Simplicity

Well, the Christmas (and Hannukah, and Kwanzaa) season is upon us!  I don't know about everyone else, but I am whoa excited.  And since we're not decorating at all this year (people think we're nuts, but we're headed home again and who wants to come home to having to pack up a tree?) I am getting into the idea of our homemade Christmas.  We are planning on making gifts, or doing things for others this year.  And last month I sent out a couple care packages to two amazing girls and thought that maybe others would be interested, since it's something simple, but nice.  Remember, keep it simple and don't try and do something new.  If you bake, great!  If you don't, don't use this as a time to experiment with baking!  Include some classic holiday candy or treat and let yourself breathe!

I started by making some pumpkin muffins.  They seem to be a big hit with everyone who eats them, so I figured it was a good way to start.  (I also made chocolate covered pretzels with dark and white chocolate, but didn't like how they turned out.)  I picked up a couple of pretty cardboard boxes and painted them turquoise.  Why you might ask?  Because.  Who wants a whole bunch of holiday things they can only use once a year?  And I had already printed off some cute recipe cards that had red and turquoise on them, so I went with it.  

Next I cut out some cards and hand painted them with each girl's name.  I tried to make each a little different, and it worked out how I wanted.  Hindsight being what it is, I would recommend sketching it out in pencil beforehand, but it worked out well for being done freehand.  

I had also printed off a card from The Bright Side Project as a reminder usually much needed this time of year.  Go here to get a copy for yourself to print!

On top of the box and printed card I placed the recipe cards.  The first card was the recipe for the pumpkin muffins, and then there were 5 blank ones that were a slight variation, with the same design.  The recipe cards were from Purple Lemon Designs, and if you are wanting a few for yourself, go here.  

This was placed into a box padded with some paper to keep things from shifting too much.  I placed a couple other things in each box picked out for each individual.  Then more paper placed on top and the notecard I wrote a quick note in got placed on top of the paper so they would see it when opening the box.  It was quick, simple, and I had so much fun doing it!

Do you send out care packages?  Have any cute ideas you want to share?  Please let me know, I would love to do a post (or link to yours) about this, since it's a simple way to brighten someone's day!

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Magical

Okay, so I had an embarrassing situation over the past month and a half. I, who never really got acne was getting it bad along my jaw line. BAD. It was annoying, somewhat painful and it made me want to scream. But then 2 nights ago I decided to start using baking soda to wash my face. Problem solved. Really, after one time it had completely gone down and now you can barely see it.

Baking soda is my miracle product. I have tried explaining to people how good it is to always have a lot around but most are skeptical.

Baking soda is tough but gentle. It will work on things without leaving a scratch. For instance, I love the look of a stainless steel sink. Something in me just feels amazingly accomplished when one is shining. However, stainless steel sinks can get gross. Even when clean they can have horrible water spots. The answer? Baking soda of course! Just a little bit of baking soda (and if you want, add a drop of soap) and scrub scrub. It gets them shining like never before. This works for anything stainless (at least anything I've tried so far). I've shined up bathroom faucets that were just aged and ugly. I use it to really make my stainless steel pots and pans shine. Oh, and when my husband accidentally let something burn on hard and nothing else worked on getting it off, I turned to the internet. We made a paste of baking soda (just enough water to make a very thick paste) let it sit on top of the burned on spot for a day (or 3, we wanted to give it plenty of time!) and it came off completely without leaving even a hint of the problem behind! After that we used baking soda to keep our burner pans bright and clean.

It also cleans porcelain amazingly. Our home in England had water so hard that you had to use salts in the dishwasher just to get things clean. In the bathroom the toilet had hard water stains. Well, that would not do for when I had company. So my husband, a pair of gloves, and baking soda got the job done. He would hand scrub with baking soda until the porcelain gleamed. The bathtub? It looked brand new after I cleaned it with baking soda. I also used baking soda on our couch when I wanted to get stains that Sophie brought in out of the upholstery. Is your washer smelling a little off? Use baking soda in one of the washes to help freshen it up. And when we eventually have a baby and cloth diaper, baking soda is one of the things you can wash them with!

I use baking soda more often to brush teeth than I do regular toothpaste. It gets them squeaky clean, with no glycerin overlay. Even when I use regular old toothpaste I add extra baking soda. You can use baking soda in bath bombs. You can use it in your shampoo when you need an extra thorough wash (if you got something gross in it, or got particularly sweaty and greasy). Just be careful to only use a little....your scalp is sensitive you know!

I use a lot of products that most people have in the homes in order to clean my home and maintain my possessions. From baking soda to vinegar to hydrogen peroxide. I think there are some amazing ideas out there (even some books) to help make simple cheap products do an amazing job for you! Have any suggestions, leave a comment. Or better yet, do a post of your own and I will link to you!

How To...

Make a wonderfully lip smacking lunch.

Today G and I were in the process of switching back to nights, so we just ate our first meal of our day at about 4 this afternoon. Taking note from a starter I had yesterday at Cafe Rouge I pulled out the other part of the puff pastry we bought for the nectarine puffs the other night. I let it defrost (takes about 30-40 min.).

Then I rolled it out, sliced some red onion and set that aside. I placed the rolled puff pastry on a lightly buttered baking sheet ( I used my jelly roll sheet). I took 3 logs of goat's cheese (G is a cheese fanatic, so a lot of cheese is a must!) and crumbled them over the puff pastry. Then we literally just tossed the red onion slices on and sprinkled some bacon over it.

It cooked for approx 15 minutes, just until the edges were golden brown. Took it out and placed the sheet on a cooling rack.

Sliced and plated with wild rocket. And consumed while sitting and enjoying a good afternoon.

It was so good that I knew I needed to get on here and share the recipe! I think it will definitely go into our "cook for guests" rotation. So simple, and yet quite impressive in taste and presentation.