Tuesday's Tip

Today's tip is something I have been doing a little more often lately and have really enjoyed: putting pen to paper.

I have fully embraced this electronic age. I love e-mail and keep up with people I would never keep up with otherwise. I used to create newsletters and do other technical writing projects. I have designed and built web sites for people's businesses. However, there is something wonderful about a hand-written note.

When was the last time you opened your mailbox and got a genuine letter from a friend? If you can remember back that far, I bet it made you feel special and all warm and fuzzy inside. I have thoughtful friends and family members who often send cards and thank you notes. While those are lovely and very much appreciated, I love getting a real live letter in my box.

Recently, a childhood friend and I have reconnected. She shunned my urges to e-mail and said she was much better with letters. ????? OK, I'll give that a try. We have only exchanged a couple of letters so far, but I'm not sure if I enjoy writing or receiving them more. It has been so fun.

After Ike, a woman I roomed with in Paris a thousand years ago sent me a letter to check on me. She lives in New Mexico and couldn't fathom the effects of such a storm. What a wonderful surprise during such a crazy time. I immediately sat down and penned her a three page response giving her all the details of our situation.

During this holiday season, make someone's day. I'm sure there are people you don't get to see or talk to often enough. Right them a letter. Tell them what is happening with you. Do it on some pretty paper if you can. I guarantee it will make you feel good. And you will put a smile on someone's face.

Homemade Handmade Holiday Carnival!

Antique Mommy is having a Homemade Handmade Holiday Carnival. (Such a clever idea. I wish I had thought of it.) And despite the fact that she gave us ample warning, I'm not ready. : (

So I am digging into the archives and offering up how we wrapped most of our gifts last year. It's cheap, cute, and the kids can help out. And it will remind me to think up a new design for this year!

The grown-ups in our family don't get Christmas presents as such. We make goodie bags for everyone. They might have baked goods or little trinkets in them. Just a little something so everyone feels loved and festive. The kids and I started making bags a couple of years ago to hold all of this merriment. It's simple, fun, and looks really cute.

We start with plain shopping type bags. You can usually get them in groups of 10 at Target or Wal-Mart or a craft store. We cut out some construction paper in the colors of our choice and we get some kind of foamy stickers.


Of course, you will need your handy dandy glue sticks.

This year we went with brown bags, pink, blue, and white construction paper, and pink, blue, and white stickers. Last year we did white bags, red and green paper, and gingerbread men. The possibilities are endless!



Then you must enlist the aid of some cute little hands to start putting on the paper.


We do this assembly line fashion. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to do it.


Add a few stickers, and this is what you end up with. What this bag needs is a tag.


Either use index cards (no lines, please) or cut out some smaller pieces of paper, add and sticker and a name and - voila! Instant cute.


Now fill your bag, add some tissue, and you have a darling gift bag that says and Merry Christmas! OK, it doesn't really say Merry Christmas. Bags don't talk. But you can say it and they will still be impressed.

Merry Christmas!!

If you want to see how we made cards last year, look here.

And go check out the other cute ideas over at Antique Mommy.

Say it wth me now....

....Woo-Hoo!



Now, this is at Kroger. If you have one of their little cards, you get 3 cents off that price. If you have spent over $100 on groceries the month before, you get 10 cents off. That makes it $1.64.

What are you paying for gas now?

Scenes from a Dining Room Table

It's that time again!

You may recall from last year that I do exterior Christmas decorations for a property management company. Yes, I'm the one hanging all those wreaths and ribbons on the wrought iron gates around town. Well, one of them. I only have about 27 properties that I do. But I have started this year's decorations. My dining room table is covered in red velvet bows. BIG red velvet bows. This will occupy most of my time and all available space on the first floor for the next couple of weeks. I really would like to be done by Thanksgiving. Really.

I'll let you know how it is going.

Tuesday's Tip

With the holiday's approaching, I thought I would throw out a recommendation today for sweet potatoes.

I really like sweet potatoes. I don't think I have to tell you how good they are for you, but here are some facts just the same.

For each cup of sweet potatoes you get:

7 g fiber
over 38,000 IU of vitamin A
.6 mg. of B6
1 mg of Manganese
952 mg Potassium

And that's just the really good stuff. They also have a little bit of a lot of other good stuff.

And they're cheap, too!

You may be used to loading them up with brown sugar and marshmallows. And while that is yummy, I would like to suggest another way to prepare them.

I roast my sweet potatoes with onions and garlic and a little olive oil and salt. Really. They are so good. We had them for dinner tonight. I'd show you a picture of them, but we ate them all! Here is a recipe for what I do:

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel a couple of sweet potatoes. Cut into bite sized cubes.

Slice and dice half an onion.

Mince a couple of gloves of garlic.

Toss all together in a baking dish with a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

Sprinkle with a little salt.

Roast in oven for about 35-45 minutes. You may want to give it a stir every now and again.

Is that technical enough for you? It's a great and healthier alternative to the sugar laden sweet potatoes we are used to. Let me know if you try them.

