Recently, I’ve noticed that my favorite skillet I like to cook with, the one featured often here on not exactly bento, is having problems.  Foods are starting to stick in it, which isn’t supposed to happen.  The bottom looks much blacker than normal, which I think is causing the sticking problem.  It’s a hard anondized pan that came in a set I purchased not long after I moved into my house.  It has served me well over the years and only has one problem.  It doesn’t have a twin, or even close relative, in my house. I’ve looked for another skillet like that one for years, and have never been able to find one I liked.  That seemed as sturdy, as versatile as that pan is.

It was a sad day when I realized that this pan might be on its last legs.  It was time.  Time to think about purchasing another pan before my beloved one completely bites the dust.  Besides, I’ve needed a second one for along time.  For when I need to cook two things at once (a skill I’m still learning).   My brother and I have had several talks about the pans we choose to use, and he has sung the praises of stainless steel to me for quite some time.  But I hadn’t looked into stainless.  I was worried.  I was used to my anondized.  Stainless sticks, doesn’t it?  We all know I have enough cooking obstacles to tackle and work on overcoming.  Why throw cookware into the mix that I have to learn new skills to use?  Besides, the stainless I saw seemed expensive.  More than I wanted to pay for a new pan.  So, I just continued to look at anondized adn wait it out.

Then, I went to the restaurant supply store.  And I saw a full range of stainless steel cookware there.  And a pan in just the shape and size I had been looking.  And it came with a lid.  All for $30 and some change.

I stood there looking at that pan for at least 10 minutes.  The employees started to look at me oddly.  They were probably thinking, “Why is that woman looking at that pan like she’s a lost little soul?”

I picked it up.  Heavy pan.  Good and sturdy.  Probably need a permit to carry it around since it could probably be considered a dangerous weapn.  Or so I thought as I felt it’s weight.

It had a nice lid with a good handle.  A nice, longish handle on the pan with a hole.  If only I had a place to hang my pans.  Oh wait.  Maybe not.  It would probably pull a stud out of the house with its weight.

And it had that trendy handle on the other side of the pan.  I say trendy because I’m noticing more and more pans with that handle.  And it  makes me wonder if this pan could go in my oven as well?  Hmmmm…..

I tried to cook something in it this past week.  It was a moderate success.  This pan is definitely going to have  a learning curve.  But if I can semi-master it (or at least get it to agree with me on occassion), I think I’m really going to enjoy it.  And if I do, I’m buying a few more pieces of stainless cookware.  There is a sauce pan I have my eye on next.

The first thing I picked up were a couple more half tea glasses.  These things are awesomness at $2.35 a piece.  First, they are nice heavy glass that does not break easily.  I’ve accidentally dropped one.  So far so good.  Second, they are wide enough to get your had all the way to the bottom of the glass for a good scrubbing during cleaning.  Some glasses are too narrow and require a bottle brush.  Somtimes, I don’t feel like those get as clean. 

Finally, I just love the way they look.  I don’t know why.  They are just sturdy and pretty at the same time.  Two more came home with me to join the other two I have.  Hopefully in the coming months I can back to that store, and buy a couple more.  My plan is to a full set of 8 soon.

Another must was a ketchup bottle for a dish soap dispenser.  I was using a 1 liter shampoo bottle with pump before this.  Which isn’t a bad setup, just not the best. The dishs soap liked to drip from the pump, down the side of the bottle, and onto my counter.  Yuck.  This is a cleaner solution.  Not the more gorgeous solution, but nice and serviceable.  At $1.40, it was also an inexpensive solution.

I did go there with purpose.  There were a few things I wanted for my kitchen that I knew I could get there.  Things I was having a hard time finding anywhere else.  Take a pair of small tongs for instance.  I showed off a breakfast sandwich recently.  I am still making something for breakfast, but sometimes I get picky about flipping the bread in the pan.  My regular tongs seem to be too big to pick up an edge fo the bread and using a spatula sometimes doesn’t quite work either.  A small pair of tongs is what I need.  I’ve been looking for some and couldn’t find quite what I wanted elsewhere.  The restaurant supply store had a pair of small tongs, but they too seemed to big.  Then I saw these.  I think they are actually to pick up cherry tomatos from a vegetable tray or maybe ice from an ice bucket.  All I know, is they are just right for flipping small things in my frying pan, rather than the larger set of tongs I have.  They were 38 cents well spent.

