Dear Life...

Last Tuesday, I managed to burn my hand by stupidly grabbing hold of the splatter screen on a pan coming directly out of a 500-degree oven.  I had a 3" burn across my palm and burns on my thumb and each finger.  Those burns were pretty much at the joints, as my hand had been curled around the handle.  Yes, stupid, stupid, stupid.  Not exactly the stuff that instills confidence in one's blog when one writes about food a lot... or even for a sporadic blogger like me. 

not an oven mitt...

Wednesday, my husband became ill with severe abdominal cramps, which thankfully, were not related to my cooking!  I spent 2 1/2 hours at UrgiCare with him (after having spent an hour at the doctor for my hand), and then an additional 3 1/2 hours at the Emerency Room.  He was admitted to the hospital for immediate surgery.  During the surgery, they determined he had a twisted bowel, a very dangerous, and potentially deadly situation.  Thankfully, the doctors, nurses, techs, and other hospital staff were all very knowledgeable and good at their jobs.  They were all very nice, as well.  My husband spent 6 days in the hospital and I was there most of the time, only coming home three times to get clean clothes, check the mail, pick up supplies, etc.  Fortunately, our neighbor was kind enough to take care of our dog while we were gone. 

The times I went home, I left in the late evening at returned after midnight.  That was for two reasons:  1.  My husband mostly slept through the time I was gone; and, 2.  I could actually get a decent parking space when I came back to the hospital.  Their parking lots are always packed during the day and evening!  They have a lot of construction going on right now, too, so parking is really limited. 

St. Francis Hospital, AKA "The Pink Palace", Tulsa, Oklahoma

Six days of near-constant togetherness in the hospital can also take its toll.  I drove my husband crazy a time or two with all my questions, but he was a captive audience and I had to take advantage of that, you know?  (LOL)  When he started driving me crazy, I went to the snack bar, cafeteria, or gift shop.  The hospital has great merchandise in the gift shop, but it isn't over-priced.  The snack bar and cafeteria have a wide variety of really good food.  There is even a Starbucks!  (That is the one place I didn't get to visit, though, as the line was always long and I was not willing to wait.)    Of course, he slept a lot, which forced me to watch television with the mute button on.  I was really happy when I figured out how to turn on the Closed Captioning and could stop trying to read lips.  That only took three days!  (haha)  We were also very glad when we had visitors, as it gave us an additional break from having to entertain each other. {Special shout out of thanks to my cousin Ronda and her family, who brought me lunch and dinner on three separate occasions! The food was all delicious and much appreciated!  We love you guys!!}

My husband was released from the hospital Monday morning and we got home around noon.  It's hard to get any rest while at the hospital, as the patient is constantly being awakened to have their vitals checked, draw blood, walk around the floor for exercise, change the IV bags, etc.  That inadvertently awakens the family member (AKA "unpaid caregiver") staying with the patient.  But it is possibly even harder to rest at home - at least for said unpaid caregiver.  Since we returned home I have washed clothes from the bottomless laundry basket, picked up his prescription, made homemade applesauce (recipe to be blogged later), washed dishes, made pudding, put the hospital stuff away, folded the endless laundry, etc., etc.  I wanted to lie down and take a nap, but our dog was hogging my side of the bed.  She was so happy to have her "daddy" home, she wasn't leaving his side for any reason! 

Leiua and her "daddy"

[Now that I think about it, the hospital staff that drew the blood only ever came in at night.  Is it just an odd coincidence that phlebotomists work those hours, or are there really Vampyres in Tulsa?  ...Okay, just a little "House of Night" humor.  If you are not familiar with the book series by P. C. & Kristen Cast, it is young adult fiction about a vampyre finishing school set in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the surrounding area.  I am enjoying reading the books, as the stories are well written.  I especially like reading about the local scenery, stores, activities, and the like, though.  It really makes the books come alive for me.  If you are into the whole supernatural literature scene, you should definitely check the books out.] 

