I have been on the hunt for a spice rack for a while now. Since I have been cooking and baking more spices have been piling up in my cabinets. Often it is hard to find what I am looking for because there is no organization.
It is quite ridiculous that I have not been able to find just a simple rack. Almost all of them already have the spices included and I don’t need them. I just need somewhere to put them.
Today, I was at a store looking through arts and crafts section and came across magnetic adhesive strips.
And I thought. It would be so simple to just adhere a strip to the back of spice bottles and then organize them in the side of my fridge.
So I did it!
So I did it. So simple. So cheap. And I feel a little more organized!
I have been wanting to do this forever. A lot of adults, or at least adults I know or hang out with don’t do birthday cakes on their birthday anymore. So I just love the idea of doing that for someone.
Of course, I asked my friend Nathan, whose birthday just passed, what his favorite cake was so I could make him his favorite! He responds… “I don’t like cake”. What a bummer. But he did proceed with, “but I do love banana cream pie.
Say no more.
Birthday Banana Cream Pie it is!
I have never made this before or even eaten it for that matter. I think it came out pretty great. I had never blind baked a pie crust before, so that was a new experience, and I wasted the first one.
But I supposed all that matters is Nathan enjoyed it!
This might be cheating because I did not actually take my friend all the way to the airport but that is because how drastically Denver has changed.
Anyone that has lived in Denver longer than 5 or 6 years knows how much it has grown. I have lived here almost 10 years and have seen monumental changes. I can’t even imagine what people that have lived here for 20, 30 or 40 years have seen.
One big change is new light rails to opposite sides of the city, making it much easier to travel from one end of the city to the other.
The most convenient train is the new train out to the airport. Denver’s airport is very far from the city and in the past getting there was quite a pain.
A friend’s step father died and he had to catch a flight quickly. I called and offered to take him all the way out to the airport, but he said just to the train station. Not sure that actually taking someone all the way is worth it anymore. The train there is no traffic, so the trip is more convenient and timely.
Man, I’m knocking out a lot of my cooking deeds early.
Over the holidays I was cooking quite often. Sometimes for money, sometimes for people that were going through hard times and I felt could use some treats.
Jason Keeter, is a regular of mine at my job, and kept asking for a Banana Peanut Butter Coffee Cake. I spent a good amount of time looking forward a recipe, and low and behold I came across this one- Recipe.
Pretty basic. I mixed up the ingredients. (Added chocolates chips because what goes better with banana and peanut butter than chocolate!)
Then added crumb topping.
Then baked.
I can’t wait to share it with my friend and see how it tastes!
So I’ve always to know how to play chess but it always seemed so intimidating. I found a website http://chess.com that teaches you how to play and then you play against a computer and it can give you tips and guide you with what moves to make.
I downloaded an app associated with that website today and have been playing games. I’m only at a beginner level but the more I play the more comfortable I get with making moves and protecting my King.
There is definitely a lot of strategy and it will take a while to really get the hang of it but I am excited to at least know the basics and get games going.
I have a friend that plays regularly and actually have on my list to play him this year. It just might take a while to get enough confidence to play him.
For Christmas I got an Instant Pot! I have used it multiple times since then on Crock Pot settings but have yet to dive into the depths of the Pressure Cooking.
So I found a new app today with Instant Pot recipes. Hopefully it can inspire me make some food!
If you too are looking for recipes or tips and tricks, when you go to the App Store there is a TON of options for apps. I downloaded most of the free ones and went through them until I found one I liked the most. Which happened to be-
When I made this list I feel I was living a very different life. It has been four years since I made the original list and as I mark things off but didn’t finish the whole list I would add more items to make it full for the next year. Often as I go through the list I come across things that were important to me 4 years ago that I might have forgotten about. Strangely, meditation is one of those things. I had a point in my life where daily meditation was important and for some reason it fell away.
As I searched through the list recently I came across “Try a New Meditation” and it struck a chord with me, that I don’t meditate (at all) enough anymore.
So on my nightly walk with my pup Bella, I found this spot at a park near my house, very little city lights, clear blue, starry skies and very quiet. I sat down and just breathed. In and out. Clearing my mind. I glanced up at the sky and felt a moment of clarity. Now that I have found this spot, I feel I will return to it often.
I found this article that discusses the 12 Benefits of Meditation and I can’t see why a person wouldn’t want to have a meditation routine.
We got snow in Denver! I thought it would be a perfect day to go photograph downtown. I started just aimlessly driving around and got my first decent shot at Union Station.
Union Station, Denver
After a while, everything started to look dirty and dreary and I didn’t feel like I was getting good shots so I decided to go explore some of Denver’s great parks. I hit Washington Park first.
My Favorite from Washington Park, Denver
Then City Park.
City Park, Denver
And then Curtis Park.
Curtis Park, Denver
And finally, Globeville Landing.
Globeville Landing
I took other photos but these were my favorite.
It was a nice day. I love the snow and hitting all the different parks was a nice change of pace from staying around downtown all day, even though that was the goal.
Don’t judge me. I had never seen The Shining. I always knew the premise and even many of the famous parts but I had never seen the movie from beginning to end.
So this morning, I thought, what better way to kick off my morning than to watch a horror movie… 😂
It was not as scary as I anticipated but maybe that was the problem, I knew what to expect. I knew many of the scary parts and when they happened they weren’t shocking to me. I do think the creepiest part is Danny and his imaginary friend.
Redrum! 😬
I also have on my list to visit the Stanley Hotel this year, which I think will be much more exciting now that I have seen this movie. It will hopefully add a spookiness to the experience.