Traveling Light and Easy

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Packing

Once upon a time, I was not good at packing...at all.  Of course, back in those days, there was no motivation to be an efficient packer since there were no weight limits, or charges for checked bags.  I learned, the hard way that packing light is really a better option (you try hauling 4 bags around LAX by yourself and you will become a believer of traveling light).

I rarely check luggage, it just adds time to my trip (getting there early enough to check it in and waiting for it to get off the plane)--not to mention the cost or worry of someone rifling through the bag, forget it.  I go carry-on almost always.  I've done two trips to Europe and one to China using only a carry-on bag and it was great.  So, I'm here to share some of my tips with you.

First, I choose a clothing color scheme, usually black, tan and a bright color.  For an upcoming 10-day trip, I'm thinking about gray, black and coral with a pop of green.  I'm traveling, so I don't take the whole closet or bathroom cabinet.  Pare it down-add a couple cute accessories and I'm fine with repeating clothes. Trust me, no one cares if you wear the same shirt twice.  I do wash out underwear while traveling...its easy to do in a sink and dries super fast, so why take up space?  I don't usually wash the rest of the stuff-I plan on wearing each shirt/skirt twice--something I do at home without laundering in between.

Couple things before you get started--get some packing cubes/packing organizers, and plan on rolling up the clothes rather than folding them.  Packing cubes are amazing. You can get them at stores like REI, but I got mine on Amazon (and my old black ones I found at Ross)--I find that the small and medium size bags work best for me, but men might like the "large" bag for slacks. I tried something new this time called a packing envelope (another Amazon purchase).

Here's what I've got laid out on the bed for a 10-day trip to the midwest in the summer.
4 skirts (if I were just vacationing, I'd add pants/shorts, but this trip isn't a personal trip)
1 knit dress
6 knit tops
1 black blouse
2 cardigans
2 pashminas (scarf)
3 pair undies
PJ pants/top
workout pants
2 workout shirts
2 sports bras
2 regular bras
swimsuit
knee highs
rain jacket
black sandals
brown sandals
black flats
running shoes
2 necklaces
make up bag/flat iron

In the smallest packing cube, I rolled up my PJ's and my undies and lined them up along the bottom of the cube, I placed the two regular bras on top before zipping it up.

In the medium bag (my favorite size) I've rolled up the 6 knit shirts, 2 scarves and 1 undershirt.

 I laid the two cardigans on top of the rolled up knit shirts before zipping up the medium cube.

 I tried out the packing envelope on my skirts and dress.  There is a plastic card that you fold the clothes around to make sure they are the right size.  I stacked the items up and folded up the Velcro flaps (medium  size envelope).

 This is my old packing cube, and its another medium size.  I rolled up the exercise clothes, socks, swimwear, accessories and rain jacket.  There was still room in the cube.

 Take a look at what the pile of clothes is reduced to once its all in the packing cubes.

 I stacked all the cubes into the bag along with my shoes and hair/make up stuff. I get asked about my hair all the time...and while traveling I don't carry my own hairdryer.  I also take travel size make up.  I put lotions/washes/foundation in small pots/bottles (pick them up at REI or the travel section at Target/Walmart).  At home I have a giant Caboodle (yes, I still have one) of choices of make-up, but when traveling I pick just a few items and go with it. I only wash my hair a couple times a week anyway, so I can get away with travel size shampoo too.  I realize that doesn't work for everyone, but for me, it works.  I'm willing to sacrifice some fashion/hair/makeup choices for the ease of moving around.

 Ta-da!  All zipped up.  Ready for moving between 5 cities in 10 days.  Because I choose fabrics that are easy to travel with, and I roll them, wrinkles are not an issue for me.  If they are, touch up with the iron that is in the hotel room (even older places have irons, you sometimes just have to get them from the front desk).

 I'll also have a little bag to keep with me on the bus during this 10-day trip.  I keep stuff like my ipad, chargers, snacks, blanket and neck pillow in this bag. (I prefer using a backpack because its easier on my back and I can go hands-free, but for this particular trip, we've been asked to not bring backpacks).

The great thing about the packing cubes is you can throw stuff out of the suitcase without getting everything in a big mess.