Anyway, my husband is slow to get around and on some pretty stiff pain medication.  He will be off work for several days, at the very least.  Thank goodness for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), as it will allow me to stay home and care for him, as well.  That way I won't have to worry about him all day while I am at work.  Hopefully, we won't kill each other from all the togetherness, since there is no gift shop or snack bar for escape!  Hmmm... QuikTrip is only a couple of miles down the road...

Homemade Wrinkle Releaser Spray

I hate to iron!  Wait... I don't just hate to iron.  I really, really, really hate to iron!  That being said, wrinkle releaser spray is one of my favorite products.  When I first found out there was such a thing, I bought a bottle to try it out.  Downy Wrinkle Releaser Spray worked wonderfully and I loved it. 

Then, my grocery store stopped carrying the product.  I found out that Dollar General Stores carried it, so I bought it there for several months.  Then they, too, discontinued the product.  However, they had a store brand that seemed to work just as well.  As a bonus, it was half the cost.  I used that for several more months and then the unthinkable happened.  They stopped carrying their own version of wrinkle releaser spray.

In a fit of frustration, I decided there had to be a recipe for making my own wrinkle releaser spray out there somewhere.  This was over ten years ago, but I after an hour or so I was able to find a recipe.  It was very simple.  In fact, it was so simple I didn't think it would be effective.  I whipped up a batch and put it in an empty spray bottle.  I sprayed a very wrinkled shirt and waited.  Surprisingly, the homemade product worked as well or better as the store-bought wrinkle releaser spray.  The cost of making my own spray was pennies on the dollar.  Given the simplicity of the recipe, it just doesn't make sense to pay the high cost for the store-brand version.  Give the recipe a try and see if you agree with me.

You need three things to make your own Wrinkle Releaser Spray: 
1) empty spray bottle (32 ounce) - may be used, but must be clean
2) liquid fabric softener (any brand)
3) tap water. 

Step 1:  Take the lid off the spray bottle;
Step 2:  Uncap the liquid fabric softener and pour one capful;
Step 3:  Carefully pour the liquid fabric softener into the empty spray bottle;
Step 4:  Fill the spray bottle the rest of the way with tap water;
Step 5:  Recap the spray bottle and shake to mix well.

Spray directly onto colorfast clothing and hang them to allow wrinkles to fall out on their own.  You may hold the fabric taut and gently "brush" the wrinkles out with your free hand, as well.  To test for colorfastness, find a hidden seam of the garment or an hidden spot. Apply the spray to the garment and then dab the area with a clean cotton cloth. If the color removes itself from the garment onto the cloth, you should not use the spray on the clothing.  In all honesty, I have found that if I can throw the clothing in the washer, I can use the wrinkle releaser spray on it.  If a garment is marked "Dry Clean Only", I do the colorfast test before spraying it with the releaser.

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Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Happy Holidays from The Gingerbread Queen!

Leiua, The Gingerbread Queen, would like to wish everyone Happy Holidays!!

The life of The Gingerbread Queen is apparently quite wearisome.

Or maybe it's just being saddled with an owner who likes weird headbands...

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

What Do You Do...?

What do you do when your spouse or significant other is away from home for a couple of days?  Recently, my husband went out of town for some C.L.E.E.T. classes (that's continuing education classes for Oklahoma law enforcement types).  He doesn't go out of town very often, so it is rare that I have an evening to myself - and even more rare for me to have two or three in a row. 

First on the list for each evening was getting home and letting out the dog, Leiua (pronounced "Lou-ya", and almost blasphemously short for Hallelujah).  Leiua is an American Pit Bull, and is the sweetest dog you will ever meet.  She is seven years old and has only growled once that I know of - not counting when she is chasing rabbits in her sleep.  She is a big clown and makes me laugh every day.  Leiua is not quite 60 pounds - a runt by most Pit Bull standards, but she still thinks she is a lap dog.  She is very docile and submissive - not at all like the media portrays Pit Bulls.  Leiua is the epitome of what American Pit Bulls used to be called - "America's Nanny Dogs".  She is not very protective, though.  Leiua thinks everyone is her friend and anyone that comes to the house is there to see and play with her.  It doesn't exactly strike fear into anyone's heart when she immediately rolls over to try and persuade them to scratch her belly.  The only thing lethal about Leiua is her tail.  That is a little whip that will bruise the heck out of your calves if you don't get out of her way when she is excited... or happy... or playful... or ornery...

