How-To Demos

...from HGTV and Lowe's.

Animated step-by-step tutorials provide demonstrations for more than eighty home projects, plus tips for using the tools and products you'll need to get the job done.

Backyard Barbecue Planner

Martha Stewart has provided a thirteen page Backyard Barbecue Planner in pdf to help with your summer BBQ plans. Included are a menu, nine recipe cards, a clip-art craft, BBQ Good Things, and lighting tips.

Happy Birthday, David!

This is my baby and he's seven years old today. He loves cars, the military, American History, and cooking. He wants to be a fighter pilot and a chef when he grows up. He is a little gentleman - holding doors for the ladies, carrying packages for his mommy, and averting his eyes around immodest magazines in the grocery store. His favorite color is green and one of his favorite activities is to look up places on the world map in his room. He is named after his maternal grandfather. He is so much like me in personality that my husband calls him my clone. I love him very much and I'm really lucky to be his mom.

Clorox Bleach Pen

This fabulous invention works wonders. I've used it on clothing, coffee stains on the counter, and mildew in the shower. The gel allows you to bleach only what you want to and the back end of the pen has a brush for scrubbing the gel. This pen makes housekeeping a lot easier. I'm usually allergic to bleach but the gel's smell doesn't seem to bother me. Hooray for Clorox for coming up with this. More info at the Clorox website.

Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts

Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen (host of Paula's Home Cooking on the Food Network)

Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Yield: 12 tarts

Ingredients:

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 12 vanilla wafers
• 1 (21-ounce) can cherry pie filling or other pie filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of muffin pan.
3. Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy.
4. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well.
5. Add eggs, 1at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Lay a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each muffin cup.
7. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.
9. Allow tarts to cool completely.
10. Serve with cherry filling on top, or pie filling of your choice.

We baked these cute little tarts for Valentine's Day this year and they were yummy. These would be perfect for a tea party or birthday party. Each one is like a mini-cheesecake.

Saving Dinner

This book is more than a cookbook; it's a life-saver. Cooking is not a problem for me but thinking of what to cook is. This book has shopping lists and menu plans for each week. All you have to do is check and see what you already have in your fridge and pantry and then buy the rest. All of the meals are pretty easy and fast to cook. Some of the recipes seemed strange to me but I tried them anyway and I'm glad I did because they were wonderful. Our family loves Polenta Pie, Mexican Lasagna, My Big Fat Greek Stuffed Peppers, Green Chile Chicken Casserole, Asian Burritos, Blackberry Balsamic Chicken, and many others.

Check out FlyLady's website for more info or read reviews and look inside the book here.
There's also a low-carb version here.