then added LOTS of walnuts to the batter before I shoved it all in the oven.  I love lots of nuts in my brownies, but it makes them very hard to cut into nice even squares.  Not that that really bothers ME all that much; a brownie is a brownie and I'll eat 'em no matter what they look like, but they don't look very nice if you plan on giving any away.  When they came out of the oven I remembered the baker's blade I purchased from my local Avon lady (who just happens to be me) and had fallen in love with it the first time I used it, which was to cut scone dough.  Oh, it worked like a charm on that scone dough.  So I used it on my brownies and it sliced right through those walnut-rich brownies likety split!  Nice even, scrumptious little squares of chocolate delight that didn't crumble a bit when they were sliced with the baker's blade. Works wonders at scrapping dough off the cutting board, too. I can see myself using it to take cookies off a baking sheet.  It works pretty darn good at dicing, too, and it has that nice little area where you hold it so you can use the blade to scoop the diced whatever up and toss it right in your bowl. I challenge any knife to accomplish THAT!  I bet you would like to see a picture of it, wouldn't you?  All right, here it is...............................

Oh sorry about that, those are just the brownies.  Never mind the two missing on the end.  I was feeling faint.  What could I do?

Here it is.  The baker's blade. With a nice plate of brownies in the background.  Never mind the two different exposures on the pictures either.  I had my mind on chocolate and not much else.                

Thanks for stopping by Two Dogs.  Have a lovely week.  Hugs, Shawna