[As an aside, I bet many of you didn't know that Helen Keller, who was blind, deaf, and unable to speak for most of her life, had a Pit Bull.  "Sir Thomas" was her companion for many years.  I bring this up only to illustrate that the viciousness of Pit Bulls and Pit Bull mixes you always hear about in the media is a fairly new aberration and that fighting is not actually the Pit Bulls' true nature.]

Helen Keller and "Sir Thomas", her Pit Bull

Back to my story...  The first big question of each evening was, "What's for dinner?"  Since I didn't have to cook, I had planned to take full advantage of the many and varied restaurants in the greater Tulsa area.  Unfortunately, I had not counted on all my friends being too busy to go out to eat with me.  My evenings wound up being rather one-sided conversations with the dog about the various merits of the restaurants in our immediate area, whether or not they would freak out if my dining companion wore a floppy hat to cover her large ears and rather hairy facial features, whether or not I could actually get Leiua to wear the hat for any length of time (I could not), and, finally, which restaurants were fairly quick with take-out. 

"We are not amused."

The next question ultimately was, "Is there anything worth watching on television?"  With over 150 channels, you would think that surely there was.  I am sad to report there was not, which led to the subsequent question of, "What do we do now?"  Since I still couldn't get Leiua to wear the hat for any length of time, making a stealth community outing with her was impossible.  The first night, I resigned myself to remaining home.  I thought about going to the movies, since there is now, thankfully, a really nice theater just 3 1/2 miles from my house.  Unfortunately, they weren't showing anything that interested me, either.  I could have watched any number of DVDs, but making the choice of which one to pick was too tiring to even think about by that time.  I flipped through the channels for a couple of hours without finding anything very interesting.  (I long for the days when the History Channel actually showed historical shows and not endless hours of pickers and storage locker auctions.  And when did hoarders and addicts become art or entertainment, A&E?  But, I digress...)

The second night I decided to skip television all together and browsed my local Target after dinner.  I managed to pick up a few badly needed items, even if I didn't know how badly I needed them until I stumbled across them in the aisles. 

First off, was a new shower curtain, followed by a matching liner, and some pretty cool double-sided hooks (I hadn't ever seen those before).  The shower curtain that was in the master bath was ancient (read "bought the year we moved into this house") - one of those billowy, fabric ones with the fake valance and no liner that were so popular back then.  This shower curtain set has a tight waffle weave and lends a spa-type feel to the bath.  The liner has little square prisms all over, which reflect the light inside the shower.  The set even matches the wallpaper, which is surprising, and gives the bath a much needed update.  One of these days I'll strip off that wallpaper, but that is a big project for another day.

The next purchase I discovered to be a necessity was a new ironing board cover.  The old cover was falling apart.  Let me just say that I don't iron unless it is a dire emergency.  I am all about wash and wear.  When that fails, I use wrinkle releaser spray.  (By the way, if you buy wrinkle realeaser sprays, you are wasting your money.  I found a recipe on the internet years ago and have been making my own for just pennies a bottle.  Let me know if you want the recipe.)  ...back to ironing...  My husband is an ironer.  He learned to iron in the Army and has been going strong ever since.  He asked me to iron something once but didn't like the way I had done it, so he never asked again.  (And I was soooo happy sad, yeah, that's it, sad, not to have been more help to him in that area...)  In case you are wondering, this new cover has thick padding, is heat resistant, snagproof, and a pleasing lilac color - which goes with absolutely nothing in the room.  (Yes, my husband insists on keeping the ironing board up 24/7 in the bedroom.  Ugh.)