Another thing I specifically went to look for were serving spoons like these.  I’ve never seen these in a regular store (maybe I’m just not looking hard enough).  They are the type of spoon often used in restaurants, buffets, or fast food joints to scoop out food to you.   I’ve noticed them at a local place in my area.  They use this can of spoon as they scoop out ingredients to build your burrito. 

I wanted some because they don’t seem to drip in the same way as my regular cooking spoons.  Which will hopefully make transferring large scoops of spaghetti, chili, stew, or other such substance from the pot to a ziploc bag for freezing.  Another plus is that they are a specific size for food (3 oz, 4oz) making it easier for me to portion out enough in each ziploc bag for 1 – 2 meals.  Yeah, I’m that obsessive compulsive sometimes.

I couldn’t decide which two I wanted in my house, so I bought both sizes that seemed appropriate.  They do have the most godawful ugly plastic handles, but it brings a certain industrial charm to my kitchen (or so I tell myself).  At less than $2 each, I didn’t feel an guilty twinges about picking up both of them.

I also went back to grab another of these: a silicon spatula type thing.  I think I’ve heard them called a spoonula before.  All I know is I have one and LOVE LOVE LOVE the thing for cooking.  They push things around a saute pan wonderfully.  They mix things in a bow superbly.  They stir things in a bubbly pot expertly.  They are only $2.39, cheaper than any other silicon spatula I’ve seen.  And they are sturdy.  Sturdy plastic neck that I have yet to melt.  That is ALWAYS a big plus.

Then there are the things I picked up not expecting to purchase, but once seen, decided I needed as well.  For instance, these scrub pads.  Three ended up in my basket.  I purchase these at the grocery store all the time.  These cost me 25 cents a piece, are larger, and thicker than what I purchase elsewhere.  I was out at the house, and now I’m restocked.

I’ve got a thing for stainless steel measuring cups.  I like to use them rather than the 1 set of plastic ones I have.  In fact, I’m ready to give up the one pair of plastic ones I have.  I don’t like their shape.  I do like the shape of the other set of measuring cups I have, and yeah, they are stainless steel.  I’ve been meaning to pick up another set of stainless steel measuring cups.  The set I had now cost around $10 or so.  I saw these at the restaurant supply store.  I looked at the price: $2.67!  I’m never buying overpriced measuring cups again.

Then, there are things that I’ve forgotten that I want until I see them again.  This is a great example.  I need these bristles.  They make applying butter and other melted things to baked goods and pans so much easier.  Trust me when I say a silicon bbq brush just doesn’t do as great of a job.

I love the look of a pastry brush.  I don’t know why.  Plus this one photographed well against the slate like background.  Or maybe I was just finally happy to remember to purchase one.  It didn’t break the bank either at $1.37.

Now, I just need to think of something to bake to use this brush.  Or maybe something to make…like wontons.  Hmmm…..

There were other things I purchased I didn’t photograph (or forgot to photograph I should say).  Things like 4 more of the plates I like so much: $1.02 for the small size and $1.54 for the medium size.  I love those plates.  I take pictures with them all the time at Not Exactly Bento.

I also purchased 4 white ramekins for making at a whopping 87 cents a piece.  I think I just need to make a dessert in them to share with you. 

Then I purchase one last item.  The item I went there to get specifically.  The purpose for the whole trip.  The most expensive item on the list at $30.49.  The item I’ve been too busy to use yet.  But I plan to change that this weekend.  I share pictures on the next Photo Friday!

Have a great day everyone.

When things shifted, t his table was brought into the kitchen as my “new” workspace.  I added hooks for cups (as you can see) and wheels on the bottom (which aren’t pictured).  Having a wheeled, light table in the kitchen is wonderful.  I can move it out of the way to <gasp> better clean the floor.  Yes, I’m still working on my housekeeping skills.  I think I’m as primitive of an evolving organism as my kitchen is.  Anyhow, back to the table….

When my father’s parents passed away several years ago, I inherited pieces of furniture from their house.  This table, and one in similar looks, came my way.  They were rudimentary but sturdy tables my grandfather had built for use around his house.  He was a carpenter, skills he passed onto my father.  This table, and its cousin, aren’t pretty, but they are stable.  They have been used as a quick table, an end table, an outside work table.  Like my kitchen, they have shifted around my house as I saw fit.

In the most recent kitchen rearrange, I brought one of my grandfather’s tables into the kitchen as a workspace.  The cabinets I had been using as my workspace were wonderful, but were truly in the wrong space of the kitchen.  This setup works a bit better, though I’m not thrilled with that bookshelf, that is another story.  My biggest frustration with this table is its top.  It’s ugly.  It does not make for a pretty picture.  And I always worry about those huge old nails my grandfather used in its top to secure the table together.  My father always chuckles when he looks at this table and its aesthetics.  Then he goes on to tell me how he thinks it could have been improved in the construction.

