diy thursday: removing dirt stains from white socks

Last week we returned from Kenya (I will write more about that later) and the village we went to is very dusty, dry and hot. Everything has a layer of dirt on it when we return and that includes our socks even though we wore shoes the entire time. The dirt becomes part of the fibers of the socks:( In years past I just accepted the socks we brought home from Kenya would just be forever stained even after washed. This year, however, I decided to try to get rid of these dirt stains. I turned to my trusted OxiClean to do the job and it did! The socks are not as good as new, but they don't look as stained as they were before I treated them. And the best part is that it is super easy to do.


Ingredients

OxiClean
Boiling Water
Detergent


Directions

Boil enough water to cover the socks you wish to whiten.

Depending on how many socks you have, put a big scoop of OxiClean in a tub.

Add the boiling water to the tub and mix until dissolved.

Once dissolved add the socks. 

If needed, add more boiling water to cover the socks completely.

Stir it all together and let it sit overnight.

Remove the socks from the tub and launder with detergent as normal.

And voila! The dirt stains have disappeared. 

wordless wednesday

one last visit to florida

So I realize it has been pretty quiet on this blog the last couple of months. What can I say, it has been a super busy season for us. All good, but just lots going on. I will try to catch up on some of the highlights of what we have been up to during this time.

My parents moved to Texas this month (btw have you checked out my dad's latest book? If not, you should probably check out the commentary here :)) ... and that meant they left the beaches in Florida. So a final Florida beach vacation was in order before they moved. This was a great week enjoying some of our favorite spots one last time. While I will miss the beautiful vacation spot we are happy to have them closer and thrilled to have all of my immediate family in one state.

Here are some snapshots from a wonderful week.

enjoying lunch where we had our engagement lunch 5 years ago

milling mondays: whole wheat fig and almond squares

I absolutely love dried figs. YUM. It is such a wonderful snack and goes well on many things (check out my favorite pizza). I also eat a lot of almonds. So a dessert recipe that contains both figs and almonds could only mean goodness. These moist whole wheat and not too sweet cake squares provide such a great combination of flavors.


Whole Wheat Fig and Almond Squares

Ingredients

3/4 cup whole wheat flour (2/3 soft wheat berries and 1/3 hard wheat berries)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg white
1 egg
1/2 cup dried figs, chopped
1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
2 Tbs sliced almonds


Directions

Preheat the oven to 350F.

If you mill your own flour, grind your soft and hard wheat berries. I use my WonderMill on the pastry setting. Sift the flour once to make it less dense.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt.

In a separate bowl, mix together the brown sugar, butter, almond extract, vanilla extract, egg white and egg.

Then add the brown sugar mixture along with the figs, coconut, and almonds to the flour mixture and mix until blended.

Pour the batter into a 8x8 prepared baking pan and bake for about 25 minutes (until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).

Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack.

When ready to eat, cut into squares and frost if desired. I just blended some powdered sugar with a little bit of water and then drizzled it over the squares. 

ENJOY!