Are You Dying to Say Something???

It occurred to me that sometimes people don't comment on a blog post (mine or others) because they're not certain how to go about it.  They're worried that they have to be "signed up" or be some kind of "member" in order to comment.  No, no, no!  Not at all.  

I just signed out of my blog, and paid a visit like... well, like a visitor.  Like YOU.  Know what I found out? 

It is super-easy to comment on my blog!!!

Super easy, I tell you.

You don't have to be "hooked up" to my blog, or your blog, or Google, or Facebook, or Twitter.  You don't even have to have an e-mail account!  Really!

Just be yourself!

Some people comment anonymously, but you know what THAT means.  I don't know who you are!!!  That makes me sad.  I want to know who my readers are!!

So, here's whatcha do!

Click on "comments" at the end of the post that you'd like to comment on.  It may have a number next to it.  Not a problem!  That just means somebody commented before you.

Type your comment in the white box that appears.  It can be short like "Hey, Sally!!! Where did you find that dehydrated orange peel so cheap?" -- or it can be lengthy like you want to straighten me out about a bad recipe. Whatever.  Type it.

Click on the arrow next to "Select profile."

Click on "Name/URL"

Type your name in the appropriate box.

IGNORE the URL - because you're just YOU, and you don't care about linking to anything.

Click "Publish"  Your comment will post, and your name will show up in black at the top. Black is a dead end, and cannot be linked back to anything.  Rest assured.

THE END.  See?  Easy.

And now... I know who you are.  Because... we're all friends, right?

There's no better way to make bloggy-friendships than to leave a comment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sally

Fancy Friday Five ~ Red

Five Fancy Valentine Reds

A plate in wait... for just the right occasion.

Cookie cutters leftover from Christmas.  Red.  Home.  (see it?)

A poinsettia leftover from Thanksgiving.  Still going strong in a sunny spot.

A favorite tea towel from a departed friend.  Never used.  Never washed.

Why you ask?  I'm afraid of the red bleeding.  I know I would cry.

Family ~ oh, how blessed I am.

Join the party over at the Love Feast Table.

Stop by The Charm of Home too!

(and don't forget to enter the giveaway!)

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED.

Project Pinterest: Lemon Bars

2-ingredient Lemon Bars to be exact.

My daughter did some baking today for a big homecoming celebration.  My parents are home from a lengthy vacation, and we're gathering for a pizza party this afternoon.  We offered to bring dessert, knowing that there was one dessert from Pinterest that we wanted to try, and a recent success that we wanted to try again.

These Lemon Bars are as easy as can be.  Our angel food cake mix had two envelopes: cake flour mixture, and egg white mixture.  We mixed the flour mixture with the lemon pie filling first, and then added the egg white mixture, beating well.

There were a lot of comments on the original blog about how differently these turned out for people.  We followed the instructions exactly, using a 9x13 pan (not a jelly-roll pan). We did not add additional baking time to the suggested 20 minutes.

When we removed them from the oven after 20 minutes, the edges were just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, the top had a glossy meringue-like texture, and was firm to the touch.

After they were out of the oven for several minutes they looked like this:

But, shrunken doesn't necessarily mean failure, right?  So, full speed ahead.  When we cut into them, they looked like this:

And after a taste test?  The consensus was... well... they are interesting.  They are not your mama's lemon bar, that's for sure. -- or even your mama's lemon cake.  The lemon flavor is very lite, and not citrus-y.  They taste like angel food cake, but have a dense, foamy texture.  Even though our bars are baked all the way through consistently, I feel like we did something wrong.  The texture appears totally different than in the pictures on the original blog.  I'm not sure if I'd call it a "fail" so much as just not our thing.

I did go back to check comments at the blog.  Jessie, the blogger at Practically Living commented that she only mixes until the dry ingredients are incorporated.  So, perhaps we over-mixed.  Oh well.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Lemon Bar PIN.

Link to BLOG with recipe!

Here are the rules:

1. Decide which pin on Pinterest you’d like to recreate.
2. Create it!
3. Flop or success, create a blog post about your re-do and include the original pin’s url.
4. Add the Project Pinterest button to your post so others can join in too!
5. Link up and check out other bloggers’ posts!

I'm Thankful for YOUR Gifts!

I am so thankful for the gifts that God gave you.  Yes.  YOU.  God has uniquely outfitted each one of us with talents and interests that make us able to serve and help one another in different ways.

For example, our week started with daughter doing laundry on Monday morning.  (She rocks at it, by the way.)

However, when she arrived downstairs to start the laundry, she found that the salt tank for the water softener was leaking.  Not dripping.  Water was pouring out of the overflow valve, and into the corner of the basement.  Yuck.

