The Chip of All Chips!

Anyone who knows me well (or simply reads my blog, for that matter!) knows I have a very big sweet tooth. Those around me usually benefit from this in the form of various cookies recipes, cakes, etc. That said, I've discovered a new chip that is driving me all sorts of crazy (i.e. eating half the bag without blinking...) I never get excited about things that crunch....

It's Terra Chips' "Mediterranean" chip.
It's PERFECT. Try it and let me know!

A mop I really like...

Okay, so we won't file this posting under the most glamorous of postings, but here goes. I love this little mop made by the Libman people. I bought it at Target for something like $9 and it's perfect for weekly light mopping of the powder room and upstairs bathroom floors. The reason I love it is that you can simply pop off the mop head, wash it in the washing machine and the funky smell of floor cleaner is gone! In the past, I've gotten sponge mop heads and replaced them regularly. Now, I just pop off the head and reuse it. I love that! Has anyone else used this mop? Let me know!

Car Organizer

I was just flipping through "Health" magazine and came across a cool little car organizer: the "Swing Away Organizer", $15.95 from AutoSport catalog. I use an L.L.Bean medium sized open tote on the passenger side floor of my car for similar uses: it holds baby wipes, Purell, a magazine or two, water bottles and suntan lotion. There's no need to have your items sprawled all over the floor of your car (who know who you are!!) when products exist for under $20. Happy car organizing!

Junk Mail and Telemarketers

Since many of you showed excitement about the post where I explained how to stop unwanted catalogs, I wanted to share something I recently did to stop junk mail and unsolicited phone calls. If I get mail, I want it to be letters from friends and decorating magazines (and, um...the occasional inflated credit card bill....!)

To reduce the amount of unsolicited mail or telemarketing calls you receive, send a postcard or letter requesting removal from lists. Include your name, address and phone number:

Mail Preference Service
P.O. Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

Telephone Preference Service
P.O. Box 1559
Carmel, NY 10512

Organizing Tip: Spice Drawer

There are lots of jokes aimed at organized people like, "oh yes, I spent my Saturday organizing my spice drawer!" Well, I'm one of those people and I take pride in the little areas of my house, like my spice drawer!

I love to cook and insist on a simple, well set-up kitchen, free of clutter and free of the items I rarely use (those are stored in the basement on a shelf).

Have you ever considered using a drawer to store your spices? It's a lot easier to find what you need (and know what you have so you don't double up) if they're lined up in a drawer. If you currently use a cupboard, how about making the switch? If you're happy with your cupboard and don't want to change, how about going to Target or www.stacksandstacks.com and getting some item risers (your spices will be lined up like they are attending a high school pep rally in the gym!).

And have you ever wondered how long spices last? Not as long as you'd think: herbs? 1-3 years. Others? 2-3 years. You really ought to upgrade while you're organizing. I love the "Simply Organic" line. Another great store/catalog is Penzey's Spice.

Go get spicy :)!

Gardening Catalogs

Because Spring arrives in New England at a turtle's pace, it's a lot of fun to spend early Spring browsing seed and bulb catalogs. Today I got a fantastic one from the people at Seeds of Change, which is all certified organic.

Here are my favorites:
Seeds of Change: www. seedsofchange.com
Brent and Becky's Bulbs: www.brentandbeckysbulbs.com
Burpee Seed: www.burpee.com/public/index.aspx

This year we are going to build ourselves raised garden boxes, based on the book "All New Square Foot Gardening", by Mel Bartholomew. There are many advantages to this method, including bringing in really good organic, composted soil, being able to walk around the box (for weeding and picking) and because they look really pretty! I'm not interested in digging up the yard, so we can place these on the edge of the property. I love the idea of an organized garden (go figure!!)

We're going to build 3 boxes (to start!) and plant:

Box 1: Giant Heirloom Zinnia, for late summer cuttings
Box 2: Herbs and Tomatoes
Box 3: Kids Box! Either sunflowers or pumpkins

I'll take pictures for the blog once we've built the boxes and set them up.

Happy Spring!

Yard Sale Furniture!

Anyone who has been to my house knows I've gotten some of my favorite pieces of furniture at yard sales. The coffee table in my den? $7. The queen sized solid maple bed in my son's room? $10. The list goes on and on! When people visit the house and compliment something I have to stop myself from giving a tacky play by play of where I've found my finds!

Now that yard sale season is upon us, I thought it would be an appropriate time to share some very easy tips for refinishing yard sale furniture.

