| Container Gardening |
[May. 9th, 2011|07:13 am]
domestic_bliss
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While I don't live in an apartment I have crap soil so everything I plant is in containers! I have fruits, veggies, herbs, and other flowers and plants filling the front of the house, all could do well on a patio or a sunny room. Since it is already in the 90s in South Texas everything is in full bloom. The link below is a slide show from Mother's Day...
http://sanantoniovida.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/my-garden-is-kinda-a-trampy-chick/ |
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| Breadman TR875 2-Pound Breadmaker- $59.99 @ Amazon. Good buy? |
[Dec. 11th, 2010|12:18 am]
domestic_bliss
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The Breadman TR875 2-Pound Breadmaker is on sale today only for $59.99 (normally $129.99) as Amazon's Gold box deal of the day.
Has anyone used this model before? Would you recommend it? I'm thinking of ordering this for my mom for christmas. It seems to have good reviews from what I can tell, but i've never bought/used a breadmaker before. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
here's the description from Amazon:
Paddle comes attached to electrical cord; detach but keep safe for use with select bread types
Programmable bread machine bakes 1-, 1-1/2-, and 2-pound horizontal loaves
Housed in stainless steel; easy-to-read LCD display; viewing window
Cycles include super-rapid, 100-percent whole wheat, gluten-free, and more
Measures 18 by 11-1/5 by 14-4/5 inches; 1-year warranty; hand wash only |
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| Redecorating on a budget! |
[Aug. 6th, 2010|11:36 am]
domestic_bliss
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A few weeks back, I posted THIS ENTRY...now, I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of my finished curtains!
( BEFORE And the AFTER pictures under here!Collapse ) |
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| Sewing and re-upholstering! (X-posted) |
[Jul. 20th, 2010|07:05 pm]
domestic_bliss
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | accomplished | ] |
Since my husband and I moved into what we now refer to as our "Adult Apartment" a few weeks ago, we are trying to make it look less "I'm-really-poor-and-just-got-out-of-college-have-a-seat-on-my-plastic-chair" look, and more "I'm-a-grown-up-and-actually-own-a-couch-now" look.
The catch is, we're on a tight budget. The things I've been working on include:
-4 sets of Place-mats
-2 table runners
-re-upholster the scary kitchen table chairs.
-Living-room curtains
-Coordinating pillows for couch
-Chair covers for cool IKEA chairs
-Bedroom curtains
-Matching runner for the dresser in bedroom
Total Budget? $200 Can it be done???? YES IT CAN! So far, between thread, fabric, foam (for chairs), lace, ribbon, etc., I'm still $60 under budget! Thanks to coupons, clearance, and especially having an amazing mom (with 2 sewing machines) to help! It goes a lot faster when one of us can be sewing while the other is pinning/ironing/cutting fabric/etc.
Anyways, here are my two most recent accomplishments:
( Kitchen ChairsCollapse )
( Place-mats and Table runnerCollapse )
Hopefully we will finish the living room curtains tomorrow! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jan. 5th, 2010|09:00 am]
domestic_bliss
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I love this community. Unfortunately, house hunting, work and life had taken it's toll and I haven't had very much time lately. My husband and I moved into our very first home together at the end of November and the whole holiday season kind of whooshed right by us. Since my family lives so far away and I rarely get to see them, I take bunches of pictures to share with them. This was our 'virtual housewarming'.
Shot from corner of living room. Looking into dining. The pictures on that wall above the loveseat really need to be scooted down a little but we had some trouble hanging them and I didn't want to put a second hole. I like my art to make 'friends' with the furniture, y'know?
( Image heavy/Link at endCollapse ) |
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| 1940's Pinup dress pattern? |
[Sep. 6th, 2009|09:48 am]
domestic_bliss
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I have been searching the intarwebs for what seems like eternity, for a dress pattern reminiscent of Tex Avery's "Red Hot Riding Hood" but not having a whole lot of luck. Looking for ideas and suggestions - can you help me out?
x posted to other diy and domestic forums |
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| Basic Bread Recipe |
[Apr. 22nd, 2009|05:04 pm]
domestic_bliss
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this is a really basic bread recipe which is really versatile. i like to add basil and tomato paste or seeds.
herbs and seeds are added to dry ingredients and wet ingredients like tomato paste should be added just before second proving.
