Getting Whites Really White

So, I love white shirts.  I don't love what happens to white shirts in the armpits though.  I've tried various remedies, but this was the first that worked and it was so easy that I feel compelled to share.

a gallon or 2 of hot hot water (our tap gets pretty hot, so I just used that, but you could boil some up I supposed)
1 cup bleach
1 cup dishwasher detergent (I used the gel kind from Walmart)

Mix it all up, through in your clothes, make sure they are all covered.  Let sit for at least an hour.  Mine soaked for 2 or 3.  Then wring them out and through them in the washer.  Dishwasher soap is specially formulated not to suds up so it's safe to put in your washer. 
Seriously, I don't have stains on shirts that I've had for years now.  It even got poop stains out of Ellie's white onsies.  YEAH!

Eating Food

The older Ellie gets, the more it is clear that she is kind of an independent little creature.  For example, we started solid foods this week.  Initially she was more interested with holding and gnawing on the spoon than anything else. 

(PS, Tiffanie, do you like the bib? )

But today, she finally ate some.  See how it went.

Another Cool Money Saving Tool

If you do any online shopping, then this is a great website for you.  We recently purchased a new computer online, and went through ebates.com, and got 5% cash back (an actual check), which was pretty nice since computers aren't exactly cheap.  Here is how it works:  go to the ebates website and find the store you wish to make a purchase from.  Click on the link to the store through ebates and they track your purchase and give you a certain percentage cash back (every store is different).  They also have coupon codes for that store listed there.  Anyway, click on the link below to sign up as a referral from me.

Ebates Tell-a-Friend

A New New Year's Tradition

I love the holiday season!  I love Halloween for dressing up (and candy), Thanksgiving for family and food, and Christmas for the music, the smells, family, and mostly for celebrating the birth of our Savior.  But New Year's has always been a bit anticlimatic for me.  As a teenager there were dances (where most stared at each other awkwardly at midnight as balloons dropped).  Our first New Year's together we switched between watching an Andrea Bocelli concert on TV and a program about the Universe.  And last year we flew back to Utah from Texas.  Nothing terribly memorable to ring in a new year.  So I was very excited to discover a new tradition I want to start with my little family.  I read it in a local magazine that came in the mail (Mckinney something-or-other).  Anyway, here's the idea:

A New Year's Time Capsule!  I've always loved the idea of a time capsules.  As a kid I thought it would be cool to open one from a "long time ago" and see what people thought was cool or important or sentimental.  So this year, on New Year's eve, we'll gather together a few photos of the year, maybe a few things that remind us of what has happened during 2009 (which was a pretty big year for us), and write letters to our future selves about what we hope to accomplish during the coming year.  Then we can open it next year and do it all over again!  I'm stoked. Though I don't think we'll be registering it with the International Time Capsule Society, since it will probably just be in a shoe box or something (maybe we'll go durable and put it in some tupperware).

Pie Crust

This is my new favorite pie crust recipe.  I think the key is chilling the shortening.  You can substitute butter just fine as well.  I think the next time I make it I'll do a little less shortening, maybe 1/3 cup, because it felt just a little greasy to me (though it could have been my old shortening).

Ingredients


1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening, chilled
3 tablespoons ice water

Directions

Whisk the flour and salt together in a medium size bowl. With a pastry blender, cut in the cold shortening until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons ice water over flour. Toss mixture with a fork to moisten, adding more water a few drops at a time until the dough comes together.

Gently gather dough particles together into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes before rolling. (I have done it both chilled and not-chilled and they came out the same).

Roll out dough, and put in a pie plate. Fill with desired filling and bake.
Alternative:  If you need it to be a pre-baked crust, bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees

The Best Peanut Butter Cookies in the Entire World

That's right folks, they are the best. A few months ago I had a cravings for peanut butter cookies, but the recipe we had was always too crispy (especially if you didn't eat them all that night, and choose to save some for the next day). So Ben did a little a Google search, and pulled up this winner. They stay soft! Though I cna't tell you how long because they were a gone within a few days. We did store them in a plastic container in the fridge, but dang they were good! So I feel the need to share.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup margarine, softened
3/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

Combine margarine, peanut butter, sugars, egg, and vanilla. Blend together very well.
Add flour, baking soda and salt with mixer.
Chill dough 15 minutes in the refrigerator. Roll into balls by hand.
Place on sprayed cookie sheet.
Using a fork, press down the balls and create a criss cross pattern.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until edges very lightly browning (about 7 to 10 minutes).
Don't overcook (duh).

