We had a great time with family in Iowa this weekend. We got to meet the crew at Belle Aroma® and bring home some more goodies that I can share with you.
Friday evening, we went to dinner with my sisters-in-law and brother-in-law at the Cider House, a cider brewery in Fairfield. While there, we all started sharing funny childhood memories. The only input I had was to share a couple after I joined the family.
The suggestion had been made to me while at Belle Aroma® to try mixing 2 different scents of wax melts or Belle Aroma No-Mess Fragrance Tarts® in my new Belle Aroma Plugables® Fragrance Vase. I mixed Chocolate Lava Cake & Crème Brûlée! I kind of dreamed of that for a while which prompted one of my shared memories that evening.
David and I were aged 22 and 21 when we married. About six months later, we moved to Missouri. We were struggling to eke out a living and found an old farmhouse to rent. It had no appliances, so we were in the market for a stove and refrigerator. We went to a used appliance store and found one on the junk heap. It was only $10 so we took it home and cleaned it up. However, the oven didn’t work. David decided he’d try and fix it. After all, he couldn’t hurt it. He took apart the control knob and put all the parts on a paper plate in front of him. He tinkered around with it for a while and when he put it back together, sadly, there were still 3-4 pieces on the paper plate. Bahaha!!! Oh well, he tried.
My grandma had given me a toaster oven, prehistoric by today’s standards. But nevertheless, I appreciated it. I decided to try making oatmeal cookies. I mixed up the dough and made my cookies, put them in and set the timer. I had made 9 cookies but when I opened the little door and pulled out the tray there was just one giant cookie! They had all melted together!! I couldn’t even slide the one cookie off with a big spatula! David has never met a cookie he didn’t like… I looked over and he’s taking fingerfuls of it and just kind of dropping them from above into his mouth. Lol! That must’ve been on a Saturday afternoon because I remember very distinctly the next day, as I’m supposed to be listening to the “sermon,” I leaned forward and whispered to my mom, “Is there flour in oatmeal cookies?” Hahaha!!! Turns out he was just eating sugar, shortening, eggs and oatmeal. It took me a while to live that one down.
One other time, before getting a better stove, we invited my parents over for Sunday dinner. I have no idea what I cooked but I do remember using my toaster oven once again to try baking a cake. I made a white cake from scratch. It was a 9” square pan and it took over an hour to bake. That should’ve been my first clue, but not one to waste food, I served it. I cut everybody a piece and sat down at the table to join them. My dad looked up and said, “Boy! I’m glad I didn’t drop this on my toe!” I laugh hard about it now – and, down through the years, he and I laughed about it many times - but, at the time, I busted out bawling. I turned to David with tears streaming down my face and said, “Well, if you’d get me an oven that worked!!” Oh, man, did all the men at the table feel bad that day?! Haha!! It wasn’t long before we got a better stove with a working oven.
My Belle Aroma Plugables® Fragrance Vase is beautiful. Mine is the pink and gold Mediterranean-style mosaic glass vase, which is designed to double as a night light. It’s plugged into my living room wall now with one Chocolate Lava Cake No-Mess Fragrance Tart and one Crème Brûlée. Warming the two together gives the impression that I’m baking a delicious dessert! Should you have a house on the market consider turning on your Belle Aroma Plugables® Fragrance Vase and freshening up your home before a showing. It will add beauty and home freshening at the same time.
Lori Herr for Belle Aroma® Brand