I heart Kate Spade

I'm a prepster at heart.  I love pink and green, lobsters and bows.  And it's probably no surprise that Kate Spade tickles my fancy each and every season.  I am in love with this bangle bracelet...and it's my fav color, hot pink!  How cute would this be with jeans, a white tee and flats?  Love it!

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Minimalistic momentos for Mom

News flash: Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9th. My family has never been big into the Hallmark holidays, but I always enjoy sending my mama a card, at a minimum. Here are a few ideas for the budget-minded child interested in making Mom feel fabulous.

• For those in the same geographic area, a fresh plant is much more reasonable and will last longer than cut flowers. I love an orchid or hydrangea plant.  Also, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day are the worst holidays to buy flowers - the price is jacked up and the quality is crummy.
• If you live close, consider giving your Mom the gift of time - spend a morning or an afternoon with her.  You don't have to do anything fancy, but I really really enjoy spending time with my parents whenever we happen to be together, which is highly infrequent.  Think about brunch, grabbing coffee, hitting your local bookshop or taking a long walk. 
• A gift card for something simple that your mama likes, and perhaps doesn't do/purchase for herself - manicure, facial, massage, new CD, kitchen accessories, etc.  Whatever tickles her fancy!
• Lastly...and most obviously, a heartfelt card is always welcome at our house.  Target now carries Papyrus cards, which are gorgeous!  Don't forget that homemade is always a fun option, particularly for little ones.

*Photo courtesy of art.com - Monet painting, Madame Monet and Her Son.
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Leaving town

Summer travel season is nearly upon us!  And in preparation for many people taking vacation as well as our upcoming Paris vacation (sorry, couldn't help it), I've put together a quick and dirty list of items to keep in mind if you're planning to travel outside of the US-of-A.

Passports - the essentials. Don't delay - if you need to get your first or an updated/renewed passport, it can take a minimum of two months for processing.  Check out the State Department's passport website for more details.

Back-up plan.  If you're abroad and (God forbid) the worst happens, aka your passport and ID are stolen, make sure you have copies of identification just in case.  It's recommended that you make a photocopy of your passport, driver's license and credit cards and keep in a separate place from your wallet. 

Lettuce, green, dinero.  Yup, that's right, you'll need some cash to take along for your journey.  A little known fact is that you can order foreign currency from your local bank if you plan in advance.  It usually takes 1-2 weeks and the added bonus of planning ahead here is that you can score a much better exchange rate than those sketchy machines at the airport.  True story, the last time I traveled internationally, I put my credit card in to get some money and the machine promptly died with my card in it - never again for this gal!!

Don't get caught without clean undies.  Another story...when my family traveled to Switzerland for a hiking expedition my luggage was lost for (not kidding) 3 days!  Lucky for me, my Mom and my aunt are similar sized so I was able to bum some hiking duds.  But trying to find toothpaste, a hairbrush and clean underwear in a mountain town was challenging....lucky for me, the local grocery store also carried some granny panties - ha!   So here's my next tip - bring at least one day's worth of clothes, a few extra pairs of undies and some must-have toiletries (i.e. contact solution, toothpaste, etc) in a carry-on.  Do this and I guarantee your luggage will never get lost...but the alternative is somewhat frightening!

*Photo courtesy of Macys.
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Stovetop first - risotto

Last year I conquered Brussels sprouts, this year risotto.  I really think that in another life I was either Italian or French, or a combination of the two.  And no, I have neither of these nationalities in my blood.  Anyways, back to the topic at hand.  I love risotto, but I've never been daring enough to try a fully homemade variety.  But with all the recipes popping up for adding spring veggies to this delicious concoction of creamy rice, my taste buds were tempted enough for me to give it a whirl.  I adapted a recipe from Cooking Light to suit what I had on hand in my fridge and pantry.

