Home Made Snow Globes

Who doesn't love snow globes at Christmas time? For our kids Christmas get together we made these adorable snow globes. Ours took some preparation so the kids could just have fun putting them together. I didn't want them to have to wait to see their creation. These are incredible easy and totally worth the work so don't be alarmed with the prep.

Ingredients

--empty jars- we used Trader Joe's PB jars. We found ours off of Freecycle. I didn't use mason because I didn't want upside down writing!
--silicone sealant - you can find this at any hardware store (Look for one that is aquarium safe or for bath or showers).
--glycerin - this can be found at a specialty store like Joann's (used to correct dried frosting coloring). If you can't find glycerin I have been told you can use mineral oil or baby oil in place of the distilled water below.
--distilled water - distilled is so mold doesn't grow in your creation. If you can't locate distilled you can boil tap water for 20 Min's and then let it cool to room temperature.

--glitter or crushed up egg shells- this is for your snow effect.

Make sure you have cleaned your jars really well. Take you lids and glue your decoration with the silicone sealant to the inside of the lid. I got lucky and found 100% silicone sealant in white! I used this on the lid of our jars for a snow effect. Make sure you let this set for 24 hours to really stick.
Note- we used faux pine branches, the holly berries were made of Styrofoam and disintegrated once they were in the water turning our water red! So you may want to test your item in water before you glue it down.

After your decorations have set, take your glass jars and fill them with the distilled water. Add the glycerin. 1/4 tsp for a small jar, 1/2 tsp for a medium jar and 1tsp for a large jar. Add your glitter or crushed egg shells to your liking. I crushed ours ahead of time so the kids didn't have to wait for me.
Place a small beading of silicone sealant around the grooves of your lid and close the jar tightly. Let it sit for 12 hours before you shake it up (I didn't follow this direction and I let the kids see one swirl of their jar before placing it upside down overnight.

Cranberry Pork Chops- Crockpot cooking

I recently came across a blog written by Stephanie O'Dea. She has an obsession with her crock pot. An obsession that I completely share. All summer long I wanted to use our crock pot but it was just to darn hot out. Now that it is cooler I am using it at least ever other day. So I've decided to start sharing some of the tasty recipes with you (I have come across some really bad ones-I won't share them).

This crockpot recipe my family really liked. Next time we are going to try it with a shot of whiskey!

Ingredients

6 bone-in pork loin chops

1 can (14 ounces) jellied cranberry sauce

1/2 cup cranberry or apple juice

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

1/2 teaspoon salt

Dash pepper

I covered the pork chops with the salt and pepper and then placed them in the bottom of the crock pot. I literally dumped the rest of the items on top and let it cook for 6-8 hours. I made rice pilaf and beans so green from Trader Joe's for the sides.

This was tasty and everyone thought it was really good. Even our 1 year old!

Home made bath goodies

It's been weeks in the making! My friend Erin (whom definitely needs her own blog) and I have been making home made soap for Christmas gifts. We decided to go with a Rosemarry based sent and let me just say, my house smells absolutely amazing!

We started ourselves out slow by making a home made salt scrub. Shown in mason jar above. This turned out really well. All you need to pull this off is Epson salt, sea salt, a carrier oil (but we noticed we could have easily used less oil) and your scent. You can get the recipe here.

We then decided to try out making bath fizzes. This seems like it would be difficult. I had to order citric acid online (anything I can't walk into a store and buy I consider to be a pain). But it went together quick and the outcome as you can see is very nice looking. We made snowflakes and tree shaped fizzes. Recipe here!

The last item we made was the soap. Beware making this is not for the faint of heart. It requires Lye. Lye in days gone by was used for cleaning drains, and making soap and all sorts of other things. I warn you it is abrasive. You need vinegar around while making this, in case the Lye gets on your skin. It will "burn" you this feels like annoying itching.
Other items needed are coconut oil, vegetable oil, and in our case olive oil. We used the Rosemarry oil for scent and chopped up Rosemarry for show. You can use coloring we decided on no coloring to achieve a more rustic look. I will put the whole recipe up later.

The process requires you to get the lye and the oils between 75-78 degrees before you combine them. If I do this again I will be buying two digital thermometers (one for each pot) because we went back and fourth between the two pots with the thermometer and this slowed down our process and caused complications.

Once the oils and lye were combined and went through their sopification process it rested in a plastic shoebox that had been greased with Crisco.

It sat in the shoebox for almost a week. Then we removed it and let it dry out (shown above) I used a cake leveler to cut the block.

The soap works and smells great. I'm really glad we tried it. Now I have fabulous home made gifts to give my friends and family. I will post photos of eveyting in their baskets once that is done!

Change In The Weather

The fall to winter change always reminds me of Mary Poppins. Especially with all the wind here. Because I'm a wimpy California girl I spend most of my time indoors during the colder months. So get ready for some crock pot cooking!

Santa Anna winds

Part of living in our local (in Southern California) is the extreme high winds that we get in the fall. When I planted our garden at the end of spring I completely forgot about this! Because I wasn't prepared ahead of time this is the outcome. The below pictures were taken after I put the lattice and tomato cages back up (they all were blown over). The plants don't look very good and they all got wind burn. I guess we will just have to see what happens. Moving foward I'm going to have to invest in some covers for the planters.

Betsy

I wanted to take a moment to share a new member of our family with you.

Xavier has lovingly named her Betsy. She was found by a coworker of mine behind our office building. She was left in a bag behind the trash cans. She looks good in this photo but this is after two baths and a hair cut. The vet said she is about 4 months old, 4 pounds, and a mix between a Poodle and a Shih tzu. I'm not sure what you would call that...

Betsy is adapting really well to our family. In fact now that she is here it feels like she has always been with us. She gets along great with the boys and they just adore her. In fact everyone that meets her tells us if we aren't sure we want her they will take her ha ha! Betsy is here to stay. The universe works is mysterious ways.

Pomegranate Tree

When I was little I loved fall because it meant Halloween was coming. Now that I'm an adult (and a homeowner) I adore fall because it means the Pomegranate tree in the backyard is going to produce. This particular tree is actually our neighbors tree but it is positioned so the majority hangs over our fence, oh darn!

When the tree first blooms in the summer it has tiny red flowers all over. The flowers grow a red tube like shape and the flower wilts and falls off. This tube is what is eventually becomes the end of the pomegranate at picking time. The easiest way to open them is by scoring the outside flesh with a knife and breaking it open. I've been told it's easier if you freeze them first but I haven't tried it.

Poms are known to be high in vitamin C about 19% of a persons daily intake. They are also a good source of vitamin B5. And if you eat them with seeds in they are high in fiber. In India Poms have been used as a remedy against diarrhea (by eating the rind) as well as a tonic for the heart and throat. Although this sounds strange some studies have found that the consumption of Poms help with diabetes, rhinovirus, and the common cold (from Wikipedia).

Besides the health benefits there are so many delicious recipes to use with pomegranates. Grenadine syrup is derived from the pomegranate and the seeds are used regularly as a spice in Indian cuisine. Last year I basted pork chops the pom juice from our tree for Christmas dinner. Here are some recipes for great food made with pomegranates that I love: Pear and Pom salad, Apple and Pom crisp, Pom Margarita, Roast Pork with Pom and Ginger glaze, and Avocado, Grapefruit and Pom salad by none less than Ms. Martha Stuart.

Usually the squirrels get a large amount of our crop before we can get to them. This year I've been determined to pick them as soon as they are ripe. Do you have a favorite pomegranate recipe? do you have a favorite fruit that is out of the ordinary? I would love to hear about them.