Akamatra

DIY infinity symbol leather lanyard – Tutorial

Hello darlings!

So, you are back from the super market and you are standing outside your house with a toddler in your hip, since she didn’t want to sit in the stroller, your groceries in bags hanging from your soon-to-be-detached-by-the-force-of-gravity fingers, the stroller slipping towards the road with the rest of I-just-need-a-couple-of-things groceries on every available surface and your other hand in your oversized bag frantically trying to find your keys.

Sound familiar? To quote Indiana Jones in the Last Crusade:

I have one big and very heavy set of keys that has the cunning ability to disappear when I need it the most. So I decided enough is enough! I need a way to find my keys quickly. I need a large lanyard that would be difficult to pull a disappearing act in the depths of my bag. So I made an infinite one! I am kidding. I just made a large infinity symbol one. Take a look how I did it.

Supplies

30 cm of thick leather cord. I got mine from here.

A 4cm x 10cm piece of soft suede leather

Hot glue and hot glue gun (I also use these cause I have a tendency to burn my fingers, but if you are not a dork like me you can go without)

Key ring(s)
A pair of scissors

Procedure

The procedure is super easy and I am not just saying that! **Sorry for the quality of the photos, I took then late last night when Natalia was asleep**

You take your leather cord and turn it into an oval shape. Place your key ring through the cord.

Pinch the oval in the middle to form the infinity symbol. The key ring is going to be on the one side of the symbol. You can use two key rings and have one in each loop of the symbol, it’s up to you.

With your hot glue gun, glue one of the open ends to the side.

Then glue the other open end. Hold together until the glue cools and dries.

Now take your suede leather and glue it in the center of the infinity symbol to cover the open ends.

Fold it around the center a couple of times and glue it close.

You are done! See? Told you it was easy! I hope this will work and I’ll not have to do another size upgrade!

Now let’s see, where did I put my glasses?

Lots of love

No comments

, by M. Akamatra

food

A different kind of carrot salad - Vegan recipe

Hello darlings!

While Nick was away overseas the other week it seemed that time was my worst enemy. I didn't seem to have any. The first thing that suffers when I don't have time is my cooking. No, that's a lie. The very first thing is ironing my clothes. But that's fine I don't really mind wrinkles in my clothes. I do mind going hungry though, lol.

This was my go to salad the past week. It's easy and very tasty. And yes it is a carrot salad even though it doesn't seem to have carrots in it. But it has! It's just the leafy part of the carrot and not the root.

I admit I didn't know about the leafy part of the carrots and how tasty they are until I started going to the organically grown vegetable market near my house. There is a lady in the market who sells this amazingly yummy carrots with their leaves. She was the one who suggested I use them in a salad. She wasn't wrong.

For this salad you are going to need

Half of a small cabbage, washed and shredded.
The leafy part of two carrots, washed and cut with your hands
Seeds from half a pomegranate
Two (or more) horseradishes, washed, whole
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
fresh squeezed lemon juice to taste

Toss it together in a bowl and mix the olive oil with the lemon juice. Ready. You can now dig in!

I certainly did! And I enjoyed every minute of it with the amazing OSMOS bowl from Zak!Designs. The company send me two OSMOS bowls in beech/white to try out. As a known lover of everything minimal and well made I loved these bowls on sight! The large one that is pictured here is perfect for salads and the smaller one it's great for your breakfast.

The design is excellent and the quality is too. If there is a draw back is the fact that melamine can't be microwaved since it holds up to 70 Celsius, but that's ok. The bowls are great for cold food!

They also send me a set of small dishes which are perfect for dried fruit and nuts.

Along with a small tray dish for cheese and cold cuts.

This two below can be yours if you want them! Enter the giveaway below for a chance to win them. It's really super easy, do back flips or anything, promise!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lots of love

8 comments

, by M. Akamatra

parendhood

Why the heck do we need a pregnancy and infant loss awareness month?

Hello darlings,

In a post I wrote last year about 59+1 random things you didn’t know about me, I talked about how I shy away from posting personal things on the blog and the internet in general. That hasn’t changed despite the fact that I have since shared more personal stuff here. It never comes easy for me to open up on the internet and I think it never will. On that same post it was the first time I wrote about losing my daughter’s twin just before turning 12 weeks pregnant. I’ve never mentioned it since. Until now that is.

I am not sure how many of you know that October is pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. I didn’t know either till recently. When I first found out I didn’t understand why there was a need to have a month dedicated on such a matter to be honest with you. You could say I had conflicted feelings about it but the truth is I was actually really angry.

