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August 7, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

The pineapple has long been the symbol of hospitality. In the early settlements of Williamsburg, VA because of the expense of the pineapple, it was a symbol of special treatment if the hostess displayed one during your visit.

The pineapple is my favorite motif because it symbolizes for me the sense of specialness I want the people in my life to feel when they are in my home. What I do in my home ~ decorate, organize, work, teach, cook, clean, sew, plan ~ I do for the people in my life. It’s all about the people!

I desire that the pineapple will be the hallmark of my blog ~ that when you visit to “walk and talk” with me down Pineapple Lane, we will learn the essence of hospitality for the people in our lives.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The Economical Cooking Myth

January 31, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

I have mulled over an idea for some time now and have managed to talk myself out of it every time I entertain the notion. Silence no more! When the economy turned for the worse, there were ideas on how to save money.

One such idea was to eat at home more. Okay, I agree that eating at home might be less expensive than eating out. But, someone forgot to take two steps back. But just one more tweak would make eating at home even more cost effective ~ actually preparing and cooking the food ourselves.

Now, I don’t know at which I am more appalled: 1) that food manufacturers actually believe that consumers will pay the asking price for pre-prepared food; 2) that food manufacturers think that consumers do not know how to do basic cooking anymore; or 3) that consumers don’t realize that there is more money to be saved by doing the food preparation and cooking themselves.  The fact that consumers do pay the prices and that consumers are continuing to buy pre-prepared and pre-cooked food might lead manufacturers to the conclusion drawn in my first two points.

Why do consumers pay the prices and continue to buy pre- prepared and pre-cooked food? Because they feel that it saves them time or effort; its a matter of convenience.

In times when we have more money than time, we can afford to pay to have the work done for us. BUT, in tough economic times, there is a need to find time because we have less money/higher prices. Finding more time in the kitchen is for another post.

But for now ~ how much do we need to save? Just a little? Then by all means eat at home instead of a restaurant.

But if you need to cut back significantly, then the time has come to prepare the meal yourself. Please let me illustrate how we have forgotten how much can be saved by doing the cooking ourselves.

A few months back I had one of those moments that necessitated my putting my hand over my mouth. A family was in the grocery store discussing what to have for supper. (Nevermind that the grocery store is not the place for that discussion.) She asked about mashed potatoes, and he agreed to them. She promptly reached into the refrigerated case and picked up a two-three serving package of pre-prepared mashed potatoes for about $2.25.  My mouth dropped open and out jumped, “I can’t believe that she just paid that much for potatoes when you can buy a whole bag of them and make oodles of servings of mashed potatoes for $3.99.” (Now you see why I had to put my hand over my mouth.) I slowly got over that.

But all the while, I’m thinking, “How many people are spending money unnecessarily for pre-prepared food instead of cooking it themselves?” Do they not know how to cook? Do they not have the time to cook? Do they not want to take the time? Maybe they don’t have economical recipes. (Light bulb!) (Talk self out of the idea.)

Then just the other day I was in the grocery store (again) and found myself in one of those “hand over the mouth” moments. I had approached what I thought was boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $6.97. What to my wondering eyes did appear but one simple bag of pre-cooked, pre-cut up chicken. Two and half cups of cubed chicken for $6.97!! Literally, I was walking through the store with my fingers holding my lips together. What has happened that we cannot cook chicken? What has happened that we cannot cube chicken? (Light bulb!) (Don’t talk self out of the idea this time.)

Our economy being what it is and food prices rising with leaps and bounds, we may need to return to cooking (not just microwaving) food. Food budgets are continuing to grow; food prices are continuing to climb. So the more we can save on preparing and cooking of food, the more money we have for other things or the more food that can be purchased. Right?

We may find ourselves spending time instead of money. So back to the light bulb ~ I have some low-cost recipes to share with you.

You and I are the “consumer advocates” for our homes. It is time that we took measures to control the food budget instead of being puppets to the food industry.

Please tell me how you have taken control of your food budget. There are lots of us who are ready to take action.

