Homemade Ice Cream Ideas

As you have heard me mention in many posts, I Love Ice Cream! Several years ago I received an ice cream maker as a gift and lately I have been making my own flavors.

My niece in Ohio turned me on to peanut butter and jelly in ice cream.  She would take vanilla ice cream, add peanut butter and jelly to the ice cream and mix it up, then she would refreeze it.  I love anything peanut butter, so I went home and made some PB&J ice cream in my machine.  I made the basic vanilla ice cream recipe that includes, sugar, whole milk, salt, vanilla, and whipping cream. I would let the mixture sit in the refrigerator for several hours and then add it to the ice cream maker about 5 minutes before it was done. I would add microwaved peanut butter, and add some squeeze bottle grape jelly to the machine and let it mix it all up. Sooooooo Good!!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream!

I made my version of Smores ice cream by making the same vanilla mixture then a few minute before the ice cream was done I added crushed graham crackers, marshmallow fluff, and melted chocolate chips. Then to add a little spin I added some shopped pecans. It turned out delicious. one of my favorites is butter pecan and it is the same vanilla recipe with pecans that were cooked in butter added at the end of the freezing process.  It is always a family favorite.

Butter Pecan!

Last night my In-Laws were over for dinner and they had some of my Smore ice cream and loved it. My Mother In Law is also an ice cream lover, so I asked her what her dream ice cream would have in it. First she said Chocolate ice cream with chocolate and maraschino cherries. Then she changed her mind and said she loves pineapple, maraschino cherries and walnuts. I made her a special batch of ice cream.  I started with the vanilla recipe.

I drained pineapple tidbits then patted them with paper towels, and did the same with the cherries. Then I chopped the pineapples and cherries up and once again 5 minutes before the ice cream was done I added all three of the ingredients, pineapple, maraschino cherries and chopped walnuts.

Surprising enough it was really good. I dropped the finished ice cream off at my Mother In-Laws house and she called me the next day and said I should patent the recipe because it was the best ice cream she has ever had. I may not have it patented, but I did name it after her, "Marionschino"!   

Take that Ben and Jerry!!

Marionschino

Chair Socks!

For so many years we have always used those sticky felt pads for the feet of our chairs and tables to keep them from scratching our floors when they moved. I was tired of constantly replacing them because they would move off the bottom or move up the legs.  Then there was the constant collection of dog hair, dust and dirt that stuck to them.

We have these in many shapes, sizes and colors.

Gross, Gross, Gross!!

When we moved into our current house I did some Googling and found chair socks and fell in love. I bought them for my kitchen chairs in our house and decided to buy them for the table and chairs for our Florida condo. While I have never had an issue with them at home, the socks on the condo chairs were always falling down and drooping.

Droopy socks.

When we were at the condo this Fall to do our deep cleaning we decided to buy new socks for the furniture and also change the color.  We went from black socks to brown, which matched the furniture a little better.  But, we still needed to figure out a way to keep them from drooping. My husband came up with the perfect solution.

If only they stayed on the leg like this.

Zip Ties are the answer.

After pulling the socks onto the chair leg tightly he took a zip tie and wrapped it around the sock about and inch or two below the top of the sock. He pulled the ties very tightly with the head of the tie on the inside of the leg and cut the tail off at the head.

The zip tie was put on tightly and the head is on the inside of the chair leg.

The sock is folded down over the zip tie.

Then all you have to do is fold the top of the sock down over the zip tie so the sock looks like it has a cuff. BRILLIANT!  We also used the zip tie for the living area side chair. They look great, save your floors, and now stay in place.

They look great and hopefully will stay on now!

The Joys of Owning a Vacation Rental

My husband and I have owned a Vacation rental in Florida for 6 years. We bought it when the market was at its lowest and it was a repossessed condo on the Gulf of Mexico. The condo was in good shape and after a long weekend in September, during Tropical Storm Lee, we painted, furnished and decorated the condo to get it ready to rent.

Now, if I had my choice we would have just bought the condo and kept it for vacations and family, but along with that choice would have been having extra income to pay for it, so we rent it out and come down 2 weeks a year per the tax laws. Each time we come down it blows me away on how brutal people are on rental property. This is not a hotel owned by a multi million dollar company, it is a small condo owned by a middle aged, middle income couple that wanted to have a great place to go on vacation. I take great pride in the condos appearance and work hard on my vacations when I am there to update and deep clean it so it stays looking nice.

I have learned that many people could care less. They break things, stain things steal things, they never tell anyone, and just walk away.  Unfortunately for us our management company misses a lot of these things and it waits until we show up for our vacation to find them and deal with them. Here are a few examples.

