Gift wrapping

Gift Wrapping

   Gift wrapping was very popular in Britain. They used wallpaper to conceal the gift secured with ribbons and lace. The upper class soon found it cumbersome and went to tissue paper. However, it easily tore and broke revealing the gift. This was a disaster because it revealed the gift allowing others to estimation the cost of the present. So they moved to brown paper to hide their gifts from view.

   The U.S. played one of the biggest roles in gift wrapping the way we know it today. In 1917  Joyce Clyde Hall and his brother, Rollie, invented modern gift wrap in their Kansas City, Mo. store. They ran out of solid colored tissue gift wrap, during the peak of the Christmas season. Desperate they began substituting the thicker French envelope liner for wrapping presents. It sold so well they printed their own. Then 20 years later, Scotch tape was invented, replacing twine, ribbon, lace and string to secure gift wrap.

Halloween

Halloween placemats kid can make

To get your children ready for Halloween start by making placemats to use with meals. These are easy for kids to make and fun to use. Free pintables are available.

http://www.themotherhuddle.com/halloween-place-mats-with-free-printables/

Lunch box idea

Lunch Box Idea

          To get your children ready for school and looking forward to school, why not make personalized lunch boxes. They are easy to make and a nice way to teach your children how to recycling.

http://www.goodshomedesign.com/diy-lunch-box-made-from-recycled-milk-jugs/

Something's Cooking at Dove Acres

Something's Cooking at Dove Acres

by

Will Zeilinger

How DOVE ACRES came to be

          My wife and I have taken many trips to Santa Catalina Island, only 23 miles off the coast of Long Beach California. On one visit we met a friend who lives there. Since there are only a few cars on the island, she took us for a tour in her golf cart which she calls her “Catalina Limo.” We marveled at the sights most tourists never see and learned that much of the property was passed down through families. This gave me the idea for a story of a young woman who inherits a beautiful estate on the island. How would she get along? What challenges would she face? 

          At sunset that evening, we sat at one of our favorite seafood restaurants thinking of all the unusual people and quirky personalities we’d encountered.  The islanders and their lifestyle are what sparked the inspiration for this book.

Buy link: http://www.willzeilingerauthor.com

 These tea sandwiches were served and made by Dimple at her first family gathering. 

TEA SANDWICHES

Makes 20 small sandwiches, they should be varied in shape—round, square, triangu­lar, or diamond. Remove the crusts and cut in quarters or use a large cookie cutter to make unusual shapes. Any kind of bread will do: white, rye, nut, or raisin. Serve them open faced or closed. Serve right away or cover with foil, and store in the refrigerator. Estimate 3 or 4 for each guest.

Here are sample of fillings for the sandwiches

Fillings

•     Cream cheese, minced cooked mushrooms, garnish with ground nutmeg.

•     Chopped watercress, softened butter, garnish with grated onion.

•     Strawberry marmalade, chopped pe­cans, and cream cheese.

•     Minced crabmeat, mayonnaise, and ground turmeric.

•     Mashed avocado, fresh lemon juice, and hot pepper sauce.

•     Minced chicken, almonds, curry powder, and dairy sour cream.

•     Creamed Roquefort cheese, cream cheese, and sherry.

•     Spread with smoked cheese and top with sliced.

•     Minced cucumbers, dairy sour cream, garnish with capers.

•   Ginger marmalade, topped with chopped walnuts.

Summer Picnicking

Oh So Easy Picnicking

Picnics in the summer trump any activity, no matter where your picnic is. But, the clean up can be a bear when returning home.

          As a coinsure of summer picnics and picnicking, I devised at simple way of handling the hated, "after picnic clean up".

My strategy:

-Throughout the year, save plastic containers, i.e. store bought pies, purchased salads at say chicken take outs, preferable anything with a removable label.

-Before washing the container, peel off the labels while watching TV at night.