I mean who needs to be aware of pregnancy loss? Pregnant women? Do you really think they don’t know it? Do you really think there is a pregnant woman out there that doesn’t know that it is possible to loose a child before it is born, while giving birth or shortly after? Really? Every woman knows that! It’s every woman’s worst nightmare and it’s one of the reasons pregnant women don’t sleep well in my opinion.

Or maybe we need to have this month to remember our angel babies. Again, really? Is there a woman (or a man for that matter) out there who needs a reminder of that loss? Is there a woman out there who doesn’t think of the baby or babies she’s lost every freaking day? Do you really think that these little souls haven’t left a mark in ours? Do you really think that this mark doesn’t burn every freaking day? Or we should only remember them every time October comes around?

And who were those people who were urging me and other like me to talk about my loss? Don’t they know I am an introvert that deals with grief by herself and with the help of her loving husband? Why do they put the pressure on me to come forward and share my story?

That’s just some of my thoughts when I first learnt of this awareness month. To say I was frustrated is putting it mildly. I was livid! I was hurting and I couldn’t make sense of it all. So I did what I always do when I can’t make sense out of something. I read! I read and then read some more and I finally saw the light. I finally realized why there has to be a month (and October the 15th in particular) dedicated to this hurtful matter.

The reason is empathy.

Not everyone knows how to deal with pregnancy and infant loss. Not everyone has that happened to them (thankfully!), so not everyone knows the right thing to say to someone who has. Not all husbands know what they can do to help their wives (or significant other) deal with the loss. Not everyone is an introvert like me.

I remember when my doctor first told me I was pregnant. The joy, the tears, the stress, I remember it all. And I will never forget when he told me on a later appointment that there are actually two babies in there! It was the only visit to the doctor I went alone since Nick was abroad. I will never forget the joy, the tears, the stress and the excitement of learning we had two babies!

I would like to forget the day he told me that baby #2 is gone. Actually I would like for that day to never had happened but forgetting it would be ok too. But I will never forget every word that was said. He was almost as devastated as we were, my sweet doctor. You see I didn’t feel a thing. He (or she) passed away without a sign, without a pain, without a goodbye. One day he was fine and then he was gone. No blood, no pain, no nothing. We were 3 days away from the 12 week get out jail mark. It happens they say. Don’t worry about baby #1, they say. She will be fine, they say. My sweet doctor told me I had no right to grieve right now. I had another baby to look after and I should not stress myself in fear of losing the other baby too.

I never told my parents. I only told my sister the next day, on Christmas Eve when she came around our house with my nephew for the Christmas carols. I couldn’t say it at first but she knew about the doctor’s appointment and she asked about the babies. I said: “We are left with only one”. She was sad and very supportive and she told my parents for me. I think Nick told everyone else about it and how they were supposed to not say anything to me to avoid me getting over emotional and stressed out. And so baby #2 was never mentioned again. I talked about it with my husband but up until now I’ve never talked about it with anyone else.

So, it has become a taboo matter of shorts. Everyone knows about it but no one really talks about it. And those who have commented on it in passing never say the right thing. In my case what I’ve heard the most is: “At least you had two so you are left with one”. This is NOT the right thing to say. It’s like saying baby’s #2 life didn’t matter since you got to go home with baby #1. It’s like saying one out of two is a good score. What.A.Load.Of.Crap! That’s the worst thing to say!

The best thing was actually something Nick said. He said what a hero baby #2 was to sacrifice himself for his twin and in a way that didn’t harm baby #1 at all. See, after learning about his passing we were on high alert for any problems like bleeding or pain or any sign something was wrong with baby #1 too. Nothing ever happened. With time the dead fetus was absorbed by me and baby #1 and after a few months it was not even detectable in the ultrasound. In our minds he was truly a hero.

And that’s why it’s ok to have a pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. Cause people will learn what the right thing to say is. (BTW a simple: "I am sorry" is more than fine). People will be more educated on how a family feels after such a loss. People will talk about their loss and maybe even heal through the process.

I still don’t want to talk about baby #2. I see his photo on the ultrasound and talk to him from time to time. I think I will talk about him with Natalia when she gets older. I would like her to know about her twin. I am sure baby #2 would like that too.

If you’ve been there I am sorry for your loss. I hope you have a supportive family and friends and I hope you get to grieve and be strong. If you’ve never been there, I hope you’ll never will.
If you need to learn more about this subject you can read more here.

Lots of love

21 comments

, by M. Akamatra

cleaning

A Comprehensive Restaurant Kitchen Cleaning List

Hello darlings!