Honestly, I will probably sort through these outfits and eliminate at least one and I'll be wearing one on travel day-freeing up both clothes and shoe space.   Since the trip I'm packing for now isn't really about sight-seeing, I didn't leave much space for souvenirs, but I could unzip the suitcase extenders if I needed to. Also, I am not traveling with kids, which I understand is a completely different animal :)

I also have an Excel spreadsheet that I use as a planning guide for what to bring on trips.  It helps me feel ready to walk out the door and know that I have everything I need (key word is need...you can always buy stuff while traveling).  I'm posting both the Excel and a PDF.  Its a 2-page document, where page 1 is the women's list and page 2 is a men's packing list.

Packing List-PDF
Packing List-Excel (editable)

(I tried giving you a direct link to the file, but it didn't work, so just scroll down the list to find the Packing list files, alphabetical--be sure to use the "download" button, not just the "view").

Good luck with the packing and safe travels.

Chevron Tag Sheet

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I bought a Visit Salt Lake City pass from Living Social this week and thought it would be fun to make up a jar with cards with all the activities (its a great deal if you live in Salt Lake!)   I can draw out a card (or maybe I'll make it something less random, who knows?) and have a pre-paid fun activity to do each week for the summer. 

I did make up a list of the specific activities from the pass, but in the process I made a template that you could use for anything you would like.  I'm uploading both.

You can either use Photoshop to open the JPG and add your own text OR you can insert the JPG into a Word document and put text boxes on each tag and type whatever you want.

If the image looks too dark for your liking (or your printer prints dark)-you can adjust the whole picture in Word by choosing Format Picture, Transparency and just making it a bit more transparent.  Voila, lighter gray :)

PDF of the Salt Lake pass activities (plus some extra activities to round out the sheet)
JPG of the Blank Chevron Tag Template

Vanilla Cupcakes with Marshmallow Cream Cheese Frosting

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Each year for my birthday, this is the cake I wait for.  It is a deliciously dense and moist white cake, with lots of frosting, served with whip cream and fresh berries.  When I asked my friend Georgia for the recipe, she just says "oh, I don't know, I just add stuff til its right." Uh huh.  I need to follow her around with the video camera!

So, this is my version of the cake-not quite as dense as Georgia's but still pretty darn tasty.  Usually, it gets made as a bundt cake, but I don't have a bundt pan (I know, you are wondering how I could be missing this important tool...me too).  So, I did cupcakes instead.  Faster, and easy to share.

Cake:
1 white cake mix
1 C. water
1/2 C. oil
3 whole eggs
3/4 C. sour cream

Mix it up and bake for about 20 minutes for cupcakes (about 45 for a bundt...check the cake mix box).  The top of the cake should spring back, or a toothpick should come out pretty clean.

Frosting:
1 stick (1/2 C.) real butter, softened but not too soft
1/2 pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2  jar marshmallow cream
3 C. powdered sugar
1-2 Tbs. milk

Beat the butter, cream cheese, marshmallow and powdered sugar in the KitchenAid with the paddle mixer (start on low so you don't get powdered sugar all over the kitchen).  Add 1 Tbs of milk and whip.  Add more milk if you think the frosting is still too thick.

Once the cake has cooled, frost, then serve with whip cream (or ice cream) and fresh berries (although a mix of those frozen berries from Costco is a good substitute).

Easy Rustic Headboard

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I was in the mood for building something, and my brother had recently move into a new place and needed some grown up furniture--so I decided on a headboard.  I was really inspired by the planked walls I have seen around on Pinterest made out of pallets-but no way am I going to nail and glue boards up on the wall...especially for my brother since he's in a rental.

I found the plan on Ana White's website, where all the plans are free!  I didn't take any pictures of the process, but the plans on the website are pretty useful.  I used a nail gun to make this task go super fast.  Really.  Once the boards were cut, it was about 15 minutes. 

Tip #1-Don't use fencing unless you want to spend a lot of hours sanding (sure its super cheap, but dang, I spent a couple hours with the palm sander).  I spent about $12 in materials, but I think I should have splurged to the $20 it would have cost to buy slightly nicer lumber.

