SubscribeCastle News and Chit Chat
Keeping the Outside of Your Castle
Keeping the grounds and sidewalks of your property in good shape is as important as managing the inside of your home. For all of you readers on the East Coast you know that “clean up” time is now. The East Coast just got blasted with a winter storm, a Nor’Easter, breaking records for snow fall in the month of December. Aren’t we lucky?
Here in Philly we got 23.2 inches. Looks like we’ll have a white Christmas after all. All of… More »
October Highlights at Keeping the Castle
It’s the end of another month and so once again I have put together a list of this month’s articles for easy access. I tried putting them into categories, but some of the categories overlapped a little. I hope this helps to find what you need or missed this month.
Food, Cooking, and Holidays:
Cooking with a Little This and That
10 Ways to Eat More Fruits and Vegetables
Your Last Minute Stop for Halloween Ideas
17 Halloween Cupcake Ideas
20 Pumpkin Inspired Recipes
Tips for Hosting… More »
A Farewell
During the past few weeks, I have given a lot of thought to this post. I’ve wondered what I would say and how I would say it. For once, I am at a loss for words. So I’ll just come out and say it . . . this is my last month at Keeping the Castle.
I have been writing for Keeping the Castle since December 2008. During this time, I have had a great time sharing recipes, homemaking and housekeeping… More »
Wordy Wednesday: My Trip to New York
As previously mentioned, I went to New York last week for the Wisk Bubbles & Bubbly event. I promised you all more pictures and information, so I thought Wordless Wordy Wednesday was a good time for that.
Flying is a big deal for me. Last year was the first time I had flown in 17 years. Changing elevations makes me queasy. Thankfully, this year I knew more what to expect at the airport so I was a little more relaxed.
Wisk sent… More »
An Exploration of Laundry Myths
Hi everyone. I had a great time in New York City. The nausea from the plane ride is gone now. Later this week, I’ll share some photos from NYC, but for now I want to tell you about some things I learned at the Bubbles & Bubbly Event.
Myth #1 – More suds mean cleaner clothes.
Fact – More suds do not mean cleaner clothes. In fact, using too much soap can cause keep your clothes from getting clean and it can leave an… More »
I’m Headed to New York City!
It’s hard to believe it, but this country gal is headed to the city – New York City! I’ve been invited to attend the Bubbles and Bubbly event for Wisk LaundryHE .
I’ve checked out the list of who will be attending and I’m excited to finally meet in person some other bloggers that I’ve met online, mostly from Twitter. I’ve never been been to New York and the closest thing I’ve seen to a big city is Atlanta, Georgia and Cincinnati, Ohio.
I wish I had… More »
September Highlights at Keeping the Castle
Each month, I try to make a list of articles from the month. I don’t include articles with tips that have expired, such as giveaways. My hope is that this will provide you with an easy list/table of contents to the articles from the month and it will help you to see if there’s anything you missed that you would like to read.
Switching Over to Cloth Napkins
Finding a Closet Organization System
10 Ways to Decorate with Gourds & Pumpkins
30 Creative Cake… More »
Chili’s Create-A-Pepper Day
Today is a big day at Chili’s restaurants. September 28 is Create a Pepper day and you can help St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals when you eat at Chili’s restaurants.
Chili’s is proud to support St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital through a 10-year commitment to donate $50 million to help fight childhood cancer. Chili’s has a care center at St. Jude’s. It is a seven-story, 340,000 square-foot facility that houses major treatment and research programs for catastrophic childhood diseases.
If you would like… More »
Finally Moved In!
Wowweee! What a week this has been! We are finally moved into our new house. Hooray!
My husband and I had the home purchase planned out. We started looking at houses in the spring. We made our final decision in the summer months, made our offer, and were under contract. We were going to close on the house some time between July 31 and August 15. That would give us plenty of time to move into the house, get settled, get the kids… More »
I’m a Homeowner!
Last month I told you all that my husband and I were under contract to buy a house. We finally signed the papers today.
What a tedious process purchasing a home has been. Due to all of the recent foreclosures, the banks and the lending rules have become very strict. My husband and I qualified for a loan and met the criteria, but many times it looked like getting the house might not happen.
Due to all of the changes with the laws,… More »
June Highlights at Keeping the Castle
Here are a few highlights from June at Keeping the Castle.
