Wedding … AHOY! Part Deux August 20, 2008

It was a beautiful day for a wedding!

So many of you have asked about the wedding … thank you for keeping me on top of things (I had almost forgotten to post an update since I have started my reorganization projects ).  I am very happy to report that our sailing adventure (my cousin got married on a windjammer in Maine … there were about 60 people on the boat) was gifted with a perfect day.  Not too hot, not too cold and NO rain, although we packed our ponchos just in case.  Congratulations to Debbie and Dennis, and thank you for a fun day of sailing !

Here is a link to my original post http://jennlynnprin.wordpress.com/2008/08/08/wedding-ahoy/ .

Book Review #2 Follow Up ~ My Kitchen August 20, 2008

My cabinet after purging and reorganizing ... it feels great to have more space!

Okay, I guess you can tell from the time between posts that I was determined to fix my cookbook problem ! Of course, it was not a time consuming project, but it still took some thought to sort through my 14 years worth of recipe guides.

I did have a hard time parting with some, but here is what I did (the “got rid of” ones are going into my yard sale stash for September) …

1.  I got rid of most cookbooks that were too specific (vegetables, cookies, muffins … etc.).  I did keep one on chicken and another on cookies (I had 3 on cookies, so I only kept one).

2.  I eliminated my Taste of Home magazines.  This was HARD to do, and I still receive the magazine, yet I knew I would be excited about future issues and not look through old ones.  I am going to create a recipe folder to put new recipes in that I try and like from future magazines.

3.  I purged any that I considered to be “old” (some have ingredients, such as “kitchen bouquet” that I have never seen or heard of).

4.  I took out any that I have never used b/c I probably never will.

All of that left me with a nice stack of books.  My cookbooks are on the left, and I have a small stash of “kitchen wisdom” type of books on the left.  My ziploc baggie contains recipes that I need to put in a folder … most are ones that I either printed off of the internet and liked or ones that I have requested from others b/c I tried and liked the recipes.

Maybe this will give you a little bit of inspiration to do some purging yourself.  I even went through some other cabinets and got rid of some other things I was not using (I probably need to do more! ).  I do feel better b/c I actually have two empty shelves in my kitchen cabinet now (and that was even with moving my antique “Oven Serve” into the cabinet … yippee !) I also need to add that 4 of the books actually came from my kitchen counter. I was able to move them up into the cabinet … aaahhh!  Until next time … .

Organization – Restoring Order Book Review #2 August 20, 2008

My kitchen cabinet ... the first organizational step in my kitchen clean out!

Now that I am partly through Restoring Order to Your Home, I am even more encouraged to organize!  After diagnosing my problem (see post #1 for the first part of this review), I am now ready to conquer some areas that truly need my help.

Vicki goes through the “public” areas of the house to help.  She includes the kitchen, living room, dining room, family room and playroom and gives EXCELLENT ideas on organizing those areas.  Frankly, I do not have a formal dining or living room to change, but she suggests that you can repurpose those areas.  I actually have already done that (yay, a step in the right direction! ).  I used to have a more “formal” (otherwise known as not used) eating area, so I decided to turn it into our main eating area.  Vicki suggests that you can use an unused (or even little used) dining and/or living room for another purpose … an office?  a play area?  a studio?  You name it … it is your home!

I was greatly encouraged to abandon my “scoop and shove” bins to conquer my kitchen.  Hmmm … great idea!  I have SO many unused appliances, do-dads (many of which I purchased from nice kitchen companies, but I do not use them … for some of them I do not even have a clue what their purpose is! ).  My first order of business is my cookbooks.  They take up an entire shelf (plus a stack on top of the books themselves … that is where I keep shoving my cooking magazines), and I really do not use most of them.  Many I am saving “just in case”, but with the internet, I can pull up a great recipe quickly.  The great thing about the internet is that many recipes have variations and reviews, so I can pick ones that truly work.

So, I have included a “before” photo of my cookbooks … oh, and if any look interesting and they are not shown in my “after” photo (to come when I am finished) you can probably purchase them at my yard sale on September 13 … ha ha!