Last year we showed up for our vacation and found a huge fake plant crammed behind the TV stand and TV.  I have no idea where it came from and how housekeeping did not catch it. I am sure it came from someones condo and that they didn't even know it was gone. It went in the dumpster. That same trip I walked into the master bedroom and saw a bright red (comforter was pail blue and tan) juice or Kool Aid stain on the comforter. It was like a big red stop sign and no mention of it at all from housekeeping. We had to buy a new comforter and I took the old one home and put a lot of time, effort and chemicals to get the stain out. These examples were not big deals and were not by far the worst things we have found.

Fast forward to this last vacation trip.  We had the condo renovated last November/December (big nightmare due to the designer) and this was the first time we had seen the competed project. So, we were nervous to see how it had been treated by the renters over the last year.  As it turned out the reno looked great and we sighed a sigh of relief, for that anyway.

When I went into the master bedroom there were small blood stains on my comforter, Gross, gross, gross!!! Then I pulled the comforters off the bunk beads and one of those comforters had drops of blood on it. Yuck! Who was staying here, vampires? Out came the chemicals and bleach and I was able to get the stains out, thank goodness.

My husband and I traveled by car this trip to bring all the stuff we needed to do a deep clean. Normally after we arrive we go to the grocery and get food for the week. This time we brought breakfast stuff and coffee pods for the Keurig we had in the condo. After we arrived we were settling in and I noticed that the old coffee maker was sitting out, and the Keurig was gone.  Someone walked out with our Keurig.  How low do you have to be to rent someones private condo, spend the week using all their stuff, enjoying the resort at a very reasonable rate and steal from the owner.  And to make matters worse housekeeping did not catch it. And to make matters even worse they also stole our new hand mixer. Who does that??????

So, we are livid and saddened that the items are gone, and off we went to get a new Keurig (that will stay locked up for us only) and while at Target we picked up a few grocery items, one being bottled water. When we got back to the condo I started putting the water in the door of the one year old refrigerator, I noticed a small crack in the door shelf.  Then, I saw a huge crack and hole in the side of the shelf below it, and a crumbled corner in the shelf above it. Really? All three door shelves are damaged. One more thing that housekeeping did not find and now needed to be replaced.

Needless to say that housekeeping is going to be getting an ear full, not to mention they will be responsible for paying for the items that were stolen and damaged.  If housekeeping would have noticed we would have been able to identify the people that robbed us and damaged our property, but now I have to just wonder who the creeps were and if they will end up coming back for more.

I do give discounts to people that rent our condo, but no where in that agreement does it say that with each stay you get a free Keurig and mixer. Yikes!

Girly, Frilly Princess Bags.

I found some vibrant colored canvas bags at Hobby Lobby.  I found a package of 4 for $8.99, use a 40% coupon (you can get them online), and it turned out being about $1.40 a bag. Add some left over or clearance fabric or tulle, and some ribbon I had laying around and I can make the cutest bags for less than $5.

After picking the color of the bag, fabric/tulle and ribbon I was ready to get started.

First I used a 5 inch wide plastic cutting ruler on a cutting mat. I laid the ruler straight on the fabric and cut with a rotary cutter down both sides of the ruler.

I took the newly cut piece of fabric and sewed the two edges together making a hoop. Then starting close to the seam I sewed a basting stitch along the top of the fabric ring, leaving the thread long on both ends. Then pulling the top thread I gathered the fabric loop to the width of the bag.

I used a hem ruler and measured about 3 inched from the top of the bag and marked the bag with Tailor's chalk all the way around the bag. I pinned the gathered fabric to the bag at the chalk marks.

I used coordinating ribbon and pinned it over the top edge of the gathered fabric. I used matching thread on the machine and sewed the ribbon and fabric to the bag. I sewed along the top and the bottom of the ribbon.

For the hem I either sewed a very small hem on the fabric, or if I used tulle, I just left the straight rotary cut as the hem.

My granddaughter loves these bags, and so do I!!!

Pink Rose Princess Dress

The Pink Rose Princess Dress I made my Granddaughter.

For this Princess Dress I bought a clearance pink t-shirt, and from JoAnn Fabric I bought clearance rose fabric. This fabric is gorgeous, and I loved it so much I  also bought it in green and purple. With the fabric on sale, plus a 20% off my total purchase I was able to get 1/2 yard for around $5 dollars and the t-shirt for about $4.50. I also bought a roll of pink lace for $1 at JoAnn and a roll of rose ribbon at Hobby Lobby for 50% off which came to less than $2 a roll. The whole dress cost me about $11 to make.

The Carters t-shirt and rose fabric.

The lace and rose ribbon I bought for the Princess dress.

