I have some good half sheet pans that were given to me as wedding shower gifts. Over the years they’ve gotten that ugly yellow look that everyone’s cookie sheets seem to get with time and use. I’ve tried all sorts of things to get them clean-looking again but the only thing that got me somewhat close was my good, old stand-by; baking soda and vinegar. Even that took lots of work and still didn’t render very clean pans. I’ve kind of surrendered to the idea that my pans will never look anywhere near new ever again.
Then yesterday I was looking at Pinterest and came across something my cousin’s wife pinned. Short of buying new pans I didn’t believe anything could make my pans looks nice again but I thought I’d see what this pin had to offer. The lady who posted about it had used some cleaner I’d never heard of and it had really worked! As I read on I wondered where I’d have to go to find it and how much it would cost me. Near the end of her post, though, she mentioned the ingredients in the cleaner consisted of tea tree oil and liquid castile soap and that while doing some digging found other people had had the same success with just those two things.
While I don’t have the actual cleaner she used I do have Dr. Bronner’s castile soap and tea tree oil on hand so I thought I’d give it a try. To my utter surprise it worked! I used a tough scrubber with it and it cleaned my pan right up. It’s not absolutely perfect and there are still a few stubborn spots in the corners where I can’t scrub very well but everything else has come off with a little elbow grease! I’m seriously amazed.
The front. There are still visible scratches since it’s an oft used pan but I expected that. The “before” pan doesn’t look as bad as the “after” pan used to look but you get the idea. I should have taken a before picture of the cleaned pan. It really was shocking.
The back.
ODD, while just as surprised at how clean the pan looked, was not thrilled with the cleaning combo. The castile soap I have is the peppermint kind. That, combined with the strong scent of tea tree oil, was too strong a scent for him but, personally, I like both smells and rather enjoyed sniffing it while scrubbing. If you’re sensitive to smells, though, you might want to do this outside when it’s warmer.
Now I just need to do the other sheet pan, then give it a try on my saucepans. I’m excited to have nice, shiny pans again.
ODD and I were married around Christmastime. It was between semesters which was good for us as students but now that we’re out of school it’s kind of an inconvenient time to celebrate an anniversary. With everything that’s going on between Thanksgiving and Christmas it becomes just one more thing to cram into a time of year that’s busy, both at work (everyone wants to schedule their surgery at the end of the year when deductibles have been met) and with family and friends. Because of this, ODD and I have decided to celebrate our anniversary in January. It makes things a little more calm and relaxing for everyone involved, I think. With that in mind, ODD and I celebrated our anniversary this last weekend, about a month past the actual date.
The day before we celebrated I was telling the kids what the plan was and how fun it would be to play with Grandma and Grandpa. Peanut asked where ODD and I would be. I explained we were going to stay someplace special that night to celebrate being married for nine years. Then Peanut said “Nine years! Is that faster than a race car?” Hmm. Not sure how to respond to that. I had a good laugh about it, though.
ODD worked in the morning on Friday while the kids and I cleaned up the house and got ready to go. When he got home we packed up the car and hit the road. We took the kids to my parents’ house, visited for a minute, then kissed them goodbye for the day. We had ended up in Tiny Town earlier than anticipated so ODD suggested we go bowling. ODD took Peanut bowling last weekend while I took Wingnut to a birthday party. They had a lot of fun last week so ODD thought it would be fun for us to go. We haven’t been bowling in years and the last time didn’t go so well, if we’re being honest. This time was much happier and we had a fun time with lots of laughing at my inability to bowl well. I think my final score was something around 77. ODD had a pretty good game, though.
The guys at the counter chuckled when I requested a size 5 shoe.
After our game we headed to a restaurant for dinner. It was a place we hadn’t been before but had heard was good and we weren’t disappointed. For appetizers ODD ordered some chicken tenders and I had some chips with a monteray jack and blue cheese dip. Both were awesome. And filling. We both had a chop salad after that and were stuffed by the time they brought out our entrees, short ribs and an Oscar style New York strip steak, both with mashed potatoes. Neither of us could eat much of our main dishes so we boxed them up and had them for lunch the next day and enjoyed them just as much as the day before.
We then rolled ourselves out the door and to a local Inn. We had a nice, relaxing stay there without the interruptions of poopy diapers, whining, or pestering. It was lovely.
The next morning we had warm cinnamon rolls, parfaits, and juice for breakfast. Mmmm. After hanging out for the rest of the morning we headed back to pick up the kidlets. They were happy to see us and we got to hear some of the funny things they did while we were gone. Apparently Peanut pretended to be asleep in my mom and dad’s room for a little, then after my mom left she got up and started playing on my dad’s computer which was open and running a Carbonite back-up. My mom came in when she heard some tapping on the keyboard and found Peanut had somehow opened a paint program and was “painting a picture for Grandpa!” She does want to be an artist. Maybe she’ll get into graphic design someday.