This past week, I improved it a bit.  It’s not a conventional way to improve it (I think) but it works for now.

I’ve commented to those who know me IRL that I needed to do something about the top of this table.  I was getting really annoyed.  I’ve been looking at ceramic tile and new countertop laminate at hardware stores.  However, spending $50 is just out of the question for me for this table.  It’s a good sturdy table.  However, I’m just not spending that much to update it.  The table just isn’t worth that much.

Then it dawned on me: press and stick floor tile.  I have some of that leftover from another project.  Let’s use that!  The first step was to find the center of the table.  I used a pencil and a yardstick for that.

I grabbed a few pieces of floor tile (only 6 were needed) and traced out the lines to cut.  Tile was cut to size using the metal yardstick for a straight edge and a sharp box cutter.   Once the tile was cut to size, it was lined upon the top of the table and its backing removed.  To make sure it stuck, I used my wooden rolling pin as a brayer to help stick the tile to the surface of the table.

It’s not perfect, but it looks better for pictures now.  I normally wipe down this table with a damp sponge or towel and a bit of cleaning solution.  That should work for these tiles too.  We’ll see what the future brings.  Now to think about what to do with that nasty edge and maybe repaint the bottom half with some leftover paint I have.

Hello my love.  How are you this morning?  You’re still looking bright and shiny after last night.  I’m so glad I stopped at that store.  So glad you were reduced and had a rebate.  So glad it is tax free weekend.  So surprised that the combination of factors brought you out of the heavens and into my budget.

You have a pulse button that works, an extra work bowl, two blades, a sturdy motor that takes a forklift to get you to my kitchen counter.  You have….a dough blade. <swoon>  You cut through that cookie dough last night like buttah.

I love you already.  Welcome to my kitchen!  Welcome to my world!  Welcome to…my blog!  I hope you’re not shy.  You may be on here quite a bit.

It’s 10:35 CST as I begin this post.  It’s another beautiful and fairly mild day in South Louisiana.  The dogs and I are taking advantage.  I am sitting on my back porch with my laptop working on this post.  The dogs are in the yard.  Gabby is sitting in her normal diva Sphinx position gazing out onto her backyard and enjoying the spot of sun she has found.  Toby is on his back rolling on the ground in the dirt, finding even more funk to bring into my house.

It is absolutely wonderful weather to sit back, enjoy the dogs and talk about this week’s happenings in the garden.  In fact, I wouldn’t even write this post if the birds I hear chirping and chattering were closer.  Otherwise, I’d put on the zoom lens and take some pictures.  Instead, I’ll listen to them and show you the flowers and teeny-tiny baby produce that are starting to appear on my garden plants.

The cucumber plants are the ones I find the most exciting.  I planted 5 of them, and as they produce gazillions of these little flowers I’m realizing that if they produce cucumbers that aren’t bitter that I am in big trouble.  I’m not sure I know enough people to give all these possible cucumbers away to.  Then, I decided maybe I didn’t need to worry so much.  I found a great website by Purdue University called Senior Study Vegetables.  I started looking at my plants carefully for the male and female flowers as depicted in their description.  No such luck.  I didn’t see anything that looked like the female counterpart to all these flowers.  Then, I started to worry I wouldn’t get any cucumbers.  “At least that would take care of the too many cucumbers problem,” I thought.

This morning after waking, I took the dogs out for their morning constitutional.  I took the time to go through the garden as I have been doing.  As I looked at the cucumber plants, I noticed one flower in particular was looking a bit different from the others.  It seemed as though it was sticking straight out and on a very stiff stalk.  I took a closer look and was delighted to see that stiff stalk from afar was actually the beginnings of a cucumber.  The next step is to hope it doesn’t taste bitter.

One of the things I’ve learned about these cucumber plants is that I have to train them up the trellis.  Some of the cucumbers’ vine-like branches naturally find the trellis and wrap itself around it and grow right on up.  Others just branch out along the ground and creep over to the other row.  Not wanting them to wrap themselves around my other plants, I’ve learned to train these branches up the trellis.  When one of the branches gets long enough, I turn it to the trellis and tie it with a bit of torn pillowcase strip to the trellis.  Then, I weave a feeler around the chicken wire, which I did above.  Normally by that evening, the feeler begins to wrap around the chicken wire.  At this point, I don’t really need to do anything else.  The feelers on that branch find the chicken wire and it begins to grow upwards.

