Polishing my Antique Piano

Just before we moved into our house 5 years ago, I really wanted to have a piano in our new house!!! I didn't know how I could possibly afford one, but I kept my hopes up. Within a week my sister-in-law told me that her friends family was trying to sale their antique piano. So I went to see it at their house and fell in love at first sight!!!!! They sold it to me for $300, which was a steal for the great condition it was in. I had it delivered and I just think it is beautiful!!! Over the past years of having it, it has gotten dirty and gotten a few scratches to add to the 100 years of use and abuse it has gone through. But the worst was when my little ones thought it was ok to scratch big letters into the side and front of the piano that I never took a photo of!!!! I've just lived with the scratches for over a year and finally this week I thought there must be some solution! So I went searching online of course for a way to fix the scratches. I found several different ideas like rubbing pecans into the scratch which didn't work very well, so my next experiment was to make a solution of equal parts lemon juice and canola oil and rub on the scratches. WOW! This idea worked so well, I ended up polishing the entire piano with it!!!!! Kind of a homemade "Pledge" solution. I am so happy with the results and the look!!!!!!! I think my 130 year old piano is looking better than it has in a very long time!!!!Happy Me!!!!!
BEFORE



BEFORE (My little musicians)

BEFORE

AFTER!!!!! (this is where the Big letters were scratched in and now they are GONE!!!!)

Pistachio Pudding Dessert

I had so much fun with food yesterday on St. Patrick's Day! For breakfast I made green scrambled eggs, Shamrock toast (toast cut with a shamrock cookie cutter and buttered with green butter! We watched video clips online about the history and traditions of St. Patrick's Day while they ate breakfast! In the boys lunches I made (green) white chocolate covered pretzels with green sprinkles, green pear slices, sandwiches with the Shamrock cookie cutter, and they have clear waterbottles, so I put a drop of green food coloring in their water! Green food coloring was my friend! They got some pretty great comments on their lunches! For dinner I didn't make traditional Irish food, instead I made Tortellini in Pesto sauce and Alfredo sauce mixed together and grilled chicken strips, homemade french bread and green lemonade and Pistachio Pudding Dessert! Unfortunately, the only photo I took was for the desserts. Here is the Recipe (I found it online at Cooks.com):

Pistachio Pudding Dessert

Pie crust:
1 stick butter
1 cup flour
1 cup chopped walnuts

Layer 1:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 (8oz) cream cheese
1 cup cool whip

Layer 2:
2 regular sized pkgs. instant pistachio pudding mix
3 cups milk

Topping:
cool whip
chopped almonds

Mix butter, flour, nuts; press into 9x13 inch pan. Bake 350 for 20 min. Cool. Mix powdered sugar, cream cheese and cool whip; spread on cooled crust. Beat together pudding mix and milk until thick. Spread on cream cheese layer and top with a layer of cool whip and chopped nuts. Refrigerate.

clean sink scum

BEFORE
I am pregnant you know, and I guess I've been in the "nesting" stage, where I just have to clean, Clean, CLEAN!!!! Before, when I looked at the Scum and Stains on my kids toilet and sink,I was bugged by it and frustrated that nothing seemed to clean it well enough! Yesterday I decided to take action by researching online and getting to the "nitty gritty" ! I read that if you get a super fine piece of sandpaper and squirt some dishwasher liquid on the scum and scrub gently, it will clean it all! (Be careful not to scratch the porcelain)It worked Great! Also the build up in the toilet disappeared after a little scrubbing! I am so happy with the end results!!!!!! Also for terrible stains, I used Clorox Bleach Stick found in the laundry isle at the store! Awesome!!!!!! Just a little work and so much pay off!!!!!!
AFTER

"Life" for Life

I don't buy cereal very often because I get kind of (Seriously) addicted to it!!! But, a couple of weeks ago I found a super sale at Safeway and bought Life cereal for 99cents each!!! I ended up buying 10 boxes over the course of the sale thinking how great this is to add to my rotating year supply! But actually we ended up eating almost all of it within 2 weeks time! I told you I'm (We're) addicted!!!!!! Good thing milk was on sale too!!!!

Citrus and Blossoms!!!!!

I was so surprised and so HAPPY today because Beth sent me a box of oranges and lemons and citrus blossoms!!!!!!!! It totally MADE MY DAY!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU BETH!!!!!!

French Dip Sandwich

This dinner is such an easy one!!!! All you do is put a roast with all your favorite seasonings (mine are Beef Bouillon granules, Ground Pepper, and Garlic Salt) and water to cover about half of roast so you have a lot of Au Jus (dipping juice) to dip the sandwich in. Start to cook in the crock pot when you wake up in the morning and by dinnertime your meat will be so tender and falling apart that it will be perfect for French Dip Sandwiches! When you are ready to eat, cut your bread and put a slice of Provolone Cheese and toast lightly in you toaster oven or oven, put however much meat you like in the sandwich, serve hot with the dipping juice straight from the crock pot, remember the Horseradish sauce , and your favorite potato chips!!!!! Mmmm! SOOO good and SOOOO Easy!!!!!!

Pecan Sandies

Being pregnant, I get a little craving from time to time, and last night was one of those times. I was really craving Keebler Pecan Sandies, but didn't want to go to the store, so I searched online for a good copycat recipe and found this one on Allrecipes.com and I have to say that these turned out Awesome!!!! You have to try these!

Pecan Sandies
1 cup margarine, softened (I used butter)
1 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola oil and Yes, it really is 1 cup!!!)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used 2 tsp vanilla)
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups chopped pecans
1/2 cup white sugar for decoration (I didn't do this)


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, vegetable oil, 1 cup white sugar and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar and salt; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in the pecans. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll each ball in remaining white sugar. Place the cookies 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are golden. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.