A few aisles over, I came upon some queen-size sheet sets that were in the Clearance section.  I really wanted a pink set (which my husband would have hated), but wound up buying what looked like a mustard-colored set, as it was on Super Clearance compared with the other sets.  You don't find 400-thread count, percale, allegedly wrinkle-free, queen-size sheet sets for $20 very often.  Lucky for me, when I got them home and on the bed, I realized the sheets were actually gold and an exact match for the comforter set.  BONUS!  (Sorry about the wrinkled sheets in the photo, but I didn't think about taking it until after I had already lounged for a bit... and now we know that the "wrinkle-free" promise was a lie.)

My final purchase was a charcoal-infused mattress pad with a silky, textured cover.  It is one of those "memory" foam pads and is really, really comfy - sort of like lying on a cloud of freshly ginned cotton.  Unfortunately, we can't get the mattress pad to stay in place.  There was nothing included in the box to affix it to the mattress and the sheets won't hold it still, hence the duct tape you see in the photo.  I tried that on the corners to keep it from sliding, but it didn't work.  I am sorry to report that it has become my daily chore to reposition the mattress pad every night.  It usually only moves a few inches while we are sleeping, but that is enough to keep us from having a good sleep the following night.  If anyone has any ideas as to how to get the mattress pad to stay in place, please let me know.

All in all, I was in Target for over three hours just wandering up and down the aisles - sometimes going over the same aisle several times.  I saw lots of other things I wanted, like office supplies (which I definitely do not need - I am already the Sticky Note Queen), and a really cool Hampton Forge Tomodachi cutlery block with six super-sharp, stainless steel coated knives in bright, rainbow-colored hues.  I really, really, really wanted that knife set, but just couldn't justify the expense.  I tried, believe me.  But seriously, aren't they just gorgeous?  I am a sucker for bright colors and sparkly things...  The knife block doesn't have the blade guards, but does have an additional four steak knives.  Maybe I can justify buying it another day...  sigh...

I finally paid for my merchandise and was rewarded with a coupon for a free soda from the Snack Bar.  That was good, and since it was so close to store closing, they even threw in a free bag of popcorn. 

When I got home, I unloaded everything, played with Leiua and ate my popcorn, before calling it a night and heading to bed.  My final night sans spouse, I hung the new shower curtain set, replaced the raggedy ironing board cover, and put the mattress pad and sheet set on the bed.  I felt a surge of accomplishment (which probably just shows how little it takes to excite me).  I couldn't wait to see my husband's reaction the next evening.  I waited with bated breath (well, almost).  Would he like the new spa-like look in the bath?  Would he revel in the luxurious, cocooning comfort of the new mattress pad and sheets?  Would he be happy the ironing board cover was well-padded and snug for a smoother ironing experience? 

I imagined he would relax against the bedding and his back pain would become non-existent thanks to the new mattress pad.  Surely, he would gush about how wonderful it felt and commend me for being the industrious and hard-working wife who catered to his needs.  Yeah... apparently, I imagined I was married to someone else...  If my husband noticed any of the changes, he didn't mention them.  Of course, that's not entirely a bad thing.  If he hadn't liked them, you can be sure I would have heard about it and back to the store they would have gone.  I would like to think that he just took the changes in stride and chose to keep the deliciousness of them to himself.  In reality, he probably really didn't notice them, and that's okay.  I know they are there and I am loving them.

So... what do YOU do when your spouse or significant other is away for a few days?

Easy Tip for Cleaning Scorched Pans

I can't recall where I first heard this tip for cleaning scorched pans, but thankfully I remembered it when the hubby began cooking more... cooking more, but not cleaning more.  His specialty appears to be scorched pans.

He never cleans them.  I tore up several steel wool scrubbing pads attacking the burned-on gunk.  Then I had a moment of clarity when this simple cleaning tip returned to the forefront of my mind.  It saved my sanity, not to mention my arm muscles.  Honestly, if I'm going to get tennis elbow, I want to have at least gotten it from actually playing tennis!  If you are even a little bit like me, you will be happy for this tip.  You don't even have to scrape the pan first!