Posted in Economical recipes, Foods, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Get Organized In A Year

January 28, 2010 by Debbie Pendell

Anyone else noticed how much information is available to help us get organized? Countless books and magazines everywhere you look. (That is except in the public library in the city in which I live, but that is another blog.) But there are countless books available at any bookstore and magazines dedicated solely to the subject.

If you notice, every month on the newsstand, you can find one, if not more, magazines with an article about organizing something, and in January, it seems that entire magazines are devoted to the topic. A person could experience “information overload.”

Well, no surprise that January is National Get Organized month. Admittedly, this is a great month for the focus; after all, we are cleaning up from Christmas, rearranging the furniture, etc after the Christmas tree is down, making New Year’s resolutions, setting goals, establishing the yearly budget, clearing out files to do tax returns and the list goes on.

But maybe we should call it National Get Ready to Get Organized month. With all the above things to do, it seems that January should be a planning month with the intent to initiate the plans in February ~ when we get past all that January requires.

So-o-o-o now that you are disappointed in yourself for fudging on those New Year’s resolutions, laboring over a new budget, and frustrated that you cannot find all your tax information, let’s regroup.

1) Stop fretting that you didn’t get organized this month. You didn’t get into your mess in one month; you won’t get out of it in one month.

2) Set goals or revive those resolutions that you made. Think of January as your planning month. You may, or may not, be surprised to learn that every month during the year has a day,  week or an entire month designated for awareness of organizing some area of our lives. For example, besides January being National Get Organized Month, it is also Clean Out Your Closet Month. February has Clean Out Your Computer Day, and the list goes on. If you bite your organizing off one area each month, you can avoid overwhelm and accomplish a great deal.

3) Join me at the beginning of each month to “walk and talk” about that month’s organizing project and some ideas on what you can work on to get organized in a  year.

4) Meanwhile, work on your mindset. No amount of organizing information, organizing system, consulting or coaching will help you get and stay organized until you determine in your own mind that being less stressed, operating more efficiently and effectively, finding energy you thought you didn’t have and redeeming time for the people who are important to you is this year’s top priority. What is it you really want? Is this another year to just talk about taking charge of your life? Or is this the year to get organized?

You may think that you won’t stick with this for a whole year, but you can if you bite this off one month at a time.

Posted in Mindset, Organizing, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Ten Tips for the Big Clean-Up

December 30, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

The Christmas season is almost behind us. The clean-up is ahead of us.

If you found decorating frustrating and the strings of light tangled, then this year is the year to  put it all away organized.

Here are a few suggestions:

1 ~ Use clear totes for storing or color code your totes. Use totes with red lids for the Christmas decorations. Use totes with other color lids for other times of the year. When you send your family members to retrieve the decorations next year, you can simply tell them to get the totes with the red lids. How easy is that? Any family member can do that.

2 ~ You could store decorations that are used together in the same tote. For example, I usually have two trees, one in the family room and one in the living room. One tree is decorated in red and one in blue. I store the items for each tree in their own tote. Hence, I don’t store all the lights in one tote, all the ornaments in one, etc.  This separation could be done by rooms if you tend to use the same decorations in particular rooms each year.

3 ~ If you use boxes for storing, be sure to label the boxes. By labeling, I don’t mean putting the word “Christmas” on the outside. List the content of the boxes on the label. FYI ~ over time cardboard boxes will retain moisture, so beware.

4 ~ Lights CAN be stored without tangling. Wrap them around wrapping paper tubes, cardboard inserts from shirts, mutilated gift boxes that will otherwise be thrown out.

5 ~ Bows are by far the most difficult thing to keep looking great when stored. Two thoughts: a) hang the bows from clothes hangers and cover with a dry cleaning bag; b) use only wired ribbon. Yes, wired ribbon is more expensive, but because it can be reshaped year after year, it will look beautiful longer.

6 ~ Can  you store unused or slightly used candles until next year? Depends ~ will they be stored in a cool place? If you store them in the attic where it is hot in the summer, then the answer is no, you cannot store the candles. Remember, that no matter what the temperature, red candles can transfer their color to whatever they touch. Wrap your candles in leftover tissue paper.

7 ~ Throw away NOW, not next year, decorations that have outlived their usefulness. If the lights didn’t work this year, they won’t work next year. No. if you didn’t buy replacement bulbs this year, you will not buy replacement bulbs next year.