The butternut and yellow squash plants are doing quite nicely.  The yellow squash are producing flowers that are just starting to open up.  They are big, bright yellow flowers that are quite pretty and remind me of the cucumber flowers (but much larger).  The butternut squash plant doesn’t have any opened flowers yet, but I see the closed buds forming.

The cherry tomato plant is starting to shed its leaves and produce tomatoes in their place.  Here is the first of 5 little tomatoes I found springing up on the plant.  I think that it won’t be long before I have to pick these off and figure out what the heck to do with them.  I’m not a fresh tomato eater.  This plant was purchased at the farmer’s market when my mom said, “Oh you ought to.”  So, I did.  Now, I have to either figure out what to do with the produce, or give it away.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet.

The only real worry in my garden are the bell pepper plants.  They don’t seem like they have grown much at all in the past few weeks.  In fact, the little bell pepper start that I did see turned yellow and fell off.  I spoke to my dad about it since he’s an old hand at gardening.   He talked to me about how to prune the bell pepper plants.

Dad said to look for the first fork in the stem where the plant begins to develop its main branches.  All leaves must be removed from the plant below this point.  Each one of the bell pepper plants got a trim.

We’ll see if any of the other flowers will actually produce bell peppers that will grow or if they too will turn yellow and fall off.  If these don’t produce, I’m going to be seriously bummed.  They were the plants I was looking forward to the most.  We’ll see how things go and keep our fingers crossed.

The sweet basil is doing really well.  In fact, I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have planted it here.  I think I might need to replant them into larger pots all their own.  That might happen this weekend in fact.  Then, I’ll line them up with my other herbs.

It’s a happy Garden Day indeed in my yard.  Happy enough that I’m sitting here thinking about my fall garden and what I’m going to want to plant.  I have plans to talk to my dad about how to start a few things from seed.  I’m thinking about carrots and lettuce and sweet potatoes and such.  I think I’m going to ask my dad to come back with his tiller and make this garden bigger.  I’m thinking two or three more rows possibly.  We’ll see what he says.

Happy weekend everyone!  I hope you enjoy it.

When I planted my garden last weekend, I decided from the first to take photos each weekend to document plant growth.  Once things start producing, I’ll probably stop weekly updates.  For the time being, I’m going to subject you all to a weekly picture show. 

The first plants I’m going to show off are my basil plants.  I have 3 basil plants total, which I’m already realizing is WAY too many.  If one of the sweet basil plants regrows as it is supposed to after clipping, I plan to replant it and give it to my mom.  Right now, I have two sweet basil plants and this one  purple basil plant (which I don’t know anything about).

In all honesty, I purchased this purple basil plant because its color appealed to me.  It’s a deep, rich purple with the leaves tinged in green.  Very pretty and interesting.  I just don’t know what its taste is like compared to a regular basil plant.

I’ve been reading quite a bit about growing and harvesting basil.  One of the things I read is that when the plant grows you should cut it back to the first or second tier of leaves.  This prunes off the mature leaves you can use and sends a signal to the smaller leaves near the base of the tier to begin their growth.  I also read that you should make your basil cuttings early in the morning when the essential oils of the plant are at their highest.

I followed all these instructions this morning as I made cuttings from my two basil plants.  Here you can see I cut one back to its second tier where the small leaves are.  We’ll see if these leaves get the signal and start growing over the course of the next week.

Here are my basil cutings from this morning.  Whoa Nelly!  This is alot of basil.  Not sure what I’m going to do with it all.  I read you could supposedly freeze it, but I’m not so sure about that.  I’ll have to do some more research.

Now, it is time to turn our attention to the the garden and its plants.  What’s happened over the week?  Well, quite a bit.

First up is the butternut squash plant so we can get it out of the way.  I haven’t really noticed any real growth here, nor have I noticed where the plant is doing poorly.  Mainly, it’s just there.  This plant is supposed to take up to 97 days to get where it needs to be.  It is going to take awhile to see anything interesting.

In fact, the yellow squash plants aren’t looking too different either.  I think they might take a bit of time to show progress as well.  We’ll keep our eye on them in the weeks to come.

Next up is the tomato plant.  Again, nothing overly exciting to report except that it has definitely grown as compared to last week’s picture.  I’m not seeing any little flowers and such yet.  However, It’s definitely growing and getting bigger.  Soon, I’m going to rope it to the pole next to it for stability.