Called hubby at work.  I wouldn't say I was hysterical, as much as FrUsTrAtEd.  I hate it when things break that I do not have the expertise to fix, AND I hate it when water is pouring into my house.  Call me crazy.  {Deepest and sincerest apologies to those of you who have experienced real floods.  I cannot even imagine...  Our worst experience with water "pouring in" was the result of a broken sump-pump, and that was enough.  I've never moved a basement of stuff and carpet so quickly.}

Anyway, Hubby called our brother-in-law who is gifted beyond measure in figuring out how anything works.  He was on his way in minutes, and soon arrived to check out the situation.

After analyzing all of the pieces-parts, he was able to determine that some little piece had slipped, and was not where it should be -- thus, not allowing the shut-off valve (like in your toilet - yes, thank you - I put that together all by myself) to function properly.  Like, as in... SHUTTING OFF, rather than overflowing.

He slipped the little piece back into position, and taa-daa.  Problem solved.

I would never have figured that out.  Yeah, not my gift.

Romans 12:4-6a

"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.  We have different gifts, according to the grace given us."

Week 6 of 52 ~ Recycling

So, do you recycle?  Are you familiar with your local recycling policies?  If you aren't, you can check your city or town's website.  I'll bet you'll find information there.  Afterall, they want people to know the correct way to go about recycling.  I went to our township web-page, and this is what I found:

"Aluminum, newspapers, phone books, corrugated cardboard (flattened), plastic and glass bottles and jars and metal cans (labels do not have to be removed) are all materials that can be dropped off by residents for recycling. Free up the amount of trash that you put out each week by recycling and keeping our environment cleaner. Collection bins for items above are located near...."

In our garage, we have two round plastic "tubs" with rope handles.  You've probably seen them around.  We used to use them to store the kids' toys.  I've also seen people use them at a picnic.  Filled with ice, they're great for keeping bottled and canned drinks cold.  Anyway, you get the idea.  They're colorful, and that's about as pretty as I get with this project.

When we drop our recycle materials off, we don't have to worry about sorting.  Glass, plastic, and cans go in the dumpsters on one side of the building, and any kind of paper goes in the dumpsters on the other side of the building.  That's pretty basic, right?

Our recycle tubs are right outside my kitchen door in the garage.  Everyone in the family knows the system.  Not everyone is good about putting things in the tubs, but at least they know to rinse things out well, and leave them in the sink.  When the tubs are filled, we put them in the back of the van, and drive them over to our township recycling area.  Easy as that.

The hard part some weeks is getting there.  Things come up.  We forget that the tubs are full.  You know how it goes.


Here's our system:

Jars, bottles, cans, and plastic food containers get rinsed and left in or at the sink.  I'm usually the one who makes sure they get to the garage.

What about plastic grocery bags?  I DO use reusable grocery bags, but plastic grocery bags still find their way into our home sometimes.  I put them in a (plastic grocery)bag that hangs on a hook along my basement steps.  When that bag is full, I take them back to the grocery store.  The store that I visit most frequently has a wooden recycle box outside the store for just this purpose.  Handy.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Dear grocery cashier and/or packer,

Just because I use reusuable grocery bags

does not mean that I am Superman.

It also does not mean that my reusable bags are made of steel.

Thank you for not over-loading my bags with heavy items.

Sincerely,

A grateful customer.

Newspapers arrive at our house on Saturday and Sunday, and by Monday morning (if I can wait that long), I make sure I have my coupon papers, and I take all of the other newspapers OUT.

Cardboard from food products or other home products gets tossed in the tub as soon as we've consumed that product.  I only recycle cardboard boxes that did not have the food in them directly.  In other words, I recycle cereal boxes, because the cereal was in a bag, "protecting" the box, so to speak.  I do not recycle Minute Rice boxes.  The rice is in direct contact with the box.  I read that someplace -- don't really know if it's an issue or not. I think it has something to do with food starches that end up in the recycling process.

Shipping boxes get taken out to the tub as soon as we've emptied the box of the goodies!

And mail?  Each day I go through the mail, and sort it into piles.

• bills
• no-name-or-account-number recyclable stuff
• name and account number stuff that should be shredded (all credit card offers also go in this pile)
• "other"
  

Those are my thoughts about recycling.  Don't get the idea that we've perfected the system around here.  We have weeks where the recycle tubs are overflowing, and I just start to put things in the trash.  Cop-out, but true.  Also, there are days when that "recycle" mail pile just gets dumped.  But most days, I try to keep up the system.

It feels pretty good when we see all of the stuff that we end up taking to our drop-off location.  I'm sure there are things that we could be doing better, but I look at it this way: it's a process.  As we learn, we do better.

What's your best recycling tip?

Here's mine:

Do you know about Target's reusable bag policy?  I read about it HERE.  It's old news, but I thought I'd share anyway.  In short, they'll credit you 5 cents for every bag that you save them.  If they use TWO of your reusable shopping bags to bag your order, you get 10 cents off your bill.  (Hey, every penny counts!)
You don't have to be using a Target reusable bag,

but it cannot be paper or plastic.


Learn anything here today?

Pass it on!

Create a home recycling center

(plus dealing with trash)

a bowl full of lemons