-After washing and drying them, store in an out of the way cabinet you hate getting into, i.e. the cabinet above the refrigerator

-Be vigilant with saving all containers

-Before the first summer concert, pull down all saved containers and separate them by size and shape.

-As concerts are planned, put your food in the containers and take off for the concert.

-After the concert, throw the containers, plastic forks, spoons, knives and cups away.

          You'll come home with an empty sack of nothing and be glad you saved those pesky containers.

Little known fact about Ireland

Little known fact about Ireland

Muckanaghederdauhaulia (Irish: Muiceanach idir Dhá Sháile⁾ The longest name of a town in Ireland. It means "ridge, shaped like a pig's back, between two expanses of briny water".^.  It is a 470 acre townland in Kilcummin, County Galway, Ireland.

It was formerly regarded as the longest place name in Ireland (22 letters), but awareness of longer names has recently challenged Muckanaghederdauhaulia for the title.

Bet you can't say Muckenaghederdauhaulia 10 times fast!!

Tax Time

TAX TIME!!

          Income tax has been a part of our lives since 1862 when Congress began imposing taxes to support the Civil War during President Lincoln's term.  In 1913 the 16th Amendment made income tax a permanent fixture in our lives. Thanks President Wilson!!

          I thought I'd add a laugh to the sting of April 15th deadlines.  After all, laughs are free and non-taxable!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqnAS0ZcmsY

Irish Apple Cake

This recipe is similar to Spice Cake with sweet, juicy apples. I had this in Tipperary, when we visited Ireland last year. We ordered a second one to take back to our hotel. Great with melted butter drizzled on top or whipped cream.

Ultimate Irish Apple Cake

courtesy of Food.com

4 tablespoons butter, softened (room temperature)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg, beaten (room temperature)

4 granny smith apples, cored, peeled and diced (2 cups)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350°F

Generously grease an 8-inch square cake pan.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the egg, apples, nuts, and vanilla and stir well.

Sift in the dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake about 45 minutes, until the cake is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let the cake set in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from pan.

Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Serves 10-12

Valentine's Dessert-Decadent

Nothing beats a decadent dessert for Valentine's Day. Why go out when you and your special person can make and enjoy this dessert at home.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MOUSSE

Courtesy of:  Lemon Tree Dwelling (e-mail address below)

Mousse

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

1 Tbsp. cold water

2 Tbsp. boiling water

½ c. sugar

¼ c. cocoa powder

1 c. heavy cream, cold

1 tsp. vanilla extract (may substitute almond)

Chocolate Sauce

⅓ c. cocoa powder

1 c. sugar

¾ c. evaporated milk

¼ c. butter

½ tsp. vanilla extract (may substitute almond)

Garnish

2 Tbsp. chocolate chips

whipped cream

Mousse

1.    Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in small bowl; stir and let stand 1 min. to soften.

2.    Add boiling water; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.

3.    Combine sugar and cocoa powder in small mixing bowl; add heavy cream and vanilla.

4.    Beat at medium speed until stiff peaks form; pour in gelatin mixture and beat until well-blended.

5.    Spoon into serving dishes; chill 1 hour.

Chocolate Sauce

1.    Combine cocoa powder and sugar in small saucepan; blend in evaporated milk.

2.    Add butter.

3.    Cook and stir constantly until mixture just begins to boil.

4.    Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

5.    Spoon over chilled mousse; top with fresh raspberries, whipped cream, chocolate pieces, and sliced almonds (optional).

Preparation time- 75 mins

TOTAL TIME -1 hour 15 mins

Serves:2-4

http://www.lemontreedwelling.com/2014/02/triple-chocolate-raspberry-mousse-celebrating-valentines-day-with-pick-n-save-milwaukee-grocery.html

Snow Man Juice Boxes

Snowman juice boxes

These can be made ahead of time and used in your children’s lunch box for school.

Check out the website.

http://thechicsite.com/2013/11/30/juice-box-snowmen/