Tidying the kitchen

Wow, what a week it has been.

Yesterday, Frog Prince became Dr. Frog Prince!!! With all the food preparation that went into this blessed day, I've been running behind a bit. While I've still posted some recipes, I've wanted to say, "hi" and "thanks" and a few other things.

First, thanks for all your suggestions when I did this to my pan :(




I've tried baking soda, tried boiling dish soap, even tried using the dryer sheet, and with little change. I've continued to soak it, and up next is vinegar.... I'm not ready to give up on this pan, but it's been set aside as we prepared for this big week with Frog Prince's dissertation defense.


Second, thanks for your tips on what to do with the gift certificate I won from Cookware.com through Sarah at I Blame My Mother. I think I'm going to go with a dehydrator and make sure to get some trays for making fruit leathers. If I'm brave enough and my microbiology doesn't come back to haunt me, I'll try making yogurt in the crockpot. If I'm not... there's always Christmas to ask for a yogurt maker. Or, maybe I'll use my Swagbucks to do that.

Third, after posting about cinnamon oatmeal muffins, I got a few questions about my silicone muffin cups.




Here's the deal. I got them for Christmas last year from my in-laws. They are the Wilton brand. I was uber excited to try using them because the one thing I hate about making muffins is cleaning those silly muffin tins. I thought these would be fabulous to clean, and also great to have re-usable wrappers around the muffins, and wonderful for making muffins not in muffin tins!


What I've learned (and, maybe I'm missing something).... the reusable wrappers are great. You can fill them individually over the muffin bowl to avoid those annoying drips all over your tray....






You can keep the muffins in them until you're ready to eat (although, I've found if you remove the wrapper right away, the muffins crisp up really nicely).





But, cleaning them. Now, that's still not a whole lot of fun. You can soak them, and they do wipe fairly clean with a dish cloth. But, to really get them clean, you need a toothbrush to get into the grooves in the muffin liner.




See how they're grooved and have a "fill line"? Well, all those little crevices are hard to clean.


But, these features can all be overlooked. Except one... I've noticed that my muffins have a different taste when baked in these muffin cups. Has anyone else noticed this? Maybe I'm missing something, but they taste a little like silicone. What about you? Do you have silicone muffin cups? Or silicone pans? How do you like them?

I'm not ready to give up on them, because there are a lot of features that I like, but I'm still not convinced they are the best way to make muffins.

Fourth, two very wonderful ladies have gifted me with lovely bloggy awards. Thank you to both Scrapingirl and Kristen at Pigs Do Fly for your thoughtfulness. By the way, check out these super cute Bento ideas for kids at Pigs Do Fly!

Each of these awards, of course, asks you to pass them on. Since that's kind of like picking teams (and someone is always left out), I am passing it on to all of you who left a comment helping me with my absent-mindedness when burning my favorite pan! Truly, I have learned much from you.

And, in case you've made it to the end of this post, here's a little more (in one-word answers) about the Chef, SnoWhite, here at Finding Joy in My Kitchen:

1) Where is your cell phone? Countertop
2) Your hair? Curly
3) Your mother? Creative.
4) Your father? Funny.
5) Your favorite food? Pasta.
6) Your favorite drink? Water.
7) Your dream last night? None.
8) Your dream/goal? God'sWill.
9) What room are you in? Kitchen.
10) Your hobby? Cooking.
11) Your fear? Allergies.
12) Where do you want to be in 6 years? Wherever God takes me (sheesh, this one word thing is tough).
13) Where were you last night? HockeyGame.
14) Something you aren't? Lefthanded.
15) Muffins? Love 'em.
16) Wish list item? YogurtMaker.
17) Where did you grow up? Frozen Tundra.
18) Last thing you did? Breakfast.
19) What are you wearing? Clothes.
20) Your TV? Working.
21) Your pets? None.
22) Your friends? Scattered (across the world)
23) Your mood? Content.
24) Your life? Busy.
25) Missing someone? Not presently.
26) Vehicle? "Magnet"
27) Something your not wearing? Hat.
28) Your favorite store? Target.
29) Your favorite color? Blue.
30) When was the last time you laughed? 6am.
31) When was the last time you cried? Last week.
32) Your best friend? Froggy.
33) One place that I go over and over? School.
34) One person who emails me regularly? Riv Church Text Project (like clockwork, each morning).
35) Favorite place to eat? My dining room.

Phew... kudos to you who are still reading.

Have a wonderful day.