Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Wednesday Hodgepodge

From this Side of the Pond
 
1. January 24th is National Compliment Day. Is it easy or not so easy for you to accept a compliment? Share a recent compliment you've given or received.

I'm much better at accepting compliments than I used to be..

A recent compliment I received was from Steven, telling me that I'm a great cook. I love how at six, he is already great at dishing out compliments.

2. Ten little things you are loving right now.
  1. My favorite pen ... the way it feels in my hand, the color of the ink, and the ease that it travels across the page as I write.
  2. My notebooks/idea books/planners.
  3. My pretty Pioneer Woman water bottle that a dear friend gave to me for Christmas.
  4. Our house plants that I somehow managed to keep thriving so far.
  5. Goodnight hugs from the children.
  6. My waffle iron. It was something I wanted for a long time, and finally, 11+ years after leaving the Amish I have one.
  7. Story time with Steven, whether I'm reading to him or he's reading to me, either way, love it!
  8. Pretty teacups. There aren't a lot of teas I truly enjoy, but any tea is made better when served in a pretty cup.
  9. Seeing your children achieve goals, watching them reach milestone moments, and witnessing their dreams come true.
  10. Lists, all kinds of lists. This one could have been much longer, but since Joyce asked for ten things, I'll stop here.

3. Would people describe you as a positive person? Do you see yourself that way?

I hope people would describe me as a positive person. Yes, I see myself that way.

I read here  a list/description of eight things positive people do differently.

Positive people find something to look forward to every day, they celebrate the small stuff, they're kind, they stay busy, accept responsibility for their actions, forgive themselves, know when to move on, and resist comparisons

Which action on the list would you say you do regularly? Which action could you add to your life to give you a more positive outlook? If you're a positive person, what's something you do regularly that's not on the list?

I'm good at most of those things. An area where I could improve on is forgiving myself. It can be hard at times when you wish with everything in you that you  could turn back time and do something totally different.

Something I do regularly that's not on the list. Express gratitude to God, and to others. I like to write things down that I'm grateful for.

I think there's a whole lot of truth in the saying, Happiness is 10% circumstance and 90% attitude.

4. Homemade chicken soup, beef stew, or a bowl of chili...what's your pleasure on a cold winter's day?

The homemade chicken soup would be my soup of choice. I make Chicken ~n~ Dumpling soup regularly. It's a family favorite.

5. The best part of my day is....

This is hard!

I love getting up in the morning and starting my day in a quiet house.
I also love when the rest of the family gets up to join me for breakfast an hour later.
I love sitting down with the children and do our schoolwork.
I love when we get done with school for the day and we get to focus on other things.
I love when it's time to cook up a meal, and when everyone sits at the table to partake of the things I cooked.
I love the time after dinner when we relax and enjoy family time before bed.
At night I'm always so glad to have a comfortable bed to get into and fall asleep.

Really, my days are filled with best parts. I'd be sad to miss out on any of them.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

I mentioned my waffle iron as one of the ten things I'm loving right now. Updating my kitchen with non-Amish things has been a long drawn out affair. In fact I'm not nearly done yet. So my question to you is, What kitchen tool, gadget, or small appliance is your favorite? What should I put on my list to get next?

37 comments:

  1. I really like my immersion blender. It's a little bit of a luxury since I use it just in making soup, and I could use the regular blender instead - but it's handy to be able to blend right in the soup pot. One of these days I'll try whipping cream or making mayonnaise with it.

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  2. Do you have an Instant Pot pressure cooker? I bought mine over a year ago and I use it several times per week. It is fun experimenting.

    Alice

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    1. I don't have an Instant Pot, though I've heard people love it. It's going on my someday list as well.

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  3. My favorite appliance is my dishwasher. I could live without it but, my!, it makes live easier. Cleaning out my mum's stuff I found an Oster kitchen "thing". I keep the mixer on the base, but I can change off and use it as a blender, a food processor, or a slicer/grater. Marvelous!

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    1. A dishwasher would be lovely! Hopefully someday.

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  4. My daughter just bought a Ninja blender and loves it. Hope you have a wonderful week.

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    1. Oooh, yes! A Ninja blender would be a lovely addition to my kitchen as well.

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  5. I'm a gadget girl... I love my instant pot, my ninja blender, and my dishwasher. If I had to choose one of would be my dishwasher quickly followed by the instant pot!