You Can't Take Me Anywhere

Really, It's true. I want to be all chic and gracious and lovely and all that, but on a regular day, it's just not happening.

Take today, for example. My lovely sister has a birthday in October. Her very generous husband always gives her tickets to the Nutcracker Market. But not just any tickets. No, he gets the ones that allow her to get priority admission and enjoy the fashion show and luncheon. But wait! There's more!! He also buys tickets for me, my other sister, and my mother! We have a major girls' day at one of the shopping events of the year. How fun is that? I should have no trouble being chic in such circumstances. Well, let me tell you.

My sister came to get me bright and early. I was all ready to go. We were to meet my other sister and my mother at the Market. I hop in and we hit the road. Just a few blocks from the house she says, "Did I step in poop?" No, of course, she didn't. I did!

I live on a very narrow street. She had parked in the vacant lot across the street when she came to get me. Everyone in the neighborhood who walks their dog walks it over there because they don't have to clean up after them. I know it is a minefield, but I was excited and in a hurry and not paying attention. She turns around and heads back to my house.

I shoot the hose at my foot and purse because OF COURSE I put my foot by my purse and the enormous gooshy mess got on it, too.

OK, my foot is clean, but my pants are wet. I guess I'll just go change.

I am now wearing jeans instead of my nice, brown pants. We're running a little late, but we are rolling again and everything is cool.

We arrive and breeze past the huddled masses waiting for the official opening. We peruse the aisles of glittery gorgeousness. At one booth, while I am waiting for my sister who is buying an engraved ornament, I switch my purse from one hand to the other. I look down in horror and realize that the handle to my purse has dried poop on it. Poop. Dried. On the handle. Yes, the handle that my hand has been holding. Time to go to the bathroom.

I scrub my purse in the sink as best I can with paper towels and soap and water. Then I scrub my hands feverishly.

Can we be done with the poop now!?

The rest of the day was comparatively uneventful and really quite lovely, but I think I am scarred for life.

*sigh*

I bet it was the bulldog.

Tuesday's Tip

Today's tip is one of my all time favorites: eat more garlic.

Really, is there ever enough garlic? My husband says he learned to love garlic in self defense. I'm sure he's glad he did. That whole loaf of bread, jug of wine, and thou thing is missing a small bowl of olive oil and some crushed garlic.

But garlic does more than excite my taste buds and ward off vampires. It helps fight infection and stimulates the immune system. It was even used during both World Wars to help fight off gangrene. It's good for your cholesterol levels and can help you avoid blood clots. All this and awesome flavor as well.

If you want to read more about garlic's health benefits, check here and here and here.

If you need more ways to eat garlic, check here and here.

But one of the best and easiest ways to enjoy garlic is to roast it. It makes the flavor a little milder and the texture good for spreading. I ran across this cool idea:

Roasted Garlic Recipe

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2 Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

3 Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

4 Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.

Eat as is (I love straight roasted garlic) or mash with a fork and use for cooking. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta.

Does that sound yummy or what? I may have to make some garlic mashed potatoes tomorrow with some roasted garlic.

How do you eat your garlic?

There will be many tears

Houston lost one of its cutest residents today.

Mac the baby elephant died last night from a viral infection. He took ill yesterday. He was only 2 years old. I haven't told the kids yet. They will be so sad. He was always our most entertaining stop at the zoo.

You can read the full story about Mac here.

Sunday Linkage

It has been a long, tough week. Month. OK, life! But there has also been some real encouragement out there. A lot of it has come from some bloggy friends and people I read. I would like to share some of that with you here. Be encouraged.

Missy over at It's Almost Naptime posted on the Internet Cafe.

Barbara over at Mommy Life reminds us we have the peace that passes understanding.

Our dear Beth over at Living Proof Ministries encourages us to be unified.

If that didn't help, Beth offered this the next morning.

And just in case you ever wonder if you can make a difference in someone's life, you need to read this from Marlboro Man.

(Kinda) Wordless Wednesday

Scenes from a November garden in Houston.

Yes, we still have tropicals blooming.

When I pick this lemon, I will show you the size of it. My mother gave me the tree for Christmas. I can't wait to pick the solitary fruit that hangs from its limb. It is called a Ponderosa lemon and it is one big lemon.

The bouganvillea on the back fence is still blooming. You can see the leaves on the fig tree starting to brown around the edges. They will all be gone soon.

I bought a dwarf satsuma this summer. It, too, has but one lonely fruit hanging. It is almost ripe. I can't wait to see how it tastes.

This the most welcome sight though. We lost so many pecans during Ike. We have been pleasantly surprised to find there are a few pecans that weathered the storm and are ready to be picked.

How does your garden grow?

Tuesday's Tip

You know what I am going to say.

There is no tip I can give you today that is more important than this one: go vote.



But only if you are voting for my guy. Kidding! Sort of.

We Have a Winner!

Congratulations to Paula H. She has won the fabulous prize package from the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by for visit during the week. It was lovely to "meet" you. Y'all come back now, ya hear!