My favorite Christmas candy...

 These are my absolute favorite holiday sweet...at least of the store-bought variety.  I happened on them several years ago.

Man do I love these things! I actually wish I could get just the peppermint without the Tootsie Roll center.

The peppermint is mild with maybe a hint of vanilla?  

I keep a cup full of them on my desk at work.  I won't tell you how many times I've refilled it.  :)

They are only sold during the holidays, so I should see if I can find a few more bags before they're gone.

Two book recommendations...

Just thought I would mention this if anyone is interested.

I found two of my favorite books at a special price for their Kindle versions this week on Amazon.  I read these in 2018 and 2017 respectively, and gave each of them 10 points out of a possible 10 points (I have my own scoring system described on my Reading List page).  I only give books 10/10 if I am sure I want to re-read them at some point.

I originally checked out both of these from my library, but my love for them combined with the prices I found them at this week means I couldn't resist having the Kindle versions for my very own.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles... I rate it 10/10 (finished 1/20/2018)  A story about a German settler child who was abducted and adopted by the Kiowa after they killed her family, and about the aging Captain Kidd (not the sea captain) who agreed to escort her on the long and dangerous trip back to an aunt and uncle.  The Captain's sense of honor and principle and grit reminded me a bit of Lonesome Dove's Gus, as did the harsh Texas conditions of weather, travel, and good versus evil.  The relationship between the Captain and the captive girl will linger in my thoughts for awhile. 

The Old Man by Thomas Perry...I rate it 10/10 (finished 5/15/2017)  The best book I've read this year!  If you like his Jane Whitefield novels (Vanishing Act is my favorite), then you will love this one.  

Tip of the week...

I'm a little bit of a germophobe.  I mean not in a crazy way.  Not as much as my previous boss.  :)  But especially in cold and flu season, I want to wash my hands as soon as I get out of a store or get done pumping gasoline.  And hand sanitizers just don't cut it for me....it may kill germs, but it doesn't remove any schmutz, etc.  

 I always have Wet Ones in my purse and in my car's console.  As soon as I get back in my car after shopping or pumping gas, I grab a towelette and give my hands a good scrub, front, back, and between fingers.  A good hardy wipe down.

Then I take the still-moist towelette (or a fresh one) and wipe down my steering wheel, my gear shift, my door handle, and my key...anything I may have touched in the process of entering the car.  I have always worried just a bit about this being a little obsessive.  Until today.  Today I heard on the radio that your own steering wheel is probably the dirtiest thing you come in contact with on a regular basis.   "The average steering wheel was found to have four times the amount of colony forming bacteria per square centimeter than a public toilet seat."  A PUBLIC TOILET SEAT, people!

It's dirtier than your cell phone.  Dirtier than a hotel remote control!  (I also wipe those down with towelettes from my purse.  HA!)

Okay.  I am climbing down from my soap (and water) box now.  

Be sharp...

Yesterday, the only things I made for our Thanksgiving dinner were the dressing and three pies...and a big mess.  (Kasey and Beau made everything else.)

I seemed to have used a lot of knives.

A few months ago, Carey got irritated, because I had bought yet another paring knife.  I said I kept buying paring knives, because I was searching for one like my favorite.  He knew just which one I was talking about, and he agreed that it was the best.  It is sharp and it stays sharp, and it fits in my hand comfortably.  And that sparked a decision for me.  I took that much-loved knife in hand and examined it very closely...and I found a maker's name...Victorinox.  Who knew my little paring knife, that I have loved for years, was made by the Swiss Army knife manufacturer.

I looked online, and, sure enough, was able to find the exact knife in numerous colors (found here and here), and they were not expensive at only about $6 - $7 a piece.  I bought one in every color.  I keep them (point down) in a mug on my counter top next to my cutting boards, and it makes me happy to look at them, because I know no matter which one I reach for it will be my favorite.  I cook a lot from scratch, and we eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, so I may use a paring knife several times a day and want to have plenty so when some are in the dishwasher others are still at the ready.

I had a special request for apple pie for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I don't know about anyone else, but no matter what I am using an apple for, whether just to eat it with peanut butter or chopped in tuna salad or sliced for a pie, I begin by quartering it.  Then I cut the core off the quarter, then I pare the skin.  It just seems the easiest to me.

 

And look at that strip of peel in the background...barely any waste of the pulp at all...you can practically see through that strip of peel!  And THAT is why these knives are my favorite.  

All my old paring knives are in the Goodwill donation box.  :)

Here are yesterday's pies.   Apple in the foreground, the Chocolate Bourbon Pecan (aka Derby Pie) is in the middle, and the pumpkin is in the back.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives

by Caitlyn Alifirenka and Martin Ganda with Liz Welch

Best book of the year so far!  I began it in the car yesterday (road trip to see mother-in-law) and finished it this morning...could not put it down!