Tip #2-Don't cut the trim pieces that go around the front until AFTER you've got the horizontal boards all assembled.  Ditto on the extra support piece for the leg.  I cut all my wood in advance, and perhaps its my novice skill, but things didn't line up the way I would have liked.  I ended up cutting a couple new pieces because the pre-cut ones were too short.

Finish-I tried what I had hoped would be a cool method for making a grey/weathered stain, but it didn't work.  I put a piece of steel wool in a mason jar with white vinegar for 2 days.  It ended up a nice rust color, but not grey.  Maybe if I had used it sooner.  Oh well.

Quick Pecan Sticky Buns

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I do like baking, especially yeast breads since they just make your house smell divine and they taste so good.  The downside is that it can take a while.  My sister-in-law has a recipe for bread that takes one hour from start to finish, but I hadn't tried it out--so today seemed like a good day to change that.

Some quick internet searching turned up the same recipe over and over with slight variations. My sis-in-law uses the version with liquid soy lecithin, but I don't have any of that on hand--but I do have  a container of "dough enhancer" which contains lecithin, so I figured I'd just experiment and just add it (none of the recipes I saw did that, but hey, I like experiments).

Ingredients
 5 1/2 c. bread flour
2-4 Tbs sugar (I used 4 since I'm making sweet rolls)
1 1/2 Tbs. (heaping) SAF instant yeast
1 Tbs. dough enhancer (opt.)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. oil
2 C. hot water
Non-stick spray

Filling
butter, softened
brown sugar
cinnamon

Topping
1/2 C. butter melted
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 C. pecans, rough chopped

Put all the dry ingredients in your mixer, yes, all of them including the dry yeast (I used my KitchenAid on this one and it was fine, but if you double the recipe, you'll need a Bosch).  Now add the water and oil and mix for a minute.  After 1 minute it should be all incorporated and look pretty sticky, if not, add a bit more water.  Now mix for 5 minutes in your mixer (or if you are doing it by hand, wow, you are stronger than me).

While its mixing up, I put everything away (including the flour! you don't need it again) and made sure the countertop was clean and dry.  Spray the counter with non-stick spray and dump the sticky dough on it (get your hands sprayed too).  Knead the dough for just a minute to get it in a nice ball.

I divided the dough in half and placed one half in a zipper bag (sprayed with non-stick spray) to save for later this week when I try scones.

The remaining dough I rolled out on the counter into about a 12x16 inch rectangle.   Spread with butter and then sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Roll the dough into a long log.  I use dental floss or thread to slice 1 1/2 inch long rolls.

In your baking pan (I had 2 rounds, but a 9x13 would be fine-I only took pictures of just the one pan, but I ended up with about 12 rolls) mix the melted butter and brown sugar.  Sprinkle in the pecans.  Now place each of your rolls in the pan, cover with a dish towel and let rise for 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, they were ready to bake!

Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.  Invert on a serving tray right away and start eating :)

Since this was my first go-round, my total time from pulling out ingredients to eating a roll was about 70 minutes-not bad!  They taste very good--probably not award-winning when compared to other doughs, but very good.  Much better than the refrigerator/freezer rolls you can buy at the store.  

I'm pretty sure my sis-in-law uses this same recipe for monkey bread, dinner rolls, sandwich bread, pizza crust and more.  I'm going to keep trying it (adjusting the sugar amounts depending on my product).  Should be fun.

Dutch Oven Berry Cobbler

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In the deep freeze of January, my thoughts were turned toward the warm sunshine of summer when my family usually does a bit of outdoor cooking, including dutch oven cooking.  My dad is the king of the cast iron pot in our family...and a collector of over a dozen pots.  I figured it was time that I learned a bit more about this style of cooking and signed up for a community ed class.

Dutch ovening in January is a bit less fun that in say, June, but still tasty.  After a few misses (ok, if its 20 degrees outside, it takes more coals to keep things baking) I've hit upon the favorite so far.
I've done 3 different versions and I like all 3 for different reasons.

You can do this recipe inside in a regular baking dish too, but if you've been thinking about trying dutch oven, this one's pretty fail-proof.