1.  Add a small squirt of dish washing liquid to the pan.  (No specific brand required.)

2.  Add water to cover the scorched area, being sure to cover the bottom of the pan about 1/2" or so.

3.  Set the pan on the burner and turn the heat up to High.

4.  Bring to a boil.

Allow to boil at a full roll at least one minute.

4.  Remove from heat using a hot pad, if necessary - don't burn yourself!  Rinse under running water.  Use a regular kitchen scrubbing pad to scrape away any bits of food left behind from the rinse.  A steel wool pad should not be needed.  You should still have plenty of soap in the pan, but if not, add a few drops more to ensure the pan is nice and clean.

Voila!  From scorched on food to nice and clean without having to use all that elbow grease!

Dr Pepper 10

If you are a fan of Diet Dr Pepper, you have to try the newest product in their line-up:

Dr Pepper 10.

The gray can with the logo in maroon, red, black, and white is a bit on the subdued side, but there is nothing subtle about Dr Pepper 10.  Sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup, this formula has only 10 calories per 12-ounce can.  It is without a doubt even closer to the original, sugary soda formula than any diet drink I have ever tasted. 

Say what you will, but I harbor no ill will toward High Fructose Corn Syrup or those that manufacture and utilize it.  I love the stuff.  According to the Mayo Clinic, the jury is still out on the benefits or problems resulting from the consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup.  However, there has been no conclusive study that showed High Fructose Corn Syrup had mercury leaching into the product.  Nor has there been a conclusive study showing that it is less healthy or more likely to cause weight gain than other forms of added sweetener.  (www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588)

BUT... what is really inside that can is MAGIC!  One sip and THIS is how I felt:

I was instantly transported to 1965 (or so), when I was allowed to get an ice-cold bottle of Dr Pepper out of the crisper drawer in my great-grandparents' refrigerator!  I absolutely could not believe the full flavor of this soda for only 10 calories per can.  That feeling remained from the first drink to the last.  AMAZING!!! 

(Okay, okay.  I admit that this photo is not quite 1965, but it is just a year or two earlier and I swear I really didn't change much during that time.) 

The formula also tastes very much like a true soda fountain Dr Pepper made with syrup containing pure cane sugar, just like I used to get at my grandparents' drug store. 

(Maynard Drug, Washington, Oklahoma; 10-24-56)

If you haven't tried Dr Pepper 10 - seek it out and try it now!  You won't be disappointed!!

IMPORTANT NOTE:  I did not receive anything from Dr Pepper or any other company, person, or entity for this review.  I saw Dr Pepper 10 at my local Target and decided to try it.  I was so amazed at the flavor, I decided to write about it.

I Heart Faces - It's Pet Week!

www.iheartfaces.com/

I Heart Faces has weekly photography contests for amateur and professional photographers.  I definitely fall into the former category.  I don't enter their contests very often, and I really don't do it to win.  Although, I have heard that just as many amateurs win as pros.  When I do enter, I do so for the fun of it and because I want my photo to have lots of exposure.  You can bet that any photo on their website gets viewed... a lot!

Each week they post a theme and at least one human face must be visible in the entered photos.  Some weeks they don't require a face.  This week is one of those rarities.  It is Pet Week!  That being said, I am entering this photograph of my beloved dog, Leiua.  She is a full-blood American Pit Bull, but is the complete antithesis of the Pit Bulls you hear about in the media.  Leiua (short for Hallelujah, but a bit blasphemus, probably) is the sweetest, most docile dog you will ever meet.  Leiua is actually the poster child for "America's Nanny Dog", which used to be the nickname for Pit Bulls before cruel, unethical dog fighters came into the picture.  In fact, Helen Keller, who was deaf, blind, and mute for the first several years of her life, had a Pit Bull named Sir Thomas.  Pit Bulls are also commonly referred to as the clowns of the dog world.  They are just plain goofy, as you can see in my photo below:

Have you ever seen such a big smile for the camera?  : D