8 ~ If you are purchasing new decorations, purchase now so they can be stored in the appropriate bins.

9 ~ Use this barren state of your home as an opportunity to clean. Some corners haven’t seen a broom or dust cloth since you decorated in November. When I lived in the Mid-West, I found a need to keep clean whatever I could whenever I could. Mid-Westerners know that during the snowy season, it is not uncommon to feel like you have mud and slush at every door and on every floor. So clean, dust, sweep and mop those empty areas before you move the furniture back in its place.

10 ~ Make notes. Purchase a small journal, designate a section of your planner or whatever works for you to make notes on all the Christmas festivities.

For parties:  Write down the menu, how many attended, how much food you made, what you had too much of and what you needed more of, what decorations you used, what you did that was worth repeating, what you did that was a flop.

For gift giving: Note what gifts were “just right,” what gifts you didn’t guess right for someone else, any ideas your hear for next year.

For decorating: Note what didn’t work (it kept falling down, etc.), what you should have put away because of the grandchildren, what keepsake you should remember to pass on because your daughter-in-law absolutely loves it.

Memos: Write down anything that you want to remember no matter in what category it falls. You may need to remember whose house the family get together was at this year and who will have it next year, who has whose name (if you drew names) ~ someone has to have a record because names will be forgotten or lost before next Christmas. Maybe you want to have memories written down for those who cherish family histories.

Wouldn’t it be great to be organized next year for Christmas? That starts this year. Hopefully these ten tips will give you some ideas and help you along the way.

Do you have any ideas to share with others as we walk and talk?

Posted in Decorating Your Home, Organizing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Merry Christmas from My Home to Yours

December 24, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

Here on Pineapple Lane, when we walk and talk, we’re discussing matters of the home. So . . .

First, Merry Christmas from my home to yours! Remember that whatever you didn’t get done, doesn’t really matter, and more than likely you are the only one who knew it was on your to-do list. So no one else is missing whatever seemed important a month ago.

Secondly, what is important here on Pineapple Lane is the . . . , that’s right, the people. I hope that you are surrounded by the ones you love this season.

Next week, we’ll look at a couple of ideas for cleaning up from Christmas, and then in January we’ll look at some ideas as we approach a new year.

Merry Christmas to each of you!

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My Cooking Mission

December 16, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

We’re all wired differently. That’s actually a good thing. And sometimes our assumptions are misguided.

Take me for instance,  I’m a Family and Consumer Science Professional, a Home Economist. So one might expect that I love to cook. And I do like to cook, but I don’t love, love, love to cook. My “love to cook” spirit is seasonal. I love to cook at the holidays.

Another thing I don’t like to do is collect recipes. What a waste of time and energy! You pursue cookbooks and magazines, tear out the recipe, stick them some place and hope that you can find them when you get around to trying them. Then when the ripped out magazine pages begin to fall into the flour and grease spatters on them, you wonder why you ever wanted to try THAT recipe.

I prefer to collect recipes of foods that I have eaten. Recipes from family and friends that I already know that I want to replicate.

But once in a while, I get in the mood to pursue those magazines looking for yet another great dessert recipe. Okay, desserts are my weakness. After all they look so sumptuous in the magazine and cookbooks. There are only a few  people (probably only chefs) who look at a picture and say, “Now there’s a beautiful pot roast.”

I recently heard that the average family has a three-week menu rotation.  Boring! So I sat down to see how many regular menus that I actually had. I only had about four and a half weeks worth. Again boring!

So, here is my cooking mission. I want to have at least six weeks worth of menus. And there isn’t a better time to pick up recipes than the holiday season. By the time a person attends family get togethers, office parties, neighborhood drop-ins, well . . . a person could have an entire cookbook.

So, I’m in the mood to collect recipes, cook and amp up my mainstay of menus. In fact I’m loving it.

Who’ll join me on my mission?

So here’s how we can do this. Get yourself a notebook. No, we can not stick the new recipes inside the cookbooks. (You want find it until you need that particular book again.) We’ll need a few page protectors. Note the word “few.” The goal is not to see who can collect the most recipes and never try any of them before you die. In fact, if you tend toward “hoarding” untried recipes, set yourself a limit of how many you will have in this notebook. Let’s say we have a ten recipe limit. Yes, only ten.

