WFMW - Easy Holiday Candle holders

It's WFMW over at Shannon's Rocks in my Dryer blog. I'm happy to join in again, it has been a while!

One of the things that I lovingly unwrap every year is a holiday candle holder that my mother made when I was a child. She is very craftsy, my mother. And she has a green thumb. Is this fair?! Me... black thumb, Kimosabe. And my home goddess craftsy talents? Well, let's just say that I am good at standing back in awe and admiration. In other words, I'm the first one to start clapping. Someone needs to. But, I digress...

This holiday candle holder is really fun and easy to make, and it looks lovely. You will need the following items, almost all of which can be picked up at a crafts store - like Michael's:

• Several (10-12 )different colorful, festive ribbons


• Rick Rack in a few colors (gold or silver is niiice)


• Small single candle holder base to go in bottom of jar


• Loose faux pearls and/or small strings of pearls (or other "gems")


• Empty glass jar (i.e., coffee jar)


• Craft glue, preferably clear

And this is what you do: Segment by segment, cut a piece of ribbon and glue it around the jar moving upwards (or downwards if you are so inclined, no one's picky.) After the jar is covered in ribbon, glue on loose faux pearls, Rick Rack or other items. Let dry. Place a single candle holder in the bottom of jar. Put a single candle in the holder, and...you are DONE! BOOTIFUL! Really, they are gorgeous.

Get creative with the colors. For example, in the one that my mom made, she used nontraditional holiday colors for the ribbons. It is made with turquoise, gold, pink, and green ribbon with a touch of red on the rim at the top. She also glued gold Rick Rack on top of some of the ribbons. And then added the pearls. Remember faux pearls. BIG mistake to use the string of pearls that your husband gave you for the 2nd time last Christmas. Hey, it happens.

You can also use any type of candle depending on the width of the jar you choose. A taper, a pillar - even a tealight candle if it is a small jar.

If you make one, come back and tell me about it. I'd love to hear how it went. I promise it is easy. Promise. Although Happy Geek has doubts. She tried my "easy to make cookies with small children" recipe and this is what happened. She is hysterical! As for the holiday candle holders...perhaps best to make these holiday candle holders during nap time!

Happy Holidays to all!

Added Note: the picture was taken with my cell phone and the candle holder is over 40 years old....But, I still think it lovely, don't you?

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WFMW - How much candy to let the hooligans have?

Last year was our first venture out to trick-or-treat, when BOY & GIRL were 2. The whole candy thing had me a little concerned as we try not to have the kids consume too much sugar, and candy is something pretty rare. (For those of you who know me as the chocoholic, I know this sounds highly hypocritical - but, hey...trying to be a good parent.) Anyway, a friend gave me an idea last year and I really like it. On Halloween night, allow your child to eat as many pieces of candy as their age. So, last year BOY & GIRL had 2 pieces of candy each on Halloween. (Then E and I devoured the rest and believe it or not they forgot about it the next morning!!!) This year, they will each get 3 pieces. I don't anticipate that they will forget about the candy upon awakening in the A.M. However, 3 pieces a day for 3 days sounds reasonable. We'll see. It works for us.

What do you do to limit the amount of candy your child gets on Halloween?

For more great ideas, please check out Shannon's Works for Me Wednesday.

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WFMW - Simple Baked Alaska with a twist

So, what's a woman to do when she barely has enough time to shower, get the piles of laundry done, play with the kids, cook, shop for the accouterments for making an owl costume, drop off & pick up BOY from preschool, pick up GIRL off the floor of Target having a tantrum, check the news for recent updates on where the California wild fires are now, guzzle 4-5 cups of double Irish breakfast tea, clip Girl's tiny toe nails that are beginning to look "Howard Hughes like," get two children into bed who just don't want to be there, oh YES and blog?? What is a woman to do, you may ask? Well, she can only do what is absolutely essential. And that is... to participate in WFMW over at Rocks in my Dryer.

So, I am going to share this amazingly Simple Baked Alaska recipe with you from recipezaar.com. I made it this past Saturday night for a dinner party I hosted and it was simply... FAB. My mom whipped up a Baked Alaska from her own cook book (her brain) last New Year's Eve for a dinner party and I was looking for something that would be fun, unique and yet not too time consuming. May I point out that her brain apparently was not affected after having 4 children and 20 grandchildren. Unlike, moi, who has 2 children and is overwhelmed on a daily basis. Granted, they are 10 months apart, but still... she keeps me very humble.