Right after Christmas ODD finally traded in his almost-five-year-old Blackberry and got a new phone. He chose a Samsung Captivate Glide because he likes having a real keyboard. I was also due for an upgrade but hadn’t decided what I wanted yet so I’ve been thinking about it for the last month or so, trying to decide. I was just going to get another regular phone that didn’t require a data package but could have one later if I wanted but when I talked to the guy at the store about it he mentioned they just found out the data packages were going up in price in a few days so if I got in now I’d be locked in at the lower price. So I decided to just bite the bullet and go for a smartphone. I ended up with an HTC Inspire (yes, I know I could have chosen an iPhone and gave it some thought but, among other things, I don’t like only being able to use Mac-approved apps and programs). I’ve been reassured typing on a touchscreen won’t drive me insane forever. I’m still not a huge fan of touchscreens in general but think I’ll live and so far I like the phone. And I now feel like I’ve entered the 21st century.
I ordered a screen protector and cover from Amazon since there were more fun options at a better price than at the store but even so I still wanted a softy case to keep it in while it’s klonking around in my purse. Last night I fell asleep trying to figure out how I wanted to do it and ended up dreaming about it so this morning I made one. I knew I didn’t want to use a velcro closure because it tends to stop closing well after a while. I also knew I didn’t want to use a button closer since it can damage the screen. In my dream I had a flip-over flap closure. I totally screwed up my first attempt but finally realized what my problem was and the second one went together really smoothly and quickly. I lined it with a large wale corduroy so it’s softy inside and there’s still a little wiggle room left for when my snap on cover comes.
So here’s the finished case.
The flip-top flap sort of folds over to the front to keep it from sliding out.
Once I figured out what I was doing it went together so fast I think I’ll have fun making a few more just so I can change it up when I get tired of the same old thing.
Now, tell me, what are some apps you can’t do without? My kids, of course, love Angry Birds and Cut the Rope but do you have any other suggestions for them as well?
A few years ago I saw an idea for donuts in Real Simple magazine that sounded right up my alley. I like donuts but never bother making them at home because I don’t want to do all the work involved; letting them raise, and cutting them out, and raising (again?). This recipe suggested using canned biscuit dough instead of a regular yeast dough. That I can do. So I clipped it, threw it in with a bunch of other clippings and sort of forgot about it. Once in a while I’d pass it while sifting through the clippings but never got around to trying it.
Then, last weekend ODD and I went on a date to see the new Sherlock Holmes (which is awesome, by the way). Every other week we swap babysitting with a friend and when we went to pick up the kids they offered us a plate of donuts they’d just made. They were awesome! M, the wife of the family, told me she’d made them with biscuit dough. I think she said she’d seen it on pinterest. They were so good, they’d turned out even better than I thought they might when I first clipped the recipe all those years ago. I’m so, so glad she tried them and was willing to share.
A few days later I was craving them so much I pulled out a can of biscuit dough I had on hand and fried some up for dessert.
I don’t have a circle cookie cutter so I just used a little scalloped flower-looking one.
After burning the first couple because I got the oil was too hot (typical for me), the rest turned out nice and golden-brown. And, as we all know, brown food tastes yummy.
Then I dipped them in a simple icing.
We gobbled them up pretty quickly. I think next time I make them I’ll do a whipped maple frosting to top them with because even though I really like just plain iced donuts, maple bars are some of my most favorite pastries ever. And there will definitely be a next time. They were so fast, very inexpensive, and almost no work at all. If you like donuts but don’t like how long it takes, I highly recommend going this route.
It also has me wondering about using made-from-scratch biscuit dough. I usually make from-scratch biscuits when we have biscuits and gravy for dinner. They’re super easy, don’t take much time, but I wonder if they’d work the same way. If I ever decide to put in a little more work and give it a try I’ll let you know.
A few years ago Mrs. Bailey Park told me about this lovely citrus drink Mr. had been making. I added it to my recipe collection and every Winter when citrus is so inexpensive I make it quite a lot. It’s been in my fridge almost constantly since early December. We go through it so fast (really, I could drink an entire batch myself in one afternoon as I seem to be part camel with this baby) I usually make a double batch so it will last us a couple of days if I control myself. Go make some. You’ll be happy you did.
While at Voldemart the other day I came upon bags of Meyer lemons for a really good price (less than regular lemons even!) so I grabbed several. While the kids were having nap/quiet time that afternoon I made a lovely lemon blueberry tart, as I’m wont to do this time of year. I also used the Meyer lemons in the latest batches of the aforementioned citrus drink and it’s especially awesome.
A few nights ago a friend posted a recipe on facebook for a faux Frosty. I love Wendy’s Frosties and was excited to try it. I was a little skeptical that it would really be like the real thing but it surprisingly was! I can’t remember how big my freezer bowl is but only about 1/4 of the recipe would fit in my bowl at one time. The only thing that was missing for me was some french fries to dip in it – yep, I’m one of those people.
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Hello. 
I'm HairyShoeFairy. In general I blog about random crap - everything from crafts to cooking to my family to anything that's on my mind.
My Family ODD - My husband.
Peanut - My 5 year old daughter.
Wingnut - My 2 year old son.
Nut #3 - Yet to be named, coming April 2012.
Please Don’t Steal Stealing = Bad!
Linking=Good!
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