Now to the more interesting plants, at least in my mind.  I have five cucumber plants in all.  As I mentioned, I over bought on a few plants; cucumber was one of them.  Last week, these plants were just a few oval leaves on a stalk.  They have each sprouted a number of new leaves and are growing quickly.

The last two cucumber plants are interesting in a way.  The first is the last of the 4 cucumber plants I purchased from a local nursery.  You can see one of those original oval leaves in the picture on the left.  The plant on the right is one I purchased from Lowes.  It was a more mature plant than the other 4 were upon purchase.

On the fifth cucumber plant, I’m noticing these little things have started to begin.  Some of them have straightened out into long, thin green feelers.  At least, that is what I assume they are.  My dad said the cucumber plants would create feelers then seek out a place to grow.  He said I might need to help them find the chicken wire trellis.  It will be an interesting process to watch.

Last up on this weekend’s plant review are the bell pepper plants.  They are doing well, sprouting new leaves in what seems overnight.  Of the bell pepper plants, I have 6 total: 2 yellow, 4 red.  These are the first 3.    I will state I’m keeping a close eye on the one all the way to the right.  During the week, Gabby tiptoed through the garden none too gently.  One minute she was no where near the garden; the next minute, she was in the middle of it.  She did it before I could stop her.  One of her big dog paws landed on this plant bending it over and cracking the stem a bit.  I held the plant back up and scooped lots of dirt around it to help it hold itself upright.  It has not shown signs of dieing yet.  We’ll see how it does.

A quick shot of the other two plants.  Please ignore the blurriness of a few of the shots.  I wasn’t paying attention as well as I should have.  I was too focused on taking the next shots coming up.

This bell pepper plant was more mature than the others when purchased.  If I’m not mistaken, this will produce red bell peppers.  They should start out green then turn red once mature.  It has gotten to the stage of producing its buds.  WHEE!  In fact, I counted seven of these little buds on the plant.  A few of the other, smaller bell pepper plants I noticed have what looks like might be the beginning of these buds.  As the week goes one, we’ll see if I’m right or if it’s just new leaves.

It’s going to be an exciting week in the garden this next week.  I’m hoping to have fun things to report next weekend.    Be the bento everyone!

I have several more plant pictures to show off of herbs I’ve also planted in this whole gardening adventure.  However, I haven’t taken the pictures yet.  I have a hanging wire basket for flowers on my back porch.  Each year, I normally plant dianthus there which drew hummingbirds.  I loved watching those amazingly little creatures.  This year however, I didn’t plant dianthus.  Instead, I planted herbs in the little wire basket.  I knew I was going to miss the birds.  While at a local nursery this weekend looking for a few more plants to fill out the garden, I noticed they were having a sale on hanging baskets, 20% in honor of the Mother’s Day weekend.  I asked if there was a hanging basket with a plant that would draw hummingbirds.  This plant was the one suggested to me: Manettia luteorubra.

The woman who helped me called it a firecracker plant.  While researching it online, I discovered it is also called a candy corn plant.  The long little blooms are supposed to be attractive to hummingbirds.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it does attract a few.  If not,well, it’s a prett plant regardless. 

That’s all the plant talk for today.  Hopefully we’ll have a bit more in the coming week as I plant the last of the herbs, take pictures of them, as well as taking pictures of the garden plants this coming weekend.

See you soon!

First up is Mr. Butternut Squash.  His tag says that he will take about 97 days to produce.  We won’t see anything out of him for awhile.

Yellow straightneck squash is next in the row.  I have two of these plants.  Fingers crossed one produces.  I’ve been eating alot of this stuff lately.

Then comes a whole row of these babies: burpless cucumbers.  Dad just laughed when he saw how many of thes I had (a four pack).  If they all produce, then I’m going to have way more cucumber than I need.  The nursery I went to offered these up in four packs.  So I bought a four pack.  If I have too many cucumbers, I’m just going to have to give some away.

The cucumber and squashes are all planted on the row with the pipe & wire “trellis.”  Dad says the cucumbers need this the most, since they produced better if they aren’t allowed to grow along the ground.  We’ll see what happens as things start to grow and spread.

Next is the one and only tomato plant in my garden.  I must admit this purchase was due to peer pressure.  Some of the plants were purchased at a farmer’s market, including this little guy.  Mom kept saying, “Jenny, you ought to get one.”  I kept saying, “But I don’t eat fresh tomatoes, remember.”  Though in all honesty, I have been experimenting and trying to introduce them into my diet.  In fact when my Dad saw this plant, he even said, “Uh Jenn, you don’t eat tomatoes.”  This is a cherry tomato plant.  I also purchased some cherry tomatoes from the farmer’s market.  Let’s just say that I really didn’t like them.  I have a feeling all of these tomatoes are going to someone who likes them.  I just have to find that someone.  LOL!