Spring Vegetable Risotto

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light

• 1 (14 oz) can vegetable broth
• 1 3/4 C water
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 zucchini, sliced and quartered
• 1/2 yellow squash, sliced and quartered
• 1 C arborio rice
• 1 C frozen baby peas
• 2 C fresh spinach, chopped
• 2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper, to taste

 1. In medium saucepan, bring broth and water to boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cover.

2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and add onion, garlic, zucchini and squash.  Cook until tender and fragrant.  Add uncooked rice and stir until rice starts to turn golden in parts, about 5 minutes.

3. Add 1 C hot broth mixture to rice, stirring constantly.  Continue to cook and stir until liquid is absorbed.  Add another 2 C broth mixture, 1/2 C at a time to rice.  Cook and stir until liquid is absorbed at each addition of broth, 18 to 20 minutes in total.

4. Stir in remaining broth and peas.  Stir until the rice is slightly creamy and just tender.

5. Remove from heat and add spinach, parmesan, thyme and pepper.  Garnish with additional grated parmesan (if desired) and serve immediately.

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Lucky Me

Friday afternoon, my mail man brought a wonderful surprise to our home - a fun new vase that I won on Life as a Wife!  This is such a fun and funky accessory for the home - it's made of a flexible rubber so it's definitely unique and moldable into a few different shapes.  I picked up a few bright-colored gerber daisies this afternoon and it adds some cheeriness to our kitchen counter!

Thanks, Ria! :)
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Banana Bonanza

I've always been a little skeptical of banana bread.  I like bananas, but only when they're a bit green and not mushy so the idea of baking bread with pungent, mushy bananas was less than appetizing.  But alas, something got into my head that I should give it a whirl...perhaps it was the pair of over ripe bananas plaguing our fruit bowl on the kitchen counter.  I scoured my cookbooks and the internet searching for an enticing recipe and decided to sort of make my own.  I am pleased (and feeling a little smug) to present my recipe which turned out to be pretty darn tasty even with some healthier additions - whole wheat flour, reduced sugar and egg substitute.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

• 1 C butter
• 1 1/4 C granulated sugar (add another 1/2-3/4 C if you want a sweeter, more dessert-like bread)
• 2 1/2 C all purpose flour
• 1/2 C whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 C egg substitute (like egg beaters)*
• 1 1/2 Tbsp low-fat mayo
• 2 over ripe bananas, mashed**
• 1 C semi sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease two loaf pans.
2. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Meanwhile, combine dry ingredients - flours, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Add egg substitute to butter, beating well.  Then, add mayo and mashed bananas.  Add dry mixture until just blended.  Fold in chocolate chips.
3. Divide batter between loaf pans evenly and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the loaf comes out clean.

*You may also use two eggs instead of the egg substitute.
**We only had 2 over ripe bananas and I was a little skeptical to go overboard with banana flavor.  This was about right for me, but most recipes call for 4-6 bananas, so adjust according to your tastes.
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Wrap-tastic

I love a scarf; they're a perfect and relatively inexpensive way to dress up or change up and outfit in a flash.  I've amassed a pretty decent collection of larger scarves and pashminas over the last few years.  They're my go-to item when jazzing up a basic black dress or staving off a chill at an evening wedding.  And while I usually have an organizational trick or idea up my sleeve for just about anything, scarves have eluded me thus far.  They've often been shoved in a drawer or balled up on a shelf, only for me to need one (usually in a hurry) and they're wrinkled and looking less than fabulous.  Try neatly folding them (as few times as possible to avoid wrinkles) and gently hanging them over a pant hanger.  If you have smaller scarves, you can probably fit 2 per hanger.  Now, the next time I need my hot pink pashmina, it won't be wrinkled!

It's like a two for one - now you also know what to do with lots of pesky pant hangers from the dry cleaners...
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Makeup Obsession

Since I recently mentioned cleaning out my make-up bag, I thought I would share the 3 things in that bag that I can't live without.  Lucky for you, the color isn't important - it's the formula in each of the items below that makes them special.

Diorshow Blackout Mascara

 Clinique Acne Solutions Foundation

Chanel Glossimer lip gloss in pagoda (not the color here - p.s. my boss bought me this for my bday - how cool is she?!)

*Photos courtesy of Sephora, Clinique and Chanel.
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Houston, we have a winner!

