This Stop Willoughby

I made an Asian dish for dinner last night. It is my own recipe, or rather, a combination of some of my favorite Asian chicken recipes (that makes it my own original recipe, doesn't it?). It has a rich, satiny sauce infused with the flavors of garlic and onion. It's spicy, but not too spicy. The chicken is incredibly tender and delicious. Vegetables round out the flavors and make it a complete and healthy meal served over steaming rice. I made it just so I could share it right here with you. I even photographed all of the ingredients and preparation of this masterpiece. You know what I forgot to do? Take a picture of the finished dish! So, while I had planned to post the recipe today, it will have to wait until I make it again. No Asian Chicken for you! Winter is still going strong here in Michigan, as it will be for another month or two. The temperatures have remained well below freezing since mid-December and the snow remains nearly a foot deep anywhere that hasn't been p...

I haven't posted anything new in a few days because I've been under the weather. My husband and I both seem to be fighting a stomach "bug". It's not as bad as having the flu, but feels more like a perpetual hangover! I haven't had any alcohol in over a week, so I know that's not what it is, but that's what it feels like. Yesterday, though, I was feeling more energized and managed to get a little bit done around the house. I hadn't planned to do any cleaning in the bathroom (the same bathroom that mocked me with hard water and mildew stains last week), but I had no choice. My daughter was getting ready to take a shower, so I took her clean clothes and set them on the vanity for her. The vanity is far enough away that they won't get splashed or dripped on as she is getting in and out of the shower. It's also where the electrical outlet is. The one where I have an Airwick oil warmer plugged in. Do you see where this is going yet? Way back whe...

K itchen tools are awesome, aren't they? Can you ever have too many? I guess you could say that you have too many if you don't have room for all of them. I would rather just say my kitchen needs to be bigger! I love accessories and gadgets of all sorts and have a serious passion for buying them. I can honestly say that I do use most of the ones I own. Yes, I said most. I've purchased a dud or two, but I really do love to use the things I have. This is one of my favorites. It's a straight blade pizza knife, but it's good for so much more than pizza. It's great for cutting bar cookies and other square treats and getting them all the same size. It's not something I use on a daily basis, but when I need it, it's great to have. I made cereal bars today and it was so much easier to cut them into squares using this knife than a regular knife. I'm also very fond of the kitchen items I've inherited and the vintage items I've collected. These green gl...

This is no secret to anyone who knows me, but I'm a germophobe. I'm also a little bit obsessive/compulsive. Nice combination, eh? I can't stand dust, dirt or grime of any kind. I may, in fact, be keeping Mr. Clean, Windex, the Swiffer company and half a dozen others in business. I'm a sucker for a good cleaning product. I live in a small town where we have municipal well water. What does that mean? Basically we have several giant wells that provide water to the whole town. It's not necessarily a bad thing. The water is treated so it doesn't have the iron smell that some well water has, but it still has an especially high mineral concentration. Put simply, we have really hard water. This brings me to my lastest adventure in cleaning. Try as I might, I can't seem to keep the white tile and white grout in the shower looking, well...........white! So armed with determination, I went to the supermarket in seach of new cleaning products to add to my arsenal. I was...

I love the idea of owning a piece of original artwork. An oil on canvas, perhaps, or a delicate watercolor painting. Something that evokes a memory or an emotion when I look at it. Am I asking too much? I must be, I've yet to find exactly what I'm looking for. I'm not an artist so I can't create it myself. Or can I? The only thing I can draw is stick figures, and even those aren't great. I can't paint either. But my computer can do both! If I can take a picture of something, I can turn it into a drawing or painting with a few clicks of my mouse. I can even send it to a photo processor who will print my creation on any size paper I like. Last year I turned a photograph I had taken of the ocean into a "painting" and had it printed on large paper. I framed it and gave it to my parents for Christmas. As with my last photo project, I used the old, outdated software that came with our Dell desktop computer five or six years ago. Here are some examples of ho...

Have you done anything with those holiday pictures yet? Me neither. I have a terrible habit of taking pictures and then just letting them hang out on my computer for months before I do anything special with them. Today, though, I felt like doing a project. I didn't stick to holiday pictures, but this project is fun with any pictures you have. There are plenty of places that will turn your photos into magazine covers, but you don't need to pay anyone to do it for you. It's pretty easy to do it yourself. I don't have any fancy schmancy photo editing software, either. I'm still using the software that came with our first desktop computer. It's antiquated, but I know how to use it. The computer itself melted one day a few years ago, but that's another story. If you have software that will let you add text to pictures, you're good to go. Because I don't know what editing package you'll be using, I can't give you any specific instructions, but I ca...