And finally, the prize of my garden: bell pepper plants.  I have six of these.  I freeze bell pepper when I can find good deals on red and yellow peppers in the store.  I plan to use these fresh and freeze some.  I’m soooo hoping they not only produce but produce alot.  Pretty please?!  I planted both red and yellow sweet bell peppers.  I’m so excited.

That constitutes the whole of the garden.  Every weekend, I’m hoping to find the time to go out to the garden and snap pictures as things grow and produce.  And of course, I’ll post those pictures to NEB.    Happy Monday everyone!

Anyhow, these pictures were taken at the beginning of  January when I took a week off of work for my birthday.  You’ll remember the home purge and frenzied cleaning that resulted from that week.  When my mom asked me what I wanted as a birthday present this year, I requested that we go to the open-to-the-public restaurant supply store.  I wanted to walk through their aisles of gleaming stainless steel and pick up a few things my kitchen.  That’s all I wanted, a bit of a shopping spree.  $30 later, I had a nice random selection of things for my kitchen that I’ve been wanting.  Here’s what we’ve got…

In the back row, we  have one of those plastic sauce dispensers.  I have a great desire to make a dessert with a chocolate sauce.  I want this bottle so I can try to plate the dessert and squirt chocolate sauce on it, sort of wanna-be artistic like.  I have no idea what I am going to make yet, but I’ll figure it out.  Next comes a sugar shaker.  I’ve found this to be a great alternative to hauling out my big container of sugar whenever I need 1 tablespoon full for a recipe.  Makes life easier.  I also purchased a bottle for olive oil like I see so many cooks use on TV shows.  Boy, this has been NICE to have.  Makes life super easier.  A quick scoop for my ice cubes in the fridge was a smart purchase too.

The front row has lots of fun loot as well.  The first item is a dough scraper/cutter.  I’ve been enjoying my homemade bread variations for a little while.  I’ve also become more confident in using just the dough cycle and baking in the oven.  Learning to use that dough cycle opens me up to making all sorts  of different types of breads, like pizza dough or dinner rolls.  I’ve found a need for a dough cutter as I’ve tried to experiment with this.  I haven’t had a chance to get back to my bread making lately, but that’s on the agenda in the coming weeks.  Hopefully, I’ll have something to share.

I also got a new grater since my old one sucked and was getting old and starting to rust for some reason (cheap dollar store item, I guess).  I have all plastic cooking spoons and sometimes feel a need for an all metal one like my mom uses.  I purchased a metal slotted and a metal regular spoon.  I’m already finding I’m grabbing for these more than my regular plastic ones.  Go figure.  I also purchased a pair of tongs since my recent pair broke.  Then…then, came the two items I was coveting the most.

Here’s my black and white beauty shot of the new flat whisk I picked up.  I’ve seen this used on so many cooking blogs and cooking shows that I decided to give one a try.  Oh mama  mia!  This thing is wonderful.  How have I lived without it for so long??  It makes whisking light batters (like pancake mix) so much easier than a traditional whisk.  The batter doesn’t clunk and clump up in the middle of it like a regular whisk.  It’s become one of my new favorite kitchen gadgets to use.

Our next beauty shot is of the small 1.5 oz condiment cups, a whole decadent dozen I picked up for $5.50.  They’ve already made their appearance several times in recent cooking adventures here on NEB.  They are half as shallow than the set of 4 I purchased back in September 2007 when I started NEB and my cooking trials.  I much prefer this size.  Since the cups aren’t too high, it is easier to photograph, as well they are the perfect size for ketchup and other such dips while I’m eating dinner.  I must say they get washed and used quite quickly around here.

So a very belated thank you AGAIN to my mom and dad for providing me with such a lovely birthday gift this year.   I love ya’ll!

Be the bento everyone!

Recently after eating Chinese take-out, my fortune cookie held that statement.  I laughed out loud after reading it.  Then, my thoughts grew more serious.  How many times in my life has a phrase, a story, or even a simple sentence in a fortune cookie directly reflected events in my life?  It’s happened enough that sometimes it is a bit eerie.