And our winner from last week's giveaway is......Entry number 4......Janet!

Thanks for all of your wonderful ideas - hopefully my next cake will be much prettier!! While many of the entries contained useful tips, I received one entry of an ugly cake photo that helped soothe my bruised ego!  Thank you so much for sharing!!

Please email me (pthomemaker@gmail.com) to claim your prize!

*Note the random number selection was out of 10 because the last comment was posted after the contest closed.
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Festive Side Dish

I've been working hard to be more aware of in-season produce and as a result, find tasty recipes to match.  One of my timeless side dishes for spring or summer includes some of the best spring and summer veggies - corn and zucchini.  You can easily find both at a farmer's market and usually for a paltry price.  This recipe is a great side for a cookout or with some grilled chicken or you can serve it cold over salad greens or turn it into a main dish with the addition of chicken.

Corn and Zucchini Medley

• 4 slices bacon
• 2 C zucchini, chopped
• 1 1/2 C fresh corn
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 pinch pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

1. Cook bacon in large skillet.  Cover over med-high heat until evenly brown.  Drain bacon, chop into 1-inch pieces and set aside.
2. Saute zucchini, corn and onion until tender, but still crisp,about 10 minutes.
3. Season with pepper.  Mix all together and serve warm.

And don't forget that tomorrow is the last day to enter the giveaway!  Enter here and good luck!
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Sweet Fix

I was jones-ing for something like this last night...

However, we have no ice cream (only low fat vanilla fro yo), brownies, Reese's pieces or chocolate sauce.  So, I dug through our fridge to see what I could put together.  I grabbed a bowl and my fro yo, looking for a tasty topping.  I found some strawberry jam and used my noggin to drum up a tasty little sauce.  It's so easy, I'm not really sure it's worth a blog post, but alas, here we are.  Scoop the jam into a microwave safe bowl and heat for about 20-30 seconds.  Perfecto - a warm, liquidy sauce to top my fro yo.  It was sweet and satisfying.  Give it a whirl with your favorite jam.  Bonus points for having some whipped cream on hand!

*Photo courtesy of Friendlys.
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Spring Clean your make-up bag!

It's spring cleaning time!  I know I know - it always sounds fun but then my to-do list becomes overwhelming; this little task is a little more fun than cleaning your linens or baseboards or refrigerator.  Like most gals, I've been known to amass a collection of random make-up samples, palates with various shades or eyeshadow, blush or lipstick or endless tubes of lip gloss.  And it's a great time of year to look through your make-up bag and purge anything that's old or makes you look a little funky.  Here are a few tips that will make this process easy and painless:

• Dump everything out of your bag or case.  Clean the bag with a cleaning wipe or a cottonball soaked in rubbing alcohol.  If it's really dirty, it might be simpler just to replace it.
• How long have you had it?  Some items may have an expiration so check those out.  Here is some additional info product-by-product that serves as a guideline for shelf life.
• Lipstick: 3 years
• Nail polish: 1 year
• Facial scrubs: 2 years
• Mascara: 4-6 months since the wand is coming in close proximity to your eye, so watch out for any contamination
• Eyeliner: 4-6months
• Powder: These don't deteriorate, so keep anything you like and that suits you
• Cleansers, toners and serums: 2 years
• Moisturiser: 2 years
• Eye creams and gels: 2 years
• If it's an item that doesn't work with your beauty routine (i.e. too challenging, complicated or just not your thing), get rid of it
• This might be the perfect time to restock or try out new products...and pick ones you want, not necessarily ones that work for your friends or celebs!
• And don't forget to clean your make-up brushes like I taught you last year here!  It's easy and painless.  If you clean them before bed, they're usually dry by the morning when you'll need them.

*Photo courtesy of Sephora.
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Ugliest cake on earth and a reward for your help!

I've never pretended to be the best cake decorator on earth.  In fact, I'm not even a decent cake decorator - mine look awful.  Case in point - the photo below of the cake I've baked for my Dad's birthday.  It's a homemade (from scratch), caramel cake.  The recipe is from Southern Cakes via Hostess with the Mostess.  And while I have a good feeling about the taste of this cake, it's certainly not one to put on display! 

