Friday Favorite Finds - Recipes

Please link up to a post containing your list of recipes to try -- do not link up individual recipes please, save those for other linkys.  Be sure to leave a link back here to Finding Joy in my Kitchen.

This week's finds are small as I have been away for a week and haven't managed to catch up on my blog reading.

Baklava - I've wanted to make this since we went to Greece.

Easy cheesy dilly loaf

Friday Finds - Books

What great books did you hear about/discover this past week? Share with us your FRIDAY FINDS  hosted by MizB over at Should Be Reading.

Synopsis here. Ever since I read GB84 a couple of weeks ago I've been wanting to read of David Peace. I've already bought it and read it!



Synopsis here.

Synopsis here.


Found while looking for the above book on Goodreads!!

Synopsis here.

Was at Chapters and found this:

Synopsis here.

2012 Decluttering

I haven't posted recently but the 2012 purging and decluttering continues. I have been keeping a running recap in draft form but sadly with few photos. I will do better.
You can see more of my 2012 progress over here from January.

Embroidery thread to a friend's daughter who has taken up the hobby. Should the urge to embroider come over me again, I will just buy new thread.


Charity/Give away
Sweatshirt I washed it and decided I wasn't ready to part with it!
One pair of socks
One dishtowel
Two shell necklaces (free from Hilo Hattie's in Hawaii).
One pair old eyeglasses
Old phone holder
Blank notepads
Two pairs of cords
Two pairs of really warm mittens for a friend who will enjoy them when walking her dog.
One brand new winter sweater to a GF
Computer video camera to a friend
Unopened deck of cards
Blue dressing gown
One pair of DH's crocs abandoned in hotel in Nicaragua
One pair of DH's old bathing trunks


Garbage 
One old mop
Cleaned out old business cards and filing from computer desk. This is an ongoing activity around here.
Two ceramic ornaments - chipped
NY Pass Guide from our July trip
iPad handbook
2 Lipstick
Travel eye concealer
Old compact
Two wart kits
Mattress cover - it has seen better days
Old can of leather protector



Using up
Cleaned out the bathroom closet
These are the multiples of various items that need to be used up, thrown out and not replaced.
So far, three opened bottles of body cream have been finished
One jar of face cream
Combined two open bottles of the same item.
Cologne bought on impulse, will be used as air spray.



Garage Sale
I am trying to decide if I should have a garage sale in the spring and at least make some money of some other stuff that I want to declutter. For now I am going to keep a running list of these items here until I make up my mind. If I don't do a sale then they can go into the charity box.
Green leather bound binder with blank pages, a ruler and several pockets for holding items. I used to use it to record household measurements or pictures of things I liked for the house. I took all the relvant information and updated my House spreadsheet, took some photos of some pages (old house paint colours) and tore out pages.

One curtain rod
One shower rod
Minnie Mouse wall hanging
Two air purifiers
Two scarves
One gold basket
Two roasting pans
Four ceramic door knobs
One hanging space saver shelf
One wicker soap dispenser

Wordless Wednesday - Isla Rosario Columbia

I'm posting over here today.

Ruby Tuesday

I'm posting over here today.


Taken at the Royal Kona Luau in Kona, on the Big Island of Hawaii.

My Recipe Box - Fajitas

This is a recipe I found at Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice. I made it with chicken a few weeks ago and it was delicious so it is going into my recipe box as my go-to fajitas recipe.
Photo and recipe courtesy of her site.

Ingredients

• 1 pound steak (beef shoulder, flank or skirt)
• sea salt and fresh black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, diced, seeds removed (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed between fingertips
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced in 1/3" wide strips
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced in 1/3" wide strips
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced in 1/3" wide strips
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• olive oil, for sauteing
• warm flour tortillas
• fresh cilantro leaves
• lime wedges
For serving (your choice):
• shredded cheddar cheese
• sour cream
• shredded iceberg lettuce
• salsa/diced tomato
• guacamole/avocado

Instructions

1. The night before or morning of pierce the steak an inch apart all over with a fork on both sides; season lightly with salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk lime, oil, garlic, jalapeno, chile powder, cumin and oregano together. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour over steak in a shallow dish or pan or put the steak in a large Ziploc bag and pour the marinade over. Marinate at least 6 hours or longer in refrigerator.
2. Heat 2-3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet and add peppers and onions, season lightly with salt and pepper and cook over medium-low heat until desired tenderness. Remove to a small platter or dish.
3. Remove the steak from the marinade, wipe off the garlic and pat dry. Heat the skillet over high heat and cook the steak 3-4 minutes on each side depending on how well done you prefer it. You can also grill it if you prefer. Remove to a cutting board and allow to sit for at least 5 (to 10) minutes. Slice into thin strips against the grain at an angle.
4. Serve immediately on warm tortillas with peppers, cilantro, lime and your choice of toppings.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila at  Book Journey. For this meme, bloggers post what they finished last week, what they're currently reading, and what they plan to start this week. 

I've been on vacation (at a conference) so I didn't do as much reading as I had anticipated.

Finished this week:

:

Synopsis over here.

I enjoyed this book some may find it too gory. It has some fantastic prose and brilliant narrative flow. The research is detailed as all his books are. A supreme crime novel and set  in England in a period that I hadn't paid any attention to when growing up. Did I love the ending, no, I hate being left hanging and drawing my own conclusions. I am ready to move onto the next book in the series however!

Started this week:

From the book jacket:

Back in 1985, Frank Mackey was nineteen, growing up poor in Dublin's inner city, and living crammed into a small flat with his family on Faithful Place. But he had his sights set on a lot more. He and Rosie Daly were all ready to run away to London together, get married, get good jobs, break away from factory work and poverty and their old lives. 

But on the winter night when they were supposed to leave, Rosie didn't show. Frank took it for granted that she'd dumped him-probably because of his alcoholic father, nutcase mother, and generally dysfunctional family. He never went home again. 

Neither did Rosie. Everyone thought she had gone to England on her own and was over there living a shiny new life. Then, twenty-two years later, Rosie's suitcase shows up behind a fireplace in a derelict house on Faithful Place, and Frank is going home whether he likes it or not. 

Getting sucked in is a lot easier than getting out again. Frank finds himself straight back in the dark tangle of relationships he left behind. The cops working the case want him out of the way, in case loyalty to his family and community makes him a liability. Faithful Place wants him out because he's a detective now, and the Place has never liked cops. Frank just wants to find out what happened to Rosie Daly-and he's willing to do whatever it takes, to himself or anyone else, to get the job done.

2012 books read:
The Coast Road - John Brady
Still Midnight - Denise Mina
The Bulgari Connection - Fay Weldon
Good Bait - John Harvey
The Heretic's Treasure - Scott Mariani 
Dead I Well May Be - Adrian McKinty
The Devil's Elixir - Raymond Khoury 
A Darker Domain - Val McDermid
The Impossible Dead - Ian Rankin 
GB84 - David Peace 
The Emperor's Tomb - Steve Berry 
Stonehenge Legacy - Sam Christer
Inquisition - Alfredo Colitto ABANDONED!

The Troubled Man - Henning Mankell

Nineteen Seventy-Four - David Peace