One recipe per page protector, so that we can see both sides of the recipe card or page.

Then have a goal of trying two new recipes a week.

If you are trying to increase your menu rotation, then you will have a motivation for trying the recipes that you are collecting. Thereby working your way through the notebook and then moving the “keepers” to your permanent collection.

So far, I’ve added Parmesan Knots to my bread collection, Chicken Croissant for a main dish, Bacon Wrapped smokies for an appetizer and Gooey Butter Cakes for a dessert. Still in the notebook are Apricot Glazed Porkchops, Tzatziki Topping, Ginger Pancakes, Raspberry Crinkles and Triple Layers Brownie Cake. Okay; okay. You can see the tendency, and it’s just a tendency, toward desserts. But that Triple Layer Brownie Cake has been screaming my name for a week.

What new recipe are you adding to your collection? Please join me on my cooking mission.

Posted in Foods, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

A New Friend in Food Places

November 24, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

Recently, I was an exhibitor at a Taste of Home Cooking School Show. I blogged about these in the spring after attending one. In the meantime I moved, and the area I moved to had a fall Cooking School. So  I was able to take in two in one year.

This time however, I saw the show from the back side of a vendor’s table. And . . .  well . . . it was not the view from the back of the table that I enjoyed so much. It was the view across the vendor’s dividers.

I was placed next to a delightful “southern French girl” (term used by permission) who writes cookbooks. I toyed with whether I should use the term “French southern girl” or “southern French girl.” But regardless, can you imagine any better combination for writing a cookbook? A chef with a French heritage born and reared in the South.

I know that the French are known for their cooking; but being a Southern myself, I know that Southerns are among the best cooks anywhere. As for the “girls” part, well . . . you can read for yourself.

It was truly my delight to meet Dana Vaigneur Van Gieson, one of the Grits Girls.  Don’t get hung up in the French (I told you) Dutch name. The recipes are wonderful; I personally sampled more than I need to admit.

Please check out Dana’s site where you will find a sample recipe which I think is indicative of her recipes ~ easy.

It’s great to have new friends in food places.

Bon Appetit! Oh my, she’s rubbed off on me already, ya’ll!

Posted in Foods | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Christmas Gift Idea

November 9, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

Are you thinking Christmas gifts yet?

Since here on Pineapple Lane, we know that our lives and what we do is “all about the people,” I want to introduce you to a friend who just might have the Christmas gift for which you are looking.

You have to see these beautiful European beads and the endless possibilities for necklaces, bracelets and earrings. If you meander through the different categories of beads, I’m sure that your mind will have no trouble thinking of all the women and girls on your Christmas list that would love to have a unique, one of a kind, personalized piece of jewelry ~ mother, sister, niece, cousin, teacher, baby sitter, scout leader, music teacher, boss, neighbor, grandmother.

Check out the birthstone beads.  (I seem to be surrounded these days by expectant mothers.) You can start one of these bracelets now and add to it as the family grows.

Okay, hard to choose? A gift certificate might fill the order (check at the bottom of the page).

The possibilities are endless. I like giving gifts that are personal. What about you? Check them out and let me know what you think.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Extremes in Organizing!!!!!

November 6, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

Is it just me or has anyone else noticed that people think in extremes?

It seems that many of the reality shows (not my usual choice of viewing) concerning families draws on the extremes.  The producers match one hyper-organized person with a family of “messies” and vice versa. Neither of which can see the other’s point of view.

I’m calling a halt to the ridiculous!  It seems that the organized person is rigid with unhappy children and a home that people don’t like to come to. On the other side is the home where everyone loves to hang out and the kids are happy, but the home is dirty and messy; or as some like to say, the home is “lived in.”

Why does it have to be one or the other ~ organized with unhappy people or cluttered with happy people?

From where I sit those terms should be oxymorons. Organized people are happy people; cluttered lives develop unhappy people.

Yes, reality programs choose to use people who live in the extremes, but I’m fighting back. It does not have to be that way. The results of those extreme life styles do not have to be the realities.

