I Made That

(I posted this at Memphis' 1Thing blog earlier and though it would fit nicely here as well. ) Once a year, usually around Mother's Day, I invite the youth group from my church over to the house to make some crafts. We've made scented lotions, chocolates, soaps, etc. This year we made lip balm. I got the recipe from my herb loving mom who makes some for stocking stuffers at Christmas time. This is a quick and easy project that will help keep your lips protected all summer long.

Honey Lip Balm (makes 16 -18 containers)

4 ounces extra-virgin olive oil

3 ounces grated or shaved beeswax (or beads)

1 ounce honey ½ capsule Vitamin E, 400 IU or 1 ounce Vitamin E oil

A few drops of essential oil (Optional, I used peppermint)

Chopstick or wooden spoon

18 small bead storage jars

1. In a microwave or top of double boiler, melt the beeswax and oil together using a Chopstick or wooden spoon. Do not boil. If the mixture starts to boil remove from heat and allow to cool. (You can remelt it) Once the beeswax and oil are blended, stir in the honey. Then pierce the vitamin E capsule with a needle, squeeze out half of the contents, and stir in. Add in any essential oil you want at this point and stir in. Pour the resulting mixture into clean containers with tops. (I found it cooled very quickly, so pour it immediately before it has a chance to thicken too much.)

2. Let the lip balm sit at room temperature for 48 hours until it arrives at the proper consistency for spreading. You can carry a small container of lip balm around with you during the day, but you may find it keeps better in the refrigerator overnight.

I like to add a couple drops of essential oil for variety. Peppermint is cool and soothing. Lemon or orange taste good. You can add food coloring, but I like mine natural. Use your imagination and make a fun label for your products. Small plastic bead containers with screw-on tops work well for this if you can’t find lip balm holders. They make great gifts!

New Favorite

I promise to do a Christmas and New Years wrap up post this weekend (spoiler alert: I as asleep by 11p New Years Eve). But I just had to share a pic of my new favorite shirt. This belated Christmas present came in the mail yesterday. It was designed by my friend L just for me! Are you a little jealous?

Shorabat Addas

I like to try different kinds of ethnic foods. I credit my dad for this since as a submariner he was always sure to hit up the local food joints when he visited a port. He refused to go into the touristy restaurants, often eating from street vendor carts. Even in his retirement, my parents frequent the "Mom and Pop" style Thai, Indian, Mexican, Ethiopian, and Mediterranean restaurants. So when I passed a bag of red lentils in the store, I had to take it home with me. (I don't have a lot of experience cooking with lentils; just a lentil soup or two. Someday I'll learn to make a yummy lentil loaf.) Tonight was the night to try the red lentils. I decided to play it safe and use the recipe on the back of the bag. I halved the recipe since it's just me and I wasn't sure how I'd like them. I should've done a full batch. Here's the recipe. It's really simple. Shorabat Addas (Lentil Soup) 2 cups dry red lentils

8 cups water or broth (I used water)

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric or paprika (I used turmeric)

1 large onion diced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbs olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

Juice of one lemon

2 bouillon cube of choice (I used G Washington Golden packets)

Wash lentils. Combine with water (or broth) and bring to a boil. Cover for 20-30 minutes, sirring occasionally. When lentils are tender, add dry spices and bouillon to the pot. Saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until golden brown. Then add to soup mixture. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat, add lemon juice and stir. Garnish bowls with parsley and paprika. Serve with lemon wedges on the side (if available). Serves 6.

Like Mother Like Daughter

Christmas & New Year's have come and gone. Both were rather low key and involved family and/or friends. I don't believe in New Year's resolutions anymore so I didn't make any. This is partly because I don't have a good history of keeping them and partly because you shouldn't wait until the new year for life change opportunities. Although when you take into consideration that I spent most of New Year's Day watching You Are What You Eat and The Biggest Loser while sitting on the couch, maybe I should've. :) This week was a big spending week for me. I finally broke down and bought a new laptop. They were having a special on all-in-one printers, so I picked one of those up for $30. I even treated myself to a 1GB RAM upgrade meaning I now have 2 GB (which was offset by the discount for re-signing up for internet which gets installed on the 18th) and a wireless router which was paid for with all of the gift cards I got for Christmas. All if this at no interest for 18 months! Don't you just love it when stores have those specials? Anyway, I called my parents to tell them the good news and discovered that without even trying I have the same laptop and printer as Mom! I guess I am my mother's daughter. This weekend will be a busy one. Since the Pastor is out of town, I will be teaching SS for the second week in a row. Per his request, I do start off the class every week, so I'm not really sure how much of a help it really is for him to do the lesson 3 times a month. Oh well. I also get to learn about laying tile on Sunday. That should be fun. Finally I need to get my house in tip top shape because I am hosting a movie night next Saturday (12th). I have a good start since I had a major cleaning session to prepare for my Great Aunt & Uncle's New Year's Eve visit. It's all about maintenance mode now.

Lookin' Smart

So I picked up something new today. Can you guess what it is? It's a obvious as the glasses on my face. Oops, I gave it away :) These new glasses do more than make me look smart. They are specifically for night driving and for when my eyes are tired from the computer or TV. They will hopefully correct my astigmatism enough to stop those crazy bad migraines that follow my weekly Doctor Who, Torchwood, and SciFi Friday marathons on Sundays. Because, really, what good is a Sunday without some British sci-fi? Brilliant!