First of all, you want something with good "bones", i.e. it doesn't matter how ugly it looks on the surface, if it's made of nice solid wood (not vaneer), pick it up. What's the risk? $10? Who cares?

If the wood needs it, give it a light sanding with a medium sand paper and then work your way to the finest paper. Wipe clean and PRIME (do NOT skip this!) with either KILZ or BULLSEYE primer. I usually do 2-3 coats of primer. Next? Paint your find! I like taking my Benjamin Moore paint wheel to the store and having something mixed custom, since I like to really customize the colors. A semi-gloss is nice. You'll want 2 coats of the paint.

To the right are pictures of my favorite find to date. I got this table at the local Salvation Army for $10. It's a late 19th century dining room table. I sawed the base down, reattached it, painted it white and made a coffee table. Love it! Do you know how hard it is to find a table big enough for the whole family to play games and make puzzles?

Happy Hunting! See you at the yard sales! p.s. don't forget to keep bungee cords in your trunk, ladies!

Cherry Almond Cake

Here's another fool-proof amazing dessert. Sounds ordinary, but tastes extraordinary!

Cherry Almond Cake
1 cup flour
1 1/4 t baking powder
1 stick butter, room temp
1 1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 t almond extract
15 ounce jar pitted cherries (I use ones in a glass jar)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-11 inch springform pan. (I like butter flavored Crisco)

Beat sugar and butter about 3 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time. Add almond extract. Sift flour and baking powder and add to butter mix. Mix until incorporated. Scrape into pan. Top with drained cherries. Bake 65 minutes. Cool 10 minutes on rack and remove sides of pan. Top with powdered sugar.

Do you need my help?

I just returned from a very satisfying closet organizing job. I loved the work, the client was very pleased and my kids got to play with her kids while I worked. What a life I lead! She told me she's a regular reader of the blog (thank you!) and encouraged me to remind my lovely readers that, although I love to blog, my primary job is an organizer/decorator. I'm here for the hiring, friends!

My current rate is $50 an hour. Most jobs require at least a 2-4 hour window. It's best to book me at least a week in advance.

The great news for you is that next year I'll be childless during the day! That's 9-3 of un-interrupted organizing time! Please treat yourself to the space you deserve. Organization is not a one-time quick fix. It's a process. It's thinking about your space/life with new eyes.

Hire an organizer today!

Twistie Ties

Remember the days when toys came in simple packaging? Or little packaging at all? Now, it seems every toy is tied down in its box by about 10 silver colored "twisty ties". It's a comedy of errors Christmas morning when parents are trying desperately to rescue a toy from it's restraints, isn't it? I can't remember which of my talented friends gave me this idea, but it's one I love:

Use the twisty ties in your garden to stake plants/flowers/tomatoes, etc. They are especially good because unlike the ties you get with trash bags, they are really really strong. I collect them after holidays and keep them in a clear jar in the garage.

Happy gardening!

Too Many Catalogs?

Are you overwhelmed by all the catalogs that arrive in your mailbox? Do they remain unread? Clog up your recycling bin? I found a fantastic site to help!

www.catalogchoice.org

I just visited the site and was very easily able to opt-out of many catalogs we receive, and never use. Most of the shopping I do is from companies websites anyway (hello Lands End! Ha, ha)

Start with little ways to live deliberately, responsibly and simple.

Let me know how it goes!

White Chocolate Raspberry Bars

There are 2 recipes I make that get the most requests for recipe: White Chocolate Raspberry Bars and Cherry Almond Cake. I'll be posting both over the next week.

White Chocolate Raspberry Bars
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 c. butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
4 c. flour
2 eggs
18 oz. jar red raspberry preserves
1 cup vanilla chips

Heat oven to 350. Combine sugar, butter, salt and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until well mixed (about 2 min.). Reduce speed to low. Beat, adding flour 1 cup at a time until mixture is crumbly (2 min.) Remove 1 cup of mixture and set aside. Add eggs to remaining crumb mixture. Beat until mixture forms a dough (2 min). Press evenly into 13 x 9 pan lined with parchment (not wax!) paper. Bake 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Spread preserves over hot, partially baked bars. Sprinkle with vanilla chips and then with reserved crumb mix. Continue baking for 20 minutes, or until topping is lightly browned. Cool completely and cut into bars. makes about 48 bars.