I believe that organization should enable us to relax, leading us to enjoy our kids, play games and “hang out.” Hence, our kids can have a good time, find the things they need, enjoy having friends over, easing the way for us to entertain.

Lack of organization  creates in us chaos, leading us to frustration with our home, our time and each other.  Hence, our family is embarrassed to have friends in the house, frustrated in finding the things they need and agitated with each other.

You can have an organized, clean house that people enjoy living in and visiting. Don’t go to the extreme. Organization is the oil that makes the engine run smoothly; it is the honey that sweetens the biscuit; it is the thread that holds the garment together. You get the picture.

Good organization is your friend, not your enemy.

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Fall ~ for the Holidays

September 17, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

Outside my sliding glass door is a beautiful wooded area. All summer it has been beautifully green, and the leaves whistle with the wind.

But now it is becoming a different kind of beautiful as green gives way to yellow. I’m sure that red and orange are not far away. Don’t you love fall?

It is a great time for many things including apple festivals, pumpkin carving, leaf raking (and jumping, of course), fall color tours, etc. I suppose there are parts of the country that get to enjoy none of these. I’m so sorry!!!

But you can join in on this next list of “fall to-do’s.”

1) Clean out closets. The kids are in school and there is no one to distract you.  As you trade off the summer clothes for the fall clothes, purge those closets of unneeded clothes. “Unneeded” is defined as too big, too small, tattered/stained beyond repair or out of style.  Those clothes that stay get stored appropriately.  ”Appropriately” is defined as clean, folded/hung in containers (hopefully clear) and labeled with the name of owner and size (if for a child). Wool garments need protection ~ moth balls or cedar.

2) Clean house.  I understand “spring cleaning,” but I’m a “fall cleaning” person. Maybe it’s the allergies, maybe it’s the coming holidays, but either or both reasons work for me.

Allergens cover everything in the house if you have windows open during the summer and early fall. It’s time to get those out before you close all the windows for the winter.

As for the holidays, is it just me or does anyone else see that the last quarter of the year is in holiday overload? Nevertheless, I’m not complaining. But I do like to have a clean pallet before I start decorating which starts in September and carries on until January.  And then the house looks so bare that I decide to decorate some more.

Which brings me back to “fall cleaning.” I don’t need to outline that ~ everything is cleaned from top to bottom.  My favorite all time cleaner is ammonia water. My spray bottle holds 22 ounces, so my proportions are 1 ounce of ammonia: 21 ounces water.

I refuse to have a cabinet full of cleaners for every surface ~ too much space consumed and way too much money spent. The only thing I don’t use the ammonia water on is the carpet, the wood furniture and the plasma screen TV.

There you have it only two things to get done this fall. :)

While you are cleaning and decorating for those holidays, I recommend that you sign up for a little inspiration. My philosophy is that it’s never too early for Christmas music. Do I hear White Christmas playing anywhere?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | 3 Comments »

Organized for Security

September 11, 2009 by Debbie Pendell

What does an organizational/home skill blog have to say about security? Lots! And we could talk about many aspects of security in the home ~ physical security, financial security or emotional security.

But not today ~ today we talk about national security. And what we have to say is THANK YOU!

September 11, 2001 a day that will live in infamy. We’ve heard those words before, and from my vantage point, there really is no difference between September 11, 2001 and December 7, 1941.  The United States of America was attacked on home soil by an enemy.

Wait! There was a difference  -  dissent.  I was appalled at the dissent toward the war on terror which eventually replaced our good sense. I asked many of the WW II era if the same kind of dissent existed against war after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I always get a resounding, “No!” But the wisdom of the war on terror will be debated for years to come and on some other forum than my blog.

Today I’m ever so grateful to the military (who are highly organized) for ensuring my security.

~ Thank you to all in the military for your hard work and sacrifices that pay for my freedom.

~ Thank you to all military families for your sacrifices ~ one being the emotional roller coaster that you must live with on a daily basis.

~ Thank you to all who, past and present, continue to believe in the United States of America and pay the price for our freedoms.

On this particular day, I pause to remember and say, “THANK YOU!”

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