Vdara

Just came back home from an amazing bachelorette weekend in the fabulous Las Vegas; we stayed at a new hotel spa: Vdara.  Highly recommend it for a relaxing sleep after a long night of the rowdy Vegas venues.

Closet Case Continuum

The pantry in my kitchen was terrible, dirty walls, plastic wall paper in sporadic places, haphazard wooden boards with faux wood-grain shelf liners, and ugly plastic bins. Ugh. Plus it's a very small space, but utilized properly, it could store all the necessities. The previous owner took no pride in his pantry at all. For about a $100 and an afternoon, I transformed the dirty disarray into a static clean delight.

I tore down all pre-existing shelving with pleasure. Demo in small doses is good for the body and soul.
Kilz primer is phenomenal for problem walls; I used three coats - that's how bad the pantry was, and left it the stark white color.

From Home Depot, I purchased two 84" shelf rails, found in the closet system isle, $14 a pop. Matching white brackets, 12 of those and 6 white shelves. Including the primer, I spent $ 98. Demo and patching up took about an hour, after everything dried, I sanded and painted for another hour or so. Installation of the shelving unit took 25 minutes. I am very happy with the results, ... just want to look at the damned thing.

Below is a photo of the fruit of my labor, a nice clean pantry closet that stores everything I need it to. Photo sucks, but you get the idea.

Friends, Beer, Chemistry - Sounds Like a Party!

Ever find yourself in this situation?  Food is all done and out on the buffet table, the music is playing, the grill is hot, friends are ringing the door bell and oh! you forgot to chill the beverages.  Not to worry, science to the rescue. My favorite TV personalities, the Mythbusters, have demonstrated that getting beer to it's perfect drinking temperature takes only 5 minutes. Yes, 5 minutes. How? you ask...

...by adding a mixture of salt & water to the ice in your cooler. The salt melts the ice and lowers the waters freezing point resulting in water that is as much as 10F colder almost instantly.  Use a generous amount of salt for large coolers, just pour it on. Room temperature beverages will chill to perfection in 5 minutes. 

Cheers!

Rolling Pizza Stones

Had this discussion with a friend the other night; how do you clean a pizza stone? Apparently it's easy to ruin one by washing it with soap. The stone I own, did not come with cleaning instructions, so I did some research [as mine is still on the counter top with day old crust and cheese stuck to it] and this is what I found unanimous and universal for cleaning it:

- Use a kitchen scraper to get rid of the stuck on pieces.
- Wipe with a damp [water only] sponge or cloth.
- Submerge in warm, clean water, again - no soap! Soak for 20 minutes to completely saturate the porous ceramic surface.
- Air dry overnight.

So know we all know.

Get Your Spice Girls!

As far as food is concerned there is nothing worse than a bland dinner at the end of a long day, but  cooking while tired [and hungry] can be just as thrilling, the remedy: stocking up on spice-mixes to quickly flavor your meals, you can pick them up at any supermarket. My fave: Jamaican Curry Mix, Masala Mix, Wasabi Powder and Steak Seasoning. Throwing together a few ingredients of your choice and seasoning the hell out of it with the mixes results in a quick, scrumptious meal. So for those days when you want to eat well at home and skip the takeout menu try some quick stir-fry recipes:

Combine chopped veggies and boiled noodles in a wok, on medium heat.  Add a generous mix of seasoning, mix well and serve.

I use frozen pre-chopped veggies [zero prep work] and wheat pasta noodles, I boil those while I'm setting the table. Fastest meal I cooked took 5 minutes!

A Healthy Lunch That Satisfies the Naughty Side

There is too much bread and carbs in our lives, because they taste soooo good, but they are soooo bad in large quantities. Today I altered a basic recipe into a healthier one. So... My Cheese Tortellini & Broccoli Alfredo. Serves two.
1 serving of cheese tortellini
2 cups of fresh broccoli
1/2 serving of alfredo sauce
pinch or two of sea salt

Follow the serving size portions on your packaging

Boil the tortellini as usual, chop the broccoli into quarter coin size and steam for 2 minutes. Heat the sauce on low for 2 minutes in a wide pan, combine all ingredients in the pan used to heat up the sauce, stir for another minute until everything is evenly coated, add sea salt and serve.

The split between the servings makes all the difference in the amount of calories and carbs your take in while satisfying that craving for all things fattening. The tortellini and broccoli are just slightly coated with the sauce but still have that same great taste.

Magic Carpet

I sit among giant white binders of magazine clippings of "things I like"... yes, yes, I did organize them by industry, so handbags, hats, shoes, recipes, blah.. blah... blah.. the ones that interest me today are the ones labeled INTERIOR DESIGN. I am looking for that something, that umph, that magical pièce de résistance that will transform the living room into an amazing space and become the conversation piece in itself. 

.......................... and budget pending, I think I've got it! Federica Tondato! Her rugs are alive with motion and kinetic energy of the elements, a third dimension on a two dimensional surface. Brilliant! I really want one.