I prepared the skirt for this gown the same way I made the Minnie Mouse Princess Dress in my previous blog. I used the sewing machine to run a baste stitch along the top of the 1/2 yard rose fabric. I started the stitch about 1/2 inch from each edges so I could sew a back seam in the rose fabric. After sewing the back seam I pulled the baste stitch to gather the skirt to fit the width of the t-shirt.

I marked the t-shirt with Tailor's chalk all the way around the waist, and pinned the skirt at the chalk line. I then sewed the skirt to the t-shirt.

Next, I took the rose ribbon and pinned it all around the waist on top of the raw gathered edges of the top of the skirt. I hand sewed the ribbon in place.

The rose ribbon pinned at the waist.

The t-shirt had a strip of small flowers at the breast of the shirt. I took the rose ribbon and pinned it over the flowers and hand sewed it into place.

The rose ribbon sewn over the shirt's decorative flowers. 

I took the pink lace and pinned it over the cap sleeves and sewed it into place with the sewing machine.

Lace over the cap sleeves.

Because the rose fabric frays easily, I took some wide bias tape and sewed it to the raw bottom of the skirt. Then I turned the hem up about an inch or an inch and a half, and sewed the hem on the machine.

Not a pretty hem on the inside, but it will keep it from fraying.

My sweet Princess loves this new gown.

The front of my little Rose Princess. Her Princess Purse will be a future blog.

The back view of my Rose Princess.

Dear Pop,

Happy Birthday! It would have been your 95th Birthday today, and so much has changed in the seven years since you passed. What has not changed is how very much we all miss you. It is hard to pick one thing that I miss the most. There are so many, but here are a few.

I miss your laugh, one of my favorite memories of you laughing was when we were watching Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show when he had Buddy Hackett on as a guest. Buddy was artful at telling a story without using words that would have gotten him bleeped. As he is telling this joke, Dad, you started laughing. You went from the loud full belly laugh, to the silent shaking laugh, and finally the bent over high pitched laugh with tears. It was truly one of my favorite memories of you Pop.

I miss your gurgling belly. When I was a kid and I would sit next to you at home, or in church, and as a little girl you would put your arm around me.  I would lay my head against you and listen to your gurgling stomach. It was always, in a strange way, a comforting sound to me.

I miss you singing in church. When I was little you would sit in the pew with us, and with your tenor voice you would harmonize singing all the hymns. You had such a beautiful singing voice. As I got older you sang in the choir, and played guitar in the church music group. I still enjoyed listening to you sing in the choir and play your guitar, but the sound was never as sweet as when your were right next to me in the pew. That is a sound I will never forget.

I miss your warm chubby hands. As you got older and your hands got bigger your wedding band was embedded in your finger and your hands were as warm as your heart. When I was young and I would sit next to you with your arm around me, you would lay your hand on my arm, or hand, and they were always so warm and comforting. As I grew older and moved away, when I came home to visit you would sit next to me and take my hands in yours and always say, "How's Gigi?" Your hands covering mine in warmth. I always called them your heater hands. Oh, how I miss them.

I miss feeling the safety that a daughter can only feel with her Dad. The bear hug that enveloped me, the kiss on my head, and your voice saying "I love you". That is by far what I miss the most.

There are so many things that I miss now that you are gone, but I am bless that I still have such wonderful memories of you and Mom, and such wonderful siblings to share them with.

Happy Birthday Pop, and on this day my memory will be of you opening your presents with one of the bows on your head, and all of us laughing.

All my Love,
Gigi

The George W Bush Presidential Center, Part 3

My last blog in this series is on the special exhibit at the Bush Center. The Exhibit is called "Portraits of Courage".

When President Bush finished his second term of office he read Winston Churchill's essay, "Painting as a Pastime". Winston became a painter after he resigned from public office, and after reading his essay, and with the encouragement from Mrs Bush, President Bush decided to give painting a try.

"Even though I was active in the post-presidency,"President Bush says,"I was antsy. I figured if painting had sated Churchill's appetite for learning, I might benefit from it as well."

Gale Norfleet, a Dallas artist who has a Master of Fine Arts degree from MSU was hired by President Bush to be his first instructor. President Bush took lessons from Ms. Norfleet for two years. She taught him the basics of painting.

This is a painting by Gale Norfleet of the President painting.

To further his knowledge and skills, and to become a better painter President Bush hired an artist who was the Professor Emeritus of Art at Texas Christian University in Forth Worth, TX. His new instructor's name is Jim Woodson. Mr Woodson taught Mr. Bush a technique known as "impasto". This is a technique where the paint is put on the canvas very thickly making the painting almost look three dimensional. He also encouraged Mr. Bush to use bigger canvases and bigger brushes.