This fortune cookie wisdom came at the tail end of a week long culmination of house cleaning and organization I’ve since dubbed “House Purge 2009.”   It’s just a regular, generic, mass-produced fortune cookie.  The back has the typical set of 6 “lucky” numbers that some people use as lottery numbers, as well as a quick word or phrase in Chinese to learn.  This one’s phrase is “Have Opportunity.”  And opportunities are something that have been on my mind greatly lately.

This tidbit of fortune cookie wisdom has since been thumb tacked to the large cork board that hangs near my computer in my spare room.  It’s a cork board that holds reminders, important information, little bits and pieces of notes from friends, and several fortune cookie “prophecies.”  I have a thing for fortune cookies and their bits of accompanying paper truths.  Now, I might seem like I’m going a bit off into the ether.  You might also be wondering what in the world does all of this have to do with the title of the post.  Bear with me, I’ll get there.

As a young child, I was a voracious reader.  A favorite outing was visiting the library with my mother and checking out a book.  I read all sorts of things, but I’ve always had a great love of a good short story.  Several short stories have stuck in my mind over the years, but one has always stuck with me.  It was the tale of a family who owned a Chinese restaurant, and the grandmother’s responsibility was to write the small bits of wisdom that were placed inside of the handmade fortune cookies served to customers at the end of the meal.  One day, a young man enters the restaurant.   For a reason that now escapes my far-from-youth brain, the grandmother chooses a specific fortune cookie for him.  His bit of wisdom is to lead each day as if it were his last.  The young man eats a small amount of the fortune cookie, wraps the rest up in a napkin along with the fortune, and brings it all home.  Every day for the rest of his life he eats another small bit of the fortune cookie and rereads the fortune.  As he lives his life, he constantly tries new things, faces fears, and lives each day to its fullest.

While there is an obvious “moral” to the story, there is something else that I took away from the story, even as a young child.  That something is the concept of serendipity.  Merriam-Webster’s describes serendipity below:

Regardless of what you may believe causes serendipity, I believe that serendipity is something quite present in my own life.  It might simply be that I’m more attuned to seeing these bits of value when I most need them as I’m subconsciously work on a problem in my mind.  Or maybe it is a higher power in the universe.  Or maybe it is just pure dumb luck.  Whatever the reason, I pay attention when serendipity touches my life.  I don’t necessarily think the universe is trying to tell me something, but I do think from time to time it give me a nudge.  Or maybe reinforces something that I’m feeling a bit unsure of.

As 2009 approached, I felt a great need for change in several areas of my life.  I think this change is ever evolving and started truly back in September 2007 when I made my first bento and blogged about it.   With January of a new year looming, I felt a great need to get myself organized and to clean this house of mine.  I’m bad for throwing things in a chair, on top of a table, or on the spare bed.  It will then sit there for months.  Living out of a laundry basket is no big deal for me, and I often wash and dry just what I need for the next day.  Maybe it was turning another year older, maybe it was just that “time,” whatever that means.  Whatever the internal reason, I set my sights on my house and used my week-plus vacation to organize.

I attacked the living room first since it is the first room I see each day when I come home from work.  There is no longer clutter on the couch or my recliner.  The dining table is free and clear for use.  The buffet I inherited from my grandparents is now organized, right down to the middle drawer that had become a junk drawer of sorts.

If there was something that felt right, I did it…regardless if it seemed the sensible thing to do.  Take my couch for instance.  I purchased this couch a few years ago for $75 at a garage sale.  It’s supposed to have two huge cushions that go on the back of it.  I hate those cushions.  They always make me feel like I’m being propelled back off the couch.  Since I have dogs that I allow on the furniture, I always keep the couch covered in a sofa cover with a sheet over it.  It’s not like you even saw the cushions on a regular basis.

Out went the cushions to Goodwill.  Maybe someone else can use them.  A bunch of old pillows now line my couch, and OMG it feels so much better.  I’ve actually fallen asleep on it a couple of times.  The dogs as you can see fall asleep on it often.  And these pictures pretty much sum up the amount of help I got from them during House Purge 2009.

Next stop was the computer room.  The desk was cleared off and organized.  All that strappy stuff on the second shelf is no longer around (old camera I’m selling to a friend).  I stacked three pieces of furniture that were in the way in other room in a bit of wasted space behind the door.  I now have a place to store all my arts/craft supplies.  Because one day I’m going to finish that quilt dangit!  The file cabinet was cleaned off and made into a mailing center.  I have things to mail off to friends or for prizes here at Not Exactly Bento.  In fact, the two books stacked up on each other on the left top are the ones in my current giveaway.  That book on the far right corner of the cabinet I just mailed off to a friend.  It’s quite nice to have an area to store all this stuff now.

