Salvatore Ferragamo - Raccolto Ricamo Frame Satchel - Neiman Marcus

Now this bag is going to set you back a bit... like $2,850.00 to be precise, but I'm pretty sure that no one will miss you when you walk into the room. The hardware is nickle with a brass finish and the shoulder straps are braided. And, I doubt that you will get an aching shoulder from carrying this bag around with you. You simply can't stuff it full of everything you could possibly think of!

Salvatore Ferragamo - Raccolto Ricamo Frame Satchel - Neiman Marcus

Kitchen Sink Sparkle : Keeping the Castle - Housekeeping Tips and Homemaking Advice

Now here is something that we can all use. Who wants to wake up to a dingy, smelly sink... not me! Kathy has it all figured out!

Kitchen Sink Sparkle : Keeping the Castle - Housekeeping Tips and Homemaking Advice

Kitchen Superstitions

I doubt that you will ever look at your kitchen in quite the same way again! You have to wonder where these superstitions originate??

1. Never pick a knife up that you have dropped yourself while preparing a meal. To avoid bad luck, wait until someone enters the kitchen and then ask them to do it!

2. If you are baking apples in the oven and one should burst... it's a sign that good news will be coming your way within the week!

3. This is a great one to remember during the holiday season. Display a bowl of fat tangerines with the leaves still in place. This ensures a very happy Christmas for everyone in the house.

4. Never give a knife as a gift as it will cut ties with this family. While you might wonder why anyone would ever give a knife, I just remembered that my Granddad gave me a carving set for a wedding present. I don't think that it was unlucky, but it did come with a fork... I wonder if that helped to keep the bad luck away. Yes, I am very superstitious and yes, I do still have that carving knife. I also heard somewhere that if you are going to give a knife as a gift, you should charge the person a penny. That apparently takes care of the bad luck.

5. You should never sweep the kitchen floor after dark. That's just asking for trouble apparently. I wonder if that tradition of sweeping the floor in the morning has something to do with that particular superstition. I can remember my grandmother... washing the morning dishes and then sweeping the floor. It was like clockwork every morning!

Something for that Headache

There are nights when you will go to bed with a headache and then in the morning wake up with the same one. Not a good way to start the day. This looks as if it could be rather relaxing! Take a look!

How To Set a Table

Just in case you are thinking ahead to Thanksgiving. Did she do everything right? The video is right here!

"Setting a formal table is more than just knowing where the salad fork goes. It's paying attention to the small details that add up to a gracious experience."

Old CDs... using them for Christmas!

1. Use them as coasters... glue felt to the back and front so that you have instant coasters to protect your tables. Be sure to get fancy with the fronts. I made mine to look like poinsettias but warned people not to spill anything on them lol...


2. Need a little artwork for the wall? Cut up some of your favorite used Christmas cards and glue them to the cd. Hang with a ribbon. You could even do a series of Christmas cards to hang vertically in an forgotten corner. Brings a little unexpected Christmas cheer to the room. It also works very nicely for the bathroom. Yes, I'm into decorating every room for Christmas!


3. While on the topic of Christmas, you could hang some on the trees outside to catch the sunlight. they really dazzle in the sunlight and who says that you can't decorate without Christmas lights?

4. Put them under candles to prevent wax from accidently dribbling on your wooden tables. Leaving them unadorned beneath black and orange candles is especially effective for Halloween!

5. You can also melt the cds so that they form a cup. They are perfect for tea candles and seeing that it is for the holiday season, I would suggestion pine scented. Obviously, this is even better at protecting your table tops.

6. Make two room divider (suspended cds) that can be suspended on either side of the Christmas tree. The glowing lights reflected onto the suspended cds, will make the room almost magical. Or you could hang one room divider behind the tree. Allow two or three feet on either side for the Christmas tree glow.

How Not To Ruin a Good Batch of Muffins

There are more than a few ways to ruin a perfectly good batch of muffins so I thought that I would save you the trouble. Here's a few things that I have done wrong... and in no particular order.

1. Not reading the directions correctly. You should always read them at least twice. The minute that you find yourself in a rush, you can completely miss steps.

2. Adding rancid nuts to a batter. You should get into the habit of keeping a small amount of nuts in a jar for daily use. Adding a few nuts to a salad, a tub of yogurt etc is a great way to add protein to your snacks.

3. The remaining bag of walnuts that you brought home from the supermarket should go straight into the freezer. They will remain fresh a lot longer in the freezer than in the cupboard. I have one more point when it comes to nuts that you might want to add to the batter. Carefully check for bits of the shell that has made its way into the bag. The last thing you want is for your guests to break a tooth on a bit of shell.

4. Before preparing the batter, bring all of the ingredients and place them on your work area. It might be a good idea to double check that you picked up the baking powder instead of the baking soda unless that's what you need. I for one, buy all of my baking soda and my baking powder at a bulk food style of store. When I get the ingredients home, I transfer them to a jar with a wide opening. While this has worked out quite nicely, I have often reached for the wrong jar by accident. Be sure to double check your ingredients before adding them to the batter.

5. If you don't already have a sifter, you might want to invest in one. Muffin ingredients needs to be gently incorporated into the batter and lumps can easily left behind. Using a sifter, prevents this from happening.

6. If you like the outside of your muffin with a bit of a crunch, leave them sitting on the rack for no more than a day. If you leave them longer than that, they are almost inedible. At the end of the day, transfer them to a cake preserver. The crunch will be gone, but you will be able to keep them a little longer.

Sending Your Kids to School With a Lunch They Will Love!

Could there be anything worse than opening a lunch box only to find that everything inside looks kind of boring? How would you feel if you took the same lunch day after day. I would think that you would get pretty tired of it too.

1.Kids love those pre-packed lunches that you see at the supermarkets. And have you noticed that they are always featured at a level that is in keeping with those little eyes.There's no doubt in my mind that the stores want to make sure that the kids see them. The only problem is that most of the time, they aren't very healthy and they are very costly. So why not just make your own. You can pretty much copy everything in the pre-packed lunch, but with a few more veggies tossed in for good measure and it will cost you a whole lot less.

2. Head to the library or the bookstore and check out cookbooks for kid's lunches. I did just that when my daughter was in grade two and together we went through the suggestions and she picked out everything that appealed to her. It certainly made life easier for me when it came time to pack her lunch.


3. If you are into paper lunch sacs, let your kids decorate their bags for the week. Stickers are available almost everywhere and can be seasonable as well. It makes lunch seem just a wee bit more special.


4. Mondays are blah days for kids too, so maybe add a small surprise on that particular day. The anticipation in amazing.

5. Write little notes on the fruit... but make sure that it doesn't backfire. I did that on bananas for my daughter and she didn't tell me until she was in high school that my messages made her homesick! That wasn't my intention. Maybe a word search puzzle instead would have been better?