Safe, Easy and Cheap Face Exfoliation!

I used to exfoliate my face once a week but now I do it two or three times a week.  The reason?  I'm not worried about the chemicals I'm using in the exfoliation product I'm using!  

Once again, an Elder tipped me to some goodness.  I  noticed a small bowl on her bathroom counter and asked what she used it for.  After a lecture about being all up in her business (Dude...it was on the COUNTER!) and my ignoring her because she's always holding on to some good info she knows good and well I'd appreciate, she told me that she makes a paste of baking soda and water to scrub her face.  She told me that the humidity out here makes stuff stick to your face more and that pollen is a tricky fool.  (ROFL!)  Said that all you have to do is make a lil paste with baking soda and use that to scrub your face.

I couldn't get an exact measurement out of her because she just eyeballs it, but I find that a ratio of one part baking soda and three parts water is pretty good.  I've been using it because she's right...that pollen is a tricky fool.  LOL!  I've been doing it now for about three weeks and I don't have any irritation.  My skin feels and looks clean and smooth.  GO ME!  I could even use it on my skin in the shower too!

A box of baking soda costs little of nothing and it will last a long, long time.  She also told me that she uses it to brush her teeth sometimes too.  Says sometimes your teeth can feel a bit gritty and baking soda helps polish off the grit.  Makes sense.  

How often do you exfoliate your face?  What do you use?  Have you ever used baking soda?

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Super Moist Lemon Pound Cake - Gluten Free!!!!!

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I hadn't decided on the cake I was going to make today yet and then my boy, Tali 2, helped me out.  See...his mother bought a lemon pound cake for Easter and set the poor, sweet dear child up by putting it where he could see it a full two days before he'd be able to have a slice.  Straight up entrapment.  The cake got the best of him and well...he started nibbling around the edges.  It was SO good...the poor sweetheart ate all the edges off the cake.  

I imagined that poor child's pain at having such a delicious looking cake so near...and yet so far and decided right then and there that my Easter dessert was going to be lemon pound cake.

I haven't made it in a while and started searching for gluten free recipes.  I didn't see one that made sense to me so I just made the recipe of one that did sound right and simply substituted the all purpose flour with Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten-free flour.

When looking for a pound cake recipe, don't be fooled by any of the recipes you see that use words like, 'quick' and 'easy' or any recipe that doesn't have one ingredient on the list with the word 'cream' in it.  GOOD pound cake cooks slow and low and includes sour cream or cream cheese.  If the recipe doesn't have one of those in it...keep it moving.

Swiftly.

Oh...and a glaze is a must.

The recipe I settled on was this one:  Lemon Pound Cake Recipe

“INGREDIENTS

For the Lemon Pound Cake
3 sticks butter (1½ cups)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
6 eggs
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of one lemon
3 cups sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla

For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
1½ cups confectioner’s sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

For the Lemon Pound Cake
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare bundt or tube pan by coating with shortening or butter and flouring light. Set aside.
Let butter, cream cheese, and eggs come to room temperature.
Cream together butter, cream cheese and sugar til fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Add lemon juice and zest and combine well. Add flour and salt and vanilla.
Mix until just well-combined but do not over mix.
Pour into prepared bundt or tube pan.
Bake until golden brown and skewer inserted into middle of cake comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 - 30 minutes.

For the Lemon Buttermilk Glaze
As the cake is cooling, whisk together ingredients confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and buttermilk to make the glaze. Allow to sit until cake has fully cooled, then drizzle over top of lemon pound cake.”

Now...please read the recipe first.  Note that this cake should not be on your list of things you bake regularly.  Why?  It's probably a gamillion calories per slice.  LOL!  The most difficult part of this cake is making the lemon zest.  As always.  I'd seriously pay for lemon zest.  Can you buy it?  I've never thought about buying it but sheesh...I would.  There have probably only been two times in my life when I was getting the zest off a lemon and didn't scrape my dang knuckles. 

UGH!

Hate that!  I must be getting better though because I didn't do it this time.  LOL!  Don't try and skip steps like add all the eggs at once.  Do it the way the recipe tells you to do it and your cake will be guaranteed to be super moist.  Soooooooooooo good!

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!  What cake did you end up baking?


Breville Customer Service - TOP NOTCH!

A few years ago, I gave The Robinator a Breville YouBrew coffee maker.  It was instrumental in keeping down the arguments in our home because has been known to drink an entire pot of coffee before I get up to get my one.  There is nothing worse to the person who set up the coffee the night before than to get up to NO coffee the next morning.  Especially when they only drink one cup.  With this machine...I can push a button and make just one cup of coffee from beans.

And we LURVE our coffee straight from fresh ground beans.

Exactly 10 days ago, we were dismayed to find that something terrible was going wrong with our precious.  Steam was rising up and messing up the display and something was going on where the water wasn't going through it's usual process.  Our sweet baby was broken.

LAWD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

In a fit of desperation after asking Mr. Google, I called the number on the machine for Breville's customer service.  I told them what was going on and asked if there was a fix for it.  The young man asked me to read to him the numbers stamped on the underside of the machine and then he told me that...VOILA...we'll send you a brand new one.

Wait...what?

Him:  What's your email address?  I'll send you a FedEx shipping label.  Just box it up and either drop it off and have it picked up.

Me:  *BLINK*  Um...okay...

Him:  As soon as we receive it, we'll send you a new one.  The entire process takes about 10 days.

Me:  *BLINK*

I got off the phone in a straight up daze and told Robby.

Robby:  *BLINK*

Me:  Yeah.

So...we boxed that sucker up and FedEx made it do what it do.

Turns out filling out those warranty cards or online registration really makes a difference.  LOL!  GO ME!

We had to use this 5 cup "extra" coffee maker that Robby's mom had for TEN.DAYS.

The day after FedEx received it we got an email saying the new one was on it's way.  That told me that they didn't even WAIT to receive the old one.  Their system probably logged the size and weight of the box once FedEx put it in their system and they immediately shipped out a new one. 

To say I'm impressed doesn't even do justice to what I feel.  I'm like...A BREVILLE FAN FOR LIFE!  We loved our coffee maker before and now?  WE REALLY LOVE IT!  When this baby is laid to rest, we will be replacing it with a Breville.  Always and forever...each moment with you...just like a dream to me...that somehow came true...

Our new baby arrived today and it was such a touching moment.  We just kept smiling like the proud Breville owners we are.  *Sniff...sniff*  Whenever I pass it by I lovingly touch it.  I can't wait for my first cup of coffee tomorrow morning since I'm now up to two cups.

*NEXT DAY UPDATE*  Mmmmmmmmmmmm...COFFEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  GO ME!

Do you fill out the warranty cards or register your products online? Did you ever get service like this with a product?