I just wanted to post a quick update for those of you who are joining in on the “Operation Baking GALS” project for my brother, Trevor, who is currently serving our country in Afghanistan. (If you missed the first post explaining everything last week, check it out here.)
The “Team Heather Drive” Baking GALS team is now full, but if you’d still like to participate, you have two choices: 1) You could still bake (and/or buy!) for Trevor, but you have to e-mail me directly for information instead of signing up through the official Baking GALS site, or 2) You can pick another team to bake for, as I’m sure you know that ALL of the deployed men and women are worth baking for.
Shipping started on Monday and goes through May 13. This is not a hard stop, of course, but if you can do what you can to get your packages in the mail by May 13, it would be much appreciated.
I got a message from Trevor yesterday that was really timely. I had e-mailed him asking if he had thought of/discovered anything else (besides M&Ms!) from home that he was missing because he couldn’t get it over there. He said that he couldn’t think of anything in particular, but suggested that I send cookies, because some of the other soldiers had received them and everyone shares them because eating the homemade goodies reminds them all of home. How cute is THAT? And, as I mentioned before, Trevor has no idea that I’m spearheading this Baking GALS thing for him, so all of your packages will be a total surprise to him. After his note, I cannot wait until he starts receiving stuff!
Trev did mention that they don’t have any chips over there–just crackers and Pringles. So if you need any “packing peanuts” to fill in gaps in your box, consider sticking a few of those $0.25 small chip bags in there instead!
Please remember to put a note in the box for Trevor, giving a brief explanation of who you are and tell him that I “sent” you to him! :) And, if you can, send me a quick e-mail after you mail your package so that I can keep loose tabs on what he’s going to be receiving.
Again, please let me know if there are any questions. Start here, but if there is anything you can’t find an answer to, I’d be happy to help. THANK YOU!
A few weeks ago, amidst my recovery from my work travel to Boston and a still-very-busy week at work, I had ONE night during the week during which I could do whatever I wanted. I was still really motivated to keep things moving on the kitchen, but didn’t want to tackle anything crazy, so I asked Michael if he wanted to go ahead and replace the faucet in the kitchen sink. It was something we had been looking forward to doing for a long time, but something easy.
Start and finish. In and out. Bada-bing, bada-boom.
I had grand plans to write a blog post about how the kitchen faucet is one of those projects that is so simple, that if you haven’t done it already (and is something you want to do)–you’re cheating yourself.
And then this “simple” project turned into THREE HOURS of sweat, blood, pain, and lots and lots of cursing.
You should totally still do it, though. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at these pics.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Hell yeah. Talk about a little detail making a big difference, huh?
AFTER:
And one more beauty shot:
We love it!
As you can see, we swapped out the faucet itself, and then did away with the separate sprayer and instead replaced it with a soap dispenser so we could get rid of the eye-sore of a soap bottle on the countertop. The end of the faucet actually pulls out as a sprayer, so we didn’t lose the spray functionality at all.
So, backing up a minute. We picked out and bought the faucet a while ago–before we even started the kitchen project, actually. It was one of those things that we thought we’d be doing fairly early on, but then decided that we’d finish making huge messes (drywall, paint, etc.) before installing such a pretty new piece of metal. But here is the faucet we chose:
When we finally went to tackle the install, we did it the same way we had with our faucet in the condo–with a basin wrench, which is apparently a must-have for this type of project, and for good reason. You can’t easily reach the bolts that attach a faucet to the sink, because the sink itself is in the way. This makes it nearly impossible to squeeze a regular wrench in there and get a good angle on it to remove the bolts, so this basin wrench tool comes in handy.
But we quickly found that our bolts were so rusted on that even the basin wrench was useless on its own. We wrestled with those bolts for a loooong time. Well, Michael mostly wrestled with them, but I jumped in to try my hand at it whenever he came out from under the sink for a break. When the good ol’ basin wrench + brute force was not working, we busted out some tricks–WD40 at first, but then we resorted to taking a hammer and a chisel to the damn things. That ended up being the winner, by the way–Michael ended up chipping away enough rust so that he was able to finally break the bolts loose with the basin wrench.
The problem with all of this time spent under the sink was that it wasn’t very comfortable. Safety goggles are a must, because rust and all sorts of other nasty debris kept falling in our faces as we worked. Plus parts of the cabinets and pipes were digging into our backs and shoulders during our turns under the sink, so… unpleasant, to say the least.
Once the old faucet was removed, though, things got a lot easier. We had a few minor snafus with the new faucet (Delta, your instructions kind of suck!) but it was really not a big deal and we got the faucet on pretty easily.
Let’s look at a few more pics, shall we?
AFTER:
And one more beauty shot:
We love it!
If you’re looking for a relatively inexpensive, relatively easy upgrade for your kitchen, look no further than your faucet. It really does make a huge difference–you won’t regret it!
As for an update on our own kitchen, well, it’s hopefully coming soon. April pretty much sucked in the kitchen productivity department–for a variety of reasons–but May is looking up. Yes, we’re officially three months into this “party” now. Fun times. I’m not even going to set a new goal for a finish date because, well, I don’t want to blow it again. We’re just taking it one step at a time!
