So I already posted my recipe for laundry soap, but recently I have also converted to a baking soda based dishwasher detergent too. Basically I use equal parts borax and baking soda the same way you would use powdered detergent and it has worked great. A much cheaper (and more environmentally friendly) way to get clean dishes without too much work. You may think I should write a book called 1001 uses for baking soda and I would, but that book has already been written. I checked it out from the library when I decided to start buying baking soda at Costco.

Apples to Apples

I have had this blog post all planned out for awhile, but things went awry to say the least. Dan discovered an apple tree at the cemetery in Volunteer park near our house. Sadly the apples were just falling off and rotting on the ground (perhaps to remind us of our mortality?) and it looked like no one was interested. So we did a family bike ride to load up on some apples with the intention of making some apple pie filling. I should note here that the reason we were going to do apple pie filling is because we still have many quarts of applesauce from a similar discovery about 4 years ago in Alameda. Anyway, we got the apples, brought them home and began peeling, coring and slicing them - a very messy project. When we got about 1/3 of the way through we discovered we didn't have any available quart jars so we would have to put the project on hold. Instead I made a giant apple crisp and we left the rest of the very ripe apples on the counter. The next day we were overtaken with fruit flies. Despite this fact it still took us another three days to get the jars and get the project moving again. Once the apples were cut and filling made we filled and processed the jars. This is when we learned the importance of head space in canning. We've never really worried about it before, but this time all the apples swelled and burst out the top making a big mess and leaving the jars unsealed. We dug out more space and reprocessed the jars unfortunately a jar broke in the pot of boiling water making another giant mess. (and safety hazard - boiling water with floating glass shards, good thing no social workers were coming by.) Once we actually got the jars processed we realized we had removed too much filling and now the jars were really only half full. To sum up we got 5 half filled quart jars of apple pie filling and it only cost us a huge hassle, a house of fruit flies and two broken jars. What a bargain.

Yesterday I was out walking around Greenlake enjoying one of the last few nice, dry fall days here in Seattle when I found this super cute eggplant hat. Kids dressed as eggplants have an oddly special place in my heart so I picked it up. I wondered about the morality of picking this hat up since its possible a parent would come back to look for it. However in the last two days I have donated two pacifiers to the free kids stuff cycle (or rather my feisty little baby donated them by throwing them out of her stroller) so I decided it might just be good karma. Hannah looks super cute in it, but she refused to pose for a pic, sorry.

Back Blogging

Hi All. I actually had a time-sensitive post that required me to get back into the blogging game. Safeway is having a really good sale on sugar this week. Now I don't want to turn into a grocery blogger (how suburban housewife can you get !?) but grocery shopping is the only shopping I have done of late, so its all I've got. Its $2 for a 5lb bag, which works out to $.40 a pound, which is better than Costco and better than most sales. You may want to stock up. You may also want to check your pantry and make sure you have not already stocked up before you go. Trust me, it is hard to find places to store 30 pounds of sugar in a 2-bedroom apartment.

These shoes are made for walking

After watching yet another pair of cheap tennis shoes literally disintegrate off my feet I decided I needed to find some good walking shoes that would last for awhile. I guess my shoe philosophy has always been get cheap shoes and get lots of them. That worked ok when I was wearing lots of different fun shoes basically from the car to the office and then kicking them off under my desk. Now a days I am walking a lot and walking out in the elements, which in Seattle means puddles and wet leaves. I needed a pair of walking shoes that were at least mildly cute and could stand the wet whether. Luckily I have two nurses in my extended family who know about needing shoes that are comfortable for being on your feet and they recommended Danskos. To my dismay these shoes cost a lot more than I am used to paying for shoes. Luckily I also have recently discovered Ebay and got a pair of used, but in nice shape shoes for $35 (after shipping). I am pretty excited about my purchase and I have to say these work great for my walking needs. I give them a hearty endorsement!

Recent thrift store finds

I have had no luck finding free stuff on the side of the road lately. I guess I still see it occasionally, but anything I see is sopping wet and therefore unappealing. Because of this I have had to resort to the more standard way of acquiring thrifty finds - the thrift store. It can definitely be hard at times to find good deals at the thrift store. Many stores seem to over price their stuff and things can get really picked over. Sometimes I walk around a store and just feel like I am staring at a bunch of junk, which is a very sad state of affairs. However even on those days there is usually a couple of hidden treasures. Below are some earrings I got for $2 a piece at the Goodwill on Dearborn. My current dressing philosophy is wear all black or neutrals and accessorize with gusto. This is a significantly less expensive way to feel well dressed and takes up less space in a small apartment. Plus there always seem to be worthwhile earrings at the thrift store.
I also found a copy of one of my favorite reference books. Home Comforts is basically a house keeping how-to book that I have had since college. It is written by a philosophy PhD and lawyer who admitted to herself that she had a passion for housekeeping. I've always loved this book and it sells well on Amazon so I had to pick it up rather than let it sit unloved on a thrift store shelf.

I have been lax again in posting so I am going to throw up a quick post so I can feel better. (that sentence really is very poorly worded, sorry) I recently found a great set of wooden building blocks at the Kent Goodwill for $3. It is a pretty large set that still has a lot of life left in it. Hannah is still a little young to get the concept of building and stacking but she certainly does have a conceptual understanding of digging through baskets and banging things together so even now she is getting use out of it.