What is that smell?

Recently a visitor asked me, “What’s that smell?” This question could be bad or good, depending on the odor. The ambiance of a home not only comes from décor and tidiness, but can also be enhanced by a pleasant smell. I had transplanted some herbs from my garden to indoor pots before the first frost of the season. I placed the potted herbs in rooms throughout my home. The smell my visitor was enjoying was cinnamon basil.

I use several other methods to bring pleasant smells into my home. When the weather turns cold, I place an old teapot filled with water and a few cinnamon sticks, mint leaves, sprigs of lavender or drops of essential oils on my wood-burning stove. This not only adds humidity to the air, the faint odor of cinnamon or other herbs waft through the rooms. At Christmas time, I place pine oil in water in the teapot to add to the season spirit. I have scented candles placed throughout the house and sometimes use an essential oil diffuser.

Home cooking adds warmth and pleasant odors to the home. There is nothing like the smell of a pot of spicy soup or baking bread. Yum! Unlike the original owners of this house, I am fortunate to bake bread in a gas oven rather than a wood stove.

Here is my favorite dinner roll recipe.

REFRIGERATOR POTATO DINNER ROLLS
(dough can be stored in refrigerator for about a week)

1 cup milk, scalded (or warm powdered milk)
1 cup hot mashed potatoes (I mix up some instant potatoes)
½ cup oil or shortening
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 tablespoon granular yeast
½ cup lukewarm water
2 beaten eggs
5 to 6 cups flour

Combine milk, potatoes, shortening, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl; let stand until lukewarm. Add yeast softened in the ½ cup water and eggs. Add 1½ cups flour and beat well. Cover and let stand in warm place for 1 hour or until full of bubbles. Stir in 3½ to 4½ cups flour to make a fairly stiff dough. Knead until smooth on a lightly floured surface (I use my KitchenAid bread mixer with a dough hook). Return to greased mixing bowl; oil top of dough; cover and chill in refrigerator (or you can let it rise immediately until double in bulk, shape into rolls and let it raise again [about 30 minutes] and bake­). If you store it in the refrigerator, about 1½ hours before serving time shape desired number of rolls; place on greased pans; let rise 1 to 1¼ hours or until doubled in bulk. Bake in hot oven (425°) about 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly brown on top.
Punch down unused dough and store in refrigerator. Makes 3 dozen medium-sized rolls. Also great for making cinnamon rolls.

Cutting Cinnamon Rolls Easily















See my helpful hints on baking bread under Helpful Hints and Tips on the right side of this blog.­

A Tisket, a Tasket, I’m in Love with Baskets . . .

Baskets are my friends. Baskets can help organize and clear clutter in every room in your home and create the appearance of tidiness while adding interest to your decor. They come in all shapes, colors, sizes and materials. In my old house, things related are sorted and placed into baskets on shelves in the laundry room, closets and cabinets. A decorative basket filled with incoming mail is better than a pile of papers sitting on the counter. A small basket in the bathroom filled with sample-size shampoos, conditioner and lotions is great for guest's convienence. A basket in the bathroom filled with magazines and reading material helps contain clutter. I used lots of small plastic baskets in the bathroom cabinet by the sink for out-of-sight storage. Plastic is good for things that leak or spill or need to be washed from time to time. All toothpaste, dental floss and extra tooth brushes are in a small basket, hair items in another, makeup in another and so on. I rolled towels and wash clothes in a square wicker basket with brass-colored handles in the guest bath by the sink for decoration and easy access. Since I have the habit of kicking off my shoes when I enter the house, I have shallow square baskets near the outside doors just for shoes. They also help coral guest's shoes. I never use baskets that are too large or deep where items are hard to see and can get lost.

Plastic boxes, decorative boxes and plastic drawer units also come in handy. I bought a plastic drawer unit with wheels and used it for my sewing items, placed my portable sewing machine on top and rolled it into a closet out of sight.

Manti is located in a somewhat remote area so I often buy in bulk. In my basement where my extra food and supplies are kept, I sorted everything the same way a grocery store is organized, sauces together, soups, fruit, dry goods, spices, packaged food, soap and paper towels all in their own areas on the shelving units. Many smaller items like spice-mix packages are stored in plastic containers with lids or flat baskets. When I go down to find an ingredient for a recipe, it is like grocery shopping.

DEUTERONOMY
CHAPTER 28 Verse 5
Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.