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    1. All three sound like something I want to have someday.

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  6. It's great reading your responses today. I loved all the things you mentioned in your best part of the day. These were things I enjoyed when our kids were home, too. Time really zips by! My favorite, most used small appliance is a toaster oven. It's great for reheating food that I do not want to heat in the microwave. If you don't have one then you might want to add it to your wish list. ;) Have a good day & thanks for visiting today!

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  7. I love my blender, my crock pot, and my toaster oven. I use them all the time. My youngest daughter loves tea and collects pretty tea cups. She would agree that tea is best from a pretty cup. I'm not good at forgiving myself, either. It's something I try to work on. Have a wonderful day!

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  8. Neat little vegetable peeler, hand held soup blender and a good sharp knife.

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    1. All three sound like great additions to a kitchen.

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  9. Others have mentioned the Ninja blender and I agree that it is a must. So much you can do with it and the accessories. If you haven't already added a dish washer, I also agree with this. But, may I suggest you do what my builder did and build it up so that you don't have to bend over so far to load and/or empty. I have storage above and below and its one my favorite things about my house. So enjoyed reading all your favorite things.

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    1. I love the idea of elevating the dish washer! I'm making a note of that so I'll remember once we do our kitchen.

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  10. I resist gadgets, though I have a few I like. I find many more trouble than their worth to clean and drag out ( I don't have much counter space). I also get overwhelmed by lots of buttons and functions. So, my husband loves to use the instant pot and does batches of meat and potatoes ( like super moist baked potatoes) in it for me, but I don't do more than take off the lid and wash it. It took me about a year before I learned how to do bagels in a toaster oven. I just didn't want to focus on it. I do love my immersion blender ( simple simple simple) and my Vitamix, which for a blender is amazingly simple. I have wanted a Vitamix blender for 15 yrs or more and I bought a reconditioned one finally last Summer for about $250 ( new is around $500 - 600) and their reconditioned reviews are great, so why spend more on new? My hand held electric mixer is 42 yrs old now and still going!!! I still use it for mashed potatoes.

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    1. Thanks for the tip to look for a reconditioned Vitamix.

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  11. I enjoyed your answers. About that kitchen gadget...I think I would go for one of the small food processers or a hand blender. I rarely use my big FP because it is so heavy and bulky. My husband bought me a really good waffle iron and I have found so many cool recipes. Did you know there are so many things that you can make into waffles? My favorite so far were the savory spaghetti squash waffles. You can google and find some good ones!

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    1. Ohhh! Thanks for the tip on making different kinds of waffles. I'll look for some tasty new recipes this weekend.

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  12. That is a BEAUTIFUL water bottle!

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  13. Right now, I am loving my Instant Pot. It's so versatile and very easy to use. It's also a huge time-saver!

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  14. a spiralizer. or a zoodler as I call it but it turns your zucchini or yellow squash into spiral noodles, if you saute them in a bit of olive oil and onions they are delish with pasta sauce on them. look it up you can spiralize potatoes, bell peppers, butternut squash, yams, anything.

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    1. Oooh! Sounds like something I'll want to add to my kitchen. Thank you!

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  15. I love pretty tea cups too. Your rose tea cup and saucer is lovely. I really like the Pioneer Woman kitchen line as well. It's very attractive and lots of cheerful colors.

    I hope the new year is being good to you so far.

    ~Sheri

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    1. I really like Pioneer Woman's line of things too. The water bottle is the only thing I have from it ... so far.

      The New Year has been good so far. Hope yours has been as well.

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  16. What an awesome compliment. I love pens and collect unusual ones but I don't have a favorite right now. How awesome to have so much joy in your day!

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    1. I'd love to see some of your unusual pens someday.

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  17. I giggled at all the dishwasher comments - we don't have one (no space for one - really) and most of the time don't miss it.

    Two things I do use on a regular basis - my crockpot (I highly dislike pressure cookers, therefore no instapot) and my immersion blender.

    And I have a collection of pretty tea cups that includes the one you pictured. I have delightful memories of purchasing that one with my best friend as teenagers!

    Thanks for sharing,
    Lea

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    1. We have an ancient dishwasher, it's missing buttons and controls and quit working before we moved into this house. I use it as storage space.

      I love when there are happy memories attached to things.

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  18. My air fryer. It is awesome. Fries and bakes in half the time without all the oil. I use it almost every day.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment. I love hearing your thoughts.