Ask the Organizer Question: Mom Papers

Ask the Organizer Question:

"My biggest and most frustrating problem is the paper pile that accumulates on my kitchen countertop. The pile of paper consists of invites that I need to reply to, registration forms for the kids, anything that needs follow up! The pile spreads...I thin it out...but it never seems to go away. The problem is that we're quite tight on space, so I really don't know how or where to organize these various papers so that they are out of sight, but not out of mind!"

Reader, I'm so glad you asked this question! Those of us with school-aged children (and of course, anyone with a mailbox..) can relate and share your frustration. I'll share with you what I've done and you might be able to adjust it to your needs.

I've broken it down into 2 storage areas for "mom" paperwork: "deep storage" and "active file" (see picture to the right). What's in the "deep storage"? It's a stand up hanging file box ($10 at Target) with the following files, "sports", "preschool", "scouts" and "kindergarten". What I keep here are items that are important (school handbook, old sport team info., scout phone lists, etc.) BUT don't need to be in my main area of operation. So it's things I need, but not right away, or not in the near future.

The ACTIVE file: Mine is a $3 plastic notebook (you might want to get one that can stand upright, with a cute binder (Target!)) In this notebook are ACTIVE invites, sports schedules, permission slips, etc. It's in my main area of operation (near the phone and near my computer) and it's something I peak in every few days. Not EVERY day, but every couple of days. It's out of site, it's orderly, it was cheap to throw together and it works. And since it's papers you're dealing with, there is no need to have them out of the notebook. They'll fit neatly, put away.

Good luck, dear reader and remember, you don't need to have every last piece of paper in your active area - break it down, girl!

ORGANIZE MAGAZINE

Where have I been? Just today I learned of a magazine just for me: Organize Magazine!
http://www.organizemag.com/index. Check out their site and go get yourself an issue. Love it!

Reader Question #1: Storing Summer Stuff!

This is the first question I received in my "ask the organizer" series.

"Any ideas on how to store all the little (summer) stuff like the sidewalk chalks, ball mitts, butterfly-catchers, jump ropes, sun block, water toys....I could go on"

The first thing I have to say is, "wow, I want to be a kid in THAT house!" Sounds like a lot of fun. I actually have a great, cheap, tried and true idea for the smaller items (sunblock, sunglasses, hats, etc.): an over-the-door shoe organizer (see the picture to the right). The nice thing about this is you can keep it in your mudroom (on the back of your kitchen door, dear reader?) and change the items out per season (gloves and hats in the winter). Kids can easily grab at the lower items and mom and dad can monitor the less than kid-friendly items (like bug spray) up top. You can get plastic shoe organizers for about $10 and canvas for a little more money. These are also great to hold craft supplies, hair accessories, toy cars, etc.

For the larger items like ball mitts, I recommend buying a big old galvanized tub (Target) that can be used as a catch-all. And if you're entertaining, you can throw a bag of ice in the tub and fill it with beer :) Perhaps after a day of sidewalk chalk, baseball and bug catching? :)

Thanks for the question and if you need more specific advice, please email me again.

Ask the organizer!

Friends, please forward me your current organizing dilemma (partridgeathome@yahoo.com) and I'll post some advice to the site. Chances are, the things you're frustrated by will be shared by my readers! Lets get talking!

Organizing tip: Linen Closet

If you want to store extra bedding in a neat and handy way, fold the fitted and top sheets and then store them inside the matching pillowcase, all folded neatly. When you have a guest, you'll just take out that one pouch of bedding and won't hunt for matching pillow cases! And while we're talking about linen closets, why don't you go ahead and toss those 10-year-old bath towels that have been taking up your precious space? There are only so many towels a family needs and they take up a lot of room!

Hummingbird Cake, my new favorite!

Since I worked as a Southern Living at Home consultant for so long, I thought it would be fun to give you "the most requested recipe in Southern Living magazine history". I tried the cake out on a friend and it was moist, dangerously good and beautiful!

Hummingbird Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup veg. oil
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple, undrained
1 cup chopped pecans
2 cups chopped bananas
Cream Cheese frosting
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; and eggs and oil, sirring until dry ingredients are moistened. (do not beat). Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup pecans and bananas.

Pour batter into 3 greased and floured 9 inch round cakepans. Bake at 350 for 25/30 minutes until center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes' remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

Spread cream cheese frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake. Sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top. Store in refrigerator to set the frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1 8 ounce pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 16 ounce pkg. powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.