blue_eyes's Profile

You can actually draw on most mirror and tile with dry erase markers and it wipes right off (you may need a damp towel or clorox wipe if the marker has been there for a while). In college I lived in a dorm that had tile walls in the hallways, people would leave messages for friends, draw large artwork on the walls, etc., and it was all removable!

LOVE the two-tone map in the boy's room! I so want to do that in my own house someday.

Paint your own map on the wall! You could use a projector to project an image you like on the wall then paint it yourself for giant wall art that won't seem clunky.

Growing up we always made our pie crust with half lard, half butter. But now I'm getting ready to marry someone who keeps Kosher, so no lard for us. If you are going to use lard (especially in baked goods), make sure to let people know so they don't accidentally eat a meat product without realizing.

Find ways to break up the meal prep into steps that can be done at different times. My 93 year old grandmother still cooks for us, but she does everything in steps. For instance, she will chop some veggies, then take a break and come back later to sauté them, then she'll take another break before boiling pasta and assembling the casserole.Obviously not everyone has the time to spend all day making a meal, but breaking it up can really help for people who have difficulty standing for long periods of time or get fatigued easily.

She loves being able to cook for us and usually won't even let us touch the dishes! I think being able to do something productive and useful everyday is one of the main reasons she has lived so long. I guess what I'm getting at is, let people (with disabilities) do as much as they can, don't just jump in and take over because it can make them feel infantilized and helpless.

I would love to see more vegetarian and fish recipes. We're trying to eat more fish at my house, so some recipe inspiration would be much appreciated!

Wow. Can I spend my whole summer here?! I love the feeling of lush coziness and shady coolness.

In a strawberry-rhubarb recipe, just replace the strawberries with more rhubarb. You may need to add a little more sugar, but rhubarb is delicious on it's own!

Mmm. I just bought my first rhubarb of the season and am trying to decide what to make with it. Growing up we had rhubarb in our garden, so it was always abundant (and free). We liked to make rhubarb pies (often with raspberries from our garden), or stewed rhubarb (basically just rhubarb cooked until mushy with some sugar and maybe a few raisins and a dash of citrus). I think I'm going to make a rhubarb crumble today though.

I have a microwave, toaster oven, electric kettle, and an immersion blender. I use the electric kettle to boil water for coffee and tea, to hard boil eggs, and to heat water to soak dry beans. I use the immersion blender for soups, making pots de creme, and making dips like baba ganoush and hummus. I mix batters and doughs by hand. The one appliance I've been considering is a food processor to grind things like dough for crackers (currently I use a pastry cutter and elbow grease).