One week in Texas

Well, we have been in Texas for one full week now. We are officially members of the Melissa Ward, as our records have arrived. Here is Ellie all dressed for her first foray at church. This dress was mine when I was a baby. My mom can correct my if I'm wrong. I just love how she looks like she's posing for this picture, but in all reality it is a suspended moment of her random arm failing. Ben taught Elder's Quorom today, so that makes it even more official. I can drive myself to Walmart, my in-laws, and church (though I haven't actually done that one yet), and probably Target too. I can turn off and on the alarm system, use the fancy "high efficiency" washer and dryer, and the dish network TV at the house we are staying at (we are currently house sitting).

I cannot, however, find a satisfactory substitute for the bread we used to purchase in Provo. This seriously irks me. It's a problem I didn't really forsee-that we would have to find new staples for our food. They don't have the same tortillas, bread, applesauce, or western family brand foods(at least I can't find it). It's strange. Margarine comes in a different shape. Why is that? Why does it matter? How much does it cost Imperial margarine to produce two different shapes of the same product? I can't fathom the reasoning behind it. Luckily these aren't life and death matters. Just strange little things I hadn't thought about. So if anyone knows were you can purchase a multi-grain bread with plenty of dietary fiber that is larger than the palm of Ben's hand for under $2, please let me know. I'm missing my bread.

18 Months of Wedded Bliss

June 27th marked our one and a half year anniversary. Though I don't really expect we'll celebrate halves very frequently, we had good reason to this time. With only 2 and half weeks left till Eleanor's due date, I am willing to give nearly anything a shot to get her here soon.
So, my mom had a tradition of eating strawberry-rhubarb pie sometime before each of us was born. I don't know the specifics of her timing...maybe I should ask. At any rate, to celebrate 18 months of wedded bliss we made strawberry-rhubarb pie. Ben was fantastic and made the filling and I made the crust and voila! Very delicious pie, with vanilla ice cream of course!
Well, you can't see the pie, but it was really great. I've never made pie crust before so I was a little antsy about it. But it came out very nicely. And we sort of modified two different filling recipes to make our own. We wanted more strawberries than rhubarb and weren't willing to invest in the tapioca pudding powder it called for in the other recipe. I hate pudding, so why would I want it in my pie when flour is a perfectly acceptable alternative.
It was nice to celebrate some sort of wedding anniversary since for our first anniversary was I pretty nauseous and not up to doing much of anything since I was 10 weeks pregnant. Granted, I'm not up to do much now, but I sure enjoy eating a lot more!
And indeed, being married to Ben is quite blissful. We get along ridiculously well, and he is quite patient walking around with me (since I move as fast as a snail these days). He is a good, honest priesthood holder who makes me feel like a princess (he calls me his pregnant, pregnant princess).

The Unemployed

Well, Ben got a part-time summer job that is keeping him pretty busy, but I spend a lot of time nesting now that I'm not teaching anymore. I don't think our apartment has ever been cleaner in the strangest places. I've scrubbed and vacuumed out all of the radiators, for example.
But my latest project is by far my most favorite. I've been working on a blessing dress. I learned how to do some really cool lattice-work smocking when I was doing costumes for Hamlet at BYU, and I've been dying for the chance to put it to use ever since. It's just a simple pattern I purchased, and then I hand smocked the yoke part. It's a cotton dress since Eleanor will be blessed in August (which is stinking hot!). I've also been learning how to embroider because I want to embroider some colored flowers or something along the bottom. Anyway, I just wanted to show off a bit. And justify all my lazing about for the past two weeks.