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By Aimee, March 17, 2011

On the menu tonight: corned beef and hash (per husband’s request), Irish soda bread, and “Irish Potatoes“! I think that I am most excited about the Irish Potatoes, having never heard of them before until Jaime (of Design Milk fame) mentioned them on her FB status. Then of course, I just had to know, what are Irish Potatoes?! Why oh why had they not been on my radar before now?

I think I will use a bit of green food coloring in them though, just to make them extra festive!

Oh yes, and I was going to make the corned beef and hash from a recipe, but couldn’t find corned beef without the hash! So while that part will be coming from a can, at least the soda bread and dessert will be from scratch!

“While you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never go the wrong way”– Irish Blessing

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By Aimee, March 16, 2011

Our master bedroom closet is pretty awesome, or at least, it could be! The closet is a small walk in, with a window on one wall, and closet rods on the two other walls. While it is great to have so much space, a lot of the space is being wasted due to the fact that there isn’t much organization in it.

My project for the spring is to get the closet in better shape. Ideally I would love to add some serious organization to it, something like what was done in this closet:

Of course, having a small to zero budget, my goals are much smaller. First and foremost is clearing out all the clothes that we no longer wear. I have already gone through mine and removed several bags. Now I just have to convince my husband to do the same! Once that is done, working to organize what is left will be much easier.

Next, I want to have hangers that all match. Is that strange? Right now our hangers are a mix of green, white, off white, and even a few pink. Since our walls are white, I am leaning towards all white hangers. In my dream, spare no expense, closet, they would all be wood. For now, all white plastic will be awesome.

There is just something calm and nice about having the hangers all the same color and style. And last, but certainly not least, I need to find a way to address the things that we store in our closet that have nothing to do with clothes. Ideally I would find a new home for these items (things like extra blankets, TP, and extra pillows).

Wish me luck! I will be posting the project progress as it happens.

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By Aimee, March 15, 2011

My husband and I had a lot of fun over the weekend making “healthy” donuts in our donut pan! Because you bake them instead of deep frying, they are a much healthier choice (still naughty, but much better). The pan came with a simple spiced donut recipe that is really tasty. It creates a cake like donut, but more dense than the deep fried version. For our first batch we used powdered sugar and a bit of hot water to create a “glaze”.

You can’t see the glaze much at all, but it was pretty yummy! However, we decided to share donuts with my husband’s family on Sunday, so we wanted to kick things up a notch and really WOW everyone. Enter, the powdered donut!

Even tastier than the glazed, and far more messy to eat! I simply dipped the hot donuts in the powdered sugar as they came out, then allowed them to cool. Once they were cooled down, they got a second dip in the powdered sugar, which created the awesome white coating on the donuts.

We are pretty excited to experiment with new recipes and donuts. Since it works just like a muffin tin, I envision pumpkin, banana, and maybe even blueberry, donuts in our future!

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By Aimee, March 14, 2011

It’s called the moon. {and if you know the song this comes from, we really should be best friends}

There are some fun things going on in the sky this week. From today until the 19th, the moon is not only full, but it’s going to be at it’s closest to the Earth. This article on EarthSky explains it all in better terms, but it’s not going to be this close again until 2016! Time to get outside and have a look! You’ll also see Saturn near the moon, and very bright. I’m thinking it’s a good time to pull out our telescope and binoculars!

This full moon is also called the “Worm Moon”! Did you know that full moons have different names each month? Harvest Moon, Pink Moon, and many more. I hadn’t heard of the Worm Moon before, but basically it’s called that because in March earthworms start to make their appearance and Robins return. This is true! I have seen many Robins in our yard, and worms as well. If you want to learn all the full moon names and meanings, here is a good list: Full Moon Names and Their Meanings.

Do you love looking at the night sky too? Happy Pi Day!! (3.14)