QUICK THINGS TO DO TODAY:
- Have your plans set for Spring Break, if yours is still upcoming?
- Have you purchased, and served, some of spring’s delicious bounty? Snap peas, asparagus, new potatoes, green peas perhaps?
- Next time you’re waiting for an appointment, or waiting to pick up your kids from something, clean out your purse. I can’t believe how fast receipts accumulate in mine!
- Need to send out any birthday cards or gifts to friends or family with birthdays in the last part of March?
TODAY’S PROJECT: Linen Closet
I had a busy day working, running errands, transporting kids to appointments, and exercising my dogs. After an easy-to-cook dinner of lentil soup, bread, apples and cheese, I have a couple hours until bedtime.
I bet I can get my linen closet sorted out in under an hour, which leaves me plenty of time to enjoy a hot shower and a nice long reading session in bed tonight.
Part of the ease of this is because I did such a good job sorting and organizing my linen closet last fall. However, as you can see in the above picture, it needs to be reorganized. I’ll remove everything from every shelf, inspecting my placemats, tablecloths, towels, curtains, washcloths and other linens for wear, tear and usefulness. If I find any non-seasonal linens I can’t remember using since fall, I’ll put them in a separate pile and try to decide if I truly need to keep them. (I haven’t used my Spring tablecloth in over 9 months, but I’m about to put it on the table tomorrow so that doesn’t count!)
I own more than ten tablecloths but I have only one dining table. Surely I have enough tablecloths for each season. I use one for Christmas, one for Spring, two pretty brocade ones for Asian dinners, two family traditional cloths for Family Night, one for fall, and a couple others for entertaining. If I can get rid of one unnecessary tablecloth, it will free up room in the linen closet.
Any linens that I notice a musty smell or dust on, I’ll launder tomorrow. I like to keep my linens “ready to go” in the closet. You never know when I’m having an overnight guest, a dinner party, or when I’ll take a whim to swap out some curtains for a different look.
A difficult task for me is going to be deciding whether to get rid of my decorative napkin holders. I truly haven’t used any in about a year. Perhaps the use of napkin garnishes is outdated and I need to donate these.
Next time I go to the linen closet for a clean towel, fresh bedding, or placemats, I’ll be selecting them from a nicely organized, prettily folded, yet still-overcrowded closet!
LOVELY BLOGS: The Heritage Cook
Here’s a huge resource from Jane in California: a cooking blog with tons of recipes. The archives include casseroles, parties/entertaining, salads, sides, grains/legumes/pasta, dairy-free, comfort foods, snacks, soups, vegetables, and so many other categories. I’ve placed this in a special bookmarks folder so I can easily come back to it for reference when I need help with meal planning and execution.
Recent posts include Easter Eggs: How to Cook them, Naturally Dye them and Devil them; Hoosier Chocolate Cake with White “Gravy” Icing; and Corned Beef and Potato Soup with Irish Soda Bread Rolls.
LOVELY LINKS FOR TODAY:
An Experiment in Cooking with Wine (Epicurious)
Egg Hunt Party Ideas (Martha Stewart)
Farro Salad with Toasted Pine Nuts, Currants and Mustard Greens (Alexandra Cooks)
