Dirty Tasks: Oven Window

I find that no matter what kind of cleaner I use, my oven window is Never clean.  I tried the baking soda idea and even sprayed it with a dawn, vinegar mix.  This is what that looked like after I tried to clean part of it off.

After all, that grease (and that's what it is) has been baked on!  Next, I tried a magic eraser right on top of that baking soda mixture.  Not much better.

FiniLly, I pulled out the big guns - a single edged razor blade.  I used the blade at a 45 degree angle and just scraped the residue right off.  After getting as much off as I could, I cleaned the remaining gunk off with the magic eraser.  Finally, a wipe with a clean wet washcloth.

While it's not 100%, it is dramatically better.  Now, I'm off to find out how to clean the inside of the glass. 

Product Review: Simply Sugar Cookies

I bought this box of sugar cookie mix off the clearance table at Publix.  I needed a simple and fast mix to whip up some cookies with kids.  As it turned out, the four year old helped me with this.

First, in addition to the mix, you will need a stick of butter and an egg.  The price I paid for this mix wasn't bad at .82 but at regular price of 1.64 it's still relatively cheap.

  I found that the mix was difficult to combine even after softening the butter in the microwave.  The four year old needed help and in the end, we added a generous teaspoon of vanilla to get it to blend.  (You could probably accomplish the same by using an extra large egg.)

We used a small scoop to portion the cookies and got 27 cookies, not 36 as indicated on the box.  They were slightly warm when we ate them.  The kids loved the cookies - don't they always?  Personally, I wasn't really impressed with them.  There was no real sugar taste or mouth feel.  

They might be better if they were rolled in sugar before baking.  I would not buy these again at full price.

Adventures at the House

A couple of weeks ago, DH was invited on an overnight fishing trip.  It was an uneventful couple of days by myself and I got a lot of quilting done.  I was excited for DH to return and on his car trip home, he texted me to say that he was bringing home fish and would like to eat some that night.

In order to accommodate his request, I hopped off to the grocery store to pick up a side dish and a package of pork chops for me.  When I returned home, I filled the tea kettle but I could not get the stove to light.  Apparently, I had neglected to pay the gas bill last month so in the few minutes I was at the grocery store, the technician had stopped by to shut off the gas.

When I realized what had happened, I quickly called in and got the bill paid.  Unfortunately, it was going to be five days before they could have the gas turned back on.  Ugggggh!

Ok, so what does that mean:  no cooking on the stove, no heat (not a problem this time of the year) and no hot water.  I can get around the cooking issue with a little bit of planning but a girl's gotta shower occasionally.

How I managed - I was able to rearrange my menu for the week to take advantage of my crock pot, grill and microwave.  We had stuffed potatoes one night (microwave and electric steamer), crockpot roast with potatoes and carrots (crockpot and microwave for instant rice).  I cooked tuna and pork choke on the grill with my cast iron skillet.  One night I even made gravy in a small crockpot.  I made tea early each afternoon by heating water in a measuring cup and steeping the tea bag for a few hours.

Fortunately, we were able to use my daughter's shower a couple of times during the week and some old fashion sink baths between.  We managed rather well but we were both grateful when the gas was turned on early Friday morning.  A hot shower or a warm bath is a welcome indulgence.

Since this experience, I have been more mindful of getting all the bills (especially the utilities) paid earlier each month and ensuring that nothing gets missed.