Nothing like waiting 'til the last minute...

The exhibit hall drop off for the Bolton Fair starts in a little over 48 hours.  Last year I entered three jams and poppy seed kolache.  This year....I don't know.  I've been planning to make apricot braid kolache for the coffee cake category, and made time to make that tomorrow.  But for canning....I've only made strawberry jam so far this year, and its quality is average.  Everything else we've brought in for produce so far I've frozen (blueberries, cherries, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, peas).  Its too early for our tomatoes and peppers.  I'm thinking I may stop at a local farm and see what they've got for produce, maybe pickling cukes, or peaches, or something else and can from that.

Work has essentially been keeping me from thinking about this.  I submitted two proposals for customers for the NIH SBIR solicitation this week, and working on my Tastefully Simple business too.  I just updated my Tastefully Simple blog page, and am booking parties for the remainder of August and September.  I have a white paper and a few articles to get done for clients this week too.

And holy crap we have kittens!  We adopted them up about three weeks ago, and they are freaking adorable.  Dexter on the left, and Deedee on the right.  Deedee was the runt of the litter, and they weren't sure she would make it, but she's doing great.  She's noticeably smaller than Dexter, but she doesn't back down to him.  We've missed having cats in our house, and so glad to have them!

Just a normal weekend....

Nothing out of the ordinary going on here.  Had a table at a local vendor fair yesterday, then went out to dinner with the family last night.  Went to church this morning, spending the afternoon working on proposals, and then I need to replace the thermal fuse in the dryer since the replacement fuse arrived yesterday.

I'm really surprised how few people fix their own appliances when things break.  I'm not sure why this is.  Maybe because I grew up in a house where we did our own maintenance because it saved money, I just assumed that's what you did.  I took the dryer apart, troubleshot the problem (YouTube is an AMAZING resource for troubleshooting nearly anything), ordered the part, and I'll put everything back together and test it.  Out of pocket expense is less than $20, which could have been less since I sprang for 2-day shipping (you try going a week without a dryer in a house with kids and no clothesline).  $20.  It probably would have cost me $50 to just have someone come to the house, never mind the labor and parts to fix it.

So my public service announcements for today are 1. Clean all the lint out of your dryer and ducts once a year.  This means taking the front panel off too and vacuuming the interior guts.  2. Learn to use basic tools.  All I needed to open up my dryer was a screwdriver and a socket set, and a multimeter to test the components.

It's about time that I get back to blogging; I just realized it's been over a month since I've created a new post, and I really feel like I need to get back on track.  A lot has been going on this month:

• Our garden is in full harvesting swing.  June had strawberries, which led into cherries, which led into raspberries and then blueberries.  I've been shelling peas for a few weeks now, and harvested about a half cup of currants (the bushes were just planted last year).  There are a LOT of green tomatoes and little peppers, so I'm betting I'll be very busy in the garden harvesting in August.
• The boys have been busy too with day camp, summer reading, and general playing.  We've been playing the board game Ticket to Ride on the table top as well as on the iPad.
• I've been working parties for my Tastefully Simple business and having a ton of fun showing people great food.
• Although we haven't been out in a few weeks, in early July we had two major geocaching expeditions: One Puzzling Day and the Berkshire Geobash.
• And of course the next NIH SBIR proposal submission date is August 6, and I have two proposals I'm working on, so I'll be crazy busy getting those polished and submitted for my customers.

 Oh, and we're planning a return trip to Disney!  Lots going on, that's for sure.

Party Time!

Yesterday I had my Tastefully Simple kickoff party and it was a great success.  I was so super nervous, but my guests were great and we had a ton of fun.  The weather was gorgeous so I set up out on the patio, and if there was any chance of rain, we'd be able to duck into the house.


I had a separate table off to the side where I had my samples lined up and I was serving drinks.  After the presentation I used the table for processing orders.  I set up my display products, July hostess special flyer, Returning Favorites info, and The Foods You Love binder in the center of the table, and we passed the samples around.

The rain held off, and we didn't get any drops until about 15 minutes after we had brought everything in.  Phew!

Four hours till party kickoff!

Okay, I have to admit, I'm nervous.  I'm hosting my very first Tastefully Simple party, and I'm ready, but I'm still nervous, mostly that I won't be able to answer a question, or I'll get some part of the process wrong.

I'm not nervous about the food, however, that part was easy!  Yesterday I baked the Absolutely Almond Pound Cake and the Bountiful Beer Bread.  They came out perfectly, and I've been known to have issues with some loaf pan recipes.

This morning, I made the other products from the Party Food Kit.  It probably took me an hour of active time in total to make everything, but part of that was because I didn't let my cream cheese soften enough first and it took me a while to incorporate. 

Here's a pic of my final products.  We'll have the two loaves cut up into cubes, three dips, two cheese balls (one savory and one sweet), and the Artichoke and Spinach Warm Dip Mix, which I'll heat up right as the party starts.  I also have a few ready-to-serve samples that a party hostess would not have to prepare herself.  All of the instructions are clearly marked on the Party Food Kit packages, and I had no issues making anything.


Okay, need to finish cleaning the house!  That's probably the most difficult thing that someone hosting a Tastefully Simple party needs to deal with.  

Summertime and the living's easy

School is out for summer, I had a huge proposal deadline pass on Tuesday, and it's time to switch gears into summer mode.  Me and the kids basically took the rest of the week "off"; no alarms, no real activities or things to get done.  Just some housework that fell behind over the last few days.  Tomorrow morning we are going hiking with the cub scouts, and tomorrow afternoon I am having my Kickoff Party for my Tastefully Simple business.

I find one of the most stressful parts of having a party is buying and preparing food.  However, when you have a Tastefully Simple party, the food is so easy.  I provide a Party Kit and a short shopping list, you just need to provide some drinks, and filling a cooler with ice, soda, and wine is easy peasy!

See this pic?  This is what I had to purchase for food for my party, and in some cases, like the swiss cheese, I won't need the whole package, so you might have what you need on hand.  That's all the food you'll need to get for a party with 12-15 guests.  I provide the rest in your Party Kit, and additional samples I'll bring to the party.  (Your shopping list may vary slightly based on the contents of your party kit, but the number of products/cost is comparable.)


I'll post later after I've prepared some of the food so you all can see what that looks like.  For more information on hosting a Tastefully Simple party, email me at tastefullysuek@gmail.com.

I'm a Brand New Tastefully Simple Consultant!

I had mentioned previously that I was considering joining Tastefully Simple, but now it's official: I'm a consultant!  I'm really excited about this and it's going to be a ton of fun.  So what does this mean for you, my readers?

1. If you want to order tasty and delicious Tastefully Simple products, click HERE.
2. If you're interested in being added to my mailing list for Tastefully Simple specials, recipes, and product tips, leave a comment on this post or send me an email.
3. If you'd like to host a Tastefully Simple tasting party for your friends and family, send me an email.
4. If you're interested in the Tastefully Simple business opportunity and would like to hear about the research I did before signing on to Tastefully Simple, send me an email.