Keeping the Castle - Housekeeping & Homemaking Tips

November 16th, 2005

Sarah Aguirre’s Top 10 Cleaning Tools

Sarah Aguirre, About.com’s guide to Housekeeping, recently posted her picks for this year’s “top cleaning gadgets that can save you time and energy”. These 10 products are innovative in their own ways and definitely make housekeeping easier. My only problem with these is that 5 out of the 10 are disposable or require a disposable […]

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November 15th, 2005

Dyson, the Man and the Machine

When I first saw the Dyson commercial on TV, my jaw practically dropped. ‘What a beautiful piece of machinery,’ I thought. The tagline “The first vacuum cleaner that doesn’t lose suction’ got through to me (not to mention that very British accent! LOL). I wanted one!
Months later, I’m still with my old vacuum. But apparently, […]

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November 14th, 2005

Housekeeping Quote of the Week: Agatha Christie on Washing Dishes

Productivity, multitasking, or just plain entertainment during dishwashing…
“The best time to plan a book is while you’re doing the dishes.”
- Agatha Christie
(English Detective, Novelist and Playwright, 1890-1976)
Source: ThinkExist.com

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November 12th, 2005

Frugal Living in the News

This week’s news included two articles about how to live a little less expensively.
“When cheap is a way of life” by Melinda Fulmer of MSN Money shares tips from 3 women who consider “cheapskate” to be a badge of honor. One of the women is Mary Hunt, author of “Live Your Life for Half […]

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November 11th, 2005

A Messy House

Our house got into a bit of a mess this week. Toys everywhere. Photo albums and books on the island. A plastic lawn mower in the hallway. We had the carpet cleaned earlier this week, and so had to clear out most of the first floor. The carpet didn’t dry in the expected 4-6 hours… […]

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November 10th, 2005

Sweet-Sour Spareribs

I love spareribs. Instead of going out for some, I tried to cook it for the first time today. Here is the recipe from the cooking guide that came with my Fagor pressure cooker. I didn’t follow this recipe exactly, as I’ll explain later.

SWEET-SOUR SPARERIBS
3 tablespoons oil
3 pounds lean spareribs, each rib cut in 3 […]

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November 9th, 2005

Survey Shows Link Between Kitchen Satisfaction and Family Happiness

Ooo, ooo! You just gotta see these stats!
A worldwide survey conducted by IKEA through GALLUP International shows a link between the satisfaction people get from their kitchens and their happiness at home. Survey participants in the Netherlands were the happiest with their kitchens, and were also the most satisfied with their relationships with their […]

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November 8th, 2005

Preparing for Thanksgiving

This morning, I got a call from hubby’s cousin, inviting us to their home on Thanksgiving Day. For several years now, she has hosted the clan celebration for this holiday. I truly admire the woman. She can cook. She can cook well. She can cook for the numerous extended families that make up the clan. […]

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