A Very Crafty Christmas - Homemade Pepper Jelly

When it comes to men it is difficult to determine what you could make that a man would be happy with. Time after time it has been determined that the one thing you can't go wrong with is food.

Adam and I have a special recipe that he has made since we were dating. It's a recipe that I had but never thought to make. Being that he loves to grill he was all about it. Part of the recipe calls for Hot Pepper Jelly. Unfortunately at the time we "discovered" our recipe we had a very difficult time trying to find pepper jelly in retail stores locally. After a trip to Iowa we learned from Aunt Ginny that we could just make it ourselves. And that's how we became experts in Homemade Pepper Jelly and Adam's infamous Peppery Grilled Turkey.

Recently Adam has discovered that he can even inject the turkey with the liquid baste and it is even more scrumptious than we ever thought possible. I'm telling you this recipe is to die for! And I'm even willing to share the recipe with you. I used a recipe card set from Shabby Princess to make the recipe card, gift tags and jar labels.



The jelly up close



 

A Very Crafty Christmas - Glass Tile Pendants

Being that we have two little ones and one income we had to get creative this year when it came to giving gifts to our family members. So I took to the interwebs and used ideas I found and suggestions from my December Mamas. I am so proud of what we did that I'm going to share all of our goodies with you...

First I made Glass Tile Pendants for the females in the family.

The picture isn't doing a wonderful job at showing this piece off. It reads "Spring" accross the top.



For a twist I turned this tile diagonal.





I love how striking the red appears under the glass.



Finding a "black" pattern for my sister proved difficult, but I think this one hit the bullseye.



I've got nothing but love for this deep purple pendant.





I must say finding something pink and green for my sister was a little trying but I'm please with the way this one turned out.

After making the pendants I had to figure out a way to wrap them. So while at Hobby Lobby one time I checked out the clearance aisle and found these great little wedding favor boxes. They were the perfect size and the bows were already applied. Of course to add my own little personal touch I made very teeny tiny gift tags for each person. The box measures 1.5"x1.5".

Not so fun firsts...

Two things I wanted to put down before I forget; In the wee hours this morning Evan decided to eat. When he did so, he missed his mark and gave Mommy a nice dark hickey on her breast. Not so fun for Mommy. Secondly, tonight while giving both kids a bath (at the same time) Evan decided it would be a blast to puke in the bath tub right after Mommy had bathed both kids.

Merry Christmas to me. :(

Christmas Eve 2010

Brownie Covered Oreos

A few weeks ago I discovered a recipe for Brownie Covered Oreos at Picky Palate and have been in lust ever since. The first time I made them, well let's just say they didn't survive day 2 in the house. So for Christmas I wanted to pass on this little slice of heaven to friends and family. This of course is the time of year to remember and celebrate family and of course that means letting a near two year old join in the baking festivities.



Stir, stir, stir. At the end she was dragging, the batter gets kinda thick for her little arms.




Let the dipping begin!



Never say, "Okay go ahead and dip it." to a 2 year old. Because the obvious object to dip is the fingers right?



While the first batch is in the oven we must taste the yummy center sans batter.





Evan watch and munched. He wasn't so sure of what we were up to.




So ready for bed...




Time to decorate...er eat.




Someone figured out how to get those pesky loose sprinkles picked up by licking her fingers repeatedly...




LOL, sugar induced coma? No, this is the face of a child who refused her nap because she was promised that she could make cookies afterwards. She was so excited she just couldn't sleep.



Hope everyone enjoys their holiday and have a Merry Christmas!

Potty Training - Day 3 & 4

I'm beginning to think I'm more ready for potty training than Arabella. We've been at this for four days, and while I understand it takes time and patience, I think my patience is lacking. I don't know that I'm ready to admit defeat, and I'm pretty sure we'll give it a few more days and then decide.

Yesterday while and her Grandmama's we sat her on the potty several times. She even went once. Before we left, thankfully, Adam put her in a pull-up. She wet herself on the short ride home. Then after nap time she wet two more times. I guess I should consider myself grateful that she hasn't had a bowel movement in her underwear. So we're averaging one potty use per day out of the million times we sit her on it.

Today she wet herself twice, and once was immediately after she got off the potty. It's not like we aren't leaving her on it for a long enough period, so I don't know what it is. I'm not sure if she can't relax, or she's accustomed to doing it in her diaper, or she's just not ready. But like I said, I'm not ready to admit defeat. Keep praying for us.

Baking with Grandmama

Yesterday we took Arabella to Grandmama's to make some Christmas cookies, but Grandmama beat her to it, so they made Pecan Bars instead. Arabella really enjoys helping in the kitchen.



The little man accidentally jumped into the bowl.



Making crumbles

"It's ready for the oven Mommy."

Time to whisk the filling.

Mmmm, pecan bars

Evan was contained in the living room during the cooking festivities, but I couldn't leave him out.

Sleepy little man.

Arabella was exploring the Christmas tree and found Mommy & Daddy on it.

Our stockings at Grandmama's house, all hand made by her.