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Free Kids Magazine & Stickers From PeTA kids

PeTA kids is offering a FREE Kids' Guide to Helping Animals magazine. It comes with FREE stickers too! Head over and fill out the form to request yours here.

If You Live in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Garner, Holly Springs, Clayton, and surrounding areas in North Carolina READ

Leaf & Limb Tree Service is offering Free Wood Chips with Free Delivery to people in North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Apex, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, Garner, Holly Springs, Clayton, and surrounding areas). 

If you would like free wood chips delivered to your home or place of business, click here   for more info or call them at 919-787-9551 and request a load (or multiple loads!).

During tree removal, trimming, and pruning they process the resulting debris into wood chips. They have large wood chipping machines that shred limbs into small pieces, thus producing 100% organic, nutrient-rich wood chips that can be used for all your landscaping needs. These wood chips can be used as ground cover for trees, shrubs, flowers, and gardens. They can also be used as lining for outdoor dog pens, yard decoration, and in a compost pile. 

* Please note that these are natural wood chips. They have not been further processed into fine-grade mulch products such as triple-shredded mulch or dyed mulch.

There wood chips are free and include free on-site delivery! It is a win-win, which is recycling at its best!

TELL YOUR CONGRESSMEN ANY WAY YOU CAN TO VOTE NO TO BILL HR985

#StopHR985

Please spread the word about this incredibly unfair and dangerous bill. Thank you!

Essential Home & Kitchen Pastry Mat

I have used several pastry mats in my cooking preparation over the years mostly for rolling out my pie dough. They also mostly run the same size, with just room for rolling out a single pie crust and a little extra for your rolling pin.

I have used a few pastry mats that claimed they were non-slip and non-stick they ended up moving with every other push of my rolling pin & my dough stuck anyway, maybe not as much but it would still stick unless you used more unneeded flour. Most of the time clean up was limited and my work area was as if I had never even used a mat of any kind.

Storage was always problematic. Some you cannot fold or roll and need to lie flat, other's can be rolled and stored away in a drawer or cupboard etc, but you cannot place anything of any sufficient weight on top of it as that will ruin it's ability lie flat again. I had one that I had to get out several days prior and lie it out and hope that it would regain its normal ability to lie flat again.

Recently I was given a chance to try Essential Home & Kitchen Best Large Silicone Pastry Mat  for free. All the company wanted was my review of there pasty mat. So I decided why not, it's almost time for my Easter Baking.

It arrived really early in the morning. I opened the box and was expecting the same old sized pastry mat, but as I rolled it out I was surprised and thrilled at it's size! This means more working room. Oh the thought of more preparation room!  It's title and listing did say large and gave the measurements 25" x 18" but at the time I chose not to pay attention to it.

Not only did the size delight me it was also very flexible. Surprisingly I can also placed it into my oven up to 350 Degrees!




This pastry mat comes with its own set of tool's:
In the center of the pastry mat are circles that range in size from 5” to 12” or 12.5 cm to 30 cm . It Also has 3 different conversion charts printed on it..

Liquid Conversion Chart (bottom right)

Weight Conversion Chart (bottom left)

Fahrenheit to Celsius Conversion Chart(top right)  

A really great idea because I cannot tell you how many times over the years I have had to look a few of those up again!

It also has a very important Centimeter Ruler Markings and Standard Ruler Markings tool. They both run along the edges. Another useful tool on this pastry mat is an inch grid on the entirety of the mat. I'm thinking, this would also be nice for my crafting area too.

I was actually excited this pastry mat seems to be very different from others I have used,  I couldn't wait so I washed it up and decided to try it out and make a pie. I had chose to used the Classic Crisco Pie Crust Cold Recipe for the try out. It's my go to Pie Crust Recipe, one that I have used for years and has never failed me.

                         

When placing the pastry mat on my work area I realized it covered enough of my work area that I could mix my pie dough right on it. I did just that and when cutting the moist floured mixture into the powdered floured mixture (see recipe) it was actually a bit easier.
I did not move the pastry mat to clean it as I prepared to roll out the pie dough it just wiped clean. I put flour on my rolling pin and started to roll the dough. I barely had to apply any further flour as it rolled out quite easy. Another reason I love using Crisco's Classic Pie Crust Cold Recipe.

When rolling out the dough It was as if I was rolling out the dough on a bare surface the mat did not budge, scooch or give in any way. And it is definitely non-stick as even at the thinnest edge of my pie dough did not stick it came right up and off. This is going to work fantastically for the formation of my dinner buns. I foresee a lot of free-form baking in my future and rolled cookies.

Everything went so well  I ended up making 4 pie's: 2 Apple & 2 Cherry. All came out with flaky pie crust. 

Clean up was super easy. I could have just wiped it down as I did earlier, but I wanted a better all over clean. It is very flexible and fit right into my sink of warm soapy dish water. I dried it and rolled it back up. For now I am placing it back into it's own box for storage. When the box fails I will simply place it around my rolling pin. Oh yes I cannot forget to mention this pastry mat is also dishwasher safe!

I'm Really looking forward to everyday cooking with my new pastry mat by Essential Home and Kitchen. I am really so very glad I decided to try it. It makes cooking easier and more pleasurable for me. It's everything you should experience with a pastry mat!