Frequently, when I cook something with onion in it someone will say to me "Willoughby, these onions are so evenly diced, how do you do it?" Ok, that never really happens. But I do have a great way to dice an onion, even if you don't have the knife skills of a chef. Go get your onion, your knife and your cutting board. I'll wait. And while I'm waiting, I would like to thank my son's girlfriend for demonstrating this technique for me. I could hardly cut an onion and take pictures at the same time, so I really appreciate her help. She took her ring off for the demo, but I wanted you all to see it. No, it's not an engagement ring, they're only teenagers!! Start by placing the onion on the cutting board so that the root is on one side and the stem end is on the other. Now cut the onion right down the middle between those two points. Remove the papery skin from each half. Place one half on the board, cut side down (set the other half aside). Holding the to...

Look up! Not at the ceiling, at the top of the screen. Do you see where it says "Next Blog"? Click it! Wait, finish reading this first! But, seriously, when you're done, click it. It will randomly choose another blog for you to view. I'm sure some of you already knew this, but I'll bet some of you didn't. I've been looking at tons of new blogs over the last few days, and it's a riot! Like I needed another reason to spend more time in front of the computer!

Is it too early to be thinking about spring? Probably, but I can't help it. I know you're thinking, "Didn't you just take down the Christmas wreaths yesterday?" Yes, I did, but what's that got to do with it? I'll admit, I don't have much of a green thumb. Or maybe I do. I just get lazy about taking care of my plants once the novelty of them has worn off. I had some beautiful flowers, herbs and tomatoes last year. I sort of let them go by the end of summer, though. See how pretty they looked early in the season? This year, I'm turning over a new leaf (pun most definitely intended)! I'm going to try to keep my plants looking beautiful all summer long. In fact, my daughter and I have decided to make a project out of it, complete with photo journal. We had a long talk about it while sitting in the parking lot before school this morning, figuring out what sort of flowers and vegetables we want to grow. The minute I got home I went to the Burpee w...

It's Sunday and I'm back to work. Well, calling it work is a stretch, I suppose. For me, Sunday is ebay listing day. I had taken a break over the holidays, but I felt ready to get back to it today. I listed 15 items earlier this afternoon so we'll see how it goes. I will probably add some more during the week, I've got more inventory than I have the space for! If you want to check it out, go to http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/bruce1115 . Today was also the day we officially said farewell to Christmas at the "Willoughby" house! The Christmas tree has been down since December 27th, but today was the day I took down the wreaths on the windows and doors. I love Christmas, but I was ready to pack it all away until next year. How long until I stop finding pine needles on the floor? I'll have to get back to you on that one!

I just can't resist adding a few more "Scentimental" tips before I move on to bigger and better (or at least different) subject matter. I hope you'll find them useful! Extra special gift giving - Store your tissue paper in a plastic storage container with a tight fitting lid along with a few scented votive candles. Be sure there is a layer of plastic wrap or foil between the candles and tissue so you don't end up with stains. After a week or so, the tissue paper will take on the smell of the candles. Use your scented paper in gift bags or boxes (not recommended for food gifts). Having a party or an open house - You can't use this tip to disguise a dirty bathroom, but you can make a clean bathroom seem extra fresh before company arrives. Fill the bathroom sink with water and about a half cup of liquid cleaner. Let it sit until just before your guests arrive, then drain and rinse the sink (this works to make toilets fresh, too. It may take a few flushes t...

I love this project. It's fun, fast, easy and inexpensive. It's also a great way to get the most out of your scented candles. What more could you want? We're going to make scented tarts for wax tart burners. It doesn't matter if you have an electric model or one that uses a candle to melt the wax. The tarts we are going to make will work in either style. To begin, preheat your oven to 450 degress. I know, you're wondering why we need the oven and why it has to be so hot. We are going to use the oven to melt the wax, and the reason it has to be so hot.....well, it probably doesn't need to be quite that hot but I said this was going to be a fast project and heat equals speed! Ok, now you'll need scented candle remnants. You can use stubs of votives, pillars, or my favorite, jar candles that still have an inch or so of wax in the bottom but won't burn anymore. Cover your work surface with several layers of newspaper. Using a blunt tipped knife, gently cut o...