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Super Shed 3000
Spoiler alert: The title may be just a bit of an embellishment. Just a bit. Every so often, I put out the call for “who wants to teach me something new?” Recently, I had a taker who said that she would soon be building a shed and wondered if I would be interested in participating. I have no idea as to what response she expected, but I took her up on the offer! Whether or not I would be of much help would soon be determined, but I figured that we could have fun, I would try something different, and my friend and I would get a chance to get…
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The Wild Roaster
One recent afternoon, I spent time with Kaye, owner of the coffee shop “The Wild Roaster” In Deerfield, IL. This little coffee shop is within the local train station (an actual coffee shop, not just a kiosk), and she roasts the beans right there in the store. When I asked if she could show and teach me a little about roasting coffee beans, she invited me to see the process in action! Relatively speaking, her roaster is a small one, but for now it is doing the job. One of the benefits of this, though, is that you know that the beans you are enjoying from The Wild Roaster were…
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Avocado Egg Salad
To begin, I acknowledge that I may now be a bit addicted. I recently found a recipe for “Healthy Avocado Egg Salad,” and I actually had eggs and avocados (technically, I had small avocados, but that is neither here nor there) and the other listed ingredients, so all was a go! I have always enjoyed egg salad, but I never put in the time to make it. First of all, my family members don’t really care about egg salad. Second, I used to find the task of hard boiling eggs to be a major pain. Now, though, I have a pressure cooker, and that has made all the difference! The…
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Let’s Get Down and Dirty
I spent a recent Wednesday afternoon getting down and dirty! Outside! Eventually in the rain! (FYI–This is a family friendly blog.) I spent that afternoon volunteering for the Lake County Forest Preserve. My day off of work is Wednesday, so I was looking for something different to do. I learned that there are multiple programs and volunteer opportunities with the county forest preserve. Via the website calendar, I found a “Restoration Workday” listed for the particular date of interest to me. On that particular date, there was volunteer work available at the Native Seed Nursery , so I went and brought my teenage son with me. (He was given two…
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The Music was Like, Omigod, Totally Awesome!
Yes, I was a teenager in the 80’s. No, I was not a “valley girl” and did not speak that way. I was, however, recently brought back to the 80’s as I attended a local summer concert. I have always loved attending outdoor concerts in the nice weather, and I have been aware that many suburbs host summer concert series. This summer, rather than just thinking about them and attending perhaps one, I would make a real effort to enjoy more outdoor live music. I had a plan. Instead of going to the different community websites and printing out their summer concert schedules, I printed out blank weekly calendar pages…
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Eucalyptus Shower Melts–Another Pinterest Find
Double duty–I was able to try to help relieve some cold symptoms recently while simultaneously trying something new (otherwise known as “new blog material”)! In the past, I had seen various instructions for “shower melts” that help with congestion. I had also seen in the past that the various recipes often included ingredients which I did not have at home, so I decided to search on Pinterest for “shower melts” while including the words “baking soda.” I have a huge Sam’s club bag of baking soda, so I tend to have a lot of it available. I also have some essential oils, so, overall I was looking to see…
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Steak 101
I am a vegetarian and have been since college. This was a choice based on simple preference, not on ethics or health. Meat just really does not appeal to me. The same cannot be said of my family members. I live in a houseful of carnivores. I did not do much cooking growing up, and by the time I started doing real cooking (not just heating, microwaving, or thawing), I was a vegetarian, so I never learned how to actually prepare any type of meat. My husband, on the other hand, makes great steak (I admit–I have tasted it, and it is good), and the kids LOVE it when he…
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My 30(ish) Minute Beauty Getaway
My husband and I live in the suburbs, but we continue to see a dentist in the city. It is truly a pain in the neck to go to appointments, but she is really good, so, several times a year, we schlep downtown to see her. As long as we are making the trip into Chicago on appointment days, I do take advantage of knowing that a Sephora flagship store is close by the dental office. I usually have my appointment first while my husband uses his “parking spot karma” to find a parking place, and, weather permitting, I go outside and walk during his appointment. The weather was beautiful…
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Brazilian Lemonade
While grocery shopping yesterday, I saw that limes were on sale, 10 for a dollar. I may not always know what prices are considered good prices, but I knew that 10 cents a lime was a good deal! I bought ten figuring that although I was not quite sure what I would do with them, I could always slice them and stick them in the freezer to add to water or iced tea at a later time. Before slicing them all up, though, I got on-line and started searching for lime-related recipes that seemed nice and simple. I was successful and found what I thought would be very appropriate to…
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The Olive Tap–An Olive Oil Tasting Emporium
My husband and I recently spent the afternoon at The Olive Tap with its owner, Rick Petrocelly. The Olive Tap is “an olive oil tasting emporium.” We learned more than we could imaging from Rick that afternoon! Let me share just a bit of what we learned that afternoon. Here goes… Let me start with some basic starting information. Virgin olive oil is made from simply pressing the olives. This is a first press oil. Nothing else is done to it. To be called extra virgin olive oil, the oil must have no taste defects and pass strict chemical tests. Oils called “pure,” “light,” or simply “olive oil” have had…
If it's not illegal, immoral, or blatantly stupid, I am willing to give it a try!