You Don’t Love It and It Doesn’t Love You, Release It

Moving from a home I had lived in for over twenty years helped me de-junk. Still, I had too much clutter. I was fortunate to get help from a relative and another friend who were naturals at organization; they actually enjoy doing it! I started the daunting task in the storage shed then moved to organizing the house. My master-organizer friend helped me sort items in three categories:
● Trash

● Keep

● Give away

Sorting through my treasures and deciding what items to keep and what items had to go was painful. Fighting the thought “I might need that someday” that was stuck my brain, I waded through “stuff.” My cousin said, “If you don’t love it and it doesn’t love you, its time to release it.” This phrase helped me donate some of my neglected treasures to charity. Out went the comb-binding machine and boxes of binding combs, away to an acquaintance went my oak drafting table, chair and drafting arm, and to EBAY went my drafting templates and supplies. I was surprised and pleased how many others needed the things I had held onto, and I have not missed the clutter. It's amazing how much easier it is to organize when there is less to organize. Now my motto is: If something comes in, another item must leave and this usually works.

I have found the ancient proverb “cleanliness is next to Godliness” has merit. I believe that a tidy home allows positive energy to flow more freely and is not so frustrating to look at. If anyone needs help or ideas for reducing clutter, my daughter clued me to the website http://www.flylady.net/ a great site for packrats or some of us that just need a little help.

Decor: Tell Your Story

I wanted my décor to reflect the era of the house and tell my story. I sorted through things I already had to find like items for grouping. In the living room I started with photographs of ancestors since genealogy and family history are two of my loves. I had them printed in sepia and framed with wooden frames. I had an old fiddle that a grandfather once played and placed some guitar strings in an old package on the front. To help tell about my heritage, I grouped the family momentous together at the corner of two walls.

Because I am an artist, displaying some of my paintings is a must. I find a mirror hung here or there is useful in opening up a room. In the photo above on the right, the mirror on one wall reflects one of my paintings which adds more dimension to the living room. As you walk across the room, the mirror discretely reflects other scenes. On the wooden sconces on either side of the mirror are a few keepsakes.

Since I grew up with the colorful Utah deserts as my playground, I am interested in geology, rocks and crystals. I grouped my fossil/rock/crystal collections in areas around the house intermixed with other keepsakes such as my father’s cribbage board and one of his favorite books. I once found a large commercial antique butter churn with my maiden name printed on the front. Since it had my name on it, I had to buy it. This is where I store my firestarters (see my Helpful Hints and Tips, Tip: Firestarters on the right side of this blog page). I grouped it with crocks, a washboard, my father’s branding iron, and a large antique-looking vase containing a few peacock feathers and some hand-carved walking sticks.

I look to the experts such as Pottery Barn catalogs, decorating magazine and books. Stores like T J Maxx and Pier 1 Imports offer fun decorating items. If you have a treasure, make it the center and decorate around it. In the kitchen I used my Mason jar collection and a few old cook books to add my interests to the décor. See my post Adding Flavor to the Kitchen

Manti has power outages now and then so a kerosene lantern is incorporated in the décor of each room. Too keep the lanterns well supplied, I found wick by the yard at http://www.wickstore.com/

Hold Me Back Before I Jump

I can be impulsive, like buying a hundred-year-old house and jumping into the project. The south balcony was so bad it could have temped me to jump in a bad sort of way. I tried to ignore it because I did not have a clue how to fix it. When I bought my Victorian, I was fortunate that the house had a new roof, but I was not to happy that the roofing material covered the floor of this guest-bedroom balcony. Stepping on it in the summer was like stepping on hot blacktop. The railings were loose and posts were rotting and falling apart. I was stumped on how to repair it. I did not opt for a wood floor, because my other balcony floor takes so much upkeep. I considered plain tile, but I just could not get excited about that idea because I was afraid it would crack or come loose during winter. I found that other people in town had tile on their porches that held up through the cold weather. As I was discussing this option with a friend, he said, “Have fun with it.” That triggered my interest, and I started shopping for tile with a pattern. I chose ceramic tiles with a rough surface so they would not be slick when wet, and drew up the floor plan to scale with a graphics program showing how I wanted them laid. I called my trusty carpenter, gave him the pattern and he went to work. When he pulled off the roofing material, he found the floor was rotting in places and was uneven so it tilted to the side. He repaired the balcony floor and installed white metal sheeting on two sides to stop water from doing damage in the future. The floor dips slightly to the center so the water runs off the balcony in the middle. He did a beautiful job laying the tile I had chosen. I replaced the railing and posts. The colors in the tile pull the gray roof, the red brick and white railings together. I now have balcony I enjoy standing on, especially when the breeze is rustling the leaves of the cottonwood trees and bird are singing or flying about. When I look down I often see butterflies flitting about in the flower bed below. It is a job where money was well spent. The tile made it through this last cold, long winter and has not shown any wear or damage.