Nikki's Profile

Thank you for all of your suggestions, I will be using some of them!

Frozen blueberries always turn my entire batter an ugly gray-purple. How did you get the muffins to look so nice? (I can't wait to make these by the way!)

Bagged lunches were never as nice at lunch as they are when you make them, especially in my youth of non-insulated lunch bags. The third thing is like a consolation prize for a sandwich with a thermos shaped dent in it.

I can't complain about my fancy bagged lunch now, but I still like the novelty of variety.

I've used Magic Jack, it may be cheap but it isn't quality. It sounds like you're talking into a tin can to someone far away. It disconnects frequently, too. Also keep in mind that no internet phone service can truly replace a land line, because if your electric goes out, so does your router.

I feel this way about uniform spice jars. Some of the spices I use often and so I'd either need different sized jars, or I'd have to hide/get rid of the package containing the rest. Other spices I use so little of before they get stale. I suspect that these super organized pantries are tidied up before being posted online. I like to use a combination of mason jars and snap-tupperware type containers to keep reasonable order enforced.

I pan fry them so that I can keep an eye on how done they are. If I try to bake them, they come out tough.

My family does Italian food for Christmas. There's a big pot of sauce with meatballs, of course, but also chicken cutlets for people who are super picky, they can be made into chicken parmesan otherwise. The big thing for me is antipasto, laid out before the meal. Lots and lots of variety for people who'd rather have a lot of different tastes to choose from. I like to have different seasoned olive oils, a few types of olives, cheese, bread, bread sticks, pickled peppers, prociutto, and some nice red wine to wash it down.