Jim Woodson's portrait of President Bush.

President Bush's latest instructor, Sedrick Huckaby, is a young painter who was honored in the National Portrait Gallery's Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Sedrick was the instructor that advised the President to "Paint people you know, but others don't". That advise led him to

undertake "Portraits of Courage".

Sedrick Huckaby's painting of President Bush and his paintings.

President Bush started out painting animals, landscapes, fruit and world leaders that were in office at the time he was our President. He also did some self portraits and even painted Jay Leno and gave him the painting on the Tonight Show.

President Bush started painting animals, fruit and landscapes.

The first portraits he painted were of fellow World Leaders.

President Bush painted a portrait of Jay Leno and presented to him on the "Tonight Show".

Portraits of Courage is a "labor of love" from our Commander and Chief to the service men and women he was "honored to salute".  The George W Bush Presidential Center also houses the George W Bush Institute's Military Service Initiative that helps post 9/11 veterans and their families. The MSI  helps veterans make a successful transition from service life to civilian life, including the wellness of the veterans that are recovering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and traumatic brain injury. These are the Veterans featured in the "Portraits of Courage".

Below are a few examples of President George W Bush's paintings in the exhibit titled "Portraits in Courage".

Sergeant David A. Wright, U.S. Marine Corps, 2000-2004

Captain Kevin L Rosenblum, U.S. Army, 2004-2009

Sergeant Saul Martinez, U.S. Army 2006-2010

Sergeant Leslie Zimmerman, U.S Army, 2001-2004

It seems so amazing to me that someone that had no inclination to be an artist their whole life ends up painting everyday, and produces such beautiful artworks. You can see how his style and technique changes as his instructors changed. This was such a unique and wonderful way to honor the men and women who served this country so honorably. If you ever get a chance to see this exhibit, do not pass up the opportunity.

The George W Bush Presidential Center, Part 2

The most solemn exhibit in the Bush Center Museum is the exhibit on 9/11. As you walk into the 9/11 exhibit you first see the 22 ft high, 1.85 tons pulverized twin steel beams from the World Trade Center. The piece of the towers is know as a C-11 panel and is believed to be from one of the upper floors of one of the towers. The piece of the tower is not an artifact, but a memorial, so visitors can touch it if they so choose. As I was watching the visitors walk by the towering piece of mangled metal, some would touch it, and look as if they needed to touch it to make it all real to them. Other visitors looked as if they couldn't touch it, like it was a sacred piece of history they needed to let rest.

The Mangled Twin Tower Beams. In Presidents Bush's address to the nation he said, "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve."

The beams are surrounded by the names of all the victims, of all three attack locations, engraved on the walls, also surrounding the beams are six video screens that show real footage of the attack as the events were happening. There are videos of "The Today Show" from that morning as the reporters were seeing what the nation was seeing in real time. They also show the footage of the plane going into the Pentagon from security camera footage taken from across the street.

Behind the beams you see visitors watching the videos or reading the victims names.

Next in the exhibit is a section where you can sit and watch video of the 10 days after 9/11. These videos include the speech at Ground Zero by President Bush on a bullhorn (the actual bullhorn is also on display), and the joint secession of Congress. You can see the video of the President getting the news of the attack while visiting a school in Sarasota, Florida. The video is very somber and riveting. You may need tissues, I know I did.

This was the section of the video when President Bush addressed the nation on Sept 11, 2001. In the video he is finishing his address saying, " This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world.  Thank you. Good night, and God bless America."

There is a display of letters of condolences from world leaders, and from school children throughout the world. Displayed are the handwritten notes that President Bush took on a white legal pad at the school in Florida.  Also included is the fleece jacket the President wore when he threw out the first pitch at Game 3 of the World Series.

A note of condolences from the, Ambassador of the Peoples Republic of China to the Kingdom of Thailand.

One of the most touching items on display is the badge of the killed Port Authority Officer George Howard. This badge was given to President Bush by Officer Howard's mother, and President Bush carried the badge with him throughout his presidency.

This is the badge of Port Authority Officer George Howard.

No one can ever fully understand how this day affected President Bush, he was sworn into office on January 20, 2001 and just 8 months into his Presidency he was faced with the worst terrorist attack our country has ever experienced. In my personal opinion in the days immediately following the attack he was strong when he needed to be, and comforting not only to the victims of this tragedy, but to all Americans that were scared and suffering. Being the President of this country is a hard enough job without having to deal with such a life altering event. The 9/11 attacks were game changers for all of us in this country. All of our lives changed, and in effect so did the lives of many people across the world.

Look for Part 3 of this series coming soon.