So, without further ado (otherwise known as yackity, yack, yack) here it is:

Simple Baked Alaska Recipe with a twist {see below}
#13046 - by LikeItLoveIt (Chef #21694)

9 servings
25 min 10 min prep (does not include baking the cake)

Ingredients:
2 pints ice cream (brick-style) (I used Neapolitan ice cream for pizazz!)
sponge cakes or layer cake (1 inch-thick)
5 egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
2/3 cup sugar

Lay ice cream bricks side by side; measure length and width.
Trim cake 1 inch larger on all sides than ice cream measurements.
Place cake on a piece of foil.
Center ice cream on cake.
Cover; freeze till firm.
At serving time, beat together egg whites, vanilla, and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add in sugar beating after each tablespoon is added.
Transfer cake with ice cream to a baking sheet.
Spread with egg white mixture, sealing to edges of cake and baking sheet all around.
Swirl to make peaks.
Place oven rack in lowest position.
Bake in a 500F degrees oven about 3 minutes or till golden.
Slice; serve immediately.

And what is the twist? I decided to try something different and instead of sponge cake or layer cake I baked a sheet of 1 inch fudge brownies with coconut lightly sprinkled on top. It was YUMMY! And the coconut added a perfect touch of crunch.

And I leave you with one thing. This goes under "Do as I say, not as I do." Remember when slicing the masterpiece to cut it lengthwise so that you can see the chocolate, strawberry and vanilla layers... on the plate.

For more great Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Rocks in My Dryer.

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BOY & GIRL'S tips to avoid a messy car...well, sometimes

Over at Rocks in My Dryer, it is Works-For-Me-Wednesday once again...GOD the week flies by, especially when you are under the weather and have 2 children whom you want to ...throttle? Throttle, yes, a very good word. But, that's another story.

O.K., so we have a couple of tips for keeping the car out of the "land of sticky."

1. Put a nice towel, coordinated to match the interior of your car, under the car seat so that it covers the entire seat of the car. This little trick has a couple of advantages. When your child is climbing in the car and her feet are all wet (and sometimes muddy!), she can wipe her feet off on the towel and climb right in her car seat. No muddy/wet prints on upholstery or leather or on the car seat OR on the back of your front seats! (At first I tried getting those plastic seat covers that go under car seats, but my daughter slipped with her wet feet and they don't absorb any of the wetness.) We use two matching towels, as both BOY & GIRL are in car seats, and the towels come in handy also if the sippy cups spill overboard... Then when your towels get dirty (I use dark colors to disguise everyday dirt) you can just throw them into the washing machine and replace! It has been a great thing for us and has really protected the seats.
   


2. Speaking of sippy cups, I keep a couple of empty sippy cups in the car in the bag with the extra pair of clothes for each child (poop explosions... need I say more?). Before I wised up, we would get drinks with straws going through the drive-thru. My children love to play - as in...blow milk all over the car through the straw. So...if you have a couple of extra sippy cups, you can pour out the milk into the sippy cups and voila - no problem. Makes for a cleaner car and a less stressed Mom. And for the moment...you have actually outwitted the hooligans!

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Great cookie recipe to make with small children

Well I had so much fun doing backwards day at Rocks in My Dryer's Works for Me Wednesday last week, that I'm back again. This time I have a wonderful, simple Heloise recipe that my Aunt shared with me for making cookies with small children. And it only has 3 ingredients! It is really fun. BOY & GIRL love helping to mix this up with their small fingers - no mixer required!

HELOISE'S COOKIES
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl mix together: 1/2 cup of cooking oil & 2 eggs. Add the contents of one box of your favorite cake mix, dry just as it comes from the box. Mix it all together with your hands. **REQUIRED** It will be very stiff. Can continue with your hands to add 1/2 cup or so of chocolate chips, nuts or whatever.

Pinch off bits of the batter about the size of a tablespoon if you want large cookies, or more like a gumball if you want small. Bake about 10 minutes. Watch carefully, they bake pretty quickly. Top will still be a little moist when they are done. Remove immediately to a rack or to sheets of newspaper.

Some great variations are: chocolate cake mix & added chocolate chips & nuts. You can also use yellow or white cake and add food color for fun. Or white cake mix with M&Ms! Anything will work - that's the fun! Enjoy.

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