Ingredients
3 1/3 cups of plain/all purpose flour
2 teaspoons/1 sachet of yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/5 cups warm water (don't let it be hot as it will kill the yeast)
Mix together all dry ingredients and stir to have a even mix. make a well in the centre and slowly add water and stir.
put on a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. grease the mixing bowl with oil/butter and put the dough back in and coat in the oil/butter, cover with a teatowel and put in a draught free place, for 45-75 minutes to prove (rise). once it's doubled in size punch the dough in the centre and knead again for 2-3 minutes. put in a bread tin and cover again and put out again to prove for 30 mins. brush it with water or oil/butter and place in the oven at 200'C/400'F for half an hour. once you take it out of the oven take it out of the tin immediately so it doesn't go soggy.
take a look at my journal if you want more indepth instructions or photos to see the change in dough size after the first proving
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| Pomegranate Lamb. |
[Apr. 14th, 2009|06:07 pm]
domestic_bliss
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Pomegranate Lamb. A spring braise of lamb shank with vegetables and fresh herbs, using pomegranate juice instead of red wine. For more pictures or recipe, visit FotoCuisine.com
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| In the Spirit of Spring Cleaning... |
[Apr. 12th, 2009|11:50 am]
domestic_bliss
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FYI For all those who would like to help their fellow brothers & sisters:
Most people know that they can give unwanted items to Goodwill and the Salvation Army, but there are other, smaller charities that make use of specific items, including...
Children's and teen's books. Reader to Reader (413-256-8595, www.readertoreader.org) gives them to schools.
Prescription eyeglasses. Give the Gift of Sight (513-765-6000, www.givethegiftofsight.com) sends used glasses to developing countries. Drop them at LensCrafters, Pearle Vision, Sears Optical, Target Optical, BJ's Optical, Sunglass Hut or Lions Club.
Cell phones and rechargeable batteries. Call2Recycle (877-273-2925, www.rbrc.org/call2recycle) refurbishes and resells them, and part of the proceeds goes to the Boys and Girls Clubs of America and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Drop-off sites: Best Buy, Lowe's, Sears and Target.
Coats. One Warm Coat (877-663-9276, www.onewarmcoat.org) distributes outerwear to those in need.
Musical instruments. Hungry for Music (202-479-2810, www.hungryformusic.org) distributes used musical instruments to underprivileged children.
Computers. National Cristina Foundation (203-863-9100, www.cristina.org) gives laptops, desktops and printers to nonprofit agencies.
Business clothing. Career Gear (212-577-6190, www.careergear.org) provides clothing for job interviews to low-income men. Dress for Success (212-532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org) does the same for women.
Gowns and shoes. Fairy Godmothers Inc. (215-675-9391, www.fairygodmothersinc.com) gives dresses and shoes to needy high school girls for their proms.
Luggage. Suitcases for Kids (203-877-0300, www.suitcasesforkids.org) gathers luggage for foster children who move from home to home. |
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| Tomato pasta sauce recipe (bulk quantities) |
[Apr. 11th, 2009|12:28 pm]
domestic_bliss
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sorry about the xposting (sorry sorry sorry!!)
( Read more...Collapse ) </div>INGREDIENTS- tomato paste you dont need much but i chuck the whole jar in so i can use the jar for sauce.
- tomatoes i go for 2 810g cans of tomatoes.
- olive oil
- herbs i use oregano, basil, paprika, salt, pepper, and the mystery jars that have no labels, sometimes curry powders or garam masala, cinnamon or nutmeg (in small quantities, it's got a pretty strong flavour). if you want to get creative chuck in some pine nuts. they can be expensive if you go using a whole box so i only chuck in a hand-full or so. but they add texture and make it a bit ... festive.
- garlic chuck in however much you want. depending on how much you want to chop. i go for a whole bulb but even 4 cloves will do. it also depends on how much you want to taste it i guess
- onions at least one but again, as many as you want. i tend to put in all my onions since its common for me to forget i have them and have to throw them out when they go all manky.
- other vegetables i throw in anything that has to get used before it starts to grow legs. but i can suggest olives, mushrooms, zucchini, tomato chunks, celery, carrots, capers, corn. seriously. ANYTHING.
- stock i use some vegetable stock an a meat stock, either beef or chicken, either OR neither will do depending on whether you're going for a non/meat version. with meat stock in, it means you get meat flavour without putting any meat in. meat can be pretty expensive so its a good way to get around spending more money.
- water this is going to be one of those important ingredients that you tend to forget about. just keep a mug of water handy. you'll need it.
( Read more...Collapse )after half an hour you should notice that it's starting to evaporate a bit ie: you've got less in there than you started with because the water is steaming away. never fear, this is supposed to happen. when your sauce has bubbled away to half or a third of what you started with, add more water until you're back to the original amount of liquid you started off with, stir and leave to bubble away again.
here are a few shots of the pot at different stages of cooking. notice the line at the top of the pot that shows how much i let it boil away and then refill with water to the top of that big tomato smear.
 
i tend to let it cook for 3 to 5 hours so this is why i recommend music and using the time to clean. as long as you have the heat low and keep coming back to stir and check on it, you'll be ok to leave the kitchen.
( Read more...Collapse )
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