My laundry room took nearly a whole day, but I’m so pleased with the outcome.  This room had become the catchall room.  It had old leftover stuff that I needed to bring to the landfill from the recent bathroom remodel.  Long strips of wood that I needed to bring to my parent’s house cluttered a wall.  And then just lots of other junk was strewn about.  This room was the junk drawer of my house.   Every available bit of plastic organizational storage wound up in this room, I think.  The shelf was one I hobbled together for my kitchen when I first moved into this house.  An old light-wood toned shoe organizer sits on top, along with one of the 6-drawer shelves I recently moved out of my kitchen.  This whole area has become my tool area.  If I need a nail, screwdriver, level, or other piece of equipment, I can now find it here.

To the right of the tool area, I now have a small set of Closet-maid shelves to hold linens.  Right out of the frame of the picture is the washer and dryer.  Having my linen shelves nearby has been great.  A three-bin laundry sorter has been a god-send as well.  My mother is impressed that my bathroom floor is no longer littered with dirty clothes.  On the wall opposite of the large shelf rests two end-tables my mom gave me with two shoe organizers on top.  The drawers hold electronic chargers I’m always looking for. There is a plug I seldom used until this point behind the end tables.  This area has now become my charge station.  I have a spot to charge camera batteries, my electric drill, and all those other things that seem to crop up in this technology riddled life I lead.  Above the shoe organizer is my clothes rod.

Next came my bedroom, and this took forever.  This room has always been in a bad way when it comes to its layout.  Nothing has really worked, and I knew for a long time I needed to take out the closet in that room, a closet that I never really used anyway.  So I did.  A hammer, a crowbar, and a lot of sweat later the only thing that remains is the framework for this closet.  I’m just not strong enough to take it down myself.  My brother will come over soon to help me take that down.  By being able to push that bed in the corner of the room, I was able to open up nearly the whole room.  YAY!  The large shelf my father built for me while I was in high school once sat inside the closet because I had nowhere else to put it.  Now it sits on the opposite wall from my bed in all its glory with Toby’s new rug in front of it.  He’s greatly enjoying it.  I was also able to find a great spot for the old, worn-out looking vanity I inherited.  One of these days I’m going to figure out what color to paint that thing.  Above it hangs a mirror that I inherited from a woman on my mom’s side of the family.  The mirror has been stored in my mom’s house forever because I just didn’t know where to put it in my house.  I love it here!  The last thing I did was take the two kitchen door cabinet shelves I never ended up needing and installing them on the side of a rolling cart next to my bed.  Now, I have a spot to place my CD player’s remote control, books I’m reading, and more right near the bed.  How cool is that?

If you’ve actually gotten all the way to the end of this post, you might still be wondering how serendipity showed itself in this House Purge.  After a solid 9 days of nearly non-stop home overhaul, I was tired the last weekend before I had to report back to work.  That Saturday night, I just couldn’t bring myself to cook I was so tired.  I made one last trip to Goodwill with a car full of stuff, and on my way back, I decided to stop at a local pizza restaurant for dinner.  I was mentally kicking myself as I walked through the door.  Whenever I eat alone, I always like to have a book or magazine with me to read while I enjoy my meal.  Since I’d stopped by this restaurant on the spur of the moment, I hadn’t any reading material with me.  Since the home purge also included cleaning out my car, I didn’t have one of the many books I always tend to have in there with me either.  As I entered the restaurant, they had a free magazine called “Town Favorites” for patrons to take.  I picked one up to read during dinner.  I’m just absolutely incapable of sitting at a table by myself, whether at home or in a restaurant, and not have something to do while I eat.

As I leafed through the magazine, I ran across an article titled “New Year ~ New Energy” by Sue Froeba, a certified consultant of Western Feng Shui in the Greater Baton Rouge area.  I’ve always been interested in much of Eastern philosophy, and this article caught my attention.  As I read, one particular paragraph stood out.

…the use of space, and the degree of cleanliness or clutter all impact and collectively determine your home’s energy flow.  And this flow – or lack of flow – affects you continually, conditions your experience in your home and significantly influences your future for good or for ill.

This article caught me dead center of the eyes.  I’d been having difficulty verbalizing my need to organize and make changes with 2009.  This article summed it up in just a few sentences.  With the clutter gone, I could definitely think clearer.  Not to mention feel less stressed.

It’s been a week later and so far so good with keeping it all up on the home front.  Hopefully, I’ll still be fairly neat and organized 6 months from now.  That will be the true test.

Be the bento everyone!  Thanks for reading!