What begins as a school pen-pal writing assignment changes the lives of a 12 year old from Pennsylvania and a 14 year old from Zimbabwe.  But like a pebble dropped in the water, you can feel the ripples still spreading.  

I challenge you to read this book!  I defy you to not be moved by it.  And I encourage you to act in response to it, even in a small way.

Tip of the week...

I purchased these Shout brand Color Catchers to use when washing new quilts to help keep dark colors from bleeding onto light colors.  They have been in a drawer for a long time.

I recently ordered some long-sleeved tops for fall/winter in darker colors...reds, greens, navy.  A couple of them were navy and white.  I was afraid they might be ruined in their first wash, so I pulled the Color Catchers out of the drawer and put two in washer with a full load of dark clothing (the new tops along with older dark clothing).  

A new color catcher is in the photo above on the left.  The two I washed with this load are on the right.  Quite a difference.  I'm not sure how these work, but they do seem to work.  The fabric of all the clothing came out perfectly with no tinting or bleeding.  Quite happy with this product.

Just drop one in the washer (2 for a large load with quite a few new, unwashed colors), add the laundry and detergent, and wash.  Discard after using.

Pecan Hummus...

The first time I ate at Green Vegetarian Cuisine in San Antonio, I came home wishing I had some more of their pecan hummus.  It was SOOOO good!  I thought, what the heck, I'll see if I can find a recipe for pecan hummus online.  The very first response in the Google list was for Green Vegetarian Cuisine's Raw Pecan Hummus!  Man was I excited, but for some reason I didn't make it right then or any time since.

I made another trip to the restaurant last month, and they weren't serving it currently since pecan's weren't in season.  Total disappointment.

Today I wanted something snack-y but healthy, and I remembered I had a bag of pecans stored in my freezer.  Slapped those babies in the food processor with some garlic, apple cider vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and sea salt.  (The recipe calls for water as needed for consistency, but I didn't need any.)

Whizzed it till it was a nice hummus consistency.

Then I cut up some vegetables to dip into it.

This was my lunch.  It was REALLY easy and REALLY good!  If you like pecans, you have to try this.

This is a totally different take on hummus since it doesn't contain garbanzo beans or tahini, and it uses apple cider vinegar instead of lemon juice.  SO GOOD!  

It makes me want to have a party just so I can serve this and see the response.  :)  I think it would also make awesome tea sandwiches on white bread with cream cheese on one side and pecan hummus on the other.

I'm so excited that there's more left in the fridge!

I've posted the recipe at What's Cookin' 4 Miles North of Nowhere.

Curlformer product review...

Caitlyn inherited her mother's hair, which like my hair is board straight!  She's always wanted two things (which I totally empathize with, because I wanted them too at her age), long hair and curls.  Her hair has grown quite long, and she let me trim the ends a few weeks ago.  

Last week Joolz put a video on her Facebook page, and I just knew I had to buy the product for Caitlyn for her birthday.  Curlformers!  I found these locally at Sally's Beauty Supply.  They were not cheap.  

Her birthday was Tuesday, and I had told her that I had her present, but she had to come spend the night to get it.  I wanted to play with it!  :)

You slide a mesh curlformer onto the long (about 12 inches) hook that comes in the set, and then pull the hair with the hook end through the mesh.  She said it only pulled enough to hurt one time.  There is a learning curve to this.  YouTube has some helpful videos.  As you put in the curlformers, you have to make sure that the twists don't get kinked like an old telephone cord...you want them spiraled uniformly.

We started with freshly-washed-and-towel-dried hair, and I sectioned it.  I think it would have been best to have some styling gel or mouse to work through before starting, but I didn't have any, so I had to use hairspray.  Starting with the lowest level, I subdivided off a single section, sprayed with some hair spray, pulled it through a Curlformer.  I probably put in about five Curlformers per level.  

I continued working in sections to the top.

Then she fell asleep.  You can use a hairdryer to dry it, but from what I gather, it works best if you keep them in overnight while you sleep.  They're soft, so they're not uncomfortable.

Then in the morning, you just pull out the curlformers, and use your fingers to ringlet the curls down.  I split the larger ringlets into smaller ones.  Then I had Caitlyn turn her head upside down and shake her hair out.  

We put in a bit of hairspray and clipped it back.

She was pretty happy with it.  After breakfast we went outside to take some photos to make a card to send to her great-grandmother.

All in all we had fun playing with them.

This last photo I took just now.  It has been several hours, and the curls are holding pretty well, even being crushed while she lies on the sofa watching tv.

I wish I'd had some of these when I was her age!