Equipment
10 inch dutch oven w/lid
lid lifter
leather gloves/pot holder
long tongs
24 charcoal briquettes
briquette chimney (optional, but makes it easy to start the charcoal w/ no lighter fluid)

Ingredients
3/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup sugar
2 Tbs. corn starch
1 cup water
4 cups of mixed raspberries, blackberries, blueberries (I use Costco frozen mix, defrosted)
4 cups of apples, sliced or rhubarb, diced
1 Tbs. instant tapioca pearls

First thing, get the charcoal going in the chimney starter-its going to take about 30 minutes to get it all hot and ashy.

In a small bowl mix the oats, flour, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon.  Add the melted butter and vanilla and stir to make a crumbly mix.  Set aside.
 

In a small saucepan, mix the white sugar and corn starch.  Then add water and bring to boil.  Boil for 1-2 minutes until thick.  Pour over the fruit and gently mix, then add the dry tapioca.  Pour into dutch oven.  Sprinkle on the crumb topping.




 


 

To bake...In a regular oven:  Bake for 40 minutes at 350

To bake...In the great outdoors: Make sure the charcoal is ready, it should look gray and not much black showing.  I don't have a fire pit...yet...so for now I use some landscape block as a base for the charcoal.  Use the tongs to put 12 pieces of charcoal down on the block, then set the dutch oven on top.  All the charcoal should be evenly distributed underneath the pot.  Put the other 12 pieces on top of the lid of the pot-also evenly distributed.  Set the timer for 10 minute increments.  Each time the alarm goes off, turn the pot 1/4 turn--this eliminates hot spots. Resist the urge to  keep lifting the lid--it lets out the heat. Bake for a total of 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Total tastiness.  If you can stand it, let it cool for about 30-40 minutes before serving with some vanilla ice cream or whip cream.

Variations:  If you have lots of berries, replace the apples or rhubarb and just go with all berries.  I'd up the sugar another 1/2 cup.  I suspect I'll try it with other fruits too in the future.

Thanks to my dad for the dutch oven and thanks to Gary for being in charge of the "fire."

Soft Pretzels

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I was staring out the window today at yet another snow storm and decided that it was a bread kind of day.  I remember making pretzels once when I was a kid, maybe 10 or 11, pretty sure they did not turn out so good.  Fast forward a few decades and I think I've done a bit better this time.

Start to finish, it took about 2 1/2 hours.


In the bowl of your Kitchenaid:
1 1/2 C. warm water
2 T. brown sugar
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1/2 c. melted butter

Let the yeast mixture sit for about 5 minutes.
 
Add 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
4 1/2 C. all purpose flour

Mix with the dough hook on low until the flour is incorporated, then turn up to medium to get the dough into a ball that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
 

Leave the dough in the mixer and cover the bowl with a dish towel.  Let the dough rise until double in size, which will take about an hour.   After it has risen, turn the mixer back on for a few turns to get the dough back into a manageable size ball.

 
Before you start forming the pretzel shapes, boil 3 quarts of water and preheat the oven to 425 degrees (when the water is actually boiling, SLOWLY add 2/3 cup of baking soda...it will get very foamy right at first, so go slow).

 



Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into about an 18" long rope.  It was easiest to do this without any extra flour by rolling against the counter top.

 
Form the ropes into a pretzel shape.  Pick up each pretzel carefully and dunk it in the boiling solution for 30 seconds (my big pot could do just 2 at a time).  Pull the pretzel out with a large slotted spatula or spoon and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. You may be wondering why boil with the baking soda?  Its a chemical thing.  Baking soda is a base (as opposed to an acid) and the quick dip starts a chemical reaction where the dough starts yellowing and will let the pretzel brown nice and dark in the oven-it also adds that chewiness pretzels are famous for.  The egg wash you do later adds a bit of shine.  Apparently you can get even more spectacular results if you use food-grade lye, but...I don't have any of that, so baking soda it is.

 


 

These are big pretzels, so  you'll get 4 on a sheet.  Brush with a beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse salt (or sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar).

Bake for about 15 minutes until they are a dark pretzel color ( I rotated the baking sheet half way through so they cooked evenly).

I like my pretzels with mustard, but they'd be good with caramel or cheese sauce too. Tasty, warm snack on a cold day.