Last spring, we signed Nora up for a waterbabies class as soon as she was old enough (minimum age is six months). This year, we debated about whether to do it again, and decided that it would be a good way to gear up Nora for the summer. She hadn’t been in a pool since last year, so we wondered what she would think of it–would she like it again? Hate it? We weren’t sure what to expect.
Once upon a time, before I had my precious little Nora, I liked to bake. A LOT. Somehow, I got hooked up with this organization called Operation Baking GALS, who organize teams of people to send care packages–many with home-baked goodies!–to soldiers who are deployed overseas. If you’ve been around here for a while, you probably remember all of the posts that were dedicated to this cause.
Well, first I got pregnant and took a break from Operation Baking GALS due to lack of energy, and didn’t manage to get back on the wagon before Nora was born. And once she was born, well… hell. I don’t have much time to cook/bake anything anymore, unfortunately.
BUT my brother is officially in Afghanistan now, and instead of just baking and packing up a care package for him myself (which I WILL be doing, believe me), I figured I would go ahead and put together a Baking GALS team for him.
Trevor is a great brother, son, husband, and father. In addition to his wife and son, he has a twin (my other brother!) and parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc. who all miss him very much.
I’ve always appreciated when people sign up to be part of my Baking GALS teams, because every man and woman serving our country deserves to be surprised with packages from home–even those from strangers. But obviously, this particular recipient means a lot to me, so THANK YOU in advance for doing this for my brother. Please include a note or a postcard in your package to him–he would love to know a little bit about the people who are doing this for him.
If you don’t bake, there are plenty of store-bought items (like M&Ms!) that you can send if you would still like to participate. For a list of suggestions, see these helpful tips, which also include tips on how to package your baked goods and properly fill out the customs form.
If you’d like to join us:
1) Go to http://www.bakinggals.com/ and Log In or Create a New Account
2) Go to Join a Round 41 Team
3) Join Team Heather Drive
4) Wait for an email with the shipping address (I will send it out on April 30)
Now, here’s a catch: The Baking GALS website only allows 20 people per team. I don’t know how many participants we’ll get, but if the team does fill up and you still want to be a part of it–please e-mail me at heatherdriveblog@yahoo.com and we will figure something out! :)
If you have any questions, check out the Operation Baking GALS FAQ page.
Here’s the thing: Shipping is freaking EXPENSIVE now. So to get the most bang for your buck, I always suggest opting for a special flat rate box from the post office. The boxes are FREE and you can ship the box with anything in it (as much as you can fit, no matter how heavy!) for a reduced flat rate of $13.45, which is $2 less than the typical fee. If you can’t find the boxes designated for APO/FPO addresses (they say “America Supports You!” on them), you can use the regular large flat rate box. Either one works, just make sure those USPS thieves employees–I know it’s not their fault!–give you the discounted APO/FPO rate.
Also, check out this Newbies How-To Guide for full instructions on everything.
I think that covers everything, but please e-mail me at heatherdriveblog@yahoo.com if you have any questions, or simply leave them in the comments of this post. Participating? Tell me! And THANK YOU!
My cooking/baking had already become pathetic, but it was taken to a whole new level once we started the kitchen renovation. Now, we have a functional kitchen, but I have a very, very busy day job and we still have a to-do list a mile long for our house, so cooking and baking remains low on the list of priorities. Hence the VERY FEW recipes you’ve seen posted on this blog over the last several months.
But yesterday we were visiting family and I wanted to contribute to the food spread, so I looked for an easy dessert recipe that I could whip up last minute in the morning. That proved to be a little bit of a challenge in and of itself because I also very rarely read food blogs anymore, and I’ve kind of given up on Pinterest for the time being, so… I don’t have much bookmarked. I happened to sign into my Google Reader and look at the starred items, and lo and behold, this recipe jumped out at me.
First of all, blondies = easy. Hooray! These came together really quickly (as you would expect), and they were a hit with the crowd. Delightfully chewy, and I absolutely love the addition of almond extract. The combination of white chocolate chips and sprinkles? Perfection. I had some Easter/spring sprinkles on hand that I wanted to use up, so my blondies were lovely pastels. :)
Whip up a batch of these for yourself and enjoy!
Funfetti Blondies
(Source: Beantown Baker)
Ingredients:
– 14 Tbsp butter, melted
– 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
– 1/2 cup sugar
– 2 eggs
– 1 tsp vanilla extract
– 1 tsp almond extract
– 2 cups flour
– 1/2 tsp salt
– 1/2 tsp baking powder
– 1 cup white chocolate chips
– 1/3 cup sprinkles
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 9×13 pan with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
2. In a large microwave safe mixing bowl melt the butter. Allow to cool for 5 mintues.
3. Mix the sugars with the melted butter and beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then the extracts. Add salt, stir in flour and baking powder. Stir in white chocolate chips and sprinkles.
4. Pour into prepared pan and use a greased spatula to evenly spread mixture in pan and level the top. Bake for 24-28 minutes or until set in the middle. Cool on rack before cutting.
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