Free 4th of July Crafts and Recipe Book
Helpful Links for This Week
May Highlights at Keeping the Castle
A Tip for Painting Your Home
The Lowdown on McDonald’s Iced Coffee
What is the Temperature of Your House?
Cucumber Salad Recipe
Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough Recall
Five Minute Chocolate Mug Cake
Cleaning Challenge: Clean Your Coffeemaker
Hamilton Beach Dispensing Blender
Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas Recipe
10 Meals in 10 Minutes
Enjoying the Wildlife Today
Health Benefits of Drinking Tea
Time Saving Laundry Tip
Save Time with Bed… More »
An Interview with Chef Michael Smith
Chef Michael Smith was a 1991 honors graduate from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York. He has been cooking professionally for over twenty years. His career has included stints in a Michelin three-star restaurant in London, some of Manhattan’s finest kitchens, South America, the Caribbean and throughout North America. Michael is known for support of young Canadian chefs and the growing Canadian Cuisine movement. He has devoted his career to helping Canadian families create simple, practical nutritious food.
Host… More »
May Highlights at Keeping the Castle
When I visit blogs, one thing that is time consuming is looking through the older posts. I’ve decided that to make things easier for my readers, I will make a post with links to articles that have been written that month. This will serve as an easy way to read the information that you feel could be useful to you. Since June is not over just yet, I’ll go ahead and wrap up May for us.
Cleaning Your Gas Grill
Kitchen Must-Have:… More »
An Interview with Chef Michael Smith
I just finished an interview with Chef Michael Smith. He has been cooking professionally for more than 20 years. Host of Chef Abroad, Chef at Home, Chef at Large, and The Inn Chef, Chef Michael Smith can be seen in more than 65 countries.
I spoke with Chef Michael today about savory summer dinner ideas, his favorite family dishes, and ways to find more recipes and tips for summertime cooking. His ideas are inspired by culinary delights of Canada’s Prince Edward Island… More »
Nestle Toll House Cookie Dough Recall
Nestle Toll House is voluntarily recalling over 40 of its refrigerated cookie dough products. According to the press release:
Nestlé is taking this action out of an abundance of caution after being notified that the Food and Drug Administration, together with the Centers for Disease Control, are conducting an investigation into reported E. coli 0157:H7 illnesses that may be related to consumption of raw cookie dough.
You can read the entire Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough Press Release as well as the entire… More »
Support Foster Care at Wendy’s
Buy a frosty today and you can help change the lives of children in foster care. For every Frosty product sold today, $.50 will be donated to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA).
Even if you can’t make it to Wendy’s for a Frosty, you can still show your support by sending a free Wendy’s card. For each card sent, Wendy’s will donate $.25 to the DTFA.
image from Dave Thomas Foundation
… More »
Welcome, Summer!
I know that today is not the first day of summer, but to me June 1st means summer. During this time of year, the days are longer and hotter, and the kids are counting down the days until their summer break.
June makes me think of hot weather, ice cream, popsicles, swimming, sleeping in, playing in the yard, vacations, sunscreen, the beach, mowing the grass, lemonade, cooking on the grill, family, summer camp, and doing nothing.
It was just a few months… More »
Have a Great Week
I was going to title this post “Happy Mother’s Day”, but it’s 12:30 am. Sunday has gotten away from me and I’m a little behind on my work. I hope that you all had a fantastic day celebrating with your families. I spent a good part of my day doing laundry, packing, and taking care of my little one who’s sick.
Tomorrow I’ll be heading out to visit my family. My grandmother has been in ICU for a few weeks and the… More »
New About Page
Oh my goodness. Tonight I was sitting here working and twittering and it just dawned on me . . . I haven’t made a new about page. Geesh. I’ve been blogging here for two months without a current about page. Sorry ya’ll. It’s up now. I hope to add some new information to it soon.
… More »
New Writer Comes On Board
Hello everyone. I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Karen Weideman, but you may also know me as Thrifty Mommy. I have been writing for the b5media Thrifty Mommy blog for over two years now. I’ve enjoyed getting to know the b5 bloggers and the close knit network that we have here.
Now a little about myself . . . In previous years I was an elementary school teacher, but have taken a break from that… More »