Have I ever told you about the time I worked as a waitress in a restaurant while I was studying in the University? Well those were the days, I'll tell you! I enjoyed the work there so much and I had the best boss I could ask for! I made so much money working during the summer I could sustain myself for almost the whole winter!

I still remember fondly the wife of the boss. She was the best cook and could make the best fried calamari! She was also very strict about the cleaning process! She was right!

Running a busy restaurant is no easy task- especially when it comes to keeping it clean all the time. Restaurant kitchens are usually a beehive of activities- from vegetable chopping that leaves all sorts of veggie chops all over the counter and the floor, to frying foods that cause grease to stick all over the walls, not to mention some weird items lodging themselves in the back of the reach-in cooler.

Keeping the restaurant clean and in top shape can be overwhelming, especially if you haven’t created a cleaning schedule.

To help keep your food service facility clean, hygienic, and in top shape, you will need to create a comprehensive restaurant cleaning schedule that clearly outlines what needs to be done to achieve this. Furthermore, regular cleaning of the restaurant is essential in ensuring food safety and also in helping reduce food waste, thereby allowing you save more on overall menu costs.

Some restaurant cleaning tasks should be performed several times a day while others only need to be done on a weekly or monthly basis. That being said, here is a handy restaurant kitchen cleaning list according to boss' wife.

1. Kitchen Items to Clean During Every Cooking Shift

• Brush the grill between cooking red meat, fish, and chicken meat

• Switch cutting boards

• Wipe down the line and the preparation areas

• Change the sanitizing water and cleaning rags

• Empty all the trash bins

2. Restaurant Kitchen Items to Clean After Every Cooking Shift (Including Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner)

• Brush the grill

• Clean up the fryers

• Sweep the walk-in refrigerator

• Wash meat and cheese slicers after use

• Wash and sanitize all surfaces, including the prep tables, cutting boards, reach-in line, and line

• Empty the steam table and clean thoroughly

• Empty all sanitizing buckets

• Cover all bins in a reach in cooler with plastic wraps

• Put the aprons, chef coats, and chef hats in laundry

• Place cleaning rags in dirty laundry

• Wash all floor mats

• Wipe down walls

• Sweep, mop, and sanitize the kitchen floor.

3. Restaurant Kitchen Daily Cleaning List

• Wipe down and clean the grease trap

• Wash the can openers

• Wash the meat slicers

• Change the foil linings of the grill, flattop, and range

• Wipe down the walls

• Run the hood filters through the dishwasher

• Wash the beverage dispenser heads in soda fountains

• Mop the floors

4. Restaurant Kitchen Weekly Cleaning List

It’s important to rotate these tasks throughout the weeks to ensure that equal amounts of work are completed in each shift. Every week:

• Clean the coffee machine

• Clean the oven. Check the manufacturer’s instructions on how to clean it

• Empty the reach-in refrigerators, wash, and sanitize them

• Oil cast all cookware

• Delime the sinks and faucets

5. Restaurant Kitchen Monthly Cleaning List

Just like weekly cleaning, these tasks should be rotated throughout the month on different shifts to ensure that the employees equally share the workload. Every end month;

• Clean the freezers

• Wash the walls and ceilings

• Empty and sanitize the ice machine

• Calibrate the ovens

• Wash the walls and ceilings

• Sharpen the meat and cheese slicers

• Calibrate the thermometers

• Wipe down the dry storage area

• Restock the first aid kit

• Change any set pest traps

• Update the material safety data sheets that outline clear instructions on how to safely use any chemicals in the kitchen

6. Restaurant Kitchen Yearly Cleaning List

It’s also important to schedule cleaning on a yearly basis. Since it will require deep cleaning, it’s advisable to enlist the services of a professional restaurant cleaning service. This is also the best time to fix any repairs; whether on appliances, floors or cabinets. Some of the tasks to be done on a yearly basis include;

• Cleaning the hoods at least twice a year. Cleaning hoods isn’t an easy task and your employees may have the skills to do so, so be sure to hire a restaurant cleaning service to do it for you.

• Cleaning the pilot lights on the gas equipment and follow the manufacturer’s instructions while doing so

• Checking the fire suppression system

• Checking the condition of the fire extinguishers at least twice a year

Using a cleaning list is a great way to delegate cleaning tasks to employees, keep your kitchen more organized, and most importantly, ensure that your kitchen is in top-notch condition every single day. Your customers will also appreciate your restaurant’s proper hygiene standards and the health inspectors will never find a reason to close your restaurant.

And even if you don't own a restaurant you can implement these tips for your home, just scale them down accordingly!

Lots of love