Spice it up...

Quick post, because I am tired and my back aches.  I had to take a muscle relaxer to make it through the work day today.  I wasn't sure I could stand at the stove and cook tonight, but I had groceries that needed to be cooked, so I did.  And it reminded me that I've been meaning to post about this.

This is Picaringa...

...and this is Tajίn.  They are both blends of lime and chile, and are usually sold in the produce section of supermarkets.  They are marketed as a fruit seasoning, and they are quite tasty on fruit.

But I am here to tell you that if you can get your hands on either of them, try it on a baked sweet potato!!!   Love it!  Love!  It!

That is my public service announcement recommendation for today.  You can thank me later.

Capturing December Challenge, day 2...

Favorite Holiday Movie:

A Christmas Story, Dir. Bob Clark, MGM/UA Entertainment Co., 1983

Hands down!  None other in the running.  See that leg lamp on the left of the movie poster?

I love the movie so much, my husband bought me one!  It's the real deal.  A Major Award!

But it is FRAGIL-AY...

...so woe to the miscreant who were to break it AND use up all the glue ON PURPOSE!  :)

Don't worry.  We only put it out at Christmas.

New Life for an old table...

I'm about to make a recommendation, but it is for a product I have been buying for decades, not for any freebies, as I have never received any.  

I'm still working on my list.  Since the promised delivery date of the glass top I ordered for the kitchen island/table is almost here, I decided to tackle cleaning the finish on the table top so it's ready.  I don't want to have to move the glass any time soon after it is in place.

I can't remember exactly when I found New Life Furniture Masque, but it was probably almost three decades ago.  I used it on the custom built cabinet fronts in the entire kitchen of a previous house to try to clean off twenty years of use and second-hand smoke build up of the former owners.  The cabinets looked FABULOUS when I finished.

It is more of a liquid than what one would expect of a masque.  It has a pleasant orange scent, and says you can apply it with your fingertips.  When I did the entire kitchen job, I did not think about ventilation or wearing gloves, and I think my hands were in it so much that some was absorbed through my skin.  I felt rather nauseous the next day, though quite possibly that was from absorbing nicotine from the smoke stain build up that I was cleaning off and not from the product itself.  (No kidding.  All surfaces in the house looked so bad that my Avon lady couldn't be budged from her opinion that there must have been a fire in the house at some time.  There wasn't, but that's how bad the smoke stains were.  That's what three adult chain smokers can do by not taking their smokes outside.)

Anyway, today I wore gloves since this was kind of a big job.  

This table is one that was my parents' when I was growing up, and it belonged to my great aunt and uncle before that.  Carey and I have had it and used it since our kids were little.  It has also been in storage some over the years.  See the dirt and grime that started being dissolved immediately?

I used an old diaper to wipe the masque off after five minutes.  (Yes, these are the diapers my children wore as babies.  I've still got a stack of them in the linen closet.  Nothing's better for cleaning.)

After the first application, I repeated the process.

 These photos were taken from one angle.

And these photos were taken from the opposite angle.  

Does it look perfect now?  No, it looks like the antique that it is.  But now it looks like a much cleaner antique.  I'm thinking I may go pick up some very fine steel wool and go over it (as recommended on the product container for heavy build up) one more time, as there is still some build up in places.

I didn't do the legs as they don't have the damage that the top did.  I probably will use a wood moisturizer made by the same company to go over the legs.

Ahhhh.  Another chore marked off the list!

Ten things to make your day better in one minute or less...

I saw a list like this on How Does She the other day, and it was great.  It inspired me to make a list of my own that would work better for me at the moment.  

Minne...our 13-year-old German Shepherd

  1.  Pet your pet, and tell them how wonderful they are...it's good for them and good for you.

  2.  Drink a glass of water.

  3.  Look around whatever room you are in, and throw away any trash that may be hiding in plain sight.

  4.  Stretch.

  5.  Brush your hair 50 strokes, or massage your scalp with your fingertips.

  6.  Close your eyes.  Deep breath in...hold...exhale...repeat.

  7.  Smile at yourself whenever you are facing a mirror.  Or make a funny face.  :)

  8.  Do a super-quick purse purge getting rid of used tissues, old receipts, lists, etc.

  9.  After you tinkle and flush, grab the toilet brush and give the bowl a quick once 'round...with or without cleanser. 

10.   Before you toss that damp dish cloth or towel in the laundry, give your kitchen counters and cabinet knobs/pulls a quick wipe down.

The Birds...er...Drones...

I love imaginative advertising.

I love Alfred Hitchcock.

I love this new commercial from Audi.

I have not received a new car or any other compensation for sharing this video.  It just made me smile, and I hope you like it too.  And remember...no sudden movements.  :)