The kicker here is that this frosting was even a pseudo-liquid as it was cooked over the stove top before icing the cake.  I couldn't even make the liquid icing pool over the cake well.

So friends, here's the fun part.  I need your help - help me become a better cake decorator.  In exchange for your tips on how to ice cakes and ensure they come out looking more like they're from a bakery than my kitchen, I'm offering a fun giveaway - The Baking Answer Book.  This book has helped me out of more jams than I can count as I've previously mentioned here.  But the one thing it hasn't really helped me do is ice a cake!

How to enter:

• Mandatory, first entry: Leave a comment on this blog post with your favorite tips and tricks for making a fabulous-looking cake - they can be how to bake flat layer cakes, icing tips or your favorite tools - help a sister out! 
• Additional entry: Leave a comment with a link to a photo of your ugliest cake!
• Additional entry: Tweet this giveaway - one entry per tweet.
• Please leave separate comments for each entry with links for photos or your twitter ID for tweet confirmation.
• You must leave a valid email address with your entries.

Here are the rules:

• Contest winner will be selected using a random number generator via random.org.
• All entries must include a valid email address so I can easily contact the winner. 
• Open to US residents only.
• Contest will close on April 16th at midnight, EST.

Good luck and thank you for your tips! :)  I promise I'll keep sharing photos as I endeavor to bake a prettier cake!
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Be our guest

My folks are making their annual spring journey down south this weekend.  This means many fun things -belated family Easter celebration, hearing about their latest travel adventures (we live vicariously through them...there's something wrong with that picture!) and some good family QT.  Hey, they live 600 miles a way and I'm adult enough to admit that I miss them and get excited when they roll into our hood!  But even though they're family, I still like to treat them well when they're making their home in our home.  Here are a few of my favorite ways to treat your guests like royalty.

• Clean it up.  Your house doesn't need to be spotless, but clean bathrooms and linens are a must.  Extra points for dusting the furniture in the guest room.
• Extra layers.  Include extra blankets in case your guests are chilly during the night.
• A little luxury goes a long way.  I usually fill a glass vase with a few blooms or branches from our yard to make our guest room a little more welcoming. 
• Sharing isn't always caring.  If it's an option, allow your guests to have a bathroom all to themselves.  That way, you won't be trying to juggle showers, hair drying and teeth brushing.  And your guests won't feel like they're intruding or in the way.  Be sure to include fresh towels in the bathroom and bonus points for laying out a basket with some extra toiletries. 
• Busy bee.  Guests may want some quiet time.  I leave a stack of books and current magazines on a shelf for guests.  You might relish the quiet, alone time too!
• Be a gracious host.  Do your best to accommodate guest needs, food preferences and the like. 

And as always, feel free to reciprocate when I visit you!

*Photo courtesy of Martha Stewart.
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I heart white balsamic vinegar

I discovered white balsamic vinaigrette while on vacation last year.  And let me tell you, that tangy dressing was delicious and had me hooked.  I've been searching for white balsamic vinegar ever since and finally found it over the weekend.  I have been on a homemade salad dressing kick for a while and did some quick research to get a white balsamic vinaigrette just right.  The result was a delicious and easy dressing - see below.

White Balsamic Vinaigrette

• 1/2 C high quality olive oil
• 1/2 C white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

1. Whisk all ingredients together well.
2. Serve over any salad but I love this with baby spinach, fruit (apples, strawberries, etc), crumbly cheese (feta, blue cheese, etc) and almonds.

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Hoppy Easter!

Wishing you a delightful day!

Love,
Flurrie bunny
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Build a buget how to

Budgets are scary.  They sound daunting and they are definitely for "big girls."  When I got my first job and was looking for my first apartment, I panicked because I had no idea what I could afford.  Thankfully, my Dad is a wonderfully patient and wise dad and helped me through my dilemma and helped me build a budget for myself to help me understand what I could and couldn't afford.  Little did I know that our morning discussion at a Starbucks with his laptop and a few examples would lead me to wise financial decisions in the future and having a consistent, thorough understanding of my finances.

If you're married or sharing expenses with someone else, you'll probably want to sit down and have a calm, peaceful discussion about money, since this topic can be volatile and some may feel defensive.  I suggest planning to do this so all parties know it's coming and also have any materials or documentation available to begin the conversation.

Step 1: Get ready to write.  You can start with a notepad or a computer, but you'll want to start putting pen to paper so to speak as we work through the next few steps so that you can start tracking your finances, as you would like.  If you plan to use a computer, I recommend starting with a spreadsheet.

Step 2: Start with Income.  You'll first need to know what your monthly/annual income entails to base your budget upon.  If you have any investments or savings that yield income, that you plan to use (vice just leave in savings), include those as well.

Step 3: Identify spending categories.  This doesn't have to be a science project, but I suggest including the basics like income, taxes/savings, home, food, car, etc.  Examples are in the first in the figure on the right.

Step 4: Identify spending sub-categories.  As an example, let's talk about home.  This includes rent/mortgage, insurance, water bill, electric bill, sewer bill, cable bill, general expenses (like buying a new mirror for your bathroom), home repair, garden expenses and any others.  Even if you don't anticipate home repair and the like, it's always nice to budget something to them just in case you need to call the plumber or electrician for an unexpected repair.

Step 5: Identify known expenses.  Start a list of all of your expenses that are consistent (or relatively consistent) each month including rent/mortgage, utility bills, cable bills, cell phone bills, etc.  Don't forget to include any automatic deductions from your paycheck like 401k deductions (yes, I realize this isn't an expense per say, but you can't include the amount in your income), health care and income taxes.  Record these amounts in your notepad or on your spreadsheet.

Step 6: Identify expenses that fluctuate.  Start a list of any expenses that will change from month to month.  This may include items like groceries, clothing expenses, dry cleaning expenses and the like.  Because these may change, I recommend selecting an average or a maximum value for each.  If your budget is tight, pick the maximum; that way, you shouldn't find yourself in the red since over-spending will be less common. If you have wiggle room, select an average.

Step 7: Do some math.  Don't be scared - I'm not asking for you to do any differential equations, this is just simple adding and subtracting.  Add all of your income together.  Add all of your known and fluctuating expenses together.  Subtract your expenses from your income.  If you have a negative number, i.e. your expenses are greater than your income, you probably need to go back to the drawing board.  If you come out of the positive side, you can either allocate this amount to savings or put some of it back into your fluctuating expenses.  Being a planner, I like having something for a rainy day, so I'll advocate for the former.

Step 8: Communicate it.  Make sure that you and your spouse (if you have one) are on the same page.  There's nothing worse than arguing that you blew the clothing budget and your hubs blew the sports budget.  If everyone is aware of the information contained in the budget, everyone has similar expectations.

Step 9: Monitor and update.  Once you feel good about the numbers, monitor your information for a few months.  Note in the example figure, I've included a planned and actual column, which is perfect for evaluating your actual spending against planned spending.  Are you consistently overspending on groceries or consistently underspending on gas for your car(s)?  Might be worth revising your budget to mimic reality.  You also will want to update if your income changes or any major bills change (aka new mortgage, fancier cell phone plan, etc).  It's a living document - it doesn't have to be set in stone, so make it work for you!

Step 10: Pat yourself on the back.  I'm not kidding!  If you build a budget, you're proving to yourself (and spouse) that you're mature and are serious about being financially smart.  Good work!!

In addition, there are some wonderful tools available on the web to help manage your money and maintain a budget. 

Mint: This site offers free accounts where you can sync bank accounts, credit cards and the like to track all expenses in real time.  It also provides various ways of presenting your data from charts to graphs to help best depict spending habits and trends.

Budget Templates: Microsoft Office has quite a few different budget templates that are based in excel, so you don't have to build your own!  Just download one and customize based on your figures and you'll be off and running!

Quicken: A more advanced money management software, but it's also compatible with Turbo